Post by Dark Beauty on Aug 20, 2007 9:30:37 GMT -8
Chapter 5
“Astheriel! Come on! We’ll be late!” The voice sounded in the beautiful language of the elves, echoing through the woods.
“Just a minute!”
Astheriel finished the paragraph she was reading and placed a leaf between the pages to mark her place. She quickly put the large red book down on the table and exited her house. She looked about the clan village, her almond-shaped, piercing-blue eyes scanning the bridges that connected the houses for her friend. She spotted him waving from the opposite side of the bridge on the left. It was the way to the clan meeting house.
Astheriel smiled at her friend as he beckoned to her impatiently. She began to run, but quickly remembered that she was no longer one thousand years old and that she should behave like the adolescent that she was. She instead walked quickly, her flowing, white, Wood Elf dress streaming along behind her. The golden wrap that was tied about her waist flowed down to the bottom of the dress, and it sparkled in the sunlight. She tried as hard as she could to make it glitter lavishly with every graceful movement. She wanted him to notice, and to have more interest in her at every meeting they had.
The young elf approached her friend, smiling. He was smiling too, but it was a mischievous grin.
Astheriel raised a black eyebrow. “What?”
He simply continued to smile as he stood there, gazing at her. Astheriel could not deny that she enjoyed being gazed at by him. She had always felt for him, and probably always would. She was, however, extremely curious as to why he was smiling at her like that.
“What is it? For goodness sake, will you stop grinning at me?” When he chuckled, she put her hands on her hips (of which part of her body she was quite proud of), and couldn’t help but lift her own mouth into a smile, even though she was annoyed. “Aremen Grathiel, you tell me what you are grinning at now or I will not talk to you at all for the entire meeting.”
This threat seemed to intimidate the boy enough. He put his hand into his long robe (which was basically a male version of the female’s dress), and pulled out two shining earrings. They were large, golden, beautifully crafted hoops. Astheriel gasped as he held them out to her.
His smile broadened as he watched her face. “I made them myself. I’ve seen the way you look longingly at Thesteriwen’s hoops, and I figured that you might like some of your own.”
Astheriel, not knowing what to say, simply picked up the earrings gently and held them out to look at them. Crafted by his hand? Just for her? She was stunned. They were beautiful earrings, and they matched the gold of her sash. She chuckled at the mention of her jealousy of the Plain Elf’s earrings. She had always longed for Thesteriwen’s luck. Her best friend was a princess of her people, and therefore received everything that she wished. Ah well. Astheriel hardly saw her any more anyway. There was something going on that Thesteriwen had to deal with at the moment. At least, that is what she had told Astheriel, and the Wood Elf had no reason not to believe her friend.
She took out the earrings that she currently had in her ears - small, polished, green stones - placed them in her sash, and put the ones that she had just received into their new place. Once she had both of them in, she tossed her head and let them catch the sunlight (and her raven-black hair, by mistake). Aremen smiled warmly. “They look dazzling on you. But then, you look dazzling all the time.”
Astheriel felt her face begin to burn with pleasure. She looked down so that he would not have to see her blush like a child.
The handsome male elf reached out and cupped her chin gently in his hand, then lifted it so that she looked into his deep, dark blue eyes. She blushed furiously, and was extremely infuriated at herself for doing so. But he did not seem to care. The male elf looked at her with so much admiration and affection that Astheriel thought she might burst with happiness.
Aremen’s lips were curved upward gently in a smile that made Astheriel want to melt. He looked at her longingly for a moment more, then, to Astheriel’s disappointment, pulled away and straightened his robes. He glanced at his friend once more. “Come along; we can’t be late. What would the judges say to us if we were?” He turned and began to walk across the bridges to the large building in the center of the village. Every clan of Wood Elves had a meeting house, and every one of them was situated on the largest tree in the village district.
Astheriel walked behind Aremen, her pretty face marred by a childish pout. She did not know exactly why she was upset. What was she expecting? A kind word? A whispered “I love you”? A kiss?
Astheriel shook her head. That last thought was not rational. They were best friends, nothing more. He was like a brother to her, and the only one of her kind that did not act like she was a sinner for reading all of the time, of which she had been accused by quite a few people. Perhaps she would not be so discriminated if the books she read were about the history of elves or nature. Instead, she was enchanted by the history of the outside world, and had managed to get a hold of the book she was currently reading by a trader that had entered the Forest of the Wood Elves on accident. She had given him a bottle of elven wine in return for it. The elves were known for their excellent wines.
She had been reading that huge red book for nearly a month now, and she had just begun a section on famous magic workers. She had at first been disgusted, for everyone knew that magic was an abomination. But, after reading more, she had become very interested in it. She couldn’t understand why she was so passionate with such a vile thing, but she became excited about the ways of magic users.
She had been reading the history up in her house in solitude. She had no one to disturb her, for both of her parents had been lost. They had gone out for a walk together when she was younger and never came back. Some say that they ventured too far and were killed by wild animals, and others say that they were captured by disgusting men who came into the woods to take elves for slaves. Nobody could have believed that they might have left the child on purpose, for that thought was irrational to the extreme; Astheriel was one of the most beautiful children in all of the clan, and some were convinced that she was probably one of the most beautiful beings of the whole race of Wood Elves. But the little one had lived by herself for a very long time. People had come to check up on her sometimes, but she had matured at a very young age, so it was not really necessary. Astheriel was now an adolescent in elven years, and now nobody checked on her.
She had been spotted reading the history book by one of her friends. That had started rumors, and soon there were nasty things being said behind her back. However, Aremen had never insulted her, and he was the one who told her the things that people had said about her when she pestered him about it. He had asked once if it was true that she was interested in magic, and when she had answered yes, he simply nodded and shrugged. He never did anything to show if he was against her studies or not, and he defended her in conversations that involved the subject.
Astheriel had recently found a section on sorcery, and became extremely interested in that area. It said that sorcery was the most powerful and most difficult type of magic, but Astheriel was determined to try it. The book had mentioned the basic steps that sorcerers follow to create their energy, and she had excitedly gone into a clearing to try the unknown power. The first fifteen attempts were unsuccessful. She had tried to concentrate as hard as she could on levitating a fallen tree branch, but nothing happened. Finally, after a long struggle, she was able to master the movement of nonliving things.
That had been three weeks ago, and she was now working on the ability to change the colors of leaves. She was teaching herself and doing remarkably well, but she had done it all in secrecy.
Astheriel stumbled slightly over an ill-placed wooden plank on the bridge. She bumped into Aremen, and he turned around with an inquisitive look on his face, his light brown hair falling about his eyes. All male elves had hair down to at least the nape of their neck, and the eldest of the males usually grew it to the middle of their backs. Aremen’s hair was just long enough to touch the bottom of his neck in the back. The front was grown out and framed his face, ending just past his ears.
Astheriel blushed again. “I’m sorry; I stumbled.”
He smiled and shrugged. “It’s alright.” He turned and walked forward again.
That incident reminded Astheriel of what had happened three days ago. She had been in the clearing practicing her sorcery when suddenly Aremen had appeared. He had been about to surprise her as a joke, but just as he was preparing the trick, she had turned the color of a grey stone into a bright shade of blue. He, being an elf, was absolutely mortified, and had gasped.
Astheriel had turned around and immediately began to plead with him not to tell anyone. He had stood there silently, looking into her face with a bit of sadness. When she had dropped to her knees in front of him, her hands linked together in a begging stance, and her eyes filling with fearful tears, he had knelt down and tried to comfort her.
Aremen had shushed her softly, then held her close and rocked her back and forth, like an older brother comforting a little sister when she had done something wrong and was upset about it. He had then wiped her tears away, soothingly brushed the girl’s black hair out of her porcelain face, and hooked it behind her ears. He had looked into her eyes very solemnly.
“Is this really what you want, Astheriel? Do you really want to practice sorcery?”
Astheriel had not been able to read his expression. She had swallowed a hiccup and then nodded her head. “Yes, I want to learn how to control this power that is around us.”
Aremen had closed his eyes and nodded, then hugged her again. “Alright, Astheriel. If it is really what you wish to do, I will be silent. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into. If anyone else ever found out, you’d be in a great deal of trouble.”
Astheriel had let Aremen hold her until her tears stopped flowing. She had nodded once more. “I know. I hope that people will understand. Sorcery is not evil, Aremen.” She pulled away and looked at him, an entranced expression on her face. “It can help one with whatever one wants! I could heal people, create new things… oh, Aremen, it could be a wonderful thing!”
Aremen had gazed at her fondly and touched her face. “I’ve always admired your spirit, Astheriel. I still hope that you know what you are doing. I will remain silent. Your secret is safe with me.” He had then stood and walked back to the village, not looking over his shoulder even once.
Now when Astheriel looked at him after she came out of her house, she could see that he knew what she had been doing, but he never talked about his thoughts. Instead, he went on like there was nothing going on, and that she was still the innocent little girl that she once was.
The two young Wood Elves made it to the village house without incident. They made it on time, but only just. The meeting was about the welfare of the clan. There had been rumors of a pack of drakeas coming close to the Forest of the Wood Elves, and this created restlessness. The young elves had been taken recently to live near the center of the village, where it was hard to get to. There was an emergency house there, and the ladder to it was retractable. This was where the little ones went when the clan was in possible danger. However, this caution had been going on for about a week now, and parents wanted their children back, thinking that the rumors were not true. It had become such a problem that the judges had called for a conference to take place.
Astheriel and Aremen entered the large, nature-decorated building and stood against the wall, for there were no more open benches. There were hummingbirds fluttering about the room, drinking the nectar from the sweet flowers that were hanging in the corners of the room. Every elf in the clan was there, except for the very young elves (ages five through five hundred), who were in a care center. Clans were not all that big; there were only about a hundred and fifty elves in the edifice.
Astheriel looked about the room and noticed that a few people had turned to look at her and then had started whispering to each other. Of course, Astheriel was used to this now, but she could not help but sigh.
Aremen glanced over at her, and then followed her gaze to a certain girl that was in the process of whispering to her friend. He smiled slightly and leaned over to his companion.
“It’s alright, Astheriel,” he whispered softly. “Those two are not worth making friends of. If they decide to not be your friends because of rumors, then it is their loss.”
Astheriel smiled at Aremen thankfully. Before she could say anything, the chief judge of the clan walked to the front of the room, and everyone grew silent.
The old elf looked about the room, his ageless eyes still the bright green they had always been. He was much respected, for he was the only elf that actually looked like he was older than thirty (in human time that is). His face was starting to wrinkle slightly. Nobody really knew how old he was, but people were beginning to wonder if he could be the first elf to die of exhaustion. Of course, that was probably not possible, but it had become a joke around the clan for some time now.
The chief judge’s face was set and calm. “My friends, I thank you all for attending this council. As all of you know, the rumor of the drakeas getting ever nearer to the forest is causing difficulty with the peace in our society. The judges have called us together to discuss what we should do about this. I will take suggestions from the congregation.”
The elves waited for the chief judge to sit down on the judge’s bench. When he had taken his seat, they began to stand. This was the proper way of being called upon when in a meeting. One by one, the judges called on the standing elves. There were comments that were irrelevant, some that Astheriel thought were good, and some that were not polite at all. She, who had already been standing, walked forward to be called on.
The chief judge looked up and hesitated before calling on her. “Yes, what is your suggestion, young one?”
Astheriel did not like being called “young one,” but she did not show any resentment. “Your honor, I believe that we should send out scouts to see if the rumor is true. It would be illogical to wait in fear if nothing was to happen.” She stepped backward and waited for a response.
The judges glanced at each other and whispered a few comments back and forth. They looked back at her, and then the chief judge addressed all those in the room. “Are there any in favor of this proposition?”
Aremen was the first to walk forward. A few others stood up in show of their favor, however, not enough of them did. Astheriel could tell that there were more of the people thought her idea to be a good one, but none of them stood up, for rumors had taken hold of their minds.
The chief judge nodded at Astheriel in thanks for her input, and then went on to the other opinions in the room. Astheriel sadly sighed and slowly lost interest in the meeting. She did not care about the clan’s thoughts anymore, for they no longer cared about hers.
The meeting rolled slowly on. After thirty minutes of irrelevant comments, what ended up happening was that the judges made the decision to ignore all of the propositions and think of their own. Until they would be able to make a solution, everything would stay how it was now and the children would stay in the protected clan house.
Astheriel walked out of the building with her friend, her eyebrows knitted into an angry expression. When they were nearly to her house, Astheriel broke into upset complaints.
“They could have just taken my idea. They all knew that it was good, and it is the only logical thing to do. Why don’t they just listen to me?”
Aremen sighed and looked at Astheriel’s disappointed face. “Because you are doing things that they do not understand and that they are afraid of. I told you that this would happen.” Astheriel glared at him and he put up his hands in defense. “I have not told anyone that you are practicing sorcery, don’t worry. However, everyone knows that you are reading that book, Astheriel, and they know that you are having fantasies about the magical ways because you are always in your house. You never come out anymore, and when you do, you always want to be alone.”
Astheriel hated it when Aremen was right. He usually was, and so she was generally sulking when discussing something with him. She was quiet until they reached her house-encircling porch. Astheriel sighed and looked at it unhappily. Aremen glanced at her, his face asking the question “what’s wrong?”
Astheriel looked down at the wooden planks beneath her booted feet and made a faint smile. “I just wish that I could be ordinary like everyone else in this clan,” she joked.
Aremen did not laugh. Instead, he took the elf maiden by the shoulders and pulled her closer. She looked up into his eyes, wondering what he was doing. Astheriel was surprised at the look that she saw in those deep blue eyes. They were looking back at her with an actual hint of love and adoration.
Aremen cupped her chin in his hand like he had done that morning. “You will never be ordinary, Astheriel; you will always be above them all.” He tenderly pulled her face toward his. Astheriel could not breathe and her heart beat so rapidly that she thought it would burst. She closed her eyes, and Aremen planted a soft, innocent kiss on her lips. It did not last long, but Astheriel did not care. She could not think. Aremen looked at her lovingly, and then he turned to walk back to his own house without another word.