SciFi and Fantasy Stories: Return to Me: Chapter Two

Tyaro offered Analaeia a hand as they entered the Palace, but she shrugged him off.  When he tried again, she stopped and regarded him curiously.

“Why do you do that?” she asked quietly.  He raised an eyebrow as if he did not understand her meaning.  “I obviously shrug off your advances, yet you continue to try.  Do you wish to anger me?” 

“Only trying to win your graces, is all,” Tyaro said with a smug smile. 

Analaeia glared at him.  Oh, he was so arrogant.  It was not just that he was a human, no, she could bear with that qualification.  He was off-putting, standoffish, and crude.  Slimy was a good word for Tyaro.  He had short, shorn brown hair that he would slick back, and whether it was intentional or not, she always thought he looked more greased and slick than a fish at the market.  He had small, beady, dark eyes that belied a good-natured appearance.  She knew that his wheels were constantly turning, however.  He was cunning.  She often wondered why her uncle had chosen him as his Advisor.  He was so two-faced, but he knew how to play for attention.

“They have already been won, and you know so,” she started off again, but he boldly grabbed her arm to hold her back.

“The lady’s heart is always worth a second try.  When I consider your…relationship with the Captain, I often wonder why you chose him.” 

Analaeia shook him off.  “Then consider this.  I would not deem you a fit match for my heart even if it had not already been won, and I never shall.”  She paused and took in a breath.  “There.  Now you know the truth, and you may leave me alone.  And, you are not to speak of Kaelimine in front of anyone, for it is none of your business.” 

Without a second glance at him, she turned away.

“I think you’ll regret saying that, someday,” Tyaro called after her.  She paused, and looked back over her shoulder at him.  He was smiling in a very sly way, and it made her shiver.  The two exchanged a silent glance, and Analaeia finally tore herself away.  She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Upon entering the dining hall, full of diplomats and other high-ups from around the Kingdom, her uncle Taemar spotted her and rose, smiling.  “At last, you join us, my dear,” he said jovially as she approached.  Analaeia smiled, putting the exchange with Tyaro out of her mind.  She greeted her father, and older elf named Kiirar, who was sitting beside his brother.  “Might I inquire as to your tardiness?” Taemar asked.

She was about to respond when Tyaro did it for her.  “Visiting with a friend.”  She turned and saw him approaching the table, not far behind her.  As he neared, he added in a low voice, “A male friend.”  Analaeia bit the inside of her lip to keep from frowning at him. 

“Indeed?”  Kiirar said.  “Who?” 

“Nevermind,” Analaeia said as she sat down beside her father, before Tyaro could answer.  “Tyaro is making a sensation out of nothing.”  She shot him a discreet glare.  He responded only with a smug smile and sat.

Kiirar chuckled.  “Kaelimine again, is it?” 

Analaeia looked up, surprised.  Her gaze immediately caught Tyaro’s, and he looked far from innocent.  He must have dropped Kaelimine’s name at some point, probably some time after a small, embarrassing incident that had occurred which involved the couple, Tyaro, and the palace guards—mere hours after Kaelimine had been invited to the Palace to be congratulated on his promotion to Captain.  Analaeia had begged Tyaro not to speak of it, and although it had been several years previous, he had not kept his word, one way or another.  She only prayed that he had not let slip the details of the incident. 

 “Kaelimine?”  Taemar interjected.  “Captain of the Wingéd Riders?  I have heard that he has taken a lady the last years, but I had hardly any indication it was you, Analaeia.”  

Analaeia sighed and tried to avoid the conversation.  “Tyaro’s tongue likes to wag over the smallest thing he sees,” she said.  “It seems I can hardly go anywhere without Tyaro close behind.”

“Is that it then?  You haven’t denied it yet,” Taemar said with a smile. 

“Mayhaps, but I haven’t not denied it yet, either,” Analaeia said, flustered.  A conversation revealing her love affair with Kaelimine was the last thing she wanted to do tonight, considering the audience around them.  “A discussion for another time.”

“Indeed, my dear is right,” Kiirar said with a smile.  Analaeia smiled gratefully at him, and then shot Tyaro another angry glare.  He only smiled in response. 

Thankfully, the topic was put away for the evening.  Analaeia hardly paid attention throughout the course of the evening, which consisted of the meal and many diplomats making their way to her side of the table to discuss brief things with her uncle.  She watched it all with a quiet indifference.  Although the Crown had been her life since birth, and she would one day take it as her own, she had no intentions nor desire to do so immediately.  Besides which, she had never really spoken to Kaelimine on the subject of his becoming King if she were to take the Crown.

Nonetheless, every time Tyaro would lean over to remark something quietly to the King, Analaeia was certain they were whispering things about her.  Occasionally, both would glance in her direction, and it made her feel uneasy, especially after their conversation about her possible suitor earlier in the evening.  She knew that Taemar would never do anything to make her unhappy.  It was Tyaro she was worried about.

Near the end of the meal, Tyaro leaned over the table toward Kiirar.  In a quiet voice, though purposely loud enough for Analaeia to hear, he said, “I have been meaning to find a quiet moment in which to speak to you tonight, my Lord.  I have a proposition in mind, one that I have just recently been considering with King Taemar, and I would like your opinion on the matter.” 

Analaeia listened to the exchange but pretended to be listening to a different conversation, so as not to let them know she was listening.  She had a suspicion Tyaro’s “proposition” was about her. 

Kiirar regarded Tyaro for a moment.  “Concerning what?” he asked. 

Tyaro unconsciously flicked his gaze toward Analaeia, but refrained from using her name.  Then he gestured toward a secluded room down the hall.  “May I?  This is a matter not to be heard by…unwanted ears.”  He smiled, and it was almost wicked.  Kiirar hesitated a moment, and then began to rise from his chair.  Tyaro exited his seat and walked from the hall with the older elf.

Analaeia looked up as Tyaro and her father exited the hall.  She had heard the conversation between the two, and it worried her.  What lies would Tyaro plant in her father’s mind?  No doubt he would twist the story of herself and Kaelimine, that evening on the steps, she mused.  Trouble would certainly follow this meeting.

Tyaro closed the door behind him and invited the elf to sit in a chair. 

“Very well, what is this proposition you speak of?”  Kiirar asked. 

Tyaro smiled and put on his best business face.  “Of course, my Lord.  I had been speaking to King Taemar earlier this evening, and he expressed to me his dismay that his throne was soon to be given up, and with neither an heir of his own nor a suitable match for Analaeia.  The matter I would like to speak to you is concerning your daughter’s hand.”  He paused a moment and waited for the elf’s reaction.  “In marriage, I mean.” 

Kiirar furrowed a slender brow.  “Curious, that we should have touched upon this matter earlier this evening.  Have you in mind someone who should like to wed her?” 

Tyaro smiled and folded his hands into the sleeves of his robes.  “It is I, my Lord.  I will not deny the fact that she is a very fine woman—elf, I do mean, and one worthy of a fine marriage.  And what better match than the advisor of the King?” 

The elf studied him for a while.  “I see your meaning,” he said finally.  A look of relief spread over Tyaro’s face.  “However, there is one thing.  I know she is courting someone already, though she has been silent about it herself.  Kaelimine is the name you have provided and that is the one I shall trust.  I should not like to cease a courtship with someone else simply because you deem yourself eligible to wed her.”

“Kaelimine, the Captain of the Wingéd Riders?”  Tyaro said, faking incredulousness.  “Oh, my Lord.  Such a trivial title that is!”

Kiirar shook his head.  “I do not believe so.  From what I know of him, he is a worthy warrior and no doubt has no doubt already claimed her heart.  The Wingéd Riders are a respectful host, he not the least among them.  I do not wish to see my daughter unhappy.” 

Tyaro could feel his grip on the old elf slipping.  “But do you know if it would be a worthy match, my Lord?  Your brother the King has no heirs, and Analaeia is the first in line.  Think of that, my Lord, is this Kaelimine someone you would see as King?”

Kiirar stood up.  “I see your ways, Tyaro,” he said.  The human cursed himself for putting his words the way he had.  “And I will not bow before them.  I wish nothing else than to see my daughter happy.  I am sorry, but you will not have her hand unless there is no other arrangement.” 

He started to leave the room.  Tyaro saw his window closing forever.  “Wait, wait my Lord.”  A new idea was fast forming in his conniving mind.  With a sigh, Kiirar turned to indulge him.

“I ask only that you give me your word, my Lord, that should a match with Kaelimine of the Wingéd Riders not be possible, I shall be first considered to be wed to Analaeia.  King Taemar approves of such a match already, and consider if Kaelimine does not wish to be King?  The throne will need a replacement, and soon.  Your brother has already expressed to me his wish that Analaeia relinquish him of the Crown sooner rather than later.” 

Kiirar regarded him for a moment.  It was true, his brother’s wish to be rid of the Crown.  Tyaro’s words did ring a note of truth.  And, all things considered, if this Captain was not at all interested in having the Crown, there would have to be someone else.

“Very well.  You have my word,” he said finally. 

Tyaro clasped his hands together and bowed his head.  “I thank thee for the consideration, my Lord.” 

As Kiirar turned and left the room, Tyaro managed a wicked smile.  It was done then.  Kaelimine had to die in order for Analaeia to become his; there was no other way around it.  Already, the details for his conniving plan were coming into focus. 

Quite pleased with his plan, Tyaro left the room and returned to the dining hall.  Analaeia was watching him.  He gave her a smile and strode in her direction, managing to look inconspicuous to everyone else.  She looked away.  He leaned over her to whisper in her ear. 

“I think you’ll regret saying that, someday…”

Analaeia stared at him, pulling away.  He raised his eyebrows and gave her a smile, then walked away.  The elf watched him go, a sense of dread coming into her heart.  Things were not right.