Chapter 55 The Plot Thickens… But Not My Behind. Rude.
“AHHHH. NO. STOP. I do not want to take care of more people!” Were the first words to jump out of Maeve’s mouth as she sat up from where she was laying down— and realized only then that she was in a tent… and there was an old man seated right next to her.
The old man in question being Aegon of Satyr.
She closed her eyes briefly and tried to smile. “Sorry. It was a nightmare. You didn’t hear anything. I’m even probably still dreaming—”
“You are not,” He cut in and before she could say anything else, shoved some things into her mouth, stuffing it. “Eat. You need your energy. Your core was dangerously low. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as the last time we saw, you see,”
Marge chewed, her face instantly tightening from the bitterness though the second Aegon was facing her again, she forced herself to smile. It took a long time for her to chew everything and swallow, and when she was done, she asked, “Last I checked, I was on the mountains. If this is all real, I’m in Satyr, but how’s that possible when—?”
“After you fainted, your… other husband tried to feed you foods he claims have healed the Orcs but when he realized you were still not waking, he tried to bring you down himself. The Orcs realized your beast might drop you by accident so they decided to put you in wooden things they made… said it would slide you down faster?”
Oh? Oh! “They made a sled?!”
“Yes,” Aegon stared with suspicion and confusion at that word. “Whatever it is that you have just said. Was dangerous, I realized, but it brought you down fast so I could see what to do for you. Amir and the other one almost fought when you arrived,”
Amir? Why would he do that? He already knew her feelings on the two of them being so aggressive against each other.
Whatever. It didn’t matter. “So the Orcs are here? How are they feeling? And the Elves? Is everyone—?”
“Do you ever worry about yourself, Miss Montague?” Aegon cut in. He was slowly folding the clothes around them, his voice gentle but firm at the same time. “When you woke up, you requested for Amir and went to see him in the state he was in. You go up the mountains and return barely alive. And here you are, wanting to know if everyone else is alright?”
I cannot be bothered about short term worries when I have a long term goal ahead of me. But Maeve knew she could not say that. People didn’t like the idea of being ‘used’ no matter how much she tried to sweeten the statement. “What can I say? I’m just a chill guy,”
Then she winked at him.
She was a terrible winker, and Aegon wondered for a second if she was falling ill again but realized after that she just made herself look like a gremlin of her own accord and sighed, “Congratulations, child. You have passed two of your trials with Vashka,”
“Huh?” Now, understand from Maeve’s perspective that she had completely forgotten— do not tell Adrian— about the elf trials. She remembered it at the beginning of course, but having the orcs for herself became paramount so she might have completely forgotten about the other existence for a second.
Aegon rose from the floor, carrying the folded clothes as he said, “Vashka, our lady, paid me a visit. She says she cannot wait to watch you do the third trial,”
As he moved further away, Maeve muttered for NACE quietly under her breath. Of course, the screen appeared, and just as if it had been listening to the conversations she had been having, it flashed the words back, \[THE ELF TRIALS— TWO MARKED COMPLETE. ONE LEFT\]
When? And how?
She had planned to simply return with a lie, explain to Aegon that she wasn't sure she could actually succeed with the trial, claim that she had tried her best and truly wanted the best for his people. That was it.
Yes. She was fully aware that it wasn’t a feasible plan but it was her being honest.especially since she was a terrible liar in the first place anyway.
Still, it didn’t matter. If the system believed she had completed two out of the three tasks, then that was fine with her. “I am very dedicated to the happiness of your son—”
“I did not think you would do it,” Aegon cut in. It was clear he wasn’t interested in her charms or her beautiful voice. Which was quite shocking because Maeve was certain as the heroine that she was very lovely to look at. “The trials. I believed you would come up with some… excuse to forfeit it and avoid it in total,”
Oh.
Oh.
Maeve was not religious but she felt like going on her knees and thanking whatever god it was that had made this trial so easy— because this was the one time she didn’t know to escape of and this HEAVENLY thing fell to her lap, “People always have assumptions of who I am—”
The sound of a match being struck echoed through the tent, stopping her from speaking as her eyes fell on the painting which the light from it was illuminating.
An extremely… very close striking image of Amir… and Cassian.
Yes. The Cassian you know. The shiny one with blonde hair and turquoise eyes and glows like his life depends on it. The one who— you get it, I’m sure?
Except… except this person had Amir’s skin and that smile… it was a smile she had seen him give a few times. The laidback, all-will-be-well smile.
But the eyes, the nose, the lips…
“Come closer. And kneel next to me,”
Maeve didn’t want to do it. There was something about the entire thing that unsettled her somehow… but her legs moved before she could stop herself. And so did she.
In minutes, she was on her knees, resting on her calves as she realized there was a small table placed over the table with trinkets and food pieces surrounding it. She felt Amir nudge her, so she turned to look at him, her eyes instantly shutting as he began drawing sigils over her face with his thumb.
She opened them again when he stopped, the smell of coal irritating her nostrils though she ignored it as she heard him say, “You are not the first human to desire a wedding with an elf,”
Maeve paused. It was a strange thing, that statement. It made her eyes widen, like this was some telenovela and Gustavo was finally confessing that he was interested in Fernanda’s twin, Fernando! “So there was someone before me? That sounds interesting. Is she here? Is he here? In both a hetero and non hetero way—”
“I refused to let it happen,” Aegon cut in. He was lighting up a black powdery substance— incense Maeve realized when the smell hit her nose as he looked up, “Mostly because I knew the heart of the woman. She had no plans in learning our customs… nor did she have it in her heart to care for anything. My son, Lir, believed that she was misunderstood and deserved… more. He believed being one with our bond would help her,”
The story doesn’t sound like it’s going to end up well. “I’m sorry, you haven’t mentioned who it is yet,”
“I knew her as Lúthien,” Aegon placed the plate with the incense on it back to the table, “But I believe you humans refer to her as… Eldoria,"
“… Excuse me, what?!”