Forgotten Embers

76. Love and Death

"No! Absolutely not!"

It was morning, and Eliezer was not the least bit amused by the stubbornness of his companion as she looked at him with those soft blue eyes swirling with a harbor mist which penetrated him, piercing straight to his heart, and blinked.

"No! You are absolutely not coming with me!" he repeated, warring against her silent resolution.

"But, Eliezer, I thought that you liked it when I follow you," Dorcus contested, fastening her pyrite shawl. The tiny gold button at the center of the latch suited her kindly.

"Yes, but..." Eliezer softened his tone as he felt his heart tugging at him, "I didn't take you last time, did I?"

Dorcus smiled, her eyes glancing over at him as she paused briefly from adjusting the pure white fabric. "You weren't planning on getting arrested again, were you?"

Eliezer's lips turned to a small smile as their eyes locked on one another's, and a fierce determination consumed him that he should not lose this game of wits. "No," he said, "I can assure you, I am not... but, High Palace is no place for you, dear lady. It is dark and treacherous... filled with horrors, and... no place for someone so sweet."

A small grin appeared on Dorcus's face, and he caught a glint of happiness in her eyes as they dropped and her face lit with the glow quiet flattery. "But Eliezer," she said, "it's my brother you're looking for. We don't even know if he's alive. After all of this, would you really disallow me from seeing him?"

Eliezer felt his heart melting, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to deny her much longer.

'Oh, my dear... you have much too sweet a heart.'

He took a step towards her, closing the distance between them, and lifted her face to his. He rubbed his thumb across her jawbone gently. "My dear, sweet lady," he said, gazing into her blue eyes with his heart full of affection, "you must know that I would very much prefer it if you were to stay here, where you are safe from fear and harm. Even so, I will not prevent you. If you are determined to join me, then so be it. We will go together; but it is a dark journey and one from which I would have gladly spared you."

Dorcus was smiling, happily content, and she nodded. "We will go together, then."

***

It was still early when they readied the horses to go, and Eliezer helped Dorcus into her saddle as he often did.

"Promise me you'll be safe," he softly requested, reluctant to relinquish his hold of her hand once she had successfully mounted.

"I doubt you would let anything happen to me," she replied with a playful smile.

"Yes, well..." he grinned. "All is well, then."

Benjamin came riding across the brow of the hill up above them, surveying the great multitude of the army assembled. He nodded, catching sight of them, and turned his horse aside, trotting down the grassy slope to meet with his royal delegates before their eventual departure.

"Prince Caliphus," Eliezer said, giving a brief bow of courtesy.

"Prince Benjamin," Dorcus stated, offering a similar display of reverence.

"Ambassador Webber, Seer Garner," the cheerful prince addressed from his noble steed white as his raiment. "I am blessed to see you well this fine day of our Lord's deliverance. I trust you are both prepared for the battle which is before us?"

"Yes, my lord," they both replied at once, casting each other a quick glance of amusement at their oneness in response.

Benjamin smiled with a curious satisfaction. "Ambassador," he said, "am I to take it that Seer Garner will be joining us at High Palace?"

Eliezer smiled awkwardly, unable to stop himself as his face flushed red and he began to feel the heat of love and embarrassment. "Yes, my lord... regrettably," he said with a humble bow. His eyes shot over to Dorcus, "Unless, that is, you are able to be more convincing than I was. The lady is steadfastly determined to accompany us."

Benjamin let out a laugh.

'It is good to see him with such a happy confidence. Perhaps, then, our worries are at last behind us.'

"I never meant for Dorcus not to come with us," Ben said, shaking his head at him with unusual joy-filled merriment.

Eliezer blinked, aghast at the response of the young royal. "What?" he asked, astounded.

"Eliezer," Benjamin replied, still laughing, "when I asked, I asked for you both. You didn't really think that I would expect you to join me without her, did you? Come now, when I call one, I call both. You're practically the same person."

Eliezer smiled sheepishly and bowed himself at the waist, his heart full of appreciation. "Perhaps, one is still a little prettier than the other?" he suggested, raising his countenance to his prince. "Perchance you were having troubles telling us apart. Though, which of us it may be, who can say?"

Dorcus chuckled at his silly jokes, something which she, doubtless, had come to expect from him, and Benjamin grinned as his eyes lightened with fondness.

Eliezer smiled, satisfied with the results of his jest. 'Good. So long as they're laughing.'

"Has Avera made up her mind about coming?" Eliezer asked him, venturing to what he perceived to be a similar subject.

Benjamin nodded, becoming a bit more serious. "Yes," he informed them happily, "she says that she has had her fill of running. She has made up her mind, and, leaving former things, she has decided to fight alongside us."

Dorcus nodded. "That's good," she stated softly.

Eliezer looked on her with interest. "Yes, it is, isn't it?"

Dorcus nodded again in agreement. "Yes, very good."

"I have instructed her to remain with Adrien, Justice, and Alexander," he told them. "No sense in her following us into High Palace. Her presence will be greater on the field, and she'll be safer there, as well... certainly more so than she would be with us. We three are Zephyr's execration. We call his sins to remembrance, that he should know there is a recompense for evil. The time has come that he should see he is a man and no god, and death is not greater than the one who overcame it. So shall we set our eyes for his throne and take it, because this, our King, has overcome Death, and he along with it."

Eliezer nodded, impressed by his wisdom in speech. "So, as we die with him, so are we glorified, also," he quoted.

Benjamin grinned, "Precisely."

"But love is stronger than death," Dorcus added, her eyes smiling down at him.

"And jealousy as cruel as the grave," he replied as he finished the thought, returning her gaze with a gladsome smile of affection.

'Oh, Lord... how I love her. If you would grant me this one request: that I may have her, also, to wife. For my heart for her is good and to her it is wholly cleft. Here I am again, so close. I pray, dear King, do not deprive me; for I am a poor man to be pitied and a blessed man to be praised. But all in time.'