000 » my heart isn't beating

[royalist]

TFLN OVERFLOW.

for will at royalist.

Comments

[forhalia]

And I like all of that just as much, so I suppose I really am your cow. But I like rubbing you, and kissing your nose, and milking you, too.

[royalist]

Oh, I can be a cow, too?

[ if only strohl could hear his voice right now... he's so stupidly delighted over this silly thing... their... matching cows...? ]

Good! Maybe I'll put a bell on my neck so you can hear me jingle when I come to you.

[forhalia]

I think you'll make a much cuter cow than I do.

[ Matching cows!!!! ]

And you'll have me expecting to see you there whenever I hear a bell, at this rate.

[royalist]

I know that we already moved the Halians to Grand Trad, but I do wonder... do you ever want to rebuild Halia where it originally was? Or is the new "Halia" now in Grand Trad itself?

Sometimes I think about maybe owning a little farm together... but I know it realistically would be a sort of vanity project. Even if I tilled the fields or milked the cows on occasion, I wouldn't truly be working the lands any more than Lady Joanna did her own in Martira. But...

[forhalia]

[ Will knows his thoughts so well. He's had those very questions on his mind, returning to them often, and the conversation takes him down the same paths now. Restoring Halia, protecting the people and their home to make sure that they will live in peace at last... He still wants that. It doesn't feel as though he's done everything he could yet.

He's not surprised that Will, there with him every step of the way, would ask him about it, but he is surprised — moved, really — by Will's farming fantasy. It's the sort of dream that he hasn't dared to entertain too much. ]

I've asked myself what I should do. What my parents would do. I know I need to find my own answers, but maybe our people themselves should have their say in any decision that affects them. Above all, rebuilding Halia should mean safeguarding the stability of their lives wherever they are.

But even if I wonder what future I can promise them, and we've our duties here, that's a nice thing to imagine. A farm together with you, showing you the Halia that I remember...

[royalist]

I don't think it's such a terrible thing for a nobleman to keep a little villa somewhere. You've more than earned it, with everything you've done for the kingdom.

I certainly want you in Grand Trad with me, but... I also want you to have horses, and cows, and fields of wheat in the summers.

You're right. We should ask the people of Halia what they want, too.

[forhalia]

[ Earned it... Has he? Truly? That's something he hasn't thought about. ]

I'd want you there with me, and I want to be with you in Grand Trad, and wherever you are. Could we have that?

[ "We" — Will's been saying it himself, reassuring as ever. ]

[royalist]

Yes, we can travel everywhere together. I"ll go everywhere with you.

[ To Grand Trad, and their villa, and all around the world — ]

You'll never, ever have to be separated from me. I'll make sure of it.