Elora Danan

Chapter 2

"So what have you got, Martigan? What plan have you come up with for his escape?" The older of the two men said, his voice demanding. He had a gray beard and wore a very distinguished military coat in royal blue. The Royals were an ally for her father's armistice but never before had Elora seen one of the soldiers in her home.

"I have a plan, and it is my first priority to free your knight. But I first need your complete cooperation. You see, General, this touches me on a very personal level. This band of miscreants, these warriors who have kidnapped Airc, have proposed something which puts me, not as a General, but as a man, in a very difficult position, so much so that I will no doubt be declining it. The information that they have on me is trifling and unimaginably manipulative. I, for one, am unable to understand how they have found out so much of my personal life, but this has to come to an end..."

Elora listened with baited breath, what could it be that her father was talking about that would touch him on such a private level? Holding her breath, she anticipated his explanation and kept listening...

"What these barbarians have demanded is for me to give up my one and only daughter for the release of your knight. There is no condition or premise that would ever force me to do so and therefore no possible fathoming that I can give them what they want."

For a moment, Elora's senses were so heightened she thought she heard the miniature babbling brook through the stone walls and out past the castle's acre towards the woods. Had she heard correctly? These warriors wanted her? WHY?! Her heart pounded and she looked confused and felt frightened, yet her curiosity outweighed her fear. She saw her mother clasp her father's hand down below and a look of dread formed on both of their faces. It was all Elora could do to keep quiet and listen further.

"But, Martigan, why? Why do they want your daughter? Surely they will not expect you to give them her!" The bearded man said.

"Of course I would never. The reason they want her is not to do with any of us. You see, General, my daughter is not of my blood, nor is she of my wife's. We took her in when she was a small baby and we became her parents because we wanted to..."

Elora's ears seemed to shut off, and yet heighten every sound that touched them. Her father had just said something that hadn't sunk in properly.

Time stopped for a brief moment and she understood why Mare had tried to keep her locked up. She knew why her mother had given Mare such strict orders about listening to the meeting. She had a flashback to a moment when she was very young and she fell off her horse. She was badly injured and her father rushed her to the doctor. The doctor assured her she had good genes and she would recover. She didn't get better, but only worsened after one week. She felt ill and disappointed she hadn't used her father's good genes to recover. She remembered her father being there with her, but his look was not of disappointment but of worry...

Suddenly she felt two hands clasp her shoulders and straighten her out. She opened her eyes to see her father in front of her. Without saying anything, he brought her downstairs and sat her on the couch beside her mother who held her.

"Elora, we are sorry we didn't tell you this before," was all she heard her mother say.

"Gentlemen, could you excuse us for a moment?" Her father asked, and the men stood up and walked out of the room.

"Honey," her mother began, "what exactly did you hear?"

"That I am not your real daughter," Elora managed to get out. "How could you not have told me this earlier!!!? And to my face?!" She cried, turning over to anger.

"Elora, you are our daughter no matter what and you always have been. But this part of your life is something graver; something complicated which will leave many questions in your head that your mother and I may not be able to answer," said her father. "We were waiting until you turned of age, which is next month."

"Are you alright, Elora?" Her mother said, after her daughter was silent for a few moments.

"Yes," she nodded, feeling much better. "I'm alright, but now that I know, I want to know everything."

Sorsha looked at Martigan and exchanged worried looks.

"What?!" Elora cried, incredulously. "You must tell me now! I want to know why someone wants to trade me for a prisoner I don't know, and what the truth is about where I've come from."

"How much did you hear of the conversation, Elora?" Her father asked, more seriously but never raising his voice.

"All of it."

"You shouldn't have been listening, but since you already know, we shall continue. I am sorry you had to hear the news this way," her father said and stood up.

"Are you alright now, honey?" Her mother asked again when they were alone while Martigan fetched his visitors. Elora nodded and after a few moments, Martigan had returned with the two gentlemen.

"Vlad, Robert, this is my daughter Elora. She will be joining us from now on," Martigan said as they were all seated. On closer view of these men, Elora could get a better look at them. The older one, Vlad, was not as old as she imagined, but his beard made him appear so. He was probably as old as her father. He was larger than her father, and Elora imagined that Vlad did not do as much battle as him. She remembered how injuries were the first step to losing one's ability to fight and wondered if this was Vlad's case. The other man, Robert, was a lot younger than she had thought. He was probably several years older than her. He had short wavy dark hair, but it reached down to his chin level. His nose was very pronounced and his face appeared gaunt, like he was worrying constantly and not sleeping much. Still, he was attractive and unlike any young man from town Elora had ever seen. He wore the same suit as Vlad, but it seemed to fit him much better, tighter around the chest and stomach and she could see that he was probably in training to be a warrior or was one himself. Elora smiled and then turned her eyes somewhere else while her father continued to speak.

"So, as I was saying, there is no way I am giving up my daughter to free Airc," her father said, and held Elora's hand a little tighter. Elora developed a worried look on her face, but continued listening silently.

"I apologize for saying this, but what do you propose we do if the Bavmordians do not get what they want? I completely comprehend and would behave the same way you are, if it were my choice to give up my child, but it is my son who has been taken and he will surely die," Vlad said. So Airc was Vlad's son, Elora thought, piecing the puzzle together. The look of concern for Airc also appeared on Robert's face, and Elora wondered if he was Vlad's son as well.