It didn’t last. After three generations, their blood thinned. Their magic wasn’t as strong, their bodies not as tough, their children less talented and beautiful. The Silvari blood polluted with inferior humans. Aurelius was the best of his brothers but only a shadow of his ancestors. His ears were short and round. Shaving his hair made their extra fraction of an inch in length stand out a bit more but most of the time, it was a reminder of his pathetic blood.
However, unlike the rest of his family, Aurelius planned to do something about it. It was too late for him but not for his sons. The day he found he had a talent for casting, he decided he would go to the elven continent to seek his bride. Not to elevate his family or to seek the wealth of the forest. Those were reasons too, but his primary motivation was much simpler.
He simply wasn’t attracted to human women.
The patriarch had many paintings of his secret wife commissioned, lavishing her in attention in exchange for hiding her. Aurelius had been fascinated with her visage since he was a young boy. Her delicate features contrasting with her knife-like ears, her strange coloring, her quiet grace. He was enamored. That was before he was old enough for his father to show him the more…explicit paintings commissioned, glorifying their great ancestor in a drunken rant. Aurelius, who had thought he simply lacked interest in women, “awakened”.
Several years passed and he became a master caster. However, even such a level wasn’t enough to guarantee him safe passage. He had to fight through the Enchanted Forest, fight into their home, and survive long enough to convince them he meant no harm. There was a chance that they weren’t as hateful towards the humanity as the Harvest Kingdom used to be toward them, but he doubted it. Humanity dragged the elves into the Great War, and they lived far longer on average. There may be elders who still remembered the great fire that brought on the forest keepers’ anger.
Combined with the trial of courting a woman with his degraded blood, Aurelius was determined but not hopeful.
Then, as if Lady Silvari herself had blessed him, she appeared.
Kierra Atainna, an elven princess. The cream of the crop, a pureblood of the purest blood. Green skin that spoke of a thriving forest, summer green eyes flecked with traces of the sun, and the silver hair of Lady Silvari. He could only take it as a sign of destiny.
She was his destiny…and yet there was an annoying obstacle standing in the way. An obstacle named Lourianne Tome.
A girl, a mystery, a thorn in his side. He couldn’t understand it. The perfect woman and she was married, married, to a buffoon. With secrets.
He wasn’t blind. Clearly, Lourianne Tome had to be more than she first appeared. If for no other reason than Kierra’s interest in her, but he had seen proof that she had at least some ability. One could buy their way into the Hall, which she had, but the theories she submitted alongside the Guiness gold were of some merit.
More than anything, what made him wary to her secrets was her confidence.
At first glance, she appeared cowardly, timid, and jumpy. The business with the prince showed she had an uncommon fear of royalty and she tended to play the fool by what felt like habit. However, she didn’t back down. She had faced the prince. She faced Peter Pottoculli, two people who should have been above her in power but were utterly crushed.
And of course, she stood up to him.
Master caster was not a title given lightly. For an initiate aware of his power to have the audacity to so much as meet his eyes when they knew he was hostile would already take a lion’s heart. Aurelius hadn’t reached his power as a scholar. He’d fought alongside hunters, lived in lands filled with monsters. He knew how to read a threat. What he saw in her went beyond conquering her fear. She watched him with thinly veiled disgust and anticipation. Waiting for him to make a move and give her justification to drop her meek act.
Dumb casters didn’t live long enough to become masters. Aurelius was also naturally suspicious, being a part of a family that had kept a large secret over several generations. His nerves led him to be cautious and he strived to tear apart the ridiculous relationship through other means rather than risk a confrontation.
However, the girl was incredibly resistant to backhanded methods. He’d been shocked to find she had no skeletons to be aired, having lived a quiet life before her attack. She couldn’t be bribed. She cared little for prestige. He might have tried playing to her obvious carnal desires but what woman could compare to Kierra?
When he failed to find a character flaw to exploit, he thought to invent one. His words to Alyssa weren’t a lie. He truly regretted accusing Dean of abusing the mental affinity. It was hasty and worse, stupid. If he had been thinking rationally, he would have never tried to use such serious circumstances. Far too much scrutiny, not to mention Dunwayne’s involvement. He could have been stripped of his place at the Hall, forced to throw his lot in with hunters-for-hire or chain himself to one of the orders. It was fortunate he had proved himself competent before. Luckily, the Dunwayne was a forgiving and patient man. The grandmaster had docked his pay, forced him to take on a few extra duties, but had mostly left Aurelius to his embarrassment, knowing it would be the worst punishment.
“No worries,” he whispered to himself. A bad habit formed from training to feel the way the air moved from speech. “I’ll bring Lourianne Tome low. Reveal her secrets and strip her of that false confidence. Show you how lowly these humans really are. Then…”
He’d be there, a far better choice. Perhaps his charm wouldn’t be enough to sway his princess. He couldn’t blame her if she decided she had wasted enough time amongst humans and returned home to find a proper suitor. At the very least, he wanted to be by her side when she did.
Perhaps she had sisters.
His shiny head reflects all incoming intelligent thoughts
Lol poor Aurelius. He’s picking on someone who’s not only not human and just mimicking one, but one that’s also losing all of her human morals and chains
Oh, so he has the hots for grandma. I guess that can be a thing...
GILF actually
Ah, that river in Egypt appears again!
Ah de Nile, a common yet persistent challenge of the competitive rowers known to have an unrequited love.
@Agi_max speaking if the Nile river, don't and I mean DON'T, try row biting up it's rushing waters. My row boat had 6 people in it and it was all we could do to not get dragged down the dang river while on a current. By the time we made it across we were all sweaty and one of us had actually fallen over board, thankfully in a calm spot
denial is a river in alabama in this case
"When I first saw the picture... how do I put it... I got a boner." © Aurelius
see if you weren't an idiot rather than force hostilities on the spouse of the only elf you will come across you should have tried to negotiate passage to their continent and have a plethora of chances
Kierra's father didn't approve of Rondel, who's a full elf, how much more of a watered down elf? Just why do these men keep on thinking with their d*cks?
Hmmm I understand not being attracted to humans, yet could you bring this up with the elf? Ask if there any possible way to get into the Elven continent?
Not really, it’s been like half a year since Kierra appeared in Harvest and the most that’s gone into meeting more elves is the Guinness’s hopes to privatize access into the enchanted forest. Anything further and they hit a wall where Kierra and Lou don’t care to even try.Also so many others are trying the same to get access and have been stonewalled even worse since Lou isn’t looking for pocket change anymore. Finally there’s a bigger issue of what reasoning he’d give Kierra for wanting to see the elves, he wants their blood in his kids and he’s horny for them. Honestly with Kierra had he not pissed her off that reasoning might’ve flied with reasonable compensation for her services but… it’s kinda like buying your way into strength for him to try and take elven blood, there’s not a lot there that’ll convince her it’s worth it. To me it all just sounds like greedy humans, his family was lucky once to get there blood and somehow now believes there entitled to elven purity which is BS. The best I’d see the dude getting is a statement that the elves value strength over all else and that’s his best ticket into the elven continent(before he went and angered Lou, then kierra)
Again, there is the issue of the father.
Big incel vibes.