This is a short chapter but it didn't look right bunched with what comes after so I've decided to post it separate and post the rest tomorrow...or by the end of the week at least.
All I own is Elhana and Madam.
The Avriel had returned to their rightful place on the Lost Peaks and the cursed mirror that had caused so much chaos now rested comfortably and safely in a heavy burlap sack inside Elhana's pack.
The effects of the mage's spell had worn off hours ago but she hadn't spoken much since. Deekin was absorbed in his writing pausing only to ask her how to spell a word while Madam gnawed on a bone as if it were the last in the world.
After her little episode, Elhana felt she needed to clear the air with Valen who had spoken even less than she but she hadn't the faintest idea of how to begin. Apologizing for fondling his tail like an immoral woman seemed a good place to start.
Elhana left Madam and Deekin to their vices and silently sought out the man that was quickly becoming her own. When she found him Valen was studiously cleaning his armor, his breastplate set in his lap and the infamous tail curled by his thigh as he worked.
"Hello." That was safe enough.
"My lady." He acknowledged with a bob of his head.
"May I join you?"
Valen looked up; his expression unreadable then he nodded and scooted over to give her space.
Neither wanted to be the first to speak but considering that she was the one at fault, Elhana figured it should be her.
"I only wanted to apologize for earlier." No need to say what for.
Valen gave a casual shrug of his massive shoulders. "Unnecessary."
"But I…" Elhana's cheeks pinked. "Your tail…"
The Tiefling smiled. "My lady, I did allow it."
"Yes but…why?"
"To sate your curiosity." He said. "Or do you have any other questions about my tail?"
Her blush deepened. "No. No more questions."
It was a lie but it was a lie she could live with. Valen studied her with his eyes as if trying to understand something vitally important.
"You wear more armor than you think you do." Elhana's eyes widened in surprise but his tone wasn't accusatory just simplistic as if stating a fact.
"That isn't fair." She said. "You've proven you know quite a lot about me."
"Trivialities." Valen said going back to cleaning his breastplate. "What you let show."
"Is this why you don't trust me?" She asked. "It isn't as if you have been forthcoming with information."
Valen's azure eyes dimmed. "Believe it or not, my lady I want to trust you but I…can't. Not yet."
"What could you possibly want to know about me that Deekin hasn't already asked?" Being open was not easy for Elhana since she had spent nearly her whole life trying not to get close to men.
Deekin was different, she thought, he was not technically a man and Drogan had been like a father to her but Valen…Valen was everything she attempted to ignore and, thus far, hadn't been able to. And it was costing her; already all he had to do was say the right words and her heart pounded or hurt like it never had before.
Hearing that he didn't trust her made her chest feel hollow and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.
"My lady?" Elhana's eyes snapped up to find Valen's intense azure gaze on her. "Did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry. I was thinking." She said. "Please repeat."
The Tiefling snorted what could have been a chuckle and shook his head. "One of these days that will get you into trouble. I asked where you lived before Hilltop and why you do not wish to speak of it."
"Why? Is that suspicious? I was five, Valen."
"Yet you evade." He stated calmly.
"Tyr's Glen, or the outskirts of." She answered. "And I don't talk about it because…I was happy there and it didn't last. That may make no sense to you but-"
"No," he said sadly. "I understand perfectly."
Elhana chewed on the bottom of her lip. Telling Deekin about this had been so much easier since he hadn't known half the words. This wouldn't be easy.
"Healing has always come naturally to me," she began. "Especially when I'm…happy. Both my parents were proud of my gift and were saving up gold enough to send me to the temple in Neverwinter to be trained as a priestess."
It was little more than a log cabin about four miles from Tyr's Glen but to the five-year-old girl, perched on her father's lap and listening to his stories of growing up in Neverwinter, it was home. Her Father's thighs were pleasantly cushiony and his stomach acted as a plump pillow for her to lie against as she lazed in his arms at night. There was no place she felt safer.
Elhana's eyes fell. "In the winter my father would leave the fireplace going to keep the house warm while we slept. One night it must have sparked because when I woke up my room was already on fire. There was smoke everywhere and I remember screaming and screaming for my parents but…they never came. When I tried to shimmy out my bedroom window my nightgown caught fire and…."
Suddenly she felt cool metal as Valen covered her hand with his. "That is why fire scares you."
"Its…ridiculous but yes. For the longest time, Drogan couldn't even burn a candle in my room without me having a panic attack."
"If I may ask my lady," he said. "How did you survive?"
"Rain. It…stormed. Master Drogan happened to be camping nearby and saw the flames, the house burned to the ground, my parents were dead…probably before I even woke up but he saved me, took me to a healer in the village and then to Hilltop with him. I don't think I spoke for months and I avoided fire at all costs."
"Every time it stormed I would go outside and let the rain soak me to the bone," she continued. "Listen to the thunder rumble in my heart, move with the wind and feel the lightning in my soul. Before the fire, storms had frightened me but after…the chaos of it made me feel alive again and that's what I needed. My healing gives me a purpose and I do think I was always meant to help people but the storms enliven me so that I can fulfill that purpose. That is why I chose to give my service to Talos; he saved me."
"My lady, I-"
Elhana frowned sadly. "Why is it you never use my name? If you don't mind me asking." Valen did know her name, yes? "I've heard you use Nathyrra's, Imloth's and even Deekin's on occasion so why not mine? Do you not like it?"
Elhana was, she would admit, a strange name; it meant 'scale of the heavens' and she thought it pretty enough for a girl.
A smirk played over the Tiefling's lips before his expression deadpanned. "Elhana is a beautiful name for a beautiful lady. If you prefer I call you by your name then I will do so. Are you well?"
Was she well? All at once she realized she had not drawn breath since the word 'beautiful' had left his lips.
"Yes, thank you." She whispered.
His brow knotted in confusion. "Have I…misspoken?"
"No." her fingers fumbled over the hem of her sleeve. "Not at all."
Seconds, possibly minutes passed by as Elhana listened to the waves slapping against the side of the boat in silent turmoil.
Valen was ever reminding her of an exotic animal; powerful, beautiful but deadly. If that were the case then she could be nothing but the pitiful onlooker behind the glass wishing for a single touch when that was impossible.
Nothing was right. Watching the looming skyline of Lythe'Mythar grow ever closer did not install any kind of warmth in her heart. The drow city was not her home; what she wouldn't give to feel sunlight caress her skin or natural raindrops slither down her cheek.
Anything but this eternal darkness.
