Marilira opened her eyes as she felt herself thump out. Aelaedil was not kind in pushing her back into the real world. The rush of life roaring toward her, she could hear the people in her new city, speak to her, none of it registering with her, but absentmindedly, greeted everyone, mumbling as she stood up and brushed herself off, watching the dust fly off in a cloud. She looked around confusingly, wondering what the hell was happening to her. She figured her only choice was to step out of this dim room, where a statue of Aelaedil was staring at her. An involuntary shiver coursed down her spine, and nervously stepped out.
Her mouth dropped down in surprise, her world was filled with sweet sounds of the mountains. A sweet memory of her home, faded dimly in her mind, but kept it alive. A few other newly thrown people were gathered her, she inclined her head politely, being her normal shy self, until one of the boys spoke to her, and her heart dropped to the floor.
“Hello.” He said, kindly, and softly, almost a murmur into her ear. She had to close her eyes to keep her breathing steady. It was soft, more of a caress then anything. She looked at him, and was startled by his blue eyes. Nothing like she ever saw, and shyly shuffled away, and in a quiet almost bashful voice, whispered back, “G-Greetings.”
He smiled back, shyly but broadly, and asked, “Are you new here too? This is my home, where I grew up. I can show you around, i-if you want too. Your very pretty.” A red tinge crept up on his face as his thoughts were voiced out loud.
Marilira blushed even redder, trying to cover her embarrassment, and stammered out “O-Oh, tha-n-nks. I-I’d like t-that.”
He gently took her by the hand and led her through a road, passing through forests; it was all so fast she did not realize that they were suddenly standing in front of a magnificently tall elder tree. Her head was spinning with all this newness of her new life. He could feel the confusion coming from her, and smiled again gently at her, and led her somewhere else. He was curious about her, her shyness made his heart beat faster. He felt oddly protective of her; as though he felt drawn to her or that he needed her in his life. He never had this feeling before, although his last lover had died in a raid, he was in a fog, so to speak, in front of Marilira.
He continued to lead her through roads and forests, until they reached a pretty place, in a desert. A pool could be seen to the south collecting, with small trees to provide some shade. But this place, to Marilira was beautiful. She couldn’t stop staring. She tentatively asked the boy, “What's your name?”
Surprised at her accent, he said back, “My name is Shinde.” She tested the name on her lips, saying quite shyly his name. She liked the way it rolled off her tongue; it was as though she felt like that name was needed on her, like it belonged.
Satisfied, she quietly sat down, and began to trace patterns in the sand with her finger. Shinde watched entranced by them, and then sat down silently next to her, close enough to see her face.
After quite some time, Shinde stopped her hand, and raised it out of the hand and placed it in his hand. He quite shyly looked at her, and asked, “I can’t help but ask about you. You seem like someone I need to know.” He gazed at her, with kind eyes, a spark of fire shone in them.
She relaxed under his gaze, letting her guard down, and slowly nodded at him, understanding his question and quietly said in return, “You speak the truth … Shinde. For I also can’t help but ask about you either. Your name seems as though it fits on my lips. So s’cuse me if I’m a little dazed.” He gazed at her again, this time with a blazing fire. It warmed Marilira, and she scooted just a bit closer to him, and began her tale.
“My name is Marilira. I grew up in a small village in the mountains. My parents were very prominent people in our city. My grandmother founded the city, and I am so gratefully named after her. You could say that I was wealthy, but I did not consider myself wealthy. You see, I was my parents’ only child, and they brought me up to teach me the proper way to be a girl. I got restless; it was bad enough I had all the boys in the town wanting me. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I decided it was time to leave, with my parents’ permission of course.”
She paused, gathering her thoughts; a wistful smile played at her lips, but composed herself and continued her story.
“I left the city, with a hopeful heart. I wanted something new, an adventure, to figure out what I wanted in life. I was only 12 years old, but I knew I could do it. I wandered far from the mountains, through swamps, marshes and deserts. I was cold, tired, hungry, and suffering from wounds I encountered. I ended up in a forest, I do not remember the name. I collapsed under a tree for the weakness without food or water was taking over me. I was about to pass out, when I heard a sudden rustling in the trees. Curious, I looked about, and saw a face, it was a faeling. He immediately attacked me, grabbed me, and put a knife to my throat. I pleaded with him, tried to tell him not to kill me that I meant no harm…that I was only a friend.”
A tear trickled down her cheek, as her memories of that day invaded her mind. Shinde was silent up till now, listening intently. The fear of someone hurting this elf crashed into his heart, hatred burned within him, but he did not let it show. His eyes sparkled with concern, and barely breathing, urged her to continue. Marilira inhaled sharply, and with a shaky voice continued.
“He reluctantly loosened his grip on me, and gave me a hard stare. His staring made me nervous, so I fidgeted uncomfortably, not daring to look him in the eye. His stare grew softer, and took care of me that night. Nursed me back to health, gave me much needed food and water. My wounds were tended to and patched up the best that he could have done.”
“We talked that night, about our pasts, we got close. I was only 13 at the time. We grew comfortable with each other. I felt connected to the faeling. He agreed to accompany me on my journey. He taught me how to make a wooden spear, useful in hunting wild game. I did not know at that time that he was a double agent.”
Her bottom lip trembled at that painful thought. Her head hung in sadness, preventing her tears from falling. Shinde looked at her with new admiration at her. He moved closer, and tentatively wrapped his arms around her from behind. In a low, soft, murmur asked, “A double agent?” Marilira shivered at the touch of his arms around her, her heart warmed at the thought that someone cared enough to listen to her. She relaxed in his arms, and with her eyes closed, her face pale, whispered back, “Yes.”
With bated breath, she resumed, “Word of my disappearance from the city reached our enemies. Apparently his “leader” of orc race, sent word to his soldiers for an order to kill me. This faeling was hiding out for me in the forest. I did not learn of this until much later in our journey. He was very quiet when he told me. A small tear could be seen forming in the corner of his eye. He looked at me solemnly and whispered “I didn’t want this, my love. My heart will protect you if it’s the last thing that I do for you. I love you, Marilira.””
The tears she kept inside spilled freely down her cheek, the memory that haunted her dreams for so long, was suddenly spoken. She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself, but could not. Shinde, had completely lost his composure, and hugged her close to her, murmuring into her hair, his own eyes sparkling with tears, He could not believe that someone wanted this girl, dead. He tightened his arms around her, trying to convey his heart to her, to show her in some small part his rush of feelings he had for her. In the space of thirty minutes that had gone by, since they met he was falling for her, fast and hard. He couldn’t ignore them anymore.
When Marilira calmed her sobs to hiccups, she turned bright red at her utter embarrassment at her behavior, and furiously wiped her tears away, mumbling something to herself. Shinde turned her around, so that she was looking at him. Gently, he cupped her face in his hand, brought it up so that he was looking straight in her eyes. He gazed softly at her, searching for something in her eyes, a hint of happiness. He whispered suddenly into her ear, “Don’t be embarrassed. It will be alright. I promise.”
His voice calmed her, sent shivers down her spine, and gave her a new warmth inside her, that she had never felt before. It scared her, but excited her. The feelings inside her stirred for this elf. She never felt this growing connection, a tug toward him. She shuddered, and slowly nodded in his direction, her eyes never leaving his.
Still staring at him, she continued her story, in a hushed whisper, “One night, we made camp in a forest. I fell asleep, next to him, his arm protectively around me. I woke up suddenly, hearing a rustling of bushes in the near distance, the marching of rough boots. The faeling woke up, and immediately grabbed his spear. It was his leader and backup goblin soldiers. Word got to him that I wasn’t dead yet, and attempted to kill us. His leader attacked me, while the faeling was fighting the other soldiers. He yelled out to me, “I love you Marilira, don’t you forget about me.” That was the last that I saw of him; heard of him.”
She couldn’t breathe at this point, her vision was spotting. Shinde could see she was fading fast, and grabbed her protectively, telling her to hold on, that it was all alright, it was in the past. He whispered this over and over, until he was positive that she wasn’t going to pass out. He murmured, “What happened next?”
“I was dragged from the forest, roughly, mind you, to a very secluded place in the forest. He sent up a small tent, and pushed me in. I was scared, frightened for my own life. I crawled into the corner, shaking in fear. I was terrified. He crawled over to me, and in a harsh, raspy voice said to me, “Did you have fun with the faeling all this time? Well, now you’re going to have fun with me, elf. You caused me too much trouble. Your city has been burned to a crisp, your family included, just because you left.” I was sobbing by that time, before he proceeded to … strip me of my clothes. I screamed, yelled, fought, punched. I did everything I could but to no avail. He raped me that night, and for the next three days afterword. I was exhausted, nothing I did, would get him off of me. I gave up the fight.”
Shinde swore under his breath. He was appalled at what happened. That hatred in him boiled over, and his heart exploded in love for her. He was certain that this elf, Marilira, was the one he wanted. Her story, brought tears to his eyes, awing at humanity itself. He gathered her into his arms, holding her close. He dared not kiss her, for fear of losing himself on her tempting skin. So he quickly kissed her on her head, holding her close. He softly urged her to continue.
She felt relaxed in his strong arms. Her breathing slowed down, her heart hammered against her rib cage, in an untied rhythm. She willed her heart to stop beating so fast, and resumed her story.
“One night, while he was, doing me, I grabbed a spear with my free hand. With all my might, I hurled it straight through his heart. I winced as I could hear the blood spurt out from underneath, the sucking sound as I pulled the spear out. He looked at me with wide-eyes, his eyes going glassy. He fell over onto his back, dead. I cried when I realized what I had done. His blood was all over my hands. I crawled over to get my clothes, I barely noticed myself putting them on. I crawled from that place and ran. Ran and ran until I exhausted myself in front of a tree. An elderly elf came to me, and took me into her home. She nursed me back to health, and then I left. By this time I was 15 years old, and clueless. I wandered about aimlessly, searching, until I came to this quiet forest city of Nys'ril. I ended up at the Tree of Healing, one year later. Here I am now, ready to begin anew.”
She breathed into his neck, as she snuggled against his lean, muscular body. Her own small body, fitting perfectly into his arms. Marilira let out a sigh of relief at the end of her tell. After keeping her story bottled up for years, was finally a weight lifted up off her shoulders. She felt safe with him. He had not said a word, but held her close. The night sky was twinkling with stars, the hot desert sand, was cold to her touch, but felt good between her fingers. After a period of silence, Shinde, spoke up quietly and said.
“I-I don’t know what to say. You have the courage of a thousand soldiers in you. You are very brave in what you went through. Though, no one should be going through that. That was purely courageous on your part. I admire that.” He had no willpower, nor was it the time to say what he was feeling. He didn’t want to scare her, or feel rejected.
Marilira spoke up again. “After that incident. I vowed never to love anyone again, and I cut myself this scar.” She pointed to a brokenhearted shaped scar, faintly glistening in the night on the base of her neck. Shinde frowned. This was a setback he wasn’t expecting. Even though she opened up to him, he hoped she would reconsider.
Curiously, she drew back from him just a bit, a hint of sadness in her eyes, as she gazed back him. She said, in a loud voice, “I told you my life story. It’s your turn, Shinde.” Slowly nodding, he took a big breath and exhaled slowly. He snuggled her back against him, and began his sad tale.
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Hope you guys like it ... reviews on your reactions and any mistakes i may have missed will be much appreciated.
