Chapter 10

Hello, everyone! Here is chapter 10!

phew! I am going to have to write more! I only have up to chapter 11! yikes!

Hope you all like it!

Chapter Ten

“Ella!” Eria cried when Ellina walked into the Inn, “You sly thing, where have you been?”
“Didn’t you get my note?” Ellina answered as she hugged her good friend.
“Of course we got your note, but that does not stop us from worrying about you!” She held Ellina close, then loosened as she caught sight of Yeusem and Hero. “Who are these?”
Ellina turned around, grinning wide, “This is my beloved friend, Yeusem bar Shali and his companion, Hero. Gentlemen, this is Eria, dear as a sister.”
They bowed and curtsied to each other, though Eria looked doubtfully at Yeusem. Bold as ever, she said, “Mr. Shali, how is it that you have gained the friendship and trust of Ella? I am not blind, I see your skin color and know what you are.”
“I know that you are wary of my race, Lady Eria, as well you should be. Ella found me when I was injured years back and she cared me and healed me through her skills. I follow the God that she does and I have rejected everything that my people follow. I am an outcast among my people.” he paused as Eria looked from him to Ella, who nodded, everything was true.
“Eria, you need not fear Yeusem.” She looked around eagerly, “Where is everyone else?”
“James and Leo are organizing a search party for you and Et is doubtless with them.” Eria shrugged.
“But I said in my note that no one was to worry about me!”
“You think that would stop James from doing something? You know him better than that, Ella. He cares for you like you are his own daughter. Hurry now and you should be able to get him.” She shooed them out the door.
“But where is he?” Ellina asked.
“Oh, they are in the stables behind the Inn.” Ellina turned and ran out, Yeusem and Hero following. They burst into the stables just as Leo mounted a horse to spur it on.
“Ella!” She found herself in the arms of Et, engulfed in her wings as they wrapped around her, trembling with relief and excitement. “Where have you been? We have been so worried about you! Why did you run off like that!” She released Ellina and shook her shoulders, scolding her like she was her mother, “We were so scared that something may have gotten you! Don’t ever do that again, young lady!”
“I’m a year older than you, you silly girl!” she laughed and gazed into the stormy eyes of her friend, “You should know by now that I can take care of myself.” she whispered.
James approached her, frowning, with his giant hands on his hips and glaring at her icily enough to freeze a river. Undaunted, she grinned up at him, “Hello, James! You should have heeded my note, you old worry wort!”
“Why you little-!” he said nothing more as he scooped her up and her in his huge embrace, nearly squeezing the air out of her lungs. She grunted and let out a cough, and James suddenly came aware how tightly he was hugging her and released her, setting her gently on the ground.
“James, Et, Leo, I would like to introduce you all to Yeusem, my dear friend.” She beckoned her oldest friend to come forward; he bowed gracefully.
She continued her introductions, and while Et and Leo seemed more than cordial, James was a bit wary of her old friend. He was gruff, stiff, and quickly released Yeusem’s hand after he shook it. Ellina made a mental note to talk to James about what was troubling him.

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

Later that night, after a brief celebration at the Inn for the wedding of James and Eria and also the return of Ellina, Ellina took a walk with James out into the town. Ellina loved her freedom in this place. Everyone now knew her and she could walk about without hiding her face. Feeling the cool evening breeze brush the hair from her face was something she hadn’t felt all that much in two years. She held onto James’ elbow and he walked slowly to match the pace of Ellina. They were silent for a few minutes. Ellina looked up at the face of this giant. If she had ever known her father, she would have imagined him to be like James. Kind and gentle and overprotective to the very last. She smiled thoughtfully, then remembered what she wanted to talk to James about.
“James?”
“Yes?” He looked down at her.
“Why are you wary of Yeusem?”
James said nothing and stared ahead. A slight glint of something that looked like hatred flashed briefly in his eyes, then vanished.
“James, do not keep this from me. I want to know why you do not trust my friend.” She gently squeezed his tense arm.
He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped, and his arm relaxed slightly, “I should know better than to keep things from you, my little mindspeaker.” He attempted a smile, but he was unsuccessful. “I am sure that you have seen something in my mind about a little girl.”
Ellina nodded.
“She was my daughter. I married when I was much younger to a beautiful woman. Her name was Virgineya. We were from the mountains of the far north, where people of our size are a regular occurrence. We were so happy, and the love that bound us together was pure and right. Two years after she gave birth to our daughter, Anastasie, she died.” He stopped and drew in a shaky breath. “I still miss her very much. And I love Eria very much as well, but I still feel the void of her leaving me.”
Ellina wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned on him. She could feel his sorrow. It was one of the affects of her mindspeaking. His pain lanced into her heart. He had been wounded, but he had not healed. No, he had not healed much at all. His chest heaved with shaky breaths as he tried to control himself.
“Anyways, if it weren’t for my dear Anastasie, I would not have lived for a year. She was a beautiful girl, and she was full of life. No sorrow in the world could have dampened the sunshine that she shed into my life. But I could not stay in the mountains. The pain of seeing all of my wife’s favorite haunts was to hard to bear. So I packed up everything that we had and moved down south. I did not know how far I wanted to go, I only knew that I wanted to get as far away from all the painful memories as possible. We traveled slowly, it was like a big vacation for us. We stayed for over a week at a time at most villages that we stayed in. Ana made friends everywhere and she wrote most of them for a long while. Finally, we came to the place. We were walking through the woods when we came upon a beautiful clearing. A stream ran through the east end of it. It was picture perfect. Everything was just as if it was meat for us to be there. We built a house there and our home was just as it should have been. A village was close by, so Ana could have all her little friends. We lived there happily for 8 years.
“My daughter reached the beautiful age of ten...and she was beautiful! A man could not have asked for a more beautiful and devoted daughter. She was my my life and the only reason I was living and breathing. I would still feel the same anger and pain, but she made it so much easier.
“One day, I left her at home while I went to the village to buy some things. I wasn’t going to be gone for long. But you know how things go. I saw some good friends and I stopped to talk to them. Suddenly, a man came barreling through the town in a wagon, screaming at the top of his lungs that Shaquams were riding towards the town on a raid and that they had already attacked and burned some houses on the outskirts of town. I immediately jumped into my wagon and raced home. But I met the villains on the way there and they knocked my out and stole my wagon and everything in it. I wasn’t out for long, and when I did come to, I ran home.”
The giant paused, his eyes filling with tears, “My home was burnt to the ground and there was nothing left of it.” He choked back a sob. “And my girl was gone.” He put his head in his hands and wept, no longer holding back the pain that had been in him for so long. Ellina held him, tears coming out of her own eyes. After a few moments, he continued again, “I searched everywhere for her body. The only thing I found of hers was the necklace that once belonged to her mother. She wore it all the time.” He reached into his shirt and pulled out a beautiful necklace that he now wore about his neck. It was a delicate golden strand with a single golden flower hanging from it. It was elegantly simple and absolutely beautiful.
“It is lovely, James.” Was all she could say at that moment.
“It looked even more lovely around her neck.” He lifted his head, his eyes burning with resolve. “I think my daughter is still alive. I found no remains of her body, absolutely nothing. And she would not have given up that necklace unless absolutely necessary. My daughter was a smart girl, and she may have taken off her necklace as a sign that she is still alive. And it was not in the remains of the house. It was outside. Ella, tell me if my hopes are in vain? Do think my reasoning logical? She was a sturdy girl, and very pretty. They probably took her as a slave, right?”
Ellina looked down at the ground. This man wanted something to hold on to. His daughter could have been taken. The Shaquams sometimes took slaves, if they were pleasing to the eye and were young enough to learn to work hard. It seemed his daughter fit both. And he also didn’t find a body. From what she knew, on their raids, the Shaquams usually left the bodies to rot, mutilated and unrecognizable.
She knew her answer, “Yes, they probably did, James. But you also must realize, she may be dead by now. The Shaquam whip does not have mercy on its victims.”
“Ah, but she is a mountain girl.” He said with a strong note of pride in his vocie, “She is stronger than most lasses her age.”
“How old would she be right now?”
“She would be about 15 right now.”
“So this was five years ago?”
Nodd.
“James, you must know, Yeusem is only two years older than me. There is no possible way he could have done anything. So do not hold your anger against him. He is a good friend and I would trust him with my life. And I encourage you to get to know him and learn to love and trust him as I do.” she laid her hand on his shoulder as he looked away from her gleaming eyes, “I know it will be hard, and I understand how much pain it is going to cause you. But please try. Get to know him before you judge him.”
“You really love him, don’t you?” He asked softly, his eyes tender again. And suddenly she knew that it was not brotherly love he was talking about.
She nodded, smiling, “I love him very much.”
“Then he had better prove himself to be worthy of you! For it seems that all he has done so far is be a burden to you!”
“Oh, James! No! He is not a burden! He was the first person who actually looked at me. He looked at me and didn’t find me repulsing! Do you know how much it meant to me then? I had been called hideous and grotesque by my mother all my life. I was ashamed to look at myself in the mirror. And he looked at me and delved into my heart and found me beautiful!” Now it was her turn to get emotional. Tears of her love for Yeusem spilled out of her eyes. She looked up at the moon and they sparkled like diamonds on her fair skin. “Even now, after two years of being mocked by the public, being looked at and found beautiful is so shocking for me. I may hide it well, but that is truly what I feel! Yes, people can get to know me and learn to love me, but if they truly think that I am pretty is another thing. That is what is so different about Yeusem. He looked at me and didn’t even think about my appearance. I was beautiful to him from the start. He held me up and made me feel like a queen for two months. And he still does. Even after being separated for two years, I can tell that he still thinks that I am beautiful! You have no idea what that means for a girl! Any girl! We all desire to be a beautiful princess in someone’s eyes. Even Et desires that. She may seem tough and rugged, but she desires to be looked at for who she is rather than as some freak of nature. And she is anything but a freak of nature, she is a natural part of it and is part of a rare race, as am I. Ignorant people who do not read their history books or go to great cities do not know who we really are.”
“Do you want to go to a great city and see other people like you?”
The question caught her by surprise. She had never thought about it. But in an instant she knew the answer. “Oh, yes!” She breathed.
“Well then.” He squared his shoulders and stretched a bit, “I think we have been out in the night air for long enough! I will try to get to know Yeusem and I will try not to judge him, but only for you, Ella.”
She gave a squeal and wrapped her arms around him, giving him the biggest squeeze that she could. “Thank you so much, James! You do not know how much this means to me!”
“I wouldn’t do it for anyone else, Ella.”
“Not even for Eria?”
He blushed, “Well, maybe for her.” He grinned and hugged her tightly.
A sudden thought came into her mind. “James?”
“Yes?”
Her hand trailed down to his and she clutched it. Her words come out in a whisper, “I promise that I will do all within my power to find your daughter and bring her back to you.”
James eyes widened and he tensed. “You don’t have to do that.”
Yes, I do. I have a debt to pay. You have helped me in my trouble and done more than you can even dream. You need your daughter and I know that your daughter needs you. I will find her and bring her back to you, even if it takes me years to find her. Even if she is dead, I will find her body and take you to her grave.
“Ella. Don’t do this because you feel sorry for me. I-”
She cut him short, “I am not doing it for pity! You are my friend and I care a great deal for you.” She caressed his face gently with her cold fingers, “I would give anything to have had a father like you.” She whispered.
His lips trembled and he held her hands, warming them in his huge grasp.
Nothing more was said. They walked quietly back to the Inn, where the next day would hold much joy for them all, with the wedding of good friends and the hope of a happy future.

Hope you all enjoyed! :D

Love you!!!!!!

~Jenna~