Love & War
Chapter 6

Illiana

A brier beast? What?

Elliot tells me to close my eyes and I do. What I am not expecting, however, is the awful sound of something tearing. Screaming. Cursing. Obscene comments.

Is this still my life? Is this something I must become accustomed to here as well?

Elliot pulling me tightly to his chest snaps me out of my thoughts. He says something under his breath and pulls me back to the Elven camp. I nearly trip over my foot trying to keep up with his long strides.

“You can open your eyes now. I just hope you’re not squeamish at the sight of blood. That stupid dragon scum. Grabbing my wife? Ha!”

I take a breath and open my eyes. Elliot’s face is blood-spattered. As are his clothes. Droplets are still falling from his axe as well. I look back over my shoulder to the faerie camp. I feel nauseous. Selkie servants and a magi are all gathered around Prince Trey. I can barely see him. They look frenzied. My heart skips a beat and suddenly breathing becomes a chore.

“What did you do?” I gasp.

Do not say you did this. Please do not say you did this.

“He dared to disrespect and touch my wife so he lost his arm up to his elbow. I think it was a just punishment.”

Well, that was quick. My stomach turns.

“You cut off his arm because he t-touched me?”

“I just said that, yes.”

He is not even looking at me. He is wiping the blood off of his axe with a rag. A chill runs down my spine.

Because he touched me? That is a bit much, is it not? Not that I will say that to the Banamaðr. Will he mutilate me too if I step out of line? What have I done?

Suddenly the air itself is suffocating.

“Are you okay, Kona?” He looks up at me.

Kona?

“I am fine, Maður.” He grins at me. His dazzling smile is a beautiful trap if ever I have seen one.

Is lying the smartest way to stay alive or keep my limbs?

“Come, Illiana. Let me get you home,” he says as he whistles loudly in the direction of the dead forest.

Seconds later one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen gallops to us. It looks like a unicorn, but different from the ones of the Fae Kingdom. This one is a black and white painted unicorn with an amethyst jewel-colored horn. Father’s are just white with silver horns. No wonder he is so desperate to breed them. Elliot places his hand on my lower back and I tense up. I do not mean to, it just happened. He does not seem to notice though.

“Illiana this is Lucinda, my companion. Be careful, She’s not usually very-”

Lucinda interrupts him by approaching me. I reach my hand up and she lowers her head. Her nose is soft. Now that she is closer to me I can see her eyes are the same amethyst as her horn. She is gorgeous.

“Well, I’ll be damned. I’m glad to see my two girls get along,” he laughs.

There is a shriek from behind us and Elliot’s smile falls. I feel a knot forming in my chest.

“Let’s go, Kona. You don’t need to see that foolishness.”

I am not quite sure when he got on Lucinda or when he pulled me up in front of him. Everything happened so quickly, it is a blur. The knot in my chest just gets bigger.

“Are you okay?” Elliot whispers into my ear.

“Yes,” I breathe.

I lean back into his chest and take a deep breath. This starts my new life. In hostile territory. The dead forest is, well, dead. There is no moss or leaves. Only dust swirling around Lucinda’s hooves. Dead leaves were mostly rotting surrounding the tall, dead trees. The eerie quiet just really gives me the creeps.

“I know it’s not exactly what you’re used to, Kona, but I do hope that in time you will come to think of it as home,” Elliot says.

I do not want to look up at him. I do not want to acknowledge any of this. I just want peace. Freedom. Things I know that I will never have. The longer we ride, the more my legs ache. How long has it been? We rode straight through midday at least.

“Would it be possible to take a break to stretch my legs? This is my first time on a unicorn.”

Maybe if I change the subject he will drop the act. He knows as well as I do that this marriage is not about love. It’s about war. Or should I say trying to prevent a massive one?

“Whoa! We will take a short break to regroup!”

Elliot’s voice booms out from behind me. All of the other elven warriors and the elven King dismount gracefully. The man with the red beard and stag breastplate stays on his. He is intently staring over at Elliot and me. I bite my lip and look at my hands.

This is a bad idea. A very bad idea.

Elliot dismounts and holds out his hand offering to help me off of Lucinda. I place my hand in his. My dismount is not as graceful as his seemed to be. As soon as my feet meet the dirt, I lose my balance and stumble into him. He grips my hand and helps me again. I do not dare to look at him.

“Thank you.”

I am not completely lying when I say my legs hurt. My thighs are throbbing. It is a dull ache. I am not sure if it is from riding Lucinda or last night’s events with Elliot. I can feel a blush creeping to my face just thinking about it.

“Are you ok, Princess?” He still has not let go of my hand. I frown to myself and stand completely still.

“Yes. I am quite alright.”

There is nothing but dead and decaying things all around me. I hope this is not foreshadowing my future in this place. I bite my lip and shift my weight to my left leg. Elliot finally lets go of my hand.

“It will get cold soon. Stay close to me, Illiana. There are dangerous beasts in this wood.” I think I am married to the most dangerous beast of them all.

“Sir! Sir! The King requests your presence as well as your wife’s, Prince Elliot.”

I look over to Elliot and there is another elf bowing in front of him. He looks younger than Elliot. Barely an adult, though I am not one to speak. Elliot turns to face me. He raises an eyebrow and walks over to me. I am frozen in place. He lifts his hand and gently brushes a hair out of my face.

“Theos! Your face is cold already. Why did you not say anything?”

“Oh is it? If I am being honest, I did not notice.”

That is not a lie. He frowns and unclasps the button on his cloak before wrapping it around me and pulling the hood up. It’s warm around me and it smells like him. I feel my heart pound in my chest so quickly it hurts to breathe.

Is he taking care of me?

“Is that better, Illiana?” He tilts my chin up with his finger.

“Y-yes. I am not feeling c-cold.”

Gods strike me down. How embarrassing! Not only did I make the group stop for a rest, but I also can not seem to communicate effectively anymore. What is this man doing to me?

“When you feel uncomfortable I need you to tell me so that I can accommodate your needs. I don’t know what limitations a fae has.”

“Understood.”

I stare into his hazel eyes for a moment before I blink and look away from him. He moves his finger and holds out his arm.

“My father has requested our presence. Shall we?” I nod and take his arm.

Even though I have his cloak, he still radiates heat. He pauses for a moment and I swear I hear him chuckle. Can he hear my heart beating?

Is this love or is this anxiety? Stupid question. It is one hundred percent anxiety.

I hold onto Elliot’s arm and we make our way around several soldiers to the King. King Gabriel has a hand on his gut and his head is tilted back laughing. Syrafin stands in front of him smiling over at us. I just want to make myself disappear.

“Oh, child. No matter how closely you nestle into his arm, we still see you. Anywho, I was just telling Gabe here about something from the past.”

King Gabriel smiles and looks over at us as well. “Hello, Princess Illiana. You really are the spitting image of your mother, you know.”

“Ah, yes, so I have been told.” I force a smile to my face.

“It is a shame what happened to her. Anyway, I just wanted to let you both know that I have sent word to the village of your marriage.” I feel Elliot’s muscles tense.

“You did what?” He sounds angry. I just want to disappear.

“I sent word to the village. Don’t be daft, son. You knew it was going to happen sooner or later and this way your sister won’t beat you for not telling her. I know you’re thinking about your wife’s safety so I did not say her race or title. Just her name. Illiana Cottonwood.”

King Gabriel smiles over at me. Illiana Cottonwood. Gods it sounds so foreign. It does not sound like my name at all.

Elliot frowns and looks down at me. “There are some who will not want to accept you. Some believe the elven race is the superior race. I promise I will protect you from them as well. The monsters outside and in.”

What? Elven supremacists? Is that something that exists? I do not even know what to say to that. The sad thing is, it does not surprise me. So I just nod and look anywhere but at my husband. My husband. Gods that is weird too.

“Elly welly yer wife is shakin’ like a leaf! We oughtta get goin’.” Syrafin smiles at me. I nod.

Am I shaking? Huh. I guess I am.

Elliot wraps his arm around me and looks at King Gabriel. “Father.”

King Gabriel nods before Elliot pulls me in the direction of Lucinda. I feel eyes on me again. I focus on the ground in front of my feet. Elliot pulls me closer to him.

“Do not fear, my wife. They are curious is all. You wear my cloak and are my wife. The village will be mostly the same.”

I sigh. “Oh. I see.” Elliot squeezes my shoulder a little.

Is he trying to reassure me?

My legs ache more at the thought of riding Lucinda. I do not know how much longer I can tolerate it. Elliot gracefully mounts and lifts me with ease and sits me in front of him. I keep my back straight and try not to lean on him. Elliot lowers his face to right behind my right ear. His hot breath sends goosebumps down my spine.

“We will be meeting my group of soldiers at the midway point soon. You have no reason to fear. They are your people now too.”

I do not respond to him. Elliot straightens up and holds the reigns a little tighter. I focus on my hands. I rub small circles on my left hand with my right thumb.

Why am I so anxious?

I feel the urge to vomit with each gallop. I did not realize how quickly it became dark in this kingdom. It is pitch black in a matter of hours and Elliot seems to be on high alert for something I can not see. I hear gurgled howls coming from the dead forest to the left of us and some rustling movement that sounds like a rock pile collapsing to the right.

Elliot does not calm down until daylight. I hear his breath of relief but for what? The only relief I need is to get off of Lucinda again. Elliot’s arms relax around me after a while. I look up and see a group of ten to fifteen elven warriors. They are all in reddish-brown leather armor. I raise an eyebrow and look up at Elliot. He is grinning and looks ahead at the man leading the group. He is riding a brown speckled unicorn with an emerald-looking horn. He looks tall and slim. He has sandy blonde hair braided back out of his face. He is grinning at Elliot and raises an eyebrow at me. He knows him.

“Zander! I didn’t know you were on patrol today! Theos am I glad you are!” Elliot laughs. I have never heard him laugh before.

Zander stops in front of us.

“Well of course. Jess insisted I lead today with the meeting and all. How did that go? And who is this?” He gestures to me.

Elliot shifts in the saddle behind me.

“This is my wife, Illiana. Illiana, this is my brother-in-law and best friend Zander. He’s married to my sister Jessilyn. You’ll meet her later too.”

I look up at Zander. He does not even try to hide the look of shock on his face.

“I’m sorry...what?”

“This is my wife.”