“The problem is that nobody really cares about the Chapel of Red Spires anymore. The Grand Cavalier won't send in any more troops, not with just one single paladin still bound by the oath of reclamation, so Aldarius has no choice but to find his own way to get this thing done. He wanted to go alone, but I wouldn't let him, he'd just get himself killed. You see, Al has never been an adventurer and he's a healer, not a fighter, so, well..." Shayla trailed off, feeling suddenly embarrassed to admit that her betrothed was, essentially, the sort of clueless noble-born city dweller that she herself had despised so deeply during her adventuring days.

"Anyway," she went on after a moment, “he won't even let me hire some mercenaries because it's a holy mission for the Order and he doesn't trust sellswords. I already said I'll go with him but, let's be honest, I'll be doing this practically alone and it won't be enough, I mean, I have no idea what I'd be up against. So I thought I'd ask you, because, with me and you and Uli by his side, Al would actually stand a chance. At least we can go see what's going on and give his superiors enough information to release Al from his oath... There, that's it," Shayla finally exhaled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest, “it wasn't easy, but that's why I came here. I need you, Jad. Please, help me."

As Shayla's eyes turned to look at Jadrik, they found him blankly staring at her. He sat perfectly still for a while, apparently not even breathing as he processed the shocking news that his ex had unloaded on him after three years of total silence. When he finally started speaking, the warlock's voice was slow, measured and expressionless.

"You're getting married."

"Yes," Shayla nodded, biting her Lips.

"To a paladin."

"Yes..." she couldn't help but sigh.

"A paladin. As in, one of those pretentious, bigoted, self-proclaimed holy knights that we made fun of all the time?"

“Well, yes," the wizardess conceded with a shrug, "but..."

“And, in this case," Jadrik went on, still speaking slowly but picking up volume as he went on, “a paladin who is a healer, not even a fighter, and who belongs to the Order of the Golden Shield, no less, the most elitist narrow-minded bunch of aristocratic idiots-turned-paladins there is. I assume that this fiance of yours hardly ever left the Temple grounds since he joined the Order, except maybe to swagger around town, and I bet he never wore his blessed shiny armor in anything but a parade, am I right?"

“Uhm, actually, yes," Shayla mused, shrugging, "that's pretty much correct, but still..."

“And you need me to help you, or rather, help your betrothed, in a quest that he needs to get done so that he can have permission to marry you. Is that right? Did I get it all straight, Shay?"

“You did, yes," she confirmed, exhaling weakly.

The warlock smiled kindly at the wizardess. Then he nodded. Once. Twice. Very deliberately, as if pondering.

Shayla was almost smiling, amazed that he was taking it all so reasonably, when Jadrik abruptly jumped to his feet, knocking over his heavy armchair. Opening his mouth wide, his thin face distorted by hatred and hurt and pure undiluted rage, the warlock let out an inhuman ear-piercing howl, screaming at the top of his lungs and startling the wizardess with his sudden outburst. Bristling with fury, shaking so much that his cock swayed from side to side between his parted legs, Jadrik yelled hoarsely.

“Are you fucking insane, Shay!?"

“Listen, Jad..." the wizardess tried to argue as she looked into the warlock's hate-twisted visage.

“No! Nononono! You listen!" Jadrik growled, his dark-circled eyes boring into Shayla's deep blue orbs, his hollowed cheeks uncharacteristically red with anger.

“We were happy, we were together and we had no reason to stop. We had all the fun in the world, we did everything we wanted whenever we wanted. We killed monsters, we hunted treasures, we used our magic and had adventures and we fucked, Shay! We fucked all the time, like nobody ever fucked, and we loved it as much as we loved each other! We had it all, and we could have had even more!"

Jadrik paused to breathe, then he resumed, almost struggling to let the words out, laden as they were with his still burning, all too palpable hurt.

“You were the sexiest, most beautiful, most amazing girl in the world to me Shay," he said, his raspy, angry voice almost breaking as he poured his heart out like he had never done before in his lonely, self-centered life.

“Jad, don't..." Shayla mumbled, her lips quivering. Her eyes were shiny with moisture as she locked gazes with her ex lover. A sweet kind of desperation, a mixture of longing and regret, was clawing at her insides.

“Shut up! I'm not done yet, not by a long shot!" Jadrik roared, swallowing down the lump in his throat.

“You were my sweet, adored slut," he muttered brokenly, lovingly, declaring his deepest feelings in those words, sure that she would know they were the only right words for it, “and I was your ever-horny stud. We were perfect for each other, Shay," Jadrik almost whimpered, letting out a painful, strangled gasp before raising his voice once again and yelling out.

"But you had to ruin it all! You just had to!"