Chapter 6:

Invitation

Short & Short


"Ah, that felt great!" Edelgard exclaimed as they left the bathhouse. They wouldn't race back, as that would defeat the point of cleaning themselves in the first place. The hanging bridges were hard to cross at first, but by now, Edelgard didn't even need to support herself anymore. Thinking back on her bath and shower, she tilted her head. "Say, Starkus?"

"Hm?" he hummed back.

His face was as stern as usual, but there was a blissful aura around him. Hide it as he might, he was happy about being clean.

"Why do men and women have separate changing rooms, anyway?"

How come she never thought of that?

"Isn't that self-explanatory?"

Edelgard cocked her head, wondering if it was. Neither men nor women hid their bodies in the bath, and they all looked like they didn't care anyway, so she figured it must be a religious thing or something...

Or did they care but never showed it?

"Not for me."

"Then would you undress here, in front of men and women?"

Edelgard felt her hands move to her breasts despite herself. No matter how casual it felt in the bathhouse, out here was just...

"If you ask me so suddenly, it's embarrassing..."

"See?"

For Starkus, the conversation seemed to be over.

"That doesn't explain a thing, though?" Edelgard asked herself, more than Starkus. He, however, turned around, looking her square in the eyes. "Whoah! ... What?"

"The sight of a woman undressing is only meant for the man she pledged herself to."

"But her naked body is for everyone to enjoy?"

"As long as they don't touch her, yes."

"What a strange custom..."

They quickly made their way home, chatting about nothing in particular. Towards the end, Edelgard drifted off into basic patterns of 'Yeah,' 'Maybe,' 'That sounds great,' and 'Really?' Her mind was with her studies she wanted to continue.

The elven language was highly complicated and based on symbols. While the concept of writing and reading was known to her, Edelgard could think of nothing to base this language on, so she deduced that she never learned writing any form of language, even before waking up in this forest. This made her studies all the harder.

Many symbols were as elaborate as a drawing, while others were simple but meaningful.

The main problem were the subtle differences between similar-looking symbols she couldn't yet find, even after months of practice.

Aside from her not knowing what the symbols meant, of course.

"... so Claudia took home the wrong root and almost poisoned us with the plant's venom... hey, is that Almerya over there?"

"Really?"

"Yes, I think it's her."

"That sounds great."

"... Edelgard are you listening?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

"Maybe."


Starkus sighed.

Ever since she started studying the elven language, there were times when she only responded in simple words and phrases, drifting off in the world of letters and symbols.

He was glad to see her take the study so seriously, but their language wasn't meant to be understood in a century or two.

It took millennia of dedication to perfect one's reading, he had heard.

He glanced at their home again.

On a wooden bench in front of the hut sat a young-looking elf, her hair golden-green, reaching her shoulder.

Her eyes were downcast, but not sad.

Her mouth was curled to a smile, and she gently tapped her fingers on the bench, seemingly enjoying every sound.

It definitely was Almerya.

Ever since cutting Edelgard's head once, she came around more frequently. Incidentally, she was the one who infatuated Edelgard with the Elven language, too.

He looked back at Edelgard, walking next to him, her eyes open but unfocused.

He sighed again, then moved in front of her.

"Oh..." she cutely said, absent-mindedly rubbing her nose. "Sorry," she said, attempting to move around the obstacle, but Starkus grabbed both her shoulders.

"Wake up, Edelgard," he said, shaking her until she blushed red as blood.

"Starkus? What's up... can you stop shaking me?"

"Sorry."

Edelgard continued to blink for a few times as if she just woke up from a long slumber. This woman was so strange, Starkus thought.

So strange.

"Are we there, yet?" she asked, peeking around him. "I wanted to study some more... is that Almerya?"

"You finally noticed..."

"Hey, Almerya!"

Not bothering to give any more attention to Starkus, she stormed off, leaving him behind with a wry smile on his face.

He watched her shake Almerya's hand repeatedly, then lunge in for a hug, startling the elder.

She gently returned the hug, patting Edelgard's head in return.

They exchanged quiet pleasantries, but they were too far away for Starkus to hear. Then Edelgard looked around, catching sight of him

"Hey, Starkus! Come on!"

He looked away to hide a snort.

This woman was strange but wonderful to be around.

"Coming!" he said, approaching at his own pace.


"Should we go inside?" Almerya suggested, taking Edelgard by the hand.

"Yeah!" she said, nodding along. Out of all the elders she knew, Almerya was her favorite. She was kind, understanding, and not as suspicious of her as the others were. Her visiting Edelgard was new, though. "What brings you to us?"

An innocent smile to an innocent question.

Edelgard joined her.

"To be honest, there is an important reason for my visit..."

She trailed off as Starkus joined them. The two of them communicated something with their eyes, and Starkus nodded at Almerya.

Edelgard, now knowing what was going on, looked from one to the other.

"Should I get us some Argus milk?" he suggested.

"But that takes so long," Edelgard said, worry in her voice. "Don't bother, I don't feel thirsty at the moment."

Starkus's gaze met Almerya's.

"I think it's a wonderful suggestion," she said, smiling. "Please do."

He bowed.

"I will. See you later."

With that, he left his house.

Edelgard cocked her head. Was it that easy to get him to leave? Or was that because of Almerya being an elder?

Their eyes met.

Edelgard noticed that there was more to this visit than she initially thought.


She was perceptive.

That had always been clear to Almerya, but she was more clever than she let on, that Edelgard.

The short-eared woman fidgeted in her seat, repeatedly glancing up at Almerya. If she stayed nervous like that, there would be no point to this visit.

Almerya decided to start with the usual.

"How about I give you another haircut?" she suggested, lifting a strand of hair up, caressing it.

"Yeah."

Obediently, Edelgard sat down, exposing the back of her head to the trained hands of the elder. She measured the length of new hair... 5 inches since her last visit and proceeded to cut just as much off.

Since the first time, she kept Edelgard's growth well recorded.

To think that there was someone who could grow out elven hair so quickly... and not only on the head. Elves were delicate creatures. They didn't need hair for protection, but Edelgard had it. It grew between her legs, under her arms, all over her body.

Elven hair was sturdy and hard to cut.

Almerya was just glad that the hair that grew on Edelgard's body was easier to separate. It took no more than a touch from her instruments. It was as if she cut through naked air.

For starters, though, she dealt with the hair on her head.

It took almost an hour to complete the job.

Little strands of greenish hair littered the ground, and Almerya picked them up, putting them in a jar of wood. Every elf had their hair collected for their whole life. Should one die, the hair would return to the earth, spreading the message of the dead around the planet.

That was the plan, at least.

Elves lived such long lives that these practices were never enacted before.

That first could happen soon, though...

Almerya hid a sigh as she walked around Edelgard, facing her front. Her cheeks turned a tinge of red as she raised her arms, exposing her armpits.

Little stubs of hair had returned, too short for the time since Almerya last cut that hair.

"Did you shorten them yourself?" she inquired, gently trimming it down to her skin. If one didn't know that hair was growing from there, no one would ever notice... until it grew out again. Edelgard had an annoying condition, for Edelgard more than for those around her, Almerya judged, trimming the other side, too. "You know that it is seen as a display of mistrust towards your elders when you cut your own hair, don't you?"

"Sorry..."

"I'm not mad, but I feel like you should know what you did." After the armpits came the bush between Edelgard's legs. The hair looked itchy and scratchy, evoking pity from Almerya. "I've looked into your chances," she said, separating the bush in a swift motion. "There have been rare cases of hair growing elsewhere on an elf's body. It might be possible to treat you."

"You mean that fire treatment? Or the one where each hair is pulled one by one? Those sound dangerous, so as long as I can cut my non-elven hair by myself, I'm fine with that..." Edelgard mumbled, avoiding her eyes.

Almerya found herself caressing Edelgard's head before the thought even reached her brain. She was an anomaly, but Edelgard was someone she wanted to take care of.

"I would be the one to perform those dangerous treatments, though?" she asked playfully, acting like Edelgard upset her.

She panicked.

"That might be true, but... but... ah, but! You didn't come up with them, so how could I trust them in any reasonable way that could be connected to you? Not at all, that's the answer. So don't be angry, but what you proposed is just... barbaric..."

Edelgard's shoulders drooped, and tears formed in her eyes.

Almerya knew that she couldn't take her joke any further.

"Barbaric, huh?" Almerya swooped the rest of the hair up from the floor, placing them in a different jar. Despite what she said earlier, Almerya wanted to look into what exactly this hair was made of before placing it in the same category as Elven hair. "Should I come by more often, then? To cut your hair?"

"It takes but a night's sleep until it returns... I don't want to waste your time..."

"Waste my time? Do you think I value our time together so little? That stings..."

"No, that's not what I meant!" Edelgard desperately wailed, rocking Almerya back and forth at her shoulders.

"It's alright, it's alright," Almerya soothed, hugging the startled woman. "Incidentally, teasing you isn't the only thing that brings me to you."

"You were just teasing me?!"

Almerya chose to leave that one unanswered.

"The elders request your presence." Edelgard twitched in Almerya's arms. Was it just the height of the tree, or was she scared of the elders? "I was to bring you over immediately, but you weren't here, so I waited. Now that I think about it, we just kept them waiting for another hour, didn't we? Haha."


Edelgard couldn't join Almerya's chuckle.

Keeping the most important elves of the tribe waiting couldn't be a good idea. Not only did she have to confront them and their accusations again, but Claudia wouldn't be with her this time... not to speak of climbing that tree...

"Is refusing an option?" she stammered, hoping for a miracle.

"When the elders call, there is no refusal."

"... Then let's go."

"Just like that?" Almerya wondered.

"We're late as it is. I'm sure they'll find a way to make me responsible for that delay, and they'll attribute that to me changing everything for the worse. I just don't want to give them any more room to doubt me."

Almerya took her hand, squeezing it.

"I'll tell them what happened, of course. You have nothing to worry about."

They shared a smile, and Almerya led them outside. As they were walking over countless bridges, approaching the large tree, Edelgard's smile faded.

She couldn't help but feel like Almerya's words wouldn't make a difference.

Ana Fowl
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