Friends, Lovers, and Betrayers

Her question had come as a shock. He expected anger, not fear. But her eyes, they looked afraid. He had never seen anything like this and his hands still felt like trembling and he still desired Galara. His body certainly did at least. He buckled his belt and began to button his coat.

“I’m not exactly certain Galara,” he said honestly. “For a moment I thought I saw...someone else in your dream. Someone with us,” he said as the images began to fade. “I never knew I had left such an impression upon you. In truth I never forgot about that night and the dance we shared,” he said as he lifted up his hand and caressed her cheek. God he wanted her touch. To feel his emotions taking control of him...it was, exhilarating. But it was the other feeling he had too that gave him pause. Something dark was there too, something elusive.

“But at least part of you was true in your dream. I am flattered Galara,” he said as he shook off the remaining tendrils of emotion from the dream. “Part of you at least, wanted that. The rest...the rest seemed...forced I think. But by whom and to what end I do not know. If Authiel also has these dreams…” he began then saw her blushes and expressions.

He took her face into his hands. They were warm but he had managed to calm his trembles and tilted her eyes up. “You are very beautiful Galara,” he said as his eyes shifted from her lips up to her eyes. It was clear he had liked her kisses and wanted more of them but his sensibilities and the concern in her voice held him back. He wanted to tell her that he was bonded to Verya but decided that that was Verya to reveal if she wanted to. He had not chosen this...well, in a way he had, he had taken the oaths but not the bonding. Verya had a temper as fiery as her hair. He didn’t know how to deal with that or if love would ever grow between them. He could see himself loving Galara though.

“If it is in my power to help you I will,” he said finally and let go of her face.

Verya sat out on the balcony alone. She heard a door open and glanced over to see Galara exit and walk towards the main doors to her chambers. She sensed that something had happened and she suddenly began to feel as if she had just lost Aedael. This was a strange feeling for her as she had not really ever had him in the first place. Their bond had probably only happened to bring them together to bring peace between their peoples. Once peace was established the bond would be broken and there would be nothing between them once again. She wanted Aedael to be happy and she certainly wanted that for Galara, so why did she feel this way? Why did she feel as if her heart was being squeezed in her chest. Was it because she was so lonely? Was it because Aedael had come into her life and she had felt as if he might be the one...not only to help her bring peace, but also for her?

She had not realized it, but the wall she had put up between herself and Aedael had come down and he would not only be able to sense her deep loneliness, but also know her thoughts. She took a sip of her wine and looked out at the trees in the darkness.

Instead of allowing the bond to convey their interaction Aedael waited for Verya to come in. He felt that twinge of loneliness again from her though he knew she tried to hide it from the bond. That and other things that he could do little about right now. His feelings were...complicated he knew. For her, for Galara. He intercepted her and when she attempted to step past him, her face devoid of emotion right then he shifted into her path and took hold of her wrist. She tried to twist his grip off of her but he shifted again to retain his hold of her. She twisted and tried to strike him for manhandling her so and he blocked her strike.

“Your attack had no conviction Verya,” he said condescendingly. He was intrigued though and with a simple shift of his leg and a sharp shove he knocked her off balance and she fell to the floor. He stepped toward her and offered her his hand to help her up.

Verya just wanted to be alone right then. She didn't like Aedael just watching her...she didn't like wondering what had happened in the library and she hated the fact that she cared that much. When she tried to step past Aedael to go to her bedroom he intercepted her. She attempted to move around him, but he grabbed her wrist. At that, her emotions got the better of her and she twisted and tried to pull her wrist free. When he wouldn't let her go she moved to strike him, but he blocked her strike. As he spoke she turned her head and her eyes met his. However, before she could speak he shifted his leg and shoved her sharply. She was knocked off balance and fell to the floor. She felt a wave of embarrassment come over her. Here she was Queen of the Wood Elves and a once great warrior on the floor. When she saw Aedael's hand her first instinct was to slap it away. However, after a long moment she slowly accepted it.

As he lifted her up he allowed himself to place his other hand on her arm. He still held her hand too and looked down into her eyes. “You want to know and yet are afraid to ask. If things were different I could see myself and Galara together,” he said and searched her eyes for any sign that she understood what he was actually saying. “We...kissed and she let me in to view her dreams,” he said as if he were speaking about the weather. “I imagine though that your lips would feel just as wonderful Verya,” he added as he looked deeply into her eyes. Now he had her attention he knew. Good.

“Something is happening to her, to her dreams. I saw...something,” he said. “It would be good for me to speak to Authiel and view her dreams as well,” he said. Verya knew Authiel would not likely allow such a thing and Aedael nodded in agreement. “Aye, I know she would not. She is...hiding much Verya,” he said and let go of her hand and shifted his hand to her other arm. She felt...good in his hands like this. He wasn’t certain if it was the bond or something else, maybe just the way she looked at him. Those golden eyes were difficult to look away from.

Hearing Aedael say what she had suspected was visibly difficult for Verya. She was trying to mask her feelings, but her eyes betrayed her. How could she be feeling this way? She barely knew Aedael. Was this just because of the bond...or something more? When he then confessed that he and Galara kissed he would feel Verya tense up and almost start to pull away from him. However, hearing him tell her that he imagined her lips feeling just as wonderful caused her to stop. As he looked deeply into her eyes she felt as if she might get lost in his. However, she kept remembering him saying that if things were different he could see himself together with Galara.

"I fear someone has gotten into their heads," she said softly. She was quiet for a moment before speaking gently. "You are not obligated to me Aedael. We are bonded, but nothing more and that...does not mean you have to...."

To hear her go from what could be as important as peace and the security of her throne to what was unfolding between them made him blink. He listened and watched her eyes closely. It was obvious everything was affecting her judgement, even her thoughts. He needed her to think straight and realized now his error. He should have distanced himself from everyone else but what was was and he needed her to snap out of her emotions. He took her up into his arms and kissed her very passionately. His hands had rubbed her back and bottom as he kissed her, her lips were soft and her kisses were fast and deliberate as soon as he was able to get her going. After several moments, or minutes...he could not be sure, did he finally break his kiss. He was pleased to find her trembling and her eyes half open as if she might faint. Indeed he was a quick study and he found that he enjoyed kissing.

“Now that that is cleared up for you Verya, may we focus on the fact that something dark is affecting those closest to you?” he asked. He found that having her in his arms right then felt very good. That and his own breathing seemed to have increased as if he had been running.

When Aedael suddenly pulled her into his arms and kissed her Verya was so surprised that at first she wasn’t sure what to do. The kiss was deep and passionate and it made Verya’s body tremble and her cheeks flush. She found her surprise quickly wore off and she began to kiss him back just as deeply. Her body pressed lightly against his own and he would be able to feel her heart beating hard in her chest. She felt his hands begin to wander over her body and feelings of desire filled her heart. As Aedael pulled back, she slowly opened her eyes and looked up into his own. She knew in that moment that there would be no one else for her. His words quickly brought her back to reality and she blinked and suddenly became much more rational.

“The only beings I know who could do such a thing would be Dark Elves. Do you think one could be walking among us?”

At hearing that from her was like a bell being rung inside his head. “Dark Elves...yes,” He murmured as if he was recalling something. His eyes looked distant as his mind worked. “The double image...the dream lace, yes,” he said and then his eyes shifted oddly toward her. ‘You will need to be cautious,” he said. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

Authiel returned to her apartments but Trikan was there. She had wanted to avoid him and allow herself some time to think. He gazed at her as she entered her personal study and he rose and closed a book he had been readin. No, not a book, her journal! Somehow he had picked the lock of her desk and found it. Her brows furled in anger at him.

“That is not for you to read Trikan!” In a fit of rage she full arm slapped him across his face. HE was the cause of this. She had never thought a MALE could cause her to fawn around like some...some HUMAN GAWL or HUSSY trying to entice a man to be with her, to LOVE her. She slapped him again and then she couldn’t stop herself. She rained blows down upon him. Punches and slaps. He only blocked some of them as he went down to his knees.

Rhazien loved to be hurt. It was what made him whole...complete. That had been what was missing. He had only known pleasure that also included pain. Authiel had never struck another human being unless it had been in battle. That she did so now appalled her but she couldn’t stop. Her cousin was always better than her. Always praised for her small triumphs while all her accomplishments seemed to pale in comparison to hers. This war had been going on her entire life and she would not believe that sowing for peace could be what was right for her people. Rhazien’s mouth leaked blood as he tried to defend himself from her blows and then it happened.

Like a fire that slowly grew from a spark he felt his heart opening up to her. Not his heart...his soul! It was impossible. No dark Elf had ever bonded with another, let alone a Wood Elf, in millennia. As she beat him his facade changed, dissipated, dissolved away from him. In mid stroke Authiel’s hand stopped and her eyes grew large as Rhazien Balazhar was revealed to her. Not only that she could feel him, inside of her now as the bond sealed itself between them. Surprisingly this brought to her a horror that she had never known before until now. But also something else...absolute delight at the love that came to her through the bond. And he did love her. Rhazien, one of the most deadliest and nefarious Dark Elves ever to walk the world and he had fallen in love. She knew that like she knew her own heart felt the same for him. Yet she drew out her long knife and shifted to pin him against the desk. She held it to his throat as tears streamed down her face. How could that happen? How? She didn’t know she only knew that it had. If she killed him now she’d be killing a part of herself.

Verya found Aedael's words to be rather strange, but she did not question him. She could only assume that he had somehow seen something within Galara during their encounter. She knew that Aedael was right though. She would need to be careful...extremely careful. If a Dark Elf was able to manipulate her she could not imagine what the consequences of that would be. However, she also felt that if she was to be a target then it would have happened already. Instead, Authiel and Galara had been targeted and she could only wonder if it was to ensure that peace between the Wood Elves and the High Elves never happened.

"I...I do not know," she answered honestly when he asked her what she was going to do. "How are we to stop something we cannot see?"

Authiel's hand trembled as she held the long knife against Rhazien's throat. Her brain told her that he was an enemy and yet her heart told her otherwise...at least to her. She knew in her soul that he would never harm her and she also knew that she would never harm him. They were apart of each other now. She wanted to be disgusted, but she found herself feeling nothing but love...if not a deep and dark kind of love. Somehow she had always known but she had not allowed herself to think it.

Her eyes met Rhazien's and in that instant she dropped the knife. It fell with a clank to the floor. In the next instant her arms were around his neck and she was kissing him passionately. She was his...utterly and entirely his.

(new thread)