"Tell
me again why we have to go through here instead of walking on the
bard road?" Maerad whined
"Because now that we are being
hunted by the Light and the Dark it's better if we take detours and
do things they wouldn't expect us to do. Things other people wouldn't
want to do" replied Cadvan
"Yeah, but people don'tdo
things like going through the wer wood for good reason, Cadvan"
said Maerad
"Hmm? And what reason would that be?"
inquired Cadvan
"It's spooky! Rember last we came through
here we had an encouter with a goromant?"
"but you found
out about your Elidhu heritage too so it's not all bad"
There
was a moments silence and then a fat cold drop of rain hit Maerad in
the face and seconds later it started bucketing down it was as if
gods in the sky thought the world needed a good flood.
"not
that bad Cadvan?! Not that Bad!" yelled Maerad
Cadvan
rolled his eyes
"You're so argumentative! Lets find shelter
first then we can argue to your hearts desire" yelled Cadvan
"I
look forward to it" replied Maerad
They finally found a ring of trees that had connecting branches over head providing reasonable protection from the rain
"It's just big enough for us and the horses! Come on!" yelled Maerad through the pelting rain
Cadvan followed on Darsor
"This is
pretty good" said Cadvan glad to be out of the rain
"You
can thank me later" said Maerad
Cadvan smiled at Maerad.
It was wonderful to be friendly again after all those weeks of
silence in the north. Old scars were healing and old mistakes and
grievances were being forgiven. It was as if weeks of bad moves and
bad timing had been sloughed away like dust on the wind.
Maerad
smiled back
Perhaps he finally had a chance with her now. Perhaps
he had a chance to finally be more than just friends.
But
what will others think?
Argued another part of his mind. The logical part, the one that still
hadn't forgiven or forgotten Cadvan for the death of Ceredin and the
maiming of Dernhil. The part that Maerad had called selfish.
Perhaps I am selfish, maybe my withdrawal from humanity and society is just another form of self pity. Maybe I'm using Ceredin as an excuse not to get to know Maerad better. Perhaps I am afraid not of what others will think of me but more of what I will think o myself.
"What
are you staring at?" asked Maerad
"The most beautiful
and amazing person I've ever met." said Cadvan
Maerad stared
at him for a moment. Cadvan thought eh saw a flicker of hope pass
across her face but it was gone so quickly and replaced with fear and
confusion he wondered if it had been there at all.
He
couldn't stand the way she looked at him so he averted his eyes and
became extremely and suddenly interested in a spider spinning a web
between two branches. You
IDIOT!
Screamed the selfish part of his mind what
do you think could possibly happen between you? That shell just fall
for you? Surrender?
No
Of
course not! You're her best friend and her teacher. You're decades
older than her old enough to be her grandfather!
I
know...
Not
only that she is Elednor of Edil-Amarandh! The Fire Lily, the fated
one the Foretold! Do you really think she'll settle for a worn out
old bag like you?
Leave
me alone! I can't help how I feel about her so stop telling me all
the reasons why it can never be. it's like a torture worse then ive
ever felt
Cadvan turned his attention back to the face he
adored more than life itself. He expected her to be frightened or
maybe angry but she just had a slight smile on her lips and she said
"You are too kind" and went back to fire wood and
tinder box