Cold Shoulder

Amala reacts strangely to Carn's restored appearance.

60.

Cold Shoulder

 

When Carn returned to the house, he found that Amala had taken her stuff and joined Mathlyn and Nansea.   Of course this was proper, but it bothered him that he did not have a chance to talk to her.   Even worse, she didn’t seem to want to talk to him.

The next morning, some of the rebels from the previous day brought in a large number of the remainder of their own, to parley with Carn and his group again.

They spent the entire day negotiating with the group, which numbered nearly 300.   They were not as easily moved by Carn’s words, for they had not heard his songs before the negotiations.   By late afternoon, the atmosphere in the Hall had gone from tense to neutral. They agreed to resume the following morning and would send for their women and children to join them to hear of any decision that was made.

As Carn and his companions left the Feasting Hall, he found Amala hardly spoke to him and she pleaded weariness as her reason, then fled to her room.

Mathlyn noticed his troubled look and again just patted his arm, “Patience, Carnithum, patience.    It will become evident to you soon enough.   Do not fear; focus on the negotiations.”

 

***

The following day the Hall was filled with what they were told was all of the Faesidhe who had rebelled against Westmark.    There was a strained moment as several of the rebels spoke to Linel Demmet, expressing deep regret over the loss of his brother and father.  

Carn and Aedric held their breath as the young man replied. But to his credit, he accepted their regrets generously and vowed he would honor his brother and father by forgiving them and working to restore peace.

They discussed how the Faesidhe would govern themselves under the rule of Eleazar and Aedric.   Mattleos and Carn were guided by Mathlyn into crafting a document for the Faesidhe to sign on the following day - after they had discussed it.   Just as they were breaking for dinner (and Carn had hoped to speak privately to Amala), the airship Phoenix appeared out of the east with news of the Fallow River battle as well as the other groups’ successes.

The news was bittersweet, for they learned of the death of Uyuit, Howst, Sam Mellis, Aeric, Alis and Abigae.  

Aedric took it very hard, for the Half-Elves had been his adopted family.   He wanted to return on The Phoenix to comfort Aaron, but he knew that he had to stay and work out the peace treaty with the Faesidhe rebels.     So they sent a message back that they would come to Westmark in five days, before the funeral of their friends.     At nearly midnight, The Phoenix took flight again to return news to Eleazar.

 

***

Again Amala fled to her room without speaking to Carn and he was reassured by Mathlyn once more that the girl would be alright soon.   He was beginning to doubt this.   Since he had been restored, she had not spoken a dozen words to him.   He thought she would have been thrilled at his transformation.

He decided that as soon as the treaty with the Faesidhe was wrapped up, the following day, he was going to speak with her, whether she liked it or not.

Carn tossed and turned in bed all night, speculating about what had come over her and what he could do to restore their friendship.   He ached inside to be around her and longed to have her smile at him again.    What could have happened to have turned her so cold to him?   He pondered this for hours until, just before dawn; he finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

 

***

 

Not far away, Amala was also awake, quietly lying in bed listening to Mathlyn and Nansea sleeping, while struggling with overwhelming emotions.

She was terrified of what had happened to her.   Though she had felt that something odd had been slowly coming over her for many months, she had assumed that the most recent unsettled feelings were due to the geises that Valmiai had placed upon her.  

Certainly she usually was able to handle stress and even abrupt change.   Though the long hair and having to wear dresses greatly annoyed her, she began to realize that these were not causing the odd mood swings and her increasingly agitated behavior.

She had then theorized that it was the weight of the events happening all at once - a war with the Southern Empire, the Faesidhe rebellion, her sister marrying and becoming the Queen of the Sylvan Elves, and the demon-controlled Dragon that had seemed so unbeatable.

But it wasn’t even these things.     They probably made things worse, but Amala had realized only a few days ago a few things that made her even more uncomfortable.

First, her wild emotions had increased in strength and duration shortly after she had befriended Carn.    That was strange as well; she tended to be very cautious with her friendship, and would take a long time to feel even mildly comfortable around anyone other than her family.    But with Carn, it had not been like that at all.   Of course she had known him for a few years, but not until their ride back to Westmark alone had she found herself overwhelmed with great affection for him.  

She talked with him, confided secrets to him, and was eager to spend time with him.   It had puzzled her and she had tried to distance herself from him somewhat, but she found that impossible to do.   She kept thinking about him and feeling shameful for avoiding him.

When they were together, she even felt happiness trying to slip over her, and she was not, by nature, a happy person.   

When he had raced off to find her parents, she had run the gauntlet of anger mixed with a crazy feeling of betrayal, fear and worry over his safety.  This led to an overwhelming need to find him as quickly as she could.

She had tried to explain these feelings as concern for him as he sought such a powerful and dangerous foe, but there was some other emotion there.    She couldn’t pinpoint what that emotion was, however.

When she learned who he really was and heard his story, she was even more fascinated with him and her heart ached with pity as she thought about his centuries of suffering.   She wanted to sooth his pain and maybe - slowly and cautiously- express to him how fond she was of him… as a friend.

Amala had been enthralled with his skills as a bard and was still eager to learn his craft.    But when he had been stricken paralyzed, it had hurt her so much that she knew she would have to go ahead and open up to him about how she felt.

Then she awoke to a powerful voice singing and came out into the clearing and saw him.

She had known at once who he was, and had understood what had happened.   She had expected that if this had ever happened that she would run to him, embrace him and tell him how happy she was for him.

But then she got a good look at him as an Elf.

Amala had never really had any interest in members of the opposite sex.   Not that she was odd or anything; she just had not had any of those types of feelings at all.   While Aranthi and Sirya had giggled and flirted around even as older children, she had been perfectly content to just train with her swords.

So when she had seen Carn’s true Elven form, she was completely unprepared for the overwhelming emotion that had attacked her like a stampeding bull.

Carn was tall and muscular, much younger appearing than she imagined, with the typical pale skin of most of the surface Elves, and short, wavy chestnut brown hair.     His eyes had sparkled as he had played that Faesidhe song and they were a deep, gorgeous brown.   

She had never seen a more handsome man in her entire life.

 

For several minutes she had just stared at him in awe, her heart wildly racing and her hands sweaty and trembling.

She couldn’t stop staring at him.   Every move he made was pure perfection.    She had been around many people and a large number of male Elves that were reputed to be quite attractive.   But she’d never had as much as a flicker of interest in any of them.    This had suited her just fine, for she felt it was a juvenile, foolish pursuit.

 

But when she had seen Carn, that had all evaporated.    However, it wasn’t just some silly young girl’s crush.    Oh, that this would be all that it had been!   She would have handled that with the same firm determination that she handled any challenge, and she would have beaten it.

Yet it was far, far more serious than that.    She had been assaulted by a terrifying and supernaturally powerful sense of lust for Carn.   Never had she knowingly flirted with a man.    But now she found her body out of her control.   She hungered for him.   At first she had tried to shake it off, and had just attributed it to finally finding a male who she felt was handsome.

But throughout that first day as she sat quietly and watched him as he dealt with the Faesidhe, feelings began flooding her.    She imagined touching his firm muscles, stroking his lovely hair and feeling his strong, warm body against her.    How she had squirmed in her chair that afternoon as her fantasies took on the most wickedly sexual feelings she could imagine.  

She had sat there trembling with desire, her pulse racing, her senses electrified so that even the rustle of clothing against her body made her quiver with barely restrained desire.    Her thoughts could not be mastered, and as the day progressed, they intensified.    She began speculating about how intensely pleasurable it would feel to have a passionate night with him.   

The fantasy had nearly driven her insane with longing and she had used up all of her strength to flee from him that evening, before she did something wonderfully sinful.  She had fled to other quarters, to keep any shred of her dignity intact.

Amala had hoped that it would pass after a night of sleep, but sleep had not come to her at all.   She had wiggled and twisted on the bed, feverish all night, with the wildest dreams of making love to him.   

 

Mathlyn and Nansea had no idea what she was going through, but knew something was very wrong.   The next day she had tried to completely avoid him and would not even speak to him.   But the hunger did not lessen at all.   Throughout the day she had sat there, panting like a dog in heat, flushed and horribly aroused, staring at him like a hawk.

Her mind had raced through what she should do.    She couldn’t remember in her frantic state of mind, the Drow term for the insane hormonal state that some Drow women would fall into upon reaching sexual maturity, but she was quite sure that was what had happened to her.   For the first time in many years, Amala really needed her mom!   She had gone through that same thing for her father, Eleazar.    She’d know what to do and would help her.

But they were in King’s Reach while she was still in the middle of the Faesidhe forest, and it would be five long days before they’d all gather together at Westmark.    What could she do?    She could not get Carn out of her mind.    She needed him, craved him, and wanted to unite with him.    She hadn’t eaten in two days, yet she was trembling from excess energy.    Her body was hyper-aroused and she could not focus or calm herself.   

She had prided herself on being in control of herself at all times.   Now she was terrified that some crazed animalistic urge was going to snap her mind.    Sooner or later, she knew she would mate with him, regardless of whether he wanted to do so or not.    Horrified of an impending moral failure, she laid there wide-eyed, staring at the ceiling.    Her eyes burned so brightly that the room was filled with a very faint red glow.  Though it was cold this night, she had flung all the covers off of her and was covered in sweat.

She tried praying to Yesh to help her, but she could not clear the sexual thoughts from her mind long enough to utter a prayer.

Time seemed to just be dripping by and the night was endless.   What was going to happen to her?   Was she going to stalk Carn like a wild animal and then attack and rape him?   Was that even possible?    She had no idea, in her crazed mental state, but the thought scared her.   

Uncontrollably, she began to cry, her whole body shaking violently.  Her sobs changing into wails.    Mathlyn and Nansea jumped to their feet and ran to her, seeing her eyes glowing a brilliant red and her form convulsing with emotion.

“Child, what is it?!  What has happened to you?”  Mathlyn grabbed her by the arms, wide-eyed in fear.    Amala gave her the look of a lamb about to be slaughtered.

“Help me!   Please!”   She cried.

“What has happened?   What can I do?”

“I need… I need to go… home… to Westmark… please!   Get me out of here!”

“Child, your parents are not there yet! It will be several days-“

“Please!”  Amala groaned, “Westmark!    I’ve…got to get… out of here!”  She was hyperventilating now, and Mathlyn hugged Amala to try to calm her down, while looking at her terrified granddaughter, “Nansea, go wake Aedric and Snoe!”

“NO!”  Amala screamed, “Just Snoe… no-one else… please!”

Nansea paused, looking to Mathlyn for approval.   The Inion Sidhe lady nodded to her and the girl ran out of the house as fast as she could, to get Amala’s sister.

Reviews

[Elina]

"By late afternoon, the atmosphere in the Hall had gone from tense to neutral, but they agreed to resume the following morning and would send for their women and children to join them to hear of any decision that was made." This is a bit of a run-on and could use a little work.
"Carn and Aedric held their breath as the young man replied, but to his credit, he accepted their regrets generously and vowed he would honor his brother and father by forgiving them and working to restore peace." Another run-on.
"...without speaking to him and Carn was reassured..." You may want to move "Carn" to where "him" is. This will help readers know who you're talking about straightaway. Then, in the place of Carn, you can put "he."
"...Amala was also awake, lying in bed quietly listening to Mathlyn..." Perhaps. "...also awake, quietly lying in bed and listening..." ?
"When he had raced off to find her parents by hopping aboard an airship, she had ran the gauntlet of anger mixed with a crazy feeling of betrayal, fear and worry over his safety and an overwhelming need to find him as quickly as she could." This feels like it could use a little fixing.
"...his skills as a bard and still was eager to learn..." Perhaps, instead, "...was still eager..."
"Never had she had even knowingly flirted with a man." I think you have an extra "had," here. ?