The Remembered (Elements II)

Chapter 19

Even Caoilha noticed her distraction the next day, and urged her to go out. She refused at first.

“Mistress Nahara,” Caoilha finally said firmly. “Go on. The lord doesn’t need you today, and you’re distracted. Go for a ride.”

The young woman shook her head. “I can’t,” she said softly. Caoilha was the only one she had told. The elemental sighed, and came over to her, standing at the window in the dining room.

“Nahara,” she said softly. “One way or another, you need to go out again.”

Nahara shook her head, mute.

“I’ll come with you.”

That startled Nahara, and she turned to stare at her companion. “But you’re tied to this land. You can’t leave it.”

“I can if I’m with you.”

“What? How?”

Caoilha shrugged. “Something your father did. I am your companion, Mistress Nahara. What use am I if I’m not with you?”

Nahara took a deep breath, and held out her hands to the older woman. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice threatening to break. “For everything.”

The elemental smiled slightly. “Find your courage, Nahara,” she said quietly. “You will need it if you’re going to continue with Dvalin.”

Nahara jolted, surprised. “What do you mean?” She could feel herself going slightly red.

“I’ve seen what you’ve done to him. He is mellowing out, Nahara. You’re good for him.”

“There’s nothing!” Nahara protested. “I haven’t done anything. He hates me!”

“Of course he does. He doesn’t know anything else.”

Nahara sighed, feeling drained. She didn’t want to move. Caoilha put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Come, Mistress. We’ll go for a wander. Nothing will go wrong.”

“How do you know?” Nahara challenged in a whisper.

“I don’t. But I will be there, Mistress. And I am an elemental. No one who values their life angers us.”

Again, the young woman took a deep breath, and tried to still her shaking hands. “Thank you,” she repeated. “Can you…?”

Caoilha nodded. “I will,” she said softly, and left the room. Nahara stayed where she was for a while, staring out of the window. She didn’t know what to think. Her thoughts kept returning to what Dvalin had told her the night before. She had the feeling that he hadn’t told her everything, but she couldn’t blame him. He still hated her. And that was what confused her.

She finally moved, and made her way downstairs to the courtyard, where Caoilha had her mare, waiting.

As they rode, Nahara tried to sort out her thoughts. Caoilha only waited patiently in silence, knowing that she would talk eventually. And she was right.

“Caoilha, have you ever…had feelings for anyone?” Nahara waited apprehensively, unsure why exactly she had asked the question. The elemental nodded.

“Yes.”

Nahara blinked, and bowed her head. She wasn’t sure how to ask what she wanted to know. Caoilha glanced at her, amused.

“He returns them. We have plans, for when I am freed.”

“You’re not worried?”

“No. We have long lives, Nahara. We are still children, in the grand scheme of things. There is no rush.”

“Oh.” Nahara worried her lip, unconsciously guiding her mare down the path.

“What do you want to know, un bach? I can’t answer if you don’t ask.”

Nahara smiled briefly. “I…I don’t really know,” she confessed, and hesitantly told her companion what Dvalin had told her. “I can’t shake the feeling that he was going to say something more,” she finished. “But…I don’t know if he stopped because he hates me, or…”

“He doesn’t hate you,” Caoilha told her bluntly. “At least, not as much as before. I said before, Nahara. You’ve changed him.”

“How?” Nahara looked at the elemental, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“I know.” Caoilha turned her horse off the path, and after a slight hesitation, Nahara followed her. They came out at the lake, where they hobbled the horses and let them graze. Caoilha walked to the edge of the water, and Nahara caught the look of longing in her eyes before she turned away.

“You miss your home?”

“I don’t know it, Nahara. Like many of us enslaved here, I was born here. I know only my mother’s memories.”

Nahara put a hesitant hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“There’s nothing that can be done. Until you are lady of your own home, and taken care of, I cannot be freed.”

“Why?” Nahara was horrified.

“It was the price my mother had to pay to keep me alive. If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here now.” The fire elemental shrugged, glancing at Nahara. “There’s no point in worrying about the past, Nahara. Nothing can change it.”

Nahara sighed. “Even if I asked Father…?” she whispered. Caoilha shook her head.

“He is bound by the agreement, as am I. I can wait.”

Not knowing what to say, Nahara scuffed her foot in the soft sand.

“Nahara, what Dvalin said…he didn’t break off because he wants to frighten you.”

“Then why?” Nahara muttered, not looking up.

“Because he is frightened. You say he said he knows how you feel. I think he’s right.”

“But how?” Nahara lifted her head sharply. “How can he know?”

“Isla was taken from him, Nahara. He was ten. The old king had a reputation for his treatment of his elementals. Dvalin would have spent all that time for fear of her – fear that she would leave the world altogether.”

Nahara gaped at her, speechless. “You mean…die?”

Caoilha nodded. “There was a very real risk of that. When the king died…”

“What?”

“Apparently the whole of their home in our world was green, even though it was winter. He couldn’t contain himself – anywhere he went, the plants responded to his joy. He is immensely powerful, Nahara. Just remember that.”

The young noblewoman nodded. “I will,” she promised. “Thank you.”

Caoilha smiled, and rested a tattooed hand on Nahara’s cheek for a moment. “You deserve someone like him, feistres,” she said softly. “Don’t throw this chance away.”

She didn’t wait for a response, and turned away, moving back to the horses. Nahara followed, her thoughts whizzing around her head. She had a lot to think about now.

Translations:

Un bach – little one

Feistres – mistress