Mira's View (20 page)

“Fought against the ceiling did you? I could
have told you that would end badly,” Tark said as he grinned down
at her. He pulled her away from Elenio’s protective arm for a big
brother hug.

She poked him in the side, causing him to
jerk, but then returned the hug. “It’s a good thing Morgo got
things worked out so quickly, or there would have been nothing left
to save.”

He gave her one more tight squeeze before
letting her go to examine where the wound had been. Nodding in
apparent satisfaction, he ruffled her hair before turning away to
grab his pack. Morgo stood off at a distance from the rest of them,
looking hesitantly at her.

Galena walked to him and placed a hand on his
arm. “Thank you for acting so quickly to get them to release us,”
she said gently, almost as if she were afraid of frightening a
scared animal.

“You saved my life as well.” He kicked at a
small stone lying on the ground with his toe.

“Not really—”

“This whole thing was my fault!” he burst
out. “If I would have been paying attention, I would have heard
those mangy beasts approaching and they wouldn’t have been able to
down me so quickly. But I was so interested in watching you
dispatch the others, I got careless!” By now, Morgo was pacing back
and forth in front of Galena, his tone tense. “Then with the elders
acting the way that they did or even the village elves! This whole
incident was completely avoidable and because I was being stupid,
you almost died! What Mira will have to say is beyond me!”

Galena grabbed both of his arms and turned
him to face her. “Peace. Everything turned out fine. Now we just
need to decide what our next step is.” She looked him in the eye,
smiling gently. He returned her smile, but she could tell it was a
forced one, as it did not reach his eyes.

“Morgo has already got us rooms for the night
in guest lodge. And because placing us in prison almost caused the
death of Mira’s chosen one...” Elenio came up behind Galena and
placed an arm around her waist once again, giving her a gentle
squeeze. “They have informed us that they will replenish all of our
supplies, no payment necessary. We’ll stay here for the night and
then restock what we need in the morning. I say for the near-death
experience that you had, we might need to take a bit extra,” Elenio
said to no one in particular.

At this, Tark looked in the direction of a
few elves that were standing a couple feet away. They appeared to
be having an intense discussion, but Galena noticed that they kept
looking at them from the corner of their eyes.

“Sounds good to me. I need a good night’s
sleep before we go further. My head may be healed, but it’s
starting to ache again.” Galena rubbed her head gingerly,
remembering all too clearly the pain she had just experienced.

Keeping an arm around her, Elenio reached
down and retrieved their packs and swords. Refusing to let Galena
carry her own, he swung both packs over his shoulder and held onto
the swords and scabbards with his free hand. “Where to?” he
asked.

Chapter
Nineteen

After following Morgo through the village to
the inn where they would be staying, Galena found herself alone in
a room with Elenio. Off their room was a small washroom that Galena
took full advantage of as she was still covered in dried blood and
vomit. She had arranged with the innkeeper to have a new set of
clothes brought up, and to have both sets of her tunics and
leggings washed out and returned before they left in the morning.
One of the workers had filled the tub with wonderfully hot water
and Galena stripped down, throwing her soiled clothing outside the
door before firmly shutting it behind her. She heard Elenio talking
with the maid before the door to their room shut once more.

She stepped into the hot bath and let it soak
into her skin. Sitting down in the deep basin so that the water
covered all but her head, she let out a huge sigh. “I’m never
getting out.” She scrubbed away the dried blood and grim from their
journey with the square piece of cloth they had provided. Once she
was satisfied that she was clean again, she lay back so that the
back of her head rested on a pillow they had thoughtfully put on
the rim of the basin. She sat that way until the water began to
grow cool and her skin felt uncomfortable with wrinkles. Groaning
slightly, she stood and stepped out, drying off with larger piece
of cloth that they had also provided.

“Elenio, did they bring any clothes up?” she
yelled through the door.

“Yeah, hold on.”

She wrapped the cloth around her and waited
for him to bring them to her. He opened the door just a crack and
threw the clothes in. She finished drying off and then dressed in
the warm clothing that was given to her. It was a long gown made of
a soft, white material that Galena had never seen before. It was
silky to touch and caught on the calluses that covered the palms of
her hands. She drew her fingers through her long, wet hair and
stepped out. Elenio had called the maid back so that she could
refill the tub for him before they went to bed for the night.

Admiring the material her gown was made of,
he smiled at her. “Why didn’t you just use the extra pair of
clothes that you have in your pack?”

“I figured, since everyone was being so
generous, I would have someone else do the laundry. Plus, I wanted
to sleep in something cleaner than my extra set of clothes. I
haven’t been able to wash them in a while,” she said as she
shrugged.

“In that case, my dear elf girl,” he said,
addressing the maid walking out of the washroom, having filled the
tub a second time, “would you be so kind as to find an extra set of
night clothes for me and have my clothes washed as well.”

The elf girl, who looked so much like all the
other elves that Galena doubted very much that she would ever be
able to pick her out of a crowd, gave a brief nod and hurried from
the room.

“Apparently, she’s afraid I’ll ask her to do
more,” he said a bit crossly as he watched the door close behind
her.

Laughing, Galena asked, “What else have you
commanded that she do?”

Elenio pointed to a tray of food lying on a
table that stood beside a rather large and comfortable looking bed.
Galena’s stomach gave a huge rumble, reminding her that all the
food she had eaten sometime that morning, had been thrown up.
Crossing the room quickly, she grabbed a loaf of bread and ripped a
chunk off of it, cramming it into her mouth. Chuckling quietly,
Elenio went into the washroom and closed the door behind him.
Ignoring him, she polished off the loaf of bread and then started
on the cheese and fruit. She took a drink from the cup that stood
beside the plate, but realized it was the same stuff that they had
given her at the feast in Freeva. She hadn’t cared for it then and
her feelings toward it hadn’t changed much, but it was still wet
going down her throat.

Someone knocked on the door just as she was
polishing off the last of the cheese. Opening the it, she found the
elf girl standing there with clean clothes for Elenio. She took
them and asked the girl to wait while she retrieved Elenio’s soiled
clothes. He handed them to her through the crack he created when
opening the door and she turned them over to the girl, making a
point to thank her for everything. The girl smiled briefly before
dipping her head slightly in a bow, and left. Galena closed the
door behind her and returned to the food.

She sat on the bed once more and took in her
surroundings, which couldn’t have been more different from the hole
in the ground they referred to as the dungeon. A large bed occupied
the center of the room; the frame was made from stone as so many
things in the underground world were made of. A soft, thick mat and
several big quilts covered the bed. All of them were various shades
of gray and black. On the blankets were several fluffy looking
pillows that looked very inviting. A stone table stood just next to
the bed on the right side. Beside it was a chair made of stone,
with a large comfortable looking pillow on the seat. Opposite the
bed, was a fireplace that had glowing orbs in it, like the floating
lights that were present everywhere, but these seemed to be giving
off heat as well. A mantle surrounded the opening of the fireplace
on which a single burnt orange flower in a large and ornate stone
cup stood. The door that let out to the hallway was to the right of
the bed, on the side wall, and the door that led to the washroom
was beside the fireplace. Altogether, it made a cozy sort of room
even if the most colorful part of it was the dull, orange
flower.

Galena was contemplating flopping back on the
bed, when she heard Elenio ask for his clothing. Sighing, she got
up, picked up the fresh clothes from the end of the bed, and
brought them to the washroom. She opened the door a crack as he had
done and he reached a hand around the door, where he stood hidden
from view, and took the clothes, thanking her quietly. She closed
the door behind her, with a gentle click. She stood for a moment
with her back to the door, taking in the surroundings of the room
from this point of view.

Crossing the room, she sat on the bed and
flopped back into the wonderful softness of the quilts and
mattress. It reminded her of Elenio’s own bed in their village,
minus the stone frame. Even as young children, and later as teens,
they would often spend the night at each other’s home and nothing
was ever thought badly about it. She could remember getting into
trouble with him late at night on several occasions when the
impulse for a pillow fight had gotten out of hand. Elenio had
always been her best and only friend, and still was. Her eyes
welled up with tears as she recalled other things from home and
memories from the past.

She was so lost in thought that she hadn’t
heard Elenio emerge from the washroom until he was standing over
her, hands on his hips, staring at her. The nightclothes that they
had given to him, looked every bit as comfortable as the ones she
wore. He had on a pair of loose leggings made of the same silky
material as her nightdress and a shirt to match. She smiled
lovingly at him, while she wiped the few tears in her eyes away. He
returned the smile in a forced sort of way before glancing in the
direction of the empty plate and letting his jaw drop.

“That was supposed to be for both of us!” he
gasped, indicating the empty plate.

Galena felt the blood rush to her face and
had to suppress a belch. Definitely would not aide her in her
defense. Elenio looked back at Galena with a grumpy look on his
face.

“Would you like to call for more?” Galena
asked timidly.

Elenio looked once more at the plate, then at
Galena, and back to the plate. She would have laughed aloud if she
weren’t afraid to upset him further. Shrugging, he walked over to
Galena, and pulled her to a standing position. He wrapped his arms
loosely around her waist, clasping his hands behind her back. She
put her hands on the tops of his arms before looking him full in
the face. He had that same smile that she loved so much and he
smelled so good and clean. His hair hung loosely around his face,
something that she had not seen him do since they were younger.

“To be honest, I’m not really that hungry,”
he said quietly. He looked at the glowing orbs in the fireplace for
a moment, his face slack as he remained quiet. Turning suddenly he
looked at her, a dashing smile replacing the blank look. “What
would you think of having an elder perform a commitment ceremony
right here and now?” His eyes twinkled as he said this and he bent
down and kissed Galena softly on the tip of her nose.

“I think that sounds like a terrible idea.
We’ll wait until we get back and then we’ll go through the
commitment ceremony before all our friends and family,” Galena said
firmly.

Elenio sighed heavily and placed his forehead
against hers. To Galena’s horror, she watched his face crumble with
pain.

“What’s wrong? Are you ill?” she asked in
alarm.

“I was there when they found you in that
hole. I thought my heart would stop when I saw you lying in all
that blood.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck, a ragged
breath escaping him. “I don’t want you to leave this world without
knowing how much you mean to me. To be honest, I wanted to have the
ceremony now that way I can hide here with you for the rest of our
lives and let the rest of the world do what it wants. But I know we
can’t,” he practically shouted. He let go of her and spun around,
storming off toward the fireplace. He placed both hands on the
mantle and stared at the fire orbs.

Galena was considering going to him when he
picked up the cup holding the only color in the room, and threw it
at the wall where it shattered into thousands of pieces. Still
burning with anger, he stomped over to the little table, picked up
the empty platter, and threw it at another wall. He flung the table
over with one hand, and the chair with the other.

Clutching his hair with his hands, he let out
a roar of frustration. “I can’t do this anymore! I can’t handle
seeing you banged up or practically dead! Don’t you see what it’s
doing to me?” He grabbed the tops of Galena’s arms and shook her
slightly. He held her so tight it hurt. His eyes rapidly danced
from one object to the next, refusing to stay in one place and the
pain of his struggles showed in every inch of his face. “What if I
refuse to go with you? What if I make you stay here with me? Do you
love me enough to do that?” He hauled her up against him, pulling
her into another smothering embrace. He grabbed the back of her
head; causing her to flinch, as he pulled her close to his chest
where she could hear his heart beating the tempo of his anger.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew he
didn’t mean to hurt her, but at the same time, this Elenio scared
her. Finally, he released her, grief, pain, and anger still
mingling in the features of his beautiful face. Taking a step back
as Galena struggled to get her fear under control; he collapsed
into a heap on the floor. He buried his face in his hands, not
crying, but clearly unable to handle any more.