I almost lose her. Stupid girl, what was she thinking, charging against a giant spider almost alone? My shadows visited her on her nightmares, but with that hound guarding her door, it’s been difficult. Anyway I see she’s been ruthless, and only to save a stupid shem girl! What does she see in shems, by the way? She’s hanging around with that warrior. Love. She thinks she’s in love. Stupid girl.
I need to drag her to me. Damn it, but I can’t if she’s not alone!
(Excerpt from Edanhor Blank’s journal, as found in Highever on 9:25, 14th day of Haring)
ELVEN BEAUTY
I look at the portrait in the locket, and wonder again who this elven
woman was. Such a beauty, as much as to move a king’s heart. I look at
the golden locks, the emerald green eyes, the sweet yet determined
features. And thus, she wasn’t allowed to stay with him, because if an
elf can’t just pair with a shem, imagine a king!!! Such a scandal!.
Back at the alienage, I remember that even in the orphanage we were taught that pairing with shems was wrong, because our children would be shems too, and our race would end up dying. Since the other children at the orphanage used to look upon my sister and me, I didn’t give a damn about the complete race of the elves disappearing from this world. As far as I was concerned, a ray from the Maker himself could wipe all of them from Thedas.
I would find my fun wherever I’d like to, shem, elven or dwarf. I have often used the Pearl as an escape route from the guards (Sanga always had a soft spot for my sister and me, even if she never knew Eve never stepped on her local) and I know what they do there, regardless of races or even genders. And all of them seemed to enjoy, as much as to pay for it.
Besides, the children statement is not right. We have a couple of samples here… I guess that no matter what the alienage elders try to teach us, blood has been mixing for ages. And sometimes elven blood finds strenght enough to show up… Look at Mihitu, he looks more elven than shem, though his mixed blood is clear. And Lorelei has pointy ears, despite her clearly shaped human body. I’d swear that even the tiny mage Angie has elven blood, that would explain her height and her… lack of curves… almost like mine.
I look at the portrait again. Poor girl. Maybe she aimed at the wrong target.
I hide again the locket under my pillow and turn my attention to the bits and pieces of Orlesian uniforms I gathered on the cave’s hideout the other day. Most of them were useless, and anyway none was my size, but I can adapt some leather pieces and padded fabrics in a winter armour for me. Now that fall is coming, I should start preparing one. Last winter Eve and me almost freeze in the alienage. And with the remaining bits I’ll make an eyepatch for Kyle. Maybe as a Satinalia present for him.
I lean back in the bed again. I still feel a bit dizzy, I guess the poison has not left my veins completely. The healer said it would take me a while to be completely recovered, even if I am much better now.
She also said she could cast a healing spell over the wound so it would leave no noticeable scars, because if not, I would always have that round, volcano shaped marking making ugly my pretty shoulder. But I didn’t agree, not only because I wouldn’t be able to pay the fee. Also because this scar will always tell everybody that Kyle came back for me into that cave, Kyle defeated that spider (oh, well, at least what Darn and me had left of it) and Kyle brought me out to a safe place in his arms like a bride. It is a small price to pay for memories like these.
Even if the elf root paste stopped the poison and saved my life, as soon as we arrived he searched for a healer to perform a complete cure on me, and made sure it was a female one. I tried to be conscious during the healing but I must admit I failed.
But I know he was by my side almost all the time, holding my hand and sometimes kissing it. I’d swear one time, thinking I was asleep, he was even brave enough to kiss my forehead. As if going further were a crime. It’s so cute and so irritating at the same time…
In the night, he would stay outside, guarding the door. I’ve seen his silhouette against the corridor’s light when I opened my eyes in the night. Never into the room. Because that wouldn’t be appropriate, to stay in a lady’s bedroom during the night.
I smirk at the idea.
I hear him fussing around. He shows his head and asks politely if he may enter. I nod with a smile. He’s wearing the king’s armour we found with the locket. He looks so regal in it! My heart jumps at the sight.
“I don’t know if I should keep this, Mari. It… it just doesn’t seem right”.
The armour is stunning, I can’t deny it. But it is also a good armour. It will protect him in battle much better than the one he had. And selling such an armour should bring more problems than keeping it. Expensive items draw the buyer’s attention and provoke to many difficult questions.
“Keep it. Do it for me”
He shakes his head, not very convinced. He’s a stubborn shem. If he has made up his mind, I won’t be able to make him change it. But it is worth trying. I hope he’ll at least sell it and not give it away.
I notice he’s not even looking at me. I’m on my underwear, and he blushes each time he looks in my direction. Even if my usual two-pieces armour doesn’t cover much more than this. It makes me feel a bit evil for suggesting what I’m going to suggest.
“I need to take a bath, Kyle”, I say. “I know the healer cleaned me as much as she could, but I still feel rests of spider’s guts in my hair. Will you come with me?”
“Er… a bath?”. He hesitates, disturbed. “You mean… in the water?”
“Where else? In beer?”, I giggle. “Now this is an idea. But not, this time I need it to be in the water. I’ve heard there’s a pool near the inn, others have had a bath there. Though I’ll need a bit of help”
All the blood in his veins is now in his face. “I can ask Melissa…”
I have got up and I’m now by his side, feeling his body trembling. “I don’t want Melissa, or any other women. I want you by my side.”
He starts babbling something but I put my finger in his lips.
“I need someone strong enough to help me go there”, I reason with him. “I’m still weak and dizzy. And I also need you to assist me in the water, in case I slip. Please?”
Sigh. I know we will leave our underwear on. I don’t want to kill him out of embarrassment so soon.
I guess he has enough now, with me standing so close to him…. Be careful, Mari… This is like approaching a wild cub. Don’t scare him, because the prize is worth it. Just get closer to him each day a bit more.
“But I don’t think that would be appropriate…”
“What do you fear? That I will steal a kiss?” I joke. “I can do it whenever I want, you know”. I touch his cheek and kiss him in the lips again. I take a bit longer than the first time, because now I feel I have the right to do so, and even if he’s a bit stiff at first, he doesn’t reject me. Soon his arms are around me and the kiss becomes more passionate. I close my eyes and enjoy it. Step by step, Kyle… step by step…
Suddenly he releases me, as if he had realized how far he has gone, and gets back mumbling an excuse. I sigh.
“I’m… I’m going to take this armour off”, he says, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Yeah, the temperature has raised a bit here, doesn’t it?. “Call me when you’re ready for that bath…”
And he goes out of the room again, tripping on the doorway as he does. At the same time, the walls start spinning again so I need to sit on the bed to recover. I wait a couple of minutes before I reach for a simple tunic to wear on our way to the pool.
Before I get up, I take the locket from under my pillow and I look at it once more. An elven beauty which moved a shem’s king heart. And it costed her her life. I have a shem’s knight heart too. He may be of humble origins, as I am, but his heart is nobler than any king’s could be. And I’ll make sure we’ll live years together. I will need them, at this pace!
Back at the alienage, I remember that even in the orphanage we were taught that pairing with shems was wrong, because our children would be shems too, and our race would end up dying. Since the other children at the orphanage used to look upon my sister and me, I didn’t give a damn about the complete race of the elves disappearing from this world. As far as I was concerned, a ray from the Maker himself could wipe all of them from Thedas.
I would find my fun wherever I’d like to, shem, elven or dwarf. I have often used the Pearl as an escape route from the guards (Sanga always had a soft spot for my sister and me, even if she never knew Eve never stepped on her local) and I know what they do there, regardless of races or even genders. And all of them seemed to enjoy, as much as to pay for it.
Besides, the children statement is not right. We have a couple of samples here… I guess that no matter what the alienage elders try to teach us, blood has been mixing for ages. And sometimes elven blood finds strenght enough to show up… Look at Mihitu, he looks more elven than shem, though his mixed blood is clear. And Lorelei has pointy ears, despite her clearly shaped human body. I’d swear that even the tiny mage Angie has elven blood, that would explain her height and her… lack of curves… almost like mine.
I look at the portrait again. Poor girl. Maybe she aimed at the wrong target.
I hide again the locket under my pillow and turn my attention to the bits and pieces of Orlesian uniforms I gathered on the cave’s hideout the other day. Most of them were useless, and anyway none was my size, but I can adapt some leather pieces and padded fabrics in a winter armour for me. Now that fall is coming, I should start preparing one. Last winter Eve and me almost freeze in the alienage. And with the remaining bits I’ll make an eyepatch for Kyle. Maybe as a Satinalia present for him.
I lean back in the bed again. I still feel a bit dizzy, I guess the poison has not left my veins completely. The healer said it would take me a while to be completely recovered, even if I am much better now.
She also said she could cast a healing spell over the wound so it would leave no noticeable scars, because if not, I would always have that round, volcano shaped marking making ugly my pretty shoulder. But I didn’t agree, not only because I wouldn’t be able to pay the fee. Also because this scar will always tell everybody that Kyle came back for me into that cave, Kyle defeated that spider (oh, well, at least what Darn and me had left of it) and Kyle brought me out to a safe place in his arms like a bride. It is a small price to pay for memories like these.
Even if the elf root paste stopped the poison and saved my life, as soon as we arrived he searched for a healer to perform a complete cure on me, and made sure it was a female one. I tried to be conscious during the healing but I must admit I failed.
But I know he was by my side almost all the time, holding my hand and sometimes kissing it. I’d swear one time, thinking I was asleep, he was even brave enough to kiss my forehead. As if going further were a crime. It’s so cute and so irritating at the same time…
In the night, he would stay outside, guarding the door. I’ve seen his silhouette against the corridor’s light when I opened my eyes in the night. Never into the room. Because that wouldn’t be appropriate, to stay in a lady’s bedroom during the night.
I smirk at the idea.
I hear him fussing around. He shows his head and asks politely if he may enter. I nod with a smile. He’s wearing the king’s armour we found with the locket. He looks so regal in it! My heart jumps at the sight.
“I don’t know if I should keep this, Mari. It… it just doesn’t seem right”.
The armour is stunning, I can’t deny it. But it is also a good armour. It will protect him in battle much better than the one he had. And selling such an armour should bring more problems than keeping it. Expensive items draw the buyer’s attention and provoke to many difficult questions.
“Keep it. Do it for me”
He shakes his head, not very convinced. He’s a stubborn shem. If he has made up his mind, I won’t be able to make him change it. But it is worth trying. I hope he’ll at least sell it and not give it away.
I notice he’s not even looking at me. I’m on my underwear, and he blushes each time he looks in my direction. Even if my usual two-pieces armour doesn’t cover much more than this. It makes me feel a bit evil for suggesting what I’m going to suggest.
“I need to take a bath, Kyle”, I say. “I know the healer cleaned me as much as she could, but I still feel rests of spider’s guts in my hair. Will you come with me?”
“Er… a bath?”. He hesitates, disturbed. “You mean… in the water?”
“Where else? In beer?”, I giggle. “Now this is an idea. But not, this time I need it to be in the water. I’ve heard there’s a pool near the inn, others have had a bath there. Though I’ll need a bit of help”
All the blood in his veins is now in his face. “I can ask Melissa…”
I have got up and I’m now by his side, feeling his body trembling. “I don’t want Melissa, or any other women. I want you by my side.”
He starts babbling something but I put my finger in his lips.
“I need someone strong enough to help me go there”, I reason with him. “I’m still weak and dizzy. And I also need you to assist me in the water, in case I slip. Please?”
Sigh. I know we will leave our underwear on. I don’t want to kill him out of embarrassment so soon.
I guess he has enough now, with me standing so close to him…. Be careful, Mari… This is like approaching a wild cub. Don’t scare him, because the prize is worth it. Just get closer to him each day a bit more.
“But I don’t think that would be appropriate…”
“What do you fear? That I will steal a kiss?” I joke. “I can do it whenever I want, you know”. I touch his cheek and kiss him in the lips again. I take a bit longer than the first time, because now I feel I have the right to do so, and even if he’s a bit stiff at first, he doesn’t reject me. Soon his arms are around me and the kiss becomes more passionate. I close my eyes and enjoy it. Step by step, Kyle… step by step…
Suddenly he releases me, as if he had realized how far he has gone, and gets back mumbling an excuse. I sigh.
“I’m… I’m going to take this armour off”, he says, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Yeah, the temperature has raised a bit here, doesn’t it?. “Call me when you’re ready for that bath…”
And he goes out of the room again, tripping on the doorway as he does. At the same time, the walls start spinning again so I need to sit on the bed to recover. I wait a couple of minutes before I reach for a simple tunic to wear on our way to the pool.
Before I get up, I take the locket from under my pillow and I look at it once more. An elven beauty which moved a shem’s king heart. And it costed her her life. I have a shem’s knight heart too. He may be of humble origins, as I am, but his heart is nobler than any king’s could be. And I’ll make sure we’ll live years together. I will need them, at this pace!
Art by me
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