Love & War

Illiana

It has been roughly six months since I have heard anything about Elliot. He never responded to the letter I sent to him.

Did he not want our child?

I frown and place a hand on my swollen stomach. My hair is loosely braided to the side now. Jessilyn taught me basic braids so I would not have to rely on her or Elliot to do them for me. A good chunk of my hair toward the front had turned silver. The same color as Elliot’s. Jessilyn said it was the elven way of showing the child’s paternity, but the streak usually wasn’t this big. It wasn’t prominent until a few weeks ago. Almost as if it had appeared overnight. A knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts. I stand up from the couch and walk to the kitchen to the front door. I straighten out my makeshift purple dress.

“Who is it?” I ask through the door.

“Who is it? Who else comes to visit you! It’s me!”

I smile and open the door. Ellori stands in the doorway with Jess behind her. I step to the side and gesture for both of them to come in. Ellori is a little shorter than Jess with her mouse-brown hair cropped short. Her ears poke out the side of her hair.

“What brings the two of you here today?” I raise an eyebrow as I shut the door behind them.

“Well, sis, you haven’t been leaving the house much. You’re eight months pregnant. It’s not healthy for you to be cooped up all the time,” Jessilyn frowns.

“That and you haven’t even been shopping for the little miracle you’ve got there,” Ellori smiles to my belly. A little miracle is right. I guess a baby with both elven and fae blood is a rarity.

“I haven’t been shopping but between the two of you, I have everything I need for it. I’m certainly not going to run out of cloth diapers.” I giggle and point to the far corner of the living room to the three large wicker baskets full of clean cloth diapers with a smaller basket of pins to hold them together beside it.

Ellori rolls her eyes. “Okay, but what about clothes? You can never have too many baby clothes.”

Jess snorts. “Oh, believe me, you can. But you aren’t there yet. Come out with us today. We’re going to the market to get the baby some things. Please?”

I frown. “I don’t know. I’ve been getting so tired lately.”

“Oh please, Lia? Just for an hour. I promise we’ll get you home before your feet swell.” Ellori pokes out her bottom lip.

“Ugh fine, Lori. You win this time, so put the lip away. Let me put on my shoes, okay?”

I walk over to the front door and bend down backward to grab my shoes. Jess raises an eyebrow.

“Would you like help with that?”

“With putting on my shoes? I think I can manage.” I laugh as I slip them on. Lori positions herself behind me as to catch me if I fall. “Shall we?”

I open the door for the two of them. They grin at each other to celebrate their victory. I roll my eyes and walk out behind them. I stand on the top step for a moment and look over the field.

Grey and dead as always- wait. That. There. A purple spot?

“Jess? Lori? Do either of you see that?” I point to the purple spot in the otherwise dead graying field. They squint over at the field for a moment.

“What in the hell?” Jess stares for a moment.

“Only one way to find out!” Lori breaks out in a sprint to the purple spot. I swear it only takes her thirty seconds to reach what would have taken me five minutes. “Oh, Gods! Flowers! They’re flowers!” She squeals in delight.

I slowly climb down the massive stairs and follow behind Jessilyn to where Ellori stands. The sun is directly in front of us, but I swear I see two shadow-like figures behind Jessilyn for a split second. I shake my head and look at the ground in front of Lori.

Violets. She is having a fit over violets?

I look up at Jessilyn and she has tears streaming down her face.

What is going on?

“They are violets. Why are you crying?”

I stare down at them. They poke up in between shards of broken glass. This is where Dawn nearly cut her foot open all those months ago. Where I first met Jess.

“Oh, Lia! You don’t understand. Nothing grows here. Not since the curse. This is the first time in close to thirty years!” Jessilyn laughs. Lori is uncharacteristically silent.

“What does this mean? Is it finally lifting? Are the Gods helping us?” Lori whispers.

I place a hand on my bump and shrug. “A good sign, perhaps? Should we tell someone?”

“Oh! Yes! We must inform my father!” Jess grabs my hand and leads me out of the field, Lori close behind.

“Slow down! Little legs!” I remind her.

Not all of us can be as tall as trees. I swear every elf I have seen is at least a good foot taller than I am. Will my baby be tall too?

“Ah right. Sorry, I forgot,” Jess chuckles.

Lori shakes her head and grins. “Flowers. I wonder how long it will be until we can have crops again. Or livestock!”

It makes my heart hurt to hear them. They have been without so much, and I have had everything handed to me my whole life. I lived a life of luxury. And I cannot feel anything but guilt for it seeing the state that most of the elven people live in. I frown and walk silently behind them the rest of the way to the market. The market is buzzing with life. Children playing, as usual. The vendors trying to sell their wares. Jess stops and looks at me.

“I need to go to the palace to let my father know. Will you be okay here to shop for a little while? Lori will be here with you.”

“Yeah, we will be fine. Go on.” I wave her off.

Jessilyn smiles at me and all but runs in the direction of the palace in the tree. I place a hand on top of my bump and look at Lori. She smiles at me mischievously.

“What do you have planned this time?” I laugh.

She hooks her arm with mine and begins walking straight across the market to a stand that has hats. She grabs a tan newsboy cap and puts it on.

“What do you think? Is it me?” She asks as she put a hand under her chin to frame her face.

“Actually, yes!” I laugh.

She turns to the elven man behind the stand and hands him some tral, or elven money.

The man nods and thanks her for her patronage then she smiles at me.

“Be honest. Does it go with my outfit?” She gestures down to herself.

Ellori has a petite athletic build. She is dressed in dark brown leather pants, a cream-colored shirt, and a tan vest with copper buttons. The newsboy cap ties it together perfectly.

“You look cute. Now let’s get something to eat. The baby is demanding fruit,” I giggle.

Ellori hooks her arm with mine again and leads me in the direction of another stand. I feel the stares of some older elven women and try to ignore them.

“Gods not her,” Lori rolls her eyes. She stops short of the dried fruit stand. I look at her and raise an eyebrow. “Do you see the woman there at the fruit stand?” Lori glares at her. I nod.

She looks different from Jess or Lori. She doesn’t have a single scar on her. She is as tall as Jessilyn. Her ink-black hair cascades down her back and stops at her waist. She is dressed in a crimson gown with a brass corset. The buttons on it look to be tiny brass roses. She has chocolate brown eyes and full lips. She is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

“That is Engelina Larksong. She was Prince Elliot’s fiancee before the two of you got married. And she is the biggest bitch I’ve ever had the displeasure of acquainting myself with,” Lori narrows her eyes.

Her? She was who Elliot was supposed to marry? Gods, I am awful. She is gorgeous. She would have looked perfect with him.

My chest hurts and I frown then look at the ground.

“Let’s get you that fruit. It looks like apricots today. You like apricots don’t you?” Lori stares at the stand.

“They are my favorite. Yeah,” I say quietly.

I look up and Engelina locks eyes with me then raised an eyebrow at Lori. I walk up to the stand and look up at her.

“One large bag, please,” I say as I unfasten the pouch of tral from my belt.

Engelina giggles. “Can you even afford it?” She raises an eyebrow and looks down at me.

She is being a bully. I get it. I came out of nowhere and turned her life upside down. I’m the villain in her story. I let that comment slide.

“I can. Your sign says a large bag is ten tral. Here.”

I place ten tral on the counter. She rolls her eyes and holds out a large bag of dried apricots. I reach for it and she lets it go before I get to it. The bag plops onto the ground by my feet and Engelina’s mouth curls upwards. I can feel the anger radiating off of Lori.

I place my hand on her arm and sigh. “She’s not worth it.”

Lori picks the bag up for me and glares at Engelina before leading me the opposite way to the benches in the center of the market. I sit on the edge of one for a moment. My feet are throbbing.

“Well I think that went well, all things considered.”

Lori does not respond. She plops down beside me with her head down. She places the bag beside me and clenches her fists so tightly her knuckles turn white.

“Lori?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Why, Lia? Why did you allow her to treat you like that? She knows exactly who you are. She should have her tongue cut from her vile mouth.” Lori is shaking.

“She is not worth the energy it takes to get mad.”

I stare down at my hands. That and I inadvertently ruined her life by getting into a political marriage with the man she loved. I frown.

“I swear dumping her was the best decision the Prince could have made. Evil wench.” Lori looks up at me.

I smile at her. “Do not worry about it. I got my apricots. Let us just sit here for a moment, okay?” I place my hand on her shoulder.

“What in the fuck is going on here?” A voice booms out from behind where we sit.

I jump and turn around. Elliot is standing there in front of me for the first time in months. The sun was directly behind where he stands.

“Elliot?” I squint and grin. I stand up and begin to walk over to him. “Elliot! You are home!”

My heart feels like it is going to beat out of my chest.

“Home to see my wife whoring herself out? That’s one hell of a welcome, Princess.” He glares at me.

I stop in my tracks. “Whoring out? Excuse me?” It feel like everyone in the market paused and is staring at us.

Completely baffled is an understatement.

“Did you have to be so bold as to bring him out in public?” Elliot spits and glares at the bench.

“Him? To whom are you referring, Elliot?” I look over at the bench. Ellori and other elven ladies sit there staring up at us.

“Oh don’t be daft. I didn’t expect this from you even considering what you are,” he snarls.

“What I am? And what your baby is? A bit racist is it not? There is no a man on this bench.” I glare at him.

What in the hell is going on in his big, stupid head?!

“So you’re telling me that you haven’t been having an affair with that man sitting right there?” He points to Ellori. He was oddly calm to be accusing me of something so atrocious as an affair.

“Two things, Elliot. One, you are an absolute ass. Two, Ellori is a woman and my friend. We are done here. When you think you can use your grown-up vocabulary, you can find me at home.”

I glare at him and turn on my heel. I begin to walk away when I feel someone with large hands grab my wrist.

“Illiana, I-” Elliot’s voice comes from behind me.

“Save it. You have humiliated me enough.” I snatch my wrist out of his grasp and walk quickly away from him.

How dare he! And in public? I feel humiliated and nauseous. Does he really think I am capable of that kind of deceit?

For whatever reason, something is telling me to turn back. I look back over my shoulder to see Elliot still standing where I just left him. His shoulders are sagging and his head hangs. He looked completely defeated.

Good. Asshole.

The man with the red beard and stag breastplate put his hand on Elliot’s shoulder and then looks up at me. We make eye contact for a minute before a look of surprise crosses his face. He iss probably just one of Elliot’s friends. I roll my eyes and continue my walk.