The Human Girl's Mate

Chapter eight: Chaperoning a date for a friend.

It's been two weeks since I've last spoken to Calen, I saw him briefly the day after we had kissed and boy was it awkward! We bumped into each other in the courtyard, I was walking back to the laundry room with Missy and I literally walked into him. I wish I wasn't so clumsy, I dropped the laundry basket at his feet and he ended up helping me gather the clothes while Missy laughed her head off! His hand brushed mine and I blushed. He was polite, and it made me nervous. I haven't seen or heard from him since. Things with Sara are almost  back to normal now, we spoke a couple days after she caught us, and she did in fact tell me that her and Calen had a moment of passion, early last year but it never went further than two kisses. And it left me reeling, two kisses? Is that what happened with us? One great kiss and he's moved on to someone else? I have been so distracted at work I'm surprised no one has had a go yet. I guess I'm lucky that the girls have accepted me into their group. Myself Sara Mary and Missy have become fast friends and I have learnt so much from them. About work and life in the castle and about men! Turns out Sara has a fated mate too, Calen's second in command! Unfortunately the King is very much against human and elf relationships, which sucks for everyone. Not that it bothers Sara too much, according to Mary, the bond is different for us, we don't feel what hey are feeling, we just always have an emptiness in our hearts. Mary is one of the queen's maids, therefor she has learned a lot about fated mates and bonds. An elf only has one fated mate. They can fall in and out  of love with others, but once they complete the bond with their fated mate they become one. An incomplete bond is dangerous, it can leave both parties vulnerable, especially the elf as they have the most powers. This is all fascinating to me, because for some reason we don't learn about this at school. I wonder why? 

As always, when the evening approaches I head to the kitchen to help Miss Susan with cooking and cleaning duties. She reminds me so much of my mother, we have a nice relationship, she really is like a second mother, not only to me but to most of the girls here. When I 'm done in the kitchen I head to my room and Sara is there waiting for me, I still get flash backs to the last time she was here. She seems me and smiles brightly at me, putting me at ease. 'Serena, I need to ask you a favour.' She says in a small voice, I guess it can't be anything good, seeing as how she's biting her lip and wringing her  hands over and over. She's actually sweating, why is she so nervous? 'Ok, what do you need?' I'm curious to know what she wants, I hope she isn't going to ask me to sneak to the market with her, last time her and Mary went they got into trouble with some noble elves who accused them of stealing, I heard through the gossip mill that Calen had to go rescue them. 'Idril agreed to go out on a date with me, but he said he would only do it if I take a friend. Serena please come with me?' I'm shocked, I didn't think she was bothered about him and their fated mate thing, but looks like she is actually dying to be with him. Who am I to stand in the way of love. I agree to go with her and she hugs me so hard we both fall over, tears of joy and laughter stream down our faces as we lay side by side holding hands. She sighs deeply and turns her head to me,  her soft smile making me smile too 'Serena, Idril s also bringing a friend.' Her expression changes from happy to worried, why would she be worried, it's not like I'll change my min... Son of b***h. 'His friend is Calen isn't it?' I ask her, she nods and I don't know what to do, I mean it's not like we were in a relationship and broke up, we shared one kiss, I mean, yes a kiss that blew my mind and made me dream of having him inside me for days after, but it was one kiss. I an do this, I can do it for Sara. 'Sara, I won't let you down. What is the plan.'

Turns out the plan is for me and Sara to pack a picnic and meet the elves in the garden, they are then going to take us somewhere nice and quiet where Idril and Sara can get to know each other better and me and Calen can just awkwardly sit there and try not to watch. The only reason we are going is because if there's four of us the guys can claim they were patrolling and found us and decided to stay and protect us. Why anyone would believe the commander of the legions and his second in command would need to protect two maids having a picnic is beyond me, but it was the only way Sara would get to have some time with Idril. So here we are! Whoever is coming up with these plans, hasn't got a clue what they are doing! 

The next morning Elberth meets me in the kitchen and hands me an envelope, a letter from home he says. I am so excited to open it, i turn to head into my room when a booming voice makes me stop. 'The king is coming, line up!' It's the first time I am meeting the king and I have to say I'm very nervous, I've heard the stories, he hates humans, not that I can blame him, it was a human who killed his son in cold blood. Even though he has another son he never got over losing his heir. We all stand in a line with our hand behind our back and our heads down, when the king comes in we all bow and say good morning my king. He will then give us permission to lift our heads as he addresses us. It's very rare that he comes into the kitchen, so we are all interested to know why he is here.  He walks in followed by some guards and I can't resist to sneak a peak at him. He is definitely not what I imagined, I was thinking he would be an older man, with grey hair and possibly a pot belly. But the king, Oh my days, he looks like he is in his fifties, his black hair is cut short and curls around his crown, he is of course like all elves ten thousand feet tall and muscular, although you can tell he hasn't battled for a while as his mid section is slightly rounder than most. He's dressed in a simple blue cotton long sleeve top and loose brown trousers. We all bow and in unison wish him a good morning, he smiles at us and raise his hands slightly and I assume this is the signal, now that I can get a good look at him I see his eyes are a beautiful shade of blue,and soft lines surround them, I can see why the queen feel in love with him, he has this aura around him. I can't shake the feeling that he reminds me of someone but I can't think of who. 'Prince Raegel's wedding has been moved up to the end of this summer. You need to start preparing as the ceremony will be held here in the castle. We will need all guest rooms cleaned and aired. You will also be cleaning and rearranging the gardens and the stables. The queen will be overseeing the planning so you will all carry out her wishes as well as your normal duties. You are all excused. Carry on with your days' He walks out of the kitchen and everyone starts whispering, the end of summer is 3 months away. I still haven't met the prince, I wonder if he looks like the king or the queen. 

I spend the day with Sara and Missy as we are sent to the east wing to clean the guest rooms there. It's hard work as there is years of dust and spider webs everywhere. They haven't had guests here since before the war, and it shows. I ask the girls if they mind me taking care of the laundry, they both agree, which is no surprise, they hate doing it, but I don't mind, it's a task that requires concentration but not too much, I walk across the courtyard and marvel at the square castle surrounding me, it's beautiful. The laundry room is across the yard, opposite the warrior quarters, I'm of course hoping to catch Calen training, just so I can prove to myself that I don't have any feelings for him before the picnic tomorrow. Sadly, the warriors are not training at he moment, having all stopped to rest and eat. I crane my neck around looking for Calen's long black hair, he should've been easy to spot, most of the warriors are either blonde or have light brown hair. But alas, no sign of him. I head to the laundry room and start on the task of filling the tanks with hot water and hand washing all the bedding, it takes me most of the day to wash and hang the bed sheets and curtains from the 8 guest rooms the girls cleaned, we all head to our quarters for well deserved showers and food. I am exhausted, so after a very quick shower and a sandwich I climb into bed and read the letter I got this morning. It's from my parents, they are missing me and hope I'm doing ok and enjoying life. There's also a separate note from Adam which simply says "See you in two weeks loser!" I can't wait for Adam to turn eighteen, I get to go home and see them all. I fall asleep with a huge grin on my face. 

The next morning I wake up to a wet feeling on my face, am I crying in my sleep? I squeeze my eyes and slowly open the left one to find Sara dripping water over me to wake me. So childish! I snatch her hand and twist it and she squeals with laughter 'Get up lazy bum, we've got s**t to do!' I can't even get a decent lay in on my day off. Sara is to excited, today is the day of her date. She's like a kid in a sweet shop, Smiling at everything and everyone, even Miss Susan is looking at her like she's crazy. We waste most of the day away sitting on my bed talking about our firsts, I have to admit I'm well behind Sara, even though she's also a virgin, she has done a lot more stuff with boys than I have. We get ready around four in the afternoon and head to the garden with two blankets and two big baskets. Sara even as far as quizzing Calen about Idril's favourite foods and drinks and she actually has most it stuffed into her basket. Me, I packet what I like to eat,chicken and bacon sandwiches, fruits and  miss Susan's chocolate cakes, dammed if I'm going to be changing my tastes for a man. We have been standing in the garden for a good ten minutes wen the elves appear. Sara's mouth drops open and mine joins hers straight after. Both elves have had a complete make over. Idril's brown hair has been cut shorter on the sides and he now has a top knot, Calen's hair has also been cut, but has opted for an all around short cut, just a tad longer on the top. I can hear Sara chuckling to herself and I slap her arm shushing her. The elves kindly offer to carry our baskets and we all walk together to this special place. 

After a good half hour walk we reach the forest, and the guys lead us through the tall trees to a hill, we climb it and when we get to the top I stop and gasp. 'It's beautiful' I whisper to myself, but of course Calen heard me, he's been walking so close to me I 'm surprised we didn't collide more often. He puts his hand on my lower back and whispers in my ear 'There's a waterfall down there I'm dying to kiss you under'.  His breath on my neck send shivers down my spine and my mouth dries just at the idea of kissing him again. He places a lingering kiss on the base of neck and smacks my arse 'Let's go Nina, we got a date to chaperone!' He winks at me and sets off after Sara and Idril. What did I get myself into!