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A Knight To Remember (Szor&Amira)

Dral chuckled, the matter of her question over shadowing that she almost called him human. "Um...not a totally unexpected question, noting our earlier conversations." He smiled down at her, his tone less serious than it was a few minutes ago. He shook his head, not answering the question with it, but rather in disbelief that she asked him that. "Yes, I have had lovers, and women that we've...mated just for fun."

He didn't know if elves had sex just for fun, so he decided that he would explain. "We humans have a term we use." He chuckled again, disbelieving again that he was about explain human behavior. He looked up at the stars and moon. "Fuck, or fucking." He said, looking back down at her. "To fuck someone is to mate for fun." He shrugged, trying not to go too far into it. It isn't a conversation, he thought, with a princess. "Typically it's a one time thing, although sometimes this mating for fun would turn into an actual relationship."

He sighed, voice trailing off, implying that it had happened to him. He looked away briefly. But it seemed that he didn't really want to talk about it. "And, to answer your question, I have." He looked back at her. "What about you?" He asked, now curious.
 
Serena laughed at Dral implied that Elves didn’t mate for fun, well, Mages didn’t or they didn’t talk about it when they did, Druids however lived in the ways of the old. “I have had many lovers.” She said, the word feeling strange to her as she hadn’t loved any of them. “There are also certain rituals I participate in as part of my duty to my people, it’s much different than taking mates for the pleasure of it.”

She tried to think of a good example of druid relationships, “Say, I wanted to choose a life companion and I chose…say Falkor, that means he is my companion in life, but if the mood struck me it would not be wrong of me to bed others. Nor would I find it strange for him to as well, it’s only natural and centuries is a long time to spend with just one person.”

She looked back at the fire, “The Mages thought our ways….archaic, they take one mate until they die.” She shook her head, “Maybe that’s why the mage king has lost his mind.” She joked, she knew there was something much more sinister going on with the King than pent up desire. “That’s why I was so surprised when you were able to break Melz magic, even I have fallen pray to her seduction. I’m sure she is vexed by your rejection.”
 
He nodded, smiling a little. "The only contact I have had with your people is on the battlefield, with the Mages, I might add." He said, listening to what she said. "Mating is of nature, so it makes sense since you try to become closer to nature." He picked up the dried meat on his knee, bringing it to his mouth to chew, listening rather than speaking.

When she told him that she was surprised that he had rejected Melz's advance, he shrugged. "Maybe because my dedication to my quest." He said, before looking at her. "She is certainly beautiful, however, she isn't how I like my women." He was silent, looking out to the looking out to the lake. "Although, be hell of a tavern story."

He changed topics, looking back down at her. "What do you elves find attractive? Just out of curiosity." As he asked her that question, he looked her face over, slowly realizing that she was quite attractive by human standards. He hadn't really noticed before, but this is the first time they really just sat down and spoke to one another as two equal beings.
 
“Well, fair skin, untouched by sun.” Serena started, “Hair long, straight and the lighter the better. This applies to males as well, white hair is a marker of extreme beauty. And of course a slender body, women should have very soft and understated curves.” These weren’t Serena’s personal views, but she knew well enough that she was far from the elvish standard. There were others that thought her exotic shape and look was beautiful in it’s own way, but in some ways it felt more like a fetish than an attraction.

She examined his face, knowing he didn’t exhibit any of these features. She still found the human attractive, his features were broad and strong. It appealed to her more than she would outwardly admit.

“And humans, what do humans fancy?” She asked, she hadn’t seen many human maidens in her very short time in his kingdom.
 
He nodded, knowing that he wouldn't hear any the features that he had. Elves probably thought that humans were closer to animal than themselves. He was wondering if he should say what he found attractive, because she was it, really. "It varies, human to human." He said, finally. "For me?" He paused, looking at her.

He chew it over, finally decided that the worse could happen is that she would be disgusted that she had the appearance that a lowly human would find attractive. "I like curves, nice breasts and a round, but firm..." He was about to say ass. He chuckled nervously. "Bottom." He thought to himself, picturing his ideal woman, but the image of her showed up instead. "Long, flowing hair that I could play with unconsciously as we relax together." He left out the color, but he noticed almost all the women had been with were red haired. "A singing voice that would sing along when I play my flute." He looked away from the lake to her. "Yes, I play a flute. Just something I picked up during my travels." He smiled down at her, admiring her beauty.

After a few moments, he looked back out to the lake, relaxing a little. It was a stunning night, the moon and stars reflecting of the calm waters of the lake. "Do elves give names with meaning to them?" He asked randomly.
 
Serena noticed he examined her features as he explained his own personal attraction, she would have offered her own preferences but he quickly changed the subject. Maybe out of embarrassment? She couldn’t see why finding her attractive or playing the flute could cause him to be ashamed? Maybe it was more human modesty, “You should play one night.”

He asked her about meanings of names, she wasn’t sure she understood the question. “Well, I can’t be sure what you mean the name Serena was given to me by Artemis, my mother, the name Shadow, by Ko the one that raised me. Shaddix is the name of the clan I serve.” She explained.

“Does your name hold meaning?” She asked, she brushed some red hair from her face.
 
He nodded to her saying he should play sometime, and he did have it with him. He instantly regretted changing the subject, but didn't backtrack. "I typically play every night, may still play tonight." He looked up at the night, admiring the sky. "It is a nice night for it."

He listen to how what her name, actually curious. When she asked him about his name, pointed at a bright star. "Bright. Or brighter." He explained, withdrawing his hand back under the cloak. "Brighten, brightest. Depends on who you ask." He said, looking back at her. "My original parents named me after that star." He looked back up to the star. "I try to live up to that name." Then he added. "Bralor is my master's surname, or family name. He adopted me as his third son."

He sat there in silence, wondering what to talk about next. He wasn't the greatest at conversations. Instead, he unclasp his cloak so that way it would stay with her. He got up and walked over to his kit, pulling out a wooden box. He opened it, putting together a wooden flute.

(OOC: Its basically a Celtic flute, a lot less complex than a modern day flute.)
 
Serena listened as he explained his name, it seemed more poetic than her own name. She didn’t really know why her mother had chosen the name Serena, as she had abandoned her as a baby. She felt him break away from them, she peered over his shoulder to see him getting out his flute. “Now I think you are just trying to impress me.” The elven woman laughed.

She waited for him to return, looking over at the instrument it didn’t look much different than those played in her own culture.

“And what should you play sir knight?” She asked, looking back up at the moon.
 
"If I was to impress you, my lady, I think I would have already done so." He smiled, referring to their encounter. He shrugged, his fingers finding the positions with practice eased. "Depends on how I feel. I never stick to any one style." He explained, quickly playing a series of notes, all growing in pitch, before going back down. "If in a tavern, I play something upbeat. Out here." He looked around, as if drawing inspiration.

He started to play something slow, calming. He stood there playing, eyes closed, letting what felt right guide his fingers to the next note. He didn't try to play something complex, as he was inspired by nature, and it seemed like he felt nature wasn't complex. But then the tone changed, and it sounded differently than before, as if he was playing about something elegant. His inspiration changed from nature to almost human.

After a few moments, he stopped and his eyes opened, looking down at his flute. "Huh." He breathed out, walking over to her. He sat back down next to her, looking over his flute. "Never played like that before. I know the notes, but the melody is different from our norms."
 
Serena listened, and smiled when he said the tone was different than what he was used to. "That does not surprise you, this wood is enchanted." She explained, as he joined her side again. She could think of a few other reasons that might have compelled him to play different but she didn't speak those aloud. She knew they should sleep soon, as the night was getting darker and morning always came early when you were traveling.

"As much as I enjoy your company we should really rest." She stood, walking over to her own pack and pulling out her own bedroll. She laid it out across the flat ground near the fire.

She looked at him through the fire, "You know the fire will eventually die and it will be quite cold.." She couldn't bring herself to invite him with her words, so instead she patted the space next to her own bed mat. She than sunk into her sheets, waiting to see if the Knight would join her.
 
The nodded, understanding they should get some rest. "You're right. It is a long ride tomorrow as well." He said, looking up at the moon. He gauged about five hours until dawn. He broke down his flute, putting back into its box and into his pack, pulling his bedroll out. He rolled it out next to hers. Since he hadn't taken his boots off, he did so now, putting them next to his mat. He undid his sword belt and set it next to his mat with his boots. He unclasped sections of the padded armor, and took off his talberd, folding it nicely next to him. He laid down next to her, covering them both with his cloak.

It wasn't that he never done this before, just not with a princess, let alone an elven princess. He just laid on his back, looking up at the stars. She could hear him whisper in a language different than the one they were conversing in earlier. To her, it seemed to flow a little better than common. But he didn't mention what it was.
 
Serena was glad that the human had understood without much prompting, settling in next to her she could feel the heat of his body. She rolled over so she was facing him, noticing he had removed the last of his armor and she could see his chest rise and fall with every breath. She heard him speaking another tongue, rather than interrupt she listened as he whispered seemingly to the stars. She reached out and touched him again, her soft fingers barely caressing his rather human facial features. Her index finger traced down the center of his face, over his nose and onto his lips. His nose more rounded, than the sharp features she was accustom to on a male.

Her finger lingered on his lip for a minute before she replaced it with her own, giving him just a soft peck before breaking away completely. She didn't know if humans had qualms about elves, or if it was a dishonor on his Knighthood. She knew her own people would never dare inter mingle with a human in this way, and well someone of her statue should never.

There was a certain sense that out here they were alone, outside of the reality of what was expected of them. She looked at him, her head tilting a bit as her blue orbs examined his features. "I apologize if I am out of bounds." She said quietly, "The urge just struck me."
 
He laid still as she touched his face, unsure what she was doing. They were soft caresses, not unlike a lover's touch. His eyes watched hers as her finger came down to his lips and stopped there. Then she kissed him. He didn't flinch or push her away, and the kiss wasn't unwelcomed either as he found himself kissing her back. When she pulled away, he felt himself missing her soft lips. He rolled to face her, his left arm folding to prop up his head. "No, you're not out of bounds, my lady." The 'my lady' was said differently this time. Rather than just saying it respectfully, there was also some affection in it as well.

His green eyes looked into her blue, searching for her thoughts. "Come here, Serena." He said, laying on his back, letting her snuggle up to his left side. "I'd have to say, wasn't what I was expecting when the king came to me with the quest." He said looking up at the stars. "Certainly didn't expect you to be..stunningly beautiful." He added, looking back at her.
 
Serena adjusted so she was laying against his chest, her hand absentmindedly explored the shape of his chest. “I had no expectations, I acted with little thought. I promise, it will be a reoccurring theme.” She admitted, it wasn’t the characteristic her people would call admirable but from what she heard of her mother it was a shared trait. She felt a soft blush creep to her cheeks as he called her beautiful, thankful he was looking away from her at that point.

“It is strange.” She shifted so she too were looking up at the night skin, “Or people from two different realms, so different and yet similar. I mean, your anatomy is not much different than my own.” She let out a deep breath.

“Would you be dishonoring your people by being this close to me?” She wondered aloud, “Or is it just my own that has these hang ups?”
 
Dral wrapped his arm around her, settling on her shoulder, fingers playing with her amber hair. She smelled pleasant to him, much softer scent than some of the perfumes humans wear. "I will keep you to that promise, sweetheart." He spoke softly, with a smile on his voice. He folded his right arm under his head, propping his head up to look at her. "As far as I know, the only difference between our two people is our ears." As to emphasize his point, he gently ran his fingers along one of her ears. "And most of your women aren't as...curved as ours." His hand left her ear, running down her side to her hip, tracing the curve. "Might be one of the reasons why I denied Melz's advances." He chuckled again. "She looks too much like a man. A boy even."

He lifted his head, kissing her ear gently. They were an interesting trait of an elf, something to distinguish from the humans. Most humans didn't like it, and at first Dral agreed with them. But over time, Dral saw it as an elegance of a beautiful race. He pitied that the elves and humans were at odds and share his king's views of ending the conflict.

Her two questions shook him from his thoughts, and looked down at her. "Dishonor? Probably not. The older knights already look down their noises at me anyways. Not much I can do to change that." He said with a shrug. "The king, however, might approve of it. It could be the start of a peace between our people." His left hand moved back up to her shoulder, starting to play with her hair again. "He wants a peace. This war has taken many lives, and many are tired of it."
 
Serena let out a little laugh, "I promise there are much more differences then that. Everything on your frame is built for strength, even your jaw more rigid than I have ever seen." She admitted, elven men while a touch broader than their female counter parts were still not near as masculine as the human in front of her. She let out a little gasp as he touched her ears, she blushed. She let his hand explore her side, shaking her head when he spoke of Melz not thinking to protest.

She hadn't expected him to press his lips to her the sensitive skin of her ear, she let out a another faint noise of approval. "Those are sensitive." She explained. She reached over and ran her own finger around the rounded edge of his own ear, much different than her own.

"My peers love me, but they do not understand my nature. The do not understand that sometimes one must take chances to maintain peace, or in this case restore it. They live in the their little happy bubble of dunravi, still untouched by the Mages attacks, they think us safe, and they are unwilling to change." Serena looked at him, "I like your king want peace, as a druid it is my job to ensure peace for all not just my own people. I know they do not see it that way yet, but I am hoping by taking action they will come around. I have spent the last decade arguing with them, I finally had enough of their unwillingness to see." She took a deep breath.
 
He chuckled, kissing her ear again, enjoying the little noise she made."I was hoping they were sensitive." He said after she had started to point out the differences to him. He continued to listen to her, and when she finished, he let out a long breath. He closed his eyes, rubbing her shoulder. "Let's look past the politics, sweetheart." He looked down at her, his green eyes meeting her blue once again. He didn't say anything for a moment, keeping her gaze. Her eyes sparkle in the fire light.

Finally, he broke the silence, first with a smile then words. "Tell me, Serena. What is your plan after this quest? Return to your people? Or maybe settle down somewhere with a mate?" He asked, a chuckle just behind his words. He just wanted a casual conversation, one between two people with perhaps a budding relationship.
 
Serena couldn't help but give him a sly grin when he admitted to doing it on purpose, only to repeat his actions. She bit her lip a little gazing up at him, enjoying the silence between them she could happily leave politics behind for a little while. One night wasn't even the drop in the bucket of her life.

"I mean I am still very young, I doubt..." She let out a little laugh realizing how ridiculous she must sound to him, saying she was young and he knew she was much older than any human. "I will return to my duties in Dunravi, it's a complicated post much different that a king or queen of a human kingdom. Maybe when this all over I will show you." She didn't know if that was truly possible, there had never been a human to step into the great walls of dunravi but she had never tried to bring one either.

"If we fail, and I am asked to step down..." She looked away from him, "I will relinquish my physical form, so that the elders can choose someone to take my place."
 
He nodded, listening to her. "Why not just rebel? Follow your own path?" He asked, wondering why if they were to fail, she would just allow herself to submit to their power. But he probably would do the same thing instead of striking out on his own. He yawned unconsciously, his eyes closing for a moment.

He looked down at her, his hand continuing to play with her hair. "I probably should have been a little more specific." He chuckled a little. He kissed the top of her head. "What would you like the relationship to be?" He looked back up at the sky. "I would like to see how this works."
 
She shook her head at the human, he obviously didn't understand the structure of druidic society. "This is my destiny, the elders chose me. From what I understand of humans is a king is born to his job, and in a way I am as well. It's just different, that's an explanation for another day I think." The red head elf looked at her human companion as he yawned, she covered her mouth yawning in response.

Her eyes went wide at his next question, relationship? "I don't think I understand what you are asking? I mean we are traveling together, surely we will spend a lot of time together but I can not predict the future." She let out a little laugh, "A gift I have not been cursed with. I know elves move painfully slow for humans, but I suggest you relax and let fate unwind it's will for us." She blinked a few times, "I can barely keep my eyes open, let's actually sleep." She smiled softly.
 
He nodded, not responding to what she said. He looked up at the sky, letting him slip into sleep. It took him a while to fall asleep, instead just laying there. He stayed silent, soothing his thoughts and concerns. He closed his eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

Dral woke early, as he always had, slipping away from Serena. He walked to the lake, rinsing his face before pulling out a knife and starts to shave his face. It wasn't that needed to, but more of a habit. After he finished, he started gathering his armor. Instead of wearing his plate armor, he put his padded armor on, and over thathe his chain mail. He put his talbert, clasping it around his waist and hooked his sword on his belt.

He was careful not to wake her up, they didn't need to leave right away. They still had about an hour before sunrise, so he instead meditate, kneeling in front of the lake and waited.
 
Serena rose with the sun, shifting quietly in her sleeping pack and noticing immediately her companion had left her side. She sat up, stretching her arms over her head before getting up and walking barefoot over to her pack. She noticed the human knight by the water, in what appeared to be some thoughtful meditation, not to disturb him she went about gathering her things quietly. She had a human gown to wear, it was made of fine green velvets, a gift from the human king for her journey. It had a thick cloak, with small golden leaf clasps at the shoulder and a large oversized hood. She planned to wear the hood to at least disguise her elven nature from the distant human eye.

She inspected the garment trying to figure out how to apply it, the first thing she noticed is the laces that held the garment were in the back. Elvish garments usually laced in the front so you could put your own clothing on and off, behind her mare and away from the knights view she pulled off her gown and stepped into the green down. "Good morning, can I inquire your assistance?" She asked, walking around the horse and turning to show him the laces on the back of her dress.

"Your king gifted me this dress, and I suppose he should have given me instructions on how to lace it on my own." She let out a little laugh.
 
His ears moved at the sound of her waking, but he didn't react, speaking softly in the foreign language from the night before. His eyes were closed, mind somewhere else. When she spoke to him, his troubles washed away to her sing-song voice. His eyes opened and he turned to see her step from behind her horse. She wasn't wearing her normal garb, instead wearing a human robe. Due to her different physic from other elves, she fit it quite well. "Of course, my lady." He said, walking up to her.

As he tied the laces, he chuckled. "Typically, only the wealthy wear these. Any they are followed constantly by an army of servants who do this for them." He said, his large fingers having a slight issue with one of the laces. "He might have though you had some traveling with you. Or didn't think of it. He doesn't wear these things."
 
"Servants, huh." Serena thought over that for a moment, before shaking her head in obvious disapproval at the concept. "I think I'd rather go naked then be constantly followed." She admitted quickly, "Thank you." She stepped away pulling the cloak on and securing it with the pins. She than moved to clean up around the campsite, packing up their bedding and other loose items before putting on her boots. "I think if we ride hard and fast we should clear the forest and avoid anymore meddling elves." Her voice was a bit more weary then before.

She knew any interference from Falkor could smell serious trouble for both of them, he would not easily fold like Melz had. She didn't know if Hena would meddle but she suspected she wouldn't. She mounted her mare, waiting for him to follow before going into a full gallop. She expertly avoided the trees like she knew the woods from memory, it seemed strange to her to be running from the familiar into territory that was arguably unsafe.
 
Dral shrugged. "Just their way, I suppose." He threw his dark blue cloak around his shoulders, watching her move with haste to gather their things. He grimaced, not liking her body language or her tone. Being a knight, he knew what violence and conflict sounded like. "Should have wore my plate, huh?" He said, picking up his helmet from his second mount. He also slung a lance on his first mount.

He tied his second horse to the first before mounting him. He had his horses trot up to her when she broke out into a run. "Hyah!" He pushed his horse to a gallop, following the elven princess. He was glad he wasn't leading, he would get lost. But he was an excellent horseman, keeping with her without much effort. He did need to duck a few times to avoid branches.
 
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