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“Mr and Mr Dekarios, you must awaken!” Tara meowed.
I felt a sharp claw scratch against my nose gently, awaking me from my deep sleep with a start to see Tara in my face. Blinking her eyes disapprovingly at me. I let out a deep sigh, nudging her away from me.
“Tara… Gale and I are trying to sleep…” I whispered, not wanting to wake Gale up. “Please leave us alone… I'll feed you at your scheduled time…”
“Oh my apologies for interrupting your beauty sleep but you see, I am not awakening you for food, miraculously. I have already dined on fat mice this morning and no longer require my 7am meal. No, you and your husband have a specific activity to do today, do you not? You told me to wake you early for it! But if you wish to miss it…” She turned away from me with a pout.
I gasped as I remembered the reason we are away from Waterdeep in the first place. I promised Gale that we'd go to the book sale happening in Candle Keep and nodded at Tara gently, trying to look as apologetic as possible towards her.
“I…I almost forgot. I am very sorry and thank you, Tara…”
She only huffed and hopped down from the bed, leaving the room with a saunter while flicking her tail in annoyance.
“I expect a bowl of delicious bird meat when you come back to pay for this rude transgression. Exquisite quality. I will know the difference.” Tara huffed.
I rolled over quickly and gently nudged my darling husband, trying as gently as I could to wake him. He only muttered in his rest and remained asleep, nudging me back gently as if to stop me.
“Gale, my darling… Wake up…” I whispered in a singsong voice as he drifted back to sleep. “Today, we will be in Candlekeep!”
Gale groaned and turned over slightly with sleepy half asleep eyes, blinking softly up at me as he slowly tried to stay conscious. My heart started doing flips in my chest, seeing his big, sparkling brown eyes look up at me while most of his face was hidden under the blanket.
“That's…wonderful, darling… May I ask why that is… important, my love?” He asked groggily.
I cooed and giggled at his cute sleepy behavior and kissed his forehead, earning me a soft little purr that vibrated under the mound of blanket.
“Because, my love… Remember? The Candlekeep monks will be having a big book sale festival, putting some rare books, as well as the bard college books, up for sale. That's why we stayed at the Friendly Arms Inn, remember?”
Gale was, at first, confused then the gears started to move in his head. Once Gale finally processed and realized what I had said fully, Gale moved so fast and so gracefully, that I thought a Harpy swopped by and snatched him from the bed.
He hopped out of our warm bed and started throwing on a pair of briefs and robes from the closet near the bed. When he turned and saw that I had not moved, he started looking back at me like I was insane for just laying there and watching him.
What can I say? He was naked, and I was just enjoying the view.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING LAYING IN BED STILL?! Those books are gonna get bought up if we do not hurry!” Gale yelled hurriedly.
I burst into laughter and sat up with a chuckle and a groan, throwing off the covers to get hit with a breath of cool but humid air.
“Dont worry, love. I am sure there will be plenty of books there for you to peruse, even if we get there late. The sun hasn't even risen yet…”
While I slipped into some briefs myself, I watched as Gale hurried out of the room, already fully dressed and his hair done up in a half bun.
“Come on! Get moving, please!”
“How in the hells- I am! I AM! “I laughed, standing up and adjusting myself. “Just get some breakfast, love. I'll be down in a minute.”
The inn we stayed in was known to house famous adventurers and people all over Faerun, even the Hero of Baldur's Gate way back in the day came here for respite. Though, I felt that last night, we were sleeping on the same beds that the Hero slept in… and not in a good way. They really needed to update the beds. I didn't know if my back hurt from the bed or from Gale's voracious appetite last night.
I washed my face, and combed my hair, before donning some golden colored plant dye on my horn tips and in my hair. Painting around my eyes with shiny golden eye cream, I made sure to keep the lines crisp and clean to keep up my golden singer look. While I didn't do much traveling on the road anymore, A Bards life is never over until they die. I then donned some traveling clothes that would wear well for the hours-long journey, making sure they were my favorite combination of black and red coloring before going to the mirror.
After checking my appearance in the mirror and becoming satisfied with my work, I went downstairs to go and find Gale.
Gale, who seemed to be donning his usual purple color of silky raiments, was deep in the pages of a book. His half bun tied with a yellow ribbon that dangled down his shoulder as he ate.
He seemed to have found a little table off in the corner, two bowls of strawberry and raspberry oatmeal ready on the table and two drinks. Bubbling with frothy tops. Tara was by his feet, sitting by his side with a rat in her claws and blood on her muzzle.
Gale saw me and smiled, waving with a bright look in his eyes and his smile so bright that it rivaled Lathander's sun.
I felt my heart do a flip in my chest and I could feel that dumb, puppy-like smile appear on my face as I approached. The same one I got when Gale and I first met. Gale got up and kissed me as I sat down, which did not help the smile at all.
“I am SO excited to be out here with you, Mordai. An endless wealth of knowledge awaits us and I cannot wait to plunder it's riches. Candlekeep is home to SO MANY old tomes and spell scrolls that even Elminster...” Gale chattered on.
While he talked, I sat there and just stared at him. Eating my, what I assumed to be, oatmeal, I sat there staring at my loves starlit eyes and just sighed in the softness and love he drapes my heavy heart in.
He must have noticed me getting lost in him, because he stopped and gave me a small smile.
“Mordai? Are you alright?”
“Just fine, sweetheart. Just listening to you talk.” I purred in response.
Gale laughed, shaking his head with a slightly embarrassed blush.
“Darling… You're staring…” Gale whispered bashfully.
“Is there a problem?” I asked.
“I am talking to you about the historical significance of Candlekeep and all the splendor within its halls and you are…” Gale trailed off.
“Enjoying my husband's voice?” I giggled.
“Making me embarrassed.” Gale corrected jokingly.
Gale blushed and cleared his throat, continuing his history lesson, even as we paid a caravan to take us to Candlekeep after breakfast. It wasn't until we saw it in the distance that he stopped talking and went quiet.
“Mordai?”
“Yes, love?” I chuckled.
“I… I love you so very much. I hope you know just how much you mean to me…” Gale professed.
“What brought that on?” I asked in surprise.
“I just…. You make me appreciate the mundane. The gentle quiet and coziness of normal traveling. The intimacy and gentleness within our talks. The security and excitement of our bond makes me feel so… divine. I never had anyone quite like that before. Never like you. So perfect… The fact that you find my voice comforting in every moment and that you love to hear it is…” Gale trailed off, before having found his voice again. “It makes me feel adored. Appreciated. Wanted. I love you, for making me believe that I am. That I am… more than just the magic I wield. For… showing me that I'm… enough.”
I sat there next to him, staring at him as the fields of wildflowers beside us went by. My heart was doing flips in my chest as I tried to find the words to describe how I felt about him, but I found myself deprived of them. All I could really do was stare into his big brown eyes and kiss him. Letting my words flow into the kiss we shared. He seemed content with that, deepening the kiss as we came to a stop.
Once we were let inside of Candlekeep, I could see stalls upon stalls of books, jewelry, staves, and other magic items. CandleKeep was the most alive that I've ever seen. From all over it seems, wizards and magic users alike have come to indulge in the book sale going on, and were walking about, testing products, and haggling.
Gale looked like he was about to explode with excitement as he looked up at me with a big toothy grin, his hands gripping onto his quarterstaff and turning his knuckles white.
“Mordai. I need to be unleashed! There's so much here!” Gale shouted excitedly.
“Then be unleashed, love. I will always be near you. Maybe I'll look for a nice enchanted viola while I-”
I turned to finish my sentence to find that Gale was already gone. Dust was slowly falling from the spot he was standing in and I just sighed and laughed at my husband's child-like excitement.
A few hours went by before I saw Gale again. He seemed to be chatting with someone by a food stall, their horns and robes becoming very familiar as I got closer.
“Rolan?!” I gasped.
There before Gale and I was Rolan, the wizard of Baldurs Gate, who now resided in Ramazith's tower in Baldurs Gate. Wearing proper red wizards robes and gold rings that adorned his horns. Even his tail has decorated gold rings on the tip of his spade.
“The one and only! How good it is to see my friends!” Rolan belted joyously.
I hugged him tightly, laughing in joy in seeing his new found wealth and joy. His eyes sparkling with life.
“How are you?! Where are Cal and Lia?” I asked.
Rolan wheezed as I let go, adjusting himself and brushing his robes off before standing stoicly again.
“I am doing amazingly. I have really grown on my own as a wizard and now you've probably heard that I am now THE official Wizard of Baldur’s Gate. As for Cal and Lia, they are around here somewhere, probably causing some kind of mischief and generally being a nuisance.”
“Ah, never change, Rolan.” I sighed humorously.
“I was actually just telling Rolan that you and I had gotten married recently.” Gale said with a smile.
“Oh yes! Married for 3 months now! Married life has been a dream come true…” I purred.
“Ugh, you two are still so sickly sweet on each other even after everything…”
Gale just laughed while I patted Rolan’s back. Rolan grew an annoyed expression when I did so I pulled my hand away.
“Youll find someone too one day, Rolan. I sense it… There's so many people who adore you.”
“Whatever you say. I should go find Cal and Lia but it was… nice to see you both again.” Rolan smiled before walking off. “Goodbye for now, my friends. You're still invited to stop by the tower and see me!”
“We'll see you soon, then!” Gale called back.
Hours passed after seeing Rolan. Gale and I indulged ourselves with food and wine at the little festival, dancing and singing to the music playing all around us. Even as the people started to head home, Gale and I were having a blast, just laughing together! It wasn't until most of the vendors closed up that we drunkenly made our way to our waiting caravan, giggling and laughing the whole ride back to the Friendly Arms Inn. As we stumbled inside, headaches starting to emerge from sobering up, we saw an angry Tara approach and put an empty, metal dish in front of us as we walked inside our room.
“As you promised. Delicious bird meat. Put it in the bowl.”
Gale looked at me, confused by her demands and I…?
Forgot all about the deal I made with Tara this morning.
“Fuck.”