by M. D. Grimm
Morgorth would burn him alive.
I was cold to him. I knew that. I tried not to feel guilty about it. He'd known my feelings from the beginning, and had no one to blame but himself. I wanted knowledge, I had to have knowledge of everything life had to offer if I was to be worthy of becoming Morgorth's mate. My fantasies were becoming far more lucid and explicit as I grew older, as my knowledge of sexual pleasure expanded. The things I would do to him...
My smile deepened.
"Aishe."
Right before entering my tent, I turned to see my mother striding toward me.
"Yes, Mother?"
"Your father and I would like to speak with you."
Her tone had me frowning. I left my bow and quiver in my tent, sheathed my sword, and followed my mother to my parent's tent. Apprehension shuddered in my gut as I entered. Something was wrong. My parents wore serious expressions, and I tightened my grip on my sword.
"What is it?" I asked.
"We need to talk about your future," my father said.
I eyed him. "All right."
My parents exchanged a look I didn't understand.
My father spoke first. "We see how close you've become to one of the dialen of this tribe. Slydde is his name, isn't it?"
My eyes flickered back and forth between them. "His name is Slydde, but I wouldn't consider us close. I just ended our union."
"That is unfortunate," my father continued, "since I've just spoken to the Lania council and we have decided that it would be in the best interest of both tribes should you unite with Slydde."
My jaw dropped to the ground. My world came crashing down, and I felt like I was falling down a deep, black abyss that led to the underworld. "What are you... how can you..." I stared, disbelieving, at my mother. "How can either of you consider such a thing? You know my destiny, you know..." My voice cracked, fire burning through my veins. "What about Morgorth?"
Silence reigned for a short time, the air thrumming with tension.
"We are sorry, Aishe," my mother said, her periwinkle eyes wet. "But it is time we move past him and focus on a tangible future for you. Both Wyn and Fray are already betrothed and will be united to their ladies next year. Amyla seems to have taken a liking to another dialen, and even Eulun is considering finding someone." She paused. "It's time you considered the duty you have to your tribe."
My legs were shaking so hard I had to grip the table to keep standing. I couldn't fathom any of this. I felt betrayed, deceived. Their words were cruel, heartless. I glared at both of them, my fingers gripping the hilt of my sword, and an irrational part of me wanted to brandish it.
"Aishe," my father said, gently, taking a step toward me. "Calm yourself. We don't know what the Mother has written for any of us. To put so much faith in a mage who claimed to have traveled back in time--"
"Stop." I straightened from the table, and slowly slid my sword halfway out of the scabbard. My father's eyes widened. "Don't you dare say one word against Morgorth. Not you." I looked at my mother. "And not you."
I tried to calm my voice, but even I could hear the fury, the pain, vibrating through it. The air suddenly became too thin, making it hard for me to breathe.
"He is my mate," I said firmly, clearly. "Nothing will change that. I won't allow anything to change that. He is the reason I trained so hard, the reason I am who I am today." A plea suddenly entered my voice, one I couldn't get rid of. "Don't ask me to forget him. Don't ask me to love another. I won't. I can't."
I slid my sword back into the scabbard. I loved my parents, my tribe, so much, that it made the pain that much more palatable. It made their betrayal pierce deeper. They knew my heart, and yet they were trying to break it.
My mother looked away. My father met my eyes, his own shielded. "I'm sorry my son, but the tribes have agreed. You are now betrothed to Slydde."
I shook my head, unable to form any words.
My father's face hardened. "You will do your duty, Aishe. You will give up childish fantasies and--"
"Never," I whispered. I never flinched from my father's gaze. "They were never childish fantasies. Do you hear me, Pae? They are real to me. Morgorth is real to me. I will become Morgorth's mate, and nothing will stop me."
His face tightened. "You know the consequences."
A shudder ran through me, but I stood my ground. I stood straighter, pulling my shoulders back, lifting my head high.
"I do."
"And you still refuse?"
"'Til my dying breath."
My father flinched. I saw it. I wondered at it. This was his doing, after all, and he should have known I would refuse.
"So be it," he whispered. Then he stood up straighter and met my eyes. "Aishe, you are hereby banished from the Ravena tribe for six months. You will have no contact nor be allowed to travel through our territory during this time."
I glanced at my mother's back. She said nothing. I met my father's eyes again. They were shielded. I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
I inclined my head to him before spinning on my heel and stomping out of the tent.
Chapter Five
Present day
Since Morgorth's training would continue to be about his stance, I decided not to watch. He needed to concentrate, and I was sure my presence didn't help with that. I stood in Vorgoroth, staring up at Geheimnis. She sat on the top of the mountain, looking almost like she was a natural part of the rock. The fortress was stacked with many towers that angled sharply on top, like numerous swords trying to pierce the sky, creating an ominous silhouette. Cold and unforgiving, her stony exterior was in stark contrast to the warmth and beauty inside. She was only welcoming to those who knew what wonders she harbored.
Smiling at Morgorth's skill in architecture and his vision of home, I turned to observe the forest around me. The lake and streams had frozen over, yet the ice was dangerously thin. Instead of walking for miles around it, I simply climbed a tree and used its branches as a bridge, carefully crossing to another tree on the other side. The trees quivered under my weight, but they assisted me, either lowering or raising their branches to suit my need. My ungloved hands managed to grip the branches despite the snow, and it wasn't long before I swung to the ground on the other side of the small river. I had climbed trees since I was a child, and I had only grown more skilled as I aged. I patted the trunk in thanks before continuing down the path.
I knew there were trulbars in this forest; I'd heard their roars now and then. I'd never seen them though. I suspected they usually lived on the darker side of the forest. They were deadly beasts with a quick temper and little affection for anyone but their young.
Of course, thinking about trulbars made me think of my first meeting with Morgorth. A meeting that hadn't happened to him yet. My smile was bitter as I shook my head. I shouldn't dwell on such things. I was here, with him. That was all that mattered.
But the memory came despite my effort to push it back. I'd gotten lost in the forest my tribe had been staying in during the summer. It was a new forest, and, being clumsy, I'd stumbled (literally) onto a trulbar den. Three cubs, fuzzy little balls with bulbous eyes and squat legs, had squealed for their mother. I'd tried to run but got tangled up in my own cursed feet. The mother hadn't been far away, and while I'd gotten a head start, it hadn't lasted long.
Around eight feet tall when standing on her hind legs, the trulbar had white serrated claws, nearly hidden under the shaggy brown fur growing on her from head to toe. Large ears protruded from either side of her head with large, white horns jutting forward, ready to skewer any threat. Large, yellow eyes had burned from her long-snouted face while her mouth opened up in a white-toothed roar that made my bones rattle, and still sent a shock of terror down my back to this day. She'd hunched her shoulders, her sturdy legs wide. Then she'd charged.
I remembered my terror, the adrenaline flooding through my veins, the way my legs had pumped, strained, running faster than I ever had before. It was still there, echoing inside me even
now, all these years later. I'd been sure my death was eminent. I had a bow and quiver but wasn't very skilled with them. And if I'd stopped to turn and aim, the trulbar would have immediately eaten my face. My only option had been to run.
So I had. My lungs had burned, my feet flying over the ground. I'd come to a small part of the forest where the trees weren't so close together. That was where he had been, though I hadn't seen him at the time; I had been too focused on escaping. It was only when I'd heard my name yelled that I'd turned, realizing that I wasn't alone anymore. But I'd only gotten a glimpse of him before I ran into a tree.
I chuckled slightly, even now. How humiliating. A dialen, a creature of the forest, one most believed to be graceful, in tune with Nature, the Mother, and the Hunter... and I'd run into a blasted tree.
I'd knocked myself out. When I awakened, my head throbbing, I'd seen him again. He'd fallen to his knees, and, despite being dazed, I'd walked over to him, knowing he was hurt. That had been my first meeting with Morgorth. My first glimpse of his face and form: his pale, angular face with his dark brows, pointed chin and nose, his rangy body encased all in black, his rich brown eyes that had such life in them, though most of that life was filled with torment a younger me could never understand.
Only now did I truly understand his attachment to me then. What had been my first meeting had been his second. He hadn't told me much about us, only that there would be an "us" much later, right before he'd left to come back to his own time. He said we would be together. He said we were together. We were meant for each other.
I'd fallen in love with him when I was little more than a child.
But the love that burned inside me now was so much stronger, vaster, more intense than the love I'd had then. I knew him now; I understood him now. He wasn't perfect. He often angered me, frustrated me. Hurt me. But we were meant to be together.
I sighed and stopped walking. I let my head fall back as I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths of the cool, fresh air tinged with the wet smell of melting snow. I listened to the sounds around me: the crunch of feet and hooves on snow, the flutter of birds' wings. It calmed me.
I couldn't live in the past. I didn't want to.
I fingered the bow in my hand. My father's bow. The one that only the chief of our tribe could use. It had been created from a fallen branch of the black Krane tree, a tree sacred to all dialen. It was carved with sigils for protection and good hunting. There were also sigils for wisdom and luck, and intuition. It was a long bow, one end coming up to my shoulder if the other was set on the ground. It was light and easy to use, holding the history of my people. There were dents and notches in it from previous battles, going far back into the past.
I looked at it, sliding my fingers over the marks. It comforted me. It was visual evidence that the Ravena tribe, my tribe, had existed. They would not be forgotten.
Swallowing hard, I turned and continued walking, not having any set direction but needing movement. I didn't want to forget the past, but I also didn't want to dwell on it. I had to keep my mind occupied, and it hadn't been very hard when Morgorth was all mine those first few amazing weeks. Now I had to look elsewhere for distraction.
My legs took me to Happy Valley. I gazed out at the cheerful village, which was nestled inside the sloped valley that divided Vorgoroth from the northern kingdom. I couldn't help but remember how close it had come to destruction. A stone of power protected and hid this village from unwanted eyes -- a stone that Morgorth had never sensed in all the years he'd been here. Granted, the stone, a peridot, had been unusual. Even Morgorth had commented that it never "called" to him as the others did. It didn't promise anything, didn't try to tempt or lure. It just... was. Apparently, the stone bestowed the blessings of the Mother upon its owner, and anyone the owner wanted to be protected.
I made my way down the steep hill. The snow blanketed everything, even here, but while in Vorgoroth it weighed down the trees and iced the ground, in Happy Valley it looked lighter and fluffier. It glittered when the sun shone upon it, and none of the roofs sagged, despite the fact that they were all thatched.
A rainbow was forever stretched over the village, and a strange warmth -- not a physical feeling, but one that eased the spirit -- emanated from the place. I felt it the first time I'd visited here, but only now could I recognize it and know where it came from.
The smell of baked goods, strong ale, and smoke from hearths met my nose as I drew closer. I couldn't help but smile. It didn't matter the season or what wars were waged near and far; within these borders, there was only peace and prosperity. There was harmony given by the peridot, and protection -- since no one could enter this village if they would cause harm to it.
I paused just beside the entrance and frowned. Then how did Kayl find his way in here? He'd started setting fires and blowing things up... How did he find it?
I thought back to what Morgorth had told me and realized what must have happened. During one of Morgorth's times away from his home, Kayl had come and tried to find a way inside Geheimnis. His desire for the Stones of Power clouded his good senses, and he barely escaped with his life. I fervently wished Geheimnis could have killed him.
Kayl must have come across Happy Valley, and at that time he wouldn't have meant any harm to the village. I nodded in understanding. It must be a place where, if you could find it once, you could always find it, even if you meant harm. The peridot only influenced a creature's mind subtly, steering away those that meant the place harm. But it wasn't powerful enough to steer away a mind that knew exactly where the village was.
I drew attention as I walked down the main road. Most if not all of these creatures had witnessed my confrontation with Kayl and had seen me walk away with Morgorth, their Dark Mage. I was a fascination for them, and I found that highly amusing.
A small group of children, who had been playing a fast-paced snowball fight, caught sight of me and stared for a moment. I raised an eyebrow, staring back. Then, as if hearing a signal I didn't, they all charged forward, their feet slapping the snow that had been trampled to mush by all the villagers.
"You're him, aren't you?" asked a tall, gangly seela child with curly hair the color of dirt and eyes the color of a stormy sky. He wasn't the tallest of the children, but he was the skinniest.
"That would depend on who you think I am," I answered.
"The dialen," said a seela female with hair the color of wheat and a body that indicated she would soon be an adult. "The one who lives with the Dark Mage."
They seemed to all hold their breaths, waiting for my answer.
I smiled. "Yes, I am he."
They all sucked in a giant breath. I resisted a laugh. I noticed there weren't any adults outside and guessed they were all in the pubs or their own homes, avoiding the cold as best they could. It was typical that the young would brave the snow, all for the sake of a snowball fight.
But then, a tall, slim seela in a red cloak emerged from a home down the lane and began to walk steadily toward a side street. I continued to watch her as the children bombarded me with questions. She must have sensed my gaze because she turned right before she passed between two buildings. Her yellow hair spilled down her shoulders, and her eyes were sparkling in the cold light. I recognized her.
She was the keeper of the peridot. Kyla. For generations the females of her family guarded and guided the peridot to protect Happy Valley. When Nanna and Dyrc stole it, she thought Morgorth was to blame. When we approached her to return it, she had ranted to us about her ancestor and what the stone meant to her, and the village. I wondered if she ever recovered from the fact that she owed its return to the Dark Mage.
She met my eyes and I saw the recognition in them. I inclined my head. It was a moment or two before she did as well. Then she left.
I wasn't with the children long before my name was called by a voice I hadn't heard in years. I whipped around to see an older dialen, with scars on his face and his hair cut short around his head, approach me, wav
ing a large, callused hand.
I grinned wide, my face aching from the stretch. "Thyn!"
We hugged, and I patted his back hard. The old dialen was shorter than me and much darker, having come from the southern continent where dialen lived in desert areas instead of forests.
"Aishe. Never thought I'd see you again!" He pounded his hand against my back, and I accepted the blows with good cheer. He spoke in my tribe's dialect, and I realized then just how much I missed hearing those words.
The children, sensing my diverted attention, walked away and resumed their snowball fight.
We pulled back, and I let myself look fondly on my old friend. A merchant of weapons by trade, Thyn had been exiled by his tribe, happily embracing the lone life of a merchant. He mostly traded with dialens, sometimes seelas. Despite his exile, which usually condemned a dialen to lifelong shame and banishment from any tribe, Thyn had managed to earn the respect of everyone he met. He had been a frequent trader of my father's.
"What do you mean you thought you'd never see me again?" Speaking in my native tongue had my heart lifting.
Most of the smile and warmth left his broad face. Sadness replaced it. "I heard about your tribe, Aishe."
My stomach pitched. I nodded.
"May they find their way to the Mother's arms."
I forced a small smile. "They have, Thyn."
"I thought you'd died with them."
"As you can see, I'm quite alive."
He nodded. "Buy you a drink?"
We walked into one of the pubs and sat in the back. We got looks, but the peridot kept everyone in an even mood, and the villagers rarely became hostile regardless. Many recognized me and tried to hail me. I lifted a hand in acknowledgement but resisted their invitations to talk.
Only after a large gulp of ale did Thyn speak. "So, you're known around here?"
I nodded. "Yes, I live not far from here."
Thyn frowned. "There aren't any other villages for kirons, and the northern kingdom is even farther than that."
I sipped my ale. "I know."
