Here comes the next chapter! Hope you like it! Please review and tell me what you think :D don't be afraid to be harsh :)
When Annora opened her eyes she found herself looking up into the evening sky. The sun was low and starting to make its slow decent. The air was fresh and sweet. Annora felt like her head was on fire but she ignored it and sat up.
She was lying in a clearing on grass that was softer than most beds. Karigan was standing near the side of the clearing talking with Helmond. She couldn't see Ealdaen, Telagioth or King Santanara.
"Annora, are you alright?" Karigan rushed to her side, slowly followed by Helmond.
"I guess so, but my head's on fire." Annora rubbed her forehead but stopped as the pain burned harder.
"Careful," Helmond said, "we have to allow your head wound to heal on its own because it's tainted with dark magic. Eventually it will heal but on its own."
Annora nodded and winced at the pain the movement caused. "Where is everyone?"
"They are in a meeting with the Eletian council." Karigan told her.
"The only thing they've managed to agree on is to have a feast tonight in celebration of King Santanara's awakening." Helmond explained in more detail.
"What are we doing until then?" Annora asked.
"We're staying here and watching over you." Helmond answered.
"I can look after myself."
"King Santanara believes you need to be watched."
Annora felt confusion at the fact that the King would care about her enough to place guards, even if they were friends. She remembered that she did wake him up and was an elf princess, that was the reason.
"Is there somewhere I can wash and anything I can change into?" Annora asked. "Do you still need to watch me Helmond?"
The elf coughed nervously. "No, Karigan can keep an eye on you."
The two girls laughed and Karigan led Annora to somewhere she could clean up.
The feast was boring. Annora was wearing a long white dress without sleeves. It was nice unlike the scowl on the Eletian's face as she gave it to her. So far every Eletian she saw would glare at her like she was some type of disease.
Annora was seated next to Prince Jametari who promptly turned his back on her and ignored her the whole time. Ealdaen was on her left and seemed to be in the middle of a very stimulating conversation with Karigan the whole night. It wasn't that he was ignoring her but he just kind of forget she was there.
Annora sat there in silence, her eyes sliding unwillingly towards King Santanara every two minutes.
He was nothing like she'd expected. He wasn't rude, or condescending. He wasn't a king in constant battle for court superiority, he was a king that was elected through courage on the battlefield. He spoke to everyone with the grace of an Eletian but did it with the skill of a warrior.
The only annoying thing about him was that, after she'd managed to not look at him for two minutes, and she just glanced up he would look at her almost straight away. His gaze was steady and he watched her blush and look away quickly.
After every little eye contact they made Annora would mentally kick herself and stare at her plate as hard as she could.
She had just managed to keep her eyes on her plate for five minutes when her eyes drifted to King Santanara again only to find him gone. He'd left his own feast and it seemed that no one else had really noticed.
Annora sat there arguing with herself. She could see where he'd walked and where he'd gone. It was like when she was looking for what tree he was.
She wanted to follow him but she couldn't decide if he would mind or not.
Eventually she got up and followed him into the trees. No one noticed her leaving.
Annora found him next to a stream. He was resting his left hand in the cool water. He looked up when she left the tree line.
King Santanara looked back to his hand.
Annora thought about turning and going back to the feast but decided against it. She walked up to him and kneeled next to him.
The King took his hand out of the stream but didn't shake it dry. He just let the water runoff it and turned to Annora.
His blue eyes stared into her green eyes. It wasn't an awkward eye contact it was a relaxing peaceful staring. They were both trying to see into the others soul, find out who and what they really were.
"Does it hurt?"
Annora frowned for a second but realized he was talking about her head wound. The one Truman had caused her, the one that was tainted by Mornhavon.
"It hurts a little, but in two or three days there won't even be a scar." Annora smiled slightly.
King Santanara nodded and looked back at his blackened left hand.
"I can feel it, you know? I can feel his black taint moving up your arm." King Santanara looked slowly up as she spoke. "I can feel it taking over you, infecting you from the inside and smothering my magic. In barely a month you will be the perfect host for Alessandro himself."
King Santanara was shocked and stared at her. The pain in her voice and the sincereness in her eyes made him believe that she could actually feel the evil taint.
"I never told anyone. After the war I considered killing myself to stop Mornhavon from returning, but the king of Eletians cannot kill themselves. So I went for the next best thing, sleeping slows down the spread but couldn't stop it."
A single tear fell from Annora's eyes.
"May I?"
King Santanara hesitated for a moment. It hurt just to move his arm and letting her touch it could be agonizing, but in the end he reached his hand to her.
His fears were pointless because Annora's touch was so gentle. He could hardly feel her fingertips as she turned his hand over.
Annora closed her eyes and pressed on his wrist. He hissed in pain but fought to stop the cry escaping. Slowly she moved her hand down his till she reached his fingertips and then she let go of his hand.
Annora grimaced and bit her lip as darkness moved below the skin of her left arm.
King Santanara stared. He stared at his hand not believing what he saw or felt. His hand was back to normal, Mornhavon's taint was gone. King Santanara wriggled his fingers. That little movement would have caused him pain beyond comprehension.
He looked up at Annora. She was watching him closely. The wound in her head had reopened and blood dripped down the side of her face.
King Santanara moved slowly and wiped some of the blood away. Annora winced.
"Maybe it'll take longer to heal." Annora smiled but winced at the sudden pain.
Santanara couldn't help but feel bad. The wound had opened up completely and would have to reheal itself.
"Thank you, thank you so much. I thought I would live the rest of my life with this injury, and because of it my life was getting shorter and shorter. Thank you. How did you get rid of it?"
"I," Annora frowned, "I could see the taint and I just pulled it out if your arm." She said slowly.
Santanara wriggled his hand again. Such a small movement but so fun. He wriggled it again. Went to do it again but realized Annora was looking at him.
"How do you do it? How do you govern over an immortal race like the Eletian?"
Disclaimer: I only own the elves but no one else :D
Sorry I had to cut this chapter in half but it's way too long if I put Annora and King Santanara's whole conversation in it :) I'll update soon if and only if you guys review! :P