Chapter 9

Faylen's View

"Faylen, I do not wish to let you go out there alone," Thydune said as I approached the gate. "The last time you went out to gather was with your mother."

"I remember, Thydune. But I will not be alone. Desmond will be there to protect me." He gave me a look that said he was not amused and I felt a small smile curl my lips. "I am not unarmed. Both of my swords are on my sides."

"I would rather you let me go with to protect you. You will be out there for a week while you harvest. Here, Desmond is surrounded by elves that will lay their life down for you. Out there, he is not."

"Are you implying that I would not kill him if he attempted anything?"

"No. Of course not." He stayed quiet for a moment before sighing. "Perhaps. He did swear a life vow to you and he knows that the only way out of it is death. If he is still true to the human king, he would prefer death and be trying to find a way out of the life vow. He also knows that you would kill him for attempting to harm you so he has no reason not to try harming you if it will get him out of his life vow."

"And there are oaths in his life vow that will take his life should I get harmed. I will be fine, Thydune. Stay and protect our people. This is where you are needed most. If he truly wanted to try harming me, he would have tried to do so on the way to Tebury. Do not worry for me. I need you in the training grounds tomorrow. Collen may bring some of the humans over to learn how to aid us in battle, and I want one of my best trainers there." He nodded and headed off as Desmond approached with bags to carry our harvest in. "Did Tsarra tell you what she needs most?"

"She said she needs all the ingredients for Aldovice, Quixidomide, Tacronuma, and Caffetaxime. She said that you would know what ingredients to collect." I nodded and looked at the bags he had over his shoulder. "She said whatever we can fit in the bags will be enough to keep the health stores from being empty." I nodded again and we set off out the south gate.

"Luckily everything she needs is in the same direction, but we will have to go off the trail for everything."

"Will we be able to find the trail again to return safely?"

"We will be fine. This way." I stepped off the trail and started heading east, deeper into Dragon's Veil. As the sky grew darker and the moon rose, we stopped to make camp. "We will stop here and start again when the sun rises." Desmond nodded and set the bags down as he started gathering small twigs for a fire.

"How much further do we need to travel for these ingredients, Faylen?"

"Two more days travel. We can shorten that time by travelling all through tomorrow and the next night, but we will need the extra strength to harvest these ingredients. Some are high up in the trees, others have roots that run deep." Desmond nodded and got the fire going before standing four sticks on end with a stone on top of them. "What are you building?" I asked as I kneeled across from him.

"A campsite stove," he said as he glanced up at me. "It'll let us cook food without setting it directly in the fire and possibly burning it. It's something I learned when I was running messages for the human king."

"How does it work?" Desmond looked up at me with a curious look on his face but smiled.

"You really want to know?" I nodded and his smile got bigger. "Basically, the fire warms the stone from underneath and the heat then moves to whatever we set on top of the stone. Depending on how hot the stone is, it can be used to make a hot broth, cook raw meat, or warm a cold liquid. Given enough time and wood for the fire to burn, it can even melt ice."

"Interesting. And it works well?" I asked as some Kukawks began their nightly song.

"Very well. I'll make us something hot for dinner when it's ready so you can see how it works."

"Thank you." I sat and studied the campsite stove for a while longer, memorizing how to set one up should I ever need a way to heat something without risking burning it. As Desmond sat across from me and began putting things in a small wooden bucket, I stood and walked around the borders of our little campsite to ensure that we were alone. My thoughts drifted to the responsibilities that I had to my people and I decided to try figuring out whom I would bond with. I thought of the name of all the eligible male elves in Gulonde. The only one that brought any feelings to mind was Thydune, but my problem was that they were brotherly feelings instead of romantic. I let out a sigh and pressed my back against a tree, looking up as I wondered what I was going to do. I saw a Mattuci skitter along a branch above me, then watched as a Kukawk dropped onto it from above, before flitting back up into the darkness.

"Faylen? Dinner's ready," came Desmond's voice from our campsite. I shook the thoughts from my mind and headed back to the fire, reaching with my mind to finish ensuring we were alone. Once I was certain we were safe, I sat across from Desmond again and took the bowl he offered me. "Everything alright? You don't seem as happy as you normally are."

"I am fine, Desmond. Simply thinking of my upcoming responsibilities." He nodded and motioned at the bowl in my hands.

"I hope it's hot enough for you." I couldn't feel any heat coming through the wooden bowl, but I felt heat wash over my face as I pulled the bowl of broth closer. We enjoyed the hot broth for dinner and Desmond fell asleep a little while later, letting me go back to my thoughts as I stayed up to ensure we were not discovered throughout the night.

None of my people bring romantic feelings to me when I think of them. The only one that comes close is Thydune, but I have grown up seeing him as my brother. The thought of romance with him does not sit right in my stomach. As I got back to our little campsite, I glanced at Desmond to make sure he was still sleeping and felt my curiosity about him grow. I reached out with my mind to make sure no one around, sensing nothing but Kukawks, Mauttuci, and Flamifoutu. Satisfied, I reached for Desmond's mind and did a little light exploring so I wouldn't wake him, and discovered that he had a strong sense of what was right and wrong, much like my people. Unable to get Thydune's caution from my mind, I shifted through Desmond's memories to see if he was loyal to the human king at any point. Through his memories, I learned that he had feared the human king the moment he saw him, had hated him from the moment he was taken, and had given the human king false information at times that kept harm from coming to Gulonde. I left his mind and sat back in thought, shocked that Desmond had helped my people before ever meeting us. I am impressed at the strength of his sense of right and wrong, and that he knew those events would cause harm to us. He was never loyal to the human king. If he had ever been loyal to him, he would not have kept us safe when he was with him. I sat in our little campsite for a while longer, listening to the chirping of the Flamitfoutu as they flitted around the tree tops, and looking into the fire as I let my mind relax a bit.

Movement on the other side of the dying fire caught my attention and my head jerked up as my gaze focused on Desmond and the land around him. I reached with my mind to make sure no one was near us, but felt nothing other than Desmond and the small animals nearby. I studied Desmond for a moment and noticed his face was twisted a bit. I touched his mind and sensed his fear, although I didn't know why he was fearful. I reached to his mind again and spoke softly to him. "All is fine, Desmond. Rest your mind and body. There is no need for the fear you feel." I felt his fear disappear as a sigh escaped his lips and his face relaxed, making me smile.

Over the next two days of travel I kept my mind focused on our task, but when we settled down at a campsite for the night, I would make sure we were alone and then let my thoughts drift to Desmond and why I was so curious about him. After we had finished harvesting the ingredients for the items that Tsarra needed, we started to head home with all eight bags filled to the top. "Faylen, if you want to make our return trip as quick as possible, we can continue through the night. You know I can keep up with you," Desmond said as we stopped.

"We do not need to hurry. It is more important that we arrive safely rather than quickly." He nodded and settled down, starting on our fire for the night as I went to check around our campsite to ensure our safety as my thoughts began to drift again.

Desmond's View

I watched Faylen pacing around the boundaries of our encampment for a while as I got our dinner heated up. I wonder if she’ll open up and talk to me out here. “Faylen, why have you been so sad lately? Please talk to me. I'll keep anything you say secret even after my death. Just confide in me.” She sighed and sat down beside the fire, but across from me. A few strands of her hair was falling out of her braid and her eyes looked sad, but the rest of her face said that she was lost in thought.

“I do not know whether I should follow my heart to love or follow my head and the law.” She was speaking softer than normal although there was no one around.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I stirred the broth for the night.

“Elven law states that I may only bond with an elf, but there are no elves that I like on a romantic level. And to make matters worse, we are the only clan left.”

“Is there a person at all that you have romantic feelings for?” Faylen looked up at me, a reflection of the fire dancing in her eyes.

“Yes, but they are not an elf. If I make my feelings known, I will end up imprisoned, the person would be killed, and no one will be left to lead my people when my father dies. This puts my choices at bonding with an elf I am not romantically interested in, or going to prison but bonding with a human that I love just before they are killed.” She looked back down at the fire between us and I saw a spot glistening on her cheek.

There’s no way, I thought. She’s gotta mean a different guy. Elves live for 700 years so I’m sure she’s met plenty of other men in her life. There’s no way that Faylen loves me. Quit hoping for her heart, Desmond. “That’s a tough choice,” I said softly. “Is there a way to tell the person or bond with them without getting yourself in trouble?”

“I can tell them, but I would never be able to bond with them unless I wanted to be imprisoned while they are killed.”

“Not even in secret?”

“No. Once I become queen I would be pressured to bond with an elf to produce an heir so that my people have a leader after I die. If I refuse to bond with an elf, my feelings will be made known as we only bond ourselves to one in our lifetime.”

“Wow. That’s a really tough choice to make, Faylen,” I said. She nodded again. "Which would make you happier, following your head and elven law or following your heart?" I asked as I pulled the small bucket of broth off the stone and poured it into a couple bowls for us to share.

"Neither pathway leads to true happiness for long," she said as I handed her bowl to her. "If I follow my heart, I am happy until the person I love is killed. If we somehow manage to create an heir before he is killed, the heir would be killed as well as it was the product of a false bond. If I follow elven law and my head, I am bonded to one that I do not truly love and forced to watch the one I do love be with another, but I do not lose whom I love to an untimely death."

“Would you tell me who the lucky man is that has your heart?” She looked up at me again and didn’t need to say anything. Her eyes confirmed what I heard in my mind, and my jaw fell open. “Really?” I asked as some Wisteria Quail started chirping and chattering to each other.

“You know my dilemma, Desmond. You know what my choices are. I have to choose my mate between the end of the war and my father’s death. I will have to provide an heir to lead my people or go to prison.”

“Can’t they just exile you?” She shook her head, sadly.

“No. Exile is not punishment enough as it would let me be happy with the human I chose. Seeing the end of my clan, of my race, is the punishment for choosing a human over my own people.” I saw another spot start to glisten on her cheek and moved closer to her, reaching over and wiping away the tear for her.

“Perhaps a half-elf to lead your people? It would unite the two races of the world,” I murmured.

“And that would mean choosing a human and prison over my own race.”

“Yes but hear me out. After the war ends, there will still be humans that continue to support King Betyn. Those humans will only respect a human’s word and will only kneel to a human. At that moment, you would be forced to choose between letting them select their own king or queen, or killing them. Another human king or queen could lead to this same war being repeated, and killing humans for refusing to kneel to an elf would be replacing the human king with an elven king or queen. Neither pathway is good for the world. However, King Betyn’s supporters may be willing to accept a ruler that is half-human and half-elf as they would see that child as being more understanding of a human’s needs and problems than a full elf.”

“I understand what you mean, Desmond, and it may be a possibility, but I would still have to make the right choice according to my people as well.” She sighed and slouched just the slightest bit. “Perhaps the time of elves is coming to an end altogether.”

“You can’t believe that, Faylen. You all have so much to offer Inyarel.” She gave me a smile and I wiped another tear from her cheek.

“Actually I do. We may have so much to offer the world, but we are the only clan left and there are only 500 of us. With the choice before me of whom I will bond with and my choices being a human I love or an elf that I do not, there is little reason to believe that the elven race will live much longer after I die, regardless of whom I choose.”

“Then perhaps your best choice is to follow your heart so that your people live on in some measure.”

“My people may not see it that way though.” I took her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

“You don’t have to decide who to bond with tonight, Faylen. The war isn't even close to being over. Your people cannot expect you to bond and produce an heir in the middle of a war. This isn’t the right time for something like that. Just hold off on your decision until after the war. More elves may see things the way you do when that occurs, or something else may come into account so that you have more or better choices.” She nodded but gently tugged her hand from my grasp.

“Perhaps, but if my father dies before the war ends, I will begin getting pressured to bond. This is why I must begin thinking of this choice now. Just keep this knowledge to yourself, Desmond, and act as though you do not know anything of my feelings for you. If it was even a suspicion that I have romantic feelings to a human rather than an elf, I would be in trouble.” I nodded and we went back to our silence, just watching the fire.