Stuck Midst the Peasantry (Non Canon, R, for Aviaris)

Lucas just nodded, letting Elise lead him while he calmed down. It was difficult, as the more his unease over those dead bodies faded, the more his unease over a seeming second attempt at his life got to him.

Elise declared Rhonda would live, but was unridable. She had Lucas mount up behind her on Ghost, gently taking his hands and making sure they were wrapped around her waist. Then they rode back to her cabin.

It was funny, really. How simply being pressed up against Elise like this would make him feel better, yet also more nervous, despite them doing far more intimate things earlier. He supposed he'd always be a bit skittish. He hoped not, but if so... well, hopefully Elise wouldn't get sick of him.

Finally they reached her home and Ellie had Lucas dismount first. "You go ahead inside. There's some bread in the cupboard and cheese and meat in the cellar. Bring it out. I'll take care of Rhonda and Ghost and be right in." While tending the horses, she worried about Lucas. Was she springing too much on him, too fast? The attacks against his life added to her mage talents and their inexplicable attraction...she really hoped it wasn't too much for him. That he wouldn't want to end things so soon with her after they'd started. Elise removed the arrow from Rhonda's flank and healed her with her magic. The mare still should be left to recooperate for a week though. The elf walked into her cabin about fifteen minutes later, still full of worry.

When Elise reentered, she'd find Lucas had done as she asked, but he was also sitting at the table with his head in his hands. He was starting to panic a bit. Elise using magic, he could handle. Him and Elise being together, he could gladly handle. People being out to kill him, however...

"Lucas? Lucas, tell me what you're thinking," Elise sat beside him on the bench, wrapping her arms around him. She recognized panic easily from raising horses. Panic in a young human male that wasn't directed at her, however, was new.

Lucas was silent for a long moment... then.... "I don't want to die... I don't want anyone to get hurt protecting me either.... Lacey once got hurt, protecting me from a wolf that got into the courtyard... she was.... all that blood.... I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, and certainly not you or my sister again.... but I don't want to die either... why are they after me, Elise? I never supported my father and uncle... me and my sister are well known as being practically 'outcasts' in our own family... so why me? I don't... I don't get it..."

"Shh...I'm not sure," Elise soothed and kissed him lightly. "I don't know the politics of the kingdom very well to make any detailed guesses. Does your uncle have any heirs of his own?" She watched him, wanting to understand what was going on only a little less badly than Lucas did.

Lucas nodded slightly. "Four sons, two daughters... his eldest is set to take the throne when it's time..."

"Maybe.. could it be something your father did?" Elise asked, knowing father and son to be at odds from what Lucas had told her previously. "Maybe they're trying to get at him through you?"

Lucas paused at that. "...It's.... possible. My father is obsessed with the family line being continued... if Lacey gets married, she'd take someone else's name... but me... and my father is... he's not a good person..."

Elise sat and ate her dinner in silence, thinking. When she spoke it was hesitant. "I think I can make a disguise for you. It'd require my magic, if you're okay with that."

Lucas blinked, then nodded. "If you think it will work... I don't have an issue with it... though why do you sound hesitant about it? Is something wrong?"

"I haven't worked with illusions very much, but it shouldn't be dangerous. It's just...the best disguise for you would be..." Elise turned and looked at him, "I think the best disguise would be to make you look like an elf. If you don't mind that, I mean..."

Lucas just looked at her, confused. "...Why would I care? It would make things easier. Nobody would recognize me, you and me could be together in public without people being suspicious... it seems like a good thing. Besides that, you already know I don't have an issue with elves. Elves and humans are just different types of the same thing. Like... like a rose and a daisy. They look nothing alike or anything, but they are still both flowers."

Elise smiled bashfully and shrugged, "Old habits die hard? I know you're not like most of the humans I've met, but when it comes to an issue involving both my race and my magic...I'll get to work on it in the morning. Done with your dinner?"

Lucas nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm done. And again, thank you. For... well, everything. It's odd that I've never been happier than I am now. If Lacey was here, it would be perfect."

Elise decided to clean up this time. "I'm glad you're happy here. It sounds like you and your sister are pretty close." It didn't take long to clean the dishes and put things away.

Lucas nodded quietly. "Yeah. Honestly, up until meeting you, Lacey was the only thing in my life I really cared about. She's a bit of an outcast, like me. She's learning how to be a healer and work with medicine, so she can help people. Something 'beneath' royalty, according to them."

"I like the sound of her," Elise sat back down beside him at the dinner table bench. "Why weren't you happy? I know you mentioned earlier about your father being a bad man." Concern touched her voice, along empathy.

Lucas paused, and shrugged a bit, looking away. "There's a reason that when you rescued me, I commented that I'd had worse." He left it at that, not wishing to elaborate. What he'd said already spoke volumes.

Elise's eyes widened, a shock of anger and horror flowing through her. "I.." Her first instinct was to hunt down Lucas' father and fry him with her magic. Her second was to hold Lucas to her, but she knew better than to coddle a grown man, young though her new lover may be. She fell silent for a little while, gazing at her cottage. Her eyes rested on the cot by the fire and she smirked. "Lucas, I don't know if I want you to stay on that cot anymore. Would you mind joining me upstairs?"

Lucas blinked, looking at her. "Uh... okay, sure." He was happy about not having to sleep on a cot, but he wasn't sure why she was smirking. If he was more experienced, perhaps he'd realize what she might possibly mean.

Elise's smirk only grew at Lucas' reaction. She let her dog outside one last time before taking Lucas' hand. "Let's go up to bed," she led him up the stairs and opened the door at the top. The cieling was vaulted and lavender hung from the rafters to lend the room its scent. Against the far wall sat Elise's generously sized bed, with large pillows and a colorful quilt. The elf guided him over to it, wondering how long it'd take him to catch on.

Lucas looked around the room in surprise. "Oh, wow. This is a really nice room. I like it. But, isn't it a little early to be going to bed? I'm not complaining, just..."