May Death Do Us Part

The silver haired man threw his head back and dwelled on his thoughts of the beautiful red head. “Eira..” so that was her name. Where was she from? What did she want? And why was he so oddly attracted to her? He shook his head and pushed his feeling of affection away, it was probably his ordeal sixteen years ago that was triggering all these emotions. He most likely wasn’t even attracted to her, it was just the shock of seeing her in reality that he was experiencing, and his mind was confusing it for attraction.

But regardless, Elric couldn’t deny that he felt attracted to the beautiful woman he had just seen, it was impulsive and irrational but it was there, and to top it all off, he felt like he recognized these seemingly new found feelings.

*

Back at the palace, Zhelimir seemed to be on edge as he followed his cousin closely behind. They walked into her chambers where he closed the door quietly shut before taking a step towards the redhead. “Eira..”

The young woman was standing in place deep in thought, she was so intrigued by what she had seen. All the times she had been in the forest she had never seen a majestic animal like that. She didn’t get a good look at it but she vividly recalled its silver fur as it rushed away.

“Eira!”

The woman snapped out of her reverie and looked down at her shoulder that Zhelimir was holding before trailing her eyes up to his face. He looked worried.

“What did you see out there, I merely only sensed it.” Zhelimir questioned her. “If it’s something dangerous we must inform your father so it is haunted down-”

.....

“No!” Hunt it down? They wouldn’t dare.

“No?”

“He wasn’t dangerous at all and no one should harm him!”

Zhelimir knitted his eyebrows together in confusion, “he?”

Eira paused and clasped the blouse of her dress, “just.. don’t tell anyone about what you saw today Zhelimir.. please.. all the animals of that forest are my friends and non of them are dangerous.”

“Eira you don’t know that, something about the forest is strange. Pixies don’t live this far out, so there’s bound to be other creatures out there that may pose a threat.” Zhelimir led his cousin to her bed and sat her down. “Your father was right to stop you from going out there Eira and we need to heed his word.”

“What? Are you going to now start acting like Jacob and hover over me? I’m not some weak female who needs protecting you know.”

“Eira I know you’re not weak, far from it actually,” Zhelimir took a seat across from the princess. “But that doesn’t mean you have to deliberately put yourself in harms way. I don’t think you should go back into the forest.”

“You can’t tell me what to do, you’re not my father.” Eira got up and walked to the door that she opened. “Please excuse me.”

Zhelimir sighed slightly before getting up and walking towards the door, “don’t go back there Eira, it’s not safe.”

“See you tomorrow Zhelimir..”

*

Ivan watched as his son stirred his food on his plate, he had barely taken two spoons of his favorite stew so it was obvious something was bothering him.

“Jacob, being rejected by a woman is disheartening but it doesn’t warrant you starving yourself, you’ll get the hang of wooing women soon enough.” Ivan took a sip of his wine and leaned back on his chair with a proud smile on his face. “As a matter of fact, I didn’t reach my prime until I was twenty.”

Jacob looked up at his father and scoffed , “no woman rejected me father,” he responded with a hint of cockiness in his tone that made Ivan smirk .

“Well if not that, then what’s got you hanging your head low, your mother won be happy if she gets back and finds you playing with the food she worked so hard to prepare.”

Jacob put down his spoon and looked up at the man who he resembled greatly. “She didn’t reject me per say, she just won’t give me a chance to show her that I’m right for her.” He explained, “and that damn overbearing cousin of hers Zhelimir is cockblocking me like he was born for it.”

Ivan arched an eyebrow before a smile painted his face, “I see you have your sights set on princess Eira, don’t you think that fish is a bit too big for your hook?”

“If you’re assuming I like Eira because of her status you are wrong father,” Jacob replied, “I have wanted her since the day you first told me she would be my future wife.”

Ivan chuckled in amusement, “you were young then, I was merely joking. Actually I can’t believe you still remember that after all these years.”

“Well it was never a joke to me father, from the first day I set my eyes on Eira I knew she was the one. And she will be my wife, there is no doubt about that.”

Ivan’s smirk faded a little when he heard the tone in Jacob’s voice, that was a budding obsession right there that he hoped would not bloom. “Keep an open mind Jacob, there are many women in the kingdom, if the princess doesn’t fancy you there will be others.”

Unlike his father who took pride in using his looks to gather hordes of women to his side, Jacob only wanted one woman to notice his good looks and skills, all he needed was a chance to show her that he was the man for him. Jacob knew that the only way he could do that was with some help, maybe he could ask his sister, her and Eira were pretty close, maybe she could put in a good word for him.

“Excuse me..” Jacob mumbled as he rose from his seat.

“You’re not going to finish your food?” Ivan asked his son. The look on his son’s face worried him even more, Ivan of all people knew what an obsession with a woman could do to a man. He had witnessed it first hand when Elric was so obsessed with Melissa that it drove him to exile and madness.

Jacob exited the dining area and walked towards his sister’s chambers and knocked on her door. A young woman with black hair and blue eyes stepped out of the room and gave Jacob a stern look, “this better be important Jacob. I have a date in a few minutes with a very handsome and rich lord and I wish not be late.”

Janis, Jacob’s younger sister was as gorgeous as their mother but as promiscuous as their father. She was a beautiful woman who could have any man she so pleased, and that is exactly what she did. She had a rich lord take her to luxurious parties every other day and she loved that lifestyle. Their mother was against her choice of lifestyle but there’s nothing much they could do about it especially that now she was almost sixteen.

“I need your help,” Jacob spoke, “with Eira.”

Janis chuckled and opened the door wide, exposing the fancy gown that she had on for this supposed ‘date’ of hers. “Finally come to terms with the fact that you have the hearts for Eira? How cute.”

The beautiful elven woman leaned on her door and eyed her brother from head to toe, “what’s in it for me? Are you finally going to hook me up with Eira’s hot cousin Damien?” The woman clenched her blouse and gasped longingly, “that man is everything, I wouldn’t mind that brooding face all over my-”

“Janis please.” Jacob sighed in disgust, “not only am I not interested in knowing your vile fantasies about Damien, I am not even acquainted with him on such a level as to be able to act as your wingman.”

Janis rolled her eyes before crossing her arms, “well then you have nothing to offer me that I want.”

She turned around to leave but her brother grabbed her arm to stop her, “alright alright! Gods sometimes I wonder if you are capable of even doing something for me out of the goodness of your heart.”

“Tick tock Jacob,” Janis muttered with a smile, “tell me what I want to hear.”

“I will make a plan,” Jacob mumbled in response, “I will talk to Damien.”

Janis squealed in excitement before turning back to face her brother. “Excellent, now what is it you want me to do?”