Tattered Spirits

"So you see Sir Colin, I have need for a new companion. I heard that Sir Glen made an unspecified offer for Jean. He just doesn't ask for anyone. So I think I might have a better offer for you." Jean entered in a room where Sir Colin sat across from a very lovely woman wrapped in a black leather cloak.

"Here she is." Sir Colin waved his hand for her to join them.

"Come sit here at my feet." She commanded. Jean came over and did as she was bid. A delicate finger tipped her chin up.

"I think you'll find this offer to your liking." A scribble was on a pad of paper she had inside her cloak. It slid across the short table separating Sir Colin and his guest.

Sir Colin unfolded the offer and turned a little pale. "I see you find it a fair trade?" she asked.

"Indeed." He rummaged around in the pile of scrolls next to him.

"You'll find that you'll not get far with her." He was hoping to sway the woman, but he located Jean's papers.

"I'm sure I'll get as far as I need to with her." A hand gently caressed her hair. Jean shuddered and Sir Colin gave the woman a look that said 'I told you so.'

"I believe she is missing something Sir Colin. Her name bracelet." She accepted the papers Sir Colin produced and examined them briefly.

"It was lost last time I had her, before she ran off." He stammered watching the manicured hand tap the scroll.

"Very well then Sir Colin, thank you. Come along Jean."

Jean looked back for a second, and then followed the woman who had stepped out. She waited in the entry hall for her. Jean scurried after her, unsure of what was going to be said.

As they pulled away, the lady who had arranged for Jean's escape of sorts leaned back and sighed.

"Are you all right Jean?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am."

She lifted her head and stared directly at Jean. She drank in the physical damage that had yet to subside and cataloged them remorsefully. "You don't remember me do you?"

Jean looked up at her and shook her head. "I'm sorry I do not."

"I am Lady Daire, I was Sir Dylan's second."

Jean paused looking up at her for a moment as if to recall a distant memory.

"He's not going to recover is he?" she swallowed hard.

"I'm afraid not Jean." Lady Daire stroked her cheek. "We're going to see him, then I'll take you back to Sir Glen and Laurie, unless you'd rather stay with me."

"I just want to see him." The sob caught in her throat. She couldn't make out the greenery outside as they passed by.

"Of course Jean." Lady Daire sat back and poured a glass of water. She handed it to Jean who accepted it.

"Thank you for coming to get me Lady Daire."

"It is my pleasure Jean. I only wish it was under better circumstances." Jean nodded her response.

The quiet cottage they pulled up to was quite distanced from the Manor that Sir Dylan had once lived in. Jean waited until Lady Daire walked up to the door, and then followed her; unsure of how ready she was to see what was inside.

But before Lady Daire allowed her to enter Sir Dylan's room, she stopped the companion.

"I can't let you in without this." She pulled from her cloak a thin necklace with a blank pendant. "I know it is not yours, he might even be able to tell, but I know he'd feel better with this." She placed it around Jean's neck. "Go ahead Jean. I'll be waiting out front for you.

Inside, Sir Dylan was sleeping, his bed, basked in sunlight. The blankets were piled on him, but he had pushed many away in his sleep. They formed a valley around him on either side, as if to fill the void that had once been a companion on either side of him. Jean rushed to his side, slipping next to him replacing one mound, wanting to wake him but still not daring. She had been so relieved to see he was still alive and breathing. Sitting there next to him, she watched him sleep, as if nothing had parted them at all. She finally screwed up courage and kissed his forehead.

Sir Dylan's eyes blinked open. "Jean, My sweet?" he grabbed her wrist and held on to her. For a moment she held her breath.

"I'm right here Sir Dylan." She whispered, her voice filled with tears as she exhaled. "I've missed you more than I can ever say." She hugged him tightly.

"You're here now with me. You're safe my sweet. Sir Glen and his Laurie told me everything. I'm sorry I did not take you sooner." His lips found hers and drank softly.

"I don't want to leave you ever again Sir Dylan." She sobbed to his shoulder as he pulled her closer.

Sir Glen walked in from the kitchen with a cup of tea and stood next to Lady Daire who looked down the hall.

"Oh but to be a fly on that wall?" he took a sip of tea asking Lady Daire if she would care for a cup with a bit of a smile.

"It is a wonder I could have never tamed you Sir Glen." She shook her head with a small smile and then sat on a bench in the front room, Sir Glen sitting beside her.

"I'm sorry I could have made matters worse for you. I did not know that Sir Dylan even had a second."

"No, you've made matters worse for yourself and Laurie. Good God, you could have destroyed everything you have, what were you thinking?" She paused only long enough in her tirade to take a breath. "You weren't thinking and don't give me those puppy eyes. I won't fall prey to them anymore, I'm much too mature to believe them when they pool with tears from you." Though seething mad with her closest friend, she held her voice low.

"I know Sir Colin is a veteran monster, but you don't have to give him anything more than he deserves. It's just like a man to leave a woman to clean up his mess." She groaned and then got up and crossed the room, her leather cloak drifting after her.

"And now that it is common knowledge that you were Sir Dylan's second, what is to become of his manor? Lord Xavier couldn't have known."

"And he won't. Sir Colin likes where he is. And I for one like how close he is to you. Just don't do anything else that will jeopardize yourself."

"As the lady wishes." Sir Glen took another sip.

Lady Daire suddenly wasn't quite done with her berating of Sir Glen. "I suppose it's common knowledge who you have chosen as your second Sir Glen? Perhaps Sir Colin himself?"

"You were the one to give him his cloak, I'm surprised that you didn't know it the second you did so." Sir Glen put down his teacup and leaned forward on his cane.

"It hardly matters really." She sighed.

"And you my lady?" he asked.

Lady Daire shook her head and looked back down the corridor. "I believe I have to ask another. My second lies in a permanent sick bed, too prideful to ask his beloved companion to bind to him."

"Not everything needs to be official. It matters little to Sir Dylan now. He has Jean, that's what really matters." He reassured Lady Daire taking her aging hand in his.

"Don't make me regret never taming you Glen. You were always such a pretty boy." She laughed softly. "And you had those pretty words that charmed a companion right out of her mind."

"I still have them if you want them Lady Daire." He paused. "I even now have harsh words, should they be necessary." He smiled to her.

"Thank you Glen." She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand.

"Now step back before your Laurie thinks we've been flirting." She said brusquely.

With a smirk, he bowed his head. "As the lady wishes." For his trouble he received a small knock on the head from Lady Daire's ivory handled cane.

When Laurie entered to retrieve Sir Glen's teacup, Lady Daire was on her way out. "I'd keep a closer eye on your companion Laurie. He seems in need of reminding that he's the one in charge." She winked and then left, tears brimming in her eyes.