Diamond Elf - Chapter 6 and 7

Chapter 6

The marching army reached their destination after nightfall on the third night, and Chelindra decided to forgo the evening meeting in order to give her officers time to set up the semi-permanent camp. Gabriel managed to perform his duties as Chief Coordinating Officer quite capably, despite being so tired that he could barely walk in a straight line.

He really had no idea why he was so tired lately, since he had often worked long hours on little sleep in the past, though he hadn’t ever had to be this physically active before. Chelindra noticed him pushing himself even though he was clearly about to drop from exhaustion, and decided that it was time they retired for the evening.

She took him by the arm, and guided him into her tent, figuring that there wasn’t much point in not having him there, since everyone would likely speculate all the more loudly if she evicted him now. She helped him remove his uniform, and settled him in her bed; he was asleep before she could cover him with a blanket.

She then removed her own clothing, and made use of the bath that had been prepared for her. As she relaxed in the bathtub, Chelindra remembered all of the times she had ever mated in the past. Her body, being made out of diamonds, hadn’t made it easy for her mate to perform his duties. It had been possible, but it hadn’t been pleasant.

Chelindra ran her hand along her body. During her years among the humans, Chelindra had learned to soften the feel of her skin so that she felt mostly normal if they touched her, but never before had her skin seemed to melt without her conscious desire to soften it.

Until last night… She marveled at the way merely thinking about Gabriel made her skin feel almost normal for a warm and relaxed human woman. She noticed that even her hair practically melted, though it still felt as if it were made out of diamonds, which it was. The only thing that could ever move her hair was her magic. Without her magic, her hair would forever be stuck in one style, and probably an inconvenient one at that.

She sighed languidly, and washed the colored powder off her face. Without the powder, her skin would look almost opalescent, and would shine in a way that attracted too much attention. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and settled into the tub more comfortably.

Gabriel gasped softly. “You’re an elf!” He whispered in a tone that suggested he had just found his own personal goddess.

“Gabriel! I didn’t realize you were awake!” Chelindra exclaimed softly so that no one who might be near her tent would hear her.

“I wasn’t. I don’t think I am awake, I’m just dreaming about a beautiful Elven maiden bathing for some reason.”

Chelindra chuckled, and decided to exit the cooling water. “Funny, I was more or less dreaming about you as well.” She dried off with a large, thick towel.

Gabriel watched her, and debated on whether or not he should pinch himself.

“You’re not… afraid… not repulsed by me?” Chelindra asked.

“No. How could I be? You are so wonderful.” Gabriel blushed as he realized how childish that sounded.

Chelindra donned a nightgown, climbed into bed, and snuggled up to Gabriel. “Would you like to hear the story of how I came to be?”

“How you came to be?” Gabriel asked, confused by her wording.

Chelindra decided that this meant yes, and smiled. “Yes. Right before the first Emperor started his campaign to conquer the entire continent, he sent a beautiful sorceress to the Elven King as a present. He probably hoped to eventually use the sorceress to conquer the Elven Realm, but that plan failed when the Elven King magically sealed the borders to the Elven land once he knew for certain that the man who was not yet Emperor intended to make war until he conquered everything.”

Gabriel shifted to hold her more comfortably, and breathed in her wonderful scent.

Chelindra continued. “The Elven King married the beautiful sorceress, figuring that humans usually procreated much more easily than elves. He thought that perhaps she would be able to give him plenty of children.

“She may very well have, but she was greedy, and preferred diamonds to children. She demanded that the King give her as many diamonds as he could obtain, and then used her magic to absorb them into her body. For some reason I have never understood, the diamonds that she absorbed bonded to me, the baby she carried unknowingly.”

Chelindra breathed in his intoxicating scent, and resisted the urge to bite him. “Whatever magic that caused the diamonds to bond to me also caused me to develop inside my mother very slowly, much like a diamond takes a long time to form. My mother carried me inside her for seven years before I was finally born…”

Gabriel realized that Chelindra didn’t want to finish her story, and thought over what she had told him. “Before the first Emperor, hmm… but that was over 300 years ago!”

“Yes,” Chelindra confirmed.

Gabriel gave himself a few moments to wrap his head around this information. He would be lucky to live 100 years, and yet she had already lived three times as long, and still looked young compared to his thirty years of age. Something else occurred to him.

“So, you’re not just an elf, but an Elven Princess.”

“Yes,” Chelindra acknowledged.

“And how… How long do elves live? You already told me that you aren’t immortal.”

“Usually about a thousand years, give or take a hundred. But, who knows how long I will live, since I’m only half elf.” Chelindra noticed that her hand was tracing swirling patterns across his back again.

Gabriel felt the peacefulness of sleep overcoming him once more, but that didn’t stop his mind from thinking about the woman in his arms. He mumbled as he drifted off, “If 1000 Elven years equals a 100 human years, then 300 Elven years would be fairly equal to my thirty years.”

Chelindra smiled wryly. “Yes, well, it seems that magic and diamonds have altered the way I age. You’re right, I should look about thirty human years, but I only look closer to twenty-three. Does that mean I will live longer than most elves? Even I do not know.”

Gabriel’s mind pondered this while his body slept, and he dreamed that he was an elf living among humans. It felt as if he were walking slowly across a room in which all the humans were rapidly aging, dying, and being replaced by someone new. He tried to have a conversation with a couple of them, but they kept dying before they could exchange more than a few sentences.

Meanwhile, Chelindra was enjoying his warmth, and his scent. She pressed light kisses all over his face, neck, and shoulder, and decided that she didn’t care what was wrong with her. She would continue to enjoy his company for as long as she could.

She shivered in anticipation as she wondered; if it feels this good just to lay in his arms, just what would it feel like to be intimate with him.

She finally fell asleep, and woke in the morning to the pleasant sensation of him kissing her.

“Sorry,” Gabriel apologized. “You just looked so beautiful as you slept that I could not help but kiss you.”

“I don’t mind.” Chelindra smiled. She would have been thoroughly content to kiss him all day, but the junior officer in charge of bringing Chelindra her breakfast entered the tent just then, and apologized profusely as she avoided looking at the couple. She set the food on the table, and exited the tent as quickly as possible.

“Duty beckons,” Chelindra muttered, kissing Gabriel as if it was the last kiss they would ever share.

Gabriel chuckled, and held her as tightly as he could for a moment. “I thought I was only dreaming that you were an elf, but unless I’m still dreaming, you really are an elf. And, if I remember correctly, and Elven Princess at that.”

“Don’t forget the part where I’m made out of diamonds,” Chelindra reminded him.

“And centuries older than me,” Gabriel teased.

“Well, that part you can forget,” Chelindra laughed.

Gabriel smiled, and kissed her.

Chelindra left his arms, and prepared for her day, starting with her concealing powder.

Chapter 7

Over the next three days, Chelindra’s army fortified their defenses, and patrolled as much of the border as they could. Scouts reported back that spies had spotted the Emperor’s army a little less than two weeks march away.

Meanwhile, Chelindra and Gabriel had decided to take their nightly bed sharing very slowly, as neither wanted to rush the other, and both were enjoying the kissing and cuddling immensely. Chelindra insisted that they treat each other as professionally as possible when they weren’t alone, though both had trouble keeping their eyes off the other.

That night, they decided to keep their distance from each other over dinner so that they could get to know each other better. They each talked about their childhood, and edited their tales to avoid talking about the uncomfortable parts. They both felt they had plenty of time to tell their sob stories later on.

Chelindra had just decided she was ready to ask him to help her bathe, when a large oval of shimmering light appeared. She knew what this signified, but Gabriel watched it in amazement as the light vanished to reveal what looked like the reflection in a mirror, only it was a vastly different scene than what a mirror would actually reflect in this tent.

The oval framed a group of three elves, and they stepped through the magical doorway one by one.

“Chelindra,” one of the elves stated.

“Brother,” Chelindra greeted with cool civility.

The other two elves took up positions that told Gabriel that they were likely acting as the first elf’s bodyguards.

“I have come to personally ask you to return to our realm.”

“I cannot return at the moment, but if you tell me why you wish me to return, I will try to do so as soon as possible,” Chelindra replied diplomatically.

“I have two reasons. The first is that it is vitally important that you perform your royal procreative duties, and –“

“I have not changed my mind since I left, I - !” Chelindra began to argue.

“Chelindra, you don’t seem to understand, we need –“

“No, I just don’t care! If that’s all you came to tell me, please leave.” Chelindra pointed emphatically at the oval doorway.

Her brother sighed. “Chelindra, our sister is dying, on her deathbed in fact, and she wishes to see you.”

“Chandra is dying? But she’s only 900 years old!” Chelindra protested. Gabriel privately thought that if 900 was equal to 90 human years, this should not be cause for surprise.

“Chandra is 912 years old, to be exact, but yes, she is dying,” the Elven King confirmed.

Chelindra studied her brother intently, and realized that he looked older than his 600 or so years. If he was willing to come into the human realm to ask her to procreate as her royal duty dictated, than that must mean that he had not succeeded in producing any royal heirs in the more than ten years she had been gone.

“Chehiro…” Chelindra sighed. “I understand. I am currently in command of an army trying to protect this kingdom. I don’t have much time at all to spare, but… I’ll return with you for a few hours to see our sister… and to fulfill my royal duties.”

“Thank you, Chelindra. I know that this is hard for you, but I appreciate the effort. I also would like to discuss some very important matters with you during your visit,” Chehiro added.

“I understand.” Chelindra nodded. She turned to Gabriel. “If anyone needs me, or notices that I’m gone, just tell them that I decided to go scouting on my own for a while. I am known for disappearing on solitary missions like that from time to time.”

“Chelindra, I… I want to come with you,” Gabriel admitted. He felt as if his heart would abandon him if he let her leave without him.

Chelindra smiled at him. “I’m sure you’d find the Elven realm very boring, and besides, I am going to be occupied.”

“I know… Please?” Gabriel almost pleaded.

Chelindra considered his request carefully, and decided that there really wasn’t a good reason to leave him if he truly wanted to accompany her. She nodded, and scribbled a note to her Second in Command in case anyone happened to notice that she was gone before she returned.

Then, she took Gabriel’s hand, and motioned for her brother to lead the way. Her brother gave her a puzzled look, for he couldn’t remember her ever showing such tenderness to another. He briefly noticed that behind her, his guards were wearing matching expressions of shock, for Chelindra was considered a cold-hearted bitch among the elves, even considering that elves were considered cool tempered and unemotional in general.

He turned to lead the way before Chelindra could wonder what was taking him so long.

Gabriel was expecting it; even so, he was amazed to find himself in a different place completely once he stepped through the magical doorway. “Wow,” he breathed reverently.

“I understand how you feel,” Chelindra sympathized. “Only the royal elves have the ability to create a doorway between the realms once the borders have been sealed as they have, and it doesn’t happen often.”

Chehiro turned to smirk at Chelindra. “Only one other time in the three hundred years since the border has been closed.”

Chelindra smirked at him in return. “Are you still angry with me for defying your orders?”

“Angry? … No. … I have decided that you were right after all; you deserved the chance to observe humans since you are half human. Have you learned anything interesting?”

“Yes, I have learned that there are plenty of humans worthy of respect,” Chelindra stated, reminding him that his biggest argument against her going to the human realm was that humans were unrespectable barbarians who constantly made war on each other.

“I surmised as much, since you are fighting for them, but then, you were always a creature of war yourself,” Chehiro commented.

Chelindra shrugged. “Only because our father had me trained as such from birth.”

Gabriel had been dividing his attention between the conversation, and their surroundings. They'd walked through a spacious, airy, brightly-lit corridor, and stopped in front of an ornately decorated door. Chehiro motioned for his guards to open the door.

“Sister, I have brought Chelindra to see you, as you requested.”

“Thank you, dear brother. Would you please give me some time to speak with her without your presence?” Chandra asked.

“Of course.” Chehiro gave a slight bow of respect, and left the room with his guards, closing the door behind them.

Chelindra released Gabriel’s hand, sat on Chandra's bed, and took hold of her sister’s hand.

“Chelindra… our father spoke to me when he was on his deathbed. He felt that you were the key to our future. He had begun to suspect that his closing of the Elven realm was causing problems for us elves, but he was not certain. He asked me to keep an eye out for any signs that our people were suffering.

“I think it has become obvious to most of our people that something is very wrong. We haven’t had more than a handful of children born in the last three hundred years, and our people are aging faster than they should be. Illness is becoming a frequent fact of life.

“If this continues, I fear that our race will die out before your 1000^th birthday. … Chelindra, you will likely have to take the crown from our brother in a mere few hundred years… In the meantime, you have to convince our people to reopen the border between the realms.

“It will be impossible, unless the human’s stop fighting, and as I understand it, you are trying your best to end their wars. Please… for the sake of our people… end their wars, and open our realm…

“And try to ensure the survival of the royal line…” Chandra seemed to have exhausted her supply of energy.

Chelindra squeezed Chandra’s hand reassuringly, and nodded gravely. “I understand, and I promise, I will do my best to ensure the continuation of both our people, and the royal line.”

“Thank you…” Chandra smiled, and fell asleep.

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