I take a deep breath. Birds are chirping. I can hear the sounds of excited, happy conversation nearby. I... am at ease. Gods, it's been a while. Considering my amnesia, I don't think I've ever truly been at ease, but now, I am. It's been a few hours since we've defeated the young girl's grandfather's evil brother and cleaned up this entire succession crisis mess. As I reach down from the bench I'm sitting on and just let the blades of grass beneath me run through my fingers, it's finally settling in that this whole thing is over. As a tactician, warfare will be in my future again, but that's the future. Right now, I have no responsibilities burdening me. My tactics were well crafted, and I got us through this endeavor without losing any of my comrades in battle. I had some close calls, but fortune was on my side, and it's all worked out—sometimes, you just have to be a bit lucky.
All the others are seated around a large table nearby in the gardens of this estate, celebrating their victory with a feast. And I'm sure I'll join them in a bit, but for now, I really just want to take my time and take in all the peaceful sensations around me. I don't have a lot of memories, so I want to make sure I remember the true serenity I'm feeling right now. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see somebody getting out of their chair and walking in my direction. And as he approaches, I see that it's him. The light of the very short life I remember. The one that got me through this with his support. Lucius.
The young monk approaches me, his beautiful long blond hair flowing in the wind. "${Tactician's name?}? Is something wrong?" he asks, a look of worry on his face.
I look up at him, giving him the most reassuring smile I can muster. "No, Lucius... everything's fine. For the first time... I think everything's fine. And I just want to enjoy that moment. I'll join the feast with the others in a bit, I just want to take a break."
The sides of his mouth curl up into a relieved smile. Gods, that smile. That smile that just makes all my worries melt away. "Ah, that's good... do you mind if I join you for a moment?" he asks.
"Absolutely not. Feel free." I say, scooting over on the bench to make room for him and patting the spot next to me. He sits down next to me, and the two of us watch a bird working on a nest in a nearby tree.
And as if it were the most natural thing in the world, my head leans onto his shoulder, and his arm wraps around me. "Thank you so much, Lucius. I don't think I could've made it without you. I... don't remember anything before about three weeks ago, as you know. And I didn't have anyone I could rely on. But ever since that night, when you got me to open up to you... I know I can rely on you. And for that, I'll be forever thankful. You got me through this, and you might've just saved lives with that." I say, closing my eyes and enjoying the intimacy.
"Oh, ${Tactician's name?}... I just did what any good follower of Saint Elimine would do. You were clearly suffering, and I had to try to heal your suffering. I should be thanking you. It was your tactics that got us through this, that got us all out of this alive. I knew you had it in you, you just needed the darkness clouding your mind to clear away." he replies, pulling me a bit closer and leaning his head against mine.
The two of us just enjoy the moment for a while. Throughout the last week, ever since that night I opened up to him, Lucius and I would meet for at least an hour every day and just... be together. One day we would go to a nearby meadow and watch the stars at night, my head resting on his lap. Another day, we would just sit in my tent, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, and talk about spirituality and the gods. And yet another day, we would look through the camp supplies, making note of what we had. It didn't really matter, just that the two of us were together, and just like that, my worries disappeared. I no longer doubted in my strategies because I knew Lucius believed in me. And if he believed in me, I could believe in me. It's such a simple thing, and it sounds stupid when I think about it, but it worked.
"So, ${Tactician's name?}... do you remember what I promised you that night?" Lucius asks with a smile. I think for a while, but it seems I've genuinely forgotten, because I can't think of it. I shake my head, and his expression slowly shifts into something I've never seen him show before. There's... eagerness in his eyes. "Oh! Well, ${Tactician's name?}, you're in for a surprise tonight..." he continued. The look in his eyes was honestly a bit disconcerting—I've never seen him look like that before. But he seems to notice my trepidation, and his expression shifts right back to that gentle smile I love so much. "Don't worry..." he says, carefully caressing my cheek. "You'll like it a lot, I promise." And, well, I believe him when he says that. If he says I'll like it, then I probably will, so I just nodded. "Now, let's get back to the feast, ${Tactician's name?}. We'll have all the time in the world this night..." he finally says, getting up from the bench, taking me by the hand and leading me back to the feast.
The feast continues for many hours, deep into the night, with so much delicious food, so many stories being told and songs sung, and so much wine flowing freely. All of us are so glad that for now, all our troubles are behind us, and we are going to celebrate that as long as we could. But eventually, the celebration slowly dissolves, with smaller groups splitting off and doing their own thing, and some of those that were more exhausted going to sleep earlier than the others. I find myself returning to my room some time past midnight, and I had noticed earlier that Lucius left about an hour earlier. As I approach the door to my room, I could hear rustling inside, and for a moment, I'm struck with a feeling of unease. Why is someone in my room? I freeze, waiting in front of the closed door a few minutes, and eventually, the rustling dies down. Slowly and carefully, I open the door, and there he was.
Lucius was sitting on my bed, looking right at me. "Hey there. Are you ready for your reward?" he asks, his smile illuminated by the candles he's lit in the room. Looking at him like this, it's very easy to see why he frequently gets confused for a girl—he's absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. Timidly, I walk inside the room and close the door behind me. I can feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up—I have no idea if I'm ready for this, whatever it is. He gently pats his lap, motioning for me to sit there, and while it takes me a bit to slowly cross the room, eventually, I am sitting on Lucius's lap with his arms wrapped around me. And as I stay in his embrace, I feel all my nervousness melt away again. How could I ever be scared of what's going to happen? It's Lucius. He'd never harm me in any way.
"You did such a good job, ${Tactician's name?}. I always believed in you, and you just needed a reminder to believe in yourself. And now, you deserve something special. So just relax... I'm going to make you so happy, I promise." he whispers in my ear before gently kissing me on the cheek. His hands slowly begin moving around my body, caressing my hair and gently rubbing my hands. "You deserve only the best. You're such a special guy, ${Tactician's name?}... and I'm so glad I could help you. But now, let me repay you for what you've done for all of us, OK?" he says, his hands slowly moving inside my robe, and