It was the late afternoon, and the sky was growing red as the sun went down. A small wagon drawn by two horses was traveling through the rocky desert, with many chests stacked inside it. Two figures were sitting at the front of the wagon; one wore a red robe. The other wore a set of heavy armor and was driving the carriage. The robed figure spoke:
"There's something about our mission that's been bothering me, Ceth."
"What is it?"
"It seems that Empress Zelsi could have sent some soldiers to help us deliver our cargo."
"I greatly object! They've got the biggest, strongest dwarf of all guarding this carriage. You can't do better than that."
"So why didn't she send a real Archpriest instead of having me dress up as one?" Aatos gestured towards the deep red robes that he was wearing.
"Well, there are less than a hundred Archpriests in the entire Empire. It's hard to spare one. Plus, you know a little bit of fire magic so you've got just enough credibility so any bandits we run into won't screw with you."
"I'm not nearly as strong an Archpriest, though. I think that you just wanted an excuse for me to come along with you. And the fact that I'm way too big to be a dwarf makes me stick out."
"There are a few human Archpriests in the realm, and don't forget that there are human lands where people worship the ur-Fire. They can't see your pointy ears under that hood. Besides, you speak centaur better than almost anyone else in the realm and I don't."
Aatos sighed. He loved Cethaz but she always had excuses for everything.
"Ceth, there's something else that I've noticed. We're just giving all this treasure to the Khagan of the centaurs. It kind of feels like we're paying him off so he won't raid us."
"Oh no, nothing could be further from the truth. This is an old tradition that dates back to the treaty that ended the great centaur invasion of Ardaroun, showing the friendship between dwarves and centaurs."
"Yeah, about that. I looked in the library's archives and the oldest reference to giving treasure to the centaurs is from five years ago. It's not an old tradition."
Cethaz stared blankly ahead.
Aatos said, "I... I didn't bring this up earlier because I know you're sensitive about anything that suggests that the empire isn't quite what it used to be..."
Cethaz' head snapped back towards Aatos and she gave him an icy stare.
"Not... one... word... about that."
The two of them sat in awkward silence for several minutes before Aatos, desperate for anything that would change the subject, spotted something off in the distance.
"Hey, I think that waterfall is up ahead."
Cethaz peered off into the distance. "Yes, I think that's it."
By the time they got to the river, the sun had almost set. The river wasn't much to speak of, but it was nice to see any water at all in this arid climate. The waterfall also wasn't very big; the water came down over the cliff in several small streams. A small, weary bridge spanned the river; Cethaz stopped the horses, got off of the wagon and said,
"This seems like a good place to make camp for the night. It should only take a few hours for us to get to centaur territory from her when we get up tomorrow."
Aatos began to remove their bedrolls from the wagon. "That sounds good to me."
"Aatos... Aatos..."
Aatos opened his eyes with some reluctance. "Cethie... the sun isn't even up yet, why are you waking me up..."
"I thought that maybe we could watch the sunrise together. It would be so romantic."
Aatos rubbed his eyes. "I guess that it would be okay, honey- just give me a minute or two to get my bearings."
He got out of his bedroll and yawned. He was nude, as he usually was when he slept; Cethaz was wearing her athletic underwear.
"Here, let me cast a light spell," Aatos said. He waved his hand and summoned up an azure orb of light. The two of them climbed up to the top of the short cliff, off to the side of the waterfall, and the ball of light followed them as they ascended. When they got to the top, they sat down and waited for the sun to come up.
"You're a really good climber, Cethie. I'm surprised."
"Are you surprised that I'm a good climber because I'm so much smaller than you?"
Aatos hemmed and hawed. He and Cethaz had been arguing quite a bit over their journey, and he struggled to think of an answer. Fortunately, he found another chance to change the subject.
"Look, the sun is coming up!"
The couple looked off to the east as the sun peeked out over the horizon. The two of them looked on. Aatos thought that maybe the beauty of nature would help heal the rift between them.
"It's so beautiful and majestic," he said.
"It's the ur-Fire looking down on earth. It's wonderful." Cethaz rested her head against Aatos' shoulder.
"I'm so happy that I could see this with you, Cethie."
"I am too, Willow."
They waited a few minutes before Cethaz said,
"You know, honey, that waterfall does seem like a nice, relaxing place for some... sexy activity."
Aatos smiled. They hadn't made love since they had left the city of Zalfahan; he knew that Cethaz loved having sex in the water. "That sounds like a great idea, Cethie. Let's climb down and get under that waterfall."
After they made their way down the cliff, Cethaz asked,