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  “What am I to do, Silas?”

  “Tell me what happened yesterday.”

  Maia told him about the morning spent with Aaron, studying scrolls. He exhaled with a sigh of relief when he found out there had been no physical evidence of Aaron’s passions. That would have been more difficult to deal with.

  “It is normal for him to feel this way. You are a beautiful young woman and now that he has accepted who you are, it is only natural that he wants to test the boundaries of your relationship. How do you feel about him?”

  “I don’t really know him. During the first fortnight, we didn’t get much chance to talk and when we did, it usually did not end well. Then we made the decision that they were to learn our ways and things became a little easier. But …” She hesitated. “I had never really been alone with him before. Yesterday, when he looked at me that way, I saw his thoughts as clearly as if he had spoken them. It scared me.”

  Maia tried not to sound like a petulant child, but tears were welling up in her eyes.

  “He is hurt. He has lost his life and his wife. With no reassurances that there is a way home for them, it is only to be expected that he will be angry. Time moves differently here and he is aware of the fact that they have been away from Earth for about four of their Moon Cycles already. I think now he sees you in a new light and he may be thinking of other options available to him. If they are to go back, then we need to hurry to find a solution.”

  “But what if we can’t find one?” Maia looked at him with liquid, pleading eyes. “I cannot be his wife.” She buried her face in her hands.

  Silas took her in his arms and held her for a moment. So this is what this is about, he thought. Maia was not upset about how Aaron felt, but about what she thought was expected of her. It was clear she did not reciprocate Aaron’s feelings, but thought it was required of her.

  “Maia, Maia, listen. You do not have to be his wife, not unless you want to. Earth’s laws do not apply here, so you are not bound by them. If you were to decide to be his wife, you would have to be wed to him before our Elders, as our tradition demands. You are free to choose your own mate, or not have one at all, if that is what you desire.”

  Maia looked up, her tears now flowing freely. Silas’ heart felt like it was being held in a vice. He hated to see her hurt like this. Then she voiced what he already knew she was thinking; it was just in her nature.

  “But what will then become of him? It would be like losing his wife all over again. How can I do that to him?”

  Aaron spent the day with Leoro, who he had talked to during the ceremony. Leoro was good company and showed him his smithy, before taking him through to the Builder’s workshop and introducing him to the various Elves that worked there, who he had not met before. He was fascinated with their designs and how they accomplished their architectural feats without any technology.

  Their Water Mill was just one example of their ingenuity. He wanted to learn how it was all done and the Builders were more than happy to share their knowledge. In turn, they were surprised with the extent and diversity of his knowledge and it turned out to be one of the best days of his life.

  He realised what put him in such a good mood was that he had spent most of yesterday with Maia and he could still feel her nearness when he closed his eyes. Throughout the day he kept thinking about her and, by the time he got back to the house, he was anxious to see her. Disappointment flooded through him when he was told she was still not home.

  The next morning he woke up with new determination. Although set in his ways, he was not an inflexible man. He could change. Events beyond his control had brought him to this place and now that he knew that Maia was, in fact, Lisa, he would make the best of this life he had been given. He had won her once before, so he was sure, given time, he could do it again, even if she was the most magical, beautiful and exotic creature he had ever seen.

  Once dressed, he had a quick breakfast with Malyn and the children and then excused himself. He knew what he had to do. He knew the small city pretty well and he found his way to the Elder Hall without any difficulties. There he found Jagaer and some of the Elders and the Guard and, although he hated to disturb them while in a meeting, he asked for an audience.

  Unwilling to go home, Maia had at last convinced Silas that she stay with him for the night. Now it was almost morning and they had been staring at Silas’ scrolls and books for hours, but had gotten nowhere. Silas had a vast amount of information on the Channel and its travel, but most was focused on every day travel, or elemental travel.

  Almost anyone could learn to travel, although it took some time to perfect. To travel, one had to centre energy and focus not just on the self, but also on the destination one intended. It was basic magic, but nonetheless took a fair amount of practice. To move inanimate objects from place to place was not that difficult, as long as the person travelling was in contact with such an object. Essentially, everyone needed to do their own travelling. It could not be done for someone else. Although large groups could travel at the same time, each individual had to do their own magic.

  Silas was stumped as to how Maia had brought three people with her with no ability to travel of their own accord, but he was also adamant. Maia had done it before; it could be done again.

  Maia was frustrated. It was her responsibility to find a way back for them, or … Maia shook the thought off. She could not, would not, think of Aaron. Although Silas said that according to their laws she did not have to be with him, she felt it would be a betrayal of the vows she had said back on Earth. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that those vows meant nothing here, she still felt it was wrong. She was desperate and grasping at straws.

  “Can we not teach them to do it by themselves? It might take a while for them to learn, but if we cannot find a way to send them back, it might be their only option.”

  “Maia, I don’t know that much about Humans; I have only ever met one who was able to do it easily. The magic is different for them; few possess it. It has been hundreds of years since the last Human set foot on Elveron. And those were the ones that built the stones on Earth. As far as I know, those Elders had a special magic not everyone on Earth possessed.”

  Silas saw Maia’s shoulders slump at his reply. It pained him to see her like this. He sighed.

  “But if we cannot find another way, then I suppose we could try to teach them.” Before Maia got her hopes up too high, he continued. “But you did bring them here, so I know it is possible. We simply need to find out how you did it. Tell me again what happened.”

  Maia almost rolled her eyes at her teacher. They had gone over this a hundred times. “I’m sorry, Silas, I don’t remember anything new.”

  “No matter. Tell me again what you remember.”

  “I remember running towards the centre of the stones. The air was cold and the weather miserable. I was sore and utterly exhausted. I reached the centre and immediately concentrated what energy I had left. I didn’t think I was strong enough, but then I saw them and somehow I found the strength, and I concentrated on my Change and getting away from there as fast as possible. I felt the Channel take me almost immediately. It had never happened that quickly before. And then I had some strange dreams before I finally woke up in the Hollow Tree.”

  Silas was silent for a moment; something had snagged his attention, but he couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

  “Aha,” Silas said after a moment, startling Maia. “When we found you, you were unresponsive to my ministrations. At first, I thought you had fainted from the effort it took to come home, but when you didn’t wake up on the second day, I thought you must be in some sort of a coma.

  Maia frowned at Silas’ reasoning, unsure of where it was going.

  “You see, when travelling, one does not go to sleep on one side and then wake up on the other. One leaves while awake and arrives while awake. And, although you might have fainted, or gone into a coma, the Humans would have been awake on arrival. remember Jas
min told me how they woke up in the middle of Greystone, which means they, too, were sleeping or had fainted.”

  Maia was still uncertain of where Silas was going with this, but his excitement was contagious.

  “It seems to me that they, too, expended some energy to get here. But if they did not travel of their own accord, then maybe it is because you were using their energy.”

  “What?” Maia looked at him with shocked eyes. “Why would I have done that?”

  Silas got up to fetch yet another book. He paged through it for a while, set it aside again and went to fetch another. This one also did not yield the information he seemed to be looking for.

  “Because,” he said, “you did not have enough energy yourself. I can only guess at your original intent, but it sounds like the only logical explanation. You used their energy to get yourself home, but then took them along with you.”

  Silas started to put the scrolls and books back on their shelves. Maia rose to help him and they worked in silence for a while.

  Maybe Silas is right, Maia thought. Sharing energy between willing partners was often done. Although taking energy from an unwilling living being was strictly forbidden, it was possible. Why she would have done it, however, was beyond her. It was a disgusting and despicable thing to do.

  “I might have to go see Dorien at the library in Braérn. He might have some Elder scrolls that can explain this. I will speak to Jagaer later to find out if we can arrange a trip to Braérn soon. But for now, I think we should sleep. The sun is about to rise and we need rest. Here,” and Silas took blankets from a shelf and handed them to her, “you can take my bed. I will go home to Becci. I will see you later in the morning.”

  “Thank you.” Maia breathed a kiss on his wrinkly cheek, spread out the blankets on the recess in the wall that acted as a bed and was asleep before Silas had even left the cave.

  Maia was deep in thought when she climbed the stairs to her parents’ house. She had woken up late; it was already past midday. Again she thought about her sleeping habits; she seemed to need a lot more of it since she came home. And now she also felt guilty about having been away. She knew Silas would have let her parents know that she was all right and told them where she was, but that did not excuse her long absence. It had been almost two days since she fled the house with Aaron longingly staring after her.

  When she entered, she was almost disappointed to find it empty. Not even Wolf was home. She made herself food, washed and changed, and then strolled through the city, looking for Jasmin and hoping not to run into Aaron. She found neither and eventually went to visit her grandparents instead.

  It was almost dark by the time she got home and yet another day had passed without her spending time with her family. Again, she found the house empty. She felt sad and despondent and she was about to leave when Wolf came bounding into the common room and almost bowled her over. He was soon followed by the rest of the family, including Aaron, Luke and Jasmin.

  They were all laughing and in good spirits. Her mother immediately busied herself in the kitchen, putting together an evening meal for them. Maia thought it strange that her mother cooked at this hour; usually Biandala would cook earlier in the day and Malyn would then make a dinner from that. Malyn only cooked in the evening on special occasions. Unsure of what was going on, she joined the others by the hearth.

  Jaik started a fire, and came to sit by her. “There you are, little sister. You do have a talent for missing momentous situations.” He grinned, but then got up to fill the kettle for tea, leaving the question unspoken on her lips.

  She turned to the others and noticed Aaron watching her. There was still no frown on his face; it had been replaced by that small, suggestive smile and a glint in his grey eyes. Jagaer was talking to him and when he turned to answer her father, she felt like a weight had lifted off her. Why did he make her feel like this? Before she could give it more thought, Jasmin moved from her seat next to Luke and came to sit with her, smiling broadly.

  “Oh, you missed the most fantastic day today. I am so excited; I can’t wait for you to find out.”

  “Find out what?” Premonition made her weary; something was happening and it did not feel right.

  “You’ll see.” Jasmin smiled at her, but said nothing further.

  Jaik came back to the fire and put the kettle on its iron hook over the flames.

  “A house?” Maia asked in disbelief, her food forgotten on her plate.

  Malyn had made her favourite, mushroom ragout, a sure sign that something was afoot. When they eventually shared their news with her, she had not been prepared.

  “What do you mean, you are going to build a house?”

  She looked around at the beaming faces of her human family, but it was her father who answered.

  “It is our responsibility to look after our guests, Maia, and as no solution to their return has been found, it would make sense for us to fully integrate them into our society for the duration of their stay, however long that may be. They are already learning our ways and have started apprenticeships. We considered putting them up in one of the guest houses, but that cannot be a long-term solution. To build a house is the next logical step. I have spoken to Silas and he said that although you made some progress last night, it could be Moons before a plan could be put into action.”

  Maia was speechless. How had this all happened so fast? Just the other day the most important thing had been to find a way home for the Humans and now her father had commissioned their Carpenters and Builders to build them a house of their own. Because of how they had chosen to live, erecting a house was more than simply putting up walls and setting a roof on top. The right space had to be chosen, the trees had to be prepared and new piping for the water had to be laid. Plans had to be drawn up and the timber for the structure had to be cut. But the most difficult part was the magic. It took a lot of magic to get the chosen trees to accept the structure and for the trees to grow new shoots. It was not something that was decided lightly and it was not uncommon for communes to form instead of building another house.

  “Don’t you want us to stay?” Jasmin pouted a little, but it didn’t last long and she continued in a cheery voice. “I think it’s the most brilliant idea Papa has ever had.” Jasmin beamed at her father.

  Maia blinked. It had been Aaron’s idea? It was hard to believe. She didn’t know what to say. Luke saved her from having to come up with an answer for Jasmin.

  “We like it here, Maia. Jasmin and I have been talking for days about staying, but because of Father, we have not mentioned it to anyone. Then, when we woke up this morning, he was sitting in the common room looking smug.”

  Maia glanced at Aaron, worried that he might have taken offence at what Luke had said, but he was nodding, a satisfied smile playing around his lips.

  Luke continued. “He had already spoken to your father and the Elders and it had already been decided. You should have seen Jasmin’s face when he told her.” He winked at his sister. “So then we spent the day making arrangements. Jagaer took us to choose our trees. We were unsure at first about what to look for, but with his help we finally selected a group of three trees not far from the Elder Hall.”

  “It was all so exciting,” Jasmin cut in. “We went to the Thatcher’s workshop and learned how to twine rope and then we went to the Smithy to watch Leoro make bolts for our house. And then your mom said that because we are going to be here for a while, we will need a full set of clothes and our own crest, so we all got measured up for new clothes.” Jasmin smiled at Malyn before she continued. “I was even allowed to pick out my own colours. And as our family name is Nightingale, we are making the bird our family crest. I believe yours is a horse?”

  Maia was about to answer her, to confirm that their crest was, indeed, a horse, but Jasmin was already speaking again, telling Maia all about the day they had had. Maia noticed Aaron smile at his daughter indulgently. How could this man have changed so much in such a short time?

&nbs
p; She watched him while she listened, admitting to herself that she was not sorry that the bitter, frowning Aaron was gone, but also unsure of how to deal with this friendly, smiling Aaron that desired her in ways she cared not to think about.

  She thought about her own feelings. She had never been in love, although many a man had been interested in courting her. Being the daughter of Lord Longshadow came with a measure of protection and she had grown up pretty sheltered from such influences. Although she had played with the idea of allowing someone to court her on occasion, it never materialised. Not even with Archer, who she genuinely liked.

  She had always been occupied with something else and always found something more important to do. She was only one hundred and twenty-two years old. Only just out of her adolescent years. Marriage for her was not important right now. Most people did not marry before they were five hundred.

  She would not have to take up the mantle of leadership any time soon. Her brother was the first-born and he would take over the lordship when his father abdicated, which would most likely not be for another thousand years or so. Like Silas had said, if she never wished to marry, then the clan would accept that without question.

  Now she was faced with the conundrum that was Aaron. She did want to see him happy, but if that happiness was based on her being his wife, then she wasn’t sure if she could do it. For a moment, she pictured herself in his arms, tried to imagine what it would feel like to have his lips pressed against hers and what he smelled like up close. A little shiver went down her spine and she shook the thought off. She blinked a few times to bring herself back to reality and noticed Aaron was looking at her. Had she been staring at him the whole time? Could he possibly know what she was thinking? Embarrassment coloured her cheeks and she squirmed under his gaze. She turned away from him when he lifted his glass to take a sip. Wanting something else to think about, she finally listened to Jasmin again.