“Rose.”
“So human,” the half elf replied pitifully. “We’ll see what Elura can do to change that name.”
So I was to be taken from my lands forever and given a new name. So be it. I’d never even liked my name.
I followed the half elf up the steps toward the entrance. I stopped when I realized Gaelin and Folwin didn’t follow. “Aren’t you coming?”
“This is where we leave you,” Folwin replied. “We’ve done our duty in getting you safely here.” They both nodded their heads to me. I turned and went into the building without thanking them for kidnapping me.
“My name’s Orwyn,” the half elf said as he led me through an overly-ornate entryway. “I was born here in Errenity Valley.” Sure enough, his ears were slightly pointed, just as mine had been, though he seemed proud of their strange shape. His hair was cut away from the ear so as to not hide the point.
I run my fingers against the soft scars at the top of my own ears, remembering the searing pain when my mother took a hot knife to them. What would she do if she knew that I was now among the elves, her hated ancestors? I wondered if my grandfather were still alive and living here. I would be sure to pay him a visit someday and give him a piece of my mind.
My thoughts of vengeance were cut short when Orwyn opened a golden door to reveal a bright marble room. Tables and daybeds were strewn everywhere and women occupied nearly every piece of furniture. They were busy eating fruits and breads and drinking wine from clear glasses or laughing and chattering. Some were braiding another’s hair into intricate hairdos. I even saw two young women kissing passionately, giggling as they fondled and prodded each other. I blushed and quickly looked away.
As Orwyn led me into the room, several eyes turned to me. All the women here had pointed ears, though some were obviously of more pure elven lineage, depending on the sharpness and length of the ear point. A tall, slender woman dressed in a black velvet dress approached us, her ears longer and more pointed than I had ever seen on anyone.
“I see we have a new treasure,” the woman said, emerald eyes looking me up and down.
I blushed again at how beautiful I found this woman. The stories had indeed been true, how the pure elven women were beyond any human beauty. The eyes were larger, the neck longer, and the silvery hair perfectly curled to the hip. Her breasts were round and plump despite her otherwise slender frame. Her ruby lips curled in a knowing smile, as if she knew my human self couldn’t resist appreciating her physical beauty.
“I am Elura,” she said, her accent having the same beautiful lilt as Gaelin and Folwin. “What is your name?”
“Rose.”
Elura’s lips pursed in obvious disapproval. “We will find a new name for you. You can pick it if you would like.”
Unsure of what to do, I nodded my head.
“Perfect,” Elura said, then waved for Orwyn to leave. “If you will follow me, we will order a bath and a bite to eat for you.”
Despite my discomfort of being in such a strange place, I followed obediently, my aching stomach ready for whatever food they would give me. We passed through a hallway and down a staircase. Down another hallway was an arched door. The air here was humid and smelled of soap. Elura opened the door and led me in.
Just as the room above, several women were here too, settled in steaming pools lit by the same fireless light. Most were naked while some lounged on the side of the pools in their shifts.
“Ah, here is my niece,” Elura exclaimed happily when they approached a slender young woman soaking her feet in the nearest pool.
I had to suck in a breath to get a grip of myself when the young woman turned to look at us. She was even lovelier than Elura, with slender arms and legs, a heart shaped face decorated with plump, pink lips and a dainty nose. Her large, curious eyes were a bright amber that twinkled when she met my gaze. She was a pure blooded elf like her aunt, with long, slenderly pointed ears that peaked out of her auburn hair.
I found myself looking her body over, seeing the faint outline of her small but perky breasts through the thin fabric of her shift. I had never been attracted so to a woman before, but I soon found myself wondering what she would look like had that shift not been there…
“Do you hear me?”
I shook my head bringing my thoughts to the present. Elura was talking to me. “Yes, Elura?”
“I was asking if you would like my niece Ara to help you find a new name?”
“Oh, um, yeah.” I blushed yet again--what was wrong with me?
Ara smiled, her perfect pink lips quirking into a crooked grin, and something deep inside me felt excited at the thought of talking with her, of being near her.
“Excellent,” Elura said briskly. “She will have a list of names for you to choose from tomorrow. But for now, let me find you someone to help you bathe.”
That same deep part of me hoped that Elura would suggest Ara to help, but I shook the thought as Ara moved away to the door and two half elf girls answered Elura’s call. I tried to catch another glance at Ara, but she was already gone, and the two giggling girls were already pulling me toward a bathing pool.
“Ick! Let’s get those nasty human clothes off you,” the first girl, a plump blonde with a full bosom exclaimed, already starting to undo the buttons on the front of my blouse.
The brunette that accompanied her agreed and started to pull my trousers off. Normally, I would have objected to strangers pulling off my clothes, but that deep part of me found a thrill in it. I was already so far gone from my normal life that I gave up on clinging to anything that I’d known or believed.
One by one, my clothes landed on the floor, and before I knew it, I stood naked in front of the two girls. They were pretty, though they were pretty in the way humans were, without the ethereal beauty that those with stronger elven blood had.
“Look, Srien,” the brunette said with a gasp. “She’s hardened and it’s not even cold!”
I looked down to see my pink nipples standing erect. My chest heaved up and down, and I realized the two young women watching them.
“Let’s get you bathed, shall we?” Srien said.
“Do you...do you do this with every new guest?” I asked the young woman as they began rubbing my skin with oils and soaps, noticeably taking more time in certain areas.
“Only if it’s obvious they want it,” the brunette, named Quarren replied with a suggestive grin.
I gasp as one of their hands comes dangerously close to the area between my legs. “And how do you know I want it?”
“We’re half elves,” Srien replied matter-of-factly. “We could smell it on you the moment you came in.”
I blushed, hating that I had been that obvious.
“I’ve never been with a woman,” I confessed sighing as Quarren’s index fingers toyed with my clit, prodding it softly for just a moment before retreating again.
“Sadly, that won’t happen tonight,” Srien said sadly, her lips pursing.
“Why not?”
“Elura wants to figure you out, see if you can be matched with a pure elven man first so your talents could be a little more...useful.” Quarren circled one of her fingers around my left breast, sending chills up and down my spine.
I fought the urge to groan. It was so strange--before stepping into the building I would have never thought to do something like this, but now I was near desperate for Quarren and Srien to touch me more.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t have some innocent fun,” Srien said defiantly, pulling up next to me so that her wet breasts touched mine. Her mouth was mere inches from mine, and before I knew it, I pressed my lips firmly against hers.
Srien let out a soft sigh as we kiss and pressed her breasts firmly against mine. Her mouth moved, parting my lips, her tongue prodding mine softly. Quarren writhed next to us, running her nose and tongue against our breasts.
Something inside of me burned like never before, and I felt the urge to give everything to them both right then
and there. I kissed Srien passionately, breaking only to lock lips with Quarren, who kissed even more lustfully than Srien.
“Now, girls, that’s enough. Our guest has had quite a long journey.” Elura’s chiding tone broke us from our play, and I felt slightly lightheaded. Elura was holding a towel for me. “Don’t worry, friend, there will be plenty of time for that later.”
Srien and Quarren both had sly smiles as I got out. I was still trying to focus, to stifle that fire within me so I could follow Elura out of the bath house.
“I hope the girls didn’t bother you,” Elura said as we walked back down the hallway.
“Not at all,” I assured her. “I honestly don’t know what got into me.”
Elura led me to a door and opened it and smiled understandingly. “You are far from the first that has done so on her first night. You need rest. Perhaps your head will be clearer in the morning.”
“Perhaps,” I muttered and enter the room.
It was a bedchamber, nicer than any I had stayed in before. There was a bed, fluffed with silk-covered pillows with a table laden with fresh bread and fruit next to it. There wasn’t much else in the room, aside from a glass door that opened to a small balcony.
“Is there anything I can get you? Wine? Water?” Elura asked, attentive as ever.
“Wine would be wonderful,” I replied. I’d only had wine on a few occasions, having rarely been able to afford such a delicacy back home. Perhaps I would quickly grow to love it here.
For more reasons than one, a sly voice in my head said. I shut it out and began to eat the food that had been left for me. When I’d eaten my fill, I climbed into the fluffed bed and slept better than I had in gods know how long.
Chapter Three
Rose
I felt that I could have slept for a month.
I only awoke because sunlight streamed through the glass door that led to the small balcony and there was the tiniest creak of a hinge, alerting me that someone was at the door.
I turned to see Elura peeking through the partially opened door, smiling warmly at me. “I’m so glad you’re awake and looking well-rested.” She strode across the room and stood next to the bed. “Is breakfast--or more precisely, lunch--in order?”
I stretched and groaned, still taking everything in. I thought that I should have felt more startled, given everything that had happened the last few days. Kidnapped to a strange place, nearly seduced by several women, surrounded by the sweet smelling magic...why wasn’t I more alarmed?
But I wasn’t, so I didn’t worry. “I would love something to eat.”
Elura nodded. “I’ll have your food brought to you, along with some new clothes.”
Something startled me slightly then. I lifted the covers and looked down at myself and realized I was still naked. But the silken sheets were so soft and warm against my skin that I didn’t care.
I ate the bread and fruit quickly and slipped on the pale blue silk gown Elura had left folded for me at the food of my bed. There were no underclothes, and the silk was so thin that the tips of my nipples were noticeable. My back was also exposed, only a criss-crossing pattern of silk keeping the sleeves and lower part of my dress from slipping off.
I stepped out into the hallway, where Elura was waiting for me. “So pretty,” she purred, running a hand down my arm. “You’ve already got lovely skin. I gather you get it from your elven heritage.”
Elura led me down the hallway and up the staircase to the main floor where I had originally met her. The room was still populated with young women, doing the same activities as the night before, though I didn’t see any of them kissing. Several eyes still turned curiously to me, however, and I felt my stomach tighten. Would they accept me? Could I ever become one of them?
Elura called something out in what I guessed was the Elven tongue, Syllni. Ara rose from a table she was sitting at and hurried over. She was in a light lavender silk dress similar to mine, her hair done half up, with perfect, loose auburn ringlets that fell down her front, nearly to her waist. Her large honey brown eyes twinkled at me, those tight little lips quirking in a sweet smile.
“Ara has made a list of names for you to pick from, my dear,” Elura said. I noted that she had never said my real name, Rose. It was apparently too human a name for her tongue to say.
“Come with me,” Ara said happily, grabbing my hand. She spoke my tongue, but her accent was thick.
Ara led me out a large painted glass door to the side, revealing a beautiful garden chattering with song birds. Lilies grew everywhere, and morning glory climbed on every stone wall and fixture to be seen. Strange insects I quickly recognized as fairies flitted among the flowers, their tiny humanoid bodies a variety of colors.
“I expected it to be cold out here,” I said as Ara pulled me to a bench to sit.
“The land outside of Errenity Valley is harsh,” Ara agreed, pulling a folded piece of parchment out and handing it to me. “But the magic here protects our kind from the cold and anything that can harm us. If you weren’t elven or any sort of fairy, you’d be frozen to death right now.”
I accepted the parchment from Ara and looked at the names. Many were beautiful, while some were very strange. Sumina, Keykian, Minuvae--None of those spoke to me. I continued reading the list, mentally crossing out the ones I hated.
“If you don’t like any of them,” Ara said, “I can give you a few more.”
“What name do I look like I should have?” I asked her, meeting her beautiful gaze.
Ara looked me up and down, that same perfect smile forming on her lips. Those lips--I thought about how I had kissed Srien and Quarren the night before, and wished I could do the same with Ara.
“Meira,” Ara said, the name sliding off her tongue like silk.
“Does it mean anything?” I asked.
“The same as yours does in your human tongue. Rose.”
I’d always hated my name, thinking it was too common. But hearing this new name, even if it meant the same as my old one, it felt right. “Is that why you picked that name, because it meant the same as my old name?”
“I picked it because you are beautiful like a meira,” Ara replied with a smile. She lowered her eyes so that her long lashes touched her cheeks.
Not knowing what to say, and fearing my reaction to her compliment would betray my feelings toward her, I changed the subject. “You said that I would be dead right now if I weren’t of elven blood. Is that why I feel so calm here? Because I have elven blood?”
Ara nodded. “When you were in the human lands where magic wasn’t present, you felt more human, even looked and acted more human. Now that you are here, the elven part of you is active, and you will become more like an elf.”
“You mean…” I ran my finger along my ear where it had been cut to hide my part elven tips.
Ara shrugged. “It’s possible to restore your ears, though I think it would take a little more potent magic, likely from a sage up in one of the villages.”
“So there’s more to Errenity Valley than this?” I gestured to the forest around us. Even with the trees, I could see the stone walls of the pass on either side of us, locking us in from the harsh human lands.
“Much more. The mountain pass opens wide, but we are surrounded on all sides. It’s been perfect for us to allow our kind to multiply again. Our population is still small, but we couldn’t be in a safer place.”
“So both the mountains and the magic protect you from human invasion.”
Ara nodded. “We could have managed without the mountains, but it gave an easier barrier for where to start and end our magic shields. If anyone dared come this close and somehow managed to get past the scout-guards, if they didn’t have potent enough elven blood in their veins, they would be in so much pain they couldn’t go on.”
“I guess for once I should be glad of my elven blood.”
Ara sighed softly, and I realized I might have offended her. “I know the humans have told you that we are evil, but th
at’s to be expected of an opposing side of the war. The elves were once friendly to the humans, but politics and greed got in the way on both sides. I hold to the belief that we might one day return to an age of peace with all races.”
I hadn’t ever thought of it that way before. I’d always seen the war as the point of no return, that it was impossible to bring back the days when elves and humans lived in harmony. I’d grown up in a culture that believed that the elven bastards deserved to die, and that the elves thought the same of us.
“I hope you’ll like it here, Meira,” Ara said softly. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but I’m sure it will become a home to you soon enough.”
“Me too,” I agreed. I didn’t say it, but I was already feeling that this was where I’d belonged my entire life; I’d just not known it until I was brought here.
The glass door opened, and Elura stepped into the garden. “It seems you’ve found a proper elven name, my dear,” she called.
I rose from the bench and stood tall before the elven beauty. When I opened my mouth, a fire within me flared with pride as I spoke my true elven name for the first time.: “My name is Meira.”
Chapter Four
Matches
I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the woods around Elura’s Dwelling, as I was told it was called. At first glance, the trees and shrubs that formed the forest seemed like any ordinary forest back in the human lands, but as I paid more attention to the little details, to how the whisper of the wind was more lively and how the plants themselves seemed far more aware than regular flora, I realized just how rooted in magic this place was.
I’d first thought that Errenity Valley was nothing more than a beautiful little grotto carved from the mountains, but from what Ara told me and what I could see in my wanderings, the valley stretched on and on, the stony walls of the mountains stretching farther and farther apart. There were apparently villages and towns farther north, where there were schools for young elven children and marketplaces full of foods and jewels. Elura said that we’d go there one day, but for now, she wanted me to acclimate myself to the magic and feel of the valley.
Elven Treasure Page 2
