It was almost two hours after dawn that Lux actually reached the main gate of Terbisia. It was not nearly as impressive as the gates of the Great City. Nor many other Demacian towns. It was more a guard outpost on the largest road into town. As in order to be a gate there would need to be walls on either side, and there was not. Nevertheless the outpost was manned as always by a pair of Terbisia’s guards. The pair smiled at her and, upon her raising a lightly glowing hand in greeting, allowed her to pass through without stopping.
Lux rode to the public stables first, handing her horse over to the man working there to be fed and watered, she felt a deep tiredness in her bones and her throat still ached from crying. But she knew that there were certain things she would have to check before she could go home to sleep the rest of the day away. She sighed heavily and stopped only briefly in the hallway of her home to safely store her belongings.
Fortunately the clear sky of the morning was holding so it was with only a slight breeze in the air that Lux made her way towards the town hall. Lux wasn’t sure if Abdel would be at his post yet but decided that if not it was a good enough excuse for her to head to bed. The man had proven to be a very competent interim governor so she was severely hoping that he would have nothing of note to report from her absence.
Entering the hall Lux approached the side room the man used as an office. Knocking once she entered, finding the bespectacled man looking up from a scroll. The grey-haired old man smiled widely upon seeing her and stood, “Lux, you are returned. That is most good news. I assume you are here to inquire about the goings on in your absence?” Lux nodded once, still unsure if she could trust her voice after her breakdown earlier that morning. The man smiled at her, taking her silence for interest.
“I must admit there was little worth reporting until about the middle of last week.” Lux opened her mouth to ask, worry shooting through her despite having seen for herself that the town did not look in any way worse for wear. “Nothing too dangerous don’t worry,” The man reassured her. “But we had a new arrival, dressed something frightfully foreign and asking for you by name. Seemed most distraught when we told her you weren’t here. Even more so when one of the youngsters let slip that you’d gone on a diplomatic voyage to Piltover.”
Lux felt her heart rate increase, an insane kind of hope blossoming to life in her chest as the man continued to speak. “Where is she now?” She asked, her voice fortunately too sore to give much force to the interruption. Abdel looked at her somewhat quizzically but seemed to decide to let it go, “Well with her being a bit odd and you being out I figured it was best she be kept under watch until you got here. So she’s in the guard post, and fortunately wasn't too fussed about it. If you..”
Whatever else the man would have relayed was lost to Lux as she abandoned all thoughts of politeness and propriety, spinning on her heel and sprinting from the room. She knew that she shouldn’t get her hopes up. That it was likely only to set her up for another heart shattering disappointment. But she couldn’t help herself, something in her mind screamed that it must be Jinx. And Lux was powerless to do anything but listen.
The guards on station at the central armoury of Terbisia were treated to a most odd sight that morning; their usually composed governess, sprinting at a soldiers pace past straight into the captain's office. Only to demand to be led down to the holding cells immediately. The captain, being a military man as he was, barely raised an eyebrow at the sight. Instead leading the barely out of breath governess down to the only occupied cell.
Lux steeled herself as the captain turned the key in the lock of the heavy-set wooden door. Her heart both rising and falling as she tried to fight back the intense wave of hope that almost threatened to bring her to fresh tears even before the door was open. The door shrieked as it opened, a deliberate move of keeping the hinges unoiled to ensure that no-one could leave without being noticed.
There was a lump sleeping on the bed, and Lux saw the fluffy ends of poorly hacked short blue hair waving slightly from the force of the door opening. She waved the captain away as the person on the bed sat up, blearily blinking the sleep from their eyes as they turned to look at the door. Lux didn’t wait to see if the man followed her orders, simply lunging across the room and smashing into a still confused Jinx.
Whatever words the blue-haired woman would have said were silenced as Lux’s mouth crashed into hers in something that more approximated a poorly aimed headbutt than a kiss. Nevertheless, a pair of firm arms came round to wrap around Jinx’s shoulders even as Lux’s mouth left hers. Jinx stared into Lux’s tear-filled eyes and attempted to move her lips to speak. Only to be interrupted again by a far more tender kiss. One that lasted until Lux pulled away and whispered, softly enough to be almost inaudible, “You’re alive.” Jinx, unsure if she could trust her voice, just nodded.