To lose a life

Karinia returned to her seat as she finished stoking the fire. She wasn't sure whether it was cold or whether it was just her. In any other circumstance she would be wearing more clothes, but with her armour drying after being cleaned she didn't have any choice but to wear what little else she had left.

She looked over at Leov sleeping peacefully. Looking at her reminded her of what had happened, why she was here. She'd never used to like having attentions and she was quite sure she didn't want any now. But Leov had been the one with the 'get well soon' cards, the one which everyone said 'I'm sorry' to. Yes - it was Leov's house that Marianna had burnt down. Yes - Leov had alot of things in the house that she had lost. Yes - Leov had been the one injured.

But it was her home too. Leov may have lost things, but she had some things survive, she had things in the bank, money stored away. She had been the one to injure herself. Karinia was the one who had lost everything. She didn't have savings or a bank. She didn't have people doting on her, reassuring her everything would be alright. She'd lost everything, she'd come to Ironforge with little and now had even less.

Her master's sword - gone. Her master's things - all but a single book gone. All her possessions - gone. She had no home, money and only the clothes she wore and the bow she held. Out of all the things that had survived the fire, only a small golden chest remained.

She looked away from Leov and back to her chest, fingering over it. She knew what it contained and though she had many of his things, a single strand of his hair was her most precious. If anything had survived the fire she was glad that it was this. The last hope she had that he would find her again.

Was this really what she had become. She'd come to Ironforge to find him and now she was little more than a beggar on the street, grabbing what little meals she could afford using the Dawn's funds. She'd hope to find him, until then serve Leov as she had served him. Now she wasn't a servant anymore, she was being moulded into a fighter and after the fire and her attack, she wasn't sure this was the direction she wanted to go in her life. She didn't want change, she wanted him.

She looked back at Leov. She hadn't searched for him since she'd come to Ironforge. Maybe this was her life now, to wait for him. Maybe she had changed for the better, maybe she didn't want her old life back. All she knew was that, with Leov lying there silent, she was missing something in her life. Something a fire hadn't destroyed but had just made it clear to her.

Something that made her feel she was losing her life.

(( I like this, always fun to look inside a character's mind. Hope you'll post more. ))

As Karinia sat in the waiting room, she mused over the pieces of paper in front of her. While impossible to say that these papers had changed her so much, they did worry her...worry her as to why she was here...and what would happen next.

The first was a note for Leov. She was still not even sure if she needed a note, or if she should say so face to face. She didn't want to be a coward. No...she was fine being scared, she didn't want that fear to affect her actions. Still, the letter looked appealing.

She finished writing it and laid back in the chair. Her eyes went over to the other bit of paper, bearing the official stamp of Alterac...though little more than a remenance now. When she had first come to Leov, she had trusted Leov when the paladin had explained to her that Leov was the beneficiary of her master. After learning to read, she too had realised it.

But this paper was different. This was not written by her master in Stormwind, it was written by her master years before, in Alterac. To the family of the du'Ley, to it's household, Leov was not the Lady du'Ley, but she was now.

Not that she was the Lady of anything now, nor was she entirely sure she wanted to be. The households were gone, sold. Still, she had inherited something far more valuable. She finally understood the meaning of her master's last words to her.

As she was thinking this, the blacksmith returned. He nodded are her and laid down the armour he had crafted on the table beside her. It looked beautiful, fulfilling her requests to the letter.

"I'm afraid lass, ye gunna need some help with this 'er. Proper armour now-days, ye can't be puttin' on alone. Lemme give ye a hand."

She nodded and let the dwarf begin putting on her armour. She gave a smile of satisfaction as she felt it fit so well to her.

"Not had many fork out so much gold on armour so quickly lass. If ye don't mind me askin', ye been lookin' scared since ye came in 'ere. What is this stuff 'ere for then?"

"I haven't...decided yet. I know this is just one step...but for now...and until I decide when I need this...it is one step closer to...my dreams." she replied.

"Well lass, it fits well."

It did...now if only everything else in her life did.