Not Magic Enough and Setting Boundaries - By Valerie Douglas Page 0,17

we thank you.”

The wagons trundled out through the gates, the children calling out a chorus of goodbyes.

Delae knew she would miss them, for all the little time they’d been here and the storm had kept them under roof, they’d been some company - folk she didn’t know.

It would be quieter in days to come.

Looking up at the sky she reflected that winter had only come for a brief visit. He would be back very shortly, though, with more force and for a longer stay, but for some little time they might have a respite between. Enough for Dorovan to return to his Enclave safely.

Her breath caught at the thought.

This had only been a respite, though, and she’d known that from the moment Doravan touched her.

Calling Morlis to her, she bade him prepare the cart to go to Riverford town for supplies. If they were to have good weather, she must get supplies brought in to make up for what had been lost with a dozen extra mouths to feed. Especially those growing children. She smiled. The sound of their laughter had been sweet.

Then she turned for the great room and Dorovan. For however short a time they had left, she intended to make the most of what remained.

He waited with open arms, to welcome her back into them.

For a time he sat beside her as she worked at the tapestry, telling her of his life among his people, stories she could never share but could hold to her heart in the difficult days to come.

Among her own folk Elves were considered arrogant and impassive. She now knew different. They simply didn’t show it except among their own kind. It grieved her to know why…because those bonds, those signs of caring had been used against them. By her own folk.

She knew also that the bond between she and Dorovan was something different, something more, for all that it wasn’t the soul-bond he awaited.

In a way, she hoped it would come and soon. She would rejoice for him in finally finding it, in finding someone who could love him freely, completely, as she couldn’t. In the meantime, they were a balm for each other and it pleased her deeply that she could give it to him. She loved him - heart and soul - for all that she couldn’t have him. She knew that, understood it.

It was enough.

They ate together and then they loved together, sweetly and deeply, one last time before he left.

It was harder than Dorovan had imagined to leave – even as his heart yearned for home, for Talaena, his beloved Enclave, for his people and his place there. To leave his friend-of-the-heart alone, without the empathy of his people to console her, that gave him such comfort…

He ached as he touched her face beneath the bright moonlight.

“I will miss you, friend-of-my-heart,” he said.

Eyes bright with unshed tears, Delae smiled and pressed her cheek against his hand.

“And I you as well, friend-of-my-heart,” she said, with a smile.

Taking a breath, knowing delaying made it no easier, Dorovan swung up onto Charis’s back.

“I will return,” he said.

Delae looked up at him and shook her head.

“I cannot hold to that - but you are and always will be the only friend of my heart.”

It pained him to hear it, but he understood. She must bear the days alone with only the hope of his return.

“You are loved,” he said.

She smiled brilliantly. “I know.”

On foot, she followed him to the gates.

Just once - because that was all he could bear - Dorovan looked back to see her standing there within the embrace of her gates. Her hair glowed like flame in his Elven-sight. There was brightness in her eyes and on her cheeks.

He turned his face toward home, leaving a part of his heart behind as he went.

Watching him until she couldn’t truly see him, Delae took one breath and then another before turning back to the homestead as the light of the full moon washed over it.

For a moment she stood looking.

This was her home. Even could she leave, even if she could live amongst the Elves – and that was unheard of – she wouldn’t. These people depended on her, they needed her. There was no one else for them. If she left, what would become of Petra and Hallis? For all they disparaged her, for all they sniped at each other, who would care for Cana and Kolan if not her?

She’d learned early and swiftly why it was they’d been