The End of a Chapter

The door slid shut behind Shalee Lianne as she got off of the shuttle. She had called him up drunk asking him to come get her and take her home. She had been stumbling about and for a moment he wondered if she might fall down a ravine on her way to the Keep. He hoped she would.

Just the day before he had entertained a fantasy where she was no longer a problem of his, and now it was practically true. She'd done it. She had finally found a way for him to stop caring about her at all. Even after everything else she had done and all of the other problems they had endured, he had always had underlying desire to watch over her and help her out. But no more. The ties they shared were now irrevocably severed. She was now no better than Karmilla Strife. Now whenever he is debating the Knighthood with another conservative loyalist and they bring up Shalee Lianne as a counterpoint to his assertions, he'll only nod and agree; she's given him reason to never to do otherwise. Now whenever she is in trouble and nothing important is reliant on her getting through it, he'll pay her no heed and read her obituary later.

By God, he thought he'd never be able to find a way to shake her from his conscience, but with the Devil's help she found a way. The chapter of his life concerning Shalee Lianne had come to an end, and he could see nothing but brighter days ahead.