Index
CHAPTER FOUR
Fragments of Memories
<<
Page 8
>>
Pasts Confronted
Emmelyne stood in front of the vanity in her small room, staring at herself in the reflective glass. She tugged at the embroidered corset with a frown. She had rarely worn a dress, and even on the occasion that she did, it was one of the loose flowing gowns of the elvin. This dress that one of the girls had picked out for her was nothing like she had ever worn. The corset pinched her waist tight, making it difficult to move or breath. And the blouse dipped down much further than she preferred. She had never been shy about her body, but idea of falling out of the low cut blouse didn't thrill her any. The three young women had delighted so much in dressing her up, that she decided to just go along with it rather than spoil their fun. It was only for one short night, after all. She sighed, and picked up the shawl she had borrowed, wrapping it tightly over her shoulders before leaving to find Raven.
He had hid out most the day, practicing his swordsmanship, or browsing through the maps and spell book that the elves had provided them with. After finding his room empty, Emmelyne went into the large dining hall. There she found Raven helping the Innkeeper move tables and set up lamps for the festivities. People quickly began filling the room, and a band started to play. Raven had long since disappeared from view in the sea of people. Emmelyne sat in the back of the room for a while, watching commotion. Sipping a mug of warm, bitter ale, she found the noises of people and the jumble of thoughts and emotions somehow comforting. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced among the elvin or the woodland creatures. It was as if her human side was emerging to embrace what she had been deprived of all these years.
"There you are!" Raven said, pulling up a chair next to her. He stared at her for a moment before sitting. "Are you wearing a dress?"
"The 'giggle squad' spent the afternoon using me as their personal doll." She readjusted her shawl self-consciously. "What have you been doing? I haven't seen much of you since the room filled." He ran his fingers through his hair with a frown.
"Trying to avoid your 'giggle squad'. The redhead.."
"Tasha." Emmelyne stated absently.
"Tasha, has a mouth that just wont stop."
Emmelyne laughed."Tell me about it, I spend the whole afternoon listening to them."
Raven shook his head and looked back out over the crowd. Not much different from home. Teenaged girls are just annoying and shrill. He shuddered at the thought of Tasha's giggle.
"Well," Emmelyne continued, "I don't know about you, but I think I'm about ready to dive into the fray." She stood. "Care to join me?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Dance!" She replied with a flourish. "Wildlife don't make very good dance partners."
"Sorry, I don't dance."
"Your loss!"
It didn't take long for Emmelyne to find a willing dance partner. The young men of the village were happy to dance with the exotic young woman. Much to her delight, she found that she remembered all that she had learned. She found herself being passed from partner to partner, and the night became a wild whirl. When the music finally let up, she found she could hardly make move with out being lavished with the attention of one of the young men. Though flattered, she wasn't exactly interested. She waded back through the sea of people to find Raven, hoping her would be courtiers would get the hint. She soon caught sight of the blond man, seated at the bar. Raven poured her a mug of ale.
"So, where'd you learn to dance?" Raven asked, "You were really good."
"The Elves taught me." She looked out over the crowd of jovial people. "It was just one of the things they felt 'obligated' to teach me." She motioned to the people. "It was nothing like this."
"What do you mean?"
"It was never just for fun, not for me"
"Why?"
Emmelyne sighed, thinking back to the five long years she'd spent among her father's elvin family. She took a deep breath. "My father's family took me in for five years, teaching me the way of the Elvin but it was just their way of making me less shameful to them." She could still clearly remember the day that the courier had come to the kodama village to take her to the Seelie court for tutelage. His words still rang clearly trough her mind. 'Though the birth of the half blood has brought shame to the Demureth family, Elvin blood still courses through her veins, and it brings greater shame to the family for her to continue to grow with out proper tutelage. Emmelyne is to journey to the Seelie court over the next five years for tutelage.' He had spoken to her father as if she hadn't been there, listening to every word.
"Why would your own family be ashamed of you?" Raven asked. Emmelyne pulled herself from her thoughts.
"I'm a half breed." she sighed. How was she supposed to explain this to him? "It is a great sin to dilute the blood of the Elvin. That's why my father is now trapped in the body of an elk, that was his punishment."
"And your mother?"
"Dead." Emmelyne wrapped her arms around herself. It hurt to remember what had happened to her family.
Though she could remember very little of her mother, she would never forget the day they had been brought before the Forest God. Her father had pleaded for Emmelyne and her mother's life but the judgement had already been passed. Emmelyne took a deep breath, forcing the memories back.
"That was her punishment? Death?!" Raven stated, bitterly. Emmelyne nodded.
"Could we talk of something else?"
"How could they do that, punish your parents, and you." He continued.
"You don't understand. It had to be that way." Ememlyne said, cutting him off.
"How could you, of all people, justify what has been done to you?!"
"Nothing was 'done' to me, Raven! I accept what I am."
"And what are you?"
"A mistake." She rubbed her arms self-consciously.
"You mean to tell me you believe that you are just a mistake?"
"Yes! I'm my parent's mistake I accept that!" It was getting hard to defend herself. She understood why he would find her past unfair, but there was more to it than he knew.
"You are fool to believe that, Emmelyne."
"We each have our own burdens to bear." she looked down at her hands, lost in thought. How could she see herself as anything but a mistake? Her birth had doomed her parents, shamed her elvin family. At least she was trying to right the wrong by setting out on this journey, by guiding the bearer of the Thunder Pendent. She looked up at her companion. "What about you, Raven? What about your family?"
He shrugged. "Not much to tell. Ordinary family, ordinary life."
"Surely there's more than that. What about your friends?"
"Didn't have many."
"You must have had some friends."
"Not really."
A flash of images of a girl fluttered across her mind's eye. "What about.." A name came to her, whispering through her throughs "..Naomi?" Emmelyne said without thinking. Raven's eyes narrowed.
"How could you..?" A spark of realization hit him. "You were meddling around in my head!" He stood, glaring at the Elvin girl. She shrank back.
"No! It wasn't like that" she sputtered.
"So you were! How long!?" He demanded. "How long have you been reading my thoughts?"
"I haven't! I would never betray you like that!" Emmelyne could feel tears welling up. She had never meant to let on what had happened that evening that Dora had attacked them. Raven laughed bitterly.
"Then how do you know about Naomi?"
"I don't, not really. Let me explain, please!" Raven sat back down, and crossed his arms.
"I'm listening." He glared at her.
"It was an accident!" Emmelyne pleaded. She could feel the hot tears tracing paths down her cheeks. "I had no control of my telepathy when it happened." Memories, his and her own of the night after they had left the forest ran through her mind. "The other night, when we were attacked and I nearly died.." she shuddered at the thought of the cold grip of death. For a moment, she had crossed over, and it wasn't into the warm embrace of the God of Life. "My unconscious mind anchored it's self to yours." Raven's expression changed as he began to understand. "Some of your thoughts and memories poured into my mind. I couldn't stop it And I'm sorry. I felt so bad about it I would have never pried into your past purposely" The elvin girl got up, unable to look at him. "I understand how you feel. I'll just go."
Raven stood, catching Emmelyne by the arm. "Don't go.. I didn't realize." He let go of her arm and stepped back. "Just sit down." Emmelyne sat back down, hesitantly. She wiped her face of tears with her hand. "How much did you see?" he asked, settling back into his seat.
"Not much a jumble of images, emotions, mostly what you were thinking at the time." Emmelyne took a drink of her ale, trying to calm her shattered nerves.
"What was I thinking?" Raven urged, trying to find out exactly how much she knew.
"About how you didn't want to happen to me what happened to Naomi." Emmelyne looked up, "Naomi was some one close to you who died?" Raven nodded.
"We were in an accident. She died, I escaped without much more than a scratch."
"And you felt responsible for her death." Emmelyne added, remembering what she'd seen of his thoughts. Raven nodded, looking out over the crowd.
"It was my fault, I should have seen the car coming. I should have done something." He continued, lost in thought.
"I'm sure you did all you could."
"It wasn't enough"
"You can't change the past, Raven." Emmelyne reached across the table, and took his hand. He still didn't look at her. "You can't change what happened to your friend any more than I can change what happened to my parents." Raven pulled his hand away and just stared out at the crowd for a while.
"Good night, Emmelyne." He said standing. Emmelyne watched him go, not quite sure how to react.
|
|
