June 12th

It's a warm feeling to know people who'd take an axe to the shoulder for you. It haunts me how many times that actually happened. Quinn is one of those people who put themselves in harm's way for me. Yeah, that Quinn. She and Valor were a huge help to the company while we fought the Watchers up north. And, as I said before, she did take a thrown axe meant for me.

It was a summer day, but the earth was covered in two inches of snow. I led seven of my best riflemen and archers to a riverbank next to a forest bordering Watcher territory. We were securing an extraction point for Quinn and Valor. They were coming back from a rescue operation, and we were there to escort her party home. A squad of archers attacked us from across he river. They took cover behind a pile of rocks. We hid behind the line of trees for cover and shot back with rifles. Quinn arrived on time, floating down the cold river on a longboat with a wounded Avarosan elder. Two guys provides cover fire while Vyland (the man I visited at the beginning of this diary) and I went to help Quinn and the elder. Quinn was already shooting back at our assailants when she got off the boat. Vyland carried off the old man in his arms. Quinn and I trailed behind him to block any stray arrows. I saw Valor swoop down from the distant sky onto the enemy archers.

Then the screaming started. That bird can get really viscous. Memories of him biting my lip as a chick popped into the back of my mind.

Suddenly Quinn shoved me to the side and I heard a wet crunch. I glanced over to see Quinn's shoulder with a huge red gash on it, and a small hatchet laying on the snow with a streak of blood near its blade. When we reached the shade of the tall pines, the arrows stopped. Quinn signaled to our healer that she was wounded. A dark purple streak swooped down to her side. Valor screeched in what could have been shock. We put tape and a healing spell on her to stop the bleeding. I told her that we had to keep moving to put distance between us and the Watchers.

"I'm fine" she said with labored breaths. "As long as Valor's okay."

That's the kind of person Quinn is: one half of a single mind. It's like Valor is her only friend in the world. And while I may exaggerate, it's close to the truth. She's quiet like a lot of Elite Rangers. Quinn spends her off time writing letters to home, sending them by Valor's wings. Her home-town, Rivercheg, is a stone's throw west of Wanderer Company's barracks along the Serpentine River.

Believe it or not my father knew her parents. Quinn, her brother, and I were friends from childhood. I went to her brother's funeral. The twins together, and later Valor too, were the ones that sparked my interest in the military. To some extent, I owe them my career.

Today, Valor flew by my shop to deliver a message from Quinn. He stayed for a while as I fed him a sardine I snatched from the market that day. While he picked at it on the counter top at the storefront, I read Quinn's letter.

The gist of it is that the Rangers and the Borderguard are having a shindig at Rivercheg in a week, hosted by Quinn herself. Much of my company is going. I'm allowed to bring any reasonable number of guests. It's a day and a night long, and she rented out part of the local inn for overnight stays. The money to fund the party came from the Office of Present Honors: the organization that handles welfare benefits for soldiers in every branch of the military.

The OPH gave me money so I could move my business from the swamp into the capital. When I die, mom gets my benefits for life.

If I die on the field, it'll be sooner than later. I have to go to this party to make the most of my time home.

And, I resolved, I'm taking Fiora to escort me. We got tea at an outdoor café today and I told her everything, even the story about Quinn.

When she said no to my request, I nearly killed her.

"I will not associate myself with your ruffian band of sellswords and farmhands" she said at a cafe downtown. Her joking tone held back a hint of genuine distaste. "You told me one of them is a Noxian."

Indeed, we have a Noxian ex-soldier serving with the Wanderers. "Don't hold that against the team!" I said, genuinely incensed. "In fact, take back what you said or I'll call my honor wounded. Then we duel for true."

"And then you'll call your flesh wounded" Fiora replied.

I huffed, resolved to defend my war buddies from even my potential spouse. "We both don't want that to happen."

"I withdraw my harsh words about your friends" Fiora said after taking a sip of tea. "But I will not go to the party."

"You're not doing a good job courting me, Fiora. The party will be fun! You must escort me!"

"Give me a better reason."

I leaned in close and spoke softly so that the patrons nearby couldn't hear. "There will be overnight lodging. We get a room to ourselves."

Fiora's brow shot up like a squirrel flourishing its tail. "It'll be just the two of us. We can...share a bed."

I sounded like a completely different person. My mind kind of gave in to some kind of desire like the time we kissed after our duel. It led my voice to snake out words and my body to lean even closer. "You want it?"

"I...is our room nice?"

Her comment sort of threw me off. "Um, yes. It's the local inn at Rivercheg."

"That will not do" Fiora said. "We will not...have our first night together at an inn in Rivercheg!"

I needed a rebuttal. "But..."

"Marianne has a summer cottage in Rivercheg. We can spend the entire weekend there if you wished."

I was a little skeptical if Marianne would allow us to use her cottage. And besides, "A whole two days and nights?" I asked.

"Yes. Enough time to wash my hands of the party."

A fire had been ignited under my seat, and I jumped. "So you'll escort me?"

Fiora sighed, slumping her body in tired enthusiasm. "I will."

And that is how I set up my first date with someone I can call...a fiancé?