Chapter 2
1265 Words
CHAPTER TWO
Asphodel stormed out of the house, tears streaming down her face. She would go to Vass. He would have a solution to this. She could not—would not—marry this man. He was old, despite what her father said. It was wrong to force someone to marry against their will. It was one thing if the two people both agreed to the arrangement, but she did not. She loved Vass. If she married Frishillondor, she would never see Vass again. And she could not bear that.
Asphodel ran along the path high in the trees. It swayed a little under her feet, but the familiar movement did not seem as gentle as in the past.
To the distraught girl, it felt like forever until she saw the path leading to where Vass stayed with his cousin, Llin. As she arrived, the door opened and the two young men came out.
Vass ran to Asphodel and took her in his arms. “Oh, my darling, what’s the matter?” He brushed long strands of black hair from her face where it had stuck to her tears.
Asphodel stopped sobbing and leaned her head against his chest. She was safe now. Vass would not allow this marriage to take place. He would think of something.
“Vass, it’s terrible. Father has arranged a marriage for me with a man who’s nearly as old as he is. I told him I won’t marry this man, and ran out of the house. He’ll be so angry. He’ll make me marry Frishillondor, I just know it.”
Tears began to fall once more.
Vass pushed her away from him, holding her by her shoulders, and looked into her grey eyes, no longer clear as they usually were.
He smiled at her. “Asphodel, I swear I won’t let this wedding go ahead. I love you, and you love me. Let’s go for a walk and think about it.”
“But what are we going to do?” She began to breathe more quickly. “I know we should be together, Vass, and I’ll make sure we will be. I don’t know how, but whatever happens, I won’t marry this man.”
Asphodel’s tears had stopped, and what had been heartbreak turned into anger. She clenched her fists, pressed her lips together, and looked at Vass. She saw his smile, and her heart beat faster. Yes, this was the right man for her.
“You don’t like being told what to do, do you?” Vass pulled her into a tight embrace.
“It’s not that. What I don’t like is being told to do something I know is wrong. I won’t do it. My parents will be so angry at the way I rushed out in a temper.”
Asphodel hung onto Vass’s arm for comfort as they walked through the trees, thinking.
Vass turned to Llin. “Do you think your parents will let Asphodel stay for tonight? Maybe by tomorrow, her parents will have calmed down and will be willing to listen to reason.”
Llin shrugged. “Hmm!” He scratched his head. “It won’t be easy. After all, I think they agree with Asphodel’s parents—that she ought to marry the man they choose for her.”
As it began to get dark, the trio made their way back to Llin’s home.
Llin’s mother stood in the kitchen, preparing the evening meal. She had her back to them as she stirred a pot of stew. The savoury smell permeated the small room, making Asphodel’s mouth water.
Llin’s mother turned as she heard their footsteps. “Ah, there you are. Did you have a nice walk? Llin, your father will be home soon, so get washed. And you, too, Vass.” She turned to Asphodel. “Would you like to stay for the evening meal, Asphodel? If you’re sure your parents won’t mind.”
Asphodel glanced at Vass, who smiled at his aunt.
She replied, “No, they won’t mind. In fact, they won’t even know until I tell them. They’ve gone away to stay with my sister for a few days.”
Asphodel embroidered the truth slightly.
“That’s settled then. You’ll stay and eat with us.” A smile lit up her face, and Asphodel thought it made the woman look beautiful.
“I’ll need a few more vegetables if Asphodel is staying to eat with us.” She turned to Llin. “Go and get some from the store, will you?”
Llin returned with the requested vegetables, and his mother began peeling and chopping. She stopped and brushed her hair from her eyes. “I’ve had an idea. How long are your parents going to be away?”
This took Asphodel by surprise. She hadn’t thought Llin’s mother might ask this question.
“O-oh…er…I don’t know.” She looked at her feet, then back at Llin’s mother. “Daisy—that’s Dassirrola, my sister—is expecting a baby any day, and I think they’ll stay until she’s had it.”
Vass looked at her and raised his eyebrows. Asphodel smiled and gave a little nod to say that it was the truth she told about her sister.
“Oh, I understand,” Llin’s mother said. “Your mother is lucky having two of you. That’s rare in elvenkind. Most of us have to make do with one child.” She picked up her knife again and resumed her chopping. “What I was going to say is, would you like to stay here while your parents are away? It’ll be lonely for you at home by yourself.”
Vass stifled a laugh, and Llin’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. How easy it had turned out to be. No arguing a case for Asphodel to stay. His kindhearted mother had done it for them.
Llin whispered to Asphodel, “How much of that was the truth?”
“All of it. Well, the part about Daisy having a baby soon, and my parents going to visit her.” Asphodel looked sideways at him. “The part about them staying until she’s had the baby isn’t true. Well—not entirely. If by any chance the baby starts to arrive while they’re there, I don’t think anything would make my mother leave.”
The next morning, Vass took Asphodel to walk in the forest outside the city.
Once there, he took her hand. “I hardly slept last night, darling. I was thinking and thinking how we can be together, and I concluded there is only one way. We must run away.”
Asphodel stopped and stared at him. “Run away? Run to where? Wherever we go in Rindissillaran, they’ll find us.”
“Not to anywhere in Rindissillaran. This is a big continent. We could go to Erian. They’d not find us there.” A look of excitement filled his eyes. “But we must go quickly. Your parents might already be looking for you. First, they’ll think you stayed with Syssi and not worry. But by this evening, they’ll begin asking. It won’t take them long before they think of looking here. We should go tonight. Or at the latest, tomorrow morning.”
Asphodel walked to the edge of a small brook that ran through the forest.
“Leave Rindissillaran?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never lived anywhere but here in Quantissarillishon.”
“It’ll be an exciting adventure for you. It’s the only way I can think of that we can be together.”
Asphodel turned to face Vass, a determined look on her face. “We’ll goI have a few jewels and a little money. If I can get them without my parents seeing me, I will. We’ll need money.”
“I’ve a little money, too. Not much, but I can work. And you can read and write, so you can get a job as a scribe, I expect. We’ll get along just fine.”
“I don’t speak Erian, do you?”
Vass laughed. “No, but we’re both intelligent people. And we learned Elvish, didn’t we? How hard can it be to learn Erian?”
Asphodel chuckled.
Vass picked her up and spun her round. “Here’s to our new life in a new country.”
- Writer
