Hello whoever chose to read my story…after reading all of your comments I decided that I'll go ahead and finish my story and then when I'm done go back and fix whatever needs to be changed. Thank you all for being patient with me.

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Tiny needlelike pain was shooting through his arm and he moved it instinctively. The pain grew sharper; when it persisted he managed to open his eyes. A small furry animal seemed to have attached itself to his arm. It mewed softly and he groaned.

"What is it Star…and must you keep sinking your claws into me?"

Hearing his voice the panther cub immediately withdrew its tiny claws and proceeded to pounce on his head.

"ARG!" Agraelith shot up, "Get off of me you flea-bitten-" He pulled the offending kitten off of his face and sat up. He noticed Carya looking at him with an amused look and grinned.

Carya closed her eyes hoping he was not about to do what she thought he was, she opened her eyes. "Agraelith, NO!"

He gently tossed Star who flew threw the air, claws outstretched. Carya flinched as she felt the cat land directly on her leg. She stood up, "How dare you," her eyes were flashing dangerously but a smile pulled at her lips. "Never attack a night elf," she said with a playful snarl.

"You would do well not to attack a fully trained warrior!" Agraelith was on his feet now, a fierce scowl was on his face but his eyes twinkled.

Without warning Carya gracefully leapt at him, the force of her caused them both to tumble backwards onto his bed. He lay staring up at her through the veil of dark hair hiding her face, both surprised.

They lay there for a moment and then Carya scrambled off of him, "I am sorry. I did not mean to…" she trailed off seeing the odd look on his face. "What is it?"

In that short moment stark realization had hit him. No matter how much he had wished it would not happen, no matter how much he had tried to deny it, he could no longer tell himself that he did not love her. How could this have happened? He had known from the moment he met her that there was a connection between them…but it had not been love, at least not then. He had known that it would happen but he thought that perhaps he could prevent it, maybe by distancing himself from her as much as possible. It had been rather hard to try to distance himself from her when they were traveling together, and so it had come to this. He had fallen in love with someone he could never have, she could never love him, she had told him that herself. A night elf could not love.

"Agraelith? What is it?" she persisted, puzzled by his silence.

He managed a smile, "It is nothing…nothing at all." He would make his love for her into nothing, and then it would be nothing.

He found himself staring at her, there was something different. "Umm, Carya?"

"Yes?"

"You're dressed differently…where did you get those clothes?"

She smiled, "Did you not notice it last night?"

He shook his head, had he not been so tired he probably would have but somehow he had missed it. "No, I didn't. You look great, although I didn't mind your old clothes," he said with a grin.

Carya stared at him, "What was it you said?"

He could not believe he had just said that to her. Had it been any other woman he knew it would have been fine but not Carya. "I…I really don't know why I said that…I apologize."

"Agraelith?"

"Hmm?"

"I think we have had enough apologies in one morning."

"You know, I think you're right. It's only been about ten minutes and we've both already apologized to each other for things that really did not need to be apologized for. Although in my case I guess I did need to apologize."

His odd behavior was really beginning to worry her. "Yes well…perhaps we should get ready and then you can show me the city?"

He sighed thankfully, "That sounds good to me."

The first floor of the inn was nearly empty when Agraelith and Carya emerged from their room. The innkeeper, a round and pleasant looking man with a neatly trimmed beard, was bustling around wiping tables. He spotted them and smiled warmly though he looked at Carya suspiciously.

"Nice to see you again Agraelith," his voice was deep and filled with kindness.

"You too Erethan."

"Sorry I didn't have a chance to speak with you much yesterday; we're so full at the moment. What, with refugees pouring in from all over."

Agraelith nodded with a strained smile. Erethan seemed to realize the effect of what he had said. "I'm truly sorry about what happened, Agraelith. I'm glad that I am able to offer a place to stay…" he trailed off. Clearing his throat he said, "I suppose that you both would like a bit to eat before you go out."

Agraelith glanced down at Carya and nodded, "That would be nice, haven't had a proper breakfast in weeks."

"All right then, I'll be right back. You missed the main breakfast so I'll have to get the cook to make you something." He bustled off to the kitchen and Agraelith and Carya sat down at a recently cleaned table.

"He's a great man, Erethan. Told him what happened and he refused to let me pay him the full price."

"That was nice of him," she commented absentmindedly. After resigning herself to the fact that this was her temporary home she was rather excited to see the entire city.

"Do night elves…do you travel from umm…"

She laughed as he stammered, "Do we have cities and towns as you do? Do we travel to different ones as you do?" she prompted.

"Yes, that's what I meant."

"I suppose you could say we have different cities, at least that is what humans would think of them. We do not travel though; we stay with our own people."

"I see…but you do leave occasionally, you were out that night that you found me."

"To hunt and scout, but never for fun." That was not entirely true. When she was younger she would often sneak out along with Galder to go swimming in the river. Actually, she had been the one doing the swimming while Galder watched her patiently from the river bank.

Erethan returned bearing two plates of food and set them down before the two. Each plate consisted of warm bread smeared with butter, eggs, and a thin slice of some kind of meat. He also handed them pewter mugs filled with white frothy milk. Carya felt her mouth begin to water and she thanked the innkeeper. He gave her a friendly smile and nod before going back to wiping tables.

There was little conversation as they ate; both were too enwrapped with their food to speak. It was the most delicious meal that either had had in a very long while, and the night before they had missed out on dinner. Carya had to restrain herself from gulping it all down at once.

Once finished with their breakfast they thanked the innkeeper once more and headed out into the street. It was full of people and vibrant colors. "Come on," Agraelith pushed on ahead, "It would be best if we buy necessities first."

"What?" she asked slightly confused.

"Clothes for one thing," he said glancing back. "Anything else you can think of?"

"No, I would like to have a look at a weapons shop though."

"Sounds good to me," he said with a grin.

While Agraelith seemed not to be concerned by their surroundings, Carya was completely enthralled by the sheer size of everything. She stared at the huge stone structures that rose on each side of the cobbled streets. Wagons drawn by horses carried various goods and armored knights rode through the throngs of people. The noise was almost unbearable to her, everyone shouting to be heard over the clicking of hooves and each other.

"Here we are," Agraelith stopped suddenly and pulled Carya into a shop. It had a polished wooden plaque over the door with, "The Tailor's House," engraved in swirling silver letters.

Inside was filled with every kind of fabric imaginable from rich silks and velvets to the cheaper materials. There were a handful of people fingering various fabrics and none looked up at them when they entered. A tall blonde headed woman strode forward with a pleasant smile, "Well 'ello there," she looked Agraelith and Carya up and down. "I'm guessing both of you are here for some new clothes?" Agraelith nodded and the woman went on, "Very well then, how much money are you looking to spend?" she asked.

Carya pulled out her pouch filled with gold pieces, having no idea of what the costs were she handed it over to Agraelith. He felt the weight of it and then dumped a handful out into the woman's palm. She looked down at it slightly surprised then back up at them and smiled, "Well then, you have your choices from that section over there," she pointed to richly made cloths. There'll be the extra cost for me to actually make the clothes. You can go have a look now and pick out what you want."

Pale blues and yellows to black surrounded them in rolls. Carya ran her hand over a dark green material that reminded her of the forest. "Do you like that?" the woman asked. "Yes, it is beautiful."

"Alright then, I think it would go good with this too, wouldn't you say?" she pointed to a roll of pale silk lavender. Carya nodded. "Come with me then and I'll get your measurements."

She followed the woman and Agraelith gave her an encouraging look. After measuring her, the woman pulled out a pile of parchments and flipped through them. "How does this one look to you?"

It was a sketch of a flowing robe like dress with drape sleeves and a sash around the waste. "It is very lovely, I like it," Carya said with a smile.

"That's great then, I'll also make you a simpler dress and a night dress." The blonde headed woman stated.

After Agraelith had chosen what he wanted they left the shop and walked down the street looking for a weapon's shop. Carya noticed after a while that there were a few people giving her odd glances and steering the children away from her. It did not completely surprise her and while it was not the most pleasant expereicence, she was not offended by it.

"Hmm…what do you think of that place?" Agraelith pointed to a shop that read, The Dragoon's Lair. On the door there was a battle axe crossed with a sword and shield. He went in and she once again followed behind him.

"What do you want?" a rough looking man stepped forward.

"Just having a look around," Agraelith responded.

The man gave them a harsh glance, "Alright then, make it fast though."

Carya ran her fingers carefully over a finely crafted scabbard. Carefully she unsheathed the blade and held it up. It was a beautifully crafted weapon and she gazed at it longingly. If only she was able to make something as fine as this. She had tried to when no one was around but having no one to teacher her, her attempts were failures.

"Like that one, eh?"

She jumped and whirled around, "It is a magnificent blade, did you create it?"

He nodded, "That I did, I made all of these," he said with a sweep of his hand.

"They are all wonderful," she said.

"You know…I heard that elves were masters at making swords and such…" he trailed off but she understood what he wanted.

Pulling out her dagger she handed it to him slightly reluctantly. He turned it over and over in his large hands. "This is a fine work of craftsmanship, this is," he handed the dagger back to her and she sheathed it immediately.

She felt Agraelith's hand on her shoulder, "Come on, it's time to be off," he said.

"I hope to see you later," the man said as the left.

"Anywhere else in particular you want to go?" Agraelith asked. Carya shook her head. The city was beginning to overwhelm her.

"Can we go back to the inn now?" she asked and he nodded sympathetically.

"Right, follow me."

He looked down at her and he struggled with himself for a moment. He could either take her hand or he could do what he had been all day and walk ahead of her forcing her to follow him. After battling himself inwardly he took her hand. She looked up at him shocked but said nothing. Together they headed back for the inn.

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Please review!!! And for those of you who were disappointed about my author note instead of a chapter I promise that I'll have a new chapter up soon!!!