Chittering came from the dimly lit lounge as bets were placed and poker chips descended onto the soft felted tables. Elves and men filled the chairs, a few drunk off whiskey or ale. The air was thick, dusty, and ran throughout the wooden structure via giant cut-out openings on the second story. From these openings a race track could be observed, muddled by a deluge of rain from the previous night. Hooves thudded loudly atop the mud-dirt mixture that littered the wide track. Majestic shades of white, brown, and tan raced past eager on-lookers spraying them with fragments of damp earth.

As the first heat of horses concluded their race a new stampede arose as the booking windows were swarmed with hopeful gamblers. The place reeked of desperation as men and women finalized their choices for the next group of stallions. So great was the stench of their forlorn hope that the dark elf felt a bit of pity towards them. But Lilthis was not here to gamble, she was here to find Faellint.

A lifetime ago he was entrusted to protect Lilthis without exception. They had become dear friends. They were strangers now. He had taken up gambling... and she was too absorbed in her own desires to notice until the addiction had consumed him entirely. Her guilt had troubled her greatly. Lilly could no longer bear the thought that she had abandoned her oldest friend.

“Dangerous to be here Lil.”

She recognized his gruff voice instantly. Turning to face the tall, broad shouldered dark elf she marveled at him for a short second. Faellint sported a neat shaven haircut which went well with the scruff of his unkempt facial hair. A long curved scar decorated his forehead, a souvenir from a bar fight in his youth. He appeared more put together than their last encounter, adorned in steel armor from head to toe with a gilded saber attached to his hip.

“Faellint... it’s good to see you’re ok. I was told I’d find you here,” she said before teasing her old companion, “I half expected to see you bumming outside!”

“Very funny,” Faellint replied in his usual monotone fashion. He was always too serious for Lilthis’ liking. “I’ve been worried about you. Not sure how you’ve managed to stay alive this long.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. She was here to make amends but as she feared her former guard underestimated her resolve. Ultimately it would serve her best to let that sleight pass without comment. The woman composed herself and verbalized her shame, “I am sorry Faellint. I shouldn’t have left so suddenly, I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

A brief pause ensued as the jet skinned maiden reached out her hand to grasp her old acquaintance’s. She continued, “I was selfish. I think I knew of your habit much earlier than I let on. I chose not to speak up. I only cared after it effected me.” Her hand squeezed his a bit tighter as she continued, “I never tried to help you. I just left. I should’ve been honest, I shouldn’t have just left. I used you instead of treating you as the dear friend you had been to me,” her lips quaked and eyes watered as her confession ended. She waited anxiously for Faellint’s response.

He gave Lilly a long stare. That same long stare that used to annoy her. Eventually he said, “mean’s a lot Lil. Wish I had an orange for you.” At that Lilthis forced a smile. Faellint admired the tiny dimples on her cheeks, framing that wonderful face in the back of his mind. Knowing it may be the last time he’d be lucky enough to appreciate it.

“Y’know, I think we both messed up, but seeing you here is good,” the grizzled warrior noted. Faellint rubbed his chin in contemplation and then proceeded to issue his own apology, “I couldn’t stop myself. Didn’t realize how unhappy you were until... but on the bright side
it really seems you’ve matured since last we spoke.”

It was true. She had learned a lot about herself. How to trust and open up to others, how to be less self absorbed.

Faellint pierced the drow’s thought process with an abrupt, “should go now Lil, I run security for...

them.”

She withdrew her hand from Faellint’s. He didn’t need to clarify who the them was. The same thugs who fractured her life so long ago. Apologetically the hulking dark elf explained, “gamblin’ debts got too high. They gave me a choice. This, or learn what the bottom of the Raiaeran sea looks like.”

Clarity dawned on the shadowy skinned elf. She’d deserted him, he’d been all alone. Lilthis had practically forced this fate upon him by robbing him of the one thing that kept him afloat. His need to provide for her. She wished she had done more. She wished she’d stuck around a bit longer. If she tried harder would he have avoided this fate? She had given up so quickly.

No. It was not her fault that he had gone down this path. He made his own decisions and she could not go back to how she once was. Beating herself up over his misfortune wouldn’t help anyone. Still, it hurt like hell to see him now.

Choking back tears she glanced down at her feet, not wanting to face him. Quivering, she finally focused back onto his bold red eyes... how she always loved those eyes...

“I’m sorry. Truly sorry. If I could go back. Do it over again,” pausing, the girl turned away from Faellint.

Lilthis didn’t want to stay there any longer. She had settled the rift between them, there was nothing left for her in this gambler’s den. An apology couldn’t mend the damage that he had done to his own life.

As the dark elf woman vanished into the crowd Faellint thought back to his mind’s painting of her face. How her eyes shined, those cute dimples, her flowing white hair, how her brow furrowed when she was lost in her own head, and the perfection of her thin smile. For the first time in years he could sleep well tonight, knowing that she was going to be ok. “G’bye Lil,” he uttered as her shadow faded out of view.

“I hope you find peace Faellint,” she said only to herself.