A Hawke Binds his Princess

This chapters a little special for me. It's about two souls that are meant to be together and becoming one in such a unique and special way. Hope you enjoy it.

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Chapter 8: A night to remember

When they rode up everyone was outside and Bryce looked curiously at Elayne riding with Hawke, glad to see everyone safe back home. When Hawke got off his horse Bryce noticed what looked like blood on his clothes, he started to question him but Hawke told him he would talk to him later after he was cleaned up.

After all the horses except Midnight were taken care of Hawke grabbed all the bags except the one Bethany grabbed for Elayne, and he told them he'd be back. He got on Midnight and headed to his house, first thing he had to do was go clean up. After grabbing a towel and soap he headed to the lake and gave himself a good scrubbing. Once he was cleaned and all the bloody clothes he wore earlier was incinerated, he walked back to his house feeling better. He took his stuff into the house and sorted through everything. He was pleased to see that Bethany was able to get everything that he had asked for. The one item he was really interested in was the box. He took it out of its bag and opened it, the set was beautiful, stunning. He examined each piece, they were all made with the same material as the ring and like the ring there were tiny little diamonds around the bigger stones. Each amethyst stone had an enchantment in them, and all enchanted with protection spells.

He lifted the cushion that they were sitting on and saw the letter. After he took it out, he closed the lid on the box and set it aside. He opened the letter, it was his teachers flowery script.

'To my most valued treasured student.

"Firstly I give my condolences to you and your family for your loss. Your father was a very dear friend who I cherished deeply.

I know you have questions my boy, and I'll tell you what I can.

I know about you and Elayne, I know what you're planning. All I can tell you is, it's supposed to happen, your meant to be together, I hope the best for both of you for the future.

Please don't ask me how I know, some secrets must stay secrets.

The jewelry is for her. As you've seen their empowered with all kinds of protection spells, the main one is a shield spell. Once she puts all the pieces on, a shield spell will activate, so have her put them on as soon as possible. Also, if she removes one piece the shield will quit working until she wears all the pieces again, so make sure she knows this.

I have one more thing to tell you. By the end of next month you will need to come with me. I cannot tell you why here. Meet me in Lothering at Danes alone on the last day of next month. Pack lightly, you will be provided for, let your family know you will be gone for at least a month.

Until I see you soon my boy, and I'm proud of you Arik Hawke."

Caleb

He looked at the letter, still not sure what to take of it. And why did he have to leave? For what reason and why so long. He would have to worry about that later though.

When he picked up the ring he felt a warmth run through his hand. The only thing he wished he could have done was have it engraved. Suddenly he looked closer at the inside of the ring. There was engraving on it, he had to look closely, but he saw the words.

"For Elayne, my eternal soul mate. Arik."

Now it became really weird. He definitely had questions for his teacher and he was going to get some answers. But he did have to say, the wording was perfect. He sat there thinking about that night and what was to come.

He looked at everything, and wondered if he'd get a chance to set it all up or if he should get some help from his sister. Getting away might be hard but for right now he needed to get back, so he gathered everything up except the box and put it by the door. The box he set in his stashing place, then he went back outside and got on Midnight and headed back to the main house.

When Elayne saw him, she came running over and jumped in his arms after he got off the horse. He looked down at her and kissed her. Midnight nudged them, and Hawke and Elayne laughed. They both gave him his carrots and his love, once Midnight was satisfied he went running off.

"Your mom wanted to see you when you got back, you should go and talk to her, my parents want to talk to you too. They know about what happened, the soldiers couldn't keep quiet. I'm sorry Hawke."

"It'll be okay angel," he said quietly, hugging her to him. "Let me go talk to my mom really quick."

When he went to his mom, she had a surprise waiting for him. "I'm cooking a roast chicken dinner for you and Elayne and Eleanor has made a cake for you guys, Elayne's favorite. I know this was a spur of the moment thing for you, and we tried to help out how we could. We want you both to be happy." He was so grateful for his family, he went and gave her a hug thanking her from the bottom of his heart.

"Mom, do you believe in soul mates?"

"What do you mean son? Love at first sight, an instantaneous connection between you? Like what you and Elayne have?" He nodded. "I dare say I do, that's what your father and I had. We knew from the moment we saw each other that we were meant to be together. It was my family that was against it, and they fought tooth and nail to keep me away from him, but your uncle would intervene on my behalf. Your lucky son, that you don't have to deal with that. They love you my boy, and after what you did today by protecting their daughter the way you did, they are grateful. I know they want to talk to you so don't keep them waiting and when you're ready for whatever your planning let us know how we can help."

"Thanks mom, I just wanted to do something romantic with her down by the lake. I'll let you know if I need anything, I better go see her parents."

He never knew that his mother believed in soul mates. He hadn't realized that was what he and Elayne were until the day before when he had proposed to her, and again when he had read the inscription on the ring. It all made sense. Two souls destined to be joined as one. Elayne was his destiny, his other half.

Bethany came up to him with the bag that was for Elayne, she insisted that he be the one to give it to her, but he wasn't allowed to look in it. Confused, he walked over to the Cousland's who were sitting in the shade at the table. Elayne came up to him, and he handed her the bag, "this is for you, Bethany picked it out, so I have no idea what is all in it. It's for our date tonight."

Bethany reached up slapped him on the back of his head, "Elayne, it's true that Hawke doesn't know what it is, but it's a gift from him to you, and he hopes that you'll wear it tonight on your date." Bethany turned to Hawke, "see big brother, that wasn't so hard." She skipped away from him smirking and he couldn't help chuckling.

Elayne looked in the bag hesitantly and gasped when she saw it. She threw her arms around him thanking him. "Oh I can't wait to try it on, mom come and help me please. Hawke when is our date?" She was so excited, the look on her face was priceless as her eyes twinkled. Whatever was in that bag, she seemed very pleased.

He looked at her, looked at the sun, "In about four hours I'd say." She looked at him curiously, gave him a kiss and went into the house with her mom.

He must have had a bewildered look on his face because Bryce started chuckling. "Don't worry my boy, trying to figure women out is like trying to figure out why the grass is green, or the sky is blue. Mysteries all. Come here son, I want to talk to you."

Shaking his head, Hawke glanced at the door Elayne had just gone through before he walked over and sat down by Bryce.

Bryce looked at him, "I heard about what happened today at the Inn and outside of town and I thank you for making sure she was away from it when it happened out of town, I know my daughter and I'm sure she wasn't very happy with your decision but it was the right thing to do. I also heard about the guys broken nose and jaw. Wish I could have been there to see that," Bryce laughed and patted Hawke on the back. "Would you like to talk about it? Believe it or not, and take it from someone who's got experience, that it does help to talk instead of letting it fester."

Hawke stared at Bryce thinking he was crazy, but then he was a warrior though, so that would explain much. He sat there a few minutes contemplating on telling Bryce. After he looked at the guest house making sure Elayne wasn't around, he then proceeded to tell Bryce everything. When he got to the end, "I tried to get them to turn away, but only one was smart enough to leave and that was only after I had killed almost everyone else," he said softly, his voice pained.

Bryce watched him as he had told the story, he could see the regret for taking a life affecting him. That showed promise for the boy. "Let me tell you something, young man. The fact that you show remorse for those souls means that you're not a bloodthirsty savage, that you value life more than death. But don't let that keep you from hesitating when you must do what needs to be done, or you end up putting other lives in jeopardy. The fact you got your family out of there before you did what you had to do means you understand what I'm telling you. If you have to kill, don't let anything distract you. If you're under a situation like that, and you're deciding to protect a loved one or kill someone, that hesitation can kill you and possibly your loved ones. I'm glad you have a conscious but don't let that distract you at the wrong time."

Hawke looked at Bryce and nodded, "that's exactly what my last teacher told me. He was wondering how I would react when it came to taking a life. If I could take a life, and how I would react after the kill. The lives that I took the other day didn't faze me, my mind was on other things, Elayne, but the ones I took today, they did affect me. Why did taking one set of lives not bother me but the next did bother me?"

"You already said it yourself my boy, Elayne, she was in immediate danger, all you could think about was keeping her alive and getting her to safety. Today she was out of that danger, and you were focused on what needed to be done. When the deed was done you had nothing to distract you."

Hawke contemplated Bryce's words, "thank you sir, for the advice. I'm glad I talked to you about it, you're right it did help."

Bryce was pleased that the boy was taking his words to heart. He had potential for the future. Which brought him to another thought, "Hawke, they all told me about the competition in the spring and what you said about it. You still not interested?"

"I don't know sir. Like I told them, I have everything I need, I already got land, I have the love of my life and I still got money from the last competition I entered. I don't need the fame or fortune. Why would I need to compete when I already have everything. But the biggest reason, I can't be a part of the Kings soldiers, and you know why. I can't risk exposing my magic and if I become a soldier, I risk that exposure. I know how to mask my power, I know how to direct it elsewhere, so I don't use it. That's part of the reason I have these swords, they were made specifically for me, their enchanted to misdirect my power. But what if something was to happen that's beyond my control and I accidentally use it in front of others who won't be so accepting as you guys are? I'm not going to risk getting killed just because I'm a mage outside the Circle or forced into the Circle and losing my freedom. Just because some mages become bloodthirsty criminals that need to be locked away because they either enjoy it or can't control it doesn't mean that all of us are that way. Just because the Maker blessed me with magic doesn't mean I'm automatically dangerous because I can't control it or a criminal."

Bryce put up his hands stalling Hawke. "I understand and we agree with you, my boy. But let's change the subject for now, here comes the ladies, we'll discuss the competition at a later time."

Eleanor and Elayne came out of the house, Elayne came to sit by Hawke and Eleanor by Bryce. Hawke took Elayne's hand and kissed it, and she leaned back against him. He was content, happy, peaceful. He looked up at the sun, and saw he still had a couple of hours, he had plenty of time to get everything ready and to get dressed.

He looked at Elayne, "how long you going to need to get ready, I don't care how long you need, I just have to get some things ready beforehand."

"At least an hour," she said looking at her mother who nodded. "Oh Hawke, I can't wait till you see me in your gift. Mom's even jealous," she giggled.

Now he was getting anxious about this date and dress. He started wishing for the time to hurry up. They sat there for a while talking, soon Carver and Fergus came over and then Bethany and his mom.

"Next time you go into town I'm going with you big brother. You seem to have all the fun." Carver said with envy.

Hawke knew better than to respond, he tried warning Bryce when he saw the disgust and anger on his face, but he was too late. "You think killing is fun, boy? Wait until you have to kill your first enemy, and you see the blood leaving his body, his life leaving his eyes. Then you think about the other lives that are destroyed because you killed someone that had a family; a kid and wife or worse yet, maybe that kid only had dad to support him and now that kid doesn't have a family because you took away his father." He saw Hawke flinch when he talked about families, he patted him on the shoulder. Hawke had potential. "Killing is not fun, you just remember that the first time you have to take someone's life for "fun".

Carver sat there trying to get a word in, he looked at Hawke ashamed, "I didn't mean it like that. I just, it gets boring sitting here, I need to get out. I'm sorry Hawke, if that's how I came off."

He looked over at his brother feeling for him. "I understand Carver. How about next time I go to town you come with me and remember, we're all leaving this place for a few days." Carver perked at that, looked to Bryce and apologized to him.

Bryce also apologized to Carver for his outburst. But he hoped the boy would remember what he said. Carver definitely wasn't his brother, Carver was more of hot head. He would need to be watched, maybe they could do something to help. He was after all getting some sword training from Fergus.

About an hour later once the sun started to go down, Hawke stood up, and pulled up Elayne, "I have to go love, to get things ready, but I'll be back. I can't wait to see you later. I love you princess."

"I love you too Hawke. I look forward to our date." She grabbed him and gave him a kiss. Then he was whistling for Midnight and they took off.

He grabbed all the bags and went down by the lake, first he spread out the blanket then set up the candles around the blanket, gathered most of the flowers except the roses and put them in containers around the blanket. Next using his power he set up magical lights around the perimeter, he grabbed the plates, silverware and glasses. Laying everything just perfectly. 'Lets see if there's anything else left I forgot,' he thought looking in the bags, 'can't forget the wine'. The rose petals he spread out on the blanket and scattered down the path, glad there was no breeze. He looked up at the sky, perfect, not a cloud up above and the full moon reflecting off the water. This was all just perfect, seemed nature was on his side tonight.

With the last single white rose left he went to his house to get ready. Changing his clothes, he put on black dress pants and a white shirt since he didn't know what color dress Elayne was wearing and put on his boots. He went to were the only mirror in the house was, made sure his face was clean shaved, his hair and clothes were perfect. Leaving the washroom he headed to get his box, grabbed the picnic basket and went to Midnight.

He got on Midnight and headed to the main house. She wasn't out there, but her dad was along with everyone else. He let Midnight know to stay there and went over to were his mom had gathered their food, putting everything in the basket. She looked at the box he had and asked about it, and he show them. When he opened it they all gasped as they looked at what was inside, except for the ring everything was there. Bryce looked at him, eyebrow raised and nodded his approval.

"Hawke that must have cost a fortune, and it's a set it looks like," his mom said impressed.

"It cost less than you think but its more valuable than you know." His mom looked curiously at him, he sighed, he wasn't sure if he was supposed to say anything but since they some already he decided to let them know part of it.

"Look, all I can tell you is that when I went into the shop this was waiting for me, it's from my teacher specifically meant for Elayne. Please don't ask because I have no answer for you, you know how mysterious he is. What I do know is that once Elayne puts this on, a shield spell activates, but she has to be wearing every piece, if she takes one off it stops working. There are other spells in these but their all for aiding her. There's nothing malicious or evil in these, I already checked."

He closed the box and looked at everyone, he turned around when he heard a sound behind him and saw Eleanor coming around the corner.

She looked at him with a grin, and raised her hand to the side of her, "Arik Hawke, I give to you one of my most priced possessions, my beautiful daughter, Elayne."

When Elayne came around the corner his heart skipped, his breathing coming in short breaths, as he gazed at the goddess in front of him. She was so beautiful she literally made him ache. Her hair was swept up in a bun, with a few curls hanging down the sides, revealing her slender neck. The dress was of the lightest purple, the top was strapless with a slit down the front showing her cleavage, molding itself literally to her body, outlining her perfect curves, right down to her tiny waist. The bottom of the dress flared out around her, she even had on matching shoes and gloves.

When he looked up at her face, she was literally glowing.

All of a sudden he felt nervous as he stood up, his hands shaking, he was starting to sweat. He reached inside himself, took a couple of deep breaths and calmed his heart down.

Once he had himself composed he walked over, took her hand, bowed and kissed it, all the while staring into her beautiful blue eyes. He stood up straight, handed her the purple rose that matched the color of her dress. She looked at it curiously as she took it, 'I thought I saw a white rose in his hand,' she thought to herself before giving him a curtsy.

He looked at her when she stood back up, "you look amazing Elayne. You're literally breathtaking," he said as he kissed her lightly on the lips. When he looked over to the table everyone was staring at them, watching them with smiles on their faces. He looked over at Bethany and thanked her, she nodded back to him.

He then looked back down at Elayne, "are you ready, princess?" She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling at him, nodding. He grabbed his box and the basket with the food, that his mother had already packed for him, off the table. He walked her over to Midnight, the horse adjusted himself to allow her to get on him. When she was on the Midnight, Hawke put the basket in front of her and got on behind her. He nudged his horse forward, breathing in her smell, she was intoxicating. The perfume she was wearing making him think of roses blooming in the spring air.

When they got to the path in front of his house he jumped down off his horse, took the basket and set it beside him. She held out her hand to him, and he helped her down but before letting her go he kissed her deeply. When they came up for air, he picked up the basket, patted Midnight letting him go, took her hand and walked down the path with the moon casting a path for them. As they traveled to the lake, he closed his eyes for a second before they walked into the clearing.