Love & War

Elliot

I messed up. I really messed up. Fuck! First Zander, and now Illiana. I can’t win for losing today.

I stare at her as she walks down the road home. She is nearly waddling. She tosses her braid over her shoulder and the sun reflects brightly off of the silver streak running through the blonde.

I am a toadstool. She carries my child and I doubted her.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. No one has dared to move let alone speak. I stand up straight and look around for a moment. They are all still staring at me.

“As you were.” I gesture to everyone around me.

Where is Jess? One mess at a time and I need to deal with the crisis first.

Ellori, the woman I thought was a man, stands from the bench and picks up a large bag of dried fruit. I sigh and walk up to her.

“Prince Elliot.” She bows her head.

“Ellori. Have you seen Jessilyn?” I cross my arms. I can’t say this won’t be awkward, but it’s time to swallow my pride.

“She went to speak with the King about the patch of flowers. Lia called them violets.” She stares at the ground.

Gods, this is awkward. Wait- flowers? Are the gods mocking us?

I raise my eyebrow. “I see. Thank you.” As I go to turn around, Ellori clears her throat. I pause and turn to her again.

“Lia forgot these. She’s going to be upset when she calms down. She’s been craving these for a while now.” Ellori holds out a large bag of dried apricots.

I take it and frown. “So she’s craving fruit? I guess that makes sense considering where she’s from.” I mutter to myself. Ellori cocks her head to the side and raises an eyebrow. “Thank you, Ellori. And I’m- uh. I’m sorry about before. Someone gave me misinformation about the goings-on in the village. I truly apologize.” I give a half-smile.

“Lia was right. You’re not great at this talking thing. If you want to make it up to her, you could get her more fruit. She will inhale this, Prince Elliot.” Ellori smiles.

I can’t tell if she thinks the situation is funny or if she is offended. Either way, she’s speaking casually. I’m assuming that’s a good sign. I look up at the fruit stand and there she stands. Staring at me. Again. Engelina.

Theos, why can I not get rid of this gnat?

I groan and look at Ellori. “Has she been craving anything else? Anything at all?” I groan again at the thought of having to speak to that miserable thing.

Ellori thinks for a moment and shakes her head. “Nope. She has only really mentioned she would like some fruit. Then said she would like to try the apples, but that was a few weeks ago. Getting her to leave the house is impossible most of the time.”

She’s been cooping herself up? Why? Because I asked her not to go out alone?

My chest aches. “I see. Thank you for your assistance again, Ellori. If you’ll excuse me.” I nod at her.

“Oh! Yes! I’ll see you later, your highness.” She smiles brightly and walks in the direction of another vendor.

I look up again and Engelina still has not looked away. I walk over to the stall and look up at the wooden sign.

Apricots, apples, pears, and even oranges for a limited time only. Which would Illiana like the best? Fuck! How do I not even know what my wife likes to eat? Or worse- what she’s craving.

I frown and close my eyes for a second. The sound of fingernails clacking on the stall in front of me causes me to open my eyes. Engelina dares to stand in front of me and smile. She looks up at me through her eyelashes in an attempt to look sultry.

“I knew you would come back for me, El.” She bites her lip as she leans over the counter. She pokes her chest out as far as she can and leans her head over to the side.

I raise an eyebrow and take a step back.

“For you? Not in this life or the next. I am faithful to my wife. I am only here for a tin of fruit. The one with all four. Either sell it to me or get a shopkeeper who will. I don’t have time to deal with your crass foolishness.”

I narrow my eyes. Her eyebrows knit together and she stands from the counter. She crosses her arms and slams the largest tin they have down in front of her. I pick it up and place forty tral in front of her.

“Just keep the change. This transaction is finished.”

I turn on my heel and look up at the palace. I hang my head and walk to the edge of the market where Lucinda is. Obsidian pokes his head around her and stares at the market in amazement.

“Mister Prince Elliot, sir?” He speaks up.

I raise an eyebrow and look over at him. “Yes?”

“Is that a gift for the lady that yelled at you?” He points to the tin of fruit.

“Why yes, it is.” I look down at it. The tin is a bit plain.

“Gifts are normally wrapped, aren’t they?” He looks up at me.

“Ya know what, kid? You’re absolutely right. Will you help me find something to wrap it in?” I smile at him.

Obsidian smiles so big his whole face lights up. He nods furiously and balls his hands into fists.

“Okay. I remember the very first thing I saw her wear was purple and copper. Purple is our color of royalty. Can you help me find something that will wrap the whole tin?”

I kneel beside him. He squints his eyes and then grins again, pointing to a vendor three stations down from us. They have various ribbons and decorative papers strewn about the top of their stall.

“I’m sure we’ll find what we need for the lady’s gift there!” He beams.

I ruffle his hair as I stand up. “Okay, come on kid. Let’s go.”

Obsidian gives me a toothy grin and runs to the vendor. I follow behind him and shake my head. I look over my shoulder to the palace again.

How am I supposed to break it to Jessilyn that the glittershits had Zander? That they took him and I couldn’t protect him too? How am I supposed to tell my sister that it’s my fault her husband is as good as dead? Fuck.

“Mister Elliot, sir! I think this is the perfect one! It looks like the lady’s wings.” Obsidian holds an emerald green ribbon with purple stitching out in front of me snapping me out of my thoughts.

Wait. Her wings?

I raise an eyebrow and look at him. “I’m sorry, did you say wings?” I ask in a hushed tone.

He nods then cocks his head to the side. “Didn’t you see them? They were big and green. They were different from the ones before. The ones you- uh- ya know.” he drags his thumb across his throat and sticks out his tongue. I chuckle and smile at him. Kneeling before him I put a hand on his little shoulder.

“You can’t tell anyone else about that lady having wings, okay? It’s not safe for her here with them. She’s wearing a special bracelet that hides them from everyone else. Can you do that for me?” I raise my eyebrows and Obsidian straightens his stance.

“Yes, Mister Elliot! The lady’s secret is safe with me! Cross my heart!” He draws an ‘X’ on his chest with his index finger.

I stand up and look over at the vendor. “We will take this one. How much?” I reach to my belt and untie the small sachet of tral.

“Oh, that one is on the house, your highness! It is an honor to have you grace our stand!” The man grins.

I can’t tell if it is sincere or a form of self-advertisement. Either way, I nod to him. “Thank you. My wife and I appreciate your kindness.”

Obsidian looks up at me and then back to Lucinda.

“What now? Are you going after that lady to make up? You were a little mean to her. Is that what this is for? To make up?” He points to the dried fruit and ribbon.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. “You have a keen eye there, kid. Yes, this is for my wife, Illiana.” I look up at Lucinda as well. “We will give this to her in a little bit. Will you help me? I’m not too good at tying bows.”

Obsidian gives me another toothy grin and nods vigorously. I hand him the ribbon and the tin. When we get back to Lucinda I lift him onto her back.

“I have to talk to my sister before we go home, okay? Do you remember Zander?” I stare at the ground as I lead Lucinda toward the palace.

“Is he the man the faeries got? The ones on the way back?”

“Yeah. That’s Zander. He is my sister’s husband. And he’s my very best friend- my brother. That I could not protect. I have to go tell my sister now.” It feels like I’ve been punched in the gut even saying the words.

Obsidian puts his small hand on my arm. “That wasn’t your fault. It was a surprise attack. They were waiting in the trees so close to here. You couldn’t have known, mister Elliot. I saw you try to get him back from them. You even got shot with an arrow kind of. You can’t save everyone.”

We walk in silence the rest of the way to the iron gate that leads to the palace. It’s been a while since I’ve been back to this place. The fence looks like creeping ivy carved from iron and at the entrance stands two guards. The one to the left elbows the other in the ribs and both open the gates. I stop beside them.

“I need a favor.”

The one on the left with bright red hair stands up straight. “Anything! Anything at all!”

That was quick. Obsidian chuckles.

“I need you to watch Obsidian here while I attend a meeting. This boy is under my protection, understand?” I stare at both of them.

They salute me and nod. “Yes, your highness.”

I hand the red-head Lucinda’s lead and pause. I unpin the royal leaf insignia pin from my chest and pin it to Obsidian’s shirt.

“No one will dare harm you with this. I vow to you that I will let no more harm come to you, Obsidian. Cross my heart.” I mimic his earlier notion of drawing an ‘X’ over my heart.

He beams. “Okay! I am going to make this the most perfect bow for your wife. I promise!”

Obsidian carefully begins to wrap the tin with the ribbon.

I look at the guards again. “I meant every word I said. I will be back soon. Keep him safe.”

They both salute again. I turn and look straight ahead of me. A tall tree with a spiral staircase carved into the trunk leading up to the palace oversees the village and the territory surrounding it.

Jess is up there. Unknowing. Happy. And I have to ruin that.

I swallow hard and begin my trek. After fifteen to twenty minutes of scaling the stairs, I make it to the two huge double doors leading into the palace. I pause and clutch my hands into fists before making my way to the doors and pushing the right one open. The foyer is empty. They aren’t in there. I look to my left at the grand staircase and the hallway right at its entrance. There is a light coming from that direction. I put my head down and trudge up the stairs.

I can hear Jess laughing in delight and my heart hurts with every giggle. I walk to Father’s study and knock twice. The giggling stops and the room goes silent.

“Enter.”

I push the door open to find Father and Jess standing at his desk with a small vase of purple flowers.

“Ah! Elliot my boy! Look at this! Isn’t it a miracle? Flowers! Growing here!” He smiles gleefully. Jess looks at me for a minute smiling.

“It’s good to see you, brother! Where is Zander?” She asks trying to see around me.

My knees give out and I fall onto them hitting the floor.

“Jess, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t save him,” I choke out.

She doesn’t say anything. I don’t even hear her breathing.

“What?”

“They ambushed us. They took Zander. They took him and I couldn’t save him.” I look up at Jess.

She has tears streaming down her face and she finally crumbles to the floor. She falls to her knees and wails. Father wraps his arms around her and rubs her arm to comfort her. I look back at the floor. It feels like the shame is going to eat me alive.

I couldn’t save him. This is my fault.