I knew this was not right. I knew for the past three days that this was not right. It was not right to have these sort of feelings for an elf. And it was detrimental for both of us, especially when I am the son of Durza and she is a prisoner. I had to tell her that I could no longer hold this kind of company and hostility towards her. In fact I do not plan on seeing her pretty face. It would kill me, but it had to be done. Now you are probably wondering; But then Durza would be the one to watch over her! Calm down. I will never let him touch her again. I plan to do something so treacherous that I would never even think about doing. I plan to free her from this hell and go back to where she came from, yet I do not know when. But at least we will be apart for good. I cannot let her be around me, it was unhealthy for her. It seemed the right thing to do, but then why was I dreading the moment to tell her? Why have I become so weak in just an eye flash of her face?

Dinner time. I knew this was not going to be easy, to tell her that we can no longer see each other. But how could she refuse for me to set her out of this misery? She would be happy and because of that, it will make me happy too. I got her food and walked slowly to her prison cell. I went and opened the door and this time she was the one to greet me first,

"Hello, Kobal." She had such a soft tone that if I were a human I would not be able to hear her. I walked over to her and sat down next to her and replied,

"Good evening." I offered her the tray of food and she took it with most grace. She ate the bread, but this was strange. I usually test it for her to tell her that it is not poison.

"You know I did not test that for you," I said, but she looked up and said,

"I know. I trust you." Great, just great. Just when I am about to tell her off she tells me the one thing I have been wanting her to say to me. But I decided that this was a good way to start the conversation,

"Aranel, you should never trust a shade." She slowly shook her head and said,

"Didn't you want to win my trust just a day or two ago?" Damn, that was true. Another reason why I do not like elves, they think they know everything.

"Well, yes, but I am telling you that you are committing quite a sin to your fellow elves, yes? I am sure trusting a shade is not the best thing to do for your Ellesmera. In fact, it is the worst thing you could do." She shook her head again and giggled a bit as she said,

"No, trusting the King would be the worst thing." I did not laugh though. I was not a big supporter of Galbatorix, but he was our King and I respected him. I decided to change the topic and get right to it.

"Aranel, how would you like it if there was some way to get you out of Gil'ead?" She smiled the smile that I loved and said,

"I would love that, but do not fill my mind with these high hopes. I know that will not happen anytime soon." Well what was soon in her mind? This week, or next year?

"What if I told you that by the end of this week? Is that soon enough?" Her smile faded slowly and painfully. Oh no here comes the hard part,

"Kobal, what are you saying? Are you trying to help me escape? No, don't you dare do that. I do not want you to get punished by your father for me." I would die for her, but she did not need to know that. Actually, I don't think I should have told you that.

"Aranel, I want you out of this misery… and I feel that with me out of your life it will take all the pain away. You should not be friends with someone like me. And trust me, I can handle my father's pain. I am not weak." Aranel was in shock. There was no emotion on her face and I did not know what she was feeling until she spoke,

"No, please do not do this, Kobal. You make me feel like I am wanted in this world. Like you, Kobal, I can endure the pain as well. Elves are not weak no matter how much you think they are." What does she know? Oh right, almost everything on this damn planet since she's an elf. Woops I forgot.

"Aranel, you do not understand. The pain will only get worse, trust me I lived through seeing it all my life. This is your first week so those scars on you are nothing! There are times when a simple punishment is scratching out your eyes! You think you know everything, but apparently you know nothing about Gil'ead. That is the one thing you do not know." She could tell I was upset. My jaw was tight and clenched and I spat the words out of my mouth. She reached her warm hand upon my shoulder, and once that happened relaxation came over me, and I was not so sure I wanted to give that up quite yet.

"Kobal, I know you will not do anything like that to me." She really does not get it and this frustrated me.

"Aranel it will not be me to do those horrid things to you, but my father! You don't understand! My father loves the sight of pain! He loves to kill, that's why Galbatorix made my father leader of Gil'ead, because he sheds no mercy. That is why I want to get you out as soon as I can, because I know what my father is capable of." By this time Aranel's hand was off my shoulder and on her lap. Her face was hidden from my view and she said,

"Kobal, I do not want to be away from you. You do not understand my side of the story. You make me feel wanted, Kobal, I am happy when I am with you." Well there was one thing that I was sure of, she was joking. I got up and said,

"Please, Aranel. I make you happy? I cause you to cry almost every night!" She looked at me with soft eyes and said,

"And you are the one to catch every tear I drop." Good comeback. I decided to comment on what she said before,

"Wait, what do you mean 'You make me feel wanted'? Is Ellesmera too good for you?" I was being sarcastic but obviously she did not know that. She slowly nodded her head and said,

"That's exactly why, Kobal. I am not what you would call a perfect elf. And being Arya's best friend has its negative sides." What did she mean she was not a perfect elf? She looked perfect to me.

"Aranel, what are you talking about?" She sighed and said,

"Since I am almost everywhere with Arya people frown upon me and always think she is the better one. That is one of the reasons why I am here. I wanted to prove to the people that I could save Arya and show that this time I am the hero, but that plan failed. They think that I am not as great as her or as beautiful as her. Arya gets all the attention and I am nothing more than her little minion." Arya is not beautiful! How can she think this?

"Aranel, Arya will be never as beautiful as you." She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and a slight smile but she quickly frowned and said,

"Try telling that to the people of Ellesmera." What the hell?

"Oh come on, Aranel! I bet boys swoon over you every time you walk by!" She shook her head and said,

"You would be the first." Wait, me? She thinks that I swoon over her? Well she was most definitely…. Right. Damn elf!

"You think that I … Aranel, I know it must be hard living with that reputation on your shoulders but let me tell you it will be better than being here, away from me." She looked hurt and I did not want to do that.

"Are you trying to push me away from you?" I went to her so quick that I must have startled her.

"Aranel, that is the last thing I want to do, but …"

"Then why does it feel like you are? I don't want to be away from you, Kobal. And I do not care that I am committing a sin to Ellesmera because it feels good doing so." Was she serious? How could she feel that way, going against her people? That was very un-elf like.

"You can't be serious," I said in a droll tone and that made her upset,

"Kobal just listen to me! I am telling the truth here and you keep on denying it. Kobal you are not as vile as you think you are, so stop bringing yourself down." She was right again! I was bringing myself down. Maybe it is possible that she could… No, Impossible.

"Aranel I will not let you stay here. All I need to do is think of some way to help you escape and once I do you will do as I say." She shook her head quickly and said,

"No, not without you." Did I put poison in her food? Why was she saying these things to me?

"Aranel, I cannot leave Gil'ead. If I do that then my father will send a whole search out for me and find a way to kill you." She took her warm hands into my cold ones and said,

"Kobal, do you not care for me? Let me stay with you, please." Her eyes were stabbing right through mine. They held me captive that I could not look away but I ended up saying,

"Aranel, you are an elf! Elves are supposed to have the most intelligent minds, but right now I cannot say the same for you. I care for you that is why I want to get you out of here. Why are being so sensitive about this? I'm trying to save you and you say no? I do not get you, Aranel." Her eyes were now growing softer and she tried to let go of my hands but now her hands were in my grip and I will not go until she tells me what is really going on.

"You obviously do not get me and I do not get you. You care so much for me and want me by you but you want to send me away so we could never see each other again. That is not what I would call a good friendship." God, why was she making this so hard! I grabbed her cheek brutally, but then gently caressed it as I said softly,

"Aranel I care for you so much, don't you understand? I may even … I don't even know what the other feeling is." She took my free hand and cradled it in hers as she said,

"May I help you find that feeling?" I smirked at her daring words. She really was a sinful elf and I liked it. Oh how I liked it. We both completely forgot about the topic that we were on and right now I was glad that we were off that subject and on a different one. I moved closer to her so that she was cornered and no way to escape. But she did not want to and I would not have let her.

"You have already helped me I just need to find the name." I was guessing she was speechless and I seemed to loose my breath as well. I inched even closer to her if that were even possible. I felt her wrap her arms around the small of my back and I liked that as well. My lips were so close to hers that I could barely say,

"I want to try something that might help me." After that she nodded faintly and peacefully closed her eyes. I closed my piercing red eyes as well and broke the invisible wall between us. A kiss is what people call it but that was not a good enough name for it. Her lips felt softer than they looked and I wanted more of that. I reached my free hand to her soft neck and my kissing became more deep as she dared to follow. No matter how much I liked this kissing I had to stop and breathe. I opened my eyes to find that she was looking at me with a trivial smile on her face. Still I got no answer of what to this feeling might be so I gave in on guessing and let her tell me what it was.

"What is this feeling?" I whispered. She caught my gaze again and whispered back,

"I believe it is called love." Love? Was that it? I have not heard that word in such a long time that I must have forgotten that it existed. Love. Maybe that is what a kiss should be called. So that was the answer to why I have been ill minded. Love. Well I knew for sure that I love the feeling love. And now I must tell Aranel what I have been wanting to say for days now,

"I love you." I felt her breath got taken away when I said that but she managed to say,

"I love you too, Kobal." No one has ever said that to me, not even my own father. And I, like Aranel, became breathless for it was the best thing to hear. She loves me. What a miracle for a beauty like her loves a shade like me. And so I am proud to say that I Kobal loves an elf named Aranel.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Now REVIEW!