Ugh… I can't win. How long has it been, like over a MONTH! Grr… cries regains composure No, seriously, I am sorry. Until soccer season is over (June 1, I think) I don't have any free time. I feel stupid. Please forgive me, those of you who haven't lost hope and abandoned me. I will finish this story, darnit! Anyway, onto the thank-yous. Lela-of Bast: I love dragons! BRING ON THE DRAGONS! (ahem) Thanks for the review. whimsicality: aww… blushes thank you! I hope I'm still talented… littlelambug: yay! thank you! dancrchick: thanx 4 the review! this chapter explains your question! flammingirl: thank you! mimi: wow! What a compliment! Thanks! (hopefully you'll get caught up soon!) HottStuffMelv: Thank you for the review! sighs deeply I feel like I've let you down, especially after all those compliments. I'm not trying to torture you, really! I've been so busy! Anyway, I moved from central PA to central VA, so it might not seem that big of a move but it's the furthest distance away I've moved yet, so… it's hard. Anyway… Watson's Brother #2: Hooray! My story's humorous! Thanks! tayk: thanks for keeping your promise! I don't care if your slow, it's fine with me. Yay, I got u to giggle! I'm still dreaming of that perfect guy… sighs Emma-J-Riddle: o wow… you're right! Hopefully this chapter will make amends for my forgetfulness. Thanks for the review!
We were specifically requested to deliver more letters to the two princes.
"Looks like you two have the royal favor," Curtis Mailer laughed, tossing us the heavy mailbags.
Emma and I grinned. John rolled his eyes and hoisted his bag onto a protesting Cinnamon.
"See you two later, then." With that, John was off. For some reason, I felt a pang of guilt. The past couple of days I had neglected our daily reading lessons. I had gotten so much better, but I needed practice. I realized, with annoyance at myself, that the reason was because I had been too busy delivering mail late at night from being delayed (the first time from the ride with the princes, the second from my lunch with Prince Rilean). I resolved to spend more time with my best friend, because he was too great a friend to lose.
"Elisa? Are you all right?" Emma put her hand on my shoulder, concerned.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled, and got onto Moonlight's back. Then I grinned. "Let's deliver these letters, shall we? We wouldn't want to keep the princes waiting."
Emma laughed. As we approached the castle yet again, a horrible thought came to me. What was Prince Rilean going to say? He knows everything! We got off our horses and went into the castle. The princes were waiting excitedly for us. I felt sick. What was I going to do?
Prince Rilean approached us first, grinning. "Good to see you two again. I'm glad our request for you two was granted."
He glanced in my direction and I raised an eyebrow. He winked. I grinned and bowed. "It is a pleasure to see you two again, Prince Rilean."
He waved the bow off. "Come now, you two are our friends. Friends don't need to bow to other friends, now, do they? Call me Rilean."
"Call me Caspian," his brother added quickly.
We shrugged. Emma smiled and said, "As you wish."
It was the start of a glorious friendship, and an even deeper friendship with the roots of secrecy between Rilean and me.
A couple nights later, when Emma, John and I finally had a break together, I approached him quietly as he worked on his carving.
"Er, mind if I join you?" I asked timidly. He nodded without looking up.
We were silent for a couple of minutes, both of us carving away. He worked delicately and patiently, carving with gentle strokes. I, the impatient one, tried to work delicately, but it didn't quite work out as well. Carving was not my strong point. Finally, when I could take the silence no longer, I said, "Um, listen, about what I said… You know, about you being jealous and all… I –"
"Don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm not jealous of them, you know, I mean, why would I be jealous over you?"
I straightened indignantly, saying with sarcasm, "Oh, thanks a lot, John. I appreciate your support!"
"No, no! Don't take it like that! I mean, because you're my best friend, and how could I be jealous of the princes over my best friend?" He said quickly.
I was not convinced. "Do you really mean that?"
"Yes! Elisa, elves don't lie about friendship. You are my best friend, and the only reason I might seem jealous is because I don't want to lose our friendship because you've fallen in love."
"Oh, John! I wouldn't throw away our friendship like that! You're getting too worried! You're my best friend, too!" I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I gave him a hug. At first he didn't hug me back, surprised at this sudden display of affection from his friend who never showed her feelings. Then he gave me a gentle hug and said, "How about we skip the reading lesson for today and take a ride?"
I grinned. Our friendship was still intact.
The next day, I "accidentally" found myself taking the "short-cut" through the King's Property. Rilean was there, waiting for me expectantly. Nothing unusual happened; we ate our picnic lunch, talked, and took a short ride, and then I was on my way, late as usual. For the next couple of weeks, this was my routine: Every other day I would meet him, and the other day would be spent catching up on lost time. Emma, John and I would spend lots of time together whenever we could, and frequently we would see the princes to deliver their mail.
At times I would feel guilty for keeping the secret of my meetings with Rilean, because I never kept anything from my sister. But I couldn't tell her that I had betrayed our secret to Rilean because of my stupidity. Besides, I enjoyed the secret. Rilean and I told each other everything, except, of course, the fact that I was cursed. The more time I spent with Rilean, the more I felt my – love? – for him grow. It was always nice to have something to look forward to every once in a while.
I was telling Rilean about some of the jokes John had told me so many nights ago in the hayloft of "Madam" Sarah's villa. When I continued to talk about John, Rilean grew silent and stiff.
"Rilean? Are you all right?" I asked, frowning.
"How long have you and John been together?" He asked abruptly, not answering my question.
"Excuse me? What are you talking about?" I was really confused.
Rilean shook his head. "Forgive me. My manners are awful. I didn't mean anything by that."
"Your manners are flawless, but whatever. John's my best friend. We aren't, um, 'together' as you so… politely put it." The last part of what I said was my sarcasm coming out, as usual.
He put his hand on mine and looked intently into my eyes. My heart melted. He said, "Forgive me, Elisa. That – that was foolish of me to think."
I blinked, trying to keep my eyes expressionless as I said, "It's okay. Really."
An awkward silence followed. I looked up and saw that the sun was getting far too close to the western horizon. I stood up. "I'll see you in a few days, I guess."
"Elisa, stay longer. I don't want you to leave ending our conversation like that."
I realized with a jolt that he had ordered me to stay. He ordered me. I had spent at the very least two months during the summer with him, and never had he ordered me to do anything. He always said please, giving me the freedom to accept or decline. It had made me feel free of my wretched curse. Now, I stiffened as the curse forced me to obey. I replied coldly, "Very well."
He looked at me strangely, wondering at my sudden change of attitude. "Please, Elisa, if you have work to do, you may go. I didn't mean it like that… I just didn't want you to be mad at me for my stupidity."
I softened, realizing sheepishly that I really didn't want to go anyway, and I hadn't meant to be so angry. I said gently, "I'm sorry. I just – oh, nevermind. I'm sure I can stay a little while longer."
And so I did.