Private Tales The Lost Princess and The Exiled Prince

[Maeve]

Foot. No wonder he had been so upset. Maeve scratched behind the poor things ear and mumbled a soft apology in her own tongue along with a gentle rebuke towards Arun. He wouldn't be able to understand her of course but it felt nice to speak her own language to someone.

When Arun then spoke about one of the names she chose she merely looked at him blankly as though he had said something utterly stupid.

"No?" she raised an eyebrow. In her head they sounded worlds apart. "Néall?" The Elk gave a snort and she bit her bottom lip with a frown, thinking. "Are there any great Elks in stories?"

 

[Arun]

Arun considered for a few seconds, pursing his lips. "You would be better off asking that question to someone from Fal'Addas."

The elf tried to wrack his brain for a few seconds.

"There is one, though it is not really focused on the Elk." He remembered the story of the great riders. It was one of the only tales that his father had ever told him, and in truth it was more of a bardic song than a true story. "It speaks of a company of riders from Fal'Addas, those that lead the last charge in the Second Anirian War."

He frowned briefly. "The Elk named within it was the mount of King Aerethwin. I believe his name was...Luthien."

Arun had not heard the story in some time.

 

[Maeve]

The Elk gave a low moaning noise that Maeve was beginning to recognise as a good sound. At least, she thought it was given he made it when she scratched his ear just how he liked it.

"Luthien it is then," Mae nodded with a satisfied smile. When she caught Arun's look the smile faltered and turned a little shy. "It is important, at least in my Tribe, to name things. It..." she scrunched up her nose and looked up at the canopy of trees above them as she tried to think how best to explain it. "It is a spiritual thing for us. Connects us," she made a gesture between the three of them. "I think it has in part to do with the Fae custom of names holding power. It seems to have passed down through to the humans of our Isle and stuck around. It's said you should never give someone your full name so they cannot have power over you."

 

[Arun]

His head shook slightly as if dispelling some thought when Maeve began to explain the reasoning for the name. Arun nodded his head, listening quietly as she explained the reason for her small quest with the Elk. He glanced towards Luthien for a moment, nodding.

"That makes sense." The thought of names giving power was not exactly a foreign one to him. He had heard similar tales.

Likely due to the Fae in the Falwood.

"Must be a difficult secret to keep." He smiled up at her. "Ones own name."

He was not entirely sure that he could do such a thing.

 

[Maeve]

"Mm, not as difficult as you would think," Maeve glanced down at him and returned his smile before leaning forward to lay against the elk's big bulk. Tiredness was becoming clear in the lines of her face but she didn't look as pained as she had been the previous few days. She looked tiny on the great animals back laid curled up in such a manner.

"You only know my name because you saved my life and even than you only know one piece of it, not all of it," green eyes gazed down at him and reflected the depths of a jungle thicket ringed in an other worldly gold that shimmered in the dying sunlight.

 

[Arun]

"I did not mean difficult to keep secret." He said as he looked up at her, almost speaking with an absent mind as he saw her peering towards the sunset in the distance.

"I meant more..." How did he put this properly? "Does anyone really
know you if they do not know your name?"

It was a clash of cultural thought perhaps.

Arun's own name was lengthy, probably unpronounceable by the human tongue, but it was most definitely no secret to be kept. Many people back in Saen knew it, and in fact most people would be hard pressed to forget it entirely.

Though he supposed that was mostly due to his former status as royalty.

 

[Maeve]

Maeve's lips twisted slightly as she thought of what he said.

"I..." she made a noise as she thought how best to phrase it. "There is power in a name but not... not a person's worth in a name. Your name doesn't tell me that you smile when I tease you, or that you get this look on your face when you are discussing something you find interesting," she tried to pull it herself - like a thoughtful frown.

"I guess... think of someone you met who knows your name and has known you for the handful of days I have. Who knows you better; the person who knows your name or me?" perhaps it was a bold claim but from what he had told her of his people she doubted he had slept with anyone else for the sake of touch. Nor had he probably shared the darker side of himself with someone who had known him for less than a weak.

 

[Arun]

Arun shrugged. "I suppose this is one interpretation of it."

The Elf did not argue against her view. It made sense. A name was not the whole of a person. It did not contain ones personality nor define them in, at least not completely. He did not disagree with such a notion, but his own views mattered just as much.

"I do not claim that a name defines you." He began. "But it is still a part of you."

An important part. "I feel it important."

 

[Maeve]

Maeve chewed on her bottom lip as she turned his words this way and that in her mind. She could understand it, though she did struggle. She struggled very hard with the concept for she knew how much power it could give a person.

"I think I understand - it's... it's hard," she took a breath and sat up right on the Elk, running her hand through his fur. For a moment she was silent as she just watched the way his fur moved as she did so. Perhaps the great big beasts were not so bad after all, he seemed... quite lovely actually. A faint smiled played about her lips for a brief moment before coming back to the topic at hand.

"Do you want to know my Name?"

 

[Arun]

Arun considered the question for a few seconds, and then shook his head. Though the aspect of a name was important to him, he realized it's importance in her culture. It was the right decision not to have her divulge it.

At least right now. "No."

He told her softly.

"I think it best you keep it secret until you wish to tell me." It seemed an important difference to him. Arun wanted to know, but at the same time he did not want her to tell him unless she thought he should know.

In her culture, it seemed a special thing. He would respect that.

 

[Maeve]

Mae couldn't help but look a little relieved though there was still a troubled expression air about her. Internally it was because she was warring with herself over the matter. On one hand, he had saved her life. She most likely would have died if he hadn't found her by the river and tended to her wounds. But on the other hand she knew how much power he would have over her if he knew it. He might not use it - might not even know how to use it - but still, the threat was there.

"Thank you," she smiled and after a seconds hesitation she put a hand on his shoulder. "It means a lot to me," because if he had asked she thought she would have actually given it to him.

"The same goes for you - you don't have to tell me until you want to."

 

[Arun]

Arun patted her hand gently with a smile. "No need."

He wondered if such a decision would come back to haunt them both later. He did not know how it would, but for some reason the thought lingered for just a few seconds before he shook his head and simply dismissed it.

"Perhaps when you practice your elvish more." Arun shot her a smile. "Right now I fear you would not be able to pronounce it."

A smirk extended on his lips. "I would hate to hear you butcher it."

 

[Maeve]

Maeve's cheeks heated in anger - not at him and his words but more the fact they were true. Her skill with Elvish was far from perfect. Probably even far from passable in all honesty but it didn't help her own tongue was the polar opposite to his. She bit down on the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood and then shook her head and looked back towards the forest ahead of them. His house was just visible in the distance now.

"Well..." she blew out a breath then shook her head with a laugh, eventually. "I suppose that is what we'll be doing tonight then?"

 

[Arun]

Arun noticed that Maeve did not take the joke too well. He frowned for a brief moment and then shifted his weight as he stepped up towards the place where his home would be. The clearing came into view, and he considered something for the first time.

"We cannot take him upstairs." The Elf commented.

There was absolutely no way that the Elk could fit up the stairs, nor was his home really large enough to accommodate the huge beast. He frowned a moment, looking around for a few seconds as he considered an alternative.

"I think..." He considered. "We need a stable..."

Or an open glade.

 

[Maeve]

Maeve opened her mouth to say she would not have asked such a thing and then slowly closed it again. For it was a lie.

"Can he not just roam... free?" her nose scrunched up a little. "Back home we just let the horses go, they come when called," whatever magic was latent in their blood, the right horse always came to the right person when whistled even though to Mae's ears each whistle sounded the same. She had once tried to ask Whisper to explain it but the horse had rolled her eyes and snorted at her as though she would never understand.

"Thank you," Mae spoke to the elk after she had slid from his back and gave him another scratch behind the ear.

 

[Arun]

Arun looked odd for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes I'm sure that would be fine too."

He hadn't really thought about that, but it was certainly possible. The Elk would most certainly not run off if Maeve made it clear that she would still need him in the future, she would just have to ask nicely to ensure it. Simple really.

"Just...ask." Arun seemed almost dumbfounded of himself.

The elf was not entirely sure how he hadn't thought of that himself.

Perhaps he had some things left to learn himself.

 

[Maeve]

"Will you stay close until I call you? We have a long journey to make and I am not well," the elk pressed his velvet nose against her cheek and into her hair with a snuffing huff. Mae smiled and closed her eyes for a brief moment, bringing her arms up and around the creatures neck to give him a long hug before releasing him.

"I'll call like this," Mae blew a little, simple tune and the Elk gave a lazy blink before lumbering off to mow the grass around the tree. She watched him for a moment before looking up at the tree with a grimace; she never would enjoy the stairs.

"Elvish lesson now, right?"

 

[Arun]

Well that was easy though.

Maeve picked things up far faster than he would have thought. She was a smart girl, and every moment spent with her was like a shattering of some preconception he had held about humans in general. Arun wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that.

"Yes." He agreed with a smile as he motioned for her to head up the stairs first. As much as he enjoyed nature, he also wanted to sit on his sofa.

That thing was damned comfortable.

"Have you seen much of it written?" He asked. "It might be easier for you to sound it out while reading."

 

[Maeve]

Maeve shook her head with a slight downward turn of her lips, the memory of how she had learnt elvish was not a pleasant one.

"The tribes didn't exactly care too much for the written word," her tone was perhaps a little more flat and hard than they needed to be but then they had done things to her she couldn't even put into words. It was almost instinctive to rub at her ribs which had been broken the worst. Despite her apparently growing healing magic, Mae was still mottled with bruises and cuts that had yet to heal and until she could control her magic it seemed she was at the whim of whenever her conscious decided to fix her.

When they were inside she went over to the kettle to make some tea.

"I am happy to learn the script though, I find it easier to see things written down."

 

[Arun]

"It is...complex, but perhaps linking the words will make it simple." Arun shifted slightly in thought, running a hand over his jaw for a brief second as she went about making tea for the two of them.

His eyes turned towards the shelf in the corner of the room.

There were a few books that he had which could help with this, though he tried to think of the one that would be most suited. Unlike Dwarvish, he did not have something like a dictionary. After a moment he went over and pulled a book off the shelf.

It was a simple leather-bound thing, a history of Saen written by his great Uncle.

Never published, at least not officially, but a neat thing to have nonetheless. "This will do."

Arun said, more to himself than to Mae.

 

[Maeve]

Mae had to rock onto her tip toes to reach the mugs. She was tall for a human but the elf was far taller.

"What is it?" her eyes flickered to the leather bound volume in his hands for the barest of seconds before her hand clasped around two handles and she tugged them down with a wince, her body still not quite used to activities. The ride had been enough strain for one day.

She took extra care as she poured the tea and then carried the little tray over to the table with the pot and cups. Once she was sat down she poured out a cup for each of them.

 

[Arun]

"It is a history of Saen written by my Great Uncle." He touched the tome almost reverently for a few seconds, musing on it.

He remembered reading it for the first time, digging into how his people had founded their city and why. The conflict that had been born of it, the way that it had all been resolved and eventually how they had all grown.

The bargain with the Eagles as well. "My mother had it bound for him on this thirteen hundredth birthday."

When Arun had been only twelve.

His Uncle had died a few years later, though he'd been well pleased with the gift. Arun could remember the old man crack a smile. Rare was such an expression from him.

 

[Maeve]

Mae set down her mug and then picked up the book to examine it herself. She turned it curiously this way and that but with the interest of someone who had been taught to appreciate books at the very least. When she opened the pages she held it up to her nose and took one long sniff.

"Mmm... I love the smell of old books," the human sighed blissfully and lowered it back into her lap to pay attention now to the words. The lettering was beautiful and looked more like a piece of art to her eyes than actual words. Even so she traced her finger delicately over the ebbs and flows of the script trying to piece it together first on her own.

Quietly she turned to the very first page and then scooted closer to Arun so he could see the book clearly too.

"Alright teacher, teach."

 

[Arun]

Teach he did.

It went slow, though that was no fault of Maeve's. Elvish was not an easy language to learn, though it seemed that her own tongue helped quite a bit with such things. He smiled a little bit each time as she sounded out a word, clearly doing her best to understand his culture and where such things came from.

They sat there for hours, at least that was what it felt like to him, until finally the sun slowly set upon the horizon. "I think that is enough for today.'

The elf commented with a smile.

"You did well." Very well. "A year or two and you could write your own novel.'

Arun mused with a smile.

 

[Maeve]

Maeve slumped back on the sofa massaging her hand. Arun was a patient and encouraging teacher, which she appreciated considering she was pretty sure she was butchering parts of his uncles history as she tried to speak it back to him and write passages.

She gave him a tired but thankful smile.

"It helps to have a good teacher. Perhaps tomorrow night I will give you a lesson on my language," it would be a little harder without a book or anything of her own script to show him. After a second or two she finally stood and stretched to the popping and cracking of several joints from where she had been sat slightly hunched.

"They're surprisingly similar actually," Mae had a thoughtful look on her face as she stared out of the window, head slightly tilted.