The Seeker and the Source Pt. 05

She sat up in the tub looking around to see where Illandriil went before feeling a second body get in from behind her. Strong arms wrapped around her waist before she could squirm away. She put up with it as he moved a bar of sweet scented soap across her body as he washed her building up a thick lather across every inch of sleek skin.

He longed to stay in the makeshift tub with her but time was short for them and there was still much to do. He stood up after washing himself and dried himself off.

Illandriil quickly dressed himself and departed the tent as the she-elf servant came in. She came over and held a hand out to Aurelia to assist her out of the tub. Aurelia chose to ignore the servant's outstretched hand and got out of the tub herself. The she-elf sighed and handed her a towel before turning to set up the elaborate dress she brought in.

Aurelia took note of it from the corner of her eye as she dried herself off. Her eyes practically bulged out of her head as she took in the garment. The dress was far more intricate in design than the simpler dresses she had worn up until now. It featured layers upon layers of silky fabric, the bottom was a dark navy blue which gradually faded to pure white close to the top of the skirt.

The top of the dress featured the same thin golden chain straps but the bodice was neatly embroidered in lace flowers that trailed down to the skirt. Flashes of gemstones were stitched into the belt and along the edges of the sleeves and train. How was she suppose to get into that? How was she supposed to move?! She wondered to herself.

Aurelia stepped out of the tent bedecked out what felt like mountains of fabric. The she-elf had painstakingly pinned a portion of her loose curls into an elaborate semi-braid before running even more strings of gems and beads through it. Her whole scalp felt sore from all the pulling and tugging done to her hair. This left her in a sour mood as she left the tent. Looking over she saw the prince walking toward her. She couldn't help but notice he was wearing a tailored royal blue suit in a similar color to the dress she wore. He hadn't been wearing that this morning when he left the tent. When did he change into that? She wondered.

Illandriil inhaled a sharp breath when he saw Aurelia exit that tent. She looked like the very image of Calaudra, the Divine of Beauty. The layers of tulle and silk only accentuating her divine features.

###

They stood together just a little ways away from the camp, his horse near by. He had tried to teach Aurelia how to curtsey. Her face was flushed with laughter from watching him dip into the feminine pose and having nearly tumbled over in the obnoxious gown her put on her. Thankfully each time she nearly did he was able to catch her.

"I want you to know, when we get there I need you to do as I say" He said in a more serious tone when they finished.

"Oh so I'm not going to be tossed in prison?" she said sarcastically with a grim look on her face.

"No little one, had I wanted you in prison, your circumstances would be far different from the one you're in now."

"May as well be a prison" she said glumly rolling her eyes to the side.

He gripped her wrists tightly in his hands

"Stop it, Aurelia, this isn't a joke" he said with hurried irritation in his tone. He pressed his forehead to hers as it willing the stubborn girl to understand him.

"You'll behave yourself, when you're in court you cannot take the tone you take with me normally."

She let out a shrill squeak of pain as Illandriil gripped her wrists tighter, cutting her circulation of her blood off whilst digging his fingers painfully into her.

"You just have to stand beside me and smile. Can you do that?" His tone was low, dark, and threatening, that sent a shiver up Aurelia's spine.

She glared back at him but nodded mutely.

He let go of her wrists as suddenly as he had grabbed them and brushed her shoulders as though nothing had happened. He mounted his horse and despite the layers of heavy skirts in her dress, he lifted her up onto his horse with ease.

The city gates opened to cheering crowds as Illandriil rode in with Aurelia. The streets were littered as people gathered to catch of glimpse of the arriving prince. Aurelia couldn't help feeling like a defeated enemy being paraded through the streets. Even in her regalia.

Her mouth gaped open as they rounded the corner to the steps of a large palace. Standing at the top of the steps at the forefront amongst a group of splendidly dressed group of elven nobles was a woman draped in a regal blue gown. Despite her age, she looked coldly beautiful, her face stiff and regal. The women beamed with a smile while her eyes gave away very little mirth as she gazed back at Aurelia.

Illandriil stopped his horse at the foot of the steps and helped Aurelia down as soon as he was off himself. He held her arm as he tugged her up the stairs toward the cold woman.

Ascending the rest of the way himself Illandriil dipped into a graceful low bow

"My son." The regal lady said, approaching him and planting a kiss on his cheek.

"How long I have awaited for the day you'd return to us. With your capture of the Source, I am now ensured of the victory and safety of our people." She gushed.

Illandriil made a sound to clear his throat and held his hand out to Aurelia, gesturing for her to stand beside him.

"Aurelia, this is my mother Quene Eliinor" he said introducing the regal Elven quene, once she caught up.

Aurelia lowered her eyes politely and dipped into a clumsy curtsey which garnered a few chuckles from the gathered crowd, including a few nobles above, though one look from Illandriil silenced the lot of them.

"Your majesty" she said her soft musical voice ringing clear amongst the crowd.

"So this is the Source." the quene said flashing her a thin wry smile once Aurelia lifted her eyes to meet hers. Aurelia felt familiar virescent eyes rake up and down her as the quene examined her closely.

"I am please to welcome you to our kingdom my dear" she said finally after what felt like a thorough examination. Continuing the quene addressed the rest of her subjects.

"With the Source safely brought before us I am now more than ever assured that we can bring this war to a just and righteous end." Turning back to Aurelia, with the same wry smile and icy verdant stare she said

"For your sacrifice I give you the one thing that I know to be equal in value"

The Quene gestured toward a priestess of Meredith to come forward. Aurelia paled in horror at the realization.

Meredith was the greater Goddess of the hearth, family

and marriage.

###

That was why she was in this stupid gown. That was why he was dressed in his ridiculous matching suit. This was his wedding, to her. She felt his hand tighten around her arm preventing her from running.

She stood stiffly through the entire ceremony, barely noticing the look of pure joy on Illandriil's face as he went through his vows. She opened her mouth to protest when they had simply skipped over the part of the ceremony where she was to say her vows. But one hard look from Illandriil shut her right up. In fact his vows had been altered too. His vows being along the lines of claiming her, protecting her, loving her, ensuring her obedience. The last part had her shuddering internally.

Once the ceremony was over, he all but ran her into the palace away from the stares of his people, to her relief. They went through several passageways, climbing up stairs. Him taking several at a time before turning to see her still lagging behind. The gown proving heavy and trailing, causing her to move at a slow pace that eventually frustrated him. Without saying a word, he gathered her into his arms and carried her the rest of the way until they stood in front of two large white double doors that opened up into a beautiful ornate bedroom decorated in various deep navies and rich gold tones. He dismissed the servants that were in there and shut the doors behind them.

"My room" he said not looking at her while gesturing around the gigantic suite. It was a lot to take in for Aurelia. She had been used to sleeping outdoors, even the cabin room prison that the prince stuck her in back at the outpost paled in comparison to this. Just beyond to the left of them were two more golden gilded doors that led to what looked like a bathroom. She took a few hesitant steps forward before she felt a hand tighten around her wrist. She turned to look back at the prince gripping her, to give him a look of confusion.

"Just us right now veela, you can look around after, right now I need you." He wasn't joking. As soon as they left those doors, her guess would have been as good as his as to when they would be alone next.

They hadn't been in his room for very long before he was pulling her toward the way-too-large-for-either-of-them bed that dominated at the far right of the room, undoing the straps of the dress as they went before pulling if off. Practically tossing her into the silken sheets.

He proceeded to free his cock from his trousers to have his way with her. She turned around to try to crawl away from him but that only served to excite him further. He grabbed at her hips and pulled her back toward him before lining his thick member up with her tight slit. It wasn't long before he had speared his cock deep inside her. She moaned, her lips forming a complete 'O', at the feeling of suddenly being so full all at once. Her hands gripped at the sheets as she felt his cock throbbing deep inside her.

Sweat worked up at her brow as her body shifted and writhed beneath him. Her breath came out in hitches as she felt his hand un-calyx itself just below her navel, his fingers spreading itself wide. A tight, tangled, knotted feeling wrapped around her core where she felt him pressed against her. His hand slowly rubbed up her stomach, drifting past her sternum winding up the knot further as he travelled. Up and up.

Dusky fingers brushing against the soft ivory of her skin. They circled just around the rosy puckered bud. Mewling gasps left her lips at the feeling. The knot seemed to wind it self up below, like an elastic waiting to snap. There was a sharp twist that radiated pleasure down her shoulders. She found her body thrusting itself against him, working to expedite his hardened length in and out. He let out a deep breathy groan as he felt an ever increasing pressure build up in his balls. Her pussy squeezed tightly around his rod.

She could feel the knot being stretched further, the feeling taut along her body. So very close to.

SNAP.

She cried out in blissful delight, in a way that she felt certain the whole palace could hear. As a wave of ecstasy crashed into her. He was thrusting inside her deep and fast now enjoying the way she quivered around his cock as he grunted loudly with each thrust. Liquid coated the inside of her thigh as he worked his cock inside her, pressing it again her sensitive inner wall. Sweat slicked bodies colliding with each other. The sound of slapping flesh filling the chamber, cut through with the symphony of sounds escaping his mates lips.

His thrusts slowed down as he bent over her body to whisper in her ear.

"I have been looking forward to this day."

She shivered despite the feeling of his hot breath on her ear as he said this. He pushed his thick length slowly ensuring she felt each throb, each languid stroke. He moaned deeply in her ear. He felt himself draw close, as his organ stiffened for its release.

He surged inside her once again, pumping into her a few more times before he reached his own climax, sending streams of his own spending deep inside of her. Enjoying the sound of her gasping cries as he ground out inside her before slowly easing his still-slightly-stiff member from her quivering quim.

He leaned down to plant a chaste kiss to her temples of her paying extra attention to the way the golden aura seem to float around their bodies before seeping back underneath her skin. He was certain now he had seen the peculiar energy pour out of his pores. Rolling to his side he drew her to him holding her hand up so that they may both observe the strange effect.

It had now happened every time during sex between them. The strange gold aura only seemed to grow with intensity at every coupling.

Aurelia laid there in his arms, her mind working at a thousand beats a second, feeling tired from their coupling despite feeling oddly invigorated by the aura pouring into her skin. She rolled her head over to face his and stared intently into his eyes, thin evergreen rings surrounding, pitch black pupils. She felt his fingers softly brush against her cheek as if to encourage her gaze, holding her there, locked in this strange euphoric trance.

"Are we married now?" she asked finally breaking away from his eyes, still unsure whether the ceremony at the steps had all been some sort of wild imaginative daydream. Her hands played with the fingers of one of his. The soft pads of her fingers pulling at each slender yet strong knuckles. His tanned skin contrasted against her own pale ivory.

"Yes Veela, have you never seen a priestess of Maeredylle before?"

Aurelia perked at the unknown name, she thought the elves worshipped the same pantheon of Gods. The priestess she saw today during the ceremony looked just like a priestess of Meredith she had seen before, a few times in her childhood, when they sought shelter in a village.

"I've only known Meredith as one of the Greater Gods. Her sphere includes family, hearth and marriage." She recited the childhood lesson taught to her by the priestess. She had been fascinated with the story, as she stared at a picture of the sapphire eyed goddess. Long blonde tresses flowed to her waste, as she held her iconic objects. Fire, to symbolize the hearth in one hand, the other holding the floral wreath worn in wedding ceremonies.

"Ah, right. You humans have a different name for the gods. I believe Maeredylle is the Elvish name for the Goddess you call Meredith." He annunciated the 'ah' with an audible tone of understanding.

Illandriil rose in bed and proceeded to gather the spilled materials of her dress before turning to her and saying

"Come, we've dallied for too long."

He ruffled at the dress with a familiar inclination and then helped her back into it.

###

Aurelia was awash in a sea of glittering nobles from the minute they stepped into the great palace ballroom.

Large towers of lustrous gleaming glasses stood next to pristine fountains flowing with liquids of every color. Large glowing magical incandescent orbs casted a bright mystical light on the dizzying scene. The ceiling was magically enchanted to emulate a beautiful moonlit sky dotted with stars. Every so often various shades of blues and greens would flash through the sky aureating the night time scene. Hauntingly ethereal music, played by skilled elvish musicians echoed above the chatter. The whole room seemed crowded end to end with the elegant elven elite. Most stood a distance away, occasionally eyeing her with varying degrees of morbid curiosity and haughty disdain. There were a few who chose not to let the presence of a human deter them from rubbing elbows with their future monarch.

Those were the ones that left Aurelia completely uneasy, as they approached one after the other. Asking if she was grateful to have been rescued from (certain) death, or what it was like to be the first human to set foot inside Omythlian.

The prince on a whole worked hard to redirect conversation from his ill at ease spouse. Noticing her dour demeanor he did his best to project a calming aura around her, pulling her close to him as he did, a reassuring hand found its place at her hip.

Noticing that they were finally alone, the butterflies settled within Aurelia.

"Princess?" She asked referring to the title people had been addressing her with throughout the evening.

"Yes, you are my wife are you not?" He smiled knowing full well she remembered the moment the priestess joined them.

"I know, I just didn't think you would bestow a title on a lowly human."

"My people are a prejudiced bunch, but they would never deny you your full and rightful title as my wife. And there is nothing lowly about being human" He stated in response, catching the way she said 'lowly' and 'human'. It hurt him to hear her talk about humans like that.

Aurelia eyes widened at his admission. Did he really just say humans were not lowly? The prince who practically insisted on human weakness only weeks earlier. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Your highnesses" said Cerrella as she walked up to them.

Aurelia would describe her as the picture of icy cold beauty. She wore a shimmery aqua gown in the same elven fashion, her hair pinned up with a few locks of it swept to the side so that it sat prettily on her shoulder. She was the picture of elven elegance very much different from the hardened warrior Aurelia had previously seen. Her hard emerald eyes fixed into a glare at Aurelia before meeting the prince with a much softer expression. Aurelia stiffened feeling the clear mocking dislike Cerrella seemed to have for her.

"Lady Cerrella" said Aurelia dipping into a curtsey, now much improved having had to curtsey for the past few hours. Illandriil greeted her as well using the same honorifics.

"You're the picture of beauty cousin, lovely as ever. I wonder if you're as happy as we are to be back in the capital." Illandriil said cheerfully.

"For now, I will be grateful when things go back to normal. You two certainly seem to be making waves around here. Her especially." Said Cerrella, gesturing to Aurelia at the end.

"Whatever do you mean cousin?" Illandriil asked with mocked innocence.

"It seems you left a few admirers when you embarked on your quest. How disappointed they must be to find you so enamoured with your new wife."

"They knew from the beginning that I was fated to be binded to the Source. Why should I not be enamoured then with what the gods have created and deemed solely for me."

Aurelia wasn't sure why she felt so jilted by this conversation. What did she mean by admirers? Had Illandriil been with other women before? If so why did she care? Aurelia did her best to school her face, to prevent them both from seeing just how much Cerrella's words affected her.

"Gods or not, a human will always be a human." Cerrella warned despite taking an air of indifference.

"This is my wedding celebration, is it not? When else should one publicly show affection for their mate if not on the day of his wedding?"

"Alright, if it's just for your wedding as you say. I only say this in warning. You wouldn't want to give people the wrong idea."

"What I do with my wife is none of their concern or yours." As he said this Illandriil wrapped his arm around Aurelia's back, his hand landing suggestively at her hip, drawing her tightly against him. When he wanted he could just as stubborn as Aurelia.

"Of course." Cerrella said through gritted teeth. She brushed into a low graceful curtsy before her cousin. "Your highnesses" she said dismissing herself from their presence.

Sparing one last disdainful glace to Aurelia, Cerrella turned and headed toward a gaggle of Elven noblewomen who all dipped their heads back into conversation as though they had been spying the royal couple only moments ago.

Aurelia found herself unable to stop the words from escaping her lips when she asked Illandriil what Cerrella had meant by 'few admirers'.

Illandriil cocked a brow, bemused by her question.

"Green with envy I see."

"Hardly, I can't imagine anyone wanting to be with you" she said sarcastically though her expression jealous expression gave her away.