Chapter 34

Sam stirred from the dream he was having of Elaria when he heard the door click and open and reached for his gun. He froze when he saw the body slip into his room that was cast into shadows by the light of the moon shining through the open doors. He recognized the shape and waited as Elaria slowly walked toward him and undid the belt holding her robe and letting it slip off her body. She slid under the covers and moved to Sam to caress his face before finding his lips. He let his hands roam down her back pulling her closer. Sam broke the kiss as he grabbed the hem of his tee shirt and jerked it over his head to toss it aside. He removed his briefs and pushed Elaria onto her back so he could run a hand down her warm, alluring body. She arched up toward him as she explored his body with her hands and then her mouth. They both groaned in pleasure as they came together in their desires and passion.

The morning light drifted through the doors as Sam rolled over and looked around seeing he was alone. He laid back on the pillow and wondered if he had dreamed what happened last night. He looked over on the nightstand and saw a fig laying there and knew it had all been real and not a dream. He picked it up and took a bite, the sweet juices dripping down the side of his face. He used a finger to catch the trail of juice and then licked it. He smiled happily and closed his eyes pulling up those memories again and how amazing and magical last night had been. He jumped when a knock sounded on his door and pulled the sheet up to cover his bare chest.

"Come in." he called deciding it would be better to stay in bed since he was naked.

"I have breakfast." an elf announced opening the door to bring in a tray. She kept her eyes adverted from Sam and quickly set the tray down and hurried out of the room.

Sam got up and was almost to the bathroom when Dean came in without knocking.

"Whoa dude!" Dean complained when he saw his brother's naked body in front of him and dropped the basket with clean clothes on the floor.

"Don't you knock?" Sam cried out looking around and grabbing a shirt to hold in front of him to cover his lower half.

"Anything you wanna tell me Sammy?" Dean asked arching his eyebrows and giving his brother a knowing look.

"No!..." Sam blurred out backing into the bathroom and shutting the door in his brother's face.

"Guess you don't wanna have breakfast with me then?" he called through the door.

"No!" Sam replied anger in his voice. He knew what his brother would do if he found out about last night and didn't want to put up with the teasing. He stepped into the shower to bathe, washing away Elaria's scent from his body. He finished and dried off before wrapping a towel around his hips and peeking out to be sure his room was empty before stepping out to get his clothes and put them on. Sam picked up the basket and removed his clean clothes and replaced them with his dirty ones. He wasn't sure how long they were going to be here but maybe they could get them cleaned too. He went to the table and sat down to eat his breakfast and then he would go see what his brother was doing.

spn

Lark was finishing her breakfast when a knock sounded at her door. She went to answer it thinking it was probably Dean and found Mylaela standing in the hall.

"Hello, come in." Lark said opening the door wider to admit her.

"Hello child, I hope you have found everything to your liking." she said stepping into the room.

"Yes, it's all been fine. Thank you for the kindness."

"My brother will see you in a hour." she said. "He wants to meet the young woman who saved my life and his nieces' lives."

"We will be ready. I'll let Dean and Sam know."

"I will send someone for you." she said bowing her head slightly before turning to leave. She left the room, leaving Lark alone with Talon and Ara who were sitting quietly on the bed watching and listening.

"Well guess I better go tell the guys." she told the two beings.

"I come." Talon said excitedly as he scrambled to slide off the bed and head for the door. He ran down to Sam's room and knocked on the door calling out to him. "Sam! Sam!"

"Hey, what is it?" Sam asked looking down at the little elf that was jumping up and down.

"Mylaela visited me and said her brother will see us in an hour." Lark said as Talon jumped into Sam's arms.

"Alright."

"I heard." Dean said sticking his head out the door to see what the ruckus was about.

"You guys wanna wait in my room?" Lark asked looking from one brother to the other.

"Sure, I'll be down in a sec." Sam said stepping back into his room.

"How did you sleep last night?" Dean asked her as he walked with Lark back into her room.

"Better." she replied looking away, not wanting to tell him about the nightmare she had earlier. At least she didn't cry out or alert anyone but Ara and Talon who had slept with her. They cuddled with her and soothed her fears, but she didn't sleep any more.

Dean studied her face and knew she wasn't telling him something, but didn't press her. He could see her eyes seemed weary. He thought he was making progress with her and didn't want to destroy the progress Lark was making. She wasn't shying away from him or trembling when he touched her now. He took a seat at the table and Lark sat on the bed with her legs curled under her and brushed her hair. Talon crawled over to her and took the brush to run through the back of her hair humming softly to himself. Lark smiled softly and had a calm, serene look on her face that seemed lost in her thoughts. She looked up when Sam joined them and took a seat across from Dean. He looked between the two, but didn't say anything.

"We need to see if Mylaela's brother knows the location of Talon's people." Dean said breaking the silence.

"I was going to ask." Lark said softly.

"Home." Talon said hugging her neck.

"Yes sweetie. Hopefully we're close and can get you home soon." she said pulling him into her lap and tickling his sides.

Sam smiled as he listened to Talon's laughter and Ara's sweet, high pitched voice joining in. He couldn't help but laugh himself.

"So you gonna see your girlfriend again?" Dean asked him innocently.

"She's not my girlfriend." Sam defended himself as his face reddened making Dean smirk since he knew that's what would happen.

"You sure 'bout that after last night?" he teased seeing his suspicions were right as Sam's face got redder.

Sam gave him a best bitch face as he felt his face heating up with the teasing from his brother. He didn't bother to reply to his question knowing it would only make matters worse. He slouched in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and a pinched look on his face as Dean snickered.

spn

They looked toward the open door of Lark's room when an elf appeared in the doorway.

"You have been summoned." he said holding himself stiffly and with authority.

"Let's get this over with." Dean mumbled under his breath as he got up from his chair.

Lark got up from the bed to join him, picking up Talon while Sam got Ara when he stood. They all followed the elf down the maze of halls until he came to two large doors that were guarded by two soldier elves. They reached and opened the doors allowing the travelers entrance into a large room.

"Wow." Lark whispered looking around at how the room was decorated. Tapestries hung from the walls, vases, statues, flowers were placed strategically around the room for the best appeal. There were long tables lining both sides of the room with chairs and benches. Other random chairs and a few couches were situated along the wall. At the front and raised up from the floor were several large chairs that could be considered thrones. The group walked toward the elves. They recognized Mylaela sitting in one of the chairs and Tallon standing beside her. The elf sitting in the middle chair was older than his siblings and gave off an air of authority and power. He was dressed in tan pants and vest with a white cotton shirt and a gold leafed headband that held back his long blonde hair. His blue eyes took in the travelers as they approached and stopped in front of him.

"This is my brother, Eldrin, our leader." Mylaela introduced him. "The young warrior that rescued us is named Lark and her companions are Dean and Sam."

"It is an honor to meet all of you." Eldrin said in a strong, sure voice that commanded respect. "I want to personally thank you for what you did for my sister and nieces."

"I did what I had to to save us all." Lark said feeling uncomfortable with the attention.

"You are too modest young one. It is a huge service you have done for our realm to rid it of the likes of those scroungers."

Lark shifted from foot to foot not sure what to say and felt Dean's hand on her back for support. She tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes as her nerves got the best of her. She wasn't sure how to act around the elves; she did better with taking out monsters than socializing.

"And who are these two?" he asked looking down at Talon and Ara who were standing beside Lark, Talon clinging to her leg as he stared in wonder at the leader.

"This is Talon and this is Ara." Lark introduced them. "We are trying to get them back to their homes. I don't know how they ended up in our world."

"That is a noble thing that you do for our people. I might be able to help with that, but we will discuss that later."

"Thank you, we would appreciate that very much." Lark told him sincerely.

"I would like to present you with a token of my appreciation for your heroic actions." he said motioning to someone in the shadows.

A young female elf walked toward him carrying a pillow and Sam swallowed and paled slightly when he recognized Elaria. Dean's eyes widened slightly because he recognized her too and looked at Sam with arched eyebrows.

"May I present my daughter, Elaria." Eldrin introduced her as she bowed to him and held the pillow out. He removed a short sword from it and she stepped back, letting her eyes stop on Sam for a moment but didn't acknowledge him. "This sword was crafted by our very best blacksmiths from metals of the elves and is etched with our magic. It will never grow dull. I would like to present it to you with my gratitude and that of my family. May it serve you well." he said standing and stepping down to Lark holding the hilt out to her.

After realizing she wasn't breathing, Lark drew in a shaky breath and looked down at the short sword being held out to her. With a trembling hand, she slowly reached for the hilt and took the sword from him surprised at how light and balanced it felt. She took the sheath with the other and looked at the etching on it wondering what it said, but didn't want to ask. After looking at both the items, she slipped the blade in the sheath, seeing it fit perfectly.

"It is a beautiful blade; thank you for the gift." she managed to get out without her voice cracking.

"I have prepared a feast for us tonight where we will celebrate your victory. You will be honored by my people." he said leaning down and kissing her forehead before returning to the throne and sitting down. "Elaria will be your guide for the day and I have been told the Lady of the Mist would like to see you my child." he finished, speaking directly to Lark and dismissed them with a nod.

"We will see you tonight then." Dean said bowing his head slightly and turning to guide Lark from the room seeing they were dismissed.

Sam looked at Elaria for a second as she moved to walk in front of them and out the door before quickly following his brother and Lark from the room. He had just got through the door and caught up with Dean when he turned and whispered to him.

"Dude! Tell me you didn't do the mambo with the head honcho's daughter." Dean hissed at him as he looked at Elaria.

Sam blushed deeply and didn't need to reply since Dean saw it on his face. "I didn't know." his said weakly wondering what the consequences would be if he was found out.

"That's just great, if he finds out bro, we may not be getting out of here alive. Or at least you might not. What if he want's you to marry her?" he mumbled angrily thinking of all the female elves it this place he had to pick the one that was off limits.

"What are you talking about?" Lark asked when she heard their mumbling.

"Nothing important." Dean told her deciding she didn't need to worry about Sammy's love life. He figured he could do that for the both of them.

"I will take you to the Lady and the brothers can stay with me." Elaria told them as she gave Sam a shy look making him blush deeply.

Dean interrupted them by asking, "Can't I come with Lark?"

"No, she wishes to see Lark alone." Elaria replied softly. She led them through the gardens and out a back entrance. A lake could be seen behind the garden and a small cottage sat nearby. "If you two will wait here I will take Lark down to the lake."

"Here keep this for me." Lark told Dean handing over the short sword to him for safe keeping.

"I'll take care of it." he assured her with a nod. He frowned when the sword seemed to hum making his hand tingle like it didn't want to be parted from Lark.

"Alright." Sam said watching them walk away and taking in Elaria's graceful stride with interest.

"Will you stop it?" Dean hissed at him as he poked him in the ribs.

"Ow!" Sam fussed giving him a bitch face and rubbing his side.

"She's off limits now, don't forget that." Dean whispered angrily.

A/N: Sam's still not lucky with women. Can they keep it a secret from her father? Will the Lady of the Mist be able to help Lark? Thank you for reading and reviews would make my day. NC