Forever and Always: A Fairytale

10

After a couple of hours, Ismael returned with groceries for our meals tomorrow. He sat them down on the wooden counter and walked into the living room, where I sat reading a book.

"Hey," he greeted, taking a seat beside me on the couch.

"Hey," I replied, not taking my eyes away from the book I was reading.

"Where's Lily?" He asked.

"In her room," I informed him. He shifted uncomfortably beside me, feeling the awkward tension between us.

He cleared his throat and said, "I'm going to go see if she wants to go do something in town."

"Okay, just don't stay out too late because she and I have to work at the bakery tomorrow." I closed my book and made my way into the kitchen to get something to drink. I found a bottle of red wine in the pantry and poured myself a glass.

"It's Sunday," he pointed out, taking a seat on one of the stools on the other side of the kitchen counter.

"Look at Arun, he scheduled us to work tomorrow," I said, "Wine?"

"No thank you," he said.

"How's the job search coming along?" I asked.

"Excellent," he said, "But, I suppose that's because I'm a High Elf."

My eyes widened. Not only is he attractive, but he's a high elf. Why does he want me, a Faen Elf? I wondered.

"Um, will you excuse me? I have to have a girl talk with Lily," I said before zooming upstairs to Lily's room. I burst into the room and slammed the door behind me.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Lily asked as she fixed her makeup.

"He's a High Elf?!" I whispered, sitting down on her bed.

"Who's a High Elf?" She asked.

"Don't give me that, Lily! I know that you know he's a High Elf!" I said.

"Who are you talking about?!" She asked once again.

"Ismael!" I whispered.

"Oh, yeah, he's a High Elf in the Southern Kingdom by the way," she said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you for that information."

"You're welcome," she said.

"But, I don't understand why he'd want someone like me," I said, running my pale fingers through my hair. "I mean, he's a High Elf. They're highly respected and are considered to be warriors, whereas I'm a Loresong Faen, not only do we tend to want to be in the security of our own home, surrounded by our friends and family."

"And your point is....?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We're complete opposites," I pointed out, "And the fact that he's also from the Southern Kingdom, also known as the southern part of Duvaria, verifies it."

"Vulmar wasn't like you, but you still dated him," Lily reminded me.

"And look how that turned out," I said sorrowfully. I don't know why I'm still upset about him because that happened a year and a half ago.

Lily raised her hands in surrender. "Hey, you're the one who decided to be in a relationship with someone from the Cethin Forest."

"It was a mistake that you don't have to constantly remind me of," I said through gritted teeth. I spun on my heel and stormed out of the room.

I suppose there's an explanation in order. There are multiple races of elves that live within the Kingdom of Duvaria. To the north are the Whitehawks, also known as the Snow Elves. They reside within the snowy Yorkto Mountains. They tend to be aloof and secretive and aren't accepted by any of the elf races.

The Faerun and Wood Elves reside southeast of the mountains in the Neumagne Wood. While Faeruns are usually reclusive, insular, feral and stealthy, and typically aren't kind to outsiders, they tolerate their woodsy neighbors. In fact, the two races have an alliance to keep the peace.

As I mentioned before, High Elves are the warrior type and are highly respected. They call the Holy Oasis home and are known to be emotional, but mostly passionate and empathetic. They also tend to have caramel skin, which is their signature feature, like how my race of elves have long, pointy, curved ears as our signature feature.

And last but not least, the Dark Elves, my least favorite. They reside in the western part of the kingdom, in the Cethin Forrest. The sun never shines there and it's constantly covered in fog from all of the moisture. These elves are ruthless, destructive, and overall sinister. It's a miracle if any of them feel a shred of positive emotions. They only interact with the other races if necessary, but otherwise resent them.

And that is how the kingdom is divided. Honestly, it was a miracle that I even dated a dark elf in the first place, but that's a story for another day.

I entered my room and lit the lamp so that I would have enough light to get changed into my nightgown. When I was finished, I laid down on my bed and began to drift away into my thoughts.

"I'm leaving!" Lily announced before exiting the house. I wonder where she's going now. I just rolled my eyes, rolled onto my side, and fell asleep.