Mind Forged: Book One of the Enchanters of Xarparion (13 page)

“
Do you really mean that? Dark elves have very strict courting customs. We would have to get permission from both our fathers and sometimes there’s even worthiness testing and bloodshed involved. My father can be…daunting. Do you really want to pursue a dark elf girl, even knowing that?”

“
Yes, more than anything.”

She stared at me
in confusion for a second, a wide range of emotions crossing her lovely face, happiness, self-doubt, relief, fear, and sorrow all present. Finally, she managed to summon up speech and it came out husky and emotion filled.

“
You’re a brave fool, Alex Martin! But it so happens I have a serious weakness for brave fools this week.” She nestled closer to me and whispered, “I accept your courtship.”

I really wanted to kiss her
. I thought that now would be the proper time, so I sought out those lips that I had been dreaming of all evening. Maya stiffened at first, but soon relaxed. As both of us were inexperienced, it took us a little while to get the hang of it. But soon, we got a feel for one another and Maya started to get a bit more eager. I don’t know how much time passed for us and I really didn’t care, her lips were so soft.

“
By the gods, breathe, you two!”

We pulled away from each other and found Lin standing there with her hands over Julia
’s eyes. A wave of embarrassment washed over both of us.

“
You two do know that this is a public dance right? I swear, if I didn’t stop you, poor Jules here would have been scarred for life!”

“
We’re sorry, Lin” I explained switching back to the spoken word of Xarparion.

“
Nah, I’m just messing with you guys. Actually, we thought it wouldn’t take nearly this long for you two to start kissing.”

Maya blushed and turned away
. “Alex, it’s late, I think we should get going now.”

I
shot a playful scowl at both Lin and Julia before taking Maya’s arm and leading her toward the exit. We walked silently almost all the way back to the Enchanters Hall, lost in our private thoughts. Outside the door, Maya swiveled and faced me.

“
I had a wonderful time tonight, Alex - ok, a little more than wonderful.” She giggled and caressed my ears slightly with her hand.

“
It was the same for me, but you don’t need to go. Rosa said she won’t be back ‘til morning, so you can have her bed. It’s a lot more comfortable than yours would be.”

“
You have a point, and I do have to return this dress and pick up my own clothes. Wait, do you think Rosa knows about us, you know, during the dance?”

“
I didn’t think of that. Yeah, she knows all right, no way she wouldn’t.”

Maya grinned
“Well, in that case, we might as well make this as scandalous as we can.”

I opened the door and held it for her
. She ran in and sat down in one of the wide chairs in the reading room and took off her shoes. I put some wood on the embers and got the fire going again. Turning back to her, she was trying to massage her own feet.

“
Grrr! The most uncomfortable shoes ever made! Mean, spiteful little monsters they are.”

“
Here, let me.”

I sat down on the small bench in front of her and started to massage her feet and ankles.
She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the sensation.

“
Mmm, that feels good.” After a few minutes, she was feeling much better. “Why don’t you come and sit here with me?”

So I did
. We sat in that chair for a few minutes, just watching the fire. Maya leaned against me but ended up with my elbow in her back. “This isn’t going to work.” She pulled me down to the floor and had me lean my back against the chair. She then sat down in front of me and leaned back so she was resting on my chest. “Much better, I think I could get used to this treatment,” she breathed with a very contented sigh.

“
Well, that’s good because I intend to…” My next words were forever lost to posterity as I was interrupted by gentle rhythmic breathing coming from the dark elf leaning up against me. At least, she had fallen asleep with a smile on her face. I took one more indulgent deep whiff of her hair, relaxed and drifted off to dreams myself.

Alex

When I woke up, we were still where we were last night, dawn hadn’t quite broken, and the fire was down to embers. Maya was still asleep in my arms, using me as a pillow. And I loved it, she looked so beautiful there. I stroked her hair a little and brushed across her ears. When I touched them, she stirred a bit and looked up at me.

“
Hello, handsome.”

“
Hello, beautiful.”

“
Could you please stop stroking my ears now?”

I
stopped. “Does it hurt?”

She blushed and looked away
. “No, quite the opposite. It’s extremely…motivating, and I’m just not ready for that yet.”

“
Oh, sorry.”

She smiled
and reached up, kissing me on the cheek. “Don’t worry; I’ll let you touch them someday soon.”

“
Oh, that would be fun to watch!” That was Rosa’s voice, uh oh.

We both looked
behind us with fear in our hearts. And there she was, sitting crossways in the chair that we were leaning on. She was smiling and leaning her head down to our level.

“
I’m so proud of you two! I knew you two would be perfect for each other the first time you met, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen so fast!”

Maya and I looked
at each other with pained expressions. “I think I’m going to die now,” I winced.

“
Quick, hand me my sword, I would like this to end as well.”

“
You two are so funny, but I just love it!” She planted wet kisses on each of us. “When I watched you lovebirds dancing, I thought that Maya might finally have opened up to someone, but the proposal and the kissing were completely unexpected.”

Maya was getting more
embarrassed by the second. “Well, within the customs of my people, his actions meant the desire to court me.”

“
But you didn’t have to accept so quickly.”

“
I know, but with all the time we have spent together, I already know what type of man he really is. Besides, he reminded me of the way my father courted my mother.”

We both
looked at her, trying to urge her to tell the story. Oddly, she seemed quite happy to tell us. She took a deep breath and started in.

“
When my father was a young warrior, he fell deeply in love with a spear maiden by the name of Renalla, daughter of Mingt, a shaman of a nearby friendly village.” Ok, now I have definitely heard that name before, but from where? She didn’t give me time to think as she continued her story. “Renalla was young, smart, very beautiful and already an accomplished hunter; she was the absolute pride of her village.”

“
My father was beyond smitten, but even at that headstrong age, he was already very wise. He knew that if he were to have any chance of courting the fair Renalla, he would have to somehow prove that the depths of his intentions were far and above any other suitor. He needed to make a statement, and that statement would be to present her with a courting weapon like no other.”

“
As my people are wood folk and not great workers of iron, my father first sought out a dwarf forge master who agreed to fashion a spear head if, and only if, my father agreed to chop enough wood to fill the huge barn that fed the forge. For a full month, my father labored in the forest, removing dead and dying wood, chopping it into the proper size, and dragging it back to the storehouse. Over time, his hands grew calloused and his back strong, but his determination never faltered.” Rosa sighed happily, getting into the story.

“
Despite having little to no affection for dark elves in general, the dwarf was impressed with my father’s efforts, and the two even became friends. The dwarf gifted my father with some of his carefully-hoarded special metals to make the spear point truly unique. And by the end of the month, the weapon was ready for the final tempering. My father removed his belt knife and cut deeply into his own wrists. He still has the scars - I’ve seen them. And he bade the dwarf to do the final quench of the blade with his own blood. Whether it was the dark elf blood, stray magic, or results of the smith’s skill, the spear head forever took on a blood red hue and was imbued with amazing sharpness and durability. The two agreed to call it ‘Gwiwence’ or ‘Huntress’ in the dwarf’s language. To this day, it is still known by that name.”

“
When father presented the spear to Renalla, now completed with a fine white oak shaft, Renalla said she felt it sing to her, and the song was a ballad of love for her written in her heart by my father. From that day forward, Renalla would have no eyes for any but him, and she became his wife and my mother.”

She turned to Rosa
. “Rosa, I grew up with the story of Gwiwence and I always believed it was the height of romantic dreams that all girls have in their youth. There was no greater gift in any elf village that I have heard of, and I have held her many times and felt her magic. But last evening, Alex gave me Winya…and she surpasses my mother’s treasure in every way! When I held her for the first time, she spoke to me. As clearly as I hear you now, we exchanged thoughts, emotions, and even dreams. Instantly, she was the sister I always wished for, a life friend, confident and protector, guardian of my soul. And do you know what she told me, Rosa? She said a maker like Alex can’t hide anything from his creations, the process is too personal, too consuming for deception. His very being has a connection to Winya nearly as deep as my own. She knows him well, and when Alex made his proposal, do you know what she said?”

Maya shifted around and grasped both of my hands as she l
ooked romantically into my eyes.  “She said, ‘Meh…you could do worse!’” Maya grinned and launched herself at me to plant a quick kiss before jumping to her feet in an instant and running away cackling down the hall.

She called back over her
shoulder, “Yes, Rosa, it was a very quick decision to accept Alex’s courtship but, somehow, I think it was the right one!” We all laughed a bit before Maya came back down the hall, and her eyes fell on something behind me. “By the gods, Rosa! What did you do to poor Nia?”

I looked behind me and all I could see
were Nia’s feet sticking out of a goblet. I quickly got up and checked that she was alright. Thankfully, it looked like she drank almost everything in the goblet so she didn’t drown in ale, but she was out cold.

“
Rosa, how could you?”

“
What? She only had one.”

“
Yeah, but its volume is four times her size!”

“
She will be fine.  Now I’m going to bed before the wine really hits me.”

“
What do you mean? How late were you two up?”

She started for the stairs
. “Oh, we just stopped drinking when you two woke up.” Then she was off to bed. Looking around, there were five empty wine bottles around the chair.

“
She is going to have such a hangover.”

Maya
snickered, “Well, I best be going, looks like you have two patients to look after today, so no practice. Besides, I would like to get out of this dress and into some real clothing.”

“
Well, just promise me that you won’t destroy it once you get it off. You do look wonderful in it.”

She
smiled. “I won’t shred it if the next time I am in a dress, we dance together again.”

“
The next time you’re wearing a dress, I’m not letting that chance slip by.”

“
Fine, then how about this, someday you make me armor to go with my beautiful blade?”

“
Now, that’s even better, I already have a few ideas. But speaking of your blade..” I removed my pelt pouch and handed it to her. “You should take her with you. Just promise me that you won’t use her on anything ‘til I teach you how tomorrow.”

She gave me a snide look
. “Do you really have to teach me how to use a sword when I’m the one who is supposed to be teaching you?”

“
She’s not just a sword, so, yes, I do.”

She looked puzzled
. “I know she’s sentient and I love her, but not just a sword? Show me.”

I smiled and
watched her remove the sword from the pouch. She held it in front of her, unsure of what to do.

“
Winya, Maya seems to have doubts about your abilities, would you be so kind as to give a demonstration?” Winya quickly changed her shape and the wrappings dropped to the ground revealing a small, but lethal, serrated dagger. Maya was so surprised that she almost dropped her.

“
How did you do that?”

“
I didn’t do anything, that was all her.”

Maya looked over her new dagger and gave it a few
quick swipes through the air. “But why did she listen to you? I thought she would only obey me.”

“
And she will, but she still has her own thoughts and personality. She was just trying to prove to you her worth, show off her strength a bit. She very much wants to be your friend and especially your protector.”

Maya smiled at her blade
. “You don’t have to prove anything to me, girl. I already know you will be with me for all time.”

“
Take her with you, have a talk with each other. Get to know her more.”

“
Thank you, Alex. This is the finest gift I have ever received, and I will never forget this night!” She kissed me on the cheek and went out the door. “Have fun with the drunks!”

“
You know, you could stay and help.”

“
Not a chance!”

Turn
s out, I had several hours before I would have to deal with my patients. In that time, I finally got some bookwork done and even learned a few new tricks that might help with my upcoming problem if I could do them correctly. But I, thankfully, had some luck left because Nia was the first to regain consciousness...well, sort of.

“
Ugggg, flyswatters are not nice to use on pixies!”

“Glad to see that you’re alive.”

She clamped her arms around her head
. “Oww, Mister Alex, please don’t talk so loud.”

“
Sorry.”

I had her washed up and in her bed hours ago
, but recovery was obviously slow going.

“
So, do you remember last night?”

She looked around the room and sho
ok her head.

“
Well, then, what do you remember?”

“
I remember going to the party with Rosa and all the good food and the people.”

“
What else?”

“
I remember something at the tavern…wait, Rosa gave me something to drink, but it was way too big for me to even lift.”

“
Well, you drank it.”

She looked horrified
. “All of it?”

“
From the looks of things, I’d say, yeah, all of it.”

“
I’m never going to drink again, I feel like I’m going to die!”

“
Here, let’s see if this will help.”

I put a finger on her
stomach and started one of the new enchantments that I just learned. This one was meant to speed up the body’s reaction to poisons, so it should work on a hangover...I hope.

“
There, you should feel better soon, just try to get some more rest, ok?”

“
What did you do?”

“
It was an enchantment, but enchantments on other people’s bodies don’t last very long so the affects will wear off soon. Try to sleep if you can.”

“
I will try.” She was asleep in seconds.

Two more hours passed
before she woke up again, but this time, she was looking rather well.

“
I see that you’re feeling better.”

She
crawled out from under the covers and stretched out her arms, wings, and back.

“
Yes, I’m feeling much better, thank you. I’m really sorry for doing all this to you, Master. You have been spending more time taking care of me than I have of you.”

“
Don’t worry about it; I just hope you had fun.”

“
Yeah, the sad part is that I don’t remember if I did.”

We both laughed
. “Now let’s go see if Rosa is awake yet, and don’t mention what I did to help you, she gets to deal with all the pain.

She giggled and agreed not
to say anything. When we got to her room, Rosa was about what we expected, a sick mess. She was pale and moaning in pain with her arms around her head. One nice thing was she couldn’t read our minds in her present state; believe me, I tested that theory.

“
Well, don’t we look wonderful this fine afternoon?”