Love & War
Chapter 10

Illiana

My whole body hurts from sleeping on the sofa in the guest room. It is very different than the bed I am accustomed to at home. It has been eight weeks since Elliot left for patrol. He was supposed to be back six weeks ago. I should be worried about him, right? That is what a good wife would do. Six weeks is a huge difference.

I have been wearing his shirts as makeshift dresses with a belt that I found in his closet. He had not gotten around to going to town before he left for his patrol. His shirt goes down to my knees so I made it work. I wear the leather pants I had with it. I did as he asked in the meantime. Stay cooped up and play his piano mostly. I clean and scrub the floors. This house is spotless. The only thing I do not touch is whatever he has displayed on the mantle of the fireplace.

Right in the center, a stag skull with tall antlers is perched, and around that are chunks of raw hematite and quartz all on top of a silver silk cloth. Half-melted candlesticks surround the display. It almost reminds me of an altar. I walk over to the window and stare down at the road as far as I can see. Still no Lucinda or Elliot. At this point, I do not know if I am excited to see him or if I am excited to leave these walls. If he even comes back.

Jessilyn stops in front of the window and waves cheerfully at me. I wave back and give her a small smile. Since Elliot has been gone she has been generous to me. She brings me food from when she cooks to be sure I am eating. She checks on me and sits with me for hours talking about absolutely nothing and everything at the same time. It is what I imagine having a friend, aside from Nanny, is like. I have never really had one before. Unless I count Elorri, the friendly girl who delivers the groceries. Sometimes she comes in and chats for a while. Jess pops her head in the front door.

“Good morning sunshine! I have to run to the Port to pick up a few things for Syrafin. Would you care to join me?” She asks brightly.

I frown. “You know Elliot asked me to stay inside.”

“Oh please. Since when do you do what my brother tells you? Besides, Syrafin has been asking about you. She’s worried you might be a little homesick after being cooped up all the time.”

I roll my eyes and look up at Jessilyn. “I mean he should not get too upset if I am with you helping Syrafin, right?”

She grins at me. “That’s the spirit! Now come on!”

I give her a lopsided smile and walk to the door. I put on my shoes and straighten out my shirt dress.

“How are Dawn, Hayden, and Garret?” I ask Jessilyn as I step out of the door to join her.

“They’re driving me mad. Dawn found a gecko and terrorized Hayden with it for the better part of the morning. She is my wild child.” Jessilyn laughs. I chuckle and stare down the road.

“Poor Hayden. I still think he will end up being a scholar rather than a warrior,” I say as we begin our walk to the town square.

“I think you’re right. Who knows, maybe he will figure out our to reverse the mutated beasts,” Jessilyn shrugs.

“That is a poss-” I stop short when a putrid odor wafts over to us. My stomach drops and I gag. “What is that stench?”

Jessilyn looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “I don’t smell anything. Are you okay?”

I swallow hard and breathe out of my mouth instead of my nose.

“I will be fine. Gods that smell is terrible. How do you not smell that?” I look up and see stalls, wagons, and displays of all different wares set up in a huge circle.

There are four entrances to the circle, a crossroads. The road we are on is one of them, the road directly ahead of us leading to what looks to be a bar and some kind of massive copper contraption, a road to the left which leads to the palace in the tree, and to the right which leads to the main gates. The stench I am smelling seemed to only get stronger as we enter the market. There are elves of all shapes and sizes in the market. All of which are still taller than I am. Elders are resting on the benches in the center of the circle and children are running around playing amongst themselves while the adults do their shopping.

There are tall poles all around the square between each vendor with a flowing fabric hanging from them to create shade. The poles are decorated in cloth strips and ribbons in shades of greens and greys. There is a pole in the very center of the circle as well. It almost looks like a huge tent. The first few vendors look to be selling pelts and furs. The next few are selling pottery and beads. The next one is selling a few vegetables. The next thing I notice is the soldiers who are scattered about in their thick leather armor. Jessilyn frowns and stares ahead.

“There are more soldiers than usual.” I glance up at her.

“That means the patrol ran into some trouble. They’re reinforcing the village in case we get attacked.”

I am sorry, what? Attacked? By whom? The closest fae military outpost is a week’s ride by a unicorn.

“Jewelry! Daggers! Buttons! All real iron! The fae won’t know what hit them!” One of the vendors yells as we pass by them.

I cringe and Jessilyn looks down at me, “I don’t recommend touching anything around here. Most of it is iron.”

I look forward and frown. The smell wafts toward me again causing me to gag. The vendor straight ahead of us has a small fire pit set up in front of their stand. They are roasting what looks to be lizards on a spit.

“That is what I smelled. How do you not smell that?” I ask Jessilyn pointing to the lizards.

“That smell bothers you?”

“The smell is making me sick.”

Jessilyn gives me a sideways look. I raise an eyebrow and look around at the different furs on display as we walk by.

“Did you hear the Azizi have migrated beside the Brier beasts? I heard Prince Elliot’s unit is stuck between the two,” an older elven woman says beside us in a hushed tone to another woman.

I look up at Jessilyn again. “What is an Azizi and a brier beast? Do you know something about where Elliot is that I do not?”

“They are both very large, very lethal creatures. I’ve only read reports that they’re ok. They’ve had to change course and go around the two or three times now.” She frowns. She must be worried about Zander.

“I see.”

I stare down to my feet as we continue to walk in the direction of the main gates. Eventually, the buzz of the market and that disgusting smell fade into the distance behind us.

Jessilyn clears her throat to break the silence. “My brother asks about you in his reports.”

“He asks about me? Whatever for?” I raise an eyebrow and look up ahead.

The gates are just ahead of us now. They are much bigger than I remember. They are huge iron and wood gates with guard towers and barracks on either side. Beams are reinforcing the gate from the inside that looks almost like bending trees. The craftsmanship is remarkable. Jessilyn sighs and I look up at her.

“My brother is many things, but heartless isn’t one of them. He cares about you, ya know.”

He cares about me? More like he feels he has an obligation to me.

“Is he- I mean, are they all okay? Alive?” I fidget with my fingers.

“Yes. There have been no casualties so far. They’ve almost reached the border.”

Jessilyn waves at one of the men by the gate and they pull the massive thing open. On the other side, everything is dead. Dead fire grass, dead leaves, dead trees.

We walk in complete and awkward silence for probably an hour before Jessilyn finally sighs again.

“I’m sending them a letter and some medicine tonight. Would you want to send a letter too?”

I frown. “I am not sure he would want a letter from me. We were not exactly on the best terms when he left.”

I squint my eyes and look down the road. I can see people walking around in the distance and the smell of salt in the air becomes thicker.

Finally. The Port Town.

Jessilyn points to a dock in the distance that has makeshift stalls. The dock itself is more like logs tied together by thick ropes. The sludge-like water splashes up between the logs as the dock sways. Two barrels with a piece of plywood on top sit to the left side. The man behind the stall looks too short to be an elf, and the dock looks to be unstable at best.

Jessilyn walks ahead of me and grins at the man when we get to the dock. “Ah, Willie. Did you get Syrafin’s shipment?”

The man grins and points to his ship,” Aye. It’s on the Mistress of the Sea. Do you have yer payment?”

Jess rolls her eyes. “Of course I have your payment. Here.” Jess unties a small brown cloth bag from her belt and hands it to the man. He quickly opens it and grins.

“Ya have too many in here, Jess.”

“I know. Think of it as a thank you for your loyalty,” she says and smiles.

The man nods and tucks the pouch in his pocket. He has a stocky build and a long, white beard braided from his chin to his chest. He walks out from behind the booth and to the fraying rope ladder.

“Willie is a dwarvish smuggler. If it weren’t for him, we would be completely cut off from the rest of the kingdoms of Fyoria. He gets anything we need, for a price.” Jessilyn turns to face me, the dock swaying beneath her.

“I see.”

The water, if you could even call that sludge water, sloshes up the side of the dock. My stomach rolls. I feel almost seasick even though I am still on land. I turn on my heel and take a deep breath. This place is nothing like home. Instead of buildings and colorful shops on a cobblestone street, there are ragged tents and crudely made, sun-bleached vendor stands lining a dirt road. From what I can see, the first few vendors are selling pelts, the next looks to be selling some sort of pottery, the next looks like meat.

It has hares and what looks to be raccoons hanging upside down in front of it by thin brown twine. They are long dead. There aren’t many people aside from the shopkeepers and vendors out. The people I can see are tall, much taller than myself by at least a foot or more, and dressed in leathers and pelts. Their hair is cut short, showing their long pointed ears. Many of them have colorful tattoos going up their arms and piercings on their faces and ears. Many of them also have quite visible jagged scars from what looks to be defensive wounds.

These people have been through a different kind of hell.

“Pleasure doing business with ya again, Jessilyn.” Willie’s voice comes from behind me.

“The pleasure is all mine.” I hear the dock creak under Jessilyn’s steps. I turn around to see her carrying a large wooden crate full of what I think is clear quartz.

“This is Syrafin’s equipment for the medic station. Are you ready to head back?” Jess looks over at me. When she steps off of the dock the crate jostles a little and one of the crystals falls out of the crate.

“Just a moment,” I pick up the crystal and put it back in the crate,” One fell out.”

Jess raises an eyebrow. “Ah, thanks.”

“So this is the Port town?”

“What’s left of it anyway. The vendors here are all highly skilled in combat since they don’t live in the village” Jessilyn looks down at the crate and stops in her tracks. A look of panic crosses her face. “Oh, Gods. I didn’t touch a crystal did I?”

I frown. “No, I picked up the one that fell, remember?” I look up at her. She pauses for a moment and grins at me. “What?”

“Hold out your hand.”

“Okay?”

I hesitantly hold out my hand and Jessilyn puts the crate on the ground beside her. She picks one of the clear crystals up and places it in my hand.

“Wait for it.” She stares at my hand.

“Wait for what?” Swirls of deep purple appear in the center of the crystal.

What the hell?

“That. Congratulations Illiana, you’re pregnant!” She grins at me.

“Excuse me, what?”

I stare at the crystal. The swirls quickly fill the crystal until it completely changes from clear to a milky purple color.

“The reaction the crystal had to you indicates pregnancy. You’re pregnant,” she explains pointing to the crystal in my hand.

“No, no, no, no, no! I cannot be pregnant. We only-” I stop mid-sentence and felt heat rush to my face. “Gods. Does he even want children? Would he want them with me?”

“Stop, Lia. You’re spiraling. Everything will be fine, okay?” Jessilyn puts her hand on my shoulder. “This also explains why you got sick at the market.”

I clutch the crystal tightly in my hand. I have to tell him, right?

I frown and look at Jessilyn. “May I still write to him?” I ask quietly.

“Of course!” She smiles at me and picks up the crate again.

Jessilyn tries to make small talk on the hour walk back to the market. I just stare at the crystal in my hand.

I am pregnant. There is a little life growing in me.

“Can you make it back home by yourself, Illiana?” Jessilyn asks loudly.

“Oh! Yes. I can manage that,” I look up. Jessilyn smiles at me.

“Okay. I will swing by tonight to pick up your letter.”

“Okay, I will have it ready to go.” I nod at her and begin my walk alone.

The walk to Elliot’s is silent, leaving me to my thoughts.

Pregnant, huh. I guess it is just you and me, little one.

That evening I sit on the couch and stare down at the parchment and quill in front of me. How do I address him?

Elliot,

I hope this letter replaces you in good health. We are well here. Since you have left, something has happened. Whether this is good news or bad, I will let you decide. I am pregnant.

Your wife,

Illiana

I fold the paper around the purple crystal and bind it with a piece of twine I found in the kitchen. I look up and out of the window. A full moon. I hope it brings him luck. Wherever he is.