|
Life in the castle settled down once again, a familiar tension between master of the keep and his mistress, although less intense than before the birth of Ardia. Having brought a child into the world seemed to have a calming effect on Shreniel, who now found it much easier to hold some form of control over her natural desires. Over the course of what became nearly a century with the lord of Castle Anemone, Shreniel had become entirely dependent upon him for both her support and her happiness - a fact which she both clung to him for and despised him for. Lord Talanth's advancing age left him more vulnerable to disease, and when Shreniel had neared her hundreth year of life, she watched the only ally and only enemy she had ever had fall ill and wither before her eyes. Sensing his impending death, he released her from the bonds of slavery and soon after was unable to maintain his magical bonds upon her, either. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, Shreniel remained with him until the last breath escaped his lips, although she refused to witness his burial in the cold ground, nor would she visit his gravesite. House Talanth soon after put forth a new lord to claim Castle Anemone, its wealth, and the title of Lord Talanth. The new lord was incensed that the sylph was not part and parcel with his newly acquired holding, and, outraged that she denied his advances, he cast her out with nothing more than a handful of minor belongings. The doors to the only home she had ever known had been closed to her, but in spite of this Shreniel was grateful to have been officially freed and thus not become a possession to be passed on. |
|