The Remembered (Elements II)

Chapter 20

“Dvalin?”

Tentative, she touched the plants, unsure if they would move for her like they had previously. They did, though, and she hesitated before she stepped through into his clearing. He was there, back to her, his tattoos glowing faintly as he touched one of the trees.

“Dvalin?” she said again, unsure if he had heard her.

“I know. Your step is unique to you. Why have you come?”

She bit her lip, looking away. “I want to thank you,” she said softly. “For what you did, before. It…it helped me.”

He finally turned, the glow of his element fading. “I only did what I had to,” he said simply. “You are still growing.”

She frowned, blinking at him. “What does that have to do with it?”

“I am an earth elemental. We help growing things. It is in our blood.”

Slowly, she nodded. “Dvalin, do…” She stopped, at odds with her feelings.

“Do what?” His voice was closer, and she looked up to see him right in front of her.

“Do you want to be free?” she whispered.

Surprise flashed through his eyes, closely followed by approval. He lifted a hand, brushing his fingers down her cheek lightly. “With all my being,” he replied. “But I cannot.”

“Why?”

“Because there are things I must do first.”

“Like…” Her voice was shaking. “Like what?”

“This,” he murmured, and kissed her softly. She froze, and then tore away from him, staring at him out of wide eyes. He only watched her calmly, waiting.

She found that she was shaking. “Why did you do that?”

He raised an eyebrow, and she felt the blood rush to her face. “I have no need to explain myself to you,” he retorted, and turned away. “Go away, human.”

She flinched. He utterly confused her. Once again, he was giving a very good impression that he hated her – yet he had just kissed her.

“Dvalin,” she ventured quietly. He made no response. She took a deep breath, and asked her question, well aware that he might be furious with her. “Do you hate me?”

To her surprise, he didn’t respond – not even to glare at her. She let her shoulders drop, disappointed, but not expecting any different, and turned to leave.

“How can I know?”

His words made her pause, confused. “What?” He looked over her shoulder at him to see that he was facing her. He shrugged a shoulder and lifted his left arm slightly.

“Your father enslaved me, girl. Yet you don’t act it.” He stepped closer, and she backed away, her heart in her throat. She was scared of him, for the first time.

“I don’t pretend to understand you,” he almost hissed. “Because you confuse me. You don’t understand anything of your world, and you enslave the only ones who do.”

“But why do you hate us?” she whispered, fearful. He sneered at her.

“My feelings are my own, fy arglwyddes,” he said mockingly. “You would not understand.”

She flinched back, and fled, frightened.

Over the next week, she found that he let her closer to him, not scaring her away, or being rough-tongued with her. Slowly, she felt herself relaxing around him, always feeling a sense of peace with him; peace that she never found anywhere else. The vine stayed around her window, and it was only after a lot of questioning that she worked out it had been Dvalin. When she found that out, she didn’t know what to say, and he’d snorted, turning away from her.