Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light
Chapter 8 Scurvy Dog!
Oron was seated next to his mother and sisters watching and listening to the celebration going on around him. Ailin was pestering him to turn into his animagus form Flame which was a small slate-blue dragon, as tall as his thigh with silver claws and ridges along his back. In order to escape his younger sister, he stood and walked towards the table of snack food. He was about halfway there when he saw Corin and Laurea walk back into the garden.
He stopped and studied them, something seemed different. He saw the young elf who was quickly becoming his best friend turn and look with affection and... was that love, at his younger sister. They held hands and 'Rea laughed quietly at something Corin said. He smiled at the sight and was about to turn away again when something caught his eye, he saw Corin fingering a silver necklace around his neck and his excellent elven sight caught glimpse of a silver and blue ring.
"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea!" (By the sea and stars!) He whispered in amazement. When he finally got over his shock, he started to grin. His best friend and sister were soul mates!!! Quickly shaking off the shock, he changed directions.
Corin and 'Rea were talking quietly about the reactions of her family when they learned about the results of the ritual. Corin had been concerned about the propriety of living with her and her family while dating her. She assured him that elven culture was much more tolerant of things the human world would consider improper. Plus, she'd pointed out, every elf in Kalayaana knew his character and trusted him. They were walking quietly on the outskirts of the gathering when Corin was almost tackled by his best friend.
"De' I' elenea, Corin!!!" (By the stars, Corin!!!) "When did you two, I mean..." He was almost bouncing as he looked joyfully at the two of them. "You don't know how happy I am for you two!!" His eyes were shining and they smiled shyly. "Come now, let me see the necklaces!!"
He inspected first the stone around his sister's neck, then the ring around Corintur's. "These are the darkest soul-mate stones I've ever seen! I saw a picture in a book that had a stone closer to a sky blue, but this is more of a royal blue." He flung his arms around the two soul-mates and hugged them tightly. "Mum and dad are going to be ecstatic!! They'll just faint, I know it!! Aranel and Ailin will probably start planning your wedding as soon as they find out!" He laughed as the two blushed. "Nah, I know it's too soon yet, but by the Valar, you're so lucky to have found each other."
By that time, he'd started to make such a commotion that elves were starting to glance at them.
Laurea noticed and hissed, "Oron, stop making a scene!" He just grinned and bounced on his toes with energy.
"Come on, let's go show mum!" He grabbed their hands and pulled them over to the Isilmolor blanket where his mother, father and two sisters were sitting.
"Look who I found!" Oron declared, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. Serie was about to reply when her eyes caught the necklace around her daughter's neck. Gasping, her eyes moved to Corin and the ring on his necklace.
"Oh!" Was all she got out before moving to hug her daughter, and then went on to hug Corin. It took only a second for the rest of the family to recognize the significance of the necklaces before there was a rush to hug the two teens. Luckily their blanket was fairly separated from the rest of the elves there so they didn't have to worry about being mobbed with well- wishers.
When they had all been seated again, the two softly explained how it had all come about, all the while sneaking shy but happy looks at each other, none of which escaped the notice of the family.
Finally, Soron decided to call an end to the evening. "It's been a long day and you three have training tomorrow." He said to the three oldest. "Let's get home and get some rest."
With that, they gathered up their things and headed back home.
---------
The next day after his morning run and breakfast, Corin and Laurea were in the sparring courts working on his glaive fighting. As with archery, his improvement with the glaive was phenomenal. They had started out with warm-ups and going over standard offensive and defensive movements from memory. Now they were doing a mock fight. The glaives were long silver weapons with a long four foot handle with a two and a half foot curved blade at the end. There were runes carved into the blades and inlaid gold decorated the handles with elven designs.
Corin, though with less experience, made up for it with natural talent and fast reflexes, so they were fairly evenly matched. The blades were spelled to inflict only bruises if they landed, so there was no worry over serious injuries. Oron and Aranel watched from the sidelines as the two elves went back and forth trading blows ready to give advice on improvement once the fight ended.
'Rea swung her blade down in a graceful ark, only to have her attack blocked, then had to jump and roll out of the way of Corin's responding attack. He grinned as she rolled to her feet and came at him again. He ducked a swipe, and then swung his weapon across and low to catch her by the knees. She jumped his attack and then in a quick movement, too fast for him to follow or expect, she spun her glaive and in an advanced attack his glaive flew out of his hand to land about eight feet away. He held up his hands in mock surrender as she held the edge of her blade to his throat.
"Do 'yeh surrender ye scurvy dog?" She said in a mock pirate voice.
He snorted, "Do you have any idea how much you just sounded like that mad painting Sir Cadogan?"
"It's not wise to insult an enemy who holds you at their mercy." She said narrowing her eyes playfully.
"Fine fine." He said in mock submission, "Please fair lady, I beg you spare this unworthy knight's life." He said dramatically, complete with arm motions. "Should my life be spared, I swear this day to give up my life of evildoing and become a monk." By this time Laurea had to bite her lip to keep from cracking up laughing. Oron and Aranel had no such qualms and were close to tears. Pretending not to notice, Corin continued. "Or if that doesn't please my lady I will dedicate my life to the care and growing of flobberworms. Or if she finds that too dull, I will..."
"Enough!! Sss...stop!" Laurea couldn't hold her laughter back any more. Corin grinned at his success and then stepped away from the glaive which was wobbling at his neck from her laughter. He bent to pick up his own weapon, and then went to stand beside her, his arm around her waist as she tried to control her giggles. The two made their way over to Oron and Aranel for suggestions on how they could improve.
Oron spoke first, "Well 'Cor, if there's one thing to say for you, there's not a dull moment with you around." They all grinned, and he continued. "I noticed you have a habit of swinging wide when you do an across sweep, try to keep it more controlled. Also, we haven't taught you the counter for that move 'Rea used to defeat you with there at the end, so there's something to work on tomorrow. 'Rea, good as always, watch your footing when you come up from a roll. You tend to not have your feet as spread for balance as you should. That's all I can think of. Anything to add Ara?"
"Nope, you read my mind."
"Yeah, well twins tend to do that."
"Shut-up."
Ignoring the twins bickering, Corin and 'Rea went to put their weapons away, then the four of them headed inside the house to clean up for lunch. News of the two teen's status as soul-mates had spread throughout the city, and many had sent their congratulations to the pair. As Oron had predicted, the women of the house had gotten right into looking at bridesmaids dresses and wedding decorations, much to the embarrassment of Laurea and Corin. They weren't planning on getting married any time soon, as they were both only fifteen, but didn't have the heart to tell the romantics to stop. Corin smiled as he thought about how much his life had changed since escaping Azkaban.
Chapter 8 Scurvy Dog!
Oron was seated next to his mother and sisters watching and listening to the celebration going on around him. Ailin was pestering him to turn into his animagus form Flame which was a small slate-blue dragon, as tall as his thigh with silver claws and ridges along his back. In order to escape his younger sister, he stood and walked towards the table of snack food. He was about halfway there when he saw Corin and Laurea walk back into the garden.
He stopped and studied them, something seemed different. He saw the young elf who was quickly becoming his best friend turn and look with affection and... was that love, at his younger sister. They held hands and 'Rea laughed quietly at something Corin said. He smiled at the sight and was about to turn away again when something caught his eye, he saw Corin fingering a silver necklace around his neck and his excellent elven sight caught glimpse of a silver and blue ring.
"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea!" (By the sea and stars!) He whispered in amazement. When he finally got over his shock, he started to grin. His best friend and sister were soul mates!!! Quickly shaking off the shock, he changed directions.
Corin and 'Rea were talking quietly about the reactions of her family when they learned about the results of the ritual. Corin had been concerned about the propriety of living with her and her family while dating her. She assured him that elven culture was much more tolerant of things the human world would consider improper. Plus, she'd pointed out, every elf in Kalayaana knew his character and trusted him. They were walking quietly on the outskirts of the gathering when Corin was almost tackled by his best friend.
"De' I' elenea, Corin!!!" (By the stars, Corin!!!) "When did you two, I mean..." He was almost bouncing as he looked joyfully at the two of them. "You don't know how happy I am for you two!!" His eyes were shining and they smiled shyly. "Come now, let me see the necklaces!!"
He inspected first the stone around his sister's neck, then the ring around Corintur's. "These are the darkest soul-mate stones I've ever seen! I saw a picture in a book that had a stone closer to a sky blue, but this is more of a royal blue." He flung his arms around the two soul-mates and hugged them tightly. "Mum and dad are going to be ecstatic!! They'll just faint, I know it!! Aranel and Ailin will probably start planning your wedding as soon as they find out!" He laughed as the two blushed. "Nah, I know it's too soon yet, but by the Valar, you're so lucky to have found each other."
By that time, he'd started to make such a commotion that elves were starting to glance at them.
Laurea noticed and hissed, "Oron, stop making a scene!" He just grinned and bounced on his toes with energy.
"Come on, let's go show mum!" He grabbed their hands and pulled them over to the Isilmolor blanket where his mother, father and two sisters were sitting.
"Look who I found!" Oron declared, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. Serie was about to reply when her eyes caught the necklace around her daughter's neck. Gasping, her eyes moved to Corin and the ring on his necklace.
"Oh!" Was all she got out before moving to hug her daughter, and then went on to hug Corin. It took only a second for the rest of the family to recognize the significance of the necklaces before there was a rush to hug the two teens. Luckily their blanket was fairly separated from the rest of the elves there so they didn't have to worry about being mobbed with well- wishers.
When they had all been seated again, the two softly explained how it had all come about, all the while sneaking shy but happy looks at each other, none of which escaped the notice of the family.
Finally, Soron decided to call an end to the evening. "It's been a long day and you three have training tomorrow." He said to the three oldest. "Let's get home and get some rest."
With that, they gathered up their things and headed back home.
---------
The next day after his morning run and breakfast, Corin and Laurea were in the sparring courts working on his glaive fighting. As with archery, his improvement with the glaive was phenomenal. They had started out with warm-ups and going over standard offensive and defensive movements from memory. Now they were doing a mock fight. The glaives were long silver weapons with a long four foot handle with a two and a half foot curved blade at the end. There were runes carved into the blades and inlaid gold decorated the handles with elven designs.
Corin, though with less experience, made up for it with natural talent and fast reflexes, so they were fairly evenly matched. The blades were spelled to inflict only bruises if they landed, so there was no worry over serious injuries. Oron and Aranel watched from the sidelines as the two elves went back and forth trading blows ready to give advice on improvement once the fight ended.
'Rea swung her blade down in a graceful ark, only to have her attack blocked, then had to jump and roll out of the way of Corin's responding attack. He grinned as she rolled to her feet and came at him again. He ducked a swipe, and then swung his weapon across and low to catch her by the knees. She jumped his attack and then in a quick movement, too fast for him to follow or expect, she spun her glaive and in an advanced attack his glaive flew out of his hand to land about eight feet away. He held up his hands in mock surrender as she held the edge of her blade to his throat.
"Do 'yeh surrender ye scurvy dog?" She said in a mock pirate voice.
He snorted, "Do you have any idea how much you just sounded like that mad painting Sir Cadogan?"
"It's not wise to insult an enemy who holds you at their mercy." She said narrowing her eyes playfully.
"Fine fine." He said in mock submission, "Please fair lady, I beg you spare this unworthy knight's life." He said dramatically, complete with arm motions. "Should my life be spared, I swear this day to give up my life of evildoing and become a monk." By this time Laurea had to bite her lip to keep from cracking up laughing. Oron and Aranel had no such qualms and were close to tears. Pretending not to notice, Corin continued. "Or if that doesn't please my lady I will dedicate my life to the care and growing of flobberworms. Or if she finds that too dull, I will..."
"Enough!! Sss...stop!" Laurea couldn't hold her laughter back any more. Corin grinned at his success and then stepped away from the glaive which was wobbling at his neck from her laughter. He bent to pick up his own weapon, and then went to stand beside her, his arm around her waist as she tried to control her giggles. The two made their way over to Oron and Aranel for suggestions on how they could improve.
Oron spoke first, "Well 'Cor, if there's one thing to say for you, there's not a dull moment with you around." They all grinned, and he continued. "I noticed you have a habit of swinging wide when you do an across sweep, try to keep it more controlled. Also, we haven't taught you the counter for that move 'Rea used to defeat you with there at the end, so there's something to work on tomorrow. 'Rea, good as always, watch your footing when you come up from a roll. You tend to not have your feet as spread for balance as you should. That's all I can think of. Anything to add Ara?"
"Nope, you read my mind."
"Yeah, well twins tend to do that."
"Shut-up."
Ignoring the twins bickering, Corin and 'Rea went to put their weapons away, then the four of them headed inside the house to clean up for lunch. News of the two teen's status as soul-mates had spread throughout the city, and many had sent their congratulations to the pair. As Oron had predicted, the women of the house had gotten right into looking at bridesmaids dresses and wedding decorations, much to the embarrassment of Laurea and Corin. They weren't planning on getting married any time soon, as they were both only fifteen, but didn't have the heart to tell the romantics to stop. Corin smiled as he thought about how much his life had changed since escaping Azkaban.
