Loyalty to the Unseen

Caladhiel stood beside her father at the base of the marble slab that held her mother’s body. Everyone was dress in black except her mother in white with a sheer white veil draped over her and the slab. She had gone away peacefully while she slept the night before, never to wake again.

All of Asgard and Alfheimr came to pay their respects and only those who knew her could attend her wake. Caladhiel and her father now accepted condolences but her mind was not on the words of others, her mind was on what was to come now that her mother was gone. Since that fateful night, she avoided Loki the best she could, she knew it was childish and stupid to not just inform him about what was going on, but she felt she had so much on her mind and plate at the moment that dealing with her feelings for him would just make her world come crashing down- no, she knew that it would. He was confused and kept trying to see her but soon respected her space and heard from others what was happening so he wasn’t completely in the dark about the situation, but he wished he had heard it from her.

The dark prince dreaded that day that the elf queen would perish and his Caladhiel would be taken away from him. Even though these past weeks he didn’t talk to her, he was still able to see her everyday- he made sure of that- and that was the best he could do despite his ache for more contact. He made his way into the mourning hall, behind his parents and brother, who were wearing too much colour with their black for his liking. They made their way to the body and bowed their heads in respect but Loki merely glanced at the dead queen, all other times his gaze was occupied by the princess who immediately looked down once the royal Asgardians entered. He knew she could feel his gaze, and he would not let up, he pined for that eye contact- any contact- and as his family left to mingle she glanced up and froze as she was greeted with his green stare.

Caladhiel held her breath as she made eye contact with him, her heart rate increased and she felt its ache more present than ever. She wanted to be in his arms and have him comfort her about everything that was happening in her life but she knew she couldn’t, she had to sever all ties to the prince, no matter how much it hurt. She took his emerald eyes in one more time before lowering her gaze and shifting closer to her father, in hopes his presence will give her strength to not give into her feelings.

“My deepest condolences, King and Princess, should you need anything, my family will more than accommodate,” said Loki, his gaze shifting to Caladhiel’s father with only a brief glance at Caladhiel.

“Thank you, Prince Loki, your family has done more than enough,” replied her father. Loki bowed his head in respect before stepping away with a flick of his hand. Caladhiel gasped and looked at the silver bracelet she was wearing has turned into a snake and was slithering up her arm and wrapped around it giving a gentle squeeze. If he couldn’t comfort her directly he was going to try by magic and while most people would be shocked by this trick, he knew she would find the comfort in it. Caladhiel looked towards the prince again who made one last bit of eye contact before he turned to talk with his brother.

_. -._.-._.-._.-._.-._

It had been a week since her mother’s death and Caladhiel was not over it. She not only avoided Loki but pretty much everyone else as well. The weight of her current situation was stacked upon her shoulders and her only escape was found in the library of Asgard where she spent all of her days. Reading her favourite stories again gave her an escape, if only for a little while.

On this particular day, as Caladhiel read about a long since gone noble king, one of the library attendants approached her secluded reading area.

“Princess,” said the library attendant hesitantly.

“Yes?” asked Caladhiel looking up, trying to keep a gentle face when internally she was displeased with being interrupted.

“Might I have a word with you?”

“You can have several as long as they are of importance,” replied Caladhiel.

“They are of grave importance,” she replied, “may I sit?”

“Please,” said Caladhiel indicating the empty space on the cushioned bench she was currently perched. Bookmarking her tale for later, the princess turned her entire attention to the librarian.

“I’m Gayle, and while currently I work here at the library my real passion is in the medical field. I hope one day to be a medic. Well, being a library attendant we get certain privileges, such as being able to look at books that are in the back and not put on the shelves.”

“Why are they not on the shelves?”

“For various reasons, no more space in that section or out dated. I was looking through some of the older medical books when I came across,” she paused as she took a book she was holding behind her back and now held it in front of her, “this. It was back there because I think it was to be believed out of date and not of use.”

“Species and their Illnesses: How to Cure All. Volume One.”

“Believe it or not we are on volume twenty and four now, so you can understand why this would seem out of date.”

“Where are you going with this Gayle?”

“I was looking through it, out of curiosity when I came to the section about the dark elves,” she opened the book to her bookmarked page to show the passage on the dark elves and a particular disease called ‘mori lirva’. “Apparently they had this disease called mori lirva.”

“We have a disease called kalina lirva, are they similar?” asked Caladhiel as she read the information on the page before her.

“I believe they are different but only specific to the elves. Dark elves get mori lirva and light elves kalina lirva, but both are not really known because there was a cure found long ago.”

“These are all the same symptoms my mother had, but if she had it why wasn’t she treated?”

“Because it is almost impossible that she would have a disease specific to the dark elves species.”

“But not entirely impossible. So what are the ways she could have gotten it?”

“I can think of two ways. First, the virus could have adapted and jumped the species barrier and can now infect light elves as well. But since you were all evacuated to different realms at the dark elves uprising, it seems that is unlikely.”

“And what is the second possibility?”

“She could have been injected with it. Due to the similarities between the two elf species the disease could have just taken to your mother as a host.”

“Injected?”

“Yeah, that or it was in her food.”

Caladhiel stormed through the palace to the large meeting room. Her father was currently in a meeting with Odin, some of the higher level Asgardian guards, and some of the high level Elvish guards. She brushed past the guards at the door that tried to stop her and threw the doors to the meeting room open.

“Father, we need to talk, now,” she said. All heads turned to her and her father stood and rushed to his daughter.

“Caladhiel, not now, we are in a very important meeting about the future of our people. We’ll discuss whatever you need tonight.” He said ushering her out the door.

“No, now. We need to talk now,” said Caladhiel gripping his arm and pulling him out the doors and into the hallway. She closed the meeting doors and shoo’ed the other guards away.

“What is this about?” asked her father impatiently.

“Did mother go to Alfheimr and interact with the dark elves before she became ill?” demanded Caladhiel lowering her voice so no one could possibly overhear.

Her father paused before heaving a great sigh, “Yes, she went on a mission with out best soldiers to make final negotiations with the dark elves. They were to sign a treaty that basically declared that we will not trespass on each other’s territory and ignore one another. Any mishaps in these rules and war my be declared.”

“You told me they had retreated.”

“And in a way they have.”

“Did something happen when she was there?” A pause. Caladhiel tried to make eye contact with her father but he kept his gaze away from her before finally deciding that he would tell her everything.

“The dark elves did not want the treaty to exist so they tricked us. They signed it then immediately attacked, thus breaking the treaty and declaring war. There was a battle right there in the end out soldiers were better and drove them back to the darkness where they came from. We have soldiers stationed there to make sure they stay away and with the help of some of Odin’s soldiers, we were able to deem it safe enough for us to return home.”

“Is it possible, during this battle that mother could have gotten hurt or were somehow in their grasps?” asked Caladhiel, “or ate their food?”

“They ever got the peace dinner, but I was told she was in the grasps of their leader before she was saved. It was only for a moment, though.”

“That is more than enough time to inject her with the virus.”

“What virus?”

“Read this father, I have to go,” said Caladhiel as she shoved the opened book in her father’s hands and rushed down the hallway. Her father watched her leave before glancing down at the book , “mori lirva?”

“Gayle! Gayle!” exclaimed Caladhiel as she rushed into the library. Others gave her a look of disapproval are her loud exclamations but Caladhiel merely rushed past them as she caught sight of the young Asgardian.

“Caladhiel? Did you tell your father?” asked Gayle as she turned and greeted the princess.

“Yes,” said Caladhiel lowering her voice, “how practiced are you in the field of medicine?”

“Fair enough. Not an expert but I am incredibly passionate.”

“Come with me. I need your help.”

Caladhiel and Gayle made their way from the library in a brisk walk to the gardens by the light elves’ living area. While Asgardians set their dead adrift on a boat then light them on fire, the elves believed that they need to return to the earth so they are buried. The patch of moved dirt was barely distinguishable now, but Caladhiel knew where it was and knelt next to it with Gayle beside her.

“I want you to find something on her body for me. You can use your powers as a medic to do so.”

“What will I be looking for?”

“An injection site. I will be faint, and hard to detect since it had time to heal, but I need you to do it, please, Gayle.” Caladhiel looked at Gayle who looked afraid.

“O-okay,” she stuttered before holding her hands out of the grave. Golden light came up and showed her mother’s body. Gayle maneuvered her hands and zoomed in on different areas, Caladhiel watched patiently.

“I think I found something,” she said finally. “See right here on her upper, left arm, looks like a small prick was there that healed almost fully.”

“Is there any other way to officially declare that as an injection site and that she truly had mori lirva?” asked Caladhiel as she stared at the almost invisible mark.

“Not for certain, like I said, it isn’t really known now-a-days. But that looks like an injection site, and she had all of the symptoms. Therefore, I truly believed that is what killed your mother,” said Gayle.

“Right,” said Caladhiel trailing off into silence.

“Princess?” said Gayle after a while.

“Thank you, Gayle, for all your help. It means a lot now that I know exactly how my mother died. It gives me peace,” said Caladhiel taking Gayle’s hand and giving it a squeeze before standing up. She brushed her dress off before leaving the garden and disappearing into her house.

._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.

It was after dinner and Caladhiel was sitting in her room. She had told herself she was going to start packing but she couldn’t just yet. She didn’t have it in her to start so soon because once she started she would have accept her future and she wished to grasp onto her freedom for as long as she could.

There was a light knock on her door and she turned to see her father entering. He glanced around her room, expecting it to be slightly more empty but not shocked when he saw nothing had changed. Eventually he walked over and sat next to his daughter on her day bed.

“I know it is hard, when you have such deep feelings for each other, but I urge you to stay apart. In the end it would be best for you, for both of you,” he said solemnly.

“Father, what are you talking about?” asked Caladhiel as she stared at her father, very confused.

“You and Loki.”

“I have not seen him since the wake.”

“If that is so, then where did you get this from?” he asked holding out the book she had shoved into his hands earlier.

“From a library attendant, Gayle. She said that sometimes the library keeps books in the back if they are out of date.”

“Tell my Caladhiel, you have been spending this entire time since the wake in the library, had you ever seen this attendant before?” She paused to recollect any possible encounters with the young Asgardian.

“I don’t think so, but it is a large library.”

“Right,” said her father before he opened the front cover of the book, “then explain this.”

There, on the inside cover, was a green snake stamp.