“Were you ever hurt like that?”
She looks shocked and shakes her head no.
“No. Half-human I was but being my father’s daughter offered me a bit more protection than your mother had. She was a brave and strong woman. And very clever. The Elvin dungeons are almost impossible to escape I'm told. And only two have ever done so. Your mother and your grandfather.”
“Are my grandparents still alive?”
Elainne
I sigh. I know not of his grandfather, he is a mage, but I know his grandmother. She is the leader of her house now; her parents died in defense of the Elvin land in a battle against the creatures we faced in the plains. There is peace now but it hasn’t always been that way.
“Your grandmother is, or was last I was here only months ago, I do not know about your grandfather. We would have to travel to the mages to find out and it would be difficult. I would have to ask my father to unseal the records, find his name. I will if you wish. I do not know when we could take such a journey. You could alone I suppose, if you wish, I would understand.”
I wait for him to respond. He is in shock so much it’s all I can register through our emotional connection.
“Would you like to meet her?”
Viktor
I know she means my grandmother. I am not sure. I am not sure about anything. I am in shock, confused, and I have no idea what to say or do. My mother was half Elvin, half mage. That’s why her father wants me ‘tested’. He wants to see if I have magic. Can they tell if I have mage magic or just Elvin magic? I am not sure what I want. I am about to ask her to make the decision for me. Surely she will know more about the whole situation than I do, especially having lived here, being part Elf.
“Viktor I cannot decide for you. My father may try. But well you should know something else.”
“What?”
“Your Elvin family….your mother was their only heir. There’s a cousin, next in line, but technically you have the stronger claim. My father, he might tell them, for that reason alone. So the house can decide whether to accept you or not. They might…I doubt it. You were only a quarter Elvin but I suppose they could…make you heir to the house.”
That is a kick in the gut. I don’t want to live here, and I most certainly don’t want to be Elvin nobility. I am only one-fourth, Elvin! I would make a terrible lord. I am not leaving Elainne, I am her champion and if she becomes queen back home I will be there as well, for as long as she is.
“I'm not staying. We are here to get the solution and then we return home.”
She nods like she knows what I am thinking and I am glad because I have no idea what is going on through my mind at that moment.
“Well, today has been quite the day. Viktor is Elvin nobility and has a mage grandpa. Viktor I never knew your life was so exciting.”
I grunt at Mason’s sarcasm as the girls break into laughter. We look at them like they have lost their minds. Mason just smiles and I can’t help but roll my eyes at them all.
“I can sympathize with you Viktor. Imagine coming home to a place where your father is king but everyone considers you a human bastard and they have thrust another on the mini throne to be the heir once my father dies.”
I am the only one that can feel the thread of pain in her words. The others laugh as they are meant to. I don’t laugh I look at her with sorrow in my eyes. I am sorry she has to do this, sorry she has to do this for a kingdom that doesn’t like her, sorry she has to see her father dote upon another who is not even his daughter.
The others pick up out somber mood and quiet. They look deep in thought as they try to figure out how either of us must feel being here.
“And I thought the mission of saving the kingdom would be hard enough. Geez, you two just had to bring personal drama into everything didn’t you?”
Elainne
I can’t help it I laugh at Madeline. She is right. I know the drama with my father will happen; we are who and what we are after all. But now poor Viktor is also stuck in the family drama, drama none of us expected and it has become almost as big a chore as our mission.
“Tonight I promise to be all about business.”
The others nod and smile. We are quite the bunch.
“We should get some sleep. We will likely be up late tonight. The servants will come to clean up and prepare us for bed Madeline. Boys sleep well. Your honor guard clothes and farmer clothes will likely be clean when you awake. Viktor I must warn you they might outfit you in a champion’s outfit. Try not to argue too much.”
Viktor
I nod and we head into the next room. I don’t want to leave, don’t want her to be alone with strange servants with only Madeline for protection but I have no choice. I know I cannot sleep in her room if Madeline not there I would. The Elves understood a champion’s place is with his charge. Humans, it seems do not.
Elainne
The boys leave the room and some female servants come in to help us from out of our gowns and into some nightclothes. It is only lunchtime true but we’ve had a trying few days and can use the rest. We both lay down ready to sleep knowing we are safe for once.
Chapter Twelve
Viktor
I can’t sleep. I know it is not appropriate but I keep wondering how Elainne is. I get up; dress in the honor guard outfit they left clean and go quietly into the girl’s room. I know which bed she is in without even looking. I can sense her. Sleeping peacefully. Safely. I sigh in relief and sit down at the bedside. I push her hair off her face. She sighs in her sleep.
I go to the end of the bed and sit down leaning against the end railing. Being closer has me more relaxed and I drift off to sleep.
Elainne
A few hours after falling asleep I wake to screams. I sit up looking around and see Madeline clutching a sheet to her and glaring at someone on the floor. I hear running in the hallway, guards most likely, and quickly rise to see what is going on. Has something crawled in here and died while we slept?
It turns out to be Viktor knife in hand, glaring at Madeline in much the same manner she glares at him.
“What are you doing here?!”
“Your highness Viktor is missing and I heard….”
Mason stops as he sees Madeline and Viktor glaring each other to the beyond and back. I can’t help it I just break into laughter. Guards burst into the room weapons drawn and see quite the sight. Madeline is wrapped in a sheet-like she is naked underneath, which she most certainly is not, Viktor I leaning on the floor at the end of my bed holding a knife, Mason is in underclothes sword in hand looking confused and here I am laughing like a fool. I manage to straighten my face enough to address the guards.
“I am sorry Madeline is not used to me having a champion and does not realize he will be around all the time. It spooked her, and I don’t think Mason expected Viktor to be missing or to hear Madeline screeching about Viktor being in our room. I'm sorry for the disturbances. If you would please leave I will straighten this out and we will be dressed and ready to dine in half an hour.”
They nod and leave and I sigh sinking onto the end of my bed. Mason looks ready to return to the boy's room but I wave him in. He sits at the table and waits. Viktor stands, his boot knife still in hand, Madeline’s screeching must have been quite the way to wake…oh right I woke that way as well.
“I think we all need to talk about this situation.”
Madeline is furious and leans back against the pillows staying sitting but piling blankets and sheets over her.
“He came in here likely to watch or molest us in our sleep! Both are terribly creepy and inappropriate!”
“I came in here because I was anxious! I couldn’t sleep. not knowing if Elainne was okay or not was driving me nuts! I just went to check, sat on the floor against the bedpost and fell asleep! I didn’t intend to stay!”
“Everyone stop yelling!” I sigh hating to raise my voice but I can’t let them screech the castle down around us. My father would be most displease
d.
“I'm sorry to yell. Madeline, you heard my father last night and you read about this. A Kemp is never easy, they must know how their charge fairs at all times and they have to be in sight of them or they get uncomfortable, twitchy, and annoyed. Viktor will likely sneak into my room every night from now until one of us dies. We have to accept that.
“It’s not a human thing, it’s an Elvin thing. It’s hard to understand if you are not Elvin I realize but Elves are not as prude as humans. We do not require virgin marriages, we do not require corsets, and we do not require all young people to have chaperones. Guards of a different gender are allowed to be alone with their charges, and I have been alone with Viktor before.
“We are in Elvin country and here it is understood that Viktor follows me everywhere, likely even into the bathing chamber should he feel the need. Which even I hope he doesn’t. We go nowhere without Kemps if we have them. Now the literature my aunt gave you likely didn’t have too much on Kemps, a lot is between the two connected and not made public, but I can assure you that in no way is Viktor attracted to either you or me.
“He just wants me to be safe. He wasn’t trying to spy on us sleeping, he was nervous about me being without protection. So do not worry. He has no intention of making us uncomfortable he is simply doing as the nature of the Kemp dictates; it makes your world revolve around someone else. It is as hard for him as for us.
“Poor Mason is going to have some adjusting to do as well. Back home he will be in charge of reminding Viktor of a human guards place, as Champions there are not the same as they are here. It’s an entirely different meaning, an entirely different world. Viktor will have to rein himself in, and Mason will have to help. We will also have to get used to the fact that he will always be around. I will never be alone anymore. So is everyone clear? Viktor prepare for boundaries when we return home, Madeline prepare for fewer boundaries to exist, and Mason prepare to help Viktor not be thrown into the dungeon for not knowing his place.”
Everyone nods and no one looks happy about it. Mason likely thinks he should not be responsible for Viktor but it is obvious he won’t be able to stop himself. Madeline likely thinks all human guards should know their place, but Viktor’s Elvin part will rule him as my Kemp. Between him and me, no boundaries will exist. I know Viktor thinks it unfair that humans are so stupid and narrow-minded. I think it unfair I have to deal with all three being unhappy with my ruling….ahh to be royalty.
“Let’s all return to our rooms…meaning you two…so we can wash and meet in here for food.”
Everyone nods and Mason hurries back into the boy’s room without a word. Poor boy, I embarrassed him by making him stay in his undergarments. Though it covers as much as his outerwear so I have no idea how it is considered inappropriate. Viktor walks slowly back into their room looking over his shoulder the whole time. I sigh as Madeline huffs and climbs out of bed and goes right to the bathroom. I follow her expecting an argument.
“Madeline are you alright?”
“I can’t believe I woke up to find a man in our room.”
She sounds almost scared or sad. For goodness sake, she had been camping with Mason and Viktor alone the entire time I was unconscious.
“What about camping?”
She glares at me as she sinks into the tub of warm water. Elves have running water; it is a luxury I want to ask my father about trading for.
“We were on the run, being hunted down by magical beings out to kill us all. You were ill from the magic. It was different there was no other choice. But here, here we are in a safe place, with guards in hallways, and a level of decorum that should be followed.”
I shake my head. “No, you don’t understand Madeline. Viktor is following the Elvin level of decorum. You are following the human one. He is not wrong and neither are you. You two just see things differently. You think we are safe here. We are only safe as long as my father is entertained by us. As long as he sees fit to keep us safe. The second he is bored, or annoyed, or put off by us we are dead. All of us. Viktor knows this, and he is doing everything he can to make sure I will make it out alive should that time come before we return home.”
I turn and leave letting her think about that and dressing. I bathed just before bed and I do not need to again so soon. I have done nothing but sleep. How dirty could I get? Madeline has a bad habit of bathing when she is frustrated or annoyed. Her being frustrated happens so rarely I forgot about the habit until now.
She is much more in her element in the human world, whether it is in the castle or outdoors camping. She is not sure how to react to the Elvin world even after all the studying she did before I moved from this place to the human kingdom. Mason, I think has trouble understanding it as well. Viktor would have enjoyed it I think were it not for the threat hanging over our heads.
We dress in finery, Viktor does have to change into a champions outfit, luckily they are designed to allow you to move at your best and not get in the way. Protection of your charge is taken into account with everything to do with a Kemp. Even their clothes reflected their duties.
Mason dresses in the black honor guard outfit of our homeland. The Elves know enough to know he is an outstanding warrior in the human country; it will afford him a measure of respect here.
Madeline and I are in finery…lots of it. Luckily corsets are not required and I gladly go without. Madeline takes some convincing until she was dressed and realizes she likes it. Ready in dress, if not in spirit, we are escorted to my father’s private study. He is going through some papers as we enter and he doesn’t bother looking up, not that I expected him to.
“Give me your proposal. What shall I get for sending in Elves to kill these mermen and reverse the spell? You know it will take many warriors and skilled Elvin mages. What can the humans offer me in return?”
“What do you want?”
He laughs and looks up shaking his head.
“You still do not play the game well Elainne. You never let them choose what they want. It puts you in even a weaker position than you already are.”
I shrug and sit motioning for the others to do so as well. This will be a word game that will continue until he is done amusing himself at my expense.
“I was not given parameters. Aunt assumed you would help. That was her mistake, in my opinion; I would have gone to the mages first. Reclusive and powerful they may be but they are human. She assumed being her brother you would feel for her, pity her for being stuck in the human world you put her in and would help for that reason alone. She knew it wouldn’t be for free but I doubt she expected a large price in return for your help.”
I rise to walk to the desk and slam my hands down demanding his attention.
“I know you better. You never do anything for anyone but yourself. So instead of wasting time offering you this and that until you make an offer I cannot refuse because aunt needs me I'm just asking straight out, one royal to another, what the hell do you want?”
He is not pleased with that speech, but I have said nothing that is not true.
“I could have you killed for such insolence to your king.”
“You could, and if you do Madeline is an ambassador in my stead. She has full permission to act as an emissary in my place for your sister.”
“Your Kemp would fight for you.”
“And die with me. Yes, I know and I would regret the need for his death as much as my own if not more. But I can do nothing about his choice. I have already asked them both to overlook your brutality should you kill me to instead stay alive and help Madeline.
“You can kill me without the Elves or humans saying much, but Madeline is nobility, Madeline is important. Kill her and you have a war. You would likely win, until they come with axes taking down your trees, your forests, corrupting your land so the power runs dry and you are nothing more than people with a once special heritage. No one wants a war so I know the job will still get done even should you kill me.”
“If I kill all four
of you no one from that country will notice, not with the mermen there.”
“If they have two out of four of the settled kingdoms how long before they come for yours do you think? Having to worry about humans who are not restricted to forests, water or plains plus the mermen they protect. I can imagine that war would cost you a lot; if you can win your country would be diminished and destroyed. Do you think you would have much left to rule? I don’t. The dwarves wouldn’t help you. The mages aren’t an organized kingdom. So no help from that quarter for you. I know how much you like ruling. So let’s not pretend you don’t need the human lands free as much as we do. You stand to lose everything just as aunt and I do.”
I go back to sit in the chair he first motioned me to. Viktor is by my side and backs away keeping his eyes on my father. He doesn’t trust him and I don’t blame him. I hadn’t even noticed him there; I was focused on my father, not showing fear or worry. But I felt his comforting presence and it gave me the courage to do what had to be done.
“It seems the truth can be as persuasive as the regular court dance. Wise words Elainne, true in some sense. If the mermen decide to conquer us it will be harder to defeat them, especially if they turn part of the human lands into a water base. However, I do not know what will happen for sure. What if I require proof before I help you?”
“I will seek out the mages.”
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