Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Elves of All Kinds (1x1)

Raeliel caught the cup and her husband, and held him gently in her arms. "...I'm sorry, love. I can't let you tear this family apart." She whistled out the window, and Arthur came around. Carefully, they sneaked Saelhil out to his horse. Raeliel got her own horse, told Valenthion that he would be in charge for a few days, and rode off with Arthur and Saelhil.
Saelhil would wake up in a bed that was certainly not Elven. Two voices could be heard talking softly. One was his wife's. The other was Arthur's. Raeliel was sitting by his bed and Arthur was standing, and they were talking softly about something.

Saelhil grimaced as he awoke, his head aching just a little bit. The last thing he remembered was coming home...sitting in the dining room... He suddenly sat up, gazing around. He frowned. This was not his home. He frowned further. This wasn't even an elvish home. Was this... Arthur's home? He suddenly spoke up. "What is the meaning of this? Where am I?" He glanced towards Raeliel. What... Had she been in on this?!

Raeliel looked over at him and she smiled softly. "Good morning, sleepy head. How do you feel?" She reached over to touch his cheek, then glanced at Arthur. "...we decided that things needed to change. Talking doesn't get you anywhere, you're so stubborn. So we're showing you. Saelhil, we're going to live here for a couple days." Together, as husband and wife. She wasn't letting this happen to just him. She was right there with him.

Saelhil frowned. All this talk about making peace with humans... Now they had abducted him! But he was silent for a long while, before sighing heavily, rubbing his face. "...yes, yes, as you wish." He doubted anything here would change his mind, but if they were so adamant as to even bring him there, he might as well play along with their little plan.

Raeliel smiled, and suddenly there was a nice older woman coming in through the doorway. "I brought pastries and tea!" she chirped happily, before spotting Saelhil. "Oh, good, you're awake! It's nice to meet you, sir, I'm Mary." She smiled and set the tray down on the bed-side table. "Have a pastry, darling, you'll feel right as rain! Just let me know if you need anything!" She walked off contently, and Arthur smiled. "Thank you, Mary, we will." He looked back at Saelhil and offered a hand to help him up. "I'd like to give you a tour of my home, Chieftain Saelhil. And I want you to meet a few people. Mary was one of them. George is another." Raeliel stood up as well, taking a pastry and biting into it. "Mmm...this is delicious."

Saelhil watched the woman, and only nodded slightly in response. He hesitated, looking up at Arthur as he extended his hand. A heavy sigh came from the chieftain; this was going to be an annoying time. So he took the human's hand and stood, before smoothing back his hair and retying it in its ponytail. He didn't take a pastry, though. "Alright. Lead me on this tour." He gestured forward, waiting for Arthur to go on.

Arthur led him through the house, showing him the various rooms. There was a cook, who waved as he worked, and a couple maids. Arthur explained how he had come to hire each of them. He also told him Mary's story, which Belle already knew. All of his workers had been down and out on their luck, with no one else to turn to and nowhere to go. He took them in, gave them a place to stay, food, money. George had just come in, so he was introduced. The boy was about twelve, but all smiles and happiness. He was terribly excited to see a real elf.

Saelhil was civil, at least, as they went through the house. When they came along to George, though, he hesitated. The boy didn't look too much older than Valenthion had been when they found him. The lad's excitement couldn't help but make him chuckle slightly, and he even gave George a little bow. Ah yes, children always were Saelhil's weak point, weren't they?

Arthur smiled as he saw Saelhil's reaction to George. "Are you going to stay here, mister? Master Arthur said we'd have guests for a couple days. I could take you through the city, if you want! You could come with me on a market trip! What do you think, missus?" He smiled. "I can't believe I get to meet elves! I missed the last one that Master Arthur had employed, because she got to go home. I'm glad she did, but miss Mary said she was really sweet and nice, I wish I could've met her!"

Saelhil blinked slightly at the talkative boy. "...well, yes, I suppose so." He smoothed down his tunic a bit. He listened to George talk about Belle, and he couldn't help but smile just a bit. "Well I would only expect the best from my daughter. I'm sure you would have liked her very much, and she you."

George blinked and stared. "Daughter? Miss Belle is your daughter? That's so cool! Is that why you're visiting? To see where she'd been? Well, mister, this is a great place for your daughter to have been, trust me! So you'll come to the market tomorrow, right? Great!" He smiled and gave a little bow. "I gotta go help miss Mary now. Have a good visit! See you tomorrow mister, missus!" The boy scurried off happily. Arthur chuckled a bit and smiled. "He's the uh, 'replacement', so to speak, of Belle. That extra hand I needed around the house. He's been a great help. He's working to help earn money since his father died. His mother works, but she can't keep up the house on her own, so he's working too to help them out. I'm waiting to see how things go with them, and if the situation arises, I'll bring them both in to live with me."
He sighed slightly, looking around. "...it's a big house. Too big for just one person."

Arthur could always buy a smaller house... But still, Saelhil supposed it was somewhat noble for a human to be caring for others like that. But this was just one human. Very few of them were this selfless, Saelhil knew. No way he would meet another human with such values. "...I see," was all he said in response to Arthur.

Arthur took him to the dining room, where dinner was being served. Raeliel was just smiling and quiet. "That market trip will be fun tomorrow." she commented. "George looks like a nice young boy." She quieted and ate calmly. Arthur had made sure that their meal was what they were used to, the fruits and vegetables and such. He had a typical human meal, but he made sure that they had what they liked to eat.

Saelhil began to eat. "...I have no doubt that the market trip will be...interesting," he murmured, pausing as he ate. He glanced at his drink, then at Raeliel. "...by the way, where did you get the drug for my drink? the medic?" Nope, he hadn't forgotten. He would have to speak to the medic about lending that stuff out, even to the chieftain's wife.

Raeliel blushed slightly. "...Sorry, love. I had to do it. I already had some, for those nights when I can't sleep well." Raeliel had a tendency for nightmares. They had lessened greatly now that Belle was home, though, interestingly enough. "Saelhil, long ago you me I needed to forgive Mirathin and move on. Now, you need to do the same. You need to forgive, Saelhil. Find that peace within yourself that you once had.." She looked down to her meal. "...I didn't marry a man that held such hatred in his heart."

Saelhil quieted at the mention of that, and he quicklt looked down to his plate as well. It had been so, so long since that time. He still remembered that day they received the letter, how Raeliel just fell to her knees in the middle of the floor... He set down his eating utensils. He had been so forgiven once upon a time, hadn't he? A century ago he had very little anger towards humans, more just towards specific people, no matter their race. Mirathin, Valenthion's father... He sighed slightly, and scooted his chair back. "Thank you, for the meal, but I'm going to explore the grounds of your little estate, if you don't mind," he told Arthur, dipping his head slightly before standing and heading outside.

Arthur gave a slight nod. "Of course. You're welcome to explore as you like." He went back to his meal, watching as Raeliel got up and followed him. She didn't say anything, she just followed silently, reaching out to take his hand. She just wanted to be there for him, be that comfort for him as he considered all of this. She knew her words had had an impact on him.

Saelhil walked quietly in the grounds. It made him uncomfortable that it was no open, with so few trees. So when he did find a tree in the garden, albeit a very unhealthy one, he climbed it, leaving space for Raeliel to come sit beside him. He just kept silent for a while, thinking over what Raeliel had said, and all those things he had once told her about forgiving, letting go, and moving on. How had he slowly turned into such a hypocrite to his once-solid ideals? Those humans had stolen his daughter, destroyed his village!...but this human, Arthur, had protected her, sent her home... The chieftain was extremely conflicted now, concerning this race that had always been at odds with his.

Raeliel climbed up with him and sat there, listening to the life of the city as people passed by the area. "...it's a different kind of life, isn't it? It seems so foreign to us. But when he was at our village, we must have seemed so foreign to him. It kind of reminds me of when I first came to your village. I was horrified at how you all sat on cushions on the floor and such. It was so primitive to me. But I came from a different kind of life, a life of proper elves.."

Saelhil glanced at her. After a few moments, he smiled slightly. "...I remember those days. The constant snarky remarks between us, the look of horror on your face at our traditions..." He chuckled softly, reaching over to take her hand. He sighed now. "And I kept urging you not to be so prejudiced towards the natural elves, because I thought you didn't underestand us." He leaned his head back against the tree trunk. "...I really do hate these humans, Raeliel. I cannot stand even the sight of them. They've done so much to our people....but..." Ah, progress! There hadn't been a 'but' before!