Half Magic | Book 2

Forty: Kalor

"Breeding? We can. It is quite rare though. A miracle at all that Celestia was born." Kalor smiled, looking into the middle distance of the room at some memory that we couldn't see. "One of us, the five as you'll hear us called around here, fell in love with a human. Fandor was patrolling the forest, as we did quite a bit in the beginning, when he found a human woman gathering herbs. Love blossomed, I won't tell his story for him. But in the end, she conceived a child. We were all shocked, to say the least. Celestia was born, our first half elf."

"From her were born several quarter elves. She lived a long life and had two husbands with many children. From those children descend the city around you as you see it today. Those children each found human partners, and so on, and so on, and the generations blossomed into Eidelhien as we know it now," Teyber said.

"You said Celestia was your first half elf," Schula said. "Does that mean there are more?"

Kalor nodded and smiled at me. "Wren aside, yes, there are others. Celestia lived a thousand years and had several children in that time. Fandor hasn't taken a love since Celestia's mother, but another of us has. And myself, of course, did."

Kalor blushed at that last comment and I nearly giggled. For someone so new in my life, I was quickly getting a grasp of his personality.

A distant bell rang, surprising us. It sounded like it came from outside the keep we were in, though I didn't remember seeing any bell towers as we came into Eidelhein. Then again, there was so much to see that I could have missed it. I could have missed a lot of things, and I looked forward to exploring.

"Kalor," Teyber said. "If you want to get food from the kitchens before they are cleaned out, I suggest you do so now."

"Oh, right." Kalor stood up again. "I'll be back shortly, I'm sure you're all tired and hungry."

"And I'll prepare rooms," Teyber added. "Please, excuse us, and make yourselves comfortable."

"Thank you, Teyber," Nassir said with a warm smile. "We can entertain ourselves until your return."

Teyber gave us a smirk and a nod. "I have no doubt of it. Well, I'll be back."

"And so will I," Kalor added.

The pair of them left, and Schula, Nassir, and I were left alone for the first time since discovering Eidelhein. After the door closed, I let out a long, slow breath.

"Your father, hm?" Schula said. "I knew we might find him, but it was a whole new experience actually meeting him."

"Kalor seems like a male who thinks before he acts," Nassir said. "Not quite like Lark."

I let out a breathy laugh. Well, I couldn't argue with that.

"So, how do we breach the subject of DuVarick finding Wren, and consiquntly the survival of the elves?" Schula asked.

Nassir scratched his chin, thinking and humming to himself. "I think... we should give it a day. Spend tomorrow understanding what all has happened to the elves since they departed the Wyldes, and allow Wren time with Kalor."

"We need to tell them soon," I said. "What if they are in danger? Or... or if another of DuVarick's agents followed us somehow?"

"I doubt they will have been able to with Mila and the witches on the watch. But we will tell them soon. I think we need to gather the facts before running to the leaders of an unknown city, calling danger," Nassir said.

"He's right," Schula added. "We have a day at least. We need to assess the situation we're in, and we need to judge how the rest of the elves would accept the appearance of two fae. I have a feeling we made quite a ripple in Eidelhein."