Gurth Vasan was tired. His daughter
would head off to start her future in a week’s time and he had been hard at
work preparing for that. He knew that Arwen would be an excellent queen, even
if she did not know it herself. He had groomed her over the years for her
position, but she was headstrong like her mother. Her mother………Tessa de Muse
was and always would be the only woman to capture his heart. A heart she did
not want. Their relationship was very strained. She resented him for erasing
her memory and getting her pregnant. Her anger was well understood and
deserved. But they also shared an undeniable attraction to one another, an
attraction she did her best to ignore. Over the years they had brief interludes
when the attraction became too powerful to ignore. Elvin was unaware of these
instances and Tessa refused to leave her husband. It was a very complex
situation that Gurth had not expected to happen. His use for Tessa was not
supposed to go beyond her giving birth to his heir. He never thought he would
grow to care about her as a woman.
“Hello Tessa.”
“For goodness sake, Gurth! I’ve
asked you hundreds of times not to pop in and scare me like that!” Tessa said
clutching her chest.
“I’m sorry. I do not mean to
frighten you.”
“Well you do! What are you doing
here? You aren’t to come for Arwen until next week.”
“I know. I wanted to speak with
you,” he said.
“If it’s not about Arwen, then we have
nothing to talk about Gurth,” she said walking away. He reached out and grabbed
her arm, pulling her to him.
“Don’t walk away from me, Tessa.
I’ve accepted that you would rather deny what you feel for me than face the
truth. I get that. But we both know how you feel,” he said.
“Look Gurth, I don’t know why we
have this……..thing, between us. I don’t really care at this point. I’m married
to Elvin,” she said.
“But you love me. You cannot tell
me that you don’t. I can feel it, in here,” he said placing his hand over her
heart.
“I don’t want to talk about this
again! Why are you here, Gurth?”
He looked at her for a few moments
before sighing and letting her go.
“There are things that I did not
tell Arwen about her being queen. There are…….stipulations, that the elders
have set in place. Things that I don’t think she will be happy about,” he said.
“Things like what, Gurth? She’s
already nervous about going, must you make it worse? Can’t this wait?” Tessa
asked.
“I suppose it could……..she will not
be pleased about them. She is, after all, your daughter,” he said with a smile.
“She’s a tough kid. She gets that
from me as well. What things did you not tell her?” Tessa asked.
“Well, the most pressing issue is
that she is to have an arranged marriage once she becomes queen. And they have
chosen her husband for her.”
“What? Why would they care who she
marries? She’ll be surrounded by elves, what difference does it make which one
she chooses?”
“Because they are afraid……..of me. The
elders are afraid of a repeat of the past. Arwen is half dark elf and they are
afraid that if she marries another dark elf, it will be a repeat of when my
father ruled. So their solution is to require that she marry a light elf so
that there will always be balance,” he said.
“But an arranged marriage? She’s
definitely not going to be happy about it,” Tessa said.
“I know. But my hands are tied
right now. Trust me, I am not please by the idea of my daughter marrying a
light elf. I don’t think he will be able to handle her,” Gurth said.
“And just what the hell does that
mean?”
“That…….that’s what I mean. She’s
so much like you, so headstrong. She will need someone in her life that can
manage her when she is being unreasonable, not make matters worse. I am hoping
that once she arrives the elders see that she is not a threat. She will be a
wonderful queen no matter who rules at her side. She’s a dark elf true, but she
is also human. And that side of her is more good than any light elf could wish
to be. Because of you,” he said softly.
“I know what you’re trying to do,
Gurth. It can’t happen again. It won’t. I’m married to Elvin, and I will be
until the day I die.”
“Regardless of how you feel for me?
Of how you feel when we’re together?” Gurth asked stroking her cheek.
“Yes. You and I were never meant to
be. A crazy series of events just threw us together. I made a vow to Elvin, and
I intend to honor it,” Tessa said.
“How can you say we were not meant
to be? The birth of our daughter was prophesized centuries ago! You can remain
married to him, but your heart will always belong to me. And there is not a
damn thing you can do about that. I’ll be back in a few days to prepare Arwen
for her trip,” Gurth said as he backed away from her. As she watched him
disappear in a blaze of golden light, Tessa knew he was right. She would always
have deep feelings for Gurth Vasan. But as her daughter would soon learn,
sometimes life didn’t care about how you feel. You just play the hand you’re
dealt and hope for the best…….
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