“Lee, I really don’t think-”
“Listen to me, and listen to me well,” said Lee, cutting him off. “If it doesn’t affect what we have to do, then fine, keep it to yourself. But you need to remember that I have more than just you to worry about. If there’s anything that could possibly jeopardize any of us, I need to know about it.”
Gewey sat back down on the grass and thought for a moment.
“I’m not sure if it will affect us. At least not all of us. And maybe not for a while.”
Lee sat next him. “You can trust me Gewey. Whatever it is, I’ll understand.”
Gewey looked at Lee, then told him what had happened with Kaylia. When Gewey finished, Lee sat there with his mouth open for a minute, not knowing what to say.
“Now do you see why I didn’t want to talk about it?” Gewey asked, troubled.
“I do indeed,” Lee finally managed to say. “Do you intend to marry her?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not even of age, and besides, she’s an elf.”
“Yes,” said Lee. “And you’re a God. And it doesn’t appear that she cares if you’re of age or not. As I understand it, she is barely of age herself, as elves measure years.” He shook his head. “I told you to be careful.”
“How was I supposed to know?” Gewey cried. “The words just came out. I didn’t know what they meant.”
“That was interesting,” Lee said pensively. “There must be some reason for this.”
“That’s what she said, too.” Gewey noted.
“I really don’t know what to tell you,” Lee said, laughing. “You certainly do get yourself in some tight spots. I suggest you try not to let your eyes wander to Dina too often. Heaven knows what kind of trouble that could cause.”
Gewey wanted to deny it, but he knew his attraction to Dina often caused his eyes to wander. “I’ll try,” he said.
“Two beautiful women,” Lee remarked. “I suppose there are worse things to happen to a young man. Then again…perhaps not.”
Lee hopped to his feet and pulled Gewey up. “Maybe your mother was Ayliazarah, Goddess of Love,” he quipped, slapping Gewey on the back.
Gewey was not amused.
They headed back to the wagon and continued on their way. Kaylia had her hood pulled back, and Gewey looked at her. There was no doubt that she was beautiful, but he had never imagined that a romantic relationship could be possible with an elf. Of course, he wasn’t really a human. His head began to swim, so he decided to try to take a nap.
‘At least if I’m asleep I’ll escape for a bit,’ he thought. He woke just as they were about to stop and make camp. Millet and Maybell were arguing about where the best spot would be. Lee, Kaylia, and Dina were all looking at him, trying not to laugh.
“What?” Gewey asked, trying to shake off the cobwebs in his head.
“The things you say,” said Dina. “Enough to make a lady blush.”
“What do mean?” Gewey asked. “What did I say?”
“More interesting,” said Kaylia, “is who you were talking to in your dreams?”
“I don’t know,” he said, flustered. “I was bloody dreaming. Can’t I dream in peace?”
“Don’t let them tease you,” laughed Lee. “They’re just having a bit of fun.”
Gewey rubbed his eyes. “Enough, then,” he said irritably. “I’m not in the mood.” He was nervous about the lesson with Kaylia. He wasn’t sure how to talk to her anymore. He didn’t know a thing about elves, and the thought of saying the wrong thing unnerved him. When the time came, however, Kaylia acted as if nothing had happened.
“Lee told me you will not be learning the sword for a while,” she said. “So we need to step up your knife training. It’s not as brutish, but every bit as deadly.”
“Do elves ever use a sword?” Gewey asked.
“Sometimes,” she answered. “But it’s not something we prefer.
The sword can be necessary in a full-on battle, but in the type of fighting we’re likely to encounter, I think you’ll find it very advantageous to have skill with a knife.”
Gewey was grateful that the conversation didn’t stray from the lesson to more uncomfortable subjects. Kaylia pushed him hard, showing him ways to keep an opponent blind and off-balance. He found it was very much like the way he had learned to hide in shadows.
When Kaylia attacked, she was never directly in front of an opponent, nor did she press an advantage.
“The sword is a direct assault,” she shouted between strikes. “Powerful, but slow and deliberate. The knife, on the other hand,” she paused, deftly tossing her weapon from hand-to-hand, “is an ambush!” Suddenly she was on him, striking quickly and mercilessly from nearly every conceivable angle. For an hour he tried to imitate her movements. He watched her body twist in seemingly impossible positions that he simply could not match.
“You must learn to be more flexible,” she said. “You must see as your opponent sees, move where he cannot reach, then strike where he cannot defend. It is no different than our other exercises, only you are hiding in plain sight.”
“I think I understand,” he said. “I’ll do better next time.”
“You did well this time,” she replied.
Gewey raised an eyebrow. “A compliment?”
“The nature of our relationship requires that I be completely honest with you,” she explained. “As a teacher, I do not give praise easily, even when warranted. But as a suitor, you will receive my honesty in all things. I suggest you do not abuse that privilege.”
Gewey almost winced at the word ‘suitor.’ “Thank you,” he managed. “I won’t.”
When they returned to camp, Lee was sitting next to the fire talking with the others. A box wrapped in cloth was at his feet, the same one Gewey remembered Millet handing to him the night they left Sharpstone.
“What’s in the box?” Gewey asked as they approached.
“I was hoping Kaylia might help me with that,” answered Lee.
Kaylia and Gewey sat by the fire, and Lee unwrapped the box. It was made from dark, polished wood and had strange lettering carved on the lid.
“Do you recognize the language?” Lee asked Kaylia.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s the ancient language of my ancestors.”
“Can you read it?” he asked.
“I can try,” she said. “But I’m sorry to say I know very little. Only a few elven scholars know it well enough to read it fluently.”
Lee handed her the box, and she looked at it intently for several minutes.
“The first line isn’t difficult,” she said. “It simply reads, ‘Unto the creator I sing.’ That’s a common phrase, used in many of our ceremonies. The second line is a bit more difficult. I think it says, ‘The time will come to receive your gifts,’ but I may be wrong. The third line-and again, I’m not sure-seems to say, ‘This book I keep until the end of time.’”
“That’s it?” Lee asked, sounding disappointed. “Nothing more?”
“Like I said, I may be wrong,” Kaylia said. “But I believe I’m close.”
“What is it, exactly?” asked Gewey.
“I don’t know,” Lee admitted. “I’ve never been able to open it.”
“What do you mean?” Gewey asked. “Just take a bloody axe and break it.”
Lee laughed. “I actually tried that once, in a moment of frustration. But as you can see, it didn’t make a scratch. I tried for years to find out what it is, but I haven’t found anything written describing such an object.”
“I know what it is,” Maybell interjected.
“You do?” Kaylia and Lee asked simultaneously.
“Indeed I do,” said Maybell with a nod. “And you were close on the translation, elf.”
“I had no idea you could read ancient elfish,” Kaylia said, amused.
“I can’t,” she answered. “But I know that phrase well. And if I’m right, I know what’s in that box.”
“Well, tell us then.” Lee said impatiently.
Maybell gave Lee a withering look, then continued. “It should say, ‘Unto the creator I sing, His gift to me I humbly receive, The end of days I fear not, for his book shall guide me.’”
“What does it mean?” asked Lee.
“It refers to a prophecy I first heard about when I studied as a novice in the Great Library of Halmanteris,” she explained.