Letter to Hayley III

Dearest Sister,
 
I hope you and your goats are well, it has been quite a while since we heard from each other.
 
I have big news, I have gotten married to a wonderful girl called Lyra.
 
I am sure that you will love her as much as I do. Don’t worry, she is nothing like Emily. She is so full of life and has a great sense of humor. The closest she has ever gotten to a noble is when she spat on one’s shoes. I have never seen her open a book, in fact, I am not even sure she can even read. But it doesn’t matter, because I love her dearly.
 
So as you know, I left Keralon last year, hoping to find myself again. But honestly I was a mess and I just wandered from place to place, hitching a ride along with every caravan that would have me. I was a guard, I tried being a scout, I was even a driver for some. While I built up some goodwill and reputation among the caravan taskmasters, guard never really felt like a life for me.
 
It was after one such caravan trip, that I ended up in a small wayside inn. During my stay some drunks began bothering one of the servants. The owner yelled at them to stop, but the drunks refused and taunted the old man to try something. I intervened, and honestly a single fire spell was enough to send the drunks out of the door. It is always the loudest that are the biggest cowards.
 
The owner thanked me and offered to pay me gold, but I told him to just give me a free night and meal. But the incident did remind me why I wanted to become a wizard in the first place. I wanted to help people, to keep them safe.
 
So I started to wander from village to village, seeking out those that needed help. It started small, dealing with some wild animals that were attacking livestock or helping to find some misplaced items. But soon enough, I was working together with a local guard or sheriff, tracking down a thief or a wayward sheep.
 
By the time I arrived in the small village called Sweethaven, I was feeling very confident in my role as an adventurer. It was here that I met Lyra, as she was working as a barmaid in a local tavern called the Rusty Flagon. Alas at the time, the village was under attack by a monster. The locals asked me to help drive the creature away, and I knew I had to help them as they were too distant for any patrols from Keralon. But it was Lyra that had caught my attention, partially because of her beauty but mostly because she was convinced that I was a fool to go up against the monster. She called me cocky and arrogant, but I refused to back down.
 
Long story short, ten minutes later, I was alone in the town square, filled with more than a bit of liquid courage, yelling out for the monster to show itself. Now of course, the monster turned out to be a small dragon. Although, I find the term ‘small’ a bit of a misnomer when it comes to dragons because the thing was still as big as a cart. But I was far too committed to prove myself to Lyra to back down (and also far too drunk).
 
The next part is very hazy, but the villagers told me there was a lot of fire and explosions involved. But apparently I injured the wyrm enough to make it flee. The villagers said they saw it limping through the sky, and they threw rocks at it. As far as I know it never returned to Sweethaven. So either your warding shamble that I still carry everywhere with me is keeping me safe. Or I must be the luckiest person alive.
 
Of course, with the dragon driven away, there was cause for more celebration and more alcohol. Then the next thing I clearly remember is waking up in bed two days later with the worst hangover I have ever experienced. The first thing I noticed was that Lyra was in the bed next to me. The second thing I noticed were the impromptu wedding rings. When I asked Lyra about them, she first teased me about the fact that I couldn’t remember the night we spent together, but she was a bit more insulted when I told her that I couldn’t remember us getting married.
 
I know that you think me some sort of foul that I fell for this. But after first confirming that this wasn’t an elaborate prank by Lyra (although she did admit that it would be funny), I checked with the other villagers. They all confirmed the same thing, Lyra and I had gotten married the day before. They had even got a cleric and everything to perform the ceremony (I met the old priest, he seemed nice). Apparently it was held in the tavern, and the ceremony was lovely and brief. They also confirmed that the local ale is a bit stronger than what most outsiders are used to, and I wasn’t the first visitor to wake up with a few days missing.
 
So, sister, I know you must have been angry when you read that I had gotten married without you being there, but I can guarantee that I was barely present myself.
 
I stayed in Sweethaven a few more days, trying to figure out where to go from there and to get to know who it was that I had married. I learned that Lyra was originally from Keralon, and that she had only arrived in Sweethaven a few months earlier. The tavern owner had been nice enough to give her a job. It sounded like she didn’t exactly leave Keralon by choice, but I wasn’t anyone to judge about that. She explained that she is also not normally this impulsive either, but after the dragon attack, she realized that she might be dead tomorrow. And seeing me fight the dragon, reminded her how much she dreamed of adventures and excitement. She never wanted to take advantage of me, and hoped that I would still keep my promise to take her with me, even if I don’t remember making it.
 
It probably won’t surprise you that I renewed my commitment to Lyra then and there, and by the next day we were walking side-by-side out of Sweethaven.
 
We traveled along the main road, which would take us to Drybank. But on the way, we were beset by three highwaymen who believed us to be newlyweds (which we were) traveling with substantial wealth (which was less so). This is also when I discovered two new things about Lyra. She has a penchant for disappearing, and she is very good with a dagger.
 
I am still not sure what life she led in Keralon, but she can certainly hold her own. This was a bit unfortunate for the bandits, but we made sure to keep them alive and tie them up for the next patrol to find.
 
When we arrived in Drybank, which is a larger town, or perhaps better said a large fort with its own town, I did notice a shift in Lyra’s behavior. I hadn’t known her for too long, but I could tell that something wasn’t right. When I asked her about it, she laughed it away and suggested a new activity for us to do. I think we ended up sampling every single inn and tavern in Drybank.
 
As we walked along the market to pick up some supplies for our further journeys, we noticed that we were being followed. We laid an ambush, and managed to corner a stranger that I had never seen before. My first thought was that it was someone from a gang I had crossed recently, but it turned out that it was someone who knew Lyra, who said something about wanting revenge. He attacked her, but I intervened with my magic, and we chased him off together.
 
After the incident, Lyra explained that the stranger had been a bad man called Kassian, someone who she knew from Keralon. It was because of him that she had fled the city, and she didn’t think he would chase her this far. She told me a bit more about her background, about how she had been an orphan, and that she had fallen in with the wrong crowd when she was just a kid. When she was old enough, she tried to leave but Kassian refused to let her go. So she did some drastic things, and she has been on the run ever since.
 
Lyra explained that Kassian wouldn’t give up, so we sped up our plans and got ready to leave Dryhaven the next day. As I am writing this letter, we are getting everything packed up and ready to go.
 
It is our goal to head back towards Keralon, so hopefully we can meet up. I do owe you some kind of wedding celebration after all, perhaps I can also send some invites to Alistan, Dadroz and anyone else who is around. (I may actually need Alistan’s help to get a place that is big enough.)
 
Your brother,
 
Luke