Night Enchanted

I slept late the next day. I hadn’t realized it until the sun woke me. It was high in the sky, marking it lunch time. Frowning, I got out of bed and saw my father in the dining room, reading a book.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” I asked.

He didn’t greet me with the usual smile. Instead, he put the book down and pointed at the chair. I gulped and did as he said.

“Show me your wrist,” he said darkly. I held out my left wrist. “Your other wrist, Camilia.” Sighing, I showed him. He pulled the sleeve back and glared at the bruise. “Why did you not tell me?”

I took my arm back. “How did you find out?”

He gestured to the table where a piece of faded parchment was sitting.

Darkness lingers within your home. Your only daughter, who loves you so, has been marked by her betrothed. Her right wrist tells the secret.

“It was on the door,” he said, “and this was holding it in place.”

I looked up and did my best not to react. It was one of Elwin’s arrows.

“I don’t know what to say,” I muttered.

“I do. You will not be marrying Theodore Jensen.”

“No, papa,” I sighed and he stared at me. “This is how it’s meant to be.”

“How can you say that, Camilia?” he demanded. “He has hurt you!”

I played with my hands in my lap. “Don’t fool yourself, papa. We both know he is the only one that will ever ask for my hand.”

“Nonsense,” he began.

“Papa,” I said. “Look at me,” I whispered when he wouldn’t look me in the eye. “I am not… the traditional woman. No man will want me.”

“But for some reason Theodore does,” he said. “Why?”

I gulped. “I don’t know,” I lied. “I will fulfill my duty as a woman,” I whispered. “This is my fate.”

“You don’t believe that,” my father said immediately.

I stood. “It doesn’t matter if I believe it or not.” I put my wooden clogs on. “I’m going to see if the hens have laid any eggs.” I stopped at the door. “Tell no one, papa.”

Before he could argue, I left.

—Elwin—

I hoped I hadn’t gotten her in trouble. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being harmed, though. She was too beautiful, too perfect to be harmed. That night, I lay in my hammock, staring up at the roof of my house.

When the sun kissed the sky, I got out and slipped into my boots. My house was small, nothing too extravagant. I had a place to cook my food, using dead branches that even we could not revive to start fires. I had my hammock, a special place to sit and read, and a little bookshelf. I had snuck my books in over the years. Most of them were forbidden reading about humans.

I picked up one of them and flipped through it. One of the pages depicted a large, hulking human. It was carrying a club and looked grotesque. If I were to imagine this man that Camilia was to marry, that is what he would look like. I shoved it back in the bookcase and splashed water on my face, combing my hair.

When I was ready, I walked out and stretched. My work during the day was simple: guard duty. I was the best archer in the colony and I was to keep an eye on the north. That was where we were positive the humans lived. I took up my bow and quiver of arrows.

I walked slowly to my post, whistling and swinging my arms. Around me, people waved and called out to me. I waved back and stood at the box that was built. I looked down. We were at least 100 feet in the air, hidden in the trees from humans. From childhood, we were taught to fear and loathe humans.

The last few nights with the fair Camilia, however, changed that in my mind. Not all humans were bad after all. I turned my eyes to the north. I wondered what Camilia was doing. Had she spoken with her father? Was she with her betrothed?

Creaking wood announced Arl, bringing me my breakfast. He stood beside me.

“Where do you keep sneaking off to in the middle of the night?” he asked.

I shrugged, chewing on the bread. “It matters not.”

“If you’re trying to meet that human again,” he began.

“Of course I’m not. You heard what Elder Winterblade said.”

Arl scoffed. “Since when did you listen to Winterblade?”

After my first meeting with Camilia, I hurried to Elder Winterblade. I had been so excited to learn they weren’t what we thought. He was furious, though.

“They are heathens!” he had said. “Never seek them out! And never, I repeat never, bring one here!”

I sighed. “I don’t know, Arl. What if we’re wrong about these humans?”

Arl frowned at me. “That’s why you shouldn’t be spending time with them. They will trick you. They must be able to change their height. Why else would that human be shorter than you?” I only shrugged. “Lura Xilrona seeks you.”

I groaned and lowered my head as he chortled.

“Does she not know what the word no means?” I sighed.

“She’s determined to prove you are her mate.”

“If that were the truth, we would know right away,” I argued. “Just like you knew with Rosario Thezana.”

He smiled at the mention of his wife. “Now there’s a soulmate if I’ve ever seen one.”

I laughed and nudged him. “Perhaps there is no woman for me out there,” I said finally. “Perhaps I am meant to do just this: stand guard for the rest of my life.”

Arl made a face. “That sounds like a miserable existence, even for you.”

I laughed again. Someone blew a horn and we stood up straight. I docked an arrow and narrowed my eyes. My eyes darted in the landscape. Arl docked an arrow, too, and we stood absolutely still as did every elf behind us.

Then I saw them.

“Wait,” I said sharply. “They have not found us.”

Two humans were walking through the forest. My message was sent among the other elves and we stood tensely. They were too far away to make out their height, something that definitely didn’t work in my favor. Suddenly, they turned and went the way they came. Our magic had worked.

I let out a breath of relief and we all relaxed. We had a barrier set up around our glade. Should a human come too close, they would be sent away, unaware of what they were doing. I wondered how many times that had happened to Camilia before she and I found each other.

I leaned against the side of the box again and sighed.

“Stop thinking about her,” Arl said suddenly. I looked at him. His eyes were somber. “It does you no good. She will only trick you.”

“You would not think so if you met her,” I argued.

Arl shook his head and got ready to leave. “Contact between humans and elves is forbidden, Elwin. Remember that.”