((Just as I'd about written off the hope of ever getting to write anything more on Cynlan, what with the latest developments regarding my trilogy and the world I've created within it, I get moved to write something on him. I'd been meaning to do this about a month earlier, but I've been busy.
It's an incredibly short piece, scarcely longer than the opening fiction to each of my chivalry chapters, but short short fiction is better than no fiction at all. And so, I give you a tiny glimpse into the future that Cynlan now dwells within!))
“Who in the world is sending you mail
here?”
Cynlan looked up from the letter in his hands to find the origin of the voice, one he was growing more and more familiar with as the months passed. His gaze moved back to the parchment to make sure he rolled it up properly while he replied, “A friend… Perhaps more, if circumstances were different.”
The platinum blonde blood elf smirked as she watched Champion Cynlan Dawnstrider place the rolled parchment back into its mailing case, stepping into the room he’d taken upon settling into the city. “I see. The bronze dragonflight must truly adore you to allow such an indulgence, Champion. We’re at war with an enemy greater than any we’ve faced in ages-“
“I don’t know, Arthas was no pushover,” Cynlan commented idly.
“-And you’re receiving love letters from bygone eras,” the lady knight finished with a scowl. “I swear, there are times I wonder what the bronze dragons were thinking, bringing you here to help us.”
Cynlan set the case in his hands down on the nearest table as he sighed. “You’ve changed greatly since the first time I’d met you, Salandria.”
“It’s
Matriarch Salandria to you, Champion,” she corrected hotly, “and to expect me to remain the little orphan girl you babysat over 200 years ago is to expect the impossible. Times change, and people must change with them.”
Cynlan nodded as he regarded the Blood Knight Order’s current commanding officer. When they had first met a year ago in his own reckoning, Salandria was a little girl, one of the many orphans that Azeroth’s wars left in their wake. She was sweet, if ambitious, and eager to grow up to meet her destiny head on. It was perhaps no mistake that she eventually became Lady Liadrin’s ward.
The Salandria standing before him, however, was well more than three times Cynlan’s age. She had lived a long and distinguished life, first as Lady Liadrin’s squire, then as a knight of the Order, rising steadily through the ranks until finally she took up the Matriarch’s mantle with Liadrin’s passing. He could see the beauty of her youth as he gazed upon her, marked now with the lines and wrinkles brought about by the stress of her occupation, the wars that continued to define Azeroth, and the simple passage of time. She was not yet an elder lady, but the years had certainly left their mark on her.
“You’re right,” Cynlan conceded. “Times have indeed changed. And yet, there are some things that remain the same.” He peers at her searchingly, as if seeing her for the first time. “You remind me of someone I served with, back in my own time. You have that same demeanor of one who refuses to acknowledge the joy in life, who takes her job far too seriously, and instead allows herself to be consumed by her work.”
“I’ve experienced plenty in my many years, Champion,” Salandria replied tersely, her eyes narrowed. “If you wish to have just as long to dwell in your outdated notions of chivalry, I suggest you drop this thread of conversation now.”
Cynlan bowed his head respectfully, the better to conceal the smile spreading across his face. “Of course, Matriarch.”
Salandria stared at him a moment longer, then turned on her heel to walk toward the doorway. “How you managed to retain the title of Champion by mouthing off as you have to superior officers is beyond me.”
“I consider it part and parcel to my duties, Salandria. In my era, I countered Knight-Lord Maelthas every so often with my unique perspective. I could do no less for you, given the circumstances.”
“I’m honored,” the Matriarch replied dryly. “Now come, the battlemasters are eager to hear what you have to say about our enemies’ latest actions…”
Subject: Future Fates 
Tue Sep 15, 2009 1:04 am
