When They Lay

“Aeric, I’ve been quite unfair to you.” The blonde announced as she combed her lithe fingers through her wavy hair. She could see her husband from the mirror she stared at, and he was looking at her dumfounded.

“My dearest wife, what on earth do you mean?” He asked as he walked over to her, two hands gently squeezing her bare shoulders.

She spun around to meet him. Her now-lavender eyes meeting his bright silver one. She wrapped her arm around his neck and he embraced her tightly. “Let’s go away, just the two of us for a while.” She proposed.

He was surprised by this seeing as his wife was usually stand-offish around him. “Really?!” He exclaimed. “You’re serious. Absolutely serious?”

She blinked, a little shocked. “Why, yes, Aeric. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh I don’t know. You’re usually just off with your friends. I’ve never…Well you’ve never seemed to need to spend any more time with me than you’ve had to since we’ve gotten married.” He sighed. “I mean I understand. It’s an elf’s way of showing love but I just—“

She cut him off by pressing a finger to his lips. “No, I understand.” Ilytherra said, shaking her head. “This is what I mean. I’ve been completely unfair to you. Let me make it up to you, please. Let’s just go somewhere. Anywhere.”

“Well…Maybe we can visit the country side.”

“We’re in the feywild. Couldn’t get any more country than this.” “All right, what about a different plane of existence then?”

“Aeric, I’m not looking for an adventure. I just want to relax and spend time with you. I go kill things with the boys all the time. Let’s just do something nice for once.”

“Hmmm….” He thought about it for a moment before smiling. “Well, we can take that cruise with the boat I’ve built for you. You’ve already taken it out for a spin but…”

She kissed him. “No, it’s perfect. Let’s do it. Let’s leave tomorrow.”

He smiled, allowing himself to relish this newfound affection. Maybe resurrection was the best thing that happened to his wife yet. “Okay, a'mael**” He whispered, kissing her back. “That sounds perfect.”

The married couple packed their bags. Ilytherra was paranoid about her companions being left to their own devices in her castle. ‘No doubt they’d make a ruckus…’ She thought. Aeric did his best to calm his wife’s nerves and helped her with her packing and preparations. Using the interplanar doors, they headed back to Saerloon to board the ship Aeric had built for her.

The SS Ilytherra, it read. ‘Tacky,’ Ilytherra thought, a smile on her face. ‘Tacky, but he loves me.’

Aeric held her hand in his larger one. It was rare of her to allow him to do this, considering Ilytherra wasn’t at all the type to exhibit this amount of affection to anyone. Perhaps it was the influence of the unicorn, or perhaps this was its own magic taking effect. The servants took their bags and lugged them into the boat. Aeric guided his wife into the ship and the two settled in.

This was all so boring to her. There were no krakens, no dragon turtles, nothing that passed by that would allow her to get her weapons dirty. Those were the things the Elvish woman loved. Aeric, on the other hand, had long retired from adventuring and wanted to focus on his business. She gripped the railings of the boat as she watched the waves clash along the cold steel. The sky was as blue as blue as can be.

Aeric wrapped his arms around her, treasuring the warmth of his wife. It was different for him, this feeling. Ilytherra wasn’t quite used to his touch yet, and jumped as he embraced her.

He was patient with her, kind with her, and she was thankful.

“I’m sorry, Aeric.” She told him, her cold grey eyes meeting his.

He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Why apologize?”

“It’s taken me so long…”

“I know. It’s okay.”

“You’re kind to me. Thank you, Aeric.”

“What is this?” Ilytherra asked the one-eyed man in front of her as dinner was served to them.

“Noodles from Kara-Tur. Have you been?”

“No, have you?”

“I’ve done quite a bit of sailing in my past. Kara-Tur was a place I visited quite constantly.”

“How…interesting. Perhaps one day, you will take me there.”

“Perhaps.”

“How did you come to lose your eye, dear Aeric?”

“You must know that I’ve been married several times before I met you, my love.” Aeric told her slowly, gauging her reaction. Ilytherra was neither the jealous type nor did she care.

“Yes, I believe I’ve been told.”

“I loved this wood elf, her name was Cedany.” Aeric said sadly as he remembered her. She was smaller than Ilytherra, with innocent green eyes and freckles splattered across her face. She was beautiful and kind, or so he thought. “I trusted her. I loved her. But she betrayed me.”

“Betrayed you? Did she runaway with a lover who was jealous of you?”

“No.” Aeric told her, sighing. “It was far worse. One night, as I lay in the bed we shared, she took a knife from our kitchen and stabbed me in the eye with the intent to kill me. She took all the gold I owned and set fire to the house we shared together.”

“That’s awful, Aeric.”

“Yes. I later discovered that she was a member of an organization found on racism. The Voiceless ones they called themselves.”

“I will destroy them.”

“Destroy them?” Aeric chuckled.

“Yes, I will destroy them and we shall avenge your eye.”

“Ilytherra…”

“No, I will.”

“Our wedding, Aeric. I wish to do it correctly. The proper way. The Elven way.” Ilytherra said, laying on her husbands bare chest. The blanket covered their naked bodies and the two were pressed against each other.

“What do you mean, my love?"

“It wasn’t done correctly. We may have married under Shar but I wish we had done it traditionally. I know we rushed but…”

“Then we will do it, my love.”

“We will?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.”

“When?”

“When it is appropriate. We have all the time in the world.”

“Do you even know what a traditional Elvish wedding is like, Aeric?”

“No, educate me.”

“It starts off with a tree….”

** Elvish word for beloved