Aliel

Chapter 28

Life in Valenass was peaceful, and the days, weeks, and months passed in almost complete idleness. The only way I knew any large amount of time had passed was the swelling of my stomach as my child continued to grow.

One of the only things I could do to occupy my time was taking walks around Valenass (which Lorien didn't really like me doing by myself) and cook. I prepared every meal I knew, spending more time than was needed to prepare and serve it. I'm sure that the elves got tired of some of my favorites.

A she-elf with gray eyes came by daily to replenish the pantry, but she didn't seem eager to talk. The most conversation I received were from Meren. She came by every day to see how I was. The first few days she made sure I had new, elven clothing made for myself, then she would accompany me on my walks so Lorien wouldn't worry about me getting lost. She told me all about the history of the elven city, and the distant members of the Vale-line which had ruled here since its founding.

It was all quite fascinating, but I was hopeless in remembering all the names, and it was such a long time ago it seemed almost like legend to hear all the feats of the various rulers.

I asked her about the current Vale-zrah, her Aliel, but didn't gain any insight into his behavior towards me on that first day when I arrived, and his continued indifference to my presence in Valenass. She only said he had a lot on his mind, and many tasks to accomplish. Lorien was often gone as well, in council about the war or sending and receiving reports about the East Elven Forces. From what I gathered, such was the life of an elf of the Vale-line.

Varen had been given an assignment to travel throughout all of the East Elven Clan and gather the lone elves for the war. She was gone for weeks at a time, but when she returned to Valenass she always visited me. Whenever I asked about news of the war she never gave me a straight answer. Neither did Lorien. This worried me more than anything else. I had a lot of time to myself to worry and contemplate.

Most days I wondered what was happening in the world outside. I worried about Renai and Adeem. Had Adeem been conscripted into the Halet Army again? Was Renai all alone, working day in and day out to earn enough money to stay ahead of the tax requirements? I felt guilty for leaving her when those thoughts entered my mind. If I had stayed I might have been of some use to her. Here I felt like a waste of space. A pet, to be fed and walked, but that had no real purpose beyond growing a child.

I also worried, and became paranoid, about the reasons behind keeping me in the dark about the war. Was it bad? Gruesome? I had no qualms about that. I'd been subjected to stories and images my whole life. My father had come back from war horribly maimed, after all.

Back in Splethantown, you always knew when someone had received news of a loved-one's death. Mourning was not a private affair. I always felt sorry for the families, but thought it better that they should know than have it hidden from them. I knew that elves thought and behaved differently than humans. Maybe they thought I didn't really want or need to know. Maybe they thought they were protecting me.

Or maybe they were protecting themselves. What if Lorien and Varen had gone back on our agreement? What if they had shared their ideas about training up my child to fight the elf-human hybrid? And now they were just biding their time until my baby was born, waiting to whisk it away for vigorous instruction in magical combat?

I talked myself out of these thoughts on a daily basis. My Aliel would not do that to me. He would not betray me or our child. He and Varen had given me their word, and I believed them.

But it didn't stop ideas from floating around my head, in both waking and sleeping hours. I began having nightmares of elves in silver masks breaking into our home, and stealing me away to some secret place. Sometimes the person behind the kidnapping was Lorien, sometimes Varen. Once it was Meren, and the dream version of her went on for at least half an hour on how my child would save the entire world from utter destruction. As my pregnancy neared its end, the dreams changed. I had already given birth, and the elves came for my helpless infant. I would be in hysterics, trying to follow the kidnappers and get my baby back.

I would always fail.

One night, after a particularly upsetting nightmare, in which Lorien himself handed my baby over to a strange elf with black pits for eyes, I snuck out of our bedroom, leaving a sleeping Lorien, and went out for a walk to calm myself. I still could not get used to the fact that it was light outside at all hours of the day. The Vale-jor sparkled beautifully up above, and the tall grass that lined the path I walked swayed gently in the breeze. I kept expecting elves to be walking along the same paths as me, but they were all asleep like my Aliel. I was alone. Alone with my fears.

What if my worries were real? Could I hope to stand against one elf, let alone the entire clan, if they believed my child was the answer? No matter how many times these thoughts ran through my head, I could not find a solution. I could not leave Valenass, especially not in my condition. I was close to delivering my baby. My stomach had grown incredibly round and cumbersome, and even my leisurely walks sometimes left me breathing raggedly when I returned home. I was tiring already, just a few hundred feet away from the elven house where my Aliel was sleeping.

I paused for a moment beside a stone well that I always passed on my usual route. Leaning my back against it, I rubbed my stomach absentmindedly, debating on if I should go back and try to get just a little more sleep, or if I should continue. Suddenly, the baby kicked rather forcefully up into my rib.

"Ow," I complained softly. "Sorry, little one, do you want me to keep going?" I winced as the baby kicked again, and I tried rubbing my stomach some more to calm it.

Then I heard something strange. A sort of... cracking sound. Then a shadow fell over me, and I looked up.