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Okay here's the updated version of my original post. It took a while to find the time to actually type this up. I'm not changing it again, promise. ^_^ I really hope you guys like it.

Mayve looked up noting the clouds strung through the chill blue sky, they matched the mottled gray of her horse; the cool wind picked up rustling Stormrunner's mane, carrying the faint promise of rain and the tang of the not-so-distant sea. Mayve inhaled deeply feeling refreshed by the frosty air even as it stung her lungs. Going down the dirt road at a canter, fields of tall grass and wild flowers flowed past in a weary blur. Until horse and rider topped the hill and the sight of glittering stone walls and towers broke the horizon. Mayve paused at the sight drinking it in, then with a small smile she patted her horse's neck and said, "Come on Stormrunner, time to go home."

Soon the great stone walls loomed over them and Mayve gently slowed her mount to a walk as they approached the wood and stone bridge. The depth and width of the cavernous moat that surounded her home city never failed to impress her, though that may have had more to do with how heights always seemed to steal her breath and chill her blood. Taking a deep breath she pressed her horse across the brigde leading to the massive wooden doors that were the front gates to Qeynos. People coming to and from the city milled around them and occasionally self-proclaimed profits would shout their messages of doom and gloom, but that was common place since the shattering.

Mayve hailed the gaurds and reigned her horse to a halt. The gaurd to her right stepped forward, he didn't look to be more than nineteen, he asked her of her business. Smiling slighlty she answered, "Lady Mayve of the house of Locke and humble paladin of Tunare. I return home from questing." The young gaurd looked her up and down taking in the suit of armor that was dusty from the road and her hair which was roughly twisted up in a fraying clump at the back of her head with loose strands falling to frame her round face and pointed ears.

His reply sounded doubtful almost questioning, "A Paladin of Tunare...." He was interupted as the other gaurd cleared his throat loudly. The other gaurd with leathery features and thick brown hair and mustache gestured with his eyes toward the paladin emblams that were worked into the clasps of the horse's saddle and rigging. The young man's eyes widened and he seemed to shrink in his already ill-fitting armor. He quickly turned back to mayve, who wore an amused smile, he stammered as he said, "w-welcome home from your long journey." Mayve nodded as she pressed her horse forward through the great doors, their wood creaking as the they opened.

Even as Mayve was glad to be off the bridge she was bombarded with the sights, sounds, and smells of Northern Qeynos' market. The voices of merchants and shoppers rose up with the scent of the wares from the shops: savory and sweet from the food stalls, metallic and musty from the black smith, jeweler's and tailors' shops. Looking around for a break in the crowd, Mayve steered Stormrunner passed the Great Claymore monument. They cut over the lawns of shops and toward the high stone walls of Qeynos castle proper. She needed to speak with the paladin training master who would be found at the main steps and just didn't feel patient enough to fight the crowds there on the road.

Approaching the steps she caught strands of a whispered conversation from two human squires. Her elven hearing was keen enough to pick it up even from where she was.
The black haired boy elbowed his copper headed friend saying, "Hey, is that who I think it is?"
"What, who is she? "
"You don't know? Oh be glad you already have a lord knight to train you and you don't have her."
"Why? Would you tell me who that is already."
"That's Locke, the Ice Queen."
"The one who...?"
The black haired boy nodded.
It was commonly known among paladins and squires alike that Mayve seemed as cold and emotionless as ice, but they didn't know she did it to protect herself, after all soldiers, die everyday and if you keep your distance...she stopped herself and pushed aside the painful memories and her mind went in the other direction; she almost laughed at how the rumors of her cruelty to squires had been greatly exagerated. She'd turned down a squire's request for training, not because the girl wasn't ready to learn, but because Mayve had only been a Paladin a short while and hadn't felt ready to take a squire yet; not when she knew she still had so much to learn herself. Once she was a few paces from them she reigned up her horse and gazed at them from her saddle, her face and voice emotionless as she replied,"You know I could hear you, don't you? Being half-elven, it wasn't hard."

They froze looking up at her wide eyed and holding their breath. Her practiced cold expression melted, she even smiled slightly before she spoke in a playful tone,
"How could anyone be cold when they get such a warm welcome home?"
She could see the boys frantically trying to think of a reply. Instead of waiting for one she asked another question, this time looking directtly at the black haired boy who seemed familiar.
"Tell me, what's your name?"
He blinked, then answered a little haltingly, "R-Riverswift, Collin Riverswift, Ma'am."
Nodding, she said, "You must know Melody Riverswift."
He replied as if it had been a question, "Yes, she's my second-cousin."
Again the small smile played on her lips,
"Give my best to her and her lord knight, Lady Brightblade. I know she must be excelling under Kara's tutelage."
Collin blurted his reply of "Yes'm" as Mayve clucked to her horse and continued on toward the steps to the castle. Behind her in much quieter, but not quiet enough, whispers she heard the boys again.
"I think she just said something nice about your cousin...I thought she hated her."
"Who cares about my stuck-up cousin? I didn't know Locke smiled."
"Oh yeah, she actually looked pretty good...I'd bed her."
"Hm, yeah, wait fool she might still be able to hear us."
Upon hearing the last couple remarks it took Mayve a great deal of restraint not to laugh aloud. Passing a hand over her eyes she thought, what have I done? I've gone from being the terror of squires to...well, I'll still haunt their thoughts just for different reasons now. Well I suppose it's one kind of welcome home.

She dismounted from Stormrunner and gave her report to the paladin training master, she couldn't quite explain it, but more than ever, she felt eager to return to the road once she was rested and her business in Qeynos was done. The bill on my room on my inn is probably due Now! and written in red, as long as I've been away. She received her new orders tucking them into her journal as she lead Stormrunner to a stable.

While grooming Stormrunner her mind wandered to thoughts of her travels and who might be thinking of her. She missed him, the shadow knight who'd saved her life in more ways than one. In that moment she promised herself she'd find him again and apologize for how she acted before they parted ways. No more acting the knight in ice cold armor, I'm afraid of heights but I still cross the bridge that takes me home, and right now if home really is where the heart is, then I have another bridge to cross.

Okay everyone let me know what you think.
-Yume