Chapter 4: Trouble Comes In Many Forms

At the start of another beautiful day full of promises that reflect back a world in a myriad of wonder, Emma walks into Allan's cabin. She finds him doing push-ups along with the rest of his morning regiment. Even though love has found this knight amongst warriors, he is still a warrior. With his shirt off, Emma can see Allan's battle conditioned muscles and the scars that are now hers, too. Emma walks over to Allan as he is still doing push-ups, and lays down on him. He does not falter under her extra hundred and ten stonelings weight; in fact it only exhilarates him on.

With Emma getting lost in the warmth and motion, she smiles contentedly and whispers into his ear, "Allan, do you know why I love you?"

"Why, babygirl?" he responds in eager anticipation.

"Because I can be myself around you and it is totally okay. Thank you. There is no better gift that you could have ever given me. I love you."

"Ah, I love you too, babygirl. Emma, I love you more every second. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Allan rolls over to where both of them are sitting on the floor gazing at each other.

"Because you have accepted me for who I am. You have accepted my endless heart that now belongs to you, and you have accepted my bloodstained hands. I am a warrior for The Way, and because of that, violence often intrudes into my life, but my softer side belongs to you. Acceptance is the greatest gift you could have ever given me, and when I look into your beautiful brown eyes all I see is love and understanding. Thank you, my love. You have vanquished my greatest fear that I was unlovable. Emma, my princess, I love you so much that you take my breath away."

After both of them wipe their tears away, Emma says, "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." she says, with that smile that radiates her entire face and shines back through her eyes.

"Mother, Father, Allan and I are to be wed at the fair this autumn." Emma informs her parents.

Her mom jumps up and hugs her daughter and immediately starts making wedding plans with Emma.

But John says, "Allan is a good man, and I would choose no finer son to have, but don't you think this is too fast, after all you've only known each other not even two months."

"The fair is nearly two months away, father. We chose it for the extra time." Emma pleads.

"And, Allan, you are a warrior on a quest. Will you so easily give up that life, or do you mean to endanger my child by getting her caught up in your battles?"

"Sir, it is true I cannot change who I am, and my quest to uphold the right of others to live without fear is indeed important to me, but so is Emma. Whether or not we travel or stay here, I will give my very life to protect her and keep her from harm. A single day will not go by in her life to where she does not know she is loved."

"If you were to die in battle tomorrow, is not the pain she will feel causing her harm?"

Allan only hesitates a moment as he mulls that one over. "No, sir. Any of us can drop dead tomorrow in our sleep. Sir, I love her, and I want to show her a world of wonder. It is Emma's desire also, long before I met her. John, I don't know if I'm putting my thoughts and feelings into words that can make you understand, but she completes me."

It seems to be enough, for he rises and shakes Allan's hand and kisses his daughter, and wishes them a long happy life together. John is too practical and level headed not to try and make them see the possibilities. Allan knew it would be so, but John's love for his daughter and wanting only her happiness would win through. He will have lingering doubts and sleepless nights for the rest of his life, Allan knows.

Allan had hoped to have Emma move in with him immediately, but both her mother and father would not hear of it.

The mother replied, "Shameful, shameful, not proper at all."

The father only grimaced.

Emma's appeals that she is twenty-one, and can do as she pleases does nothing to sway them. She is just about to defy them anyway, but Allan stops her. Even though Allan will not say this to Emma, John is right in that there might come a time when he is lost in battle, and Emma will then need her family.

It is hard not holding Emma every night, even though she does sneak in often enough, and it is even harder to Allan's honor deceiving these folks who so openly welcomed him when they just barely knew him. But Allan is empty when Emma is away from him. All Allan has to do is touch Emma and the sun shines brighter, the stars glitter more and dark memories become lighter.

Almost every night after John and Edith fall asleep Emma comes over to Allan's cabin, and they talk late into the night and nurture their love to divine standards.

One of those nights when Emma and Allan are cuddling on the couch listening to each other breathe, Emma speaks up, "Allan, do you want to hear something strange?"

"Always."

"I always hoped that one day I would meet a man that I felt so comfortable around that I don't mind using the pot while he is in the room. To feel so comfortable around him that I don't have to worry about what is proper and what is not. Do you understand what I'm trying to convey?"

"I do my love, and I am honored, milady."

Emma smiles, "I knew you would be, my knight. When I was a little girl and a teenager I would play with the boys because they played harder. Granted this is a small village and we didn't make it to the bigger towns too often, but I was great at sports and I loved them. There is this game called Jojaba. Ever hear of it? No, oh well, anyway, once we were visiting Fernly and I saw a game of Jojaba being played, so I went and played too. We went to Fernly for my thirteenth birthday, and I was wearing a really pretty dress my mom had made for me. The boys laughed at me until they saw how good I was. I was moving up to kick the ball, and one of the boys tripped me and my dress flew up and everybody saw my knickers.

"Everybody was laughing at me, and unfortunately my mom came around the corner right then and saw every thing. The boys laughing at my under garments was a little embarrassing, but they were just being boys, and they laugh at each other like that too. But my mom went hysterical and started yelling at me in front of everybody about what is proper and what isn't proper for a girl. She told me I was just a girl, and that I had to act more lady-like. Now mom has always told me to be proper, which I hate, but after that she really came down on me. I never played Jojaba again. That is really when I started reading and wanting to visit the places I read about and Papa told me about.

"Plus, when mom told me I was just a girl, it crushed me and imprisoned my very essence. I cried for a week. It wasn't until you came along and accepted me for who I truly am that I started feeling free again. It is amazing. I always thought that when I got married I would lose myself in it. Even though I give myself to you fully, and believe it, Allan, I am yours, every day my spirit soars higher, and I am just so excited to see what tomorrow has in store for us." Emma cuddles further back into Allan, and Allan holds on with the promise of freedom.

"Emm."

"Yeah."

"Maybe you can teach me that game and we'll play."

"Okay," says Emma, kissing Allan's left arm, which she is resting her head on.

After a week they return to their regular routines of work and play.

Allan is just outside the northern wall when he hears Emma call out to him, and other villagers pleading to get the children inside before the beast can harm them. Allan jumps on Thunderheart and he leaps into action. Allan draws his sword and comes galloping full bore into the village square, where the townsmen are gathered with picks and axes fearfully standing off a dark mounted stranger.

Allan rides up, but the dark stranger never even notices him until Allan says, "I've never seen one as ugly as the horse he rides. I bet he smells even worse." The stranger's horse is one of the biggest in all the realms, and it is shaggy. The huge black stallion still looks small compared to the stranger sitting atop of him.

The dark stranger looks down at Allan with his black eyes that are reflecting deep red. When he sees the human's impudent bravado sitting on his horse, his eyes grow brighter red and he replies, "Human, how is it that one so puny can have such a big mouth? Are your balls as big as your words, or as small as your stature?"

"Those are fighting words, creature, stand and prepare to be thrashed soundly."

The stranger calmly replies as he is dismounting his sorry excuse for a horse, "It has been a long time, it will be good for my ever growing ego, but who is to do it? Surely not you."

The villagers scatter and Allan hears Emma whimper, "Oh, Allan."

The stranger and Allan stand toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye, even though the stranger stands a good twelve marks above him. They stand there waiting for the other to make the first move, until they can't stand it anymore and start busting out laughing and hugging long and hard, like two warriors who have fought side by side before will unashamedly do.

The villagers are speechless, but still too afraid to approach.

After Emma gets over her initial shock for thinking that her soon to be husband was going to make her a widow before the wedding, she approaches, but does not say a word. She doesn't have to, because Allan is looking for her to introduce her to his brother-in-arms.

"Rax, this is Emma, she is to become my wife in a little over a month."

Rax swings around on Allan and gives him a smile and a twinkle of the eye, just like Thunderheart does. Allan always wondered if Rax was the one who taught him that annoying habit? He will have to ask.

Rax turns back to Emma and says, "Milady, it is a honor to meet the one who can tame the mightiest of warriors." He takes her offered hand and kisses it respectfully, and then bows sincerely.

Allan's two paces and a mark makes Emma's six marks under two paces seem small, but Rax's two and a third paces make him seem like a monster. Apparently the villagers are thinking the same thing, for they still do not come any closer, and some still hold their farm tools at the ready.

Allan turns to them and says, "This is my brother, and he will cause no harm. He is the same as I."

That relaxes them a little bit, but they still do not introduce themselves, they only turn and walk off.

Rax turns to Thunderheart and says, "Your Majesty, I see you still ride with the white one."

Thunderheart nods his head up and down and neighs loudly. There is that damn laugh again. Humph.

"Rax, come we will sit, talk and eat. You can tell me what's been going on in the world."

Rax's reply of just a grunt makes Allan look at him twice.

As they are walking back to the cabin, Emma asks, "Did he call Thunderheart Your Majesty?"