THE CHAINED GIFT Picture and XVII: The sins of the parents

Many things happened during those days in the Noble District of Argent City. What triggered it all was, although the majority never knew it, a document that ended in the Prince's hands, which proved the agreement between two certain Maedai of the First Circle to force the election of a heir... As a result, Lord Demeviall lost the palace favour; House Arestinias fell in disgrace, leaving a vacant position that was filled by House Llia'res, and with it, Lord Larsires, Dame Corail's older brother.

As for Caradhar, once he decided that his return to House Elore'il couldn't be further delayed, abandoned his little refuge in the Ditch and went back to the familiar residence. He did it at night, discreetly, trying to pass unnoticed, but he found himself in a big, luxurious chamber, close to the young Maede's, specially prepared for him; the adjacent bathroom was ready and steaming; and when he saw the fine clothes he was supposed to wear, in red, black and silver colours, couldn't help but raising his eyebrows: he had never used such refined garments.

He slipped into one of those suits and stared at his reflection in the mirror; it was hard for him to recognise the elf staring back at him, elegant and haughty like a noble.

Someone knocked at the door. One of the wooden panels was opened, and a well-known figure, dressed in dark clothes, crossed the threshold and stood there, contemplating the room in admiration, and then Caradhar.

'First time I see you knocking on a door,' the gifted observed; and he was quite right.

'I came to the wrong room for sure... The elf I'm after wears old blood-stained rags, and spends the nights in windowless holes, on folding beds that make the floor look tempting... Who the heck are you?'

Caradhar felt relieved when he heard the greeting; the last days he had barely seen the spy, busy as he was with restoring his situation among the Darshi'nai and mourning for his master. It was reassuring to listen again to the old Sül.

The Shadow closed the door, walked swiftly towards the large bed, sat down and gazed back at the gifted.

'I don't know if I'll get used to see you like that,' he continued, with a cheeky smile. 'Just the sole idea of peeking inside those posh clothes to see what's under them looks like irreverent...'

Caradhar returned his gaze through the mirror. He untied his long mane, spreading it over his shoulders; removed his leather boots, the belt, the rigid coat, and dropped them around him; took out his shirt through his stretched arms and unfastened his breeches, making them slide along his legs. Then he turned his head to Sül and stared at him, now directly, with those eyes that never revealed his thoughts.

Sül's eyes, on the other hand, and his half-open lips, did reveal his, while running across the redhead's attractive nude body. Caradhar sat on the mattress, in front of his companion, and leaned on one of the four columns that supported the canopy, his legs slightly separated. Sül got rid of his gloves and cloak and struggled with his boots, without taking his eyes off the show displayed before him.

'Do you want to swap positions today?' asked the younger elf, with soft voice.

'...What?' The dark-haired spy thought his ears were betraying him, or that he hadn't understood the question.

'I want you to enter me.'

Sül stopped half-way through undressing. He noticed his lips getting suddenly dry.

'... Listen... If this is some kind of reward for something, you don't have to... I'm more than happy when you allow me...'

'It's not a reward; I just want to know how it feels, with you.' He approached him, walking on his hands and knees, his face so close that he could hear him breathing. 'Don't you want it?'

Sül swallowed hard, his heart racing.

'... I don't know... I'm scared of hurting you, like...'

He was going to add 'Darial', but stopped in time. He shyly brushed Caradhar's lips, barely touching them with his fingers; the gifted opened them and allowed the index and middle one's slowly inside his mouth, while his tongue swirled around them. His hands moved to loosen the Shadow's dark clothes and to open his trousers; sliding his right one along his stomach, he got hold of his fully erect member. His mouth and tongue let go of Sül's wet fingers and went down as well, around his excited sex; and when he judged that it had been taken care of enough, the gifted lay on his back, on the centre of the big bed, and his serene eyes invited his partner to join him.

Sül didn't even finish taking off his breaches: he was too stirred to think. He placed himself between Caradhar's legs, grabbed his sex with ardent fingers and drove those two that still kept the moist of his mouth into the entrance beyond his perineum. The young gifted, tense at first, relaxed the muscles and allowed them to enter him, opening the way until they found his pleasure spot. His body arched slightly, and his lips parted while he delicately moaned.

That inflamed Sül even more, if possible; holding the younger elf's thighs, he aimed his own hard member at the opening, now soft thanks to his caresses, and pushed.

The intoxicating pressure, the heat... The sensation was so powerful that went beyond the Shadow's expectations. He slid inside him little by little, until completely engulfed; then stopped for a moment, to enjoy it, and to avoid reaching too fast the point of no return... He closed his eyes, trying to calm down, and started to move gently.

When he opened them again, he found himself staring at Caradhar's beautiful body: the back arched, the tense neck stretched, the head pressing hard against the mattress, surrounded by a halo of red hair, his breath becoming faster and faster, keeping pace with each thrust of Sül's hips. There was so much sensuality in each line of his body, each movement and little gesture, in the beauty of his convulse features, in the intensity of his gaze, through the long reddish eyelashes of his half-closed eyes... that Sül had to close his once more and force his thoughts to wander, just to restrain the climax that threatened to dominate him. His hand flew to please his partner with caresses; he leaned and kissed him breathless; he rammed deep and hard, until his mind was seized, almost painfully, by a single desire: Come... Come...

Caradhar released a loud moan. Sül noticed, under his hand, the throbbing member, and the warm moisture of his lover's orgasm; thanking the gods, he thrust a last time, as far as he could, and gave free rein to his own ecstasy.

Sül's body, pearled with sweat, collapsed on his partner's; his panting mouth searched again for the pink lips and covered them with small kisses, and nibbled them, brushing them with his tongue. He opened his eyes, finally, finding those crimson irides fixed on them; and he felt fulfilled: not as much for his own pleasure, as for the one he had been able to give to Caradhar...

'Who would believe it...' whispered Caradhar, his fingers fiddling with Sül's dark hair. 'I had no idea I could... I never did before...'

'Hush... Shut your trap, before you start mentioning names, and I had to go and wring a certain alchemist's fucking neck...'

'Time ago you said that watching him doing me turned you on.'

'Time ago I was an arsehole and still wasn't totally crazy for you.'

The redhead sat up, looking at Sül from above; then crawled towards his waist and pulled his breeches down, stripping him completely.

'Let's go to the bathtub.'

'Don't tell me you're hard again...'

'What did you expect? asked Caradhar, implacable. 'Now it's my turn.'

'It's time to negotiate with Therendanar their part of the deal, and claim ours. You'll leave early in the morning, Adhar. Gods... I'll rest just a bit, and then I'll leave.'

Sül lay down, knackered, besides his bed partner, after several extra rounds of shared pleasure. He sank his face into the pillow and rested motionless for some instants; never before had he enjoyed such a comfortable bed.

'Hmmm... This has to be, at least, as comfy as the best inn in the city... I could get used to this soft mattress, if you're treating me like this too often... I think I can't feel my lower parts...'

Caradhar kissed softly the Shadow's scarified back and rested his cheek on it.

'Then get used. Sleep with me. Tomorrow we'll ride to Therendanar together; you'll come as an escort.'

'Adhar, I can't do a decent job if I lie down to snore besides you and start to follow you around openly.' He cocked his head and peeked at him. 'I'm still your Darshi'nai.'

'I don't need a Shadow; I'm not even a noble. I'm tired of having you watching me from dark corners: from now on, I want to have you within view.'

'Dame Corail will surely have some objection...'

'I don't care in the least.' Caradhar reached under the mattress and took out a scroll; it was covered in elven characters, with the gifted's calligraphy. He held it out to his companion. 'There; keep it in a safe place.'

'What the heck...?'

'It's the formula of your contract antidote; any third-rate alchemist could reproduce it, following this indications.'

Sül frowned and looked at the young elf, incredulous.

'...You aren't supposed to give this to your Darshi'nai. Adhar, I...'

'You don't belong to me. I don't want us to belong to anyone this way. If you ever want to abandon this, be free to do so.'

'Maybe I'm not able to live without a master anymore. Maybe,' he gently stroked the red hair spread on his shoulder, 'I don't wish to do it...'

'But I don't want a slave; if you stay here, it will be on your own will.'

'And still you order me to sleep besides you.'

'It's not an order.' Caradhar turned to lie on his back, indifferent. 'If you don't want to do it, I don't think it'll be a problem to find someone who feels like it.'

'You're shitting me...' Sül narrowed his eyes and sat up.

'Try me.'

The Shadow sprang on his companion and immobilised him using his arms and legs, piercing him with his eyes. Caradhar tried to move, unsuccessfully.

'You may be a fucking-almighty-gifted, but I'm still enough to pin you down on the bed, if I fancy it.'

'I thought you couldn't move,' remarked the redhead, with soft voice. 'It's good to see you keep your energy.'

He stretched his neck, searching for the lips hovering above him; Sül, unable to resist the call, leaned and kissed him, eyes closed and a slightly tortured expression. He released his grip, and Caradhar lay besides him, placing his arms around his waist, their foreheads resting together.

'And now, if you don't fancy to pin me down on the bed, sleep besides me, Sül.'

The Shadow made himself comfortable at his side. For the first time in his life, he spent the night with a lover in a real bed. He stayed awake most of the time, though, because he couldn't get to sleep; he was watching Caradhar, relaxed in his arms, and the placid rhythm of his chest, going up and down, moved by his regular breathing.

The next morning, as planned, they undertook the road to Therendanar. It was a bright and cloudless day; spring was near.

They were escorted by a numerous and heavily armed guard; Sül identified several of those faces and knew they were some of the best of the House.

What they were guarding travelled in the centre of the group, in a luxurious carriage without emblems, specially reinforced. As far as Caradhar was concerned, Dame Corail had entrusted him with remaining close to the occupants of the carriage in every moment; the young elf had given his word, but preferred to ride besides the vehicle instead of travelling inside it, discreetly wearing a cloak with a hood. Sül, also hiding his dark clothes under a cape, and feeling misplaced for showing himself in public, rode besides him. He believed he could understand why the gifted didn't want to sit side by side with the rest of the escorted elves, and the reason caused him a certain amusement: and it was that his companions were the Grand Alchemist's right hand (an elf of a great attractive), a female elf that looked like a lady-in-waiting (very beautiful as well; Sül felt relieved for accompanying his new patron and not leaving him alone with such a retinue)... and the very young Maede of House Elore'il. The little elf's trip to the human city was only known by a handful of people; among those, even less knew the motive.

The journey went without problems. At the gates of Therendanar, Caradhar looked up and his face took on a calm expression. Sül noticed it and said in a low voice:

'You missed it, uh? Bet you can't wait to sleep again, even if just for one night, in your dear rats' nest.'

'I'll drag you to my rats' nest by force and possess you on the working table, among the flasks, the stills and the mortars,' he answered, with equally soft voice.

'I guess one's allowed to dream... little one.'

The redhead leaned towards the Shadow and kissed him. However, Sül moved his lips away very fast: he had perceived a pair of little eyes peering at them from inside the carriage.

They took accommodation at the ambassador's rooms, in the Prince's castle. Caradhar asked his companion to keep his little protégé under his strict surveillance while he dealt some business with his former master.

The young gifted was an elf of his word; without being untruthful, he recounted for Master Jaexias' ears, and also for Verella Dep'Attedern, of the Intelligence Cabinet, the reasons behind House Arestinias' actions. He just failed to mention some little facts about the existence and usefulness of the substances collected by the alchemists; he couldn't care less about the humans reproducing House Elore'il's most prized formula, but it wouldn't be him who provided the details.

It was very late when he returned to their lodging. He felt tempted, as Sül had suggested, to spend the night in his old room, but he understood it wouldn't have been appropriated. Walking into his assigned bedroom, he removed his cloak.

'You are not a lady...'

Caradhar turned around quickly. Under the lintel of the connecting door between his room and the adjacent one there was a little elf, dressed in rich nightclothes. He had a cute face with delicate features, thin eyebrows, rounded nose that still kept its childhood shape, full rosy lips and a pair of dark, unusually intelligent eyes... all of that framed by red hair identical to Dame Corail's. He seemed to study the gifted with great interest.

'I though you had to be a lady, because I saw you and the one in black kissing besides the carriage, but you don't look like one. In fact, you must be my gifted; my Respected Mother told me that I would recognise you because of your hair and eyes colour.'

The elf child approached the young gifted to give him an even closer look. He spoke and behaved with a maturity that didn't match his age. Caradhar found himself in an awkward situation, as the moment he wanted to avoid had arrived: he had to face the Maede of House Elore'il.

'You don't bow; well, my Respected Mother also warned me that it was probable you'd forget it, and I should overlook it. Why were you kissing the one in black? I thought those things were proper of sirs and ladies, and never in public.'

'...'

'You don't talk much, either. All right, I am sleepy, so come to bed. You should have come earlier. Your bed is prepared close to mine; don't take too long.'

'Eh... Your Excellence... I'll watch over you from this adjacent room, if you please...'

'No; you are my gifted and you must share my bedroom, it's the appropriated thing to do. My Respected Mother told me that, in private, you can address me in a less formal way,' he stated, as if he were granting a high favour, before he crossed the door.

Caradhar remained confused for some instants. A quiet sound at his back got him out of his amazement: it was Sül, holding back his laughter.

'You had the honour to meet our Maede,' he mocked, in a quiet voice. 'I see he left you speechless, even if you two form such a charming duo. I envy you a lot: I'd love to have an adorable little brother as well.'

Caradhar judged that wasn't the time or the place to put him right, and simply sighed.

'I wasn't expecting to spend the night with him. My plans were very different.'

'Hah! Your plan about the working table? Too bad, another time maybe...'

'Or I could do it anyway; after all, he already saw us kissing, and I don't intent to hide myself...'

'And having Dame Corail hanging me by my balls? Nooo, thanks.' He pushed the gifted towards the Maede's room. 'Good night, nursemaid.'

Caradhar entered there with visible discomfort. The little elf was already in bed, besides his lady-in-waiting; they both looked up at him. The female smiled, bowed her head to her young lord and left the place. As for the gifted, he took off his boots and lay on his bed. The kid stared at him with curiosity.

'Don't you undress to sleep?'

'... Maybe in another occasion, once I get suitable nightclothes.'

'Do you mean you don't have them?'

'I didn't bring them with me.'

'Were you thinking of sleeping with your clothes on?'

'... Something like that.' Caradhar could perfectly imagine Sül, laughing himself to death at those words.

The young Maede remained silent for a moment; then he returned to the attack.

'You didn't introduce yourself. What's your name?'

'Caradhar, Your Excellence.'

'Caradhar... My name is Navhares. But you don't have to call me 'Your Excellence' now; we are alone: you can address me as 'My Lord',' he conceded, magnanimously. 'Show me your Gift.'

The Maede fished under the bed and procured a stiletto; he was about to cut his index finger with it when the gifted's hand, fast as lightning, grabbed the small wrist that held the weapon.

'You aren't supposed to play with weapons, Your Exce... My Lord,' Caradhar corrected himself.

'And how will you show me your Gift, if I don't have a wound for you to heal?'

'Only one cut is necessary for that, not two.' The elf took the blade from the little fingers and applied it along the palm of his hand; the injury closed instantly. Young Navhares dipped his finger on the remaining line of blood and confirmed that the skin under it was intact; the he stared at his stained finger and took it to his lips. Caradhar watched him, frowning.

'Why do you do that?'

'It's pleasant. It tickles on your tongue. If the cut had been on my own hand, I would have licked it. I like to check that blood works with my own eyes; it makes me feel safe.' There was such seriousness in his words that the older elf couldn't help but feel admiration. 'But there's at least one big difference between you and the rest, Caradhar: you are fast. The others didn't stop me in time. All right, let's sleep. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight, My Lord.'

The gifted remained awaken, his eyes fixed on the bedroom ceiling. When he turned them to his side, he saw the boy had fallen asleep, his little hand sticking out of the mattress and his fingers entangled in his long red hair. He thought that, as a bed companion, the kid was hardly the one he had in mind... Sighing, the elf tried to sleep.

They were woken up by the lady-in-waiting, who assisted the Maede in getting dressed and told Caradhar:

'You must accompany His Excellence to the laboratory. Our Grand Alchemist's assistant is already there, supervising the place; your... escort is already informed, sir, and awaits you. Get ready, please; we're leaving soon.'

Caradhar wondered what would a kid have to do in the laboratory of the Prince's castle; he tidied himself up and followed the other two, along with the guards, to the laboratories wing. To his surprise, the doors of the Grand Laboratory were opened, and the Grand Alchemist himself received them; he hadn't had many opportunities to see him in the years he spent there. The human, the elven alchemist that had travelled with them, His Excellence, the Maede and his female assistant retired to a private room that was carefully shut. The sound of the locks could be heard from outside.

'What's the meaning of this? asked Caradhar to Sül, who had joined him.

'We must wait here while our respective alchemists deal with some business they're up to; it looks like the humans promised House Elore'il a certain formula, if they could restore their situation in Ummankor.'

'And what does that have to do with the Maede?'

'Obviously the formula's related to him somehow; but I know as little as you do. That lady of the foxy smile told me we have to stand guard, wait and see. I'm almost convinced she's Darshi'nai.'

'The lady-in-waiting? How do you know?'

'My guts tell me; the way she looks around, how she walks and listen to any little noise... You don't spend so many years doing this without developing a sixth sense. Ah well... We better get comfortable, 'cause this can be a while yet.'

It went on even longer than they expected: after three days of cold meals served in trays and barely restful sleeps on chairs in front of the doors, those were finally opened, and the human Grand Alchemist, Master Torbinnus, crossed them and closed them again behind him. He was paler and more haggard than usual, and that was a lot to say.

'His Excellence needs to recover,' he announced to the elves in the room. 'He will be escorted to his chambers shortly; you don't need to wait here now.'

With this polite invitation for them to leave the place, Master Torbinnus himself retired to rest. Caradhar and Sül looked at each other; they still waited for some time, an then walked back to the ambassador's rooms. They were drained, but unwilling to allow sleep to overcome them until they had satisfied their curiosity about what was the purpose of all that.

Finally they heard steps and quiet voices in the Maede's room. Caradhar softly knocked at the door; since nobody answered, he decided to enter, followed by Sül.

What they saw puzzled them: because the Grand Alchemist of Elore'il's assistant and the lady-in-waiting were there; but on the bed where the little Maede had spent the night there was a young elf, about Caradhar's age. His face had a ghostly pallor, and his forehead was covered in sweat; his long red mane, damp with perspiration, that reached below his waist, was being carefully tied by the female elf. He looked, undoubtedly, an older version of the child that had crossed the laboratory doors three days before. Sül shivered: his resemblance to Caradhar was fairly remarkable...

Then, the young elf opened his dark, Corinthian-coloured eyes. He spoke, and his voice, though weak, was definitely adult:

'Caradhar... What a pity, it isn't a wound... I would feel better if it were just that, because you'd heal it... I'd like to sleep; you have to come and watch over me, don't forget...'

The young elf closed his eyes again, asleep or unconscious. Caradhar, frowning, and Sül, almost as pale as the boy lying on the bed, couldn't yet believe their eyes. The gifted was an alchemist: he had a general idea about the phenomenon that might have happened; even Sül, not so familiar with laboratory crafts, sensed the truth. An explanation was taking shape in his mind, but, at the same time, he was refusing to accept it, because it was too appalling to be true. While Caradhar was approaching the alchemist to interrogate him, the Shadow, feeling sick, ran away from the room.

It wasn't until much later that Caradhar found a lonely figure in black, sitting atop a wall, who seemed to gaze at the stars. With difficulty, he climbed besides him and sat down, in silence. The nights were still cold, and he wasn't wearing either his coat or his cloak; the red-haired elf trembled.

'I try to understand...' Sül started, after a long while. 'I try to understand how can a mother justify doing that to her own child, but I can't. I accept mine left me in the gutter; I always thought she might have had her reasons. I'm prepared to accept many things... But, this...' As Caradhar remained quiet, he became furious. 'And you, won't you say anything? Don't you think it's monstrous, to your own brother...?'

Caradhar heard, in his head, Corail's voice, shortly before his departure from Argailias: 'Neharall is dead; only you and me know the secret. Nobody else must know it'. Strange goosebumps ran through his body. 'Alone, you and me. Nobody else'. He tightened his lips. 'Nobody...'

'He isn't my brother,' the gifted heard himself saying. Curiously, he felt a bit better.

'...What?'

The redhead released the air in his lungs. He spoke very softly, avoiding to turn his head towards his companion; he didn't want to look him in the eye.

'Corail couldn't conceive with Lord Killien; she never could, after having me. Do you remember the mute servant that used to keep her company, years ago?'

'Yes.' Sül swallowed hard. 'She disappeared, after you...'

'Corail performed a farce. She usurped the girl's baby, who was pregnant, and passed him off as her own. Your... your master helped her; he was the only one who knew it.'

A deafening silence took over both elves; in the end Sül asked, with hoarse voice, afraid to hear the answer:

'If he isn't her son... how comes... how comes you both look alike?'

'... Because I'm his father.'

Sül felt a huge wave of vertigo; he staggered, and would have fallen from his unstable seat, hadn't his companion got hold of his arm. Even so, the Shadow shook off with anger the hand holding him; he turned to Caradhar and whispered, in a poisonous tone:

'Well isn't this great! Simply, great! Any other little secret I should know about, Caradhar? Like, was your mother the one who abandoned me at birth? Could it be that all this time I've been shagging my own brother, or something like that?' The gifted didn't answered to the mockery. 'How the heck could you take part in this shit...?'

'I didn't know; neither that the girl was pregnant, nor Corail's plans about the kid.' He spoke looking straight ahead, emotionless. 'I thought I could run away from all this when I came to Therendanar. Do you remember? It was you who told me there was no way out.'

Sül clenched his jaw. It would have been difficult for him to assume that Caradhar had willingly taken part in the Maeda's schemes; but it was even harder to see him accepting them with such passiveness, as if he didn't care at all... He grabbed the gifted's neck and forced him to look his way.

'Caradhar... In all this time... did you ever feel like screaming? Like ripping anything into pieces, beating up anyone? Did you ever feel the need to cry?'

The young elf finally looked at him, although without the reaction expected by the Shadow. He didn't seem to understand his questions.

'Crying? Maybe at start, the first times, when I was a child and Darial hurt me. Later I got used to it.'

The spy closed his eyes.

'I always wondered, you know?, how comes you never talked to me about the things you were feeling. Even that bastard neidokesh of mine did, sometimes, when he was drunk. Oh, right, I forgot you can't even get pissed... Now I start to suspect that, hell, you've got nothing to talk about at all.'

'I've crossed the line. I'd die for you, without hesitation. But I've got to be sure you're not made of stone. Sorry if I'm a pansy, but I need you to need me; I need to know that you'd care if you weren't to see me again. You've got to tell me, Caradhar; if I'm going to be nothing but a pet, a screw conveniently at hand when you feel like it, or another freak who you share some affinity with 'cause we both had shitty lives... If you don't care about hiding things like a son from me... then I'll make use of the freedom you offered me: I'll leave, and force myself not to see you again. I've become greedy, I know: I have more than I ever had, but still want more.'

As his companion didn't say a thing, Sül stood up. He felt a horrible knot in his stomach.

'Clearly, Neharall was right'' he continued. 'I don't have the guts to be a Darshi'nai. It looks like I didn't get tough enough to reach your family level...'

Caradhar held the elf's ankle.

'I felt ashamed,' he said, reluctantly. 'I was ashamed at the idea of looking at the Maede knowing I was his father; I was ashamed of you finding out and despising me. Would you allow yourself to be possessed by someone who has been used in every possible way... including that one? Because sometimes I wonder, after all the things you've seen me doing, how can you stand my touch.'

Sül's eyebrows frowned with bitterness. Going down on one knee, he pressed his forehead against the gifted's.

'You are the only one,' continued the youngest elf, 'I wanted to hold the whole night, every night; you are the only one I allowed to take me, out of my own will. I don't want you to leave. I don't know which words I should use, but I don't want you to leave.'

The Shadow fought a hard inner battle; those weren't the words he really wished to hear, although something was telling him that never before had Caradhar showed himself to that extent. Maybe it was too much to ask from someone who could never give him what he wanted: everything, without reservations. He let out a deep sigh and surrendered.

'What the blazes... I suppose that will have to do...'

Holding the redhead, he kissed him; he was reciprocated passionately, hungrily, verging upon fury. At one point, the gifted introduced his hand under the Shadow's waist and rubbed his member.

'Are you nuts?' complained Sül, managing to release his lips enough as to utter some words. 'Here? We're going to... ah... crack our heads open... Alright! But... ugh... let's go somewhere else...'

The spy was hardly able to guide his partner to an isolated and dark corner. Once there, Caradhar stripped him just enough to penetrate him eagerly, with little regard for gentleness; Sül, withstanding the battering against the wall, bit his hand to avoid moaning aloud. His lover stopped for an instant; he made him turn his head and used his own mouth as a gag; and when he resumed his attacks, his manners were less aggressive, but not less intense. His hands slid, from the hips they were holding, to the area between Sül's legs, and there they took their time, sparing no skills nor pleasure...

Caradhar's lips received Sül's muffled cry, once he climaxed; it wasn't long before the gifted offered him his own.

While his companion was still inside him, the Shadow understood something: that, in the younger elf's limited world, almost every delight had been denied to him; he had never tasted food or drink, nor had got drunk with wine; he would never feel the smell of a rainy day, a lady's perfume or the warm scent of a lover's body. Sex was the only source of joy he had ever knew, the only bliss to cling to in a life of indifference or pain; the only way he had to express his feelings, his desire, his frustration and, sometimes, his anger.

He felt the gifted's embrace, holding his back with all his body, as if he wanted them to melt. Maybe, Sül wished to believe, that was his way, the only one he knew, to tell him that he loved him.

Later, as they returned to their rooms, Sül had a sudden inspiration, and asked Caradhar something he had wished to know for days:

'When your... when Neharall fell, you approached him and whispered something to his ear, and he smiled; now I'd like to know what it was...'

'I told him,' answered the elf, 'that his blood wouldn't be Darshi'nai, but it had become Maede already.'

'Yes...' The Shadow smiled. 'It just came to my head, and I see I wasn't far wrong. Somehow it makes me feel better.'

He stopped, pulled Caradhar and kissed him, simply saying:

'Thanks.'

As soon as the Maede recovered his strength, they made their way back to Argailias. At House Elore'il, the transformed Lord Navhares drove his retinue into a state of genuine astonishment: such was the power of human alchemists' science, who, trapped in bodies whose life expectancy was short and uncertain, had no other wish but subduing the flow of time.

Dame Corail received her supposed son with equal admiration, and all the dedication of a devoted mother. Now her task was to make the young elf's handsome appearance match the limited experience of a nine years old child, exceptionally intelligent and mature... but still a child.

As for Caradhar, that very night he approached his mother while she was leaving her heir's bedroom. Without consideration, he grabbed her by the wrist and led her aside.

He remembered the last occasion in which they had been on their own, the day they had agreed on disposing of Neharall. Without notice, he slapped her so hard that he threw her on the floor. She covered her hurt cheek but didn't dare to argue, dumbstruck: it was the first time her son laid a hand upon her. Since she was under the effect of the commanding voice potion, that gave her the final confirmation of what Caradhar was capable of.

The young elf knelt besides her and firmly held her chin; his expression was glacial, but the lady thought she saw a tiny sparkle of rage, a small fire burning deep into his red eyes. Pressing his mouth against hers, he kissed her as violently as she did during that meeting, without finding resistance.

'Corail,' he said, cold and calm, speaking so close to her face that their lips touched: 'if you ever make use of me or the ones who concern me without my knowledge, you'll regret it.'

He caressed her once more with a last kiss, bafflingly tender; then, the gifted stood up and left the place in silence.

The Maeda still remained on the floor for some instants. Trembling, she put her hand to her mouth.

When the days started to become longer and sunny, it was announced the engagement between the Prince of Argailias' only daughter and Lord Navhares, Maede of House Elore'il.

END OF PART TWO

      Previous chapter                                                                                                            Next chapter