Haldir and Nephae Dialog: Chapter 13 - Part 2

Haldir and Nephae are reunited
The girl's name was Nephae Shorgrace. I recognized her immediately and she I. It has been years since I had laid eyes upon her and she was not the scrawny awkward girl I remembered. It had been 14 years since I last saw her, she had grown beautiful and I had grown old.

She threw her arms around me with out hesitating, nearly knocking my off my feet. I was so stunned, it was as if my tongue had been cut out. I stood there slack jawed like an idiot. As she looked me over with those eyes still full of the mischief I remembered all I could say was "Nephae?"

Nephae had been a shining star in the otherwise moonless black that was Castle Gray. One of a crowd of children we referred to as the "Castle Rats", she and her friends brought a vibrancy of spirit to the palace that was much needed. Equal parts vim and vinegar, Nephae had been the worst of them and the best. Quick with a smile and a kiss but always up to no good.

I would have love to while away the hours catching up with her but my mind turn back to Fleet and I had to ask her, "Do you know where Fleet is?"

She cocked her head and with a quizzical look asked, "Fleet who?"

It seemed like she was being genuine and for a moment I stumbled. "Fleet Feather stone...you know, Little Feather?"

"No, I haven't seem him for years, last I heard he was in prison." she replied. Her eyes grew dark and she continued. "I heard they put him in the Spike and threw away the key. You know what they say, nobody leaves the Spike with their head attached. He is probably dead after all this time and if not I hope he dies slowly."

I looked into her eyes as she spoke. It was clear that she lost in memories as if I was not even there. "Nephae, do you know who Cimmerian is?"

"Why are you asking?" she replied, a threatening look in here eye. The change was instant, at first dreaming of days past and now in the present and threatening. "What do you want with him?" I could see her hand smoothly go the large dagger in the small of her back.

"Nephae, Cimmerian IS Fleet." I said

"No, Fleet is in prison. I saw him hauled away. Do you think I could travel with Fleet for a year, share everything, even a cell for week and not know it was him? Your brain has gone soft old man."

"No Nephae, it's true. Fleet escaped the Spike over two years ago." I showed her the letter I received from Sentian.

As she read the letter I could see the realization wash over her, from disbelief to tears and finally anger. A slow boiling anger tempered only by grief.

"That bastard..." she raged

"Child, please." I tried to calm her but she stepped away.

"No! Do you know what he did to my family? It was because of him that daddy died in prison. It's because of him my mother and I were forced to live in the streets. He was selfish, cold and beastly... He destroyed my family!" She began to gasp and stumble. I tried to steady her but she jerked her arm away. "Are you going to kill him?"

"No Nephae, I am trying to save him."

"Save him?" she screamed. "I will kill him myself!"

At that outburst she stumbled back to her bed overcome by her sickness and the emotion of the revelation.

"Nephae! You are in no condition to do anything. There has been enough killing, enough torture to make even the gods weep. Go home, Nephae! I love you child, but consider well what you are suggesting. I will kill you myself if I must, do not pursue this, do not speak it, not even in jest! What do you think two years in the Spike does to a man? Have you considered that? He is NOT the same man he was going in. I cannot tell you whether or not he is better but even the strongest of men cannot withstand the cruelty of the Spike although the Little Feather I loved died long before the Spike.

I am sorry child, go home."

I could hear her sobbing and crying out as I left. Another wreck on the rocks of House Featherstone.