Lucas winced as he carried the pot to the nearby stream to wash it. He had managed to get through boiling the bandages and even a meal, but he could not hide how much his shoulder hurt any longer.
He had already reassured Eva that his wound was practically healed. In truth, he just couldn't stand to see the worried expression on her face any longer.
"I am such a stupid elf," he muttered to the lazily flowing stream.
Placing the pot in the river he put his head in his hands. The fog from the medicine was slowly lifting. A splitting headache seemed to be unavoidable.
There was no regret for his actions. It was better for him to be hurt then Eva. What would only be a few days of pain for him would be a month for her, if not longer. The exact recovery rate of humans was still a mystery to him.
All he could do was teach her step by step how to become stronger. He had no idea if she would actually be able to become as strong as an elf through their training methods.
Another thought climbed to the forefront of his mind. 'What about when she goes off on her own in the Capital? Who would keep her safe then?'
His fingers pull at the hair on his scalp. How can he be worrying about such things already? They were traveling by foot, so reaching the Capital would still take a long time. Especially if he kept it at a human's pace. No, he would have to teach her how to increase her agility sooner or later.
'If I am training her, then experiencing different conditions would be beneficial.'
Taking into account this new plan, Lucas quickly revised the route in his head to a lengthy trip around the country.
'I am not doing this because I want to spend more time with her!' he tried to convince himself. 'I just want her to survive.'
Cupping a handful of water in his hands he splashed his face. The water cleared his head and he began to clean the blood off his clothes and body. This was the second reason he decided to volunteer to clean the cooking supplies. Elves do not like to be unclean.
On the small walk back, Lucas paid special attention to the signs left by other elves in the area. He was close to an elven village that looked to be friendly with humans. They would be safe to stay here for a few days.
Perhaps this was the reason why he had stopped here in his fever haze. Not being able to remember everything unsettled him greatly. The thing he remembered the most was fear. It was an emotion that he had not experienced much in his seventy-five years.
His village was peaceful. So he had no reason to feel fear. He finished his elven training early and only faced beasts when he knew he could win. His training had, of course, taught him how to protect someone in case of a surprise attack, but the reality was a lot different then his training.
For one the training never covered protecting someone as weak as a human. Elves were naturally agile. They could dodge attacks from a weaker beast like before. Also, female elves tended not to take jobs that put them in dangerous situations.
How many times would he have to change his way of thinking because of one female human? Despite his resistance he already knew the answer. He would do anything to keep Eva safe.
It was his fate to imprint upon a female human. Something that shouldn't have even happened to begin with. Not even villages that were friendly with humans would accept him for it. A part of himself even hated him for it.
"Lucas?"
Lucas' attention was instantly pulled in Eva's direction. He dropped his hands from his scalp and quickly stood up.
"You were taking a long time. I was worried." Her clear voice shook a little as she spoke.
'I have made her worried again,' he thought.
The breeze against his chest reminded him that he was partially undressed. Eva looked away with a light blush on her cheeks.
"My clothes needed to be washed," he said.
"Of course."
Eva stood there awkwardly fiddling with her hands. Lucas hid a grin behind his hand.
"I am done with the pot if you would like to take it back."
He lifted the pot and utensils and carried them over to Eva. She quickly grabbed the pot from his hands only looking at him for a fraction of a second.
"I-I will be returning now." She stumbled over her words as she quickly turned away from him and half ran back to the campsite.
The small part of himself that hated him for loving the human became slightly less. He stared at her until she disappeared amongst the trees. Sighing, he returned to the edge of the stream.
Lucas looked at his reflection in the water. The red healing scars on his shoulder reminded him of the events of the other day.
'Am I weak?' he thought.
As he thought about it he could not think of a way to get stronger. Even the very desire to become stronger felt foreign to him.
For years he had been content to live life as he always had. However, now he was no longer the simple hunter who drifted about the forest to find animals to hunt.
The choices he had made led him here to this moment. Now he is responsible for another life and it is a life much weaker than his own, and, in this world, there were, of course, many things stronger than himself.
One thing was clear. He could not allow his thoughts to become clouded if met with another situation like before. It was more than surviving. If he were to die then she would be left alone in a forest she did not know how to navigate.
It was not likely the imprint on her would fade without assistance. Further, he did not want that assistance. Maybe that is why Alva just accepted that Lucas would leave. Maybe he saw what had happened to him before even he knew what was happening.
He must have looked like many elves before him. Some became engrossed in their research or hobby, others with serving others. Of course, the ones that fell in love with their partners were the more well known ones.
It was a fate that was said to have been given to them from the Spirits themselves. How many times had he laughed when he heard the stories told by the oldest of their kind at festivals? No one had said that you could imprint upon a human.
The expression staring back at him looked sad. How many years does she have left? Will this attachment fade along with her death? All of these thoughts drove another nail into his heart.
************
The worry that compelled Eva to check on Lucas had been washed away by the rushed beating of her heart. It wasn't the first time she had seen him without a shirt, but it was still a new sight for her.
She set the pot she had received from Lucas down next to the fire. Her hand clasped the front of her shirt as she tried to calm her heartbeat. Her face felt hot and her body felt warm all over for some reason.
This feeling was different then when she had feelings for Hans in the beginning.
'What does this mean?' she thought.
Even recalling Lucas by the stream made her face heat up once more.
'Don't forget why you are here,' she told herself as she once again regained a normal heartbeat.
These feelings were distracting her from her true goal. Reclaiming her family's honor should be the first thing on her mind.
Love, especially with a handsome elf, was never something that she would have been allowed to have. Her noble status would have eventually led her to marry for political means if Hans hadn't come along. Love was not something she was meant to have, or enjoy, because she was female to begin with.
'I have to remember that it was my weakness that allowed my parents to die in front of me. If I was stronger and more capable in terms of being able to take over the family, my father would have never had to turn to an outsider who barely had any ties to the family in the first place.
'Further if I had just been born a male none of this would have happened to begin with. Fate had me born as a girl, too weak to take over the family. I will just have to write over the weakness in myself and become strong. That is the only way to retake what my family lost. What is a noble without their pride?'
She knew that she was hurting herself with each word, but she pushed past it. She let the eyes of Hans as he ordered the death of both of her parents to overshadow every other thought. It made her feel cold and silent tears fell down her face.
This was the image that would fuel her rage. Fuel the desire to destroy what had caused her to come this far. How many years had she wasted believing that she was doing well? The praise she was given from the knights as she learned the sword or fell an animal in the forest. They must have laughed at her behind her back.
******
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