Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Solitary Arrow by Mack the Knife

   Part Eleven

   Hyandai awoke early the next morning, and slipped from bed quietly.  She
had told Trevir to start the bath to warming early and then to go see his
mother, than she and Harlen wished a day of privacy.  The lad had seemed
suspicious, but agreed.  She padded down the stairs and to the bathing
room. The tub was steaming with heat, and she slowly eased herself into it,
the water was very hot and she enjoyed the warmth it fed her.  She selected
her oils and soaps carefully, not wanting to wash away the cinnamon scent
that Harlen seemed to relish.  Halfway through the bath, she realized how
excited she was, her hands were shaking, and her breath was already short.

   She smiled as she washed and oiled herself, thinking that soon, she and
her beloved man would be able to make love, finally.  She got out of the
tub and finished oiling her lower half.  The scar on her thigh was
minuscule now, and she did not think it would become a real scar, or if it
did, it would be nearly unnoticed unless someone were being pretty intimate
with her.

   She slowly crept back up the stairs and peered into the bedroom.  Harlen
was still sleeping, and was now curled into a ball himself, without her to
keep him more open as he enwrapped her in his sleep.  She sat gently upon
the bed and stroked his hair.  This was her man, she thought.  He had
sacrificed for her, risked his life for her, and been wounded for her.  She
felt her heart clench in her chest as she thought that she had almost lost
him, that day with the orcs, as she had lost her maidenhood.  He was
beautiful in his slumber, his face at peace and his mind resting.

   She had promised him herself, and was glad she did.  He was a good man,
despite his own beliefs on the matter, and he deserved someone's love.  The
girl considered herself fortunate to be the person who was now charged with
giving it to him.  She slowly leaned over his head, brushing his hair back
from his earlobe.

   "Harlen." She whispered, incredibly quietly.  "Awaken, my lover, and
take what is yours."

   His eyes flickered open, then his blue eyes focused upon her golden
ones. He smiled softly.  "Good morning, Hyandai." He said, whispering
himself.

   She kissed his brow, then his cheek.  "I am yours, my beloved.  This
morning and for all that may follow." He lips were feather light in their
caresses.  She did not have any urgency in them, he felt that, she meant
this to take a very long time, and he did not mind that.

   He reached one hand from beneath the covers and touched her fiery red
hair.  "You've bathed." He said.  "I should, as well."

   She shook her head slowly.  "No.  My lover.  I would have you as you
are, I wish no pause in this today, no chance of interruption or mishap. 
For, I have waited as long for this moment as you have, and I will wait no
longer, if I do not have to."

   He lifted his head from the pillow and kissed her, touching her soft
lips with his tongue.  "You are my goddess." He said, softly and ran his
fingertips down from her shoulder to her elbow.  "I don't know I could ever
be truly worthy of the gifts you offer."

   She giggled a little.  "If you, Master Harlen, were not worthy, then I
would not be here now, offering myself fullwilling." She laid down beside
him, and started pulling down the covers.  "This morning you will make me
into the woman I wish to become."

   Harlen sat up and looked down at her now reclining form, so long and
lithe, and with such perfect proportions.  She was tiny, indeed, but she
was exquisite, like a diamond or a elven-wrought blade.  He touched her
hair, and began tracing his fingertips down her body, sliding over smooth,
oiled skin, over the curve of her shoulder, then the softly rounded mound
of her breast, with its stiffening nipple.  Then he explored further,
across the rippled landscape of her stomach, so tensed, it actually
quivered a little at his touch, then lover, past the two small halves of
her mound, split with a shallow ravine.  His fingers explored her
completely, moving back up and starting over and finding new paths.  She
started to heat up under the steady stimulation of the touches.  He could
see her eyes softening further, and her glances become more intense at the
same time.  As his fingers slipped between her trim, well-muscled thighs,
she moaned, and spread them apart slightly, welcoming his touch.  Her mouth
had a faint smile as he let one finger explore into her inner places,
moistening itself with her fluids and probing her soft folds both outside
and in.

   She moved her own hand over his, pushing it gently to her, and holding
it in place.  Her eyes regarded him with intensity, but not urgency. 
"Explore me, my lover." She said, as he slid the finger in deeper, and felt
her warmth and wetness, she was very slippery inside, and he knew that
entering her would be no trouble, at all, so long as he was not too large.
She gasped and her legs moved farther apart when he curved that finger and
rubbed the back wall of her vagina, then his thumb touched the fold of skin
over her clitoris, not exposing the tiny button, but just pressing over
that skin, rubbing it through its protective hood.  He smiled down as she
groaned again, and her hand seemed to urge more depth, and he pushed
deeper. Her other hand had found his manhood and was caressing it, her own
fingertips moving softly and cooly on his skin.  It was his turn to moan as
she finally took hold of it, and her fingers squeezed it tightly.  Her
small thumb slipped over the head, from beneath, and rubbed up over the
tiny slit opening, and it felt moisture there, his own precome.  His organ
was as stiff as a stone pillar, and her opening was as well lubricated as
it was ever likely to get.

   "Now, that it has come to it, I am somewhat afraid." He said, sliding
his finger from her.  "I wish to not hurt you."

   She smiled a wide open smile.  "Then go slowly, but you must go, or the
pain I will bear from this bed will be great." She touched his face.  "Take
me now, my lover, I will wish to wait no longer to feel you take my
maidenhood from me."

   He moved over her, using his well-developed arms to hold his upper body
off of her small frame.  Her legs parted farther, and he moved close.  He
could feel her silky skin on his sides, where her thighs rubbed his hips.
In this position, her head was just below his own, and she could easily
kiss him or put her lips to his neck.  For now, she did neither, just
watching him with eyes wide and deeply bronze.  The engorged head of his
organ was at her entrance, and she quivered slightly at its touch.  He felt
her push upward a little with her hips, she was eager for this now.

   The look on her face lost its placidity, and was now very alert.  "Is
this my love or her fey?" He asked her.

   Hyandai took in air, and said.  "We are both here, my beloved, for one
is naught without the other." Her voice had a somewhat eerie sound to it,
like two voices, almost, very similar, but subtly differing.  One had only
love in its tone and the other had only lust.  She pulled his head down to
her, with a gentle touch and the edge of her nails, ever so softly
caressing his neck.  She kissed him deeply, probing his mouth with her tiny
tongue, tasting him, and entering him.  As if a cue, he pushed down with
his hips a little, feeling her labia part for him, and she sighed into his
mouth.  He could feel jolts of pure energy shooting through his body, from
every point of contact between them, they drove to his mind and then fired
outward, like an explosion, filling him all over with pleasure and warmth.

   Inward he pushed a tiny bit more.  He wanted to enjoy each level of
entering her for the first time, and did not wish to rush this.  The glans
of his organ stretched the tight ring of muscle within her and he could
feel it squeezing, unaccustomed to the penetration.  Her breath was coming
in tiny gasps now, and he could see a bit of anxiety in her bronze eyes. 
Her whole body was trembling, as if she were cold, and her mouth was open.
He swallowed, and slipped another bit into her, the muscle ring was fully
pierced now, the head of his organ actually felt the subtle pop of it
passing the entry.  Her brow furrowed slightly and the look of fear
intensified, and a low groan, along with a cut off sound of minor pain.

   "I'm hurting you." He said.  "Should I stop?" He had stopped moving, and
a few seconds later, her face regained its calm.

   She smiled up at him, and touched his cheek.  "It will avail us little,
my lover." She giggled, but her face was still lined with concern.  "You
will be just as large and I will be just as small tomorrow." Her hands felt
along the muscles of his chest.  "My body has reacted to the attack as an
injury, and it has healed it, but it has left me as a maiden, in truth."
She touched his neck.  "An elven girl must accept some small pain to
betroth a human." She said, her eyebrows furrowing deeper as she adjusted
beneath him.

   "I could try to arouse you more." He said, thinking furiously of how to
avoid hurting her.

   She giggled and looked at him with a truly relaxed face.  "My cold
bottom says I am plenty aroused." She said, giving in to a bit of
naughtiness.  "We will need to change the sheets after, my lover." She
closed her eyes a moment, and seemed to think hard, her brow furrowed more
deeply than before, then she opened her eyes again, and she swallowed. 
"Enter me fully." She said, and took hold of his hips with both hands, and
her feet came around him and locked behind his bottom.  "Either you do it
or I will."

   He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes.  She felt him tense for a
thrust, and relaxed herself as completely as she could to accept it.

   He pushed forward and down, and his organ, held in a silken grip with
oiled slickness, slipped into her, until his body was touching hers.  Her
legs clamped around him, and held him to her, and she shouted out,
releasing all the air in her lungs in one burst of sound.  He opened his
eyes, and she was looking at him gently again, her eyes soft and placid. 
"Sorry, but we had to get past that." She said.  "And sometimes I need help
with my courage." She was breathing shallowly, panting actually, and her
body was now covered in a sheen of cinnamon-smelling perspiration.

   He looked down, and saw their bodies converging at the middle, his pubic
hair pressed to her mound.  She looked down, too, and smiled.  "There." She
said, then looked back up at him.  "Now, my lover, earn that name, and
grant to me mine."

   He shifted his weight, and she loosened her legs, letting her feet move
to the bed again, with her knees bent, her face went through a few
contortions with the legs, as his angle of entry to her changed.  "By the
Spirits, you humans are big." She said, shifting her hips a little, and
gasping with every few small motions.  "I feel like I'm being spitted for a
roast."

   Harlen kissed her brow.  "If you wish to stop, I will." He said.

   She shook her head vehemently.  "No." She said.  "This is working.  It
is not so painful, it is more just surprising.  I knew your size, but I
never fully realized what it meant.  Despite my own opinions at
worldliness, I am a novice in this."

   He pulled about halfway out and entered her again, slowly, and she
groaned and inhaled deeply until he was fully within her again, then she
let that air go.  He could feel her tight muscles in her vagina contracting
around his pole and pulling it inward.  Her body was not trying to be rid
of him, it was encouraging him.

   He pulled out again then reentered, and began to stroke that way with a
slow, steady rhythm.  Her breath gasped out of her with each entry, but the
sounds were less and less pained, and more and more satisfied and then
pleasurable.  He felt the muscles around his shaft relax their grip a
little, and her hands began to move again.  She brushed his hair from his
face and pulled herself up to kiss him, lifting her upper half off the
covers.  He gently moved his tongue into her mouth and felt her suckle on
it gently.  He noticed she was using suction and pressure to move his
tongue in and out of her mouth at the same times he was entering and
pulling from her.  She was no longer panting, and was now simply moaning
with each entry into her.  "The pain is past me, Harlen." She said up to
him, smiling broadly in a self-satisfied manner.  "Now you can take me as
you truly want.  I can see it in your eyes."

   He pulled to nearly leaving her, then thrust forward with all the
strength in his legs and waist.  He grunted as he did so, ramming is cock
to the hilt into her welcoming entrance.  She cried out, saying.  "Yes."
She accepted his lust now, and he gave freely, driving into her like a mad
thing.  "Love me!" She cried as their bodies slammed together, sending
shockwaves through her and causing her to grunt along with him as she
started to lift her hips and angle her pelvis to receive each thrust. 
"Love me!" She yelled again as she neared her impending climax.

   He looked down at her.  And her eyes were not bronze, they were deepest
emerald, and they seemed to glow in the half light of the room.  "I do." He
said, thrusting inward, "Love you." He said on the following thrust.  Her
fingernails were on his back and they were fighting his flesh for purchase,
a battle they won, digging into his skin and holding his body to hers as
she screamed into his neck, her teeth coming down on his corded shoulder.
Her entire body felt like a sheet of metal under him, glowing hot and
thrumming with the beat of a hammer.  Then she went lax, panting again, and
her hips still moving to take him into her as he continued to thrust into
her deeply, but the light of lust had left her now deeply green eyes.  She
was sated, and he could see it.

   She seemed to recover from a daze and looked at him softly.  "Now, for
your joy." She said, and put her hands on his hips, and her feet met on his
back again.  She was gasping between his thrusts, but seemed to be very
intent on something.  His penis suddenly seemed twice as long as he knew it
was, he felt it moving deeper and deeper into the willing lover beneath
him. And he felt his muscles in his groin tighten, preparing to spill his
seed into her.  As he came, he realized she had been doing it with her
muscles inside, moving them opposite to his penetrations, making it seem
like he was sliding over more passage than was there.  He could feel the
liquid jets of his semen flooding into her as he kept thrusting into her
opening.  She moaned with each jet, not with each thrust, and he knew she
felt them fully, and liked them.  "I heard that witch say she welcomed your
seed to her." She said, whispering into his ear as he kissed her neck.  He
looked at her curiously for a moment.  "I welcome your seed into a fertile
womb, my beloved." She said and ran another slow pulse of contractions
along his shaft, as if milking him for his seed.

   He slowed his thrusts, then stopped, kissing her.  He began to pull his
organ out, to give her a rest, but she stopped him with her feet, clamping
down on his rump and making him stay still.  "You think you are done?" She
said.  Smiling sweetly at him.

   "Well, I kind of..." She kissed him roughly and her tongue parted his
lips.  He could feel her breathing into him, her exhalation sweet with
energy and excitement.  He blinked a few times, and felt his cock stiffen
again, filling her vagina and opening her wide again.

   She moaned as she felt it grow, then looked at him with half-lidded
eyes. "I told you the elves taught the Sorceresses how to do their magic."
Hyandai said, eyeing him with her deep emerald orbs.  "I never said they
had bettered it."

   He laughed and started to push into her again.  The lovers held onto
each other and enjoyed their passions for a long while.  She did not test
him, as the witch had, but she did make pleasant use of his body, as he did
hers.  Every time he flagged, she breathed energy into him, refilling his
lungs with her magic, and her lusts.  As he spent into her a fifth time, he
thanked her fey for that ability, for she claimed that was where that
particular talent lay.

   Hyandai said, as they laid, both exhausted fully now, "My fey will not
let a man's inability stand in the way of its goals." After he had asked
why she could do what she had been doing after each passionate grapple. 
Her eyes were deep green now, and seemed to be wont to stay that way. 
Unlike the few times they had dallied with one another with hands and
mouths, the color held fast.

   "You said that could last days?" He asked, looking at her eyes closely.

   She nodded, and laughed.  "Or weeks." She said.  "It matters how much
joy I've had, and the depth of that joy." She looked askance at his flaccid
manhood.  "And your joy was deeply placed indeed." She said, grinning at
him.

   He said.  "You seemed to get used to it." His smile was equally broad,
and somewhat lopsided.  "At least you acted like you were."

   She nodded.  "I was, and am now." She said.  "So long as we never go
long between our lovemaking, it should cause me little pain."

   One of his eyebrows lifted.  "How long?" He asked, suddenly slightly
worried.

   She kissed his broad shoulder.  "A few days, say three." She said.

   He put his hands behind his back.  "That won't be an issue then."

   She started laughing.  "How long were you afraid it would be?" She
asked.

   "I don't know, I feared it might be a period of hours, like half a day."
He said, eyeing her.

   She smiled.  "Would you make love to me that often if it were required?"
She asked, nuzzling his neck.

   He looked down at her pretty green eyes and her lustrous hair, and her
lovely figure, and smelled her strong scent of cinnamon.  "Even though it
would mean a large change to my lifestyle, I would certainly try."

   She nodded soberly.  "A large change, hmm?"

   He grinned lopsidedly.  "Yes, but I can cut back to that, it won't hurt
me much."

   She laughed and poked his ribs with a fingernail.  "Cut back?" She cried
out.  "I will make you eat those words, human." She said, laughing.  She
rolled over and sat atop him, straddling his wide waist with her slim legs.
She could not even reach the bed with her knees from atop him, but she did
not let that daunt her, she shifted her knees to rest on his body instead.
They pressed to the sides of his stomach and lower chest.  She leaned over
him and kissed him again.  "Time again, my beloved." She whispered, and he
felt her feed him energy again.

   He grinned up at her.  "Atop me this time?" He asked.  "You are feeling
adventurous."

   She returned the grin and reached behind her as she lifted her pelvis
from him.  "You promised me this one." She said, and started pushing
downward.

   He felt his penis encounter something stiff and unyielding, then it
yielded, slowly opening to him.  She had not aimed him for her vagina, well
ready for him, but instead had positioned him to push into her tight anus.
Her brow furrowed again, as it had earlier.  "Are you sure you want..." He
said and she glared at him with those presently bright green eyes,
silencing him.  She inhaled deeply and straightened her body out, sitting
upright with the head of his organ barely opening her tight sphincter.

   She closed her eyes and let her weight carry her down, she dropped to
his body in a single second, his stiff pole buried in her backside.  Her
groan was one of pain and pleasure colliding and entwining like serpents
mating.  The sweat coating had returned as she drove her body past a
painful point again, and into the place she wanted it.  Her breathing was
gaspy and had tiny moans and grunts layered into it.  A long moan escaped
her lips as she began to rock back and forth, slowly at first, but then
with more speed as she became used to the feeling of being opened in this
new way.  Each time his cock slipped into her tight ring, she exhaled, then
inhaled slowly as she slid forward, letting part of it leave her.  He
reached down between her smooth thighs and brushed his finger over her
clitoris, causing her to gasp and look at him, she nodded, and leaned back
a little to give him access to that.

   He started stroking the little button, and watched as she rocked back
taking his whole length into her, her muscles were not as finely tuned back
there, but the opening was tighter, and could clamp down much harder, as
she demonstrated as she ground herself into a painful and slow orgasm. 
When it was done with her, she collapsed onto his chest.  She laid there
panting, his thick pole still impaling her anus, and spreading its tight
little ring open wide.  She reached back and felt around it and said. 
"That was a bit foolish of me." She smiled at Harlen.  "I may walk oddly
later, you are not to laugh." She said, then lifted up and off of his still
rigid cock.  A look of utter relief crossed her face when it was out of
her. "Well, that was definitely different." She said, smiling at him.  She
stood up and held out her hand.  "Come, my lover."

   He walked downstairs with her, and despite her claim, her walk was
anything but humorous.  He followed her slowly swaying bottom down the
stairs, admiring the grace and intentionally wasted energy that went into
that walk.  It was a gait designed to arouse, and entice, and it worked
perfectly, his cock stayed rigid for the trek to the hot bath, and as they
slipped into the water, she washed it gently with her hands, then rinsed it
with hot water.

   She said.  "Sit on the edge, my beloved." And Harlen sat up on the lip
of the massive wooden tub.  She stood between his knees, dangling into the
water, his organ stiff in his lap.  She moved forward and took him into her
soft mouth, crouching low in the water.  He watched in fascination as she
took him down her throat, straightening her long, slim neck.  Soon, his
pubic hairs tickled her cute nose, and she started to move her head back
and forth.  He groaned loudly as she swallowed him whole each time, then
felt his release building up for a climax.  She soon had him coming into
her, and seemed well satisfied with herself as she drank the last drops of
his spend.  She looked up at him, her tongue gently licking her soft lips.
"Now, I think we are done for the morning." She declared.  Kissing the head
of his deflating pole.  "Lest you desire another go?"

   He shook his head.  "I will do what you wish in this matter, Hyandai."
He said, lifting her and kissing her deeply.  He tasted his semen in her
warm mouth, but minded it little, she seemed little hesitant of tasting
herself, either.  They then embraced for a long moment, gazing into one
another's eyes.  Her eyes were somehow more beautiful now than when their
hue was golden.  She smiled a soft smile, softer than he had ever seen.

   "I hope that you are not only fascinated by what you think is my elven
beauty." She said to him.  "I have no intent of letting you go from me."
She added, smiling up at him.

   He kissed her brow then said.  "I think my feelings for you are beyond
that, my sweet angel.  The first days, I may have been smitten with your
grace and loveliness.  But have I not now seen you in darker light, and
less than idyllic situations?"

   She kissed his neck.  "You have, Harlen, and you have not forsaken me,
even then." She pulled him into the water, and kissed him, sliding her
small tongue into his mouth.  He felt her playing with his hairs her clever
little fingers toying with it.  "Do you still wish to betroth me, my
lover?" She asked, her tone was now more calm, and delivered with a
precision she had been slipping of late, her speech was more and more
sounding like his own.

   He said.  "Yes.  Of course I do, Hiandai." She smiled, then he felt a
small twinge of pain at his scalp.  He reached up and found her fingers
there, and they were warm, exceedingly so.  He pulled his hand back down.
"What was that?" He asked her.

   She pulled away from his face and he looked at her.  To the left of her
beautiful face was a long plait of woven hair, her lovely sunburst red was
interwoven with strands of his own dark brown color.  She held in her hand
another plait, this one his own, and made up mostly of the dark brown, with
strands of her red woven into it.

   "Are we..." He started asking.

   She kissed him.  Then pulled again from his kiss.  "Yes, my betrothed."
She said.  "For one year and one day, I am obliged to remain by your side,
and you mine."

   "What then?" He asked.

   She touched her plait, "Then this will either come out or become part of
me forever." She said.  "We will decide one year and one day from now."

   He nodded, pretty certain what his choice in that matter would be.  She
felt his large hands wrapping about her slim waist.  "I would today, if you
would allow me to." He said.

   She giggled.  "I cannot, though, the betrothal is an important stage
toward marriage." She said, touching the plaited hair on the side of her
head, then lifting it to look upon it.  "Our hair blends beautifully,
though." She said, a smile playing on her face.  As they left the tub,
exhausted and hungry, she touched his back gently.  "I hope you never feel
you have made a mistake." She said.

   "I will not, my betrothed." He said, smiling at her over her shoulder.
Then he turned about and knelt before her.  Taking her small, slender hand
he kissed her palm and said.  "I would be and am honored to be your
betrothed, even should you choose not to wed me, ultimately."

   She touched his face, and knelt down in front of him, their faces nearly
level with one another.  "I do not foresee me selecting that option." They
went to the kitchen and found a huge bowl of fruit, already peeled and
diced into cubes.  Trevir had wakened early this morning, and had left them
breakfast.

   As they ate the fruit squares and wedges, they talked about many things,
including the upcoming year, and Trevir's obvious love for both of them.

   The sun was shining this morning, and the beams played games amidst the
dust motes in the room, sparkling like miniatures of the night sky.  It was
after three in the afternoon.  She sat and watched him fidget a moment,
unsure of what to do.  "Harlen, do you wish to go work?" She asked.  He
nodded pitifully.

   She smiled widely at that.  "Go then, my betrothed." She giggled.  "I
can entertain myself for a while." He sheepishly got up and shuffled to his
workshop.  She shooed him with her hands, still laughing.  After he had
entered, she rose from the stool and walked through the bathing room, then
into the back yard.  As she crossed the small courtyard, she tried to clear
her mind.  She walked up to the small altar that Trevir had built for her.

   She knelt before it, and touched her hands to the altar.  Her eyes shut
in the effort to clear her mind, then she started to sing.  This song was
very different from the others she had performed of late, its tones
ethereal and otherworldly, almost not like a humanoid voice at all, but the
sounds one might hear when in a windy night in the wood, or perhaps
surrounded by whistling wind chimes.  It reached a tonal quality that
filled the yard and reverberated from the trees and buildings around her.
Her body stiffened as the Spirits took hold of her, and guided her mind to
the places she needed to find.  Had Harlen been with her, he would have
recognized her expression from their lovemaking sessions.  She was feeling
intense pleasure, but not sexual, it was a spiritual pleasure, a release of
guilt and anxiety and hostility at the world that had placed her at an
impasse, where she must choose to risk the life of the man she loved or
give up her clan's hope of recovering what they lost, and sorely needed.

   The Spirits showed her many things in her mind, all things she already
knew and needed reminding of.  They could not show her new things, nor
things she would see in the future, only what she had already known, but
somehow had not put to the front of her mind.  Harlen's attempts at heroism
for her benefit flashed across her mind.  He as a competent fighting man,
but untrained in the finer points of combat.  He also had a fierce pride
and independence that he was suppressing to make her happy and give her
solace.  She knew he loved her fully, and with all his large heart, and he
would die for her if need be.  That is what she dreaded.  The spirits faced
her with the witch, and of him bedding her in her mind's eye, and of his
attempts, even under her spells to try to do the best he could in being
fair to Hyandai, who at that moment, seemed to have abandoned him in him
befuddled mind.

   She then saw him hunting, a scene she had never seen, but knew had
happened in his past, he was a hunter after all.  Her imagination had
little trouble conjuring up such an image as that.  He was a huntsman,
after all, and his skill at that seemed excellent, indeed, as his wealth,
despite giving a goodly share to Trevir and his mother, attested to.  She
realized with a shock that she had not been the only person not doing what
they should within this scenario they were thrust into, but he was, as
well.

   His nature was a huntsman, a stalker and efficient killer, not a warrior
and defender.  Their path was chosen in that flash of insight, and she
hardened her heart to the fears that still lingered.  They cried that he
might be killed, and she replied that he might be killed any time by a
bear, wolf, or bandits.  No the fears and doubts could not be given sway on
her choice.  This was the man the seer had seen in her visions, and Hyandai
was the woman, and they were to win the Elhadrel from the clutches of
whomever had stolen it.  This last secret she must confess to her mate now,
she thought, that she knew how to find the weapon, and had always known.

   She gracefully rose from her kneeling position and gave deep thanks to
the Spirits for guiding her, bowing low to the altar.  She turned and
walked into the house again, her head now high, and her gaze purposeful. 
Harlen was hunched over his work bench, working at something with intense
concentration.  As she walked up to him, he turned to her, he had dressed
again, at least he had donned pants.  As she neared him he turned and said.
"Turn about, my lover." She stopped flat for a moment, then turned and put
her back to him.  He draped the object he had been sewing over her
shoulders.  It was a cloak, made from supple doeskin, and lined on the
inside with the green cloth he was going to make her other garments from.
The skin had been died a similar shade of green and was designed with
intentional discolorations in it to break up its even shade.  "It will help
you to blend into the bushes in the wood." He said.  She had seen cloaks
like this, worn by the scouts of Windir, but theirs relied upon magic and
she had never seen one made without its inclusion.  She looked over her
shoulder at it, and the subtle pattern seemed to shimmer as she looked,
changing.  Her eyes did not like to focus upon it.

   Her expression changed to one of perplexity.  "What is this, my
betrothed." She asked.  "I was given to understand you knew no magics, yet
you weave them into this cloak?"

   His expression now changed.  "What?" He said.  "There is no magic upon
this, Hyandai, It is just my hands, and some tricks of the eye that I
learned at Tammer's `gentle' hand."

   She laughed at that.  "My dear man, there is magic and there is magic."
She lifted the cloak from her shoulders.  "There is enchantment on this
fine garment." She concluded, holding it out to look at it at arm's length.
She could see how the little patches were sewn to throw the eye into
different directions by the grain of the leather, and the color of the dye,
and the very shape of the little shapes that formed the overall cloak.  She
smiled at him.  "The magic here is the most powerful sort there is, it
makes the mind ensorcel itself, and bewilders the eye without the mind
being able to stop it."

   Harlen laughed now.  "Tammer called it `optic deception.'" He pointed to
an identical, but larger cloak hanging on the wall.  "If we're to go
through orcish country, I wish no more accidental encounters." He took the
cloak from her fingers and did something to it, flipping it inside out, and
the inside was done up in similar shades of gray and earthy brown.  "When
we enter the hills, we change to this." He explained as he let her examine
it, as well.

   She smiled.  "That is what I came here to speak of." She said.  "I wish
to tell you I know how to find that which I seek, if not exactly where."

   His expression again changed to one of curiosity.  "And how is that?" He
asked.

   Her necklace appeared again.  "This guides me in it, it can feel our
clan's heirloom and tells me if I face toward it." She held it out from
herself, then turned slowly, until she faced just north of east.  "It lies
that way." She said.  "A good fifty miles from here, but in that direction.

   He nodded.  "That will be far into the mountains." He said.  "You are
certain of this?"

   She touched his hand.  "Yes, Harlen, I am certain.  Are you certain you
wish to risk all on some heirloom of an elven clan?"

   He grinned.  "I've risked all for less, already.  This is a cause worthy
of risk." He said.  "I accept the danger freely, especially considering the
prize that your clan has graced my life with." He smiled, then kissed her
gently.

   "When do you wish to leave?" He asked her, a wide smile on his face.

   She looked at him curiously.  "The day following tomorrow?" She replied,
but said it as if not really sure.

   He nodded.  "Very well, then, I will begin preparation for our little
journey." He bowed to her like a servant and went to his task of packing
small items into his small leather knapsack.  He produced a second sack,
slightly smaller than his and made the same, and newly crafted.  He
directed her what to load into it, handing her some of the items she would
need.  It was amazing the sheer number of small items he directed into her
pack.  She wondered idly if there would be anything left in the house when
they were finished.

   While they were packing Trevir came running in.  "They're mustering the
army!" He said excitedly.  "The duke is going to go to war with the orcs,
he says that they're growing too bold and must be dealt with."

   Harlen got a very sour look on his face.  "It's about time." He
muttered, and Hyandai flinched at the cold and dark tone of his voice.

   "They're to march in the hour, and will be passing this way, Harlen."
The child continued, undaunted by his mentor's sudden foul mood.  "We
should go watch them march by."

   Harlen nodded.  "I suppose we should see the lads off, since some won't
come home." He looked at Hyandai.  "We leave this afternoon, then." He said
to her.

   She tilted her head and regarded him.  "Why so soon?" She asked.

   He nodded toward the village.  "If we follow in the path of an army, we
should come across fewer orcs." He said.  "And the ones we might come
across will be bunched into large groups and more easily avoided." He
added. Then started dragging out more of his `work' gear, his rawhide
jerkin and heavy linen pants and his brown leather boots, all cleaned now,
and mended of their rents and tears.  He also laid out their new cloaks.

   Trevir ooh'ed at the cloaks and said.  "Those look like the one's that
Tammer sells to the hunters, Harlen, only they're prettier." He looked at
one appreciatively, touching the leather and examining the stitchwork
closely.  "You made these!" He exclaimed, inordinately excited about it. 
"You're turning form a hunter to a tailor." He accused, smiling broadly.

   "Only to make a hunting tool, Master Trevir." Harlen said.  He handed
the boy a small pouch of silver.  "Keep the house well while we are gone. I
know not how long we will be." He finally added.  "If we are gone more than
a month, speak to Tammer of it, and he will give you further instructions."

   The boy nodded soberly.  "All right Harlen." He said, and there were
tears welling in his green eyes.  Hyandai walked to him, and looked him
face to face.  "Fret not, handsome Trevir." She smiled at him gently.  "We
will return soon." She kissed him softly on the lips, and embraced him. 
Harlen patted his shoulder as he passed, and the two headed out to watch
the parade, then to leave themselves in its wake.

   They heard the tramp of many feet as they left the house, and the
vanguard of the army was marching past the house as they reached the fence
separating his yard from the gravel of the road.  There were over a
thousand of them, wearing the colors of the Duchy of Morrovale, purple and
gold.  Banners flew before each of the five companies, flapping loudly in
the northerly wind.  Harlen placed his hand upon his chest as they passed
and bowed his head.  Many soldiers nodded as they went by, and the ones who
realized they looked upon an elven lass waved at her.  Hyandai waved back
and smiled, then bowed onto one knee for the passing soldiery.  Harlen
pulled Trevir down beside her.

   "Why am I bowing?" He asked his mentor.

   Harlen whispered.  "To pay respect to those who may die defending you
from the orc hoards."

   The lad nodded soberly at that.  "Oh." He said quietly, with wide eyes.
"Why aren't you on one knee, then?"

   Harlen smiled.  "I've earned the right to stand before soldiers, I was
one, once." He said.

   The troops filed past, then the cavalry.  Followed by the Dukes knights,
thirty men, clad in fine, gleaming plate armor, mounted on massive shaggy
horses with their own armor cladding as well.  Harlen now knelt beside
Trevir and Hyandai, as he was no equal of a knight in status.

   The knights smiled as they rode past, speaking at ease with one another.
One saw Hyandai kneeling there by the fence and pulled to the side of the
moving line.  "Milady." He said, a tone of alarm in his voice.  "Surely,
you need not kneel to mere knights, you are elvenborn."

   She looked up to him.  "I am but a commoner, I am betrothed to this man,
and would not presume to rise above my station." She nodded toward Harlen.

   The knight smiled down.  "If you wish to pretend so, then." He said, and
chuckled.  "But I would say that in this case, rather than lowering your
station, milady, which I am unsure is possible, you have elevated his." He
leaned over in his saddle to an angle that looked dangerously precarious.
"Congratulations, Master Harlen, she is a fine catch of a woman, I envy
you." He said to the huntsman.

   Harlen nodded and smiled.  He reached out and took Hyandai's hand and
said.  "Thank you Sir Tendall, I consider myself very lucky, indeed."
Harlen said, with no sound of lightness in his voice.

   Tendall nudged his warhorse into a trot and caught up with the other
knights.

   Now passing was the Baron Upton.  He was the most strategic-minded of
the Duchy's nobility, and Harlen was relieved to see him in charge of this
expedition.  As the baron rode past, equipped, like his knights, in shining
plate armor, he stopped as well, regarding the kneeling trio.  "Harlen!" He
said.  "Please do not tell me that you have captured that lovely creature
on one of your hunting foreys!"

   Harlen glanced over to Hyandai who was looking rather amused.  He looked
up.  "Milord, actually, I did." He said, squeezing her hand gently.  She
giggled

   The baron laughed, then said.  "We shall have to raise the rates on your
hunting territory if such game can be snared there." He regarded Hyandai a
moment.  Of what clan are you, milady?" He asked.

   She looked up timidly and said "Yavanour, milord." She said quietly.

   The baron sat quietly a moment then said.  "I see.  Well, wish me well,
I go to rid our lands of those troublesome vermin of orcs."

   She smiled at him.  "I do so, milord, I wish you all speed and grace of
arms to triumph over your foes."

   He nodded.  "Well said.  Good day." Then he spurred his warhorse, as
well, and trotted off to catch up with his household guard.

   Harlen watched the line of troops recede into the distance then turn the
bend in the road.  He turned to Trevir.  "Remember, take good care of the
house, and go to Tammer if we're over a month in returning."

   The boy said.  "I will, Harlen, stay safe." He said and hugged the man's
waist.

   "I'll try, you worthless whelp." Harlen said, and Hyandai saw the tears
that he refused to shed, and let a few roll down her cheeks for his sake.

   She wiped under her eyes and hugged Trevir, as well, and kissed his
cheek.  "I will keep him safe." She said to the lad who smiled and nodded.

   The couple walked down the lane, following the path of the army.  They
held hands as they walked on the road and carried their bows slung over
their shoulders.  Trevir noted that they walked very slowly, as if not
really wanting to go, but they went anyway, and soon they had followed the
column of soldiers around the bend and were lost from sight to the lad.