Time for Change

14

"Shelby-" Tyler says but Shelby just turns from him and the others and makes her way out of the store. At least she tries but she finds herself stopped and turned around. Shelby has a hard time holding back the tears now and just wants to leave and have some time alone. Tyler stopping her doesn't help things.

Tyler comes up to her, he's angry and is about to lash out at her when he sees the tears. That stops him cold. "You can't leave yet, Shelby, we need to set the terms for the marriage." His voice is smooth and silky, hiding the anger he feels but still Shelby flinches at his words. Tyler sees her flinch and his eyes darken as his anger unfolds. He lets Shelby go, and she doesn't leave. He reaches for her face to caress it. This time the flinch is barely visible, but still Tyler notices it.

"You fear me?" He's not sure if he should be offended or not by her actions.

Shelby doesn't answer at first and he just waits patiently watching her. Finally Shelby answers, "I have no reason not to, do I?"

Tyler makes a hand gesture and suddenly all outside noise is cut off. "I have made it so that we can have a private conversation, Shelby. Why are you afraid of me?"

"The question King isn't why am I afraid of you, it's why wouldn't I be afraid?" Shelby manages to get out of her suddenly dry throat. The single most powerful person in two realms wants to know why she's afraid of him. She doesn't have much of a self preservation instinct and it usually gets her in trouble.

"I've given you my word that you and your children will be taken care of. What more do you want as a guarantee?" Tyler asks confused and concerned.

Shelby can't look at him anymore. "Words without actions are cheap. My ex told me he loved me and would protect me. He lied to me, abused me and near killed me. I thought I could trust him. I don't trust you, yet you want me to do the same thing. Here at least I had police protection, what little it did for me. I had friends and family that I could turn to. You want to take me away from any support that I might have. Not that the police could or would protect me from you." Shelby's voice leaks more than a little of the bitterness that she feels by this.

Tyler feels more than a little shocked. That she would compare him to her ex makes him angry, he has to suppress his anger and lock it down. He's nothing like her ex, but she doesn't know that. All she knows is what she's seen.

"If I was like your ex I wouldn't have healed you," Tyler says trying with difficulty to suppress his anger.

Shelby looks at him and says, "You would if you want something from me, which you do. The thing is King, that I have no idea how I, a lowly human, am supposed to help you and your people."

Tyler closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He hasn't tried to see things from her point of view. She truly would be turning all power over her to him by doing this. He never meant to take away her freedom like that.

"Shelby, I will write it into the marriage contract that you will be treated and your children will be treated with complete respect. Any that break that will be considered traitors to the crown and not just that, but race traitors as well." Tyler says softly, trying to get Shelby to look at him with something more than distrust.

"Please, Tyler, I mean king, even you elves break the contracts you write. Leaders don't hold themselves to the same laws that they expect their people to uphold." Shelby can't stand any longer and collapses onto the floor. "It's not like anyone can do anything to them anyways." Shelby's voice becomes soft, almost impossible for Tyler to hear what she has to say.

"I have seen that tendency as well, Shelby, but I hold myself to the laws even more tightly than I do others. How can I expect others to obey if I myself don't? I will not harm you or your children." Tyler tries to reassure her.

Shelby smiles bitterly, still not looking at Tyler. "You broke your law when you took me to Elvenhome to heal me. Now you expect me to believe you when you say that you hold yourself to the law?"

Tyler holds back the expletives that he wants to let loose. He had no idea that his actions that day would put him in this situation. She is right. The one time that he broke his own laws, to save her life, shows her that she can't trust him to not break them again.

Tyler holds back his own bitter reply, he calms down before he says anything further. "You are of course correct. When I took you to Elvenhome, I wasn't thinking of the law, I was thinking that I needed to save your life. But now that you will live, my actions show that I will break the law and you can't trust me. It seems that I've created my own catch twenty-two." Tyler inhales a big breath and then exhales. "Just what can I do to reassure you, Shelby? The actions you require take time, from the message on the stones that is something that I don't have."

Shelby looks at the king. She sees the desperation that he hides from others, but she's learned how to read people a long time ago. "I talked to my children. I offered them the chance to remain here." Even as Shelby says it Tyler is shaking his head.

"That would not be possible. I and the elves have too many enemies that  would go after your children. It isn't something that I would allow." Tyler doesn't like the look of horror and sickness that crosses Shelby's face at his words.

Shelby had never even thought of that. What has she done? She's putting her family and friends into the line of fire for the enemies of the elves. "My friends and family will become targets." Shelby whispers sickened.

"I will put them under protection, Shelby, but I can't guarantee anything. Nothing in life is guaranteed," Tyler says trying to soothe her. It wasn't working.