“You weren't exactly that the first time, my dear,” Sarena said with a smile.
At that moment, Galinral approached the group on horseback.
“Erana,” he said, holding his hand out to the elvish maiden, “father wants to speak with you alone.”
The ranger took her brother's hand. He immediately pulled her up behind him and rode off.
“What does he want to speak with me about?” she asked.
“I believe, dear sister,” the elvish lord chuckled, “that, if you think about it, you'll be able to figure it out.”
In spite of her continued entreaties, her brother would say nothing more. Within minutes, the pair reached a small glade in the woodlands beyond the fortress where Lord Erandal was awaiting them. Both leapt from the horse, approached their father, and knelt before him.
“Arise, my son,” the lord said, smiling down at his children. “Arise, dearest daughter.”
“You want to speak with me, Father?” Erana asked nervously.
“I do,” he nodded. “Your mother and I have discussed the situation between Kilren and yourself a great deal. She assures me that, according to your letters, the two of you are still very much in love.”
“We are, father!” she exclaimed.
“Living among humans for a year hasn't given you pause?”
“Not at all!”
“You don't find any of their customs...”
“Shocking?” the maiden interrupted. “Savage? Barbaric?”
“I'm not sure I would...” he began with a smile.
“Well, you could,” she assured him. “Some of them are. But, that's hardly Kilren's fault, is it?”
“Certainly not.”
“He realizes that the elvish way is the best way, so really...”
“It's not a matter of the best way, dearest,” he interrupted. “It's merely a matter of our way and their way.”
“That's what I mean,” she replied. “Kilren is more than happy to do things our way.”
“That's certainly a blessing,” he said. “However, keep in mind that you long to be the wife of a human.”
“I certainly do!”
“That being the case,” he continued, “you have to do your best to honor the customs of his people in as much as you can.”
“I will!” she assured him.
“Well,” he smiled. “Seeing as how you two have spent more than a year together now and have obeyed my wishes up to this point – coupled with the fact that I owe Kilren another debt of gratitude for saving your life again earlier today – I don't think it would be fair to keep you in suspense any longer. Erana, my dear, you have our blessing.”
“Thank you, father!” she almost screamed.
“However,” he said, raising his hand in an attempt to quell her enthusiasm to a certain extent. “For the moment, we can't set a date. We have no way of knowing how long this war might continue. Until it's over, or until I decide differently, your engagement will be open-ended. Which is why I wanted to speak with you alone. I want you to discuss it with Kilren. If he's willing to accept...”
“I'm sure he will be!” she interrupted.
“In that case,” he chuckled, “you had better go and tell him that your engagement is official.”
“Yes, sir!” she exclaimed before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. “Thank you, father!”
“You're very welcome, my dear. Now go. I'll be along shortly.”
“It's not too bad,” Kilren said, trying to sound encouraging. “Considering that they burned it down, I mean.”
“I don't know,” Darian replied, shaking his head and staring at the charred ruins, “I think it's pretty bad.”
“The walls are still up,” the lieutenant pointed out. “Most of them, anyway...”
“But they're ruined,” Gregor replied, pushing down a section with his hand.
“Yeah,” Kilren nodded. “Yeah, I guess they are. Alright, I take it back. It is too bad. What do you think your father will do?”
“He'll simply rebuild,” Tealor asserted. “This isn't the first time Malfas has had Mikral burn his house down.”
“I guess that's true,” the lieutenant replied, chuckling in spite of himself. “War is horrible.”
“It is,” Sarena agreed, slipping her hand into her husband's own, “but, it can lead to wonderful things.”
“What do you want to do?” Kilren asked.
“Go through and see if there's anything worth salvaging,” Darian replied. “My parents took almost everything of value when they left, but we may as well take a look, just to see if they missed anything that hasn't been burned to ashes.”
“Alright,” the lieutenant said with a nod before stepping cautiously through the charred doorway. “It looks like the fireplace is still standing.”
“That's a mercy, anyway,” the Telian laughed. “It'll give my father something to build the new house around.”
Just minutes after this, the elvish maiden arrived. She followed Kilren for several minutes more until she managed to get him alone in one of the former bedrooms.
“I don't think we're going to find much in here,” the lieutenant said, stepping into the chamber and gazing down at the blackened bed frame that sat in one corner of the room.
“Kilren!” the elvish maiden said excitedly. “We have their blessing!”
“We do,” he replied, turning around with a wide smile. “You mean; as in...”
“As in; we're officially engaged!”
“That's incredible!” he said, stepping over to take her in his arms. “When...”
“We don't have a date,” she interrupted. “Father said that, with Innalas in the middle of a war, it has to be open-ended for the moment. You don't mind, do you?”
“Of course I mind,” he replied, gazing into her eyes. “But, I'm willing to wait. Besides, maybe once he does set a date, he'll take all the waiting we've had to do into consideration.”
“We can hope,” she replied, smiling up at him. “You know, there was a reason I wanted us to be alone when I told you.”
“Was there?”
“There was,” she said with a bright blush. “It's been pointed out to me several times that I'm going to marry a human.”
“Yes,” he nodded, “you are.”
“And, even my father said that I should try to honor human customs as much as I could.”
“That was good of him.”
“You saved my life again today.”
“I certainly did.”
“And, I believe thanking you properly would be the custom.”
“It certainly would be.”
“That being the case,” she said before pulling his mouth down to hers and kissing him gently.
After several seconds, the couple was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. Erana was horrified to see her father standing in the doorway. Instantly, Kilren released her and she jerked away from him.
“Father!” she exclaimed. “I can explain!”
He simply raised his hand.
“Please listen!” she cried. “You'll probably find this impossible to believe, I know I did at first but...”
“It's a human custom,” he replied with a reassuring tone of voice and a slight smile.
“It is!” she assured him.
“I know, my dear,” he chuckled. “I was very well aware of it when I sent you to talk to Kilren alone. It seems that you may not be aware of one of the most ancient of elvish customs.”
“What is that?” she asked.
“To do our best to honor the traditions of those in whose company we find ourselves.”
“I think I like that custom,” Kilren said, grabbing the maiden by the wrist and pulling her back into his arms. “In fact, I think I like it a lot.”
“Only up to a point, of course,” Lord Erandal said, gazing at the young man from under a single raised eyebrow. “And, as it seems that you're to be my son-in-law, it would be best for you to show a h
earty appreciation for our traditions.”
“Absolutely, Sir!” he replied, immediately releasing the maiden from his grasp.
“Many elvish customs are confined to special occasions,” the elvish lord continued, his eyes locked on his daughter's. “I think it would be best if you limited honoring human customs to the same confines.”
“Of course, father,” she replied with a bright blush.
“In any event,” he said, reaching out toward Kilren, “I've come to congratulate you.”
“Thank you, Sir,” the lieutenant said, taking the elvish lord by the wrist.
Lord Erandal pulled the young man to his chest and hugged him.
“I look forward to the day when I may call you son.”
“I'm looking forward to that, as well.”
“Eilian willing, that day will not be long in the coming,” the lord smiled. “For the moment, however, I think it would be best if we rejoined the rest of your companions.”
“Certainly, Sir.”
“I'm going to have to pull the whole thing down,” Darian said, shaking his head as the elves and the lieutenant stepped back into the main room.
“I think you're right,” Tealor agreed. “The fireplace is the only thing that seems salvageable.”
“Right,” the knight said, shaking his head. “So, I might as well get started. I don't want my mother to see it like this.”
“I can understand that,” Kilren nodded. “Although, they may not be back here for weeks, at the very least. Still, I guess that's no reason to wait.”
“It's not,” the Telian agreed.
As the members of the band worked to clear away the rubble, Darian and Kilren fell into a private conversation.
“Congratulations,” the knight said, as he and the lieutenant were carrying out a large, charred beam together.
“Thanks!”
“I was sure he'd say yes. It was just a matter of time.”
“I was basically sure of the same thing,” Kilren agreed. “Still, I feel a lot better now that it's done.”
“I can understand that.”
“When are you going to talk to Gwendolyn's father?”
“I'm not sure,” the knight replied. “After the war, I guess. No point in doing it now.”
“I don't know about that. I don't like the way Gregor looks at Gwendolyn.”
“Me, either.”
“Well, an engagement ring will probably...” Kilren began. “Oh, man!”
“What is it?”
“Do elves wear engagement rings?”
“How would I know?”
“I've got to talk to Ian,” the lieutenant asserted.
“Sounds like it,” the knight agreed. “Either way, you think if Gwendolyn and I were engaged, it would stop him from... doing whatever it is that he does that I don't like...”
“Maybe,” Kilren replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I think it's worth a shot, either way.”
“You may be right. The next time I see her father, I should probably talk to him.”
“Yes,” the lieutenant nodded, “you should.”
“We've got to find some way to stop him,” Gregor said, latching onto the first opportunity fate had offered him in days to speak to Gwendolyn alone.
“Who?” the maiden replied.
“Valrak,” the prince explained. “When I put myself in his shoes, it makes me nervous. If I were him, I'd spend every waking hour working on how to get you to do what I wanted.”
“You mean; on how to force me to open the Gates of Death?”
“Exactly. Why does he want to open them, anyway?”
“Who knows?”
“What if it's the same reason I have?” Gregor asked.
“Meaning what?”
“What if he's lost someone he loves? What if he wants to open the gates to free someone's soul?”
“If that were the case, and if he really believes I can do it, why not just ask me?”
“Maybe he's not willing to risk you saying no.”
“Asking would have been a better way to start than kidnapping me.”
“Maybe he's not as wise as you,” the prince said with a smile. “Either way, we have to stop him. Permanently. Until we do, you'll always be at risk.”
“How do you suggest we go about it?”
“I don't know,” he smiled. “I'm still working on that. I would say we should just kill him. But, I doubt Darian would agree to that. Also, I'm not sure that we'd be able to manage it. For the moment, we just have to be satisfied with the thought that we've kept his plans, whatever they are, from moving forward.”
Galrin gazed at the image before him with a contented sigh. For the moment, he had to be satisfied with the thought that their plan was moving forward. In fact, it was moving faster than he had dared imagine it would. True, she had almost been killed by that fool King Palnar but, in every action there is a certain element of risk. Under the circumstances, they had been as cautious as he could have hoped. And, in reality, even if she were struck down, his foster son could call on the power of Winrall to drag her soul back from the halls of Kaldor.
Of course, if everything continued to go as planned, there would be no need. Without her knowledge or consent, they were moving her ever closer to the Gates of Death. In time, they would be opened, and all of Areon would fall at the feet of Lord Valrak. There was only one virtue separating them from their ultimate goal. It was one that the ancient wizard had long fostered in his own breast. Patience.
The End
Thank You!
Dear reader, I'm Aaron J. Ethridge, the author of The Lords of Areon, and I want to thank you for taking the time to read it. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I put a great deal of time and effort (as well as love and soul) into it. I want you to know that I plan to write a number of additional books in this series. If you're interested in reading the further adventures of Sir Darian and his many allies, you can do something to help me make it happen.
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The Lords of Areon (The Chronicles of Areon Book 3) Page 32