Chapter 8...

ok, so I just realized that I havent posted a chapter of my story in TWO MONTHS! haha! 

And I also really need to post something....something a lot more rational than that last post..hehe! :) 

So here you are! Chapter 8 of my story! 

Enjoy!

Chapter Eight

A few hours later, they set off through the dense forest with Leo and Et in tow. Leo had suddenly had a desire to no longer live alone. He said that he liked company very much, especially when they like him for who he is. He said that many have also called him a freak of nature when they found that he could breathe fire. He wanted to follow them wherever they went. And Ella and James agreed with hole hearts.
Et was welcomed back to the circus company with welcome arms. And Leo soon fit right in. They all found it hard to believe that Leo had dragon blood running through his veins. They all felt for sure at first that he was an elf, for the tops of his pointed ears poked through his hair. Et had the same pointed ears, but it was easy to believe that she was part dragon.
Yeusem was caressing her face. So gently, so tenderly. His eyes were scanning her face, as if not wanting to leave out a single detail of her heavily marred face. His finger was tracing the scar, and her skin tingled. She looked into his eyes; his gold flecks sparkled. They embraced, and that closed the years of separation that had torn them apart. She did not want to leave.
Ella had been having that dream for months. And now, it was so clear, almost like it had just happened. Knowing that this meant that the time would soon come for this to come about, she tried to make plans to go to where she saw him in her dream.
She soon found out that they were very close to the border of Shaquamia. And on the border of both lands, there was a town. A trading town where many wealthy people of both races resided. Better yet, there was a road that ran from the village she was in. There, she reasoned, would probably a likely place for Ella to find some information on Yeusem bar Shali. She decided not to tell James that she was leaving. She would leave a note. He protected her like she was his daughter, and she believed that he felt like that about her. But he was busy planning his wedding with Eria. No, she would leave by herself. She would ask which way it was, leave a note for James, then leave.
The following morning, she put on her cloak, strapped a pouch of money to her belt, and slipped out of the inn she had been staying in. She was out on the dust roads before dawn.
The morning air was refreshing. It reminded her of her childhood. And that reminded her of Yeusem, driving her to longer steps. She tried to be alert, stretching her mind to find if anyone, friend or foe, was following her. So far so good. No one was behind her or in front. No one in the surrounding woods, or on the road. She walked swiftly, covering as much ground as she could.
The sun rose, making every dew drop sparkle and flash. The birds began to sing and a light mist floated above the trees. If Ella had time, she would have taken in the beauty if she had not been in a hurry.
While she walked she whistled and considered the things that Leo had said about her earlier. So, she could just point at something and it would come to her? She saw a long, sturdy branch lying on the ground beyond the path that would do very nicely for a walking stick. She pointed to it.
Nothing.
She frowned and chewed her lip, thinking. She tried again, this time thinking, Come.
The branch flew from its spot and into her hand.
She stood there, holding the branch, shocked at what she had just done. Her eyes widened and she dropped it. She turned her back to it and continued walking, her mind spinning.
The rest of her journey was uneventful. By the time she could see the tops of some of the buildings, the sun was in the middle of the sky, but hidden by gray clouds that threatened to pour down their wet contents. Once she got there, she was sure to pull the hood of her cloak over her face. She did not want people to see her marked and scared face. The rumors were right, there were a lot of Inns and a great mixture of many races. She even saw a few of the small but beautiful race of Cormos. These petite, pale, red or black-haired people only stood, at the tallest, about four feet tall. She had only seen a few in her life, and that was when she got fleeting glimpses of them walking on the road.
She gently tapped a passing Cormo on his shoulder, “Excuse me,” she began. Sense he had to look up at her, he saw her face. He gasped a little bit, and Ella put her finger to her lips, “Sorry, but could you tell me a little bit of information?”
“Yes, I sure can!” his first shock was over, and now he was treating her like there was nothing wrong with her face at all.
“Could you please tell me if a Yeusem bar Shali lives here or in a close town?” she held her breath, there was really a very slim chance that he was in this town.
“Young Lord Yeusem? Of course he lives here!” her heart skipped a beat and she tried hard not to scream for joy, “His entire family of dark heathens live here. He is the only decent one of the lot, the outcast, I guess you could say. Is he the one you are looking for?” He raised his dark eyebrows.
“Yes! He is! Could you tell me where he lives, Hero?”
“I can do better than that! I can lead...wait...how do you know my name?” He frowned, looking very suspicious.
“I know a lot of things, but I will explain that when there are not many people listening in. Can you take me to his home?”
“I can lead you there, but it would be wise to wait until the rest of his family is asleep. They watch his every move. Poor man.” Hero’s pale face fell for a moment then his eyes filled with another question, “How do you know the Lord Yeusem?”
Ella smiled softly to herself, dreaming back to their good times in the barn, “I am an old and dear friend. If you see him, please give him this message. The Lady Ellina is waiting for him at The Tavern and greatly desires to see him. Oh! And don’t tell him what I look like. Only tell him that I hope his leg wound has healed all the way.”
“Will do, milady! I will deliver the message straightaway! He normally comes to the Tavern late at night, so you may have to wait for a while.”
“That is quite alright, my good man. I have been traveling all morning and I need to rest. Thank you so much, Hero.” she reached into her pouch and took out a silver coin and placed it in his small hand, “For your trouble. And please, keep it. It is also a gift.”
“Thank you, milady!” he shot away and was soon lost from Ella’s view. She smiled softly, adjusted her hood and walked away to the great-brick building known as The Tavern. Just as she walked into the door, the rain began to poor outside.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“My Lord Yeusem! My Lord!” Hero gasped, finding his young master seated at a desk with his head full of dark hair in his hands. His shoulders were shaking slightly, and he heard small gasps coming from the kind man. The Cormo walked slowly to Yeusem, and touched his shoulder lightly.

“My Lord, is this a bad time?”
Yeusem sighed, and turned around. His, dark, gold-flecked eyes were filled with something between rage and despair, “No, Hero. This is not a bad time. I am actually glad that you came. I want to tell you what my sneaky father had gone and done now.”
“What has he done this time?”
“He has arranged a marriage between me and that sniveling brat, Waisha. And there is nothing I can do or say about it!” Yeusem slammed his fist into the desk, then muttered something under his breath, something that Hero’s keen ears picked up quite easily, “I wish I could tell him the truth about my heart.” Yeusem looked at Hero, and tried to smile, but could only manage to straighten his mouth. “You wanted to tell me something?”
“Oh, only that a young lady came up to me on my way here.” Hero always liked to have his master ask for the rest of the information.
“Oh? Was is Waisha herself? Has she found out that you are my personal servant? I hope you told her that I am busy and unable to see anyone. What did she say?”
“First, it was not Waisha.” Yeusem’s eyes brightened, “Second, she left a message for you.” Hero was grinning unashamedly.
“Well? What did she say, man?” Hero loved the way that Yeusem was sitting on the edge of his seat and fairly jumping.
“She said, ‘The Lady Ellina is waiting for you at The Tavern and greatly desires to see you.’ There. She also said that she was an old and dear friend.”
“Lady Ellina...Lady Ellina,” Yeusem repeated to himself, stroking his chin, “I have never heard that name. What did she look like?”
“She told me not to say. I think she wants to keep you guessing. She also said something very strange.”
“What?”
“She said that she hopes your leg wound has healed all the way. I don’t know what she was talking about there, you don’t have a leg wound” Hero shrugged. That was the one part that he did not understand. His master did limp, but it was only noticeable when he was tired.
Yeusem’s eyes held confusion. He was silent for a moment, when suddenly he leapt from his chair, “Ella!” he shouted. He bent down and pulled up his pant leg, revealing the scar. Hero squatted and had a look as well. He had never seen the cause of his master’s limp. And now he shuddered. That must have been a jagged and nasty wound. But the person who had mended it must have been a healer.
“Ella?” Hero asked Yeusem, who was now standing up and searching around for his cloak.
“The Tavern you said?”
“Yes, but sir! I said that you would come later. And she sounded glad of that. Her cloak and dress were coated in a fine layer of dust and she looked tired. She said that she had been traveling all morning. I think it would be wise to wait until your normal time. So then your family will not be suspicious.” He grabbed Yeusem’s tense arm, “My Lord, listen to my council. Wait. You know how your family watches to see every different thing that you do. If they see you in the Tavern with another woman when you are betrothed, you know that you may never again see daylight.”
Yeusem paused, then sighed and patted Hero’s hand, “Wise, as ever, my friend. You are right. I will wait. Though the day will feel like every minute is an hour. I have been waiting for this day for two years!”
“Can you tell me the story of how you know this lady?” Hero sat down.
“I am not sure of she would want me to say right now. But I will say this, without her, I would not be sitting right here. She saved my life and was my friend those few months I was gone two years ago. Do you remember that? When I first began to doubt?”
“I do. Your family found out that you were beginning to follow the ways of Sholeim. You ran away, then came back maybe three months later, sobbing like a baby. Yet all I can say, you changed a great deal during those months. Is she the reason why you changed?”
“Yes, I was there hiding in her barn for two months. She cared for me, fed me, encouraged me, loved me. She did not care that our races were enemies. She took care of me anyways. I have been saving my heart for her. She is the one and only woman I could ever imagine marrying. That is why I am so dismayed about my betrothal. I want to marry one woman alone. And that woman is that the Tavern!” he turned and pretended to glare at Hero, but his eyes laughed, “You should never have told me! Now I am going to go mad!”
Hero laughed, and Yeusem laughed along. He continued to ask more questions. Why did she call herself Lady Ellina? How did she look? What else did she say? He was also quite happy to know that she knew Hero’s name before he even told her.
He clapped his hands like a boy, “Yes! Yes! That is most definitely Ella. She is a mindspeaker. I remember when I was there, our minds were connected. No matter how far away she was from me, she could always tell what I was thinking. But when she hid me, she broke our bond. That is one of the things that I was sobbing. I missed her voice in my head. I always knew that she had power about her. It is in her air, is it not?”
“Yes, she had power shining from her eyes, my Lord.” The rain continued to pour down, drenching the roads and the people that were caught in it. Hero and Yeusem talked and talked the whole day, until it was late at night. Yeusem donned his oiled cloak and walked out into the torrent. He knew that the eyes of his family watched him from their windows, but they would have thought nothing of this. He always went to the Tavern, rain or shine.
He entered into the Tavern and was greeted by the usual laughter and warmth.
The barkeeper, a jolly man named Jamion, grinned wide when he saw him enter, “Good evenin’ my Lord! What can I get for you this fine night?”
Yeusem smiled back at the friendly man, “Nothing right now, Jamion, thank you though.”
“I thing I should tell you, my Lord, there is a young lady that is sitting in the back booth. She said something about wanting me to send you over to her when you came.” Jamion had lowered his voice to a whisper and he leaned over the top of the counter.
“What did she look like? Did she leave a name?” Yeusem had also dropped his voice to a whisper.
“I didn’t get to look at her face, she had her hood drawn over it so shadows covered a great deal of it. And her name was a strange one, Lady Ellina she called herself. She walked with enough elegance to be royalty, but her clothes were those only people slightly higher than commoners would wear. And her cloak was coated in dust when she first came in. She left after she had had a drink of water, then she came back. She definitely looked cleaner, but she still had that hood drawn over her face. I could see two things, though, my Lord. She had a scar on the left side of her face that looked no more that two weeks old. And her eyes were glowing blue in the light.” Jamion shuddered, “Do you think it wise to go to her, sir, she might be an assassin!”
Yeusem chuckled, “I highly doubt it, my good man. Were is she?”
Jamion rolled his eyes, “Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but I already told you. She is in the back booth, the darkest place in the entire tavern.”
“Thank you.” Yeusem got off his seat and walked through the musty room to the other end. There he saw her. She was sitting, as Jamion said, in the back booth. Her hood was covering her face, but he could see that she was looking at the wall that faced her. He walked slowly up to her, and stopped when he was in arms length of her.
“So, the wonderful Lord Yeusem finally decided to show up.” said the voice that came from the unseen face. It was dark, sending chills up his spine, an older version of the voice he remembered so well.
“Yes, I had much to do at home, milady, otherwise I would have come sooner.” Yeusem suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“I am sure.” Her voice was now cold, she lifted up a gloved hand and beckoned to a seat at her table, “Sit.”
Yeusem did as she commanded. He was beginning to have his doubts if this was Ella, though once he sat down, his doubts vanished. She had pulled her hood slightly back, and he could now see her face, and her eyes. Those deep, blue eyes that flashed at him in the smokey light.
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, “It is good to see you again, Yeusem.”
“Ella..I..It’s really you!” He wanted to jump to her and hold her tightly in his arms and never let her go.
Now her smile came, making her eyes dance with laughter, “Aye, ‘tis I, Ella.” He smiled in memory of the way that she used to say that whenever she came into the barn. It was became almost like a password to them.
“But why did you call yourself Lady Ellina?” He had a lot of questions.
“Because that is my real and rightful title. Don’t ask me how, that is just what Leo told me.” She grinned. He could see that she fairly glowed now with power.
“Leo?”
“And don’t you get jealous on me!” This was the Ella he knew and loved, “I have only known Leo for a few days, and believe me, there is no possible way for us to get together. I know how you men think.” She winked.
“I wasn’t jealous! I don’t even know who this Leo is...Who is he?”
This made Ella laugh, “He is the deer friend of Et, and both are Luniaths. The blood of dragons and elves runs through their veins. And they both have dragon traits, but I do not think it would be wise to mention those here.” She looked cautiously around, “There are ears listening that should not be.”
“Can we mind-” Ella’s raised hand caught him off guard, silencing him. She did not want him to mention anything about her power. He knew that after one look in her sea blue eyes, “My Lord, I am very tired and I think I will go to my room at the Dancer Inn.”
“I will walk with you.” Yeusem offered, trying to be courteous.
“No need, I am quite well by myself, thank you anyways.” She got up and left without another word. However, a few seconds after she was out the door, he heard her voice inside his head. It was gentle, yet it shocked him all the same. He had not had a voice ringing in his mind for two years.
Yeusem, wait maybe five minutes, then leave. Meet me behind the Dancer Inn. I will be there, waiting.
“Alright.” He tried to hide the uncertainty in his voice, but it did not work.
He heard her laugh ripple through his mind, Good man.
He did as she told, and sat there, acting like he was thinking about leaving. Then, after about 5 minutes, he lazily got up and walked out of the Tavern and into the cold town.
It had stopped raining, leaving the sky covered with black clouds that left a space for the moon to shine through. He walked casually into the road and towards the Inn. He looked around cautiously, saw that no one was looking, and ran to the other side of the street. He felt like he could no longer wait for Ella to be in his arms. Once he got to the building he slowed his pace to a slow walk. As he ambled along the edge of the brick building known as the Dancer Inn, he kept his ears trained for any noise that would let him know where Ella was waiting for him.
He did not even have to look for her, she was standing there, behind a tall, bush-like tree. Her back was turned towards him, but her hood was now thrown back. The full moon made her long, blonde hair shine majestically. He walked slowly up to her, and laid his hand on her shoulder. Her gloved hand reached up and touched his.
“You have no idea how I have looked forward to this day.” her voice was a whisper, trembling with emotion. Her shoulders shook gently, and he could tell by her breathing that she was crying softly. He gently wrapped his arm around her shoulders and turned her around so she now faced him. She was looking down, her lips trembling, yet the small twinge of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. A tear fell and streaked down the left side of her face. He put his finger under her chin and raised her face and eyes to meet his. Her sea-blue orbs met his. Slowly, he touched her face.
Yeusem was caressing her face. So gently, so tenderly. His eyes were scanning her face, as if not wanting to leave out a single detail of her heavily marred face. His finger was tracing her scar, and her skin tingled. She looked into his eyes; his gold flecks sparkled. They embraced, and that closed the years of separation that had torn them apart. She did not want to leave.


Well! There ya'll go! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter of my story! :)

Just to let you know, I may not post anything for a while. I am going to be very busy with the Del Mar Fair, and I do not think that I am going to be able to have internet. So unless I am able to put something in this weekend, this will be the last post for a very long time! 

Just a warning! :)

I love you all!

Jenna