by Holly Law
Elara shrugged. “I always wear my hair like this. It keeps it out of my face.”
“Yes, but there are other ways to achieve that goal.”
“I don't doubt that, but this is the only way I know.”
“You did Lady Elisa's hair every morning,” Corden disagreed.
“Working with your own hair is different than someone else's.”
“I see. Then I suppose when we get to Corsca I will have to make it my business to find you a maid quickly so your hair is not left to your own imagination.”
“My hair is fine,” Elara said firmly. “I don't see what it matters to you. It's my hair.”
“Yes, and I would like to admire it. You make it difficult to do so, pulled back as it is.”
“If you don't like it, you can fix it, but I'm not.”
“If you will let me then sit,” Corden said to her surprise pointing at a nearby stool.
“You can do hair?” Elara asked startled, sitting on the stool without thought.
“My younger sister always liked it when people played with her hair when she was younger. It was a way to pass time,” Corden told her as he rummaged through the box before pulling out a few ornate barrettes. Corden easily undid her braid and brushed her hair again.
“You spent a lot of time with her?
“I have rarely seen her in the past six years.”
“Oh, I'm sorry. You don't get to see family when you're pretending to be a serf and such?”
“Rarely. I saw her last a little over a year ago at my father's funeral.”
“I'm sorry,” Elara said, feeling very sympathetic and the memory of the loss of her own father was a painful pang.
“Is your mother still alive?” Elara asked him hesitantly. He had never mentioned any other family to her before.
“No, she died giving birth to my sister.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” Elara said, feeling even worse for him. For some reason, she had never thought of the nobility as having to suffer from such common things. “Who cares for your sister then?”
“She is in my care and at the moment my servants watch her. I will feel much better when I am home again.”
“Your sister must be very lonely.”
“She has always liked to be by herself. She is a bit shy.”
“Is she spending time as anything she is not yet?”
Corden gave a short humorless laugh. “Only men do that in Corsca, Elara, and if they did not, my sister is still too young. She is only twelve. There your hair is done. It didn't come out too badly,” Corden said lifting the box so she could see her face.
“You can do hair,” Elara marveled as he turned her head in the mirror to see the placement of the combs as she tried to figure out what exactly he had done.
“Will you be alright by yourself? I have things I need to do before we depart.”
“I'll be fine,” she assured him.
“You can get breakfast downstairs whenever you are ready.” Corden gave her a brief kiss before leaving her.
Elara wandered in town after she had breakfast. She noticed the soldiers she passed always seemed to watch her and there was something wary in their expressions. Many of the people in the town also watched her curiously. Elara found that unpleasant. She suspected many had an idea of who Corden truly was.
She was passing near the gate when she caught sight of her brother greeting the villagers. Her mother was hugging him tightly. Elara grinned at the sight of them and instantly made her way over to them. The villagers noticed her immediately and their faces were not friendly. Her brother noticed their glares and turned confused. He grinned when he saw her and he caught her in a tight hug.
“Nobility suits you, Lara,” Lairk grinned at her. “Where's your husband?”
“Corden is out taking care of some things. I'm surprised you made it here so quickly Lairk.”
“I had to keep moving,” Lairk said making a face. “The princess was obnoxious and I had to make my way on ahead of the villagers.
“Made me worry the whole way,” her mother said irritably. “Should never have gone. You never should have gone, Lairk.”
“You could have gone with Lairk and then you wouldn't have had to worry,” Elara suggested.
“Why would I go? Lairk committed treason by helping that soldier. He should know better. You I expected nothing more from. Your father would not wish to see you married to a Corscan. And you didn't even argue I hear! You just let him have what he wanted without argument. No daughter of mine would marry that worthless Corscan.”
“Mother…” Elara began in a pleading tone, but she was not the only one who heard.
A nearby soldier had clearly heard the discussion and anger was clear on his face. In an instant, he had a sword to her mother's throat. The villagers scattered in fear as the soldier grabbed her mother. “You do not insult her husband, serf.”
“No! Please!” Elara cried and forced herself between the soldier and her mother. She could feel the sharpness of the blade against her neck. He didn't even look at her he was so intent at glaring at her mother.
“What,” a crisp voice came from behind followed by brisk footsteps, “is going on here?” Elara turned her head half afraid to take her eyes off of the soldier. Corden was approaching the gate. His face was cold and clearly not happy. If he was angry with her or the soldier, she could not tell. “Stand down,” he ordered the soldier sharply. The soldier took a step back sheathing his sword. “Elara.” Corden held out a hand to her. Still feeling very frightened Elara went to him. He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders. “Explain how your sword came to be at my wife's neck, soldier.”
“The serf woman insulted you, sir. I reacted as any would have had they heard what she said. Your wife forced herself between the woman and my blade.”
“What was said?” Corden asked.
The soldier repeated the conversation nearly verbatim. Corden's face did not change expression. “I see,” Corden said after a moment. He looked at the soldier and her mother. “Ordinarily your reaction would be correct and above reproach, soldier. However, in this case it was unnecessary. Elara's mother is undoubtedly unhappy with our sudden marriage, a reasonable reaction in the circumstances. I will excuse it this once and only this once. Lairk, I will leave it to you to remind your mother of her place and of the respect her superiors deserve.”
“Yes, sir,” Lairk said as he tried to help their mother back to her feet. Her mother clung to Lairk looking very afraid.
Corden did not pause another moment. He turned and pulled Elara with him. His arm remained around her protectively. His face was still not happy.
“Your mother is a very lucky woman,” Corden said a bit coldly. “Few live who insult me, as is our custom. You will stay out of such matters in the future. You could have been hurt.”
“But he attacked my mother!” Elara objected.
“Yes, he did and I understand your reaction. You will not, however, jump in front of a sword or any other weapon again. Is that clear?”
Elara did not realize how angry Corden was until he snapped the last three words at her. Elara flinched and found herself crying more. “And what did you expect me to do, Corden?”
“You have authority, Elara. Use it. You simply needed to order the soldier to stop. He would have obeyed or his own life would have been forfeit.”
“And how was I to know that!” Elara demanded angrily. She didn't know what she had done wrong. He couldn't expect her to ignore when her mother was in danger.
“It does not matter whether you knew it or not. You will not place yourself near a sword like that again. Do you understand?”
“Then you better tell your soldiers not to attack my family again.”
“Do you understand?” Corden demanded of her. Corden did not yell, but he was all the more frightening because he was not yelling.
“Yes, I understand what you want me to say, but I will make you no promises.”
“This is not open
for discussion, Elara! What you did was foolish and dangerous. I have no interest in burying the woman I married the morning after the wedding!”
“And I have no interest in seeing a soldier kill my mother!”
“And you had best start showing as much care and consideration for your husband as you do the rest of your family. I am your husband and you will heed me.”
“Husband you may be, but you have no right to order me around concerning my mother!”
“You are bound in marriage as I am. You will respect that bond.”
“The bond I respect. It's you I'm having difficulty with at the moment.”
Corden was clearly outraged and it took him a moment before he replied. “You will stay in the inn until we leave. I will not let you wander if you are going to act so thoughtlessly. Soldiers will be outside. Do not try to leave.” Corden turned abruptly and left.
Elara was stunned by that pronouncement and did not doubt that he would have soldiers guard the inn. She sat down on couch and glared at the door.
Corden returned for her roughly an hour later. She glared at him when he entered and noted without satisfaction that his mood had improved. “I need you to come with me, Elara. The preparations are done. We are leaving,” Corden informed her.
“And if I don't want to leave?” Elara retorted.
Corden looked at her for a long moment and seemed to weigh her words. “This is not open for discussion, Elara. I need to be in Corsca and I cannot be delayed any longer. I understand I am taking you from your home, but it is necessary,” Corden told her calmly. “We can continue our earlier discussion tonight if that is what lingers in your mind. But for now we must go.”
Elara silently picked up her cloak and put it on as she walked over to him. She followed him through the camp to where ten soldiers waited with horses. Elara noted that Justi was already seated on a horse and was talking softly with a soldier who stood nearby. Corden led her straight to Scratch who was no longer in armor and instead was situated with a lighter saddle that would make more sense for long distance travel. Corden helped her into the saddle before getting on behind her.
“Are we ready?” he asked the soldiers.
“Yes, sir,” a soldier said at once saluting him.
“Then mount up. We have just over three months worth of riding ahead of us.”
“Yes, sir!” the soldiers said at once and mounted the sturdy looking mounts. As one, they started heading out.
The Ride to Corsca
Elara was exhausted by the time they stopped for the night. She was sore when she got off the horse with Corden's help and would have liked nothing more than to curl up for the night in warm blankets. But things were not that easy. Camp had to be made first and Elara found herself by the fire helping Justi prepare dinner.
“I'm not a very good cook,” Elara warned the other girl.
“You know more than these men. Whatever you can manage will do.”
“I was pretty much considered ineligible in my village because of my inability to cook.”
Justi laughed. “I'll help you it won't come out too bad.”
Elara quickly proved her wrong. Everything that could go wrong did. In some cases, Elara didn't even have to do anything. Things just simply seemed to go wrong of their own accord. It was a mess to say the least. Anything that could go wrong did. Elara didn't enjoy eating the dinner and she liked it less among the comments that the soldiers made.
“I think it would be best if you kept your wife away from the cook fires, sir,” a soldier commented as he eyed something burnt beyond recognition in his stew. “It does not seem to be her strong point.”
“I would agree,” Corden said looking very skeptical of his own stew. “Elara, I think it would be best if you avoided cooking in the future.”
“I'd like to see you do better,” she told him coldly as she forced down a bite of her own stew.
“I could do no better than you, but I know better than to cook.”
“Then what would you have me do?”
“Anything but cook. Sit there and looking pretty if you must, but no more cooking.”
Elara glared at him for that comment and was glad when she was done with her meal so she could go into their small tent to be alone. She curled up under the warm blankets and cried silently wishing she was far away from Corden and the soldiers. She felt useless and unwanted.
Much to her chagrin Corden joined her ten minutes later. Elara promptly pretended to be asleep as Corden slipped under the sheets beside her. The feel of his arms around her was unwelcome as was the feel of him pulling her close to him.
“I know you're angry with me, Elara,” Corden whispered in her ear. “And I know you would rather ignore me than deal with the problems we are having. I would like to talk, and hopefully fix this before it goes too far. Please don't ignore me. Tell me exactly how I have offended you. I could guess, but I would rather not take chances.”
Elara sighed, but didn't open her eyes. “For all your talk of love and wanting to marry me, Corden, you have done a very good job of proving other wise. You have repeatedly shown how unhappy you are with me. You order me around and if I disagree with you, you have me locked in my room. And tonight you tell me I am incompetent at enough things that you expect nothing more of me than sitting around and looking pretty. You don't think I have ample reason to be angry?”
“Elara,” Corden began and then paused. “Yes, you are correct. I have treated you unfairly. I have behaved as you have indicated. I have grown very accustomed to having my own way since I have been a soldier. I was sheltered from that as a tradesman and a serf, but I was raised having my every wish fulfilled. I am sorry I came across so forceful to you. I have no regrets about marrying you and I do love you. I am unaccustomed to listen to others. It is a flaw in my perception and I will work on improving it. You have my word.”
“I don't understand you, Corden. I really don't.”
“I am sorry you feel you know me so poorly. I hope over time you will be able to read me better. I want you to know me better than any other.”
“At least tell me why you reacted so strongly to me trying to help my mother and to a lesser extent my hair this morning. I can understand my cooking well enough,” Elara turned to face him and found him gazing at her intently.
Corden reached out and ran a hand through her hair. His eyes seemed a bit distant for a moment.”Elara, I have lost many I cared about in the past couple years to assassins sent from Brogden. I lost an aunt and her children. My father is only a year in his grave and there have been multiple attempts on my own life. I can't lose someone else I care for, I simply can't. If it hadn't been for this war, I think I would have gone mad with grief. I need you to be safe and far from harm. I need you to think of your own safety before others. I don't want to lose you. You're very brave, Elara, and that worries me a bit.”
“I'm not brave,” Elara disagreed at once.
“Yes, you are,” Corden disagreed. “It's a thoughtless bravery which makes it all the more genuine. Many would not have jumped between a blade and the person they loved. It says much of you, but it does frighten me.”
“I'll be careful,” she promised him seeing that he really had been frightened. “Now what about my hair?”
Corden gave her a gentle smile. “That really involved two things. The first being that soon you will be in the capital of Corsca where you will be expected to not only be fully knowledgeable of what's stylish, but also setting the styles. I wanted you to be prepared for that. Secondly,” Corden's smile broadened. “I would like to think you would put some effort into your appearance for your husband. I like your hair, Elara, I want an excuse to look at it and play with it.”
“My hair is rather plain and boring,” Elara disagreed. “No one will care about it.”
“It is not. Perhaps it was a bit dirty before the wedding, but it's a very pleasant, vibrant shade of brown now. It's one of your more attractive features.”
“That'
s not saying very much,” Elara commented without thought.
“You're too hard on yourself,” Corden chided her. “You didn't put much effort into your appearance before that's all. You're really a beautiful woman, Elara.” Elara snorted in disbelief. “You are.” Corden told her and much to her surprise he began nuzzling her neck affectionately. “And I love every inch of you,” he murmured in her ear.
Elara was much more comfortable travelling the next day and even felt better enough about Corden that she tried to have some conversation with him. He was very open to talking and seemed glad for it. She found him far more relaxed and at ease than he had been since before the wedding. She enjoyed talking with him and hoped things would stay as they were for awhile. She didn't particular want to have another argument with him. Dinner that night went much better without Elara trying to help and all the soldiers had ample compliments for Justi who beamed at the attention. Her husband smiled proudly at the praise. Elara in turn felt useless and wished she could have earned such praise. Corden assured her she was fine and used her unhappiness with the situation as an excuse to sit with her and hold her.
Travelling ultimately proved to be a very boring and monotonous experience. They rarely passed through any towns and instead took the more obscure roads. Corden spent much of the time whittling little objects out of wood. He often presented them to her once he finished them and she found she was developing a small collection of intricately carved wooden animals, which she kept in a pouch on her dress.
They steadily rode further south and slowly the weather warmed and Elara found it much more pleasant. At times it almost felt like spring even though she knew it was still the depths of winter. She mentioned that to Corden.
“It will be warmer still when we reach Corsca. It has a much warmer climate than Brogden. We must pass through a patch of desert before we can enter the more comfortable parts of Corsca.”
“What's a desert?”
