The Solitary Arrow Ch. 16
Harlen smiled out his front bedroom window, watching the sunset. The fiery reds and oranges reflected from the high clouds reminding him of Hyandaiâs hair. He glanced over his shoulder at her.
Hyandai lay sleeping soundly, still tired from her ordeal the night before. What does this night hold for them? Harlen wondered. Will it be a simple night of peace and quiet, a chance to rest after a harrowing journey through the mountains and evening of sheer terror and heartbreak? Or would it hold equally dark happenings?
A small group of half a dozen town watchmen patrolled past his home, casting wary eyes toward the little house back among the trees. Word spreads fast in Morrovale, and everyone, by now, knew of the incident the night previous.
Several of Harlenâs friends, fellow huntsmen, had stopped by to offer their assistance in protecting his home. He thanked them heartily, but declared that it was his problem to deal with, and that he would take care of his issues. They hesitantly accepted his declaration and moved on, leaving word to summon them if need be.
For the first time ever, he had a lock on his doors, and the windows were now bolted shut on the ground floor. Harlen sighed at the ironic necessity of these precautions. He was fortifying his own home, and against elven folk.
He glanced over his shoulder again, this time not at the beautiful woman who graced his life and his bed, but at the elegantly deadly weapon beneath that bed, peering out where Hyandai could reach it if needed.
That weapon, the Ehladrel of her clan, was the cause of his woes, or so it came into his own mind. The sooner they were rid of it, the sooner Harlen could go about his simple, but pleasant life. As much as Harlen loved Hyandai, and longed for the sublime pleasures offered by her exotic, inhuman beauty and appetites, he wished for a sense of normalcy, as well.
The sun was now gone, and the last glimmerings of the clouds were lying upon the edge of the horizon, themselves. Night belonged to the elves, he knew, and to orcs. These recent events were beginning to make him not care for any of the night-eyed kin of man. He studied the shadows beneath the trees across the lane, and tried to plumb their inky depths.
Turning from the window, he moved to the stairs and down. Trevir was curled upon the couch, a thin blanket over him as he read in the book Harlen had borrowed from his friend. It was a book about elves, a study of sorts, penned long ago. The lad was not a fast reader, as the huntsman had taught him the art of reading and writing, and Harlen, himself, was not terribly adept at those arts.
âMaster Harlen?â Trevir asked as the huntsman padded past.
Harlen paused, looking at the youth. âYes, Trevir?â He responded.
âWhat does âaloof and enigmaticâ mean?â Trevir asked, paging back in the book a few pages and pointing to part of a passage there.
A weak smile crossed Harlenâs face. âIt means they appear to hold themselves above baser things in the world and their intentions are not easy to understand.â He replied.
Trevir nodded. âLady Hyandai doesnât seem either of those things.â He said, looking at the book with a dubious eye.
A low chuckle came from Harlenâs chest. âNo, she does not.â He said. âShe seems neither aloof, nor enigmatic. Well, maybe a tiny bit enigmatic. But certainly not aloof.â
Trevir closed the book and sat up. He was still wearing his clothes, and Harlen also noted his bow and long knife were near to hand. He did not approve of weapons being kept about the home, but he could not say much, with the broadsword and large knives he was now wearing, belted to his waist.
âThe book says that elves are mostly good.â Trevir said, looking at Harlen. âBut those two, last night, would have killed us and Miss Hyandai just to get a magic weapon from her?â
Harlen nodded. âMost elves are very likely very good.â He said. âBut, just like humans, they have bad people among them.â
Trevir said. âI would not be able to live with myself if I had slain a good person last night.â
âNor I, and thatâs why you are a good man.â Harlen responded. âNow, let us good men drink a beer and think on things.â He said, heading for the kitchen.
Trevir grinned and walked behind him. Harlen hauled on the rope that suspended the beer keg down the cold-pit. He drew them each a tall beer, then sat at the little kitchen table.
âTrevir, Hyandai and I will be leaving for her lands tomorrow or the next day.â Harlen said. âI wish for you to remain here. But, as before, if we do not return in a month, go to Tammer. He has instructions on how to tend to your needs in my name.â
Trevir nodded. âOf course, sir.â He said, though his eyes did not like this talk of not returning. âIs it really that dangerous?â
Harlen shrugged. âIt could be, the people of Hyandaiâs folk that are against her returning the weapon to her clan will be there, as well, Iâm sure.â He said. âI donât expect them to take its coming home lightly, nor without resistance. I only hope that we come across elves loyal to her clan before coming across the traitors.
âYou should let me come.â Trevir said, smiling. âOne more set of eyes, and another bow canât hurt.â
âI wish I could.â Harlen responded. âBut Hyandai insists that her people will only accept me accompanying her, since I am her betrothed.â
âWhy do they dislike us so?â Trevir asked, his expression somewhat hurt.
Harlen thought a long moment. âI donât think they dislike us, as a whole, at all. They are feel both superior and afraid at the same time.â Harlen explained. âElves are terrified humanity will extinguish them. At the same time, they think that humanity has much maturing to do before being regarded as equals to the firstborn.â
âBut, we donât wish to kill them.â The lad said, a touch defensively.
Harlen laughed at that. âWe donât have to try, Trevir.â He said. âWe can do great harm without any effort at all. We are simply too numerous and too acquisitive for them to resist us if they give us even a small opportunity.â
Harlen took a long pull on his beer. âBut enough of such depressing thoughts.â He finally said. âHyandai suspects that you might have been going out earlier to see a young lady friend. Is this so?â
Trevirâs face turned bright pink. âI suppose so, yes.â He said, smiling broadly. âIt wasnât anything, really. Master Hemdan, the baker, has given me leave to court his daughter, in their home, of course.â
Harlen, with a supreme effort, kept his face deadly serious. âAnd this daughterâs name?â
Trevirâs eyes changed subtly, and Harlen could see the change, and knew itâs meaning well. âNaomi.â Trevir finally said.
âA lovely name.â Harlen said. âA lovely girl?â
Trevir nodded enthusiastically. âOne of the prettiest in Morrovale. Maybe almost as pretty as Miss Hyandai.â
Harlenâs eyes widened. âThat pretty?â He said. âThen you are a keen-eyed huntsman, indeed.â
The girl was known to Harlen, despite his probing questions. Most people in Morrovale knew one another. She was a pretty young lass, and quite a good baker, herself, if her father was to be believed. However, she had struck Harlen as a bit pushy, and spoiled. If Trevir liked her, though, then it was a blessed thing.
As word of the attack had spread around town, also word of Trevirâs part in thwarting it and in saving Hyandaiâs very soul from leaving her fallen body. His status in town had leaped that day, and he was, for a time, a young hero. The huntsman minded not in the least the accolades and praise heaped upon the youth. He knew it would be short-lived, but it was well deserved, as well. So long as his transgressions were minor, the lad would be hard-pressed to do wrong for a couple of weeks.
As Harlen sat the mug in the sink and Trevir, too finished off his beer. Harlen felt its effect taking hold of him, and he was becoming drowsy.
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LADIES IN NUDE
Russian Brides
LADIES IN NUDE
Russian Brides
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