Diamond Elf - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

     That night, Aeryc was assigned a guest bedroom next to Gabriel’s, and it was assumed that Chelindra was going to spend the night with her lover. No one in the palace knew she was married to her companion, so they had no reason to think that she might prefer a room of her own. Chelindra paced the hall outside both of their rooms. If she chose one, she’d hurt the other, but if she didn’t choose one, she’d be stuck pacing all night.

     Arden watched her pace, wondering why she wasn’t loving all her lover’s nightmares away. He also wondered if he really needed to keep such a close eye on Gabriel tonight, surely this legendary General would be able to protect him. Then a thought occurred to him; Chelindra came here to rescue Gabriel; if she’s really so great, how did she allow him to be kidnapped in the first place?

     The three of them had eaten dinner together, and chatted amicably for most of the evening. Aeryc asked Gabriel many things about humans, and this kept his mind occupied rather than dwelling on what he’d been through. Then Aeryc announced that he was tired, and Chelindra started pacing the hall.

     Finally, Gabriel opened the door. “I know that you rightfully belong with your husband. Don’t worry about me so much, I will be fine.”

     Aeryc opened his door. “Do you suffer from nightmares?”

     “Yes,” Gabriel admitted reluctantly.

     “Then you need her to guard your sleep. I know she will not dishonor me – I would hear it if she did – so you may as well let her help you,” Aeryc said.

     “There’s just one thing I can’t figure out,” Gabriel began. “You have no reason to like me, no reason to help me, no reason to be here, so… why did you help rescue me?”

     “You are right, I have no reason to help you, but Chelindra needed me,” Aeryc stated, leaving the rest unsaid. I would do anything for her.

     Gabriel understood him anyway and nodded.

     Chelindra took Aeryc’s hand in hers, and looked him in the eye. “Thank you.” The words were simple, but he could see and feel the depth of her gratitude.”

     Aeryc motioned with his head for her to go on, and then withdrew into his room. Chelindra stepped towards Gabriel, and paused to look at Arden.

“Not one word of this passes your lips, do you hear?”

     The candles dimmed, and Arden felt actual terror for the first time in his life. He would swear she had a real fire in her eyes! He found himself raising his right hand in a silent vow to keep her secrets no matter what. “Of-of course!”

     “Good.”

     Chelindra followed Gabriel into his room, shut his door, and pulled him into a tight embrace. She still blamed herself for letting him suffer, and desperately wished to atone. They shed their excess clothing, but did not undress completely, and climbed into his narrow bed.

     She lay down first, and pulled his head onto her bosom. They purposely tangled their limbs, and pressed their bodies together.

     “I thought of you every moment,” Gabriel confessed. “I never doubted that you would rescue me.”

     Chelindra kissed him so lightly that it nearly tickled his lips. “Before I knew you were kidnapped… I thought you had left me… abandoned me…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I did a bad thing, and now that I look back at it, I think part of the reason I did it was because I was hurt and angry, and had no one to take my anger out on.”

     “Are you talking about killing almost 4000 men in one night?” Gabriel asked.

     “Yes,” Chelindra confirmed. “If I could go back and stop myself, I would.”

     “I wouldn’t, you did what you had to do to defend your kingdom,” Gabriel pointed out. “Besides, if you had the power to go back, do something useful, and assassinate the First Emperor before he starts the war.”

     “But then I wouldn’t have you!” Chelindra protested.

     Gabriel had nothing to say, and for the first time since they’d been apart, he felt the lethargy of peaceful sleep descend upon him.

*******

     Two mornings later, Gabriel, Chelindra, and Aeryc rode out of the Imperial City. The Emperor had given them each a horse to ride after they had refused to accept a carriage and small entourage. They assured the Emperor that they would just abandon the entourage anyway, so he reluctantly let them leave without any of his trusted spies accompanying them.

     Once they were far enough away from the city to have some privacy, Chelindra brought them to a halt. “Aeryc, I can bring you home now.”

     Aeryc didn’t want to leave her alone with Gabriel, but more than that… “I think that you should have at least one elf standing witness when you present the truce to your human king. This will be the first peace in centuries, and … the Elven court will more readily accept it as true coming from me.”

     Chelindra knew this wasn’t intended as an insult, but rather a statement on how much the elves had grown to distrust humans over the centuries. She nodded. “As you will.”

     Their ride to Arminta took longer than it should have, but Chelindra insisted on traveling at a pace that would not wear Gabriel out. She was secretly impressed with the Emperor for providing them with a lactating mare, and stopped every hour to milk her and allow her to graze a bit.

     “No wonder mare’s milk is so expensive,” Gabriel commented. “It tastes rich.”

     “Horses are not generally milked, so they’ve not been bred to increase their milk supply as cows have. Increasing the supply tends to mean that there’s more water to thin out the nutrition. With horse milk, the nutrition is still concentrated,” Chelindra explained. The three of them were sticking to neutral topics for the time being.

     That night, Chelindra placed her bedroll far enough from Gabriel’s that she couldn’t just roll over and touch him, but close enough that he should still be protected from nightmares. Aeryc placed his bedroll exactly the same distance on her other side. The three lay down to chat, and watch the sun set and the stars emerge.

     Gabriel was once again so tired, from exerting himself in such a weakened condition, that he drifted off. Both elves heard the subtle change in his breathing the moment he was asleep.

     “I’m honestly not tired yet,” Aeryc commented.

     “Me neither,” Chelindra agreed.

     “I… I admit it, I like him,” Aeryc confessed. “He… he has this indescribable quality that makes it impossible to dislike him.”

     “Mmm,” Chelindra agreed, deciding not to wax poetic about her feelings for Gabriel.

     “I know it hasn’t been terribly long, but have you felt the baby’s presence? It is said that humans only have to carry a child for 9 months.” Aeryc was looking forward to seeing their child. There had only been one elf born after Aeryc, and there was only a 20-year age difference. He was definitely not interested in babies back in his twenties, so he hadn’t bothered to get a look at him until the child was about 10.

     “That is true, humans only carry their child for 9 months, but you forget, I was carried for 7 years. Who knows how long I will carry this child. To answer your question… I have felt some mild nausea… and perhaps all of these emotions I am feeling could be attributed to the baby a little, but other than that no. I have resigned myself to be patient,” Chelindra replied.

     “Which would you prefer? A boy, or a girl?” Aeryc asked.

     “I am not sure… I would like to see how beautiful a daughter could be if raised as an Elven princess should, but the practical side of me thinks that a son could theoretically create more heirs. By that I mean that a male could impregnate a female everyday, but a female can only get pregnant once every few years. Then, I must take into consideration that there are slightly more males than females, and having a daughter could even the odds a bit,” Chelindra debated the merits of each sex.

     Aeryc laughed. “I see, you want both! A son to charm all the ladies and hop from bed to bed, and a daughter to look pretty and even out the population.”

     “When you say it like that, it sounds wrong!” Chelindra protested.

     “No no! Don’t get me wrong; I like the idea of having one of each. It’s balanced,” Aeryc stated.

     “Balanced huh? Well, elves are the race charged with keeping the balance of nature,” Chelindra mused.

     “Whenever I read that passage in our sacred texts, I always imagine someone placing a forest on a plate, and the plate atop a pole, then desperately trying to keep the forest-covered plate from falling,” Aeryc informed her.

     Chelindra laughed. “Can you just imagine the squirrels hanging onto the trees for dear life?!”

     “And the rabbits frantically digging in an attempt not to fall off the edge!” Aeryc added.

     “Do you think the birds would grow dizzy watching it as they tried to find a spot to land?” Chelindra asked.

     They both laughed for a few moments, and then Aeryc asked, “What do you suppose it would be like if that became normal, so normal that they didn’t even notice it any more?”

     “Hmm…” Chelindra gave this some thought. “I suppose it would be a bit like humans enduring over three centuries of war. Children are born and raised knowing no different; it is their normal. I wonder what will happen when this peace treaty is made official. Do you think chaos might replace war for a time?”

     “Who knows,” Aeryc shrugged.

*******

     Something unexpected happened on their journey; Aeryc and Gabriel’s subtle competition over Chelindra provoked frequent banter between them. Their banter provoked deeper conversations. Finally, their deeper conversations provoked true friendship. Neither could hate the other, and Chelindra wasn’t sure how to react to her lover and husband getting along so well. She was afraid it was just a matter of time before one of them wanted to show her affection. What would happen then?

     Gabriel grew stronger by the day, and even looked a bit more robust than he had before his ordeal. By the time they reached the Armintan main border camp, Gabriel was in better shape than he had been in when Chelindra found him at QueensHeart Castle.

     “Thank the gods you’re alive!” Randy exclaimed, unashamedly hugging Gabriel. “I have felt terrible thinking that I left you to die!”

     “You did the right thing, don’t think on it again,” Gabriel assured the Second in Command.

     Chelindra smiled at Randy. “I have some good news to share. I want all the senior officers in my tent on the double.”

     “Yes Ma’am!” A good half of her senior officers had already gathered close, and they saluted her. The others were not far behind. An attendant rushed forward to take their horses, and Chelindra instructed him to milk the mare for her.

     Chelindra led the way to her tent, and hid a chuckle as she saw Randy lag behind for a moment. He was pointing at Aeryc, and had an expression on his face that said, “Hey, aren’t you -?!”

     In her tent, she was impressed to find that other attendants had just arrived with enough food to feed everyone present for the meeting. She waited for the attendants to leave, and encouraged everyone to help themselves to the food. She was pretty hungry herself, and piled more food on her plate than she’d actually eat.

     They ate in relative silence for a few moments before someone finally burst out, “Well? What’s the good news?”

     “The Emperor has agreed to a temporary truce,” Chelindra announced.

     A shocked silence stretched out for several minutes, and no one ate except for Chelindra Gabriel, and Aeryc.

     “A truce?” Randy asked unsure he had heard her correctly.

     “Yes,” Chelindra confirmed, setting her plate aside. She issued orders to everyone that she wanted 1/5 of the army to stay here to keep an eye on the border, to be determined by a fair drawing, and the rest could march back to the palace for now.

     “Meanwhile, I have to rush this news to the King,” Chelindra finished. “Do we happen to have a ship headed back to the Palace?”

     “Not officially, but there is one here, I can have it made ready to depart in one hour,” Randy answered.

     “Good, then I suggest you pack and come with us.” Chelindra turned to her Third in Command. “I’m going to be leaving you in charge of the base. I want you to maintain the border patrol. I am not quite ready to trust the Emperor entirely, but I do know that he has a compelling reason to keep his word for the time being. Even so…”

     Her Third in Command nodded, she didn’t need to tell him that it was better to be safe than sorry.

     “Meeting adjourned! Everyone go spread the news, and start doing what needs to be done.”

     “Yes Ma’am!”

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