"You should only draw your bow once you are ready to shoot." Lucas said.
They had been spending the better part of the morning familiarizing Eva with an elven bow. Lucas was not yet done with her bow, so they were making due with his bow for now.
Eva's arms ached as she had been practicing with his bow all morning. She didn't want to admit that she needed a break. Lucas seemed to have an infinite amount of stamina.
'Is this the real difference between humans and elves?' she wondered.
She knew that he was ridiculously strong since he had carried her over long distances. It almost felt like she was constantly lagging behind. It didn't matter whether it was when they traveled for the day, or when they left their camp for their almost daily hunting trips.
Eva pulled back the string one more time, but she didn't have the strength to aim properly and the string struck the inside of her wrist. Lucas grabbed the bow before it could hit the ground and worriedly looked at her wrist.
Eva hissed at the pain and redness that quickly spread from the point of impact. Still, she expected Lucas to finally blow up on her. However, he silently inspected her wound and led her to the campfire. He was like this with every new injury she got.
He would either pull out a bunch of herbs from his backpack or leave her alone for a time while he gathered herbs in the forest. All the other men in her life would have scolded her for not knowing her limits. That is, if all the men she knew from before were not dead.
She gritted her teeth in response to the psychological attack of her traumatic memories. 'I promised myself I wouldn't think about that anymore,' she thought.
The pain of all that had happened held her back and she was looking toward the future now. She had a plan that would help her get back the honor of her family while simultaneously taking out her enemy.
She would join the adventurer school in the Capital and earn her merits. It may take years, but even if she was old and gray, she knew that she could not face her father in the afterlife if she did not at least gain back the family's noble rank.
It was because of this mindset that she took her lessons with Lucas as seriously as she did. She had not met another person as talented as he was. It would take months to get to the Capital and she would use as much of that time as she could to learn how to become self-sufficient.
"Does it sting?" Lucas asked.
She nodded.
It was useless to try to downplay her injury. It was only a light wound, but since she wasn't used to this life it would set her back a few days.
"I found some wintermint a while back. It should cool it down somewhat," Lucas said with a frown on his face.
"I'm sorry," Eva apologized.
His frown turned into confusion as he looked up at her face, instead of her wrist. "Why are you apologizing?" he asked her seriously, while getting closer to her face.
"Um… I…"
The heat that flushed through her face burned so much that she was afraid she had gotten a sunburn. The fact that she had never been burned by the sun in her life never crossed her mind. She pressed her palm to her face and the stuttering reply she was trying to get out drifted to silence.
"Injuries like this are a part of learning," Lucus explained. "Everyone has their limit and finding that limit is a part of learning how to fight."
The amount of words that escaped his mouth amazed her. She had never heard him speak as much as he was now the entire month they had been traveling together.
"I…" She tried again to explain herself. Clearing her throat she was determined to get her thoughts out this time. "I felt like I needed to apologize because it felt like I failed."
There she said it.
The intensity of Lucas' stare unnerved her, but she was gradually getting used to his demeanor.
His gaze softened and the soft pat she came to expect filled her with warmth once again. "Failure only happens if you lose sight of the goal. I could never fault you for trying."
His explanation was simple, but it felt like a small part of her heart suddenly became less broken in that instant.
Feeling suddenly awkward, Lucas shifted away from Eva. Every time she stumbled it reminded him of a small child learning how to be independent for the first time. He caught himself treating her as if she was one of Alva's younger siblings.
'She is an adult by human standards. Her life will be over and spent before I am even truly considered to be a mature adult by elf standards.' His thoughts were always contradictory to his feelings. Most of the time he didn't see her as a child at all. He was painfully aware of her adult-like qualities.
He usually kept his distance from those of the opposite gender. Spending so much time with Eva brought thoughts he had never experienced before. Yet he stopped himself over and over again from coming closer to her. Clenching his hands into fists every time she would speak about her new plan of becoming an adventurer.
His chest ached each time she spoke about the books she would read as a child. Going on missions and earning merits with the kingdom.
"I am sure you will be so excited to return to your village when our trip is over."
He didn't have the heart to tell her that he could never return. That he had risked everything on a single whim to save a human girl with whom he had no previous contact with. It would be unthinkable. Also, he couldn't explain the draw he felt to her.
'She wouldn't understand,' he thought.
And why would she? If he took away the obviously different races between them, he was simply a man who was creepily forcing his way into her life. Those thoughts made him cringe and thus he could not point this out for fear of being hated.
It was one thing to offer his hand to help in her time of need and another to explain that he couldn't take his eyes off of her, or explain that he never wanted to leave her side. Lucas felt grim as he realized what was happening to him.
He had seen it hundreds of times within his own village. One day two elves would just be friends and the next they would be inseparable.
'I fell in love with a human,' he thought. Lucas paused and the now silent campsite drew Eva's attention.
"Lucas?" she asked.
Her eyes trailed over to where Lucas had been carving out a piece of wood like he had been for the last few days. She looked around their campsite trying to hear any noises that would have caused him to stop what he was doing.
Hearing nothing and seeing nothing else amiss she returned her gaze to the elf across the fire. Biting her bottom lip she tried to determine whether or not she should call out his name again. Lucas never stopped moving or preparing the next thing so he could teach her a new lesson. He had never just paused like this.
"Lucas?"
She attempted to get his attention again. Looking into his eyes she noticed a slight sadness that she had never seen before.
'Did he remember a sad memory?' she thought.
Just as she was about to get up and shake his shoulder he resumed shaving of wood he had been working on before.
'Do I ask what he was thinking about?'
Eva readjusted her legs and folded her hands in her lap. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yes. I thought I heard something in the distance," he replied.
He wanted to answer honestly, but he still could not bring himself to admit his feelings. It was enough that he now understood his actions. He would just cherish the moments he had with her.
'If I stay close to human society, maybe I can catch a glimpse of her from time to time.'
That would be more than enough for him. It would have to be. For the first time in his life a tear fell from his eyes.
He quickly wiped it away and pretended to adjust his hood, pulling it further over his face. His breathing became heavier, but he knew from experience that Eva's hearing was not as keen as his. With a new found gentleness, he worked on the present he would give her once she mastered her lessons. He would prepare the finest bow he had ever created for her. In exchange he hoped that she would think of him each time she used it.
'Fifty years is probably all the time she has left. I can control myself for that long at least.'
He had already lived without his father for that length of time.
'If I never touch her then I won't grieve as much when she is gone.' Lucas closed his eyes tightly. 'I must teach her to protect herself better.'
Each time she got hurt he would be forced to treat her and thus increase the number of times he felt her skin. His feelings would get in the way and it was only a matter of time before she realized his feelings while in that state.
'This is what you get for falling in love with a human!'
Putting down the project in his hands he quickly walked away from the fire. Eva watched his odd behavior as he disappeared without a single word. Again she felt the need to ask him what was wrong.
'I know nothing about him,' she realized.
What was more surprising is that she wanted to know things about him. She wanted to know how old he was. His favorite things. Why did he choose to help her? However, how could she ask him these things without sounding nosy? The last thing she wanted was to make him feel annoyed after he had done so much already for her.
'No, this is our chance to be different!'
Eva steeled herself and abruptly got up to walk in the direction that Lucas left the small clearing where their camp was set up. She clutched her chest as she calmed her anxious thoughts.
'I am going to do more than cower in self pity.'
******
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