There had been other women in the past of course. However, there was a barrier that held him back from forging something lasting. While the encounters were always enjoyable for both parties, Aeron secretly yearned for the emotional substance that would have made the experience truly special. Like it was now. Since their first meeting they had flirted with each other, skirting on the edge of possibility out of fear that to admit their true feelings was to open the floodgates of emotions that could never be closed.
‘We cannot do this!’ She pulled away from him, leaving him shocked that she had actually retreated.
For a few seconds, Aeron was left reeling by the loss of their contact.
‘I'm sorry!’ She cried, mortified that she had let things get so far. Melia’s heart broke at the confusion in his eyes. ‘I want you so much that I cannot bear it but we are both doomed you know that! This thing between us can only end badly.’
‘It does not have to,’ Aeron tried to convince her but his efforts despite his need for her was half hearted because Aeron knew Melia was right. ‘I am in love with you. You must know that by now.’
‘I do know,’ Melia answered, wiping the tears from her eyes. ‘I have fought hard how I feel for you but I cannot. I do feel the same but we have no future together. You must know that too. ‘
‘Dare and Arianne had a future,’ Aeron pointed out, grasping desperately at any semblance of hope, not merely for her but for himself. He knew of what she spoke, of the obstacles that lay before them but he did love her and he did not know if he could stand to be without her. Whatever the consequences.
‘You and I are not Dare and Arianne. I am just a woman. I will grow old Prince, I will grow old and one day I will die, perhaps far sooner than either of us know. You will go on and if you bind yourself to me, you will mourn me for eternity or die because of it. I cannot let you suffer that.’
‘That is my choice to make,’ he argued, anguish in his heart because he knew she far more sensible than he.
‘If you believe that I love you,’ she met his eyes firmly. ‘Then believe that I will not sit by and let you make such a choice.’
And with that, she turned and walked away.
Chapter Eight:
Mother Trees
To the casual observer, nothing appeared amiss between the Prince of Eden Halas and the watch guard Melia when the duo departed Eden Iolan the next morning.
When dawn broke over Eden Halas, the two travellers thanked their host, Lord Gavril, for his kindness and hospitality for the night before and set out of the elven settlement, as if nothing unusual had taken place between them. Hadros had noted some tension between the Prince and had inquired if all was well out of brotherly concerned but Aeron chose not to confide in him that anything was wrong. Gavril had made them the gift of two horses, which pleased Melia to no end for it meant that they would arrive at Tor Iolan all the sooner.
Considering what lay between her and Aeron, it was probably for the best.
Aeron rode on silently, keeping his gaze fixed ahead because it was far safer than facing her. If he did, he would only be revisited by the images of the previous night when his need for her had been so fierce he would have done and said anything to take her on that balcony. After she had left him and retired for the night, he had found himself talking solace by walking through the wood, trying to understand why she was so afraid of anything between them.
Of course, he knew what obstacles lay before them if they chose to pursue any relationship.
His father would probably disown him for the sin though that was the least of Aeron’s concerns. He wondered if Melia knew that he was just as afraid of the consequences as she. With all due consideration to her worries about him, it was nothing compared to the actual pain he would experience when she was gone. If she allowed him, he would remain with her all her life even if it meant having to someday watch her die and then go on without her.
Did she not think he knew the risks?
For a long time, he had thought how sad it was for Arianne that she would give up her immortality and her place among her people. She would never know what the future held because she had chosen to bind herself to a mortal man. He knew many were angered that Arianne, the fairest elf of her day, should squander her existence on a mortal, to die with him when his time had come. Until now, Aeron had not understood how easy it was for her to make that decision once her heart was given to Dare or how fortunate she was to be able to make that choice.
At this moment, he would have given anything to have the same privilege.
Melia had sought to save him by pushing him away, not understanding that it was too late. He loved her as he had loved no one in a millennia. He knew that if he had Arianne's choice he would have done the same and given up his mortality in a heartbeat but that was not to be. It was a hard thing knowing that he had lost Melia before she was ever his but understood she had good reason for her actions the night before.
One thousand years old and he had no idea what to do.
Aeron might have taken comfort in knowing that Melia felt just as miserable as he was about their situation.
The watch guard was furious for allowing herself to fall in love with an elf of all people. She knew the heart seldom permitted anyone to choose whom it decided to bestow its affection upon but even Melia did not think she would be insane enough to have feelings for an immortal, not to mention the Prince of Eden Halas! She could not have made a more complicated choice if she had tried.
Yet against her will, she had become drawn to this handsome elf beside her, who by his nature and his good humour claimed her heart as if it was always his to own. Melia knew that it was entirely possible that she would love him for the rest of her days but for her that time did not seem terribly long when compared to his.
As they rode through the wood in silence, Melia wished more than anything that what transpired between them had not happened. She found herself studying his profile as he rode by her side, secretly examining the contours of his face and imagining how soft his lips were to the touch.
This would not do, she told herself. Out here in the wilderness, her mind needed to be sharp not lost in daydreams like she was a virginal maid. She was far too experienced and seasoned in life to be distracted this way and this silence between them was not aiding matters much. Despite how much Melia loathed the notion, she and Aeron needed to clear the air if they were going to continue their journey together.
‘Prince,’ Melia let out a heavy sigh. ‘We need to talk.’
She saw his posture slacken a little in the saddle as if he had been waiting for her to say those very same words to her. 'Yes,’ he agreed sombrely. ‘We do.’
‘I am sorry for last night,’ Melia apologised feeling like the wanton for leading him on and then pulling away so abruptly. It was not fair to him. ‘I was swept away in the moment and allowed myself to forget how things are with us.’
‘How things are with us?’ He turned his eyes towards her. ‘How things are with us, is that I love you.’
There he had said it and the world had not ended.
‘If it were that simple,’ she countered wearily.
‘It would be simple if you were not so afraid,’ he replied. ‘Do you not trust me to know my own heart and decide how I should choose to bestow my love?’
‘I am afraid of nothing,’ she said hotly. ‘I just know that tragedy can only be the outcome of anything between us. I do not wish to watch you stay young and beautiful while the years turn me into an old woman who is nothing like the Melia you care for. I cannot bear to watch your love for me diminish as the years pass. I would spare myself that pain and you the sorrow when you realize you lost me long before I died.’
‘It would not be that way,’ he tried to argue desperately, wanting her above all else to know that could never happen.
‘Can you say so for certain?’ Melia returned tautly. ‘I cannot and I will turn from this path before it becomes irrevocable to both of us.’
/>
‘You do not walk the path alone,’ Aeron replied just as sharply. ‘I am there with you and I do not wish to abandon what I feel for you in the fear of what may happen tomorrow.’
Aeron had wrestled all night with her words after she left him. Yes, it was true, they were not Dare or Arianne and she was probably just as right that their love would only succeed in breaking both their hearts one day. However, it was better to know a few years of bliss together rather than a lifetime of feeling nothing at all.
For so long, Aeron had been chained by duty, bound to his responsibilities as Prince of Eden Halas but this one thing he would have, no matter what the consequences to himself. He loved her and though they had not lain with each other to complete their binding, he knew he was lost and it was already too late for him.
‘You hardly know me, or anything of me. All you know is how you feel,’ Melia shook her head wishing that she did not feel this way lightly. ‘We have not known nearly enough each other long enough to be able to say that we will stand the test of time. All you are to me is an elven Prince whose life I know nothing of save to say that you have lived through far greater times than I.’
‘Do you love me?’ He asked her pointedly.
Melia hesitated in her answer. She knew that she did but she did not see why it was necessary to say it. However, he awaited an answer, his eyes full of hope that what she spoke of last night was no figment of his imagination borne of passion. It was also the first time that the question had been put to her so bluntly.
‘Yes,’ Melia admitted after a long pause, ‘I do love you.’
She saw Aeron's chest swell with happiness for a brief instance before his expression hardened again. ‘If you love me then that is all you need to know. You are right, I know nothing of who you are other than what you have deigned to tell me but I know without doubt or hesitation that I love you. That I will until the day all things are done between us. If we know this about each other, cannot we take a gamble upon a future together, however short that time is?’
‘No,’ she replied and faced front again.
‘Why not?’ He insisted, unable to believe she could be so stubborn about this.
‘Because I will not have you end up like my father,’ she said finally and dug her heels into her horse, leaving him behind to contemplate her words.
******
They did not speak for the rest of the day except to exchange short words regarding their journey. While Aeron burned with curiosity about what she meant by claiming he might end up like her father, he held back the question. Too much had been said already and both of them were mired in conflicting emotions that made clear thinking difficult. Aeron was by no means ready to give up on Melia just yet but for the moment, their argument was in abeyance until they could both catch their breaths.
They rode for as much as they could but the woods of Iolan was vast and it was almost nightfall and Tor Iolan was still half a day’s ride away. Aeron knew that they would have to spend the night out in the open and while he had been careful to ensure their route through the woods took them nowhere near danger, he could not be certain that it would not find them if they camped for the night. As the sun began to set, there was little choice in the matter and they found a suitable campsite near a stream and a large boulder that made a good lookout for whomever was on watch.
‘I will take watch,’ he said shortly as she started a fire, noting her anxiety as her eyes scoured the trees surrounding their small clearing.
‘Eat something first,’ she offered as she reached into her saddle bag for supplies.
‘I am not hungry,’ he replied more abruptly than he intended.
Melia opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it. ‘Fine,’ she said just as tersely. ‘It will be here if you are hungry.’
‘I would not cook if I were you my lady,’ he spoke and his formal tone infuriated Melia to no end. ‘The scent will give us away. The fire at least will give the creatures here some reason for hesitation. The aroma of food will not.’
Melia stiffened and snapped close her saddle bag and glared at him. ‘Is that all?’
Her acerbic manner stung but he ignored it. He was angry too and he would have her know it. ‘Get some sleep, I do not require it so I shall be able to keep watch until morning.’
‘I can do my part,’ Melia retorted. ‘Wake me in four hours.’
‘As you wish,’ Aeron muttered and stalked off into the darkness beyond the glow of their fire.
******
Still lost in thought, Aeron remained on his perch atop of the boulder, watching everything in sight. Like most elves, his ability to see through the dark was far superior than that of men and nothing moved without his notice. So far the hours had passed without incident and none of the menaces he warned Melia about had appeared to plague them. However, Aeron was not so foolish as to assume that their presence in the woods would go unnoticed. The woods of Iolan may be vast but he had every reason to believe the monsters in the dark would pick up their scent.
Shortly before the hour that Melia expected to be awakened for her turn at the watch, not that Aeron had any intention of honouring that request, the forest fell deathly quiet.
Leaning forward on his perch, he saw no further movement of any life in the darkness, save the slight rustle of leaves by the wind. Listening closely, the only sound he could hear were the cackling of the fire in their campsite, the quiet babble of the nearby stream and their horses, snorting and neighing in short bursts as they stamped their hooves nervously. They seemed almost afraid to call attention to themselves, wanting to join the exodus of other animals in the wood to escape the path of unnatural beings moving through the trees.
Climbing off his rock, Aeron reached the ground and quickly strode into circle of light radiating from the dying campfire. Dropping to his knee as he reached Melia who was still asleep and unaware of any danger, Aeron shook her gently awake.
‘Melia,’ he lowered his lips to her ear and whispered urgently, ‘wake up.’
Melia’s eyes flew open almost immediately. She was accustomed to being awakened quickly when sleeping in the woods because more often than not the reason was due to danger being afoot. This was no exception. The urgency in his voice drew her abruptly out of her slumber and by the time she looked up at him, Aeron was already taking a step back from her. Judging by the serious expression on his face, she knew even without having to hear him say it that the monsters he warned her of only days ago had found them.
Reaching immediately for the crossbow near her sleeping place, Melia surveyed their campsite and saw nothing amiss. The fire was beginning to diminish telling Melia just how long she was asleep. She felt a fleeting moment of annoyance at Aeron not waking her to take over the watch for the night. Then again, considering their current predicament, perhaps that it was for the best that he had not.
Aeron stepped away from her, his sharp hearing trying to determine from where the attack was coming. He armed his bow and took up his usual archer’s stance as he prepared to shoot. Throughout the night Aeron sensed danger but it was difficult to determine if the peril was approaching them specifically or was it emanating from the woods all around them. At this moment however, there was little doubt that the impending doom yet to manifest itself was coming for them.
Melia joined him after she had retrieved the pouch containing the bolts for her crossbow and hooking her sword in its scabbard to her belt. He had also done the same as she saw that he took no notice of her presence beside him, his eyes too steadily fixed on the darkness ahead to be drawn to her arrival.
‘Do you know what it is?’ She whispered softly confident that his superior hearing would make out her words.
‘I think they are the spawn of mother trees,’ he replied back in a low voice, not looking at her.
Mother Trees, she shuddered, recalling his tale of man eating trees that could send out parts of itself to scour the woods for victims. She wondered if there was one nearby or had i
ts spawn spent the night searching the forest until it found them. It mattered little she supposed as she armed her crossbow, they were still coming.
‘Listen,’ he told her.
Melia obeyed and spoke no more, concentrating hard with her human senses to hear what he did. She heard the fire, spitting and cackling as the logs burning upon it broke apart into ash, the slow, ambling trickle of the stream in the nearby distance, the horses fidgeting uncomfortably on their hooves wishing to eager to get away from here. Beyond that however, she heard nothing thought that in itself was telling.
No sounds of crickets, owls or any other creature save themselves. It felt as if all the life in the forest had abandoned this place, running for cover from whatever was approaching them.
‘I hear nothing,’ she whispered.
‘Because the forest animals leave when something unnatural moves about,’ he replied, his gaze still sweeping across the woods surrounding their campsite before he noted the fire almost burning itself out. ‘Melia, keep the fire going. We will need the light.’ Or rather she would need it.
Nodding, she darted to it quickly, picking up one of the logs they had piled safely past the ring of stones around the campfire and added it into the flames. A cloud of burning embers rode the night when displaced by the log. Melia returned promptly to his side when it was done and adjusted her stance in readiness to shoot when the creatures finally arrived. Her heart was pounding as his vivid descriptions menaced her thoughts while they waited for the danger she knew he sensed but she could not see.
They had not long to wait. The attack came so suddenly it caught both of them by surprise.
Arrow and crossbow swung in concert as the creature leapt past the long shadows crisscrossing their campsite and landed a safe distance away from the fire. It was shaped like a man but that was where the similarity ended. Its skin was brown like bark and with eyes that shone like the fat bodies of fireflies. Its face was featureless save the slash of mouth that bore teeth of sharp splinters, jagged and capable of tearing flesh. It landed on one knee and raised its head to glare at them.
Avalyne Series 02: The Easterling Page 11
