"AIDANNNN!" You jerk awake to the sound of Brighid's anguished scream. Her head is thrashing back and forth and her legs are kicking slightly, but her eyes are closed. "No, no, no, no!" She whimpers. "Don't leave me, I'm sorry, no no nooooooo...."

The door bangs open as Cai barges in, but you pay her no mind; your attention is focused entirely on the woman you love. You take her head between your hands, keeping her from hurting herself as she thrashes, and start telling her, "Brighid, I'm here, I'm here, wake up love, it's just a nightmare, wake up." You cover her face and lips with kisses in between your words. She keeps whimpering and trying to shake her head but you hold her steady and continue trying to get through to her.

After another few seconds, Brighid stills and her eyes flutter open. At first she doesn't seem to realize where she is, but then her emerald gaze focuses on you. "You left me." She whimpers. "The Taig ... and then ..." You can see intense pain in her eyes and her voice breaks as she says, "And then I watched you die, Aidan. You floated up into the air and ... and ..." She buries her face against your chest and cries. "And you burned away ... there were not even any ashes, just your armor and clothes."

You hold her against you and tenderly run your fingers through her tangled hair. A sound makes you look up and you see that Cai has closed the door behind her and made her way over to the bed. She kneels down beside the bed and rests her hand on Brighid's bare back. "He came back to you, Brighid. I told you he would, did I not?" She turns her attention to you and says, "We helped each other through our nightmares, this last week, as we waited out in the hills for your return."

You give Cai a we'll talk about this later look, but just nod and ask her as you continue comforting Brighid, "How long have we been asleep?"

"Well," Cai responds with a smirk and a glint in her cornflower blue eyes, "it has been maybe two hours since all the 'fuck me Master!', 'take me I'm yours!' and screams of pleasure died down." You blush and Brighid even hiccups out a laugh between her sobs. "It is only a little after mid-day, if that is what you are asking." She rubs Brighid's back again then says, "Well, it looks like you have the situation in hand, my Lord, so I will return to my post. Let me know if you need anything."

"Actually," you speak up as she gets her legs back under her, "there is something you can do, if you don't mind. Can you or Llwyd take a message to Ailis for me and ask if I might consult with her this afternoon or evening? I actually want to talk to the full Council, but I need to run some things past her first and ask her for some help in other matters. I'll meet with her whenever she can make time for me."

"Of course, my Lord. I will take the message myself and return with Councillor Ailis's response." She bows her head to you formally and then exits.

Once the door closes behind Cai, you return your attention to Brighid, who has calmed somewhat but is still sniffling against your chest. "I am so sorry, flame of my heart. I tried to think of anything else, anything at all, I could do, but the Taig had me completely trussed up. I couldn't use my hands, so I couldn't cast any of my other magic. If it had gagged me, too, we would all have died, not just me. Or worse, become slaves to it like the dakhols were. I couldn't let that happen, Brighid."

She nods against you and murmurs, "I know, love. You did what you had to do. But watching you die... and then you took so long to return. Every day without you I died a little more. I felt like --forgive me for saying this, Master, I am only telling you how I felt -- I felt like I had betrayed you and you no longer had the will to return." She lifts her face and looks at you with tear-filled eyes. "After five days I ... I was going to kill myself, Master."

You stiffen and your heart seizes in your chest. Your mind goes totally blank for a second as her words echo a thousand times, then you grab both sides of Brighid's head in your hands and glare at her. "You will swear to me -- swear an Oath to me as my Soulmate, Brighid! -- that you will never kill yourself, directly or indirectly. Even if I die and do not return for months or years, you are absolutely forbidden from joining me in death until nature or the Gods deem that your time in the Realms is over. This is a command from your Master and your Soulmate!"

Her eyes widen at the violence of your reaction, but she nonetheless intones in a trembling voice, "I vow to thee, who holds claim to my body, mind, heart, and soul: never shall I cause my own death, through action nor inaction."

A notification appears in the periphery of your mind, but you ignore it for the moment as you say to Brighid in a much firmer voice, but with the same note of ritual, "And I vow to thee, flame of my heart and light of my life, unconstrained by any other oath or relationship which bind us together, that always shall I return to thee. I swear this Oath as a warning now to all the Powers and peoples of the Realms that nothing shall ever keep me from thy side; though the path back may be long and fraught with peril, though I fight my way through Heaven and Hell and batter down Death's very Door with my own two hands, though I must confront the very Gods in their seats of power, still I will return to thee." Brighid's eyes widen even further as you swear your reciprocal Oath to her, and this time you are not able to suppress the notification which appears.

BEWARE, CHOSEN!

You have sworn a dire Oath which is a direct challenge to the Powers of the Realms. Know that those with Power do not take challenges idly, and though most are as yet unaware of this Oath, any who oppose you or your Patron may take a personal hand in forcing you to break this Oath should they learn of it. Still, words have power, and words spoken with a clear mind and determined will have even greater power. Who yet knows what strength this Oath may give you in the dark days ahead?

Know this! You have sworn an Oath to Brighid Fireheart that you will always return to her, no matter what bars your way and no matter what else happens between you. Breaking this Oath will have catastrophic consequences. Always remember, words have power.
Know this! Brighid Fireheart has sworn an Oath to you, as her Soulmate, that she will never kill herself through action or inaction. Breaking this Oath will have catastrophic consequences for her, even after death. Always remember, words have power.

Brighid trembles against you and her eyes are filled with terror, but before she can say anything you slide your hands from the side of her face to the back of her head and pull her into a long, slow, tender kiss. Once her trembling eases somewhat, you pull back slightly and tell her with a much calmer voice, "I know what I just did, love, I know the consequences. I meant every single word. I will come back, no matter what happens between us, no matter what tries to stop me. I can't promise that it will always be quick or easy, but it will happen. But if I were to return and find that you had taken your own life..." Your own eyes begin to fill with tears now. "If you were to die in battle or of illness, I can barely imagine the pain it would cause me or the grief I would feel. But if you took your own life because of me, because of our relationship, that would completely shatter me."

"It was Llwyd who stopped me." She whispers. "He saw the despair growing in me and knew what I felt. He told me that he felt the same way when the dakhol killed Cai in front of him. But he said that it was you who kept him from charging off alone and committing suicide that way, and that you had already returned to life once -- I told them all after the new Age started -- and that nothing which had happened would stop you from coming back to me again. I still was not convinced, too deep in my despair, but he would not allow me to be alone. He even sent Cai or Ceirios with me when I went to relieve myself."

"Then I will have to find some way of thanking all three of them, because they have saved us both."

A knock sounds at the door and, thinking that it is just Cai returning from her errand, you call out for her to enter. The door swings open and someone steps in, hooves clopping against Brighid's stone floor, and then Ailis's familiar soprano voice says drily, "When you sent Cai to ask me to consult with you, I did not realize you meant to hold the consultation naked in your bed."