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Chapter 279: A gift
🕑 Added 2024-06-07 14:00:06 +0000 UTCNaya could hardly believe what she'd done, and asked her ancestors for forgiveness. Yet she knew it was right. She and the remaining elves in Nassau clung to their traditions as the elves of Shirass clung to theirs. Mason was right. They had to adapt, or die.
All around her women wept, or sat on the floor, or stared with dead eyes at the walls.
"Have we failed you so utterly?" said Maryam with a sob, a woman Naya had known since she was a girl. Naya stepped forward and took her servant and friend in her arms.
"No, sister. You have never failed me. It is the House of Anshan that has failed. But it dies so we can live. And where there is life there is hope." She looked to the others. "Do not despair, sisters. I do not. In fact I have hope here for the first time since I was a child. We will build a new life with all the things life should have. Family. Friends. Children. Change. You will see. My lord and father was right, and he has saved us all."
Many of the women came forward and embraced Naya until the circle grew and grew. Naya let her own tears flow freely, but soon felt a terrible weight lifting from her shoulders.
She smiled and laughed as she met the faces of her friends and sisters. She also realized that most and maybe all of the elves who had already accepted her proposal had started coming in the door behind them.
All that remained of her house soon embraced in a growing circle, taking each other's hands and shoulders, or putting their foreheads together in grief and friendship.
"You look a fright," Naya said, to the beautiful Maryam, who wiped at her tear smudged face and laughed with sad eyes. She finally glanced at her poor betrothed, standing awkwardly outside the huge circle, looking about as lost and out of place as was possible.
Naya held out her hand and gestured for him, and with a few tentative steps he crossed the room to take her hand.
"Oh. To hell with it," she tried speaking like a human, and threw herself into the man's chest and strong arms as she let out a few more tears. A few more of her people gasped or laughed and kept on hugging until they'd all gotten the sadness out enough to remember themselves. "This must seem all seem very strange to you," Naya muttered into Mason's chest.
"I'm getting used to strange," he said without a trace of mockery. Naya grinned, blinking as she pulled up and looked at him.
"Why not get married now? Here? All my people are here." She looked for Dariya and couldn't see her. "Where is the oracle, sisters? She can marry us in the old way for all I care. A priestess is a priestess."
Some of the elves laughed, which brought Naya comfort. When she still didn't see the ancient elf she took a breath and remembered herself. She was feeling impetuous and free, but perhaps went too far. She was still marrying the leader of a noble house, and there should be a little more....decorum.
"Forgive me," she said to Mason, a little embarrassed. "I get ahead of myself. I'm sure your people have their own customs. And you will want your friends and family as well."
Mason shrugged. "I was ready if you were. But we can wait."
The way he said he'd been 'ready' and looked at her brought a slight flush of heat to Naya's body. She didn't know what human customs were, but she suspected with their short, dramatic lives, they didn't waste much time from ceremony to...practice.
She was suddenly aware of being pressed up against the man. Of the heat and closeness of the room. Of the impossibly strong arms around her.
Damn that old woman!
The thought struck her but she fought it down. She was definitely getting far too ahead of herself. Despite apologizing, she was still angry about the insult of the concubine, and she had no idea how their actual marriage was going to function. Mason had made his promises, but where were they going to live, and how?
The practical realities of marrying a man, nevermind a human, were starting to send a terrified fluttering through Naya's gut. She had almost no one to talk to, either, because all of the people who had come on their journey were young and unmarried. Only Dariya would have actual experience. Though it was from several hundred years before...
"Mason?" Naya called over the now growing din of excited voices as her people split apart and talked. Her husband-to-be looked slightly in pain, as if the noise bothered him, and he clearly hadn't heard her calling for him. Instead Naya just took his hand and pulled, moving him out of the crowd until she'd reached one of the bedrooms.
To be alone with a man she wasn't related to was already scandalous back home. Not to mention how she was dressed. Not to mention they were betrothed.
But she pulled him in anyway and closed the door. He looked around like he wasn't sure what was happening, then glanced at himself again and winced.
"I'm a bit...covered in blood," he said. "Whatever you're thinking. I'm not sure it's the best time, exactly, to uh..."
Naya frowned. "Why should that matter?" After a moment or two of awkward silence she actually realized what he was thinking, and gawked. "That's not why I..." she felt herself blush furiously and did her best to fight it. "Not until we're married. I would never..."
"My mistake." Mason pursed his lips and glanced around the room. "But I...still have things to do, and I think we're mostly sorted out there...so, if we aren't...well..."
"I wanted to give you a gift," Naya said, still battling the heat in her face. Her husband-to-be looked just as unsure as before so she reached into her Fey Storage and removed it.
"This...belonged to my father." She held out the ancient weapon of her house. "It belonged to my grandfather before him, going back to the very founding days of my bloodline." She ran her hand over the enchanted wood. "I was never more than a middling archer. When he died it felt...wrong, to claim it. And even its weakest draw is too strong for me. But...perhaps...if it would be of use...I thought it would be my wedding gift."
Naya looked up feeling shy and somewhat afraid, unsure if the man would actually want it. He was so powerful. The bow was a great artifact for her people, but it seemed possible Mason would have his own that made the weapon pitiful.
She hoped desperately if this was the case that he didn't look down on the gift or treat it with contempt, at least pretending to be pleased. She feared how she might react to another serious insult...
The new house lord stared at the weapon as if not comprehending, then slowly stretched out a hand. Naya handed him the bow, not even sure if the weapon could be properly wielded by non-elves, and feeling suddenly a little foolish.
Mason gave no obvious sign of pleasure or disappointment, and she only wished she had some skill at reading humans...
*
[Gained item: Bow of House Anshan. Innate. One of several weapons created by the elves of the West when they first traveled the fey. It is said its arrows exist in both realms. Do you wish to bind this item now?]
Mason did his best to keep his hand from trembling. An innate bow. She had given him an innate bow.
He didn't even care if the draw was as weak as the goblin version, or if was warped and shot a bit strangely. It was a bow he could summon and banish at will, and wouldn't have to carry. And though it looked like a crude weapon technologically speaking, it seemed beautifully made. He accepted the prompt to bind it without hesitation.
[Adjusting to wielder. Maximum draw reached. Modifiable. Synergy discovered! Endless Quiver gained: Fey arrows.]
Mason felt the item attune just as his Claws had—like he'd suddenly gained a new piece of himself that he could banish or call.
"Naya, I..."
"You needn't wield it," she said in a rush, "you might gift it to a deserving vassal, if you wish. Or place it in your hall as a symbol of your house. I just thought..."
"Naya," Mason interrupted, finally finding his tongue. "It's the most incredible gift I've ever been given. It could save my life and the lives of everyone I care about." He shook his head, feeling like he'd just realized he'd been fighting with one hand tied behind his back. But not anymore. He gave up trying to thank her and just pulled her in for a hug.
He felt Naya relax in his arms, which was definitely a trend he hoped continued.
"I was worried you wouldn't need it," she mumbled.
Mason burst out laughing. When the elf’s eyebrows raised he finally shook his head and explained. "Naya, I have needed this since the second I..." he shrugged, pulling her back enough to fully see her dark eyes. "I can't think of anything more helpful."
"I'm glad," she said, looking pleased and especially relieved. Mason knew he was grinning like an idiot now, but he felt like a kid on Christmas morning. He tilted Naya's chin with a hand and kissed her lips.
Her hands clutched his arms a little, but at least she didn't slap him or try and gouge out an eye. He lingered and gave her a few seconds to kiss him back or pull away, and she slowly moved towards the former. Then their lips locked and Naya relaxed her grip, sinking into his chest as she closed her eyes and moved her lips and tongue against his.
They explored each other for what might have been a few blissful minutes before Mason pulled back to give her some air. Naya's eyes were still closed, her face and neck a little flushed.
"You OK?" Mason said, and Naya blinked and nodded.
"That was...definitely not allowed," she said, and Mason grinned.
"We’re adapting. And you're not even a baroness anymore."
Naya gave him a a slightly chastising look, but then frowned as she seemed to consider his words. She looked back at the closed door and bit her lip.
"Can you do it again?"
