Halsin and Cella: Too Many What?

The journey back to Reithwin Town was long but uneventful. The road had changed tremendously since Cella had last seen it. The road was fresh, holes repaired and cobbles relaid. The fields and forests teemed with new life, lush where once had only been heartache, sorrow and shadow. It was a place now unrecognizable to the ranger and in ways she never could have imagined.

“You had a hand in this, my heart,” Halsin bent to whisper in her ear as he lazily guided the rothe drawing the cart they rode on. His lips brushed her cheek before he sat up again, supremely content as he watched the buildings draw closer. Cella could only look up at him in as much wonder as she looked at the rejuvenated world around them. Was it even real, she wondered.

Her gaze had settled on the remnants of Moonrise Tower in the distance as Halsin drove. It looked so small now, so weak and empty. It was clear that it was being rebuilt but to what end she could not guess. Her thoughts wandered torn between memory and dream as they drew close to their destination. 

“Halsin’s back!” a child’s voice cried, the chorus of several dozen more soon joining them from within. They tumbled out, a merry band of raucous children ranging from only maybe three or four years old up to teens who herded the bunch. They may not have been dressed in finery but their smiles were as bright as diamonds, joy casting them all in a beautiful light as they scampered to greet the large druid’s cart.

“Did you bring sweets?”

“Oh yes! Are there cookies?!” 

“Will you tell us a story tonight?” 

“Up! Up!” 

They swarmed him in a heartbeat, especially the smallest of the bunch. He soon had one little one on his shoulder and another on his hip as he greeted them all in kind. Cella said nothing, content in her familiar watchful silence. This was a scene she should have been able to predict happening and yet to see it play out right before her eyes left her in a curious kind of awe. This giant of a man was so gentle and warm, clearly devoted to this mass of children gathered from far and wide. 

“I have someone to introduce you to,” Halsin’s voice sliced through her thoughts. He had affected a solemnity as the children grew quiet and stared raptly up at him. “Do you remember all of the stories I told you about how we saved Baldur’s Gate?”

“There was a big brain!”

“And monsters!” 

“Did you bring any cookies?”

He chuckled at the voices overlapping one another and waited until they settled. He set down the children he held and turned back to the cart as he beckoned to Cella with both hands. “This is Cella Snow. She led us in the fight. She’s come to stay with us for a while.”

The half-drow felt the need to flee in an instant. Would they judge her harshly? Would they know of her folly with Gale? Halsin took her hand and helped her to stand before he lifted her by the waist to help her down to the ground. When she turned cautiously to regard the children she met a couple of dozen rapt gazes. They were fascinated, not disgusted. Curious, not cruel. One of the younger children touched the quiver at her hip innocently, fascinated by the feathers that decorated it. 

“They’re from an owlbear,” Cella explained. Her voice was so soft the children scooted closer to hear her.

“A real one?!” the little one gasped.

“Yes, a good friend.”

A flurry of quiet comments rippled through the group. Soon they were clamoring around her, eager to ask questions and vie for her attention. When Halsin saw the tell-tale signs of her discomfort he cleared his throat. 

“I do believe there’s chores you’re all likely neglecting.”

A groan resonated from many of the children. “But…”

“Go on, we’ll have stories after supper.” 

Reluctantly the children backed away, soon giggling as they ran off to the chores that awaited them as Halsin sighed with a satisfied smile. “They’re all doing so well. Even the ones from Elturel.” 

“You did this. All of this.”

He turned to Cella then, thoughtful. “I did a lot of it, but not alone. Others came to help. Even Jaheira and her family have been by from time to time. Astarion claimed disdain for children but he left books. Shadowheart sends letters to tell me about how the owlbear cub and Scratch are doing as well as herself. Duke Ravengard has sent tutors and a few of the council members regularly send donations so I can keep the children fed and clothed. I don’t expect much since we’re outside city walls but it’s nice they remember where a lot of the chil–” 

The man did not get to finish his sentence. Cella had pulled on his shirt to drag him down so he could be silenced with a kiss. It drew some titters from some of the children who still spied on them but Halsin did not hold back as he swept the half-drow up into his arms and savored the taste of her lips. 

“And what was that for?” he asked, low and breathless against her lips. 

“Because.”

He peered down at her, gaze alight with amusement before he kissed her again. This time he struggled to stop, his breath catching when he drew his lips away and pressed his brow against hers. “We’ll get too carried away, we should stop.”

“I know.”

He grinned and swore he saw a ghost of a smile flicker across her solemn features. All he wanted was to lift her up and take her away somewhere quiet where they could indulge however they seemed fit but duties for now beckoned. He braced himself and allowed some of the volunteers to take the cart and goods as he stepped away from Cella to snag their bags out of the back. 

“I should at least show you where we’ll be staying, no?” 

She nodded as she took her bow and slung it across her back. The sight of her in her traveling clothes wearing such familiar gear drew back a pain he’d almost forgotten. The fear that each time she left camp with some of their brethren she might not return had eaten at him more than he’d let on. The druid bit back the memory and buried it deep as they slowly made their way through the halls. 

It was not an easy trek. Everyone wanted to stop and talk, to be introduced, to eye the new face among their number. Halsin had a hard time saying no and Cella had a hard time saying anything. She followed in her silent way and noticed the camaraderie that made the place feel welcoming and alive. She lapsed into following automatically, her own thoughts everywhere and nowhere until they stopped in a quiet hallway outside the last door. 

“I will warn you it's not much but it is enough for me and I hope you as well,” Halsin warned, strangely sheepish. 

Cella tilted her head and watched as he gave the door a push. It did not immediately give way, something that left them both confused. He gave it another push, then a harder shove.

“What in the…,” he muttered as he put down the bags, set his shoulder against the door and gave it a proper shove with all of his weight behind it.

The crash and clatter that rose from behind the door sent them both back a pace, the pair on high alert as they waited to see if someone rather than something would prove responsible for the racket inside. Halsin frowned when nothing else moved and finally went to peer into the room beyond the barely opened door.

“I… I can’t…,” he stammered. It wasn’t clear what emotion possessed him at first until his laughter came, full and rich.

“What is it?”

“Stools!” 

Cella could only look at him blankly.

“They filled… my room… with stools!” 

She pushed past the druid as he doubled over with laughter and looked inside. True to his word, there were dozens of stools, short and tall alike, piled into the room near the doorway to block the path of any who might enter. It was a comical blockade, shoddily erected yet suited to the purpose of making the archdruid unable to reach his bed. 

“Can we even get them out?!” her surprise and confusion warred for prominence as she looked back at Halsin.

“Oh I am sure we’ll get them out eventually,” he answered as he wiped tears from his eyes. “And I will have to plot revenge on my charges. For now though…,” he grinned a charmingly crooked grin and swept Cella up over his shoulder. He left their bags there on the floor as he carried her so casually along up nearby set of stairs and to another room entirely. He opened the door, giving Cella a light swat on the rear as he did so and carried her within. 

They could deal with the problem of too many stools later. They had more pressing matters to attend to for now…

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Halsin and Cella: Too Many Beds Still

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Halsin and Cella - And Now This Time