As quickly as the tension, apprehension, and disquiet mounted, like mottled, stained, blotched segments of her soul varnished into frayed nerves, tense predilections and feverish augurs, they dissipated into the horizon. The flourish of Illynx’s eyes, playful, as though Lena had been mere putty in her hands, molded and sculpted for her entertainment, informed her of no dancing threats, no myriad of hostility, and no raw pit and pendulum for the Impersonator. There would be no call to Roland’s defense, unnecessary, purposeless – because the Lady had seen his worth, seen his value, seen his loyalty and regard. The breath the nymph had been holding slowly eased out into the air, like a silly, triumphant laugh, a pulse of relief that the day would continue on in merriment and delight; they held no need to diminish or dash it off into the plagues of wrath and dismay. In fact, as the words bounded and echoed from the GildedBlade’s lips, a sense of great pride for her friend swelled within her chest, pervaded through her ebullient essence, twisted harmonically in the warm beat of her smile blooming into the background. He, like so many of them, had carved a niche into the endless quandaries and queries of their world, had been triumphant in the barbs of ruination and despair, had managed to whittle away into the boundaries of ice and cold without violence, without villainy (he’d surpassed her there too; because she’d driven her frame into onslaughts of monsters, beasts, and vermin, had fallen on swords and swept her own across flesh), and now, was being rewarded for all of his efforts. Thief, a position once held by the wise Faelene (where was she now – drifting amongst the runes and fragrant fields, waiting for someone to find her?), now encompassed by another figure of worthy standing. Roland deserved the gesture, to lead the band in secrets, in cloaks and daggers, in mysteries and enigmas, especially when he trimmed and veiled himself so neatly into concealed, clandestine intrigues. Light, triumphant, she plucked at the mellifluous strings of her vocals, relished the chords, the eaves, of the wind, the sonnets, the aspirations of another fulfilled. “Congratulations!” His widened eyes, a flicker of surprise, and then grand acceptance of his new role, only bolstered her grin further, invited her to a celebratory bow in his direction. If only the world could always be this way: eternally honoring the creatures seeking to empower it.