The Do'Urden Brothers

Chapter 17

"What is this?" Enariel demanded as Chandrelle secured the reins on Ver'rumeth, her white doe. It had been a number of weeks since the visitors arrived and Chandrelle had eagerly spent the time preparing for her journey south.

"I'm sure you'll be more than happy to resume my duties here," Chandrelle said calmly without looking up as the elf came into the stables, no doubt to confront her about her departure. "After all, you covet them."

"I can't believe you are running off on this fool's errand," Enariel protested as he appeared just beyond Ver'rumeth, flanking the doe between himself and Chandrelle. "With dark elves no less. Have you gone mad?"

"I will let Lord Sundomar know you think of his errands as foolish," Chandrelle responded as she glanced up to meet his eyes. His brilliant green eyes narrowed as he fixed her with a look of judgment.

Chandrelle sighed as she paused in her preparations to give him more attention. She and the younger elf had had a rocky relationship ever since she had arrived in the High Forest. He was young and ambitious and resented an outsider being promoted as captain of the guard over him. And yet, Chandrelle was no fool, she knew that Enariel desired her.

Such desire could never be. Chandrelle once entertained indulging in the lust that this warrior promised, but she held her heart in check. After all, she was never meant to stay despite her initial reluctance when Sundomar first proposed she join Legolas's quest.

She was a wanderer. She was as flighty as a bird, never staying in one place for long. She had accepted her duty as captain with dignity, but she knew it would be a temporary position. It was only the job she held while she lived in this place.

But the open road called to her. And as she glanced at the lute that she had strapped to her pack, she remembered that she was, in truth, no warrior. Not in the traditional sense anyway. She could use a bow and a sword well enough, but her true heart lay in music and the magic that she could weave with her song. She was a bard.

"Why did you even come here in the first place?" Enariel asked. Chandrelle couldn't help but feel guilty when she heard the hurt in his voice. "To raise false hope in all that meet you?"

"I came because my road led me here," Chandrelle said simply. She finished packing, securing her pack and her precious lute to her mount and walked around to stand before Enariel. He turned to regard her. "I never intended to create false hope. You can't understand. You've lived in this place all your life. Maybe one day you will choose the road too."

"I have all I need here," Enariel scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest. "Lord Sundomar should have chosen wiser in appointing one so flighty as his captain."

"He understood my position was temporary," Chandrelle said with a shrug. Sensing the feelings of betrayal and the pain of unrequited feelings, she reached out and gripped his shoulder. "Perhaps our paths will meet again."

"Unlikely," Enariel replied, bitterness etched into his voice as he stepped away. "Go on your quest then."

Enariel turned and stormed out of the stable, as he did so, he nearly collided with Legolas as the elf stepped inside, along with Ky'lor. Enrariel paused long enough to fix Legolas with the most contemptuous scowl he could muster.

"You should have never come here," he growled before shoving past him. "You had no right to come here and disrupt our lives."

Chandrelle shrugged as Legolas watched the elf storm off before he and Ky'lor approached her. "I apologize for that," she offered. "Youth often causes foolishness."

"It was not my intention to disrupt your lives here," Legolas replied. He glanced at the white doe admirably. "What a magnificent beast."

Chandrelle smiled and patted the deer on the side of the neck. "She and I have been companions for countless years," she explained. "I call her Ver'rumeth."