Chapter 6:
Lifelong partner
It was early morning, the sun had just risen and the sky was fading from orange to blue. Many of the elves were already awake, prepared to attend to their morning duties, when a messenger entered the town on his horse, quickly making his way to the central clearing.
Silas had just woken up from the clattering of horse hooves, as did his mother. He walked downstairs and was greeted by his mother standing at the window, looking outside with a heavy glance.
"What's going on?" He asked, smelling the scent of freshly brewed tea leaves.
His mother was holding a clay mug, sipping her tea and observing the messenger dismount from his horse and look over at the village chief's home.
Maeir and Silas watched as the chief exited his home rather quickly and ran up to the messenger, preparing to receive the message.
The messenger was an elf disguised as a human, a powerful magician with unlimited magic potential. This man's name was Meredith. He traveled under the guise as a noble merchant, but in truth he was a spy for the elves, working in the capital to gain information.
The two men spoke for a moment before the messenger retrieved a scroll from his bag and showed it to the other man with a stern expression across his face. The other man's eyes widened and he stroked his chin thoughtfully, Then the two men rolled up the scroll and began to walk towards the chief's house.
Silas looked to his mother and back outside. "What do you think they were looking at?" He asked nervously.
His mother took a sip of her tea and sighed, "Whatever it is, it's probably nothing. I'm sure the chief will take care of it." She turned away from the window and walked back into the kitchen.
The twins finally stumbled out of bed and raced towards their older brother, each grabbing a hand. They were jumping up and down, ready to play. Silas had not yet eaten breakfast and was still exhausted from his long mission, but he did not want to disappoint his younger siblings. He was not sure how to tell them though that there was little to no time to sleep while preparing for war, and afterwards, how difficult it was to sleep.
Even last night, Silas saw the faces of the men he and his team had killed. They were standing together, looking at him in particular, judging him with their eyes. When Silas had looked down at himself, he was wearing the same black clothes from the mission, yet they were entirely soaked in deep red blood. Each step he took left another bloody footprint. He woke up drenched in sweat, unable to fall back asleep until early morning. The dark circles under his eyes were darkening.
Silas helped his mother prepare breakfast, a simple meal of fresh fruits and porridge, one of Silas' favorite meals. He liked the sweet taste of the fruit best.
The twins ate their porridge playfully, sticking their spoons in and out of their bowls, making funny faces at each other from across the table. Their baby fat still hadn't left their faces, leaving the two to look even cuter. Silas's mother chastised the two and told them to properly eat their meal, like their older brother. They listened, but still played with their fruit, rolling it back and forth in the porridge. Their mother shot them both a very disapproving stare.
Silas collected their bowls and put them into the wash basin when there was a loud knock at the door. The twins looked at their mother curiously.
"I'll answer the door." Silas said, walking outside the kitchen to the front door.
Before Silas could even fully open the door, a familiar voice called out to him and two delicate hands reached out through the crack in the door.
He did not even have to see her face to know who it was. "Emmeline." Silas smiled tenderly, meeting eyes for a moment with the girl behind the door before her slim arms wrapped tightly around him and her head hit his chest with a small thump.
His childhood friend Emmeline was sweet and delicate at first glance, but she was stubborn and truthful to a fault. Though her face was delicate and pale, her hair was unruly as she was, curly and light brown. It seemed as if her small head would be swallowed by her overbearing locks of hair.
She fought for what was right, like Silas, and the two bonded as children based on their similar values. He loved her deeply since they were children.
After another moment and one more tight squeeze, Emmeline stepped back and greeted Silas, bowing her head and closing her hands together in front of her. Silas copied her movements, following traditional elven greetings. "Silas, it's been forever! How was your mission?" She said this rapidly in one sentence, her curly hair bobbing up and down.
Silas laughed as his mom walked to the door frame of the kitchen and watched the exchange between the two, unnoticed. "It's only been a month… and everything was okay." He forced himself to smile, but his face still held a bitter note that made Emmeline pause and refrain from poking further.
"Ah, Maeir." Emmeline quickly caught sight of Silas's mother and bowed, putting her hands together respectfully. His mother paid no mind to the formalities and nodded her head.
"Emmeline, there's no need for formalities. It's been years since I've been to war anyway." Maeir said with a flick of the wrist. Silas's mother was a respected warrior in the past, and she had worked hard to procure a safe and stable childhood for Silas and his young siblings. His father raised their children until he disappeared after a trip to the capital, shortly after the twins turned four. When that happened, Maeir laid down her sword and never returned to it following that day.
Emmeline smiled, nodding her head enthusiastically. "Can I borrow Silas for a few minutes?" She grinned, winking at Silas.
His mother, happy to send Silas off with her, agreed readily. "Take him for a few hours." Emmeline laughed with Silas as he looked at his mom, slightly embarrassed by her straightforwardness.
Emmeline grabbed Silas's hand and was about to walk out the door with him when the twins came barreling through, grabbing onto Emmeline like a piece of driftwood. She almost lost her footing, but Silas caught her back and smiled. She blushed lightly.
"Aurelia, Cirdan!" She rubbed the twins heads lovingly. The two troublemakers ate up the attention, causing their mother to sigh.
"I think these two brats have some chores to do." Their mother said flatly, "I don't remember the dishes being finished, do you?" The military training she had endured had made her far stricter of a parent, but the three appreciated their mother's ways.
The two forlornly looked at Emmeline, giving her their all-famous puppy dog eyes, but they had no effect on the quick-witted young woman. "You two should listen to your mother." She chided them, causing Silas and his mother to smile.
Emmeline looked at Silas as he laughed and she returned the joyous smile. She wished with all her might that one day he would smile and laugh like he was now, without a care in the world. It reminded her of their childhood, when he would smile and laugh at the smallest things.
With that, Emmeline took the initiative to take Silas's hand once more and walked him out the door, before they could be further delayed. Due to construction in the middle of town, there were many private places for them to chat.
Emmeline did not tell Silas where they were headed, and instead made him guess as they walked.
"Are we going to the wild fruit patch?"
"Nope."
"Hm… What about the stream by the chief's house?"
"Keep guessing." Emmeline was amused, smiling brightly.
As the two walked, other villagers were busting out and about, attending to their daily duties. Some of them noticed Silas and Emmeline walking towards the woods and stopped, eyeing the two with an all-knowing glance.
"Ahh, those two are at it again." One of the elders gossiped.
"Maeir must be preparing for their wedding already… What it is to be young!"
Due to the declining population of the elves, it was common for families to arrange marriages for their children, usually starting in childhood. If two children had a good relationship growing up, they were paired together until adulthood, when they were ready to marry. Most of these marriages were pleasant, but most unhappy arrangements worked out in the end.
Finally, the two reached an open clearing, and Silas instantly recognized the area.
In front of them was a small, open clearing surrounded by tall, lush maple trees. There was a narrow stone path cut through the middle, where the elven astrologist would view the stars, plotting the constellations. The elves had no formal religion, but believed that the stars held important messages.
Emmeline and Silas often came here as children to play games in the open clearing, often viewing the clouds together. Silas taught Emmeline how to climb the trees, and Emmeline taught Silas how to make intricate flower crowns. On clear nights, Silas' father would take the pair to teach them about the stars. It was one of his favorite memories of this place.
Emmeline ran up to the tallest tree, now reaching at least forty feet tall. She patted the trunk and looked at Silas, smiling mischievously. "Silas, do you want to have a competition? Let's see who can climb this faster!"
Silas couldn't help but look at Emmeline's dress. Even though it reached her ankles, he probably would see...
Ah, don't think about it! Silas chided himself as he blushed and looked away.
"I don't know about th-" By the time he had the words out of his mouth, Emmeline had already started to climb, putting her feet up on the lowest branches to climb higher. Silas's face flushed red and he turned himself around, facing the open clearing. The tips of his ears were on fire.
After she had safely climbed up and sat on the tree branch, Silas joined her, quickly climbing the tree. They sat closely next to each other, leaving a space less than a foot between them. Emmeline comfortably laid her head on Silas' shoulder and looked out at the clearing with a clear gaze, almost reminiscent.
"When you were gone, I was really worried about you." Emmeline said forlornly, "Because it was your first mission, we were all…" She trailed off.
Silas reached out to her and patted her head, ruffling her wavy crown into gentle disarray. "I'm here now," Emmeline grabbed Silas's hand and led it to her face, "and safe again." His eyes looked like the crescent moons they used to look at when they were children: bright.
Silas's shoulder became wet, and he glanced to his side to see warm tears rolling down Emmeline's cheeks. Her pale lips trembled.
Silas had comforted his mother after his father's death, and at this moment, he had the same warm feeling in his heart. He wrapped his arms around Emmeline and closed the distance between them. He rubbed her back in circles, attempting to comfort her.
Emmeline's voice quivered. "Actually Silas, there was a reason I wanted to take you here."
Silas nodded his head, listening attentively.
Emmeline looked at Silas and sputtered. "You remember when I was ill as a child? When I started to vomit blood?"
This was something Silas wished he could forget the feeling of helplessness.
That moment, Silas and Emmeline were playing inside of Silas's house, using their sewn dolls to play family. Emmeline and Silas were sitting upright and playing, carefully watched by Silas' father, when Emmeline suddenly coughed up blood, splashing blood onto their dolls, then Emmeline collapsed.
Silas screamed and began to cry as he tried to shake Emmeline, but no matter how hard he shook her, she never moved. Silas's father, having trained in medicine, quickly reacted and examined Emmeline while trying to comfort Silas. After a quick evaluation, he noticed her condition was too serious for him to treat, so he took the two children in his arms and ran to the village medic, where she could be treated.
She did not waken for two days, and in those two days Silas felt more helpless than a baby. His father had to drag him away from her bedside to eat, bathe, and sleep. Otherwise, he was by her side, waiting for his closest friend to come back.
It was when she woke up that the two friends cried in relief and hugged each other, and it was then that the elders of the village had come to an agreement that the two would be presented as a couple when they came of age.
Emmeline's health continued to brighten, but only to a certain point, leaving her to stay in her home most days. Silas made sure that she was never bored. How could he have forgotten?
"Of course I remember! Who else would've taken care of you." Silas said this jokingly, stroking Emmeline's back lovingly. She blushed lightly. "Why are you bringing it up now?"
Emmeline gently pulled away from Silas and looked out at the woods for a few moments and sighed heavily, pausing. "The human doctor they've been sending to check up on me did a check up yesterday." She paused and squeezed Silas's hand tightly, "I was told… I don't have much time left."
There was a long, silent pause between the two, as if they were processing the information individually. Silas was the first to speak after pondering his words.
"Maybe he was wrong. Maybe he just doesn't understand elven bodies after all." He said this while looking into her eyes. "Let's take you to a different doctor." Silas leaned into Emmeline and hugged her tight, whispering into her ear, "We'll figure it out. We'll make you better."
Emmeline squeezed Silas close as tears slid down her face. She didn't have the heart right now to tell Silas that it was impossible. They had tried everything. She was going to die soon. It was just a matter of days or months now.
Emmeline let go of Silas and wiped her eyes before she looked Silas directly in the eye, "There is one thing I want from you, Silas."
Noticing Emmeline���s voice dim, his ears peaked and he listened intently, staring into her deep green eyes. "What do you want?" He smiled, trying to lighten the dark mood.
"My only wish before I die is to get married to you, Silas." Emmeline looked deeper into Silas's eyes. "I want to spend the rest of my life, however long that is, with you."
Silas's heart stopped at her confession. It was the first time he had been confessed to before. He had always waited for the day he would confess to Emmeline, but he was honored and excited to hear Emmeline confirm her feelings for him too. Of course he and Emmeline had discussed marriage with their parents before, but it suddenly became so excitedly real for him. For a few minutes, both of them were able to forget about Emmeline's illness, and just be two young people in love.
Emmeline looked at Silas' surprised face and smiled knowingly. Though, her face brightened slightly when she saw a deep flush spread across the innocent Silas's cheeks. He could not control the redness rushing all over his face. Even his ears were burning red.
"Emmeline-" Silas looked down as he said this, building his confidence, "I want nothing more than for you to be happy." He then looked up at her, still red-faced, and smiled brightly. Emmeline couldn't help but tear up at his words.
"I love you, Silas."
"I love you too, Emmeline."
Emmeline leaned into Silas's embrace, and they looked on into the landscape they had looked at all their lives. Silas gently placed his lips on the crown of her head and held her tight, letting the world around them, and all the worries and pain that came with it, melt away even if just for a few minutes.