Chapter Eight: A fireside conversation.
Hemlin leaves after supper.
Though there is gas in this world, Lyndaria doesn’t have it in the cottage. She uses candles and lanterns, and the glow of the fire to see by.
Olen brought his dog in with him for supper. He had kept him in the barn while we were settling in earlier but couldn’t keep him away any longer. I could see why; the dog stuck to Olen like glue.
He was more wolf than dog in appearance, though he was no bigger than a fox, with dark grey fur and purple eyes, much like Thistle’s.
“This is Flint,” Olen explained when he brought him in. “He’s the fastest hound you’ll ever meet, quick as a fox and has an unbelievable sense of smell.”
Olen and Flint had gone off to bed shortly after Hemlin left. Lyndaria made up a bed on the floor in Olen’s room for me so I can go to bed whenever I’m ready.
I wonder where Poplyn sleeps. Hopefully not in Olen’s room.
I sit on the lounge at Ashlyn’s feet. She is curled in the corner, a blanket draped over her knees, reading a book out loud to me and Lyndaria. I’m not a big reader. I read the farmer’s magazine like Uncle Scott, and I love a good history book, but I don’t really go for fiction, except for the occasional classic. But I could listen to Ashlyn read for hours.
She does all the voices and captures the emotions perfectly.
Soon she is yawning more than she is reading.
“Why don’t you go to bed?” Lyndaria suggests when Ashlyn finishes the chapter.
Ashlyn nods. She puts a bookmark in the page she is up to and places the book on the side table. Placing the blanket on the back of the lounge, she stands. I stand too. She smiles a sleepy smile at me, giving my hand a squeeze. “Goodnight.”
I swallow the desire to kiss her and give her hand a squeeze back. “Night.”
She hugs Lyndaria and goes off to her room.
Poplyn disappears.
“Where’s he going?” I ask Lyndaria.
“He will stay outside Ashlyn’s window during the night,” she explains.
“Outside? Won’t he be cold?” Not that I care that much about the little biter.
“He is a winter elf. He can withstand temperatures much colder than a human can.”
“Right. Is that why he slept after supper, because he’ll be guarding Ashlyn all night?” It had been pleasant without his constant chattering, which he had done the whole way through supper.
Lyndaria nods. “He only needs three hours of sleep.”
I fold my arms. “Is he actually any good at protecting Ashlyn? If someone was to try and hurt her, would he be able to stop them? I mean, he’s so small.”
“Do not let his height fool you. He is small but quick as a blink. He can handle a knife well, has exceptional sight and hearing, and is much stronger than you would think.”
He was an annoying little elf, but if he really could protect Ashlyn than he was worth putting up with.
Lyndaria slides to her knees on the floor and pulls the small table beside her chair in front of her. She indicates to the chessboard set up on it. “Care for a game?”
I’d rather go to bed, but I feel like this is some sort of test, and I am eager to pass, so I nod. I sit on the floor across from her. “It’s been a while since I’ve played.”
She gives me a small smile. “I’ll go easy on you.”
She allows me to go first.
“Do you miss electricity?” I ask as I make my first move.
“Not that much. I have indoor plumbing and that is the main thing.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I bet.”
She makes a move resulting in one of my pieces being taken. I can tell she is good and is going to beat me.
“Do you miss Earth?” I ask on my turn.
She shrugs. “It was never my true home. Julieana, Ashlyn’s mother, loved Earth once we discovered it. She chose to live there. Chose to marry a farmer.” Her eyes flick to mine. “Ashlyn is a lot like her mother, it seems.”
I feel my cheeks heat. I’m hoping she is like her mother. “You think that’s a bad thing?”
Her eyes fall to the board as she makes another move that takes one of my pieces. “I just want what is best for her. For her to live up to her full potential.”
I make a move, finally taking one of her pieces. “She is happy where she is.”
“She certainly looks happy. With you.”
And Lyndaria doesn’t sound happy about that.
“Was she happy with the prince? Did she love him?” I know she did, she was engaged to him, but I want to know what Lyndaria thinks.
“Yes, she loved him. Just not enough.” She sounds disappointed.
“Do you think she still loves him?” I don’t mean to ask, but it slips out, and now I really do want to know.
“Unfortunately, no.” More disappointment.
I raise an eyebrow at her. “You wish she was still with the prince?”
Lyndaria takes another of my pieces. “She was born to be queen. She could still be queen if she wanted. My brother’s son is currently on the throne as regent, waiting for Ashlyn to officially abdicate.”
Both eyebrows shoot up this time. “The prince is her cousin?”
“Not the one she was engaged to. He was from the neighbouring province.”
Relief washes over me. I was worried for a second there. I don’t know if that is acceptable in this world, but it isn’t in mine. Not where I’m from anyway.
“You clearly love her,” she says.
“I do.” I can’t deny it. Don’t want to deny it.
She leans back, her eyes piercing mine. “Enough to let her go if she wants to come back?”
“Enough to follow her if she does.”
“Would you really?” she asks, doubt clear in her tone. “Would you give up your whole world? Your family? Electricity? Your phone?”
I scoff. “You think so little of me that you really think I’d choose my phone over Ashlyn?”
She shrugs one shoulder elegantly. “I don’t know you enough.”
I take a deep breath to calm the frustration rising in me. “You don’t know me, but you know Ashlyn. Don’t you trust her enough to decide what’s best for herself?”
“I do, but she is still so young. She may change her mind one day and want to take her rightful place here in Eroania. If she is with you, though, she might not come back if she thinks you won’t come with her. She would put your wants before her own.”
“I’d let her know that I was willing to follow her wherever she wanted to go.”
“You think that now, but you are young, too.”
I shake my head, holding in another scoff. “I’m not that young. I’m older than my uncle when he got married, and he has been happily married for thirty years.”
By now I’ve taken a few pieces of hers, but she has a lot more of mine. I wish the game was over so I can get away from this conversation. I don’t think anything I say will convince Lyndaria of my true intentions.
“Ashlyn is highly sensitive, she feels deeply,” she tells me, stressing the last word. “She carries other people’s emotions as if they are her own. She is strong, but she is fragile. You must cherish her, be tender with her heart. Treat her like the priceless treasure she is. Can you handle that?”
“I won’t hurt her.” It’s the last thing I would ever do.
She makes her next move. “That’s what you all think, but if you can’t be truly selfless you are not worthy of her heart.”
“I’ll spend the rest of my days proving that I am.”
Her eyes flick back to mine. “You seem like a nice boy, but you must understand that with her absent father, and her mother gone, I am all she has to protect her.”
“I understand. I’m glad she has someone who cares for her as much as you do.”
It’s my turn to make a move. It’s hard to concentrate with everything that has been said. Once I make mine, Lyndaria makes hers.
“Checkmate.”
“Good game,” I tell her, and stand, relieved the game, and the conversation, is over. “Night.”
“Hemlin likes you,” she says as I start to turn.
I pause, looking back at her. “Do you trust his judgment?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “It’s not that I don’t like you, Samuel. I’m just not sure if you are the right one for my niece.”
“Maybe you should let Ashlyn decide that.”
She gives me a sharp nod and starts resetting the board. “Goodnight.”
Happy to be dismissed, I make my way to Olen’s room. I really am glad Lyndaria cares so much about Ashlyn, but she is wrong. I am the right one for Ashlyn, if she’ll have me. And if she ends up wanting to live on this world, so be it. I’d rather live with her here than live back home without her.
(Stay tuned for chapter nine!)
© Rochelle L. Sharpe, 2025.
Rochelle L. Sharpe 