Chapter Two: Love in the Darkness
Tranith Argan: Book 4
Deep underground in the old mines under Mount Majestic, the travelers detect no sign of their pursuers, but they remain vigilant.
They marched on for several more hours following a twisty trail of tunnels that left all but Dolen confused. Then they decided they had walked far enough to be safe for the night and to stop near a main tunnel junction for some rest. Two of their torches had burned out by this time, but they had found other torches hung along the walls in various locations and had extended their light source as they moved along. The wood from these ancient torches was treated with a sticky, black substance that kept the wood intact, but it had a smell they found unpleasant. Still, they could transfer the fire from torch to torch as they moved along. They now kept one torch lit and hung in a holder on the wall while they got ready to sleep.
“It must be the middle of the night,” said Kara as she placed her pack on the ground to serve as a pillow.
“Almost exactly the middle,” said Alessa with authority. “We have been marching for six hours and we began as dusk descended.”
“One of us should keep watch,” yawned Felanar.
“I can do so,” said Dolen, who now sat up again.
Alessa held out her palm. “Rest, Dolen,” she said. “I am fit and able to stand watch, and more important tonight, to listen.”
“Aye,” said the dwarf, “your ears are impressive, I'll grant you that. And I could use some sleep. I'll accept your offer.” With that he put his head on the ground and began snoring almost immediately. Felanar and Kara followed shortly thereafter.
Alessa stood for a while as she kept listening for any sound that might indicate danger, but she soon found a spot near the junction and sat down. She closed her eyes, not out of tiredness but to concentrate. An elf could rest quite effectively by staying still with eyes closed, and yet could remain very well aware of the surroundings. Alessa tried this technique now and found that it did help her rest.
She was learning much about her abilities on this journey, skills that her sheltered life had never prepared her for. She had taken training from the Findáran knights but only at her insistence. Her parents never suggested it or even thought it necessary in any way, but Alessa had been persistent. Until this journey, however, it had been a game to her, something to do to keep up with her big brother, Dalonír. Now she was finding uses for this training and wished she had learned more. She was, she admitted to herself in this quiet moment, just a child in so many ways.
Alessa bolted upright at a sound. Felanar jumped at the sight, for it was his quiet footsteps that had roused the elf from her seated position.
“I'm sorry,” he said quietly as he approached Alessa, “I didn't mean to startle you.”
“No, it is I who is sorry,” she said, “for I should have kept better watch.”
“You seemed alert to me,” he said softly. They were several yards from where Kara and Dolen slept.
“If I had been alert I would have heard you the moment you stirred in your sleep. Instead I found myself so lost in thought I heard nothing until you were almost upon me!”
“I was walking as quietly as I could,” offered Felanar gently.
“Not quietly enough to fool an elf,” said Alessa.
“You're too hard on yourself, Alessa. You have done amazing things for us on this journey. We would have been lost without you.”
“You are kind to say it, but I could do more.”
“We all could, but all we can do is enough to see us through, and I think we will make it through, don't you?”
“Oh yes,” said Alessa, “we should be safe as soon as we get through these mines and make our way to the Elven Plain.”
“So then,” said Felanar, “we have done enough, don't you think? No need to be so hard on yourself.”
“I know, but I have been thinking about how much more training I should have had in my life.”
“Nothing shows you what you are lacking than a journey full of danger that tests your skills, eh?”
“There is so much to this world and I know so little,” said the elf.
“We all have much to learn. You have been wonderful.”
Alessa shyly turned her head down. “Why did you awaken?” she asked quietly, turning her eyes back to Felanar.
“I don't know,” said Felanar, “just a dream I had, I suppose. And then I wanted to see if you were doing all right on your watch. We rely on you so much with your elf skills that I can take you for granted sometimes. I wanted to make sure you were well.”
“And to see if I was keeping proper watch – which I was not as it turned out!”
“No, no, no,” cried Felanar, who put his right hand on Alessa's shoulder in a gesture of support. “Nothing would get past you, of that I am quite sure. I just wanted to make sure you were fine.”
Alessa ran her left hand over Felanar's right arm and smiled at him warmly. Her eyes shown even more brightly than usual in the gloom. “You are a good leader, Felanar,” she said. “You care about those you command.”
Felanar chuckled. “I do not command you, I befriend you,” he said. “I care about you as a friend.”
“I care about you too, my friend,” said Alessa, and she put her arms around his shoulders, as he did hers. To his mild surprise, Felanar felt himself pulling her closer. He leaned forward to kiss her. She closed her eyes and leaned in toward him. When their lips met, Felanar felt a spark surge through his body, and then warmth. They kissed for what seemed a long time. When they stopped, they continued to hold each other in their arms and to stare into each other's eyes. The eternity that Felanar always felt he could see as he stared into Alessa's eyes never seemed more vast than in this moment.
“I have never done that before,” she said shyly.
“I have never wanted to kiss someone as much as I do now,” he said softly.
They leaned forward a second time and kissed again. The same spark and warmth enveloped Felanar. He felt totally secure and at peace, and dimly realized in the emotional swirl that this was the first time in his life he had felt that. As for Alessa, words could not capture what she was feeling, and words did not enter her mind. But very strong emotions took hold of her and made her feel things she had never before experienced, but which she wanted to experience again.
After a few more minutes of kissing, and several more of just embracing, Felanar backed away gently while still caressing her arms.
“This was not my intention in coming over,” he smiled.
“You are a good leader,” she joked, “for you do what is needed to make those in your command happy and secure.”
“I would not command you,” he softly reminded her, and he briefly kissed her for emphasis. They released their embrace.
“I am still tired,” he said, “and need to get my rest, though at the moment rest is the last thing on my mind. But still, it would not do to stay up the whole night embracing you only to march half asleep the whole of the next day. There will be plenty of time for this when we are safe again.”
“I agree,” she said, “go rest, and I promise to do a better job of standing guard.”
“I trust you will,” he said as he turned back to rejoin the others.
“Sleep well,” said Alessa as she watched him walk away. For the rest of the night her thoughts were a jumble of emotions, but at no time did she close her eyes, and while she kept a keen ear open for any sound, not once did her gaze stray from where Felanar slept. And it was a very long time before the smile faded from her lips.
When the others awoke the next day (as Alessa assured them it was), they had a brief breakfast from their dwindling supplies while Alessa told them that she heard nothing all night. If they were still being followed, their pursuers were nowhere near them in the tunnel structure.
Breakfast finished, they began to march upward along a path of tunnel that grew wider as they walked. Till now they had seen only those parts of the mines where the actual mining had been done. They had seen where the workers worked but not where they lived. Dolen explained that sooner or later they would come to a location where there would be living quarters, and now he excitedly assured them that the widening of the tunnel meant they were close.
“We are coming to a central section,” he said as his steps increased in pace along with his excitement at seeing how his ancient people had lived in this underground complex. “See how the tunnels are beginning to converge, and how wide the walkways are now? See how the walls are smoother than in the work areas?”
As Dolen rapidly pointed out each new detail, Alessa kept stealing glances at Felanar and having them returned with smiles. Kara noticed this behavior after a while and began to realize that they were not smiling at what Dolen was saying or his pronounced enthusiasm. After a few more incidents of these glances she knew something was changed between the elf and her brother. Siding up to Alessa while Dolen grabbed Felanar's arm to show him some particularly intricate stonework, Kara whispered her suspicions to Alessa.
“The way you and my brother keep looking at each other is different,” she quietly said. Her look was friendly but inquisitive. Alessa blushed and said nothing at first, hoping that perhaps Kara would move on to some other subject if she were to stay quiet. But the inquisitive look continued and got more urgent. Alessa finally gave in and told Kara about the events of the night. As curiosity gave way to understanding in Kara, her response was simple and matter-of-fact.
“About time.”
“What do you mean?” asked Alessa, with genuine puzzlement.
“I mean you both love each other, and have done so for some time,” said Kara.
“Is this true?” asked Alessa. “I hardly know what I feel even now.”
“How did you feel last night when you kissed him?”
“This is something I spent the night wondering myself,” said Alessa quietly as her head turned down in thought. “I had intense emotions dominating me as it happened, but I am having a hard time identifying the nature of these emotions or their proper meaning.”
“Poor Alessa, so young and inexperienced,” teased Kara.
“I am four times your age!” objected the elf.
“Indeed, but you seem so innocent about many things.”
“Yes,” Alessa said wistfully, and her voice trailed off on that single syllable.
“Then trust me on this account,” said Kara as she put her arm in her friend's arm, “you have loved him for a long time, as he has loved you.”
Alessa said nothing, but her beaming face told Kara she was right. The two women walked arm in arm behind Felanar and Dolen as the dwarf kept pointing out more details of dwarf construction and life.
The living area was indeed impressive to the others. There were great halls filled with columns of carved stone, and leading from the halls were smaller living areas that had been carved out from the mountain to provide a very comfortable life. An underground life, to be sure, but if you were a people used to such a life this was a place of luxury.
There were wooden structures in many of the rooms that had evidently served as tables and bed frames long ago. The wood was mostly broken and decayed now, with only the rock itself standing, as it had for thousands of years, but the mind could picture how the living area had once been quite comfortable and home-like. Alessa even complimented Dolen on the ornate carvings in the columns and how it showed the artistic life of the dwarves.
They continued climbing as they walked, and Dolen explained that they were probably headed to a high central location where the leaders of the miners would have lived and worked.
“In fact,” said the dwarf, “I would not be surprised to find a lookout carved out on the surface of the mountain where they would have been able to look north toward the river and see both friend and foe approaching. This, I think, is where our climb will take us if we follow this left fork.”
They did follow that fork and the climb became steeper. The walls continued to be the same smooth surface as in the other living areas, but the pathway grew narrower. Dolen explained that only a few would walk this way, so there was no need for a wider tunnel.
“Dwarves are economical in their tunneling,” said Kara.
“Aye,” agreed Dolen, “no sense disturbing the rock if you do not have to.”
In a few minutes the tunnel opened up into a room that surprised them not only for its size, not only for its ornateness, but also for its light. They were seeing natural light for the first time in a day of darkness broken only by torches. This room, soaringly high in dimension, was carved in such a way that on the left was a short passage leading to the outside, just as Dolen had predicted. They could see the blue sky at the far end of that passage.
When their eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, they realized that unlike all of the other rooms they had seen, this one contained fresh wooden furniture, and cloth, and lanterns, and art work, and scrolls. It showed every sign of current occupancy. And just when the idea of that began to sink in, something caught their eyes down that passage to the outside. There, framed darkly against the bright light of day, was the figure of a person. A woman. Who began walking toward them.