Aliel

Chapter 8

As soon as we emerged from the tent there was loud cheering coming from a large crowd of elves that were gathered there. Chataya held up his hands for silence.

"I'm afraid there has been no bonding as of yet. But we shall all be patient, and accept into our clan Claresa of Splethantown when she is ready. I am sure that she thanks you for the welcome she has already received. It will be announced when the bonding is to be performed."

I expected some disappointed sounds to come from the assembled elves, but none of them said a word. Some turned to go, while others came forward and touched the hand that wasn't trapped in Lorien's, just like before. We waited until they'd finished, then Chataya turned to me, his blue eyes kind.

"I hope you will think about all we've told you. If you have more questions that either Lorien or Varen cannot answer for you, you are always welcome to come here."

"Thank you, Chataya."

"You're most welcome. And now I must bid you good day." He squeezed my hand, and did the same with Lorien and Varen. Maybe it was some sort of elven greeting and farewell custom. I supposed I would have to get used to it.

Chataya went back into the giant tent, and Varen led us back the way we'd come. She walked a few yards ahead of us, and I wondered why when Lorien spoke from his place beside me.

"I knew Varen would make a good shapar. She has a way of knowing when people need some space and a little time to talk. You don't mind, do you? Usually we would pick the shapar together, someone we both knew, but, obviously, we didn't know any of the same people. And then when I told everyone what happened, well... there was a lot of confusion, and then the rituals, which kept me from seeing you, and by that time it was certain about the Alushaliel, so I had to choose before I could go find you, because, you know, we couldn't be alone together, so-"

"Lorien, could you please just... slow down a little?" He blinked at me, then looked at the ground sheepishly.

"Forgive me, I... I'm just excited, I suppose."

"My human brain is just a bit too slow for you, that's all," I said, only half joking. I was feeling immensely inferior and out of my depth next to this flawlessly gorgeous elf, who by some strange magic wanted me to marry him.

He stopped abruptly, pulling me to a halt as well. I wondered what I had said wrong. I had to tilt my head back all the way so I could see his eyes, which were staring intensely back at me.

"Don't sell yourself short like that," he said softly. "I can see that you're intelligent, anyone can see that. I just need to learn to explain myself better." He looked into my eyes for a moment more, then we continued walking. We were silent for a while, then Lorien spoke again.

"So... do you mind if Varen is our shapar?"

"Oh, no, no, I don't mind... What exactly does a shapar do?"

"Well, their main duty is to make sure that Aliels do not have... inappropriate relations before the bonding."

"And bonding is like marriage?"

"Yes, exactly." I thought back to how all of the elves were waiting for us to emerge from the tent.

"It seemed that everyone was waiting just to hear about it. Is that normal?"

"A bonding is a very special event in every elf's life. Many try to be at any bonding they can. Also, there is the fact that you're human... and my position might have contributed to so many wanting to witness it."

"Your position?"

"Uh... my father is sort of the, uh... ruler of our clan. We call it Vale-zrah, but I believe your word for it is king." Now it was my turn to halt our walk.