Liana turned to look at Ari and noticed his shoulders drop and she could sense that all the hopes the two of them had shared since first meeting on the track to Sarton were fading away. The dreams of the young man beside her were being dashed, and that was something she was not going to let happen.
“No!” she said crossing her arms defiantly.
“What do you mean, no?” the old man snapped.
“I mean no! I want Ari as my protector. You said he could!” she turned and pointed at Brenion, who seemed a little shocked by her sudden outburst.
“May I remind you, girly, that I have not yet chosen your designated career,” the old man snarled.
Ari suggested that perhaps it was best that Liana just let things be as they were, and that he didn’t want her getting in trouble and missing out on what he was sure was a good future. However, it seemed Liana was having none of it, “No, Ari. We have gone through so much to get this far, only to be told by some stupid old coot what we must do. How is this any different from the Dark Elves?” she said getting to her feet and shouting. The old man coughed and spluttered as her words came out, “Old Coot? Why I will not be spoken to…”
“Oh, shut-up nobody wants to hear what you think!” Liana snapped his direction feeling her anger building inside.
Whether Brenion could sense a problem arising or was just trying to calm things down, he immediately stepped away from the wall and placed his hands out to indicate they should all cool off.
“I want Ari as my protector!” Liana said pulling a face that suggested she had made her mind up and was not going to have it changed by anything anybody else said. Unsure as to where she had found this new sense of justice and defiance, Liana could feel her heart thumping so loudly she thought the others must be able to hear it. In a further act of defiance, Liana reached down to where the old man had nonchalantly tossed the piece of parchment across the tabletop towards Ari and picked it up. “You won’t be needing this,” she said screwing it up into a ball and throwing it across the room.
“Get her out of my office,” the old man sneered indicating to the younger one standing behind him. Liana felt a grip on her arm and looked up to see the man smirking at her as he tried to push her towards the door.
“Get your hands off me!” she snapped, finally feeling her anger ready to explode. With a shove that as far as she was concerned was little more than a gentle push the man was sent flying back across the office and thumped into the far wall. Although she could hear both Brenion and Ari trying to speak to her, Liana ignored both their voices as she slammed her hand down on the table. Splinters of timber went flying up as it snapped in half breaking as if it had been smashed by a large hammer. The old man let out a cry as his parchment, ink pot and pen went flying, fearing for his own life.
Suddenly Liana felt something wrap around her, squeezing tightly and pinning her arms to her side. Unsure of what was happening she turned to see Brenion holding his hands out, with a strenuous look on his face as if he were struggling.
“Ari, calm her down!” Brenion shouted. “She is going to hurt herself!” he added through gritted teeth.
Ari, unsure what he could do, stood up from his chair and looked Liana in the eye. Lifting his hand up to her face and touching her soft skin he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips.
Liana felt the man she desired kissing her, and suddenly all the thoughts of anger eased away from her body. Although only brief, she felt something had passed between them at that very moment, something magical. Not in the sense of some great power capable of mustering walls of fire, but a feeling that had been there since meeting him had suddenly awakened. Ari was the one she wanted, and she would do whatever it took to make it happen.
Two soldiers came bursting in through the doorway, although both stopped when Brenion held out his hand.
“Everything is in order,” he told them.
However, the old man was clearly not of the same opinion, “I want this animal arrested!” he snapped, as spittle flew from his mouth.
The younger man groaned and rubbing the back of his head slowly stood back up. While looking a little shocked and dazed, Brenion for one was glad to see he was alright. The two soldiers appeared at a loss as to what they should do, as the old man again reiterated his claims that Liana should be arrested and charged with assault. However, Brenion again suggested that was not necessary and that it would not be a wise move for them to grab her, indicating to the younger man now looking as if unsure what had just happened.
“I struggled to hold her last time, I cannot be confident in doing so again,” Brenion added. “Leave her to me, I’ll deal with this,” he said gesturing for Liana and Ari to head towards the door.
After what felt like an age, Liana watched as the old man eventually yielded and dragging his assistant by the sleeve stormed out of the room. The soldiers, seemingly intent they had no further part to play looked at each other, before doing likewise and leaving the three of them in the room. Liana felt some comfort as Ari stood beside her and held her hand, wrapping his fingers around her own. Brenion, it was quite evident was fuming with both of them, and Liana was sure the veins in his head were about to explode. However, much to her surprise he spoke much more calmly and softly than she had expected, and the redness in his cheeks soon vanished away.
“Okay, I’m not sure how far I might have pushed my influence, but I am certain this is not the last we have heard about this,” Brenion said appearing more pensive than angry.
“Sorry, Brenion,” Liana said as she and Ari followed him out of the door to the office, glancing back only briefly at the destruction she had caused in her temper. As to whether the man was listening or not, Liana was unsure, but he never replied nor spoke a word until they had emerged back outside of the main keep building.
“You will both have to stay with me until this gets cleared up,” he said, seemingly having made a decision about what to do. Liana apologised again, and this time Brenion turned to look her in the eye.
“Had you hurt that young man, there would have been nothing more that I could have done for you. As it is, we still have a chance things might blow over without too much more hassle. We need to get you to learn how to control that power before you kill someone!” With that, he turned around and beckoned them to follow.
They headed back out of the keep entrance gates, unopposed by the soldiers who stood on duty there, and onto the main street that they had used on their way in. However, rather than remain on that road, Brenion turned right down a side street and headed towards another large building. “This is the home of those who wield magic, along with an extensive library of very old books and manuscripts,” Brenion said appearing to have already calmed completely down.
“Those of us who wield magic live in these houses opposite with our families,” he added pointing to a row of quite large detached homes.
“You would have been afforded one of these in due course had you not…”, Brenion said turning his head but not finishing the sentence, clearly not wanting to broach the same subject again.
Built from a lighter coloured stone to that of the much larger building beside them, they had small square windows at the front, and all had blue painted doors. Each had a low picket fence around the garden at the front giving it a boundary from the neighbouring property. Ari only counted eight homes, and immediately thought that did not mean there could have been many people who had magic in Insgarth.
“There are currently only nine people in the city with the power of magic, you make ten,” Brenion said pointing to Liana.
“Only four of them have families and hence the reason half of these houses are empty. The rest live in dorms in the main building over there,” Brenion said as if pre-empting the question in Ari’s mind.
“You have a family?” Ari replied.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Brenion said with a smile on his face. “I have a wife and an adopted son of five years old.”
As they
reached the blue door at the front of the property, Brenion turned to face them once more. “I should tell you that the boy I have adopted is not like other children. Please be courteous to both him and my wife.”
Both Liana and Ari nodded they would, although it was evident on both their faces they were intrigued as to what he could mean. Still holding hands, they walked inside to what could only be described as a light and airy hallway, where a young woman was stood ready to greet them. With long fair hair and quite a pretty face, Ari guessed she could not be much more than twenty years of age and wondered why someone like her would marry Brenion. However, if that was a shock, it was not as big as the one on both his and Liana’s face when the figure of a small boy run around the corner.
“He’s an elf!” Liana blurted out without thinking.
Chapter 11.
Brenion calmly closed the door as Ari and Liana stood rather rudely gawping at the small children clutching its mother’s hand.
“This is my wife, Elynia. And our son Oscar,” Brenion said making the introductions.
“Hi, I am Ari, and this is Liana,” Ari replied trying not to stare at the boy before them.
Liana, however, was far less subtle, although confused as to how a Dark Elf child was living in the land of the Free Folk, she stepped near, even letting go of Ari’s hand.
“What a handsome young man,” she said smiling and kneeling down, so she was at the same level as the child. The little boy smiled back, somewhat bashfully before hiding shyly behind his mother.
“I hope you don’t mind my dear, but I have said these two can stay. We had a little trouble at the keep,” Brenion said glancing over to Liana as he spoke.
“Of course. I’ll make the spare room up, they can use that. Well come on in don’t stand there making the place look untidy,” Elynia said waving them further into her home. Ari looked at Brenion and was about to open his mouth to ask a question. Guessing what that question was going to be, Brenion held his hand up, “I’ll explain it all later. Let’s get settled in and freshened up first.” Ari just nodded and watched as Brenion walked past him and leaned in to plant a tender kiss on his wife’s lips, before leaning down looking the young boy in the eye and giving him a hug. Whoever this child was, it was evidently obvious that Brenion loved him as if he were his own, as he picked the child up in his arms and headed into another room.
Brenion’s home was immaculate. Liana glanced about as she and Ari were shown up a set of wooden stairs and onto a long narrow landing. “You two can have the room at the end,” Elynia said opening the door for them to enter. “I’ll let you freshen up. Come down when your ready and I’ll have some refreshments made for you.” With those parting words, both Liana and Ari watched the young lady leave the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Ari turned to look around the room and immediately noticed a major flaw in proceedings.
“Ah! Only one bed,” he said a little awkwardly.
Liana turned to look at him, “And that is a problem?” she said saying it as a question.
Ari instantly blushed, his cheeks turning redder than the soft woollen rug under their feet. “It's just…Well…I have never…you know,” he said rather awkwardly trying to explain he had never shared a bed with a woman before.
Liana smiled and turned to face him, “Neither have I,” she said stretching up and placing the tenderest of kisses on his lips.
The bed was quite wide, plenty big enough for two people, and had clean white linen sheets and bedding on top. The room was not huge by any means, but definitely much bigger than either she or Ari were used to. Aside the bed was a small table that had a lamp on it, and a set of drawers were set along the one wall. Two small paintings gave the room a little colour, breaking up the plain white walls. A small window with curtains looked out over the back of the property, and there was even a small fireplace, although no fire was lit within it. Beside the door, as they had entered was a washstand that had a plain white porcelain bowl and jug placed upon it alongside a freshly laundered towel and a block of what they both presumed was soap.
Liana loved the bubbles the soap produced and even more so the fragrant scent it gave off. Washing her hands, faces and lower arms, she thought it would have been nice to have a complete scrub down, but with Ari in the room, she wasn’t sure it was fair on him, although she had absolutely no qualms about him seeing her naked. Moreover, Brenion and his wife were waiting for them back downstairs and now would not be an appropriate one to start such things; after all, with only one bed, she and Ari had all night.
After Ari had also had a quick wash, both he and Liana held hands as they walked side by side down the wooden staircase and into the hallway. Elynia spotted them and smiled before waving them into the room she and Brenion were sat in. As promised, cups had been placed out on a table, along with a little bread, cheese and ham for them to eat. However, Liana again could not help but draw her gaze towards the young boy, and although Brenion had already told them he would explain, she could not help but stare. No sooner had Ari and Liana sat down, when Elynia stood up and took the hand of the young boy, “Come along Oscar, we need to get some supplies from the stores,” she said leading the youngster out of the doorway.
With just the three of them left in the room, Brenion wasted no time in explaining, just as he had said he would. Elynia had been a young woman who had been taken to Gashek to be used by the Dark Elves for their pleasure. Despite everything, it seemed the women they took never got pregnant, and although Brenion didn’t know why, he assumed it was something different in their physiology that made it not happen. However, Elynia had been the favourite of none other than a Dark Elf called Saedor.
“Who’s he?” Ari asked.
Liana scoffed as if thinking everyone should know who he was. “The one that led the invasion against the humans,” she said rolling her eyes back.
“Well Duh! That was over two hundred years ago. Clearly, Elynia isn't that old,” Ari said sounding somewhat annoyed Liana had tried to belittle him.
Brenion didn’t seem to mind the interruption but thought he best intervene before the two had an argument, and things got out of hand. The particular Dark Elf he was referring too was an ancestor of the original one called Saedor, and just like his predecessor was magic. Moreover, he apparently used a kind of magic not done so by the humans, one that involved human sacrifice and draining the lives of others to increase their own power. Anyway, the story continued as Brenion told them that for whatever reason Elynia had managed to fall pregnant to Saedor. As to how or why he could only assume it was something to do with the fact both of them were magic. Saedor was what was known as a warlock, while Elyina, although she didn’t know it at the time actually had the powers of a healer. Without going into great depth or detail about what a healer could do, he suggested that the clue was in the name.
Not even knowing she was pregnant at the time, Saedor had apparently become bored of her and discarded her services, as a new batch of girls from a more recent reaping had caught his eye. Elynia, now out of favour was to sent back to the city and to be used as the other Dark Elves saw fit. This usually meant being passed around from elf to elf, until such time no one else wanted her. However, fortune had seemingly smiled on Elynia when an opportunity arose for her to escape. Having been subjected to a recent ordeal, she had wandered outside for some air, where she had spotted a wagon carrying several dead bodies; all of them human. Piled up and covered with a tarpaulin they were to be taken out of the city and dumped in a large pit that the Elves kept for such a purpose.
With the choice of returning indoors for more of the same or risk her life trying to escape, Elynia decided on the latter. With the wagon driver preoccupied she slipped under the tarpaulin and hid, playing dead as the guards at the city gate checked what was leaving the city. As none of them spotted anything out of the ordinary, the wagon passed through unhindered, and once clear of the city walls Elynia escaped the first chance she got. “I found her wandering the woods th
e following day. Cold, scared and hungry.”
“Poor woman!” Ari said visibly touched by such a traumatic story.
“That could have been us,” Liana added thinking how lucky it was Brenion had saved them when he had.
Brenion wrapped up the story by telling them that he had brought Elynia to Insgarth, where they had grown close, despite the fact they learned she was carrying a baby; one they knew could only be elven. As there had never been any reports of anything like this happening before they had deduced it could have only been Saedor’s child that Elynia was carrying. Eventually, Oscar had been born, and although he resembled a Dark Elf was also visibly different from one.
“I fell in love with Elynia and Oscar and married her a short time later,” Brenion said wrapping up his explanation.
Ari looked at the sorcerer in a new way, one that suggested a certain level of respect that had perhaps not been there before. All his earlier assumptions of Brenion trying to get closer to Liana had now obviously all proved to be nothing more than his over-active imagination. For Brenion to take in another man’s child, especially one so different must have taken a great deal of courage. A thought which evoked another question Ari thought he should ask.
“How do the others in Insgarth react when they see Oscar?”
Brenion pulled a bit of face that suggested Ari had touched upon a subject that may be causing them a problem. “Most just stare, as can only be expected. However, a few, usually those in power, try to use it as a reason that I can not be trusted.”
“And my little outburst earlier wouldn’t have helped,” Liana added now seeing the consequences of her actions.
Reign of the Dark Elves: Book One : The Sorcerer Page 9