"You know, I thought I had heard every form of flattery there was to hear… but you, good sir, have a particularly silvered tongue," Aisling giggled as he tapped her nose. 

"The only reason I didn't intervene is because I know better. And I didn't mean to avoid the topic, my mind was just on other things," she added as they spun around together. The flowers were suddenly gone from her grasp and she looked over to see as Ash was tossing the flowers to Holly, insisting she hold on to them and not let them be crushed. Aisling couldn't help but laugh as Ash dipped her, and she waved at Holly, a huge smile across her face. Her hair flew around her in golden waves, and she loved every movement that Ash lead her through and corrected her when she miss-stepped. 

"You know, technically, that is two questions, but I'll answer. I'm from nowhere and everywhere. My father is the leader of a traveling troupe that has made its name traveling all over Canelux and Parvpora. I have many favorite songs, all from different places. Asking me to pick one is like asking me to pick a favorite star in the heavens," she answered. "My turn. Have you been having much luck with your pilgrimage across Parvpora?"

“I was taught well,” He seemed pleased by her giggled so he carried on with that thought, “Mother is a particular kind of woman. In my 25 years I’ve watched hundreds of men try to woo her with gifts and words. I’ve only picked up on what has always flattered her. She is a woman that is hard to impress with glorious tastes.” He winked at her. “Holly’s father was the sort of man who could woo my mother into bed without even having to try. I would never do such a thing to you Flower but that is what I have learned.”

Together they danced and he loved the way she lit up when he corrected her. The way her hair spun around like some sort of halo around her head. It was the right shade of gold in his eyes as well. “You know Flower,” he spun her about one last time to get a good look at her halo. “You have the most divine gold hair I’ve ever spotted. It reminds me of an angelic halo when I twirl you about. A look into your soul perhaps? Those eyes of yours are like the precious quicksilver or my favorite the clouds after a storm. I do love a good rainstorm. You make this whole area glow and I’m sure everyone is watching you.” His words were just as he spun her around once more.

He gave her a sly smile. “Oh I know, but I like hearing you speak.” Listening to her he nodded with her words. “Fair enough Flower.” He thought on her question and laughed. “I have but only people so down on their luck they have no where to go. They are my favorite people to help because it leads them to a road of redemption.” He dipped her once more and spun her around. His hands were firmly on her hips as he put his lips to her ear. “My turn, favorite colors?” It was a simple question but soon he grabbed her arm and spun her away. “I’m one for the classic questions.”

"Then you must have a trail of broken hearts strung out behind you," Aisling smiled. "Even if you won't use it on me, and even if you are a paladin, you don't appear to be the type to let that gift of yours go to waste," she said coyly. 

Aisling giggled as Ash spun her around again, just so he could see her hair fan out around her face. "A bard lives for the attention of others. That's how we make our living," she said. His compliments were touching, and the warm feelings returned. "I can understand why such words may have worked on the Mother. You do have an amazing way of letting a girl know how unique she is," she smiled. 

"I guess those who would turn back to the Gods in these times would be the most desperate," she nodded. She giggled at being dipped again and gasped slightly when she was pulled up again, and Ash's hands were placed firmly on her hips and his lips were at her ear, asking her favorite color. 

"The colors of the dawn… pale yellow and pink, and the clearest of sky blue," she returned with her own whisper. "Now… what made you want to become a paladin… rather than the smooth talking bard you clearly want to be?"

Ash thought on it and smiled more. “Rosenites mostly my dear Flower. Men are rare for them so they try to gobble them all up as they reach maturity.” 

The paladin smiled at her and nodded. “Oh I know, I know how much Holly lights up at the sight of someone paying attention to her. I’ve also been watching you enough to see just how much you light up at my words.” 

He loved how shocked she sounded as he held her close. He listened to her words and smiled a bit more. “They colors that would look ravishing on you Flower.” He thought about the question for a while as he turned the dance into a close one. He held her to his chest and the look honestly was the most thoughtful he had all night. 

“I once seen my mother help a man who had a heart of gold. He didn’t use his words but his kindness. He used his magic to help everyone in the temple while he was there. It brought him such pride that I could not look away. I asked my mother what he was and she said a paladin. A man of light and hope. So, I asked him to train me. When I was fifteen my mother knighted me and not long after that I gained the abilities to channel holy magic as purely as ever. I did it to help people like you and my sister.”

He stopped for a moment and kissed her forehead. “Flower, we can continue these questions later. I am quite tired from our dance. Perhaps you can go rest as well.” He departed from her as he tried to keep his emotions down. He remembered how that story ended and he didn’t want himself to end the same way. Good people always died.

He went back to the inn and took off his shirt to clean himself. The dirt ran down his toned body that he had hidden most of the time. Splashing water on his face after that he tried to calm himself down. Paladins always got themselves killed over something stupid.

When Ash's dancing became slow and close, Aisling slowly, almost hesitantly, put her hands up on the handsome paladin's shoulders. She listened to his story, nodding every so often. She noticed however, that his cool almost jovial nature seemed to fade as he told his story, until it seemed he was barely able to control himself. 

That was when he stopped and kissed her forehead before he begged to be excused and all but ran back towards the inn. Aisling lifted a hand to call out to him, but he was gone much too quickly. Aisling moved over to Holly and collected her bouquet. 

"What was that all about? Is he alright?" Aisling asked Holly. "I don't know if I said or asked him anything I should have…" she said nervously. "I think I am going to go check on him," she said as she began jogging back towards the inn. 

Fortunately they hadn't gone too far into the city, and Aisling was back at the inn in no time and she headed up to Ash's room. She rapped lightly on his door. 

"Ash… is everything ok?" she asked as she slowly pushed the door open. She blushed bright red when she realized he was standing at the wash basin, sans shirt. Her blush was for good reason, for she couldn't remember if she had seen any man with such a physique before. She cleared her throat and tried to get herself under control. 

"I-I uh… I didn't upset you did I?" she asked him softly as she pushed the door closed behind her.

Holly gave a casual shrug. She wasn’t too concerned about her older brother’s outburst as if she had seen it before. That did not mean that she knew what it was for but she had seen him get upset at the topic before. “You’ll have to ask him. Even if I knew it wouldn’t be my place to answer Aisling.” Holly gave her a smile and handed the bouquet.

Ash had his head hung before she opened the door. He was going to shut the door but went against his initial emotion, it wasn’t Aisling’s fault. “Everything will be fine.” He gave her a sad smile before going to sit down on the bed.

“What you asked did not upset me Aisling,” the rare time he said her name without being prompted. There was a sadness that hung off his voice as he thought about it more. “Do you know why people don’t become Paladins?” He let the question hang in the air for a bit. “We end up dead fairly fast. I was made to promise that I would never charge into something just for the greater good. I’m not as good as most Paladins but then again most Paladins don’t have the Mother as their mother.”

He lounged for a moment and got up from his spot so he could took her hand gently. “I’m sorry I worried you. The question just sparked what my mother once showed me.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “When I wanted to become a paladin, the first thing she showed me was a mass burial of all the paladins that had died from being stupid good, as she called it. Mother has never been good with words when it comes to death. She knew that unless she showed me what stupid good got you.. that I would continue following in my mentor’s footsteps. What I didn’t know is that she had just gotten word that stupid good had just got him killed before I asked. Mother loves all of her followers so much that it hurt her to see me like that. I’ve never dealt well with bringing it up. To know that the very thing I want in life, to help people, is what is going to get me killed.”

He reached up and ran his hands through his salt and peppered hair. “Guess that is usually why she always sends someone with me. She wants to make sure that I don’t get my ass handed to me. She trusts me enough to know that I’m not in a bad situation. Truthfully, it is the reason why I’ve never really thought about settling down with anyone. I’m scared of leaving them alone if I died.”

"Part of me wants to say a lack of faith, the other part says because of occupational hazards. Serving a God faithfully as a paladin comes with incredible risks to oneself," she replied softly as she came over to sit with him. Her thoughts were validated by Ash as he continued to explain. She nodded in understanding. Paladins often became martyrs for one reason or another, but often for lost causes. 

"I wouldn't say that you aren't good, Ash. I would call you wise. It does no good to you or your cause if you rush into a situation without being prepared," Aisling reassured him. "Though, I cannot blame the Mother for wanting to keep her children safe," she added. She squeezed his hand gently as he took it and apologized for worrying her. "I am sorry for dragging up painful memories. It wasn't my intention," she replied as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. She might have blushed, but this situation was more about him and cheering him up. She let go of his hand and went to the wash basin and soaked the wash cloth that was hanging there before she went back over to Ash and began washing the dirt that had created runs down his skin as she listened to his story. She shook her head and sighed. 

"Helping people is not what will get you killed Ash. The more people you help, the more there will be to back you up when you need them. Its the rushing ahead, recklessly, endangering yourself when it is not necessary that gets people killed. It's an unfortunate fact, but many of the paladins who find an early death are those who succumbed to hubris, thinking that the Gods will keep them from death, and sometimes chalking it up to their very own power. It is they who die the tragic deaths. And once in a while, when those truly good ones do pass away, it is because they were willing to face the odds that were impossible, because they knew the will of their chosen deity, and maybe even had a glimpse into what their sacrifice would bring about," she told him. "I won't deny that many don't have the time they should have deserved, but what matters is what they did with their lives," she said, the wash cloth gliding over the back of his neck and his shoulders. 

"Fear is what holds us back, Ash. You can't let the fear of death stop you from making the bonds that can carry you through the hardest of times. You can't let the fear of leaving a loved one behind stop you from having the companionship of a spouse if you want it. Those are the things worth sacrificing for, are they not?" she asked him rhetorically.

"Are you sure that it is the fear of leaving someone alone that keeps you from finding love, or is it the stigma placed on you of being a Rosenite male? Holly explained to me that male children are rare among your people. Are you sure this all isn't just because you don't want to be forced into settling?" she asked as she washed the dirt away from his back.

“Flower, I can tell just by looking at you that it wasn’t your intention.” He bopped her nose softly once more and his gentle voice came back if just for her. “ When she left his side Ash tilted his head as he watched before almost gaining a blush himself. The wet cloth certainly was more soothing in her hands than it had been in his moments ago.

“I think, I forget that. A lot.” He laughed a bit as she washed him down. “It is sometimes a really lonely life and other times I find myself surrounded by others. Depends on the job or the mission. Or if I am at home with a hundred siblings breathing down my neck.” Another laugh left his lips. “If anything my mother would smack the shit out of me if I ever rushed into anything.”

Ash gave Aisling a smile. “Call it a guilty conscious. If I had little ones I would probably stop taking missions because they would be my life’s mission right there. I do not want my future children to have to live with what Holly and I had to. I want them to have a father and a mother.” His eyes gentle on her as he spoke.

“Don’t get me wrong, the attention is fantastic but I don’t want a Rosenite woman. They scare me.” He chuckled before thinking something devious. For a moment he flipped the two of them. He was pinning her to the bed but not enough to where she couldn’t get up. “I would rather settle down with a soft woman like yourself.” He kissed her forehead. “Have a few, not a dozen, children and just be happy for the rest of my days. I may or may not have met the right woman.” He winked at her before releasing her and stood up. He grabbed his shirt and threw it on.

“I’ll know when the time is right.”

"I wouldn't think you would have a guilty conscience. What you have told me is truly noble, and nothing to feel guilty about," Aisling replied simply as she set the cleaning cloth aside. She couldn't help but notice how soft his eyes were, revealing the gentle but strong soul behind them. 

"They scare you?" Aisling asked incredulously, but then remembered that Rosenite or even Arriese women were the ones in charge, often acting as soldiers or in the roles that among other cultures would be filled by men. She didn't blame him for being intimidated. She yelped slightly as she found herself being flipped over onto the bed, with Ash pinning her down. Her heart jumped into her throat out of surprise. She certainly hadn't expected this from him. Though he did not act upon her, she blushed furiously as he told her he would rather settle down with a 'soft' woman, much like herself. She closed her eyes as he leaned in again and kissed her forehead, and proceeded to tell her how he wanted only a few children and not the dozens he might have been expected to provide had he chosen, or been chosen by, an Arriese woman. She raised an eyebrow and gave him an almost suspicious smile as he winked at her and got up off of her. 

She sat up and looked at him as he threw his shirt back on, and deep down she found herself a little disappointed. 

"Have your spirits lifted a little then?" she inquired as she too stood up and returned the wash cloth to the basin. 

Ash smiled at her and brushed her blonde hair back.  “They would scare you too if you were on my side. For gods sake, my aunt makes a hobby out of scaring the crap out of her husband. I couldn’t even imagine my wife being like her.” 

Soon he had her flipped onto the bed and he was pinning her. Her yelp entertained the young paladin. Her blush was enthralling as he brushed a loose strand of her hair back with a smile. Though Ash wasn’t the type of man to even take advantage of someone like Aisling, he was glad that she was still there with him.

He got himself dressed and nodded. “Thank you for that Flower. I couldn’t have gotten out of that slump without you. Truly you are a wonderful maiden. Any man would be lucky to have you by their side.” He walked up behind her and hugged her waist. He put his forehead down on her shoulder and smiled. “I think it would be wonderful if I traveled with your group for a while. Like you said, strength in numbers. I would like to get to know you more Flower. I still have plenty of questions to ask you.” He leaned up and gently rubbed his nose against her ear.

“Though Holly might not let me keep you to myself the entire time.” He let go just to give her space back. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed gently. “She is a real pain in my ass.” He laughed lightly.