Treasure

For Lynn

Training had been hard this day – much harder than usual. Ely was sweating heavily and was still trying her best to calm her breathing. It was the first time she had been put into full armour for training and not even just the training armour, but the real thing. Metal and padding and all. And it had been a lot of padding to make her actually fit into the armour, despite the fact that they had used the smallest one they had found.

Fergus had sworn it wasn't a dwarven armour, but seeing as how he had been laughing the whole time, she wasn't too sure that she could actually believe him. Looking down she let her gaze wander over the delicate patterns that decorated the armour and couldn't fight down the huge grin that spread on the lips. Honestly, she didn't even care if it was indeed dwarven armour. It was a warrior's armour and it looked damn good on her, period!

It also weighed like... a ton. Or maybe two. She had somehow completely underestimated the factor of armour when fighting and now she understood why their trainer had wanted her to put it on and fight with it throughout the whole training session. She knew now that she still had a long way to go.

Ely was on her way back to the armoury to find a squire and get out of this thing now. Her dark hair was plastered to her face by sweat and she shook her head, but not a single strand moved. As she walked through the courtyard, a cool breeze coming in from the sea brushed over her and she welcomed it, stopping for a moment to lean her head back and look up at the sky, still grinning.

She'd not only be a warrior, she decided then and there, she'd be the best Highever had ever had.

Within a few minutes she had reached the armoury and entered quickly, looking around for a squire or servant that would be able to help her.

Instead... she found Caroline. Great.

The blond girl looked like she had only just had a bath – her cheeks were rosy red and her long hair was flowing over her shoulders like liquid gold. The dress was without a single wrinkle and showed off her figure nicely, the curves and long legs alike.

A contrast to Ely that couldn't have been greater as she stood there, dirty and sweaty from practice, clad in armour that nullified whatever curves she might have been able to show otherwise – and basically, there wasn't much to begin with... like a moth compared to a butterfly.

Ely was about to turn around on the spot and leave before the pest noticed her, but of course she was too late and probably too loud, considering how much the armour clinked and clanged when moving.

Caroline's eyes fixed on her and she lifted an eyebrow, looking Ely up and down several times before she finally curtsied, albeit by far not as deep as she usually did when somebody else was around. "Lady Eilonwy."

Ely wasn't sure, but she could have sworn a grin twitched around Caroline's lips as she got up again. Scowling Ely moved further into the room and nodded at the other girl. "Caroline."

"I don't suppose you've seen my darling Nate, have you?" Caroline asked sweetly and this time Ely could see the grin for sure.

"No." Ely hadn't seen much of Nate at all in the last weeks, he had been avoiding her like the plague. Not that she would tell that to that blasted woman...

"Oh, but of course not. How stupid of me to ask. Forgive me, Milady!" Caroline was quick to answer and curtsied again. Perhaps Ely was starting to become paranoid, but she thought to hear barely concealed laughter in Caroline's voice.

Ely's hand twitched, her fingers stroking over the hilt of her sword. Oh, how lovely it would be to slam it hilt-first into Caroline's face. Several times.

Caroline then left, quickly brushing past Ely with a grin on her face, and was gone the next moment.

Fuming Ely walked over to the armour stand and glowered at the wood for good measure. Stupid wench. Stupid curvy wench. She kicked the stand and because it felt so good, she kicked it again. It helped little, though, she could feel her eyes becoming wet.

Just then she heard steps and quickly blinked the tears away, straightening her shoulders. Warriors didn't cry. Not because of things like this. Turning around, she saw that one of the younger squires was walking towards her and with his help she could free herself of the armour quite quickly... and not a moment too soon!

The last piece of metal had not even hit the floor, before she grabbed a big towel from one of the stands, thanked the squire and quickly headed out. She'd have run, but then her mother would once again chastise her about the proper behaviour of a Lady Cousland and she could do without that for today, thankyouverymuch.

Even so, she didn't even need to think where to go now, her feet carried her almost as if on their own accord. Before she knew, she found herself on the path leading down towards the beach. There, she'd be able to wash off the sweat and with it... well, maybe also the unhappy thoughts.

She slung the towel over her shoulder and looked at her feet as she walked. They were tiny. She really hadn't grown a bit in the last year, her old shoes were still fitting. Fergus had needed two pairs of new shoes within less than a year and she...? She seemed to have stopped growth at the level of a dwarf. Everybody was taller than her. Mother was taller, father was taller, Fergus was taller, Dairren was taller, Nate... Nate was taller. Ely kicked a stone and rubbed her arm over her eyes.

It took a while, but when she finally reached the beach she headed straight for her favourite place – a little bay to the east that wasn't big enough to be used by fishers and much more secluded than other places. Usually nobody except for her ever went there.

Climbing over rocks and wading through the water she finally reached it and was already starting to fasten her steps, when she caught sight of something.

Or rather... someone.

Ely stopped in her tracks and blinked in puzzlement, taking some more steps only after moments of silence had passed by.

Now, she couldn't be totally sure, but that back looked familiar. The dark hair, long and falling loose over broad shoulders. The wide back that narrowed down towards the waist. She would be able to pick out that silhouette from anywhere. That over there was, without a doubt, Nathaniel Howe.

And that over there, she realized, were undoubtedly his clothes. Far away from him, lying carelessly discarded in the sand.

Ely swallowed and quickly looked away, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. He hadn't seen her yet, so she could still slip away and he'd never know she'd been here and seen him.

She lifted her hands to her eyes and covered them and then turned away quickly. However, her feet didn't let her take a single step strangely enough. It was like she was glued to the spot.

And then her traitorous brain had a thought. What if you took a quick look? Just one look. He'll never know and it won't hurt him.

She was waiting for some other part of her body to respond to that, to tell her to do the right thing and go away now and forget this ever happened. Everything was strangely non-communicative at this moment, though, only her stomach did its weird turning over-thing and her heart was racing. So, in all honesty – nothing was speaking against a quick peek, right? Just a teeny-tiny quick peek.

She let her hands drop and took a deep breath and then turned around again. Nate wasn't all that far away – perhaps a dozen or so meters? He was completely absorbed in washing himself, though, and with his back turned towards her, he couldn't see her.

His hair was wet and plastered to his smooth skin. He lifted his arm and the muscles rippled under his skin in one fluid motion. One drop of water was running down from his shoulder along his spine. Down, down and further down until...

He isn't wearing pants, Ely thought faintly and swallowed.

Barely hidden by the water she could make out the firm roundness of his butt. Ely's heart did a summersault and landed in her throat as she was staring... glancing. Glancing!

From her position she could see him rub soap along his side with long, even movements, almost in a meditative way. Up and down, up and down. His strong, slender fingers were gliding along his shoulder and then vanished somewhere to the front, probably now taking care of his chest.

Ooooh... his chest. She'd had a glimpse, once, after training... so she knew that there was dark, coarse hair on it. She also knew how delightfully sculpted he was, with muscles showing whenever he moved.

If anybody had asked her right here, right now what she wanted for Satinalia, she'd have answered something very stupid. Something such as: Just let me be those fingers, feeling his hot skin.

She'd never kissed anybody – not really, anyhow, because the kiss with Dairren didn't count at all. It had felt... wrong. Absolutely not what she had imagined. It had even made her think that perhaps she'd never want to kiss anybody. But right now, she wanted to kiss Nate. She wanted to kiss his lips, she wanted to kiss his shoulders, his chest. She could almost imagine how the salt on his skin would taste, how firm and hard he'd be under her lips.

Ely's fingers trembled as she lifted them to her mouth, running her thumb along her lower lip. Her breath was hot on her skin and she shuddered as she watched him stretch and move, water glistening on his skin.

He dipped under water suddenly and came up again slowly, running his hands down his body to get rid of excess water. His body was turned just slightly more to the side now, allowing her a glance at his muscular arm and she thought she could even vaguely discern some dark hair on his chest.

Nate lifted his hands to his hair and wrung it out carefully, his eyes were closed and there was a soft smile on his lips that completely captured Ely's attention. He had a beautiful smile. Everything about him was stunning. Even the nose, no matter how often Fergus made fun of Nathaniel because of it. It was slightly crooked, yes, but it fit him. It gave him character, made him different from your average soldier. It was part of Nate and by that definition alone, Ely found that she loved it.

She swallowed and let her hands sink, her eyes skimming over his figure. She wanted to remember this moment and never forget it. It would most probably be the only time she'd see him like this and she knew it was wrong to look, but... at least she'd have this.

Caroline might be with him, but in this moment, in this very second, there was no Caroline. There was only Nate and Ely could be happy here and now. The memory she'd lock away and treasure, because whatever else might happen, nobody could take that from her.

It took her almost too long to realize that he was turning more towards her. His eyes were still closed, but the moment he opened them, he'd catch sight of her.

Ely stumbled back, eyes still on him, and then another one. Only then could she tear her eyes from him and quickly retreat over the rocks and away from the bay and Nathaniel. She didn't notice that she had lost her towel on the way.

What she had noticed was that Nate was really not wearing any pants and that he had that dark coarse hair also somewhere else, not only on his chest...

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Author's Comment:

So, this is a Secret Santa gift for the lovely Eilonwycousland, as part of the Christmas gift exchange over at Thedas United on Facebook. I tried to do her character justice and really hope I managed to do so. =) It should be set somewhere within the last year of her story "The Way It Once Was", which you should check out to learn more about Ely and Nate!

Merry Christmas, Eilonwycousland!