Adaly feels her eyes becoming large “You… you love me?” She swallows and takes a step back. Adaly starts pacing, Sam leans against the tree observing her, while she starts ranting “You can’t love me, you barely know me… But if it is true, I am too late… fuck. How do you know?” she asks and stops pacing looking at him.
He smiles comes closer, gently strokes her arm “Love is not rational, even though you try to logic your way around it. I… it just feels…” “You love me…” she once more whispers. She goes for a kiss but at last moment aborts, realizing that his face will still be rubber though, she chuckles and moves backward.
Sam licks his lips, clearly remembering how good their kisses taste. He looks at her “You just mentioned you are too late, with what?” Adaly bites her lip, and looks insecurely at him “I wanted to end whatever is happening between us before we got too serious… This mission… it is worth everything to me. I cannot start a relationship right now. That is the largest part, the other part is, I… You don’t know me, there are so many secrets.”
He grabs a hold of her “I know enough about you, Adaly. But we can say that we will not start a relationship, until after the mission, if that makes you feel better. There are also secrets I have not shared with you, for example Elsin, the one I loved before. That was… It was rough.” He gives her a sad smile, and she holds him.
“How did she die?” Adaly asks holding him tight “She… she died during one of our missions. She was a paladin like me you see. When she died, she refused to be revived, that resulted in me going into a dark place… I did some bad things back then. Hence Livia being worried.” Sam answers, looking sadly at her.
Adaly swallows “I know the feeling… I am sorry to put you through that once more” she says sadly while stepping away. He swallows touches her arms from behind her, giving her space but still letting her feel him. “You think you will not survive this mission?” he asks with concern in his voice. Adaly closes her eyes “I always kept hope that I could be free from my father, but no, I never truly believed that. The only way I will be free off him is in death, even though that is not a guarantee. I will still help you guys, and hopefully help Amara kill him, but for me this is a one-way ticket. But that is not what I wanted to talk about.”
She turns around, faces him once more, touches his face, which feels gross. “I lied…” she says with a sad face. Sam immediately grabs the sides of her face “That is okay, it’s okay… I also have been lying” she can see the almost desperation in his face, worried about what it would be, but also a strange sadness.
Adaly takes a step back, casts see invisibility and looks around “I lied about Ashe, I did figure out what she is getting sacrificed for.” Adaly swallows and Sam looks her over not understanding. “Why hide that?” Adaly swallows, “It… is. You cannot share this, even with Livia or with anybody of the shadowed blade…”
Sam nods and she can see the strange sadness on him once more, this time she comments on it “What is wrong?” she asks worriedly. Sam swallows and sits down on a fallen over tree “I… I won’t share anything, it is just. There are some things that are not adding up. I rather first figure it out before sharing, if you are okay with that.” Adaly looks worried at Sam, if he is not trusting of the patient man, that is a concerning development. What if this whole mission is just a trick of her father, what if…. “Adaly, are you okay?” Sam asks looking concerned at her. She shakes off her panic, and once more looks around, but nothing seems to be spying on them.
“Yes… it is just, this is not easy for me. You know the trusting thing. Now I do want to point out I only learned he is truly intending this in the last connection I had with him. But… this is what Es-Grenalieth told me he would be doing, the reason she thinks he will be weak at the 11th. When she told me I dismissed it because we know thanks to you the other reason for weakness, so I kind of just ignored it. She did give me more details in the form of a book” Adaly rants and grabs the book she got from Es-Grenalieth out of her bag.
Sam just observes her not taking the book, Adaly goes back to pacing around, looking around if indeed nothing is spying on them. He just gives her time and space, when she finally continues “He is going to evolve a tiefling into a devil. Es-Grenalieth thinks I am the target, but I don’t know… She, He… I just don’t know.” Adaly stops pacing rubbing her head.
Sam audibly swallows “It is not possible to make a mortal a devil…” Adaly chuckles “Not only is it possible, but it is also not the first time he does it… Es-Grenalieth was once a tiefling like me.”
Sam is clearly a bit in shock and Adaly just goes to sit next to him, looking in at the book “Why…. Why would she think he wants to turn you devil?” Adaly sadly smiles “There is a part of the ritual which allows him to command the converted devil. It doesn’t matter that I have not been loyal, I will become loyal. Es-Grenalieth has found a way around that, that is why she shared the details with me… the ritual takes some of his power, 2 devils created by him could take him down, was her reasoning.”
Sam’s hand gently strokes her back “That is a lot… Would you go along with this?” Adaly looks up at him with a sad smile, she feels a tear forming “Let me answer the question you are not asking. I don’t want this, but I might not have a choice, he can force this on me. So, I am grateful Es-Grenalieth has given me a way to fight back.” Sam nods in understanding.
“Thank you for trusting me with this. I know this was not easy. I am tired, shall we go back?” Sam asks and Adaly nods, putting the book back in her bag and they walk back to camp.
Stories of my brain 