The Lineage Ch. 09

Zenna shuddered more in her grasp, "h-how long have y-you been planning th-this? And for that matter, w-why would I be the husband? We're both girls," she continued mewling while Alexis rubbed her face in the elf's soft hair.

"Come on, Zenny, I think we both know you'd be wearing the pants in any relationship."

"S-stop making jokes! This isn't a laughing matter! A-and what about the people of your kingdom? W-what would happen to you if we... did that?"

"Fuck 'em," Alexis growled into her pointy ear, making Zenna mewl. "Those shits have done nothing to deserve you. You don't owe them a goddamn thing. Forget about them and spend your life with me, instead."

"B-but..."

"No buts; I've already gotten it all figured out. I'll sell everything I own and take every penny of my overtime those bastards owe me and we'll run away. Just you and me. We'll take the money and go somewhere far away they'll never find us. We'll buy a plot of land somewhere private and build a little house and start a farm to live off. We'll live peacefully, quiet, survivging off the land and trading for what we need. You and I will start a family and have lots of little elves running around. Every day you'll stay in the house cleaning, making food and raising the little ones. And I'll be just outside, taking care of the farm and keeping a safe eye on my family."

Alexis leaned in so close the elf's ear was in her mouth, "and each day after I'm done plowing the fields... you'll get to plow me."

For a moment the elf didn't react. Yet she then did her best to hold down a giggle but was unsuccessful. "That's not, not f-funny!" she said even while laughing. Zenna then tried her best to keep an unfathomable scream from escaping her mouth when she found a pair of teeth gnawing on the tip of her pointy ear. Heated breaths manifested on her lips while Alexis continued chewing, and the guard was delighted when that tip in her mouth grew hot.

"S-stop that!" the elf mewled again, shifting her body in protest yet keeping that ear where the guardswoman could continue her antics.

Alexis pulled back some, but not before giving that tip one final lick. "Did you know that before the Elf Rebellion thousands of years ago, when the entire race was enslaved, elf ears were a delicacy among nobles? It was supposed to be a sign of their superiority, and earless elves were forever marked as being property. Disgusting story... but damn if this ear isn't tasty."

"N-no! Don't eat it!"

"But I think there was another reason they relieved elves of their ears... and it wasn't because of the taste. Elves had always been one of the most resilient races. Despite never having their own kingdoms up until that point and always being scattered across the world, people feared elves. Masters of surviving and deadly in combat. Where massive armies in open fields would decimate their enemies, elves stuck to the forests and shadows and struck them where it hurt the most. They would infiltrate and break their enemies from the inside out. Their tactics were called both underhanded and ingenious and, if they set their minds to it - insurmountable. The world feared them. No wonder they wanted to take their ears away so badly, especially after their war cry spread terror among the world's nations."

Letting her mind wander into Alexis' story, the elf had calmed down and slowly turned to face her. Color returned to her skin as her eyes danced softly. Alexis smiled at her.

"All men fear the long ear. It had such an impact that other races began taking the ears of elves to kill them, beat them down until they obeyed. This caused centuries of elven enslavement and countless earless elves. But they weren't deterred and eventually won their right to freedom. People once pissed themselves silly, hearing that cry. And I think one day they may say it again, but it won't be about a nation of elves. It will be just one."

"I remember my father telling my siblings and I about that old story. He said our clan descended from that nation the elves built of their own, before it crumbled and elves went their separate ways, returning to the forests. He said that, someday, the elves may once again rise from the corners of the world and remind the other races of their power."

Alexis nodded, "and they still might. And it might start with one beautiful blue-haired lady. Or," the guard perked up excitedly, "it might not, and that elf might agree to become my cute little husband. What does she say?"

There was no reason to answer. In her eyes Alexis could see the elf was already picturing the two of them, living out their lives happily before a few more sparks of life joined them. Looking deeper, she could see that scene was implanted in Zenna long before Alexis pulled it to the forefront. That smile on her face was evidence enough.

"More than anything, Lexie. That would make me happier more than anything," she pulled herself in so her heart pounded into Alexis' chest. "But please don't be angry at me when I say I just can't. Not yet. They're still waiting for me to come back, and I don't think I can make them wait forever. Please... just be patient. I'm never going to leave you. Never."

The guard huffed, and although she was smiling a line of tears ran sideways on her face. "I'll be patient, I promise you, Zenny. I'm going to be by your side forever, no matter what happens. And I'll always have your back, keeping you safe from anything that comes your way, until the day comes when you're so overwhelmingly strong that you'll live forever. Until that day comes, I'll keep you safe as best I can. But... but..." her lip compressed as she tried to keep from sobbing, "I need you to make me a promise, too."

"Anything, Lexie... just name it," the elf spoke with a wet voice, equally on the edge of sobbing.

The guard had to crush her eyes a few times so she could see, "just promise me you're going to be careful. In everything you do. There's a whole world of people out there, and not everyone is going to treat you right. I'm only one woman, and try as I might I can only do so much to keep you safe. You need to find your strength and be strong against them."

The elf shook her head, "I don't know if I can do that for you, Lexie. I'm just one weak little elf. How can you expect me to be strong against them all?"

Alexis shook her head also, more tears flinging off her face, "then don't. You don't need to be strong when you have lots of people around you who care about you just as I do. Those people are out there and they can be your strength. Just promise me you'll find them, and they'll keep you safe when I'm not there for you."

Zenna nodded again, this time in agreement, "I promise. I promise I'll always be safe."

The guard nodded back, "then you should go to them. Go and spread the gift that is you to all of them. I still want you to be mine and mine alone, but..." she paused to let a cry out of her mouth, "I know you're too big of a gift for one person to hold. So please, go share it with the world. That's my dream - for me to watch over you as you share it to everyone. Please Zenny, tell me you'll make my dream come true."

"I will... but only if you promise to make my dream come true, also," Zenna barely got out through the mess cascading out of her eyes and mouth.

"What is it? Anything. Just tell me and I'll make it happen."

Zenna drew breath, puffing up her chest more to the point it was crushing Alexis, "I want to run."

"H-huh?" Alexis faltered, blindsided by the simplicity of her request.

"I can't run. I can't. My body won't let me run freely. It hurts so much whenever I try," she sobbed, "so... someday, I want to be free of my burden, just for a little bit so I can run freely with you and our family. To have them all running around me, smiling, and being able to keep up with them as they go... that's my dream. Can you make that happen, Lexie?" her voice continually grew higher and higher as her heart thudded away.

Alexis took her hand up and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I can, you beautiful little elf. I'll make it happen and see you running with your family someday. I promise."

"How do I know you'll keep that promise, huh?" Zenna asked with a smile.

"You already know I will, you can feel it right here, can't you," the guard took her hand and pressed her palm fully into the girl's chest. Both of them looked down, seeing her digits sink deeply. Underneath her paw, that heavy, growing heat in her chest bloomed wildly. It was different that when the two were engaging in their depravity - hotter, bigger, and more enveloping than anything the two could ever explain in words.

The two locked eyes again as Alexis kept her hand on the girl's heart. Zenna shuddered, "what... what is it? I don't know what this is."

Alexis laughed, "you already know what it is, elfy. Your teacher has completed her work. You know all about it that you'll ever know. It's not something you can ever hold or touch or see. You can't buy it, sell it or make it. People have tried, but you just can't say it or shout it or gift it in any way. Truly, no one can ever give it to you or take it away. And, especially, it's not something one can just make in a bedroom," her eyes rolled around the bedroom, recounting the past events. "That feeling inside you is the most wonderful thing in the world. I should know - I feel it inside me, too."

"But," the elf raised her hand up, holding Alexis' own paw to her chest, "I thought it was supposed to hurt."

The guard squinted, "and who told you that?"

The elf squinted also, reddening some in embarrassment. "Umm... your queen, actually..."

Alexis grit her teeth and even scraped her fingernails into Zenna in frustration. Her muscles tensed as if ready for combat, and her scarred eye itched heavily. Her searchlights wandered in the direction of the palace as she growled, "I'm going to kill that stupid bitch someday..."

"L-Lexie!" the elf yelped in surprise.

Her attention came back to the girl, a smile returning to her face. "Don't ever say or believe that this feeling inside you is painful. That's so very, very wrong. This feeling inside... different than anything in the world... it can't hurt you. Never. In fact, it can heal you better than any medicine or magic could ever hope to achieve. Do you want me to show you?"

The girl gulped down her tears, scooting into Alexis' embrace as the guard smiled down upon her. Zenna nodded, cleaning the last tears from her eyes. The guardswoman brought both her hands up and cradled the elf's head between them, diving back in for one last kiss. Finally, after everything - every trial, every argument, every shouting match and every joke and every emotional moment the two shared - they finally became one spirit, forever inseparable.

Alexis Sylvaini leaned back and spoke to the woman she loved, "Zenna the elf... I love you."

Zenna the elf couldn't stop the ocean from coming out of her eyes, nor the explosion inside her from tearing her apart. She couldn't stop her mouth from stammering or her heart from running away rampantly. She couldn't keep her body still or her mind from taking flight. Yet, there was one act that was certainly within her power. With a voice quiet as the beat of a butterfly yet as loud as possible, she drew breath.

"Alexis Sylvaini... I... love you, too."

To be concluded.