Quinton, Bellona,
Sixteen years before the Quest
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The young man was on his way to the town hall when he recognized the woman from his childhood.
Sarah.
He knew it was her because she was carrying flowers to the apothecary, where she had grown up working with her family.
But also her eyes. Their emerald-green color sparkled in the sunlight, giving her the look of a fairy, one he had admired since they were young.
She had tied the flowers in a bundle, bunches of herbs and weeds which he could not remember the names of, but which she could recite as if they were poetry.
But there was one thing he remembered about the flowers, her favorite was a blue hyacinth.
Ducking into the small garden held behind the apothecary, Nathaniel searched for the blue bulbs. He planned on giving them to her and discussing their past, a time he remembered fondly.
At long last, he spotted the familiar flower and cut them at the stem with his knife.
Making sure that she couldn’t see him, Nathaniel emerged into the afternoon sun from the garden once again and approached Sarah as she was unlocking the apothecary’s door.
“May I offer you some assistance?” he asked, offering a hand for the bundle of flowers as the girl he so desperately wanted to talk to struggled with the key to the door.
“Oh, please, can you?” she replied, not looking at Nathaniel’s face, “I thought I could carry it all, but it seems I was mista-” that was when she turned and recognized his face.
The flowers she was holding dropped to the ground.
“Nate?” Sarah’s voice was hardly a whisper, “I-I thought you went to study in Hilgaria, why are you…”
Feeling his face grow hot, Nathaniel nervously scratched at the back of his neck. “Well…my parents realized it was best if I invest my um…talents elsewhere.”
“Oh no, don’t tell me,” Sarah’s face fell as she tried to put the pieces together, “Did you drop out?”
“I didn’t-I didn’t want to leave home,” he stammered out, avoiding her eyes, “I didn’t want to…leave you.”
Now it was Sarah’s turn for her face to turn red, her freckles blooming over the blush growing on her cheeks. “Oh. Well…I’m glad that you decided to stay here, anyway.”
Nathaniel offered a grin, but he was sure it ended up being crooked. His eyes flicked to the ground as he looked at the flowers Sarah had dropped.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I should have-”
“No, no, I insist, I want to help-”
Both of their hands reached for the bouquet, their fingers grazing the others and left Nathaniel feeling as if a bolt of lightning shocked him from her touch, sending a shiver down his spine.
His face flaming red, Nathaniel quickly picked up the bouquet and handed it to Sarah, before turning the key in the door’s lock and opening the apothecary for her.
Entering the small building, Nathaniel was hit with the familiar scent of herbs, weeds, and flowers that lay on the shelves, either open to the air or kept in a jar.
Sarah hurried to go behind the counter, beginning to separate the different plants; jarring some while wrapping the others in a paper.
Looking down at the hyacinths in his hand, Nathaniel cleared his throat and asked, “So…how have you been doing, Sarah?”
She sighed, screwing a jar closed. “Oh, you know, trying to keep this place running. But after Ma and Pa…” her eyes flicked down to the counter, avoiding Nathaniel’s face, “...passed…I’m having trouble keeping it running. I have to go out everyday looking for items to restock, and hardly anyone visits here anymore. It’s like there’s no need for it.”
“Do you need help running it?” Nathaniel asked, offering to help.
“No, no, it’s not that…” she trailed off, “More like I want to do my own thing. Do something other than run the apothecary. But…”
“But what?” he asked again, and this time Sarah looked him in the eye. “What’s stopping you from just quitting this job and living your life?”
“Money.”
“Oh.”
“But if I can’t keep this place going, I won’t have any money to live my life. I’ll be down in the gutter and alone.” For once, the bright light in Sarah’s eyes seemed to dim. As if she had lost the hope she once so dearly held.
That was when an idea struck Nathaniel.
“What if…what if I can help with that?”
Sarah looked up again, her expression confused. “What do you mean?”
“What if I can give you the money to help you,” he offered, “I still have some savings left over from when I was studying, maybe I could…get you a house or something.”
“Maybe…we can live our lives…together,” Nathaniel’s hand rubbed up against Sarah’s again, and that was when he brought out the hyacinths, handing them over to Sarah.
“Hyacinths,” she breathed, “You…you remembered.”
He nodded before saying, “Sarah Corinne, I’ve known you all my life. You are my light in the darkness, and you mean more to me than the stars in the sky.”
Sarah’s hand went to cover her mouth, her eyes wide in shock. She realized what he was doing, and Nathaniel wasn’t sure if he had the courage to continue.
His heart was in his throat as he knelt down on one knee, continuing, “I want you to have a future, Sarah, and I’ve felt this way for a long time. I have no ring to offer, but I swear on my life, Sarah, I will do my best to provide for you in any way I can.”
Now the tears were forming in her eyes, although Nathaniel wasn’t sure if she was happy or ashamed. But even as he began to finish his proposal, she didn’t say a word.
“Sarah Corinne,” he took a deep breath, “Will you be my wi-”
“Yes!” He hadn’t even realized that she had run behind the counter and was hugging him tight, tears splotching his shirt as she cried for joy.
“You-you will?” Nathaniel asked in surprise, “I didn’t know if-”
Sarah pulled herself away to stare into his eyes and said, “Nathaniel Doogan, I have known you my whole life. I’ve loved you for years.”
Nathaniel sighed in relief, “Me too.”
And, only a few months later, they were finally married. Nathaniel had never been happier than he was with Sarah.
Four years later, Sarah gave birth to their eldest son, the lovely Luke Doogan.
And a few years after that, Sarah was pregnant with triplets–Charles, Donald, and James.
And so when Bellona began drafting capable, young men, Nathaniel answered the call to protect his country.
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