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[Mallory Ventrue]

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Mallory had just returned from her daily studies within the Paladin Hall of Trinsic. She was learning much there and was pleased with her own spiritual progress as well as her progress towards the completion of her newest assignment given to her by the leader of the paladin divison of Sanctus. It had been a long day, with the training in Britain, which she had actually enjoyed. The team she was on was led by the arcane captain Pluzkat, and they had worked very well as a team, communicating and working together. She was also helping Penny with her upcoming wedding, and while she couldn't help but be happy for her friend, inside her heart ached with loneliness. She sat and listened as Penny and Tatiana talked about silks and colors and giggled about their weddings.

Mallory knew she was in a foul mood and rather than dampen Penny and Tatiana's joy she decided to immerse herself into something she loved... learning. She set off for the Trinsic Paladin hall and worked for many hours on her assignment, reading, studying, writing and absorbing what was shown to her in the halls many tomes. She stopped when her stomach reminded her that it was not to be ignored and she returned to the hostel for what she planned to be a quiet supper before she took out some of her frustrations on some wilder beasts in the woods. When she arrived however, she was greeted by a man wearing nothing but his undergarments. When she asked if he needed assistance he told her that he had been robbed of his very clothes. Horrified that such an act would take place in Sanctus, Mallory at once sent a message to the local tailor to come at once.

She entered the hostel to find the arcane captain inebriated beyond all recognition. He began to make comments towards Mallory, regarding his feelings towards her and knowing his drunken status she disreguarded it and instead did all in her power to get him out of view of others so he would not be reprimanded for his drunken behavior. She, with the help of another gentleman, got the captain into the room and Mallory reminded him that his behavior was grounds not only for reprimand, but also dismissal. After seeing him in his leadership role, she did not want to see him dismissed. He was an asset to the guild and to the citizens of Sanctus. He accused her of wanting to kill him and go to bed with him, the later of which almost earned him a swift slap to the face had Mallory not found the strength within her to refrain. Mallory left him in the room alone with his own stupor and the future of a horrible headache in the morning to find Arakad in the hostel.

She began to explain the evening when the gentleman that was robbed returned and Pluzkat was woken up and brought out for questioning. Pluzkat admitted to saying he was in love with a woman named Ariel, but once he was given a sobering elixer from Arakad he adamantly denied the love, but still maintained his feelings towards another woman. He turned and looked at Mallory. Mallory's eyes widened and her face paled as she ran to a room and locked herself in it. Just earlier in the day had she not been speaking to Penny about her heart and where it lied. Penny seemed sure that Mallory would find love and happiness, and while outwardly Mallory nodded and agreed with her, her heart tended to believe otherwise.

Mallory paced the room to allow her emotions to calm and as she did tears filled her troubled eyes. Why was it that her young heart had faced hurt so many times, while others seemed to find love quite easily. Her first love had been a young soldier within the Legion of Justice named Fong. She had enjoyed her time with him, but it was not long that Mallory caught the sight of another Legion member... Vaen. Mallory had heard of Vaen, they were from the same town. The thought that someone such as he could fall in love with a simple girl such as herself. Their relationship began as a friendship, and over time it developed into a mutual admiration and while for a brief time that friendship was more, it was not of the Virtues for their love to last. It had broken her heart once when she lost him to the abyss, and yet again when she lost him to Ceinwyn. When he had become engaged to Brianha she tried her best to be happy for them both, but she wondered why she was not able to find happiness. It was then that a tall, dark stranger happened to be sitting next to her one night at The Freehold and she again was swept into the joy of being in love.

His letters and small gifts brought joy to her heart. The moments together, the embraces that she wished would last forever. He made her feel so loved and safe just with the touch of his hand. The letters became fewer and fewer until there had been none for quite some time. She had been past his house and no one had seen him. Her fears grew with every passing day that she did not hear from him. The admission of Pluzkat's feelings for her left her feeling as thought she had been knocked hard off her horse with a steel tipped lance or the tail of an angry dragon. She was not angry with him. In fact, she thought him, when not drunk, to be a very pleasant gentleman and enjoyed spending time with him. She remembered how kind he had been to her after the attack with Ceinwyn and how even though he was always trying to be tough he would take time to make her smile. She had not noticed it as flirtation and she did not think it necessary, to rebutt any advances. Her heart simply was not looking for romance and her eyes had become blind to it as well.

She opened the door to the room looking to speak to Pluzkat and explain herself to him, when Arakad gave her a gift saying it was from Pluzkat. She opened it to find it an empty box and it confused her. Pluzkat looked at her and stated plainly that it was to remind her how empty her heart was. Mallory's eyes filled with tears and she looked down into the box and realized how true the words rang. She closed the box and placed it in her satchel and went to speak to Arakad about other events from the night. Mallory found Arakad and he kept teasing her, pretending he didn't remember the evening until Mallory was so frustrated she left for home. She recalled to the Legion Island, and as she walked it the memories came back from the evening. She entered her home and made her way to her room and gently removed the rose from her journal and carried it with the box up to the roof of her home. Her new parrot greeted her, but even that did not emit a smile from her. She sat on a ench overlooking the ocean as the sun began to set. She placed the rose in the box and set the box next to her. As the sun sank lower in the sky, and the stars began to emerge one by one, the tears streamed down her eyes and she pulled her green cloak tighter around her. She lit a lantern and she wrote one simple poem in her journal...

The stars in the dark night sky
Gaze from their place down upon me here
All I can seem to think about
Is how I wish you were near.
The tears fall down my face freely,
Hold them back I will not
Against the cowardice in my heart
I have desperately fought.
I am a follower of the Virtues,
I tell them by day
But the nightmares I have at night,
May give the truth away.
I fear the unknown,
Without you here by my side
I wish you were here
To be my eternal guide.
I yearn for your touch,
Your embrace and your kiss,
But it is your love that
Truthfully I miss.
A sailor has a sextant and the stars to guide him
When he is lost out at sea.
I pray that the stars and the Virtues,
Will guide you back to me.