XX

"Talvi, what happened to you?" asked Elanor one night, sitting at her favourite spot on the window frame and sharing tea and some pocket snacks with the elf. 

He was half-sitting in bed, scratching Lumi's head with weak strokes. His hair was just washed and fell loose on his shoulders in dark curls, and his skin had gotten better, looking terracotta in the dim candlelight. They were alone in Elanor's room, everyone had left for the night, and he was looking at his human friend with a mischievous grin.

"I'm sorry I worried you folks, but how great it is that you all got along while I was out of commission. A week or two and we can head to the Seelie Court, like we've planned."

Elanor was dying of curiosity, trying to guess where he could have been so beaten up. 

If I assumed my dream of the Winter King was a glimpse into the real events, and Talvi was fighting amongst those soldiers, this would explain the injuries. But what about his illness? It seems the curse working its way up his limbs is the main reason for such a dire state he's in... Nothing makes sense.

"Tal..." At that informality, he seemed to feel smug and delightfully content with himself. "Do you think this healer will cure the disease corrupting your hands?"

"He will not. But he might help me in another important way. You seem very invested in my well-being," winked Talvi. She suddenly got very interested in scanning the trees outside. 

Talvi closed his eyes and sighed dramatically, bringing his arm to his forehead. She discovered in the past week that he loved being the center of attention and would shamelessly, yet charmingly, bring it back to himself if left ignored for too long. 

"Ah, I have such a headache. A soup would be so nice," cried the elf in a pleading voice. 

Elanor scoffed and stood up to fetch the soup from a tray the servants placed by the door every night. 

"Aren't you quite old to enjoy being babied so much? How old are you anyway?" she smiled at his exaggerated suffering pose and sat on the bed to feed him some soup. Fae's own fingers were getting more mobile, but darkened flanges could never warm up to a comfortable temperature and, although he never complained and still preferred to hide the decay under some gold dust, looked like they caused quite a bit of pain.

That explains why they always felt ice cold. 

"Quite old?! I am a perfectly youthful faery; you humans just live unreasonably short lives. I am a little over a century, which makes me the youngest-" he cut off, seemingly realizing he started saying something he shouldn't. 

Elanor, as always, pretended not to notice. Not only did it help him let go more and slip quite often, but she also felt like she was nobody to demand explanations. She shook her head slightly and put a spoon of soup in the elf's mouth to spare him. 

"-youngest... traveling merchant... in this area," dodged Talvi, giving her guilty puppy eyes and swallowing the soup. 

***

Elanor did not pick up on it quickly, but eventually she noticed that Talvi was the most helpless once the house members were off to sleep and the two of them (three with Lumi, but he often slept with Mira these days) remained alone. He would suddenly feel heavy in his arms and require assistance to eat, or he would feel feverish and request Elanor to tell him stories (which she gladly provided, retelling from memory A Song of Ice and Fire). When he became strong enough to stand up, the promenade mood would hit him right before sleep, and they would spend a good hour walking slowly under the moonlight in front of the cottage, her arm steady around his waist, while Talvi was leaning gently on her shoulders for balance.

They were walking one night side by side during a full moon, and a faint sound of a wolf howl came from the ash grove. Elanor froze in her steps,  struggling to breathe. 

"Talvi, we need to go back inside," she urged, squeezing her eyes.

"Little lark? Are you alright?" his expression was neutral, but he took Lara gently by the elbow and turned toward him. 

"I should not see the faery lights, they charmed me once already, and there are monsters in the woods," she explained shyly. 

At that, Talvi drew her arm through his, and they walked back inside the house. 

"I'd like to show you something, Lara."

When they returned to her room, Talvi's briefcase appeared in his hand.

What did he pull it out of? Was it always in the room? It's like he summoned it out of thin air. 

He quickly found a tiny ring box, which made Elanor feel confused, and then theatrically lowered himself to one knee in front of her, opening the box as she had seen people on social media do when proposing. In the box, however, was a single earring. It was a simple, dark silver drop earring with a hoop lock, and Talvi explained:

"It is iron. Wear it, and at least average power spells should not have a hold on you, so no need to fear the wolves anymore," he was beaming with pride. Elanor, however, looked gloomy when she accepted the gift and put the earring in place where she had worn the pearl. Talvi was still full of himself, standing on one knee; Elanor was barely taller than him, even in this position. So he completely did not expect it when she - Whap! smacked him on the shoulder of his arm.

"What the-"

"I thought you, faeries, had better manners than this! What a bafoon!" exclaimed Elanor. Talvi observed her, completely surprised and a little impressed by how intimidating her serious face looked when she was raging. She did not have the most animated face; the frown on her brow was very subtle, but somehow her stare looked undoubtedly deadly, a quality that many people from the north possessed. "It is truly disappointing to joke about such things."

It was hard to tell, but Elanor thought the elf blushed. He stood up and was just blinking at her for a moment, and then wished her goodnight and left, suddenly walking quite steadily on his own, conveniently able to make it to his guest room that was ready for when he recovers enough. 

Well, he certainly recovered enough to make foolish jokes!

Elanor sat still for some time, lost in thought. She wasn't sure exactly what had made her so frustrated, and she already felt less confident than she had a few minutes ago. Perhaps she can apologize in the morning. It took a while for her to stop staring at the moon in the window and spiral into regrets, but she finally fell asleep hugging Lumi.