The
Elven Chronicles
Episode
Three
The
Fugitive Bride
Chapter
13
Keldar
“True love?” Honoria
gasped. There was a lump in her
throat that she could not dislodge and her heart was hammering against her
ribs. “What does that
mean?”
“It means,”
Erallendria said, taking her hand, “that you and Keldar are destined
for one another. There is a true
magical attraction between you that no counterspell can
break.”
“How can that be?”
asked Honoria. “I did not
even know Keldar existed until a few days ago.”
“It may have something
to do with your destiny,” Ralasharia
answered. “Something that
only the Goddess can answer.”
“What is my destiny?”
Honoria asked. “You spoke
of it before, but I understand nothing of it.”
“You wear the Mark
of the Goddess,” Ralasharia
answered. It signifies that you
are intended for more than a life as a fugitive
bride.”
“The Mark of the
Goddess? Honoria
asked. “What does it
mean?”
“For that we shall
have to travel to the Throne of Fire,” Ralasharia
applied.
“I have never heard
of this Throne of Fire?” Honoria
said. “What is
it?”
“It is the heart of
the Elf Kingdoms,” Erallendria said.
“Where the world began.”
“Another journey,”
Honoria mused. “I had hoped
that I might return home.” She
knew even as she spoke that her wish was in
vain. She had murdered her lawful
husband. The only welcome she
would receive on returning home would be the headsman’s
block. Even her status as a princess
would not protect her.
“You will not go
alone,” another voice interjected.
Honoria froze, her heart thumping madly, and her skin breaking out
in goose bumps. Slowly she turned
to see Keldar standing within arm’s
length. She had an almost
irresistible urge to reach out and touch him, but she was trembling too much
to do more than sit where she was.
Ralasharia and Erallendria
got to their feet. “I think
I will fetch some more firewood,” Ralasharia
said.
“I’ll help you,”
Erallendria responded, grinning at
Honoria. “You and Keldar
make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”
Keldar knelt beside her;
so close that she could smell him.
Picking up a piece of wood he tossed it on the
fire. “There,
princess. I have done my
part.”
Honoria struggled to
speak. “I…,” she
began.
“You talk too much,
princess,” Keldar smiled. With
the confidence of a man who was almost never refused he took her in his arms
and kissed her.
Honoria’s body caught
fire, her loins burning with such intensity that it took all of her self
control to stop her legs from spreading.
Somehow she pushed him
away. “No,” she
gasped. “I
can’t…”
For several seconds Keldar
stared at her in amazement, and then slowly
smiled. “You are the first
woman who has ever done that. I
thought no one could resist me.”
Honoria’s body still
burned from her brief contact with
Keldar. Another second and she
wouldn’t be able to trust herself and so she said the first thing that
came into her head. “I am
a princess of Sallia. You have
no right to force yourself upon me.”
For the first time Honoria
saw Keldar’s confident manner
falter. He moved back from her
to squat on his haunches and studied her, and then slowly he got to his
feet. “Well, your
majesty,” he said. “I
am sorry to have offended you.”
Turning he disappeared into the camp.
Honoria stretched out her
hand toward him, and then snapped it
back. “Oh Goddess,”
she muttered. “What have
I done?”
A low musical laugh sounded
a few feet away. Ralasharia was
grinning at her. “That was
well done, Honoria. I doubt that
has ever happened to Keldar before.”
“But what if he
doesn’t come back?” Honoria asked.
“Keldar?” Ralasharia
laughed. “I don’t think
you need to worry. He will now
think of you as a challenge. He
will be even more determined than ever to lure you to his
bed.”
Honoria
blushed. The Elven attitude toward
sex was far different from the values she had learned in the
It seemed that
Ralasharia’s observation about Keldar appeared
prophetic. Although he made no
attempt to touch her again, he never seemed very far away, and whenever she
attended to some camp chore he was right there to lend a hand even when she
didn’t need it. She finally
confronted him on the matter.
“I know I am only a Human princess, but I can do a few things
myself. My father did make sure
that I was trained in a few basic skills.”
“Ah, Keldar replied,
handing back the leather bucket he had taken from
her. “Then you can carry
your own water.”
“I can do more than
that,” Honoria remarked.
“I can also collect firewood without your help and pound in my
own tent pegs. I admit that for
most of my life I had servants to carry out these tasks, but that does not
mean I am incapable of doing them myself.”
“It seems,” Keldar
grinned, “that there is little you need from
me.”
There was something that
Honoria wanted from Keldar, but the very thought of that something had her
warm between her legs again and she quickly shifted her mind in a different
direction. “There is perhaps
something you could help me with.
You could find me a sword and help me improve my
skills.”
“Skills?” Keldar
asked. “I am surprised that
a Human princess has any skill with a blade.”
“Just find me a blade
that suits me and you will see what skill I have.”
The Elf
shrugged. “I will find what
you want, and then we will see.”
“We will indeed,”
Honoria thought, as she watched Keldar move
off. It was not for nothing that
she had practiced with her father’s swordmaster until her fingers were
blistered.
Honoria pressed home her
attack. Her deerskin clothes
were saturated with sweat and she was breathing hard from exertion, but for
the first time since Keldar had acquired a blade for her she had him on the
run. The sword her had given
her was a bit heavier than what she would have liked, but a few weeks’
practice had built up the strength in her arms, wrists, and shoulders and
she was now able to given the Elven warrior a bit of a run for his
money.
Even their first bout had
surprised him. Using swords wrapped
in leather Honoria had inflicted a painful bruise on Keldar’s forearm
before he realized that she had to be taken
seriously. “So,” he
said, rubbing his wrist, “you can fight.”
“You were warned,”
she said. “You are lucky
we used practice blades.”
Keldar grunted and raised
his blade. “Let’s see
if you can do it again.”
Honoria had not been able
to do it again, not that day or any of the
others. Keldar was incredibly
skilled. His sword seemed an
extension of his arm and Honoria found him a frustratingly difficult
opponent. Try as she might she
could not find the slightest weakness in his
defence. At least not until
today. Suddenly her sword seemed
to come to life in her hand. For
the first time she understood what Keldar experienced every time he picked
up his blade. She drove him across
the practice area, much to the delight of the Elven spectators and then she
got a lucky break. Keldar’s
foot caught in the harness of his own scabbard, where he had dropped it prior
to the sparring session. With
a cry of surprise he went down and found Honoria’s sword at his
throat.
Keldar looked up at her
with an embarrassed grin.
“Well, princess, you have defeated me at
last. I am going to have to be
on my guard against you.”
Around her several of the
watching Elves applauded. Honoria
flushed with pleasure. For the
first time she felt a part of this strange new society that had adopted
her.
Keldar got to his feet and
bowed, indicating that the session was over for the
day. “Until tomorrow,
princess.”
Still breathing hard from
her exertion, Honoria unwrapped her sword, and sheathed it in its
scabbard. As she did so, Erallendria
came up behind her and patted her companionably on the
shoulder. “Excellent,
Honoria. That is the first time
anyone has bested Keldar in many moons.”
Honoria smiled as they walked
toward the bathing area. The
band of Elves had been moving slowly through a heavily forested region, in
no apparent hurry. Honoria now
knew that the Elven band consisted of twenty individuals, equally divided
between men and women although she had not quite figured out the
pairings. The communal bath was
a daily ritual whenever a suitable body of water was
available. Today the Elves had
camped beside a particularly inviting bathing area, so inviting that it had
already been decided to spend a few days there.
Warm fog rose over a deep
pool of water that stretched back between two high walls of
stone. Honoria quickened her
pace as she and her companions neared the edge of the
pool. After weeks of bathing
in cold water to have the chance for a hot bath was incredibly
inviting. She stripped out of
her sweat-soaked clothes folding them neatly on the
ground. By now she had become
quite used to the Elves’ casual attitude regarding nudity and she no
longer felt self conscious when undressing in front of them, especially since
Erallendria and Ralasharia stripped with
her.
With a groan she slid into
the warm water. Near the edge
of the pool it was only lukewarm, but the temperature rose as she moved farther
into the steaming pool. Although
she had bested Keldar for the first time, she had not done so before he had
inflicted half a dozen bruises on her.
The warm water seemed to leach away the pain of the bruises and she
moved even farther back, immersing herself to her neck in the mists that
rose from the centre of the pool.
A warm bath was something
she had almost forgotten. The
last time she had enjoyed such a luxury had been in her rooms at the castle
and then as much warm water as she had desired had been lugged into her room
by willing servants. Slowly she
worked her way even farther back.
Ralasharia had told her that if she went far enough she would find
water hot enough to boil an egg, but she had no intention of going that
far.
As she moved farther back
the mist closed in around her until she could barely see her hand in front
of her and she lost contact with the other bathers although she could still
hear their laughter and chatter.
She ducked her head, and scrubbed at her scalp, giving her hair a
thorough wash. As she finished
she finger combed it into some semblance of order and then detecting that
she was standing next to a rock shelf, pulled herself onto it, lifting herself
clear of the water. She lay full
length on the rock, enjoying the contrast between the heat of the air and
the cool touch of the stone. Almost
dozing, she rolled over on her back and stretched her arms over her
head. It was then that she suddenly
realized she was not alone.
It was the slight sound
of a sigh that alerted her and she sat upright with a start instinctively
covering her breasts until she realized that whoever was close to her could
not see her. For a second she
considered plunging back into the water, but then a familiar masculine voice
froze her in place.
“Ah, Princess, I see
that you have found my favourite
place.”
Keldar’s voice came
from no more than five feet away, but he was completely hidden by the vapours
rising from the water. “I
didn’t know you were here,” Honoria
gasped. “I’m sorry
if I disturbed you.” She
slid her feet into the water preparatory to making a quick
escape.
“I usually seek this
place whenever we are near the
“Privacy?” Honoria
asked. It seemed strange that
a man of Keldar’s reputation would seek to hide from the others of his
clan.
“Have you never considered,
Princess what it is like for someone with my supposed
‘gift?’ Everywhere
I go women are artificially attracted to me; seeking to have me bed them
unless they ward themselves against me.
But few realize how many make no effort to avoid my
charms. As a result women constantly
seek me out, drawn by my magical curse and I am forced into the role of the
great lover all the while knowing that none of the women truly love me, but
instead are drawn to me in much the same way that flies are drawn to rotting
meat.”
“I never thought of
that,” Honoria said. “It
must be a burden indeed if you seek to hide yourself in a place like
this.”
“Oh, it does have its
positive side,” Keldar continued.
Honoria could tell from the way he spoke that he was smiling; however
his next comment was completely without
humour. “But after fifty
years constantly being pursued for one reason only does become
tiresome.”
“Fifty years!”
Honoria exclaimed. “Just
how old are you?”
“You seem surprised,
Princess. Did my sisters not
explain the Elven lifespan to you?”
As Keldar spoke Honoria could hear him shift his body and realized
that he had lowered himself into the water and was moving closer to
her.
“Th… they did
not,” Honoria stammered, unnerved by the Elf’s
nearness.
“Elves are extremely
long-lived,” Keldar explained.
“Although to a Human we may appear to be adults many Elves do
not reach full maturity until they are in their
forties. I have seen more than
eighty winters and Erallendria has seen ninety.”
With her mouth agape, Honoria
sat in stunned silence. She suddenly
felt no older than an innocent babe, which was exactly what she was by Elven
standards. Keldar was older than
either of her parents and older than her grandfather even though he had been
dead for more than ten years.
“I see I have upset
you,” Keldar said. “It
is something Ralasharia should have told
you. I must seem incredibly
ancient.”
The warm mists cleared slightly,
revealing Keldar standing in water up to his waist with one hand on the rock
ledge. He was just three feet
away and his presence threatened to overwhelm
her. How could anyone who looked
so young and virile be the age he professed to
be? She swallowed, a familiar
heat rising within her and tried to think of something to
say. “The
ward. It does not work between
you and me.”
“You are right,”
he answered. “It does
not. And I cannot ward myself
against you either.”
“Me?” Honoria
gasped. “Why would you need
to ward yourself against me?”
Keldar suddenly frowned
and stepped back from her. “I
should not be here. I am going
to have to have a talk with my sisters.
It appears that they are enjoying their little game by telling you
only as much as they want you to know.”
“I don’t
understand,” Honoria said. Her
heart was hammering against her ribs and she wanted more than anything to
reach out and pull the Elf toward her.
“I am as attracted
to you as you are to me,” Keldar
answered. “And I should
go now before I lose all control.”
He turned and disappeared into the mists.
“Wait!” Honoria
cried. The words were out of
her throat before she knew what she was
saying. She heaved her body off
the ledge and dove toward where she had last seen the
Elf.
She came to a sudden stop
as her outstretched hands struck him in the middle of his
back. He turned and she felt
his hands close over her wrists.
With gentle strength he pulled her from the water until she was standing
facing him and then he let her go.
Now on her feet she looked into his face from a distance of less than
two feet. A flicker of emotions
paraded across his features - desire, wonder, and what she hoped was
love.
“Princess,” he
said softly, “are you sure you know what you are
doing?”
Honoria’s throat was
so choked with emotion, that she could hardly reply, but her body burned
with an uncontrollable fire that only Keldar could
quench. “Yes,” she
gasped.
He bent and placing one
arm behind her knees and the other across her back lifted her into his arms
and then carried her back toward the
ledge. For an instant Honoria
thought she was going to swoon and then she placed her arms about his neck
and clung to him. “Hold
me, she whispered. “Just
hold me.”
In a single smooth motion,
Keldar moved his nude body onto the ledge where Honoria had rested and pulled
her close to him. He made no
effort to do anything else, except to slowly stroke her hair, but the heat
of his body against hers was like that of a
furnace. It was but a simple
matter to turn her head and touch her lips to
his.
He returned her kiss, but
in a surprisingly gentle fashion, barely caressing her lips with his own,
but that slight touch sent an electric shock through Honoria’s
body. She pressed against him,
her lips parting and her tongue seeking
his. A low moan sounded deep
in Keldar’s throat and his tongue intertwined with
hers.
Honoria arched her body
against him, her fingers digging into the Elf’s broad back and then
suddenly he was lying half on top of her, his right leg between her thighs
and his mouth working magic against hers.
With the skills learned over half a century of making love Keldar
worked his way over Honoria’s body exciting her in ways she had never
even dreamed of. He was like
a puppeteer and she the puppet, responding helplessly as he worked her strings,
and yet every touch of his hands and lips was like the gentlest of caresses,
exciting her and yet reassuringly her at the same
time. It was almost as if Keldar
realized that Honoria had never truly made love, and in truth she was almost
like a virgin, young, inexperienced, and almost fearful, but driven by youthful
passion that opened her body to him.
Her legs parted, inviting
the ultimate union of man and woman, but Keldar made her wait, stroking her
body to a level of sexual excitement she would not have believed possible
after her brutal experience with the Duke of Magdoran and then he accepted
her invitation.
Honoria moaned, partly in
anticipation and partly in fear.
She steeled herself for the pain she knew must come when Keldar entered
her and then cried out in pleasant surprise as he slid smoothly into
her. There was no pain, just
a feeling of completeness as their bodies fused and then with a sudden sexual
awakening, her body seemed to explode.
She cried out and heaved
her body against his, seeking to bury his shaft within her, her clawed fingers
scoring bloody grooves across his back.
Keldar seemed not to notice the pain, gripping her backside to steady
her, and driving deep inside her while Honoria’s body quivered beneath
him. She screamed again as his
mouth found her throbbing nipples and then something surged inside of her,
building and building until it completely eclipsed every other sensation
and an explosion of passion ripped through her body.
“By the Goddess,”
she moaned, falling back in temporary
exhaustion. “I never dreamed
it could be like this.”
“Nor I,” Keldar
gasped. He seemed completely
spent, cradling her in his arms while his broad chest heaved from
exertion. “All those years,
and all those women and all along I was just waiting for the
one.” He pulled her to him
and kissed her again, causing her body to quiver with renewed
desire. She returned the kiss
and Keldar seemed to find a hidden reserve of
strength. His hands played over
her body and once more Honoria opened like a flower.
This time they made love
more slowly, Keldar guiding Honoria in ways that she had never dreamed possible
until once again their bodies shook with passion and they lay completely
spent, content this time simply to cling to one another’s panting bodies
until finally they fell into an exhausted, but very satisfying
sleep.
Honoria awoke before Keldar
and for a few minutes she lay on her side, propped up on one elbow studying
the face of the sleeping Elf. Her
body throbbed from their lovemaking, but the slight pain she felt this time
was a welcome reminder of what she had
experienced. Keldar’s chest
rose and fell gently and he seemed even more handsome asleep that he had
been awake. She lowered her head
and softly touched her lips to his.
He awoke with a smile and
kissed her back. “Are you
still not satisfied, my love?”
Honoria stretched her body
over his, her breasts pressed against his
chest. “I doubt that I could
ever be satisfied where you are concerned,” she replied and then shuddered
with delight and anticipation as she felt his member stir against the inside
of her thigh. Her trembling fingers
sought his manhood. She gasped
in astonishment as she felt it rise beneath her fingers and swell to full
prominence. “Did I do
that?” she breathed.
“You did,” Keldar
replied. “And now you must
pay the price of your rash action.”
He kissed her nipples and then began to work his way in a leisurely
and most titillating fashion down her body until he reached her nether
region. As his tongue found it
way between her moist pink folds her body convulsed in a paroxysm of
desire. She opened to him once
again and clung hard to him as he took her for the third
time. A fierce desire possessed
her, and she wrapped her legs about his waist and dug her fingernails into
his shoulders in a frenzied attempt to draw him into
her. In that she
succeeded. Keldar entered her
deeply and then with almost animal-like ferocity he rode her to an explosive
climax. Honoria’s loins
contracted, and she screamed in rampant desire, before collapsing back to
her stone bed, completely exhausted.
“Satisfied, my
princess?” Keldar rasped, barely able to speak from his own
fatigue.
“For now,” Honoria
panted. “For
now.”
They slept in one
another’s arms until dawn, curled up on the rocky
ledge. In spite of the hard surface
Honoria slept well, warmed both by her lover and the warm air rising from
the surface of the water. When
she awoke it was to look into Keldar’s eyes as he smiled down on
her. Once again she was filled
with the now familiar stirring in her
loins. She reached for him and
he kissed her tenderly and then slowly pushed her away from
him.
“Much as it would please
me to make love to you again,” Keldar said,
“I should mention that Erallendria has already called us twice and had
threatened to come and get us if we do not appear
quickly.”
“I did not know; I
heard nothing,” Honoria said.
For the briefest of moments she had feared
Keldar was rejecting
her. It was still hard for her
to believe what had transpired between them.
“Do not fear, my
princess,” Keldar said, as if reading her
thoughts. “I will never
leave you. You have lifted my
curse and we are forever bonded.”
Honoria’s heart
quickened. “You
mean…” she gasped.
“The curse that drew
women to me is now gone, destroyed by your
love. From now on I am bonded
to you alone.”
Keldar slipped into the water and held out
his hand. “Now come, my
princess. “I think I hear
Erallendria coming.”
Honoria went, her head
whirling. Once again her destiny
seemed to have taken another strange and wondrous
turn. What more did the future
hold in store for her?
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