(23) - Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls

Griffonclaw slid from the furs slowly, quietly, so as to not wake his beloved.

No.

Not beloved. Or rather, a thousand times "Yes!" beloved... but now also one more thing.

Fiance.

Last night had been tumultuous for Griffonclaw; he had been contacted by Selvaggia through their link. She had told him that two couples within the Scions of Darkness had announced their engagements; Lealah and Ahab, and Gned and Ellarin.

Griffonclaw had sent congratulatory messages to the two couples, promising to do his utmost to make sure that they knew that Griffonclaw would do nothing to marr their happiness.

He would not make wives widows; that was Keruptis' office.

And then he had paused.

Keruptis' office.

Griffonclaw's path had made of him such that he felt he needed to extend covenants to not prey upon...

He had cried for some time.

Ahab had responded with thanks, but a curious tone to his message, reminding Griffonclaw that he would not forsake his duty to the Scions, and to its leader, defending Keruptis with his life, if necessary.

And now Griffonclaw, unless he could catch Griffonclaw unawares, had a choice - make wives widows in his pursuit of Keruptis, or hold to his word and let Keruptis strike him down; for Keruptis would slaughter every Scion to the last man if it furthered his plans.

He could always recruit more, after all.

While pondering this, he found himself sitting next to a gnome fellow named Bam.

"You seem troubled, Paladin," he had said. "Tell me the tale."

For no reason, Griffonclaw had; it felt good to talk of things... of Catrionae, and how they had met. The price Griffonclaw had paid. The love he had for her that he had not ever put into words. The fear for her safety that had led to him sending her to the Knights of the Way for safety. The engagement. The... the wedding, and what came after.

And the madness that had come after that.

Griffonclaw had cried during the telling, and it seemed to him that Bam had been speaking or chanting in a low voice... but his lips never seemed to move.

As he told the story, he seemed to relive it, in a dream... except that his memories and the remembering of it seemed at odds... Griffonclaw had thought that Catrionae had still been alive when he had arrived, and that he had stood between her and death.

A delusion. She had already been dead, her blood spilled out upon the Altar of storms.

The beginning of madness... the delusion that if he could have killed Keruptis, he could have saved her.

Another. That Selvaggia had been forced to attend at knife-point. She had attended of her own free will. And watched him die, without lifting a finger in his defense.

He asked, to check... she answered, in tears, but honestly. He forgave her; they had been at the beginning of their love then, and Keruptis was... unforgiving. She would not have been able to save Cat, or him, or herself.

And last... his mania for revenge. He had forsaken the Light in pride and rage, he had wielded a forbidden, unholy thing... and he had sent souls to the Twisting Nether, becoming as ruthless and uncaring as Keruptis... and in the grip of perhaps the same madness.

Did he really have to become Keruptis to slay him?

Would Catrionae want that, in her memory?

And worse... was Selvaggia in love with him because he had turned from the Light? If he bowed his stiff neck, and sought forgiveness and redemption... would she still love him?

He had finished his recitation, and Bam had said that he had been at the wedding, and had heard Catrionae's final words.

"Dont be sad for me" he relayed. "And be happy"

"She said those to Digory?" Griffonclaw had asked.

"No" Bam had replied. "For you".

And with that... the last of the madness passed.

"What a shame" Griffonclaw had thought. "Madness was more comfortable than sanity..."

They had sat there, Bam and Griffonclaw, in comfortable silence.

Until Bam had asked him "If you could have anything - Keruptis' immediate death, for example - what would you chose?"

Griffonclaw had thought about it for more than a few seconds. His first thought was that the Scourge had never been born, or that the Burning Legion be forever banned. Then he thought about deaths, and the ording thereof. Then he had thought about wishing for nothing but happiness with Selvaggia - but discarded that, as happiness was wonderful, but the result of honesty, which included arguments, disagreements, tears... he would not sacrifice the honesty of her love for a dream.

He had left madness behind.

Finally he spoke.

"I would give Keruptis a conscience and tender heart, so that he could feel the weight of his own misdeeds as I feel them."

Griffonclaw mused out loud "I wonder what something like that would cost?"

Before Bam could answer, they were joined by Selvaggia, who wanted a word alone with Bam. Griffonclaw asked no questions, but left them to talk in low tones.

When she rejoined him... he went to one knee.

He slipped on the ring.

She said one word.

"Yes".

There were difficulties; now Keruptis' destruction became a matter of self-defense - he could hardly so much as set a date, lest Keruptis stage a repeat performance. But they could... would... be overcome.

With Selvaggia, all things were possible.