Arc 721, 1 Ymiden
They stood at the railing, not saying much. It was never a good sign when Elisabeth stopped talking, and Balthazar knew that. She felt him rubbing her back and gave him a grateful smile. It was never easy for him to show affection, but he made exceptions for her, and Elisabeth appreciated him all the more for the small, tender offerings.
He was holding a lot inside – she knew that – but it wasn’t anything overt that told her that. It was simply the matter of having been with him for almost an arc. To others, he would always be a mystery, but Elisabeth had slowly begun to decode some of his quirks. More than anything, he viewed himself as a protector, which meant Balthazar taught her how to protect herself as well as trying to keep things – any things – from harming her. It was one of the traits Elisabeth loved most about him.
It was that sentiment that caused her to turn to him before they left the railing. Before the settlers arrived. Had they been alone, she would have reached out for him, touching him to make sure she had his attention, but Elisabeth resisted, wanting his focus to be on her words. “Balthazar, you have always been safe with me. You always will be. When we get home, I want to hear everything rattling around inside that wonderful mind of yours.” He was just as frustrated as she was, but it was equally evident he was fighting that frustration, and she wanted to give him a place to release it.
The settlers arrived and Balthazar spoke. She stayed next to him, allowing her eyes to scan the expressions of the faces in front of her, as she had done so many times before. Elisabeth had served as his eyes many times during meetings, yet it was a bit different this time. She needed to know how to follow up what he said in a meaningful, productive and constructive way, and to do that, the young leader needed to know their collective state of mind.
To the credit of the settlers, they kept their questions to a minimum. Elisabeth wasn't sure if that was because they were still processing, because they trusted the two that were talking to them or Kura's missive contained everything they needed to know, but dozens of eyes still flickered back and forth between the couple. Bran was the first one to speak up. "So, Elisabeth stays and leads? Does she have any experience in leadership?"
Arching her eyebrow gently, Elisabeth fielded that question herself. "No, she doesn't, but what she has been is with all of you, every trial, working and helping. I would rather it be me than someone else brought it that knows nothing about Haven or the people. I know you all."
There were other questions, of which both her and Balthazar tried to answer. Then another question came to her. Gilbert spoke up, deep voice questioning a bit. "If you've never been in the position to lead others, how will you know what to do?" Luckily, Vega had just given Elisabeth the perfect answer for that. "Being a leader shouldn't change a person. I'm not going to magically gain skills that will help me in this. Every trial, I'm going to do the same things I have been all along. If I don't know the answer to something, I'll contact Balthazar, or find someone who has the answer I need. I'm good at finding answers and learning." Scouring their faces, she tried to figure out what they were feeling.
Confusion, certainly. Anger? Didn’t seem to be any of that, and because of that fact, Elisabeth decided to use the momentum to say what she felt needed to be said.
“I don’t profess to know anything about leading a settlement, but I will promise each and every one of you that I will do everything I can to further the goal of helping Haven thrive. I will learn from you. I will listen to all of you. Haven is our home…” Her eyes flickered to Balthazar quickly, arching her eyebrow, making sure her meaning was clear. Haven was his home. Their home.
“…and I will work with all of you to make sure we accomplish our collective goals. Each of you have a voice in Haven, and I will be listening to all of them.” Her voice was clear, and word concise. The settlers didn’t need a ton of words so late at night. It was a lot of process for everyone, and Elisabeth let it go at that.
The torches of Haven were in the distance – they would be arriving soon. “That’s everything for now. Looks like we are almost home.”
Their home.
