Chapter 82: What Are Your Intentions with Her?
*Mid-morning. Vaelith Mansion.*
Lord Erenn and Lady Marell were in the main hall when Nathan and Liaraen entered.
They both stood up simultaneously upon seeing Liaraen.
Lady Marell ran to her. Again without ceremony. And this time, when she embraced her, she began speaking rapidly in Elven with a voice that suggested a full night of worry.
Liaraen accepted it.
With more gentleness than she’d shown the previous day.
Then Lady Marell pulled back.
And noticed the sword.
And went very still.
Lord Erenn approached. He looked at the sword in Liaraen’s right hand.
And he also went still.
"Liaraen," Lord Erenn said.
"Yes, Uncle."
"That is your father’s sword."
"Yes."
"How did you obtain it?"
"It was in a secret chamber behind the family portrait. It activated when I entered with Nathan. The sword recognized me as the legitimate heir."
Lady Marell brought her hands to her mouth.
Lord Erenn didn’t speak for a few seconds.
Then he inclined his head.
"The lineage recognition is definitive," Lord Erenn said. "The elven tribunal is going to have to update the succession registry. There’s no longer any ambiguity about who is the heir of House Sael’thoryn."
"Yes," Liaraen replied. "And about that, Uncle, I have something to tell you."
Lord Erenn and Lady Marell sat down.
Liaraen stood in front of them.
Nathan stood two steps behind her, his cynical smile slightly adjusted to "I’m going to listen without participating" mode.
Liaraen spoke with her aristocratic posture fully restored.
"Uncles. I’ve made an important decision, and I want to communicate it to you now that apparently the facts have been clearly established."
"Go ahead," Lord Erenn said.
"I’m not going to assume active leadership of House Sael’thoryn immediately. I’m going to find my sister Aelinne first. And I’m going to restore the family mansion only after I’ve found Aelinne—alive or with confirmation of her final fate."
Lord Erenn nodded.
"Appropriate."
"And to do that, I specifically need to be outside Aelthoren for the coming months."
Lady Marell paused to process that for a moment.
"Outside Aelthoren?"
"Yes."
"And where do you plan to go?"
"To Greywall, in the human kingdom. With Nathan."
Silence.
Lord Erenn looked at Nathan.
Nathan kept his carefully calibrated cynical smile. He said nothing.
Liaraen continued.
"Considering that Nathan brought me to Aelthoren and protected me throughout the entire journey. Considering that he demonstrated, on multiple occasions, that he was going to prioritize my well-being over his own. Considering that he has contacts in the human kingdom that could be useful in locating my sister. And considering that he is apparently the currently living person I trust the most, I have decided that Nathan is going to assume the continued informal guardianship of my person until I turn eighteen, when the elven major transition grants me full legal autonomy."
Silence.
Total.
In the hall.
Approximately five full seconds.
Nathan maintained his smile.
---
Lady Marell looked at Nathan.
Then at Liaraen.
Then at Nathan again.
Then at Lord Erenn.
Then, without warning, she started to cry.
With large tears. With a wide smile beneath the tears. With her left hand on her chest and her right hand extended toward Nathan with an open palm in a gesture Nathan didn’t specifically recognize but that was apparently ceremonial.
"Marell," Lord Erenn said.
Lady Marell didn’t respond. She kept crying.
With a smile.
With her hand extended.
Lord Erenn turned to Nathan.
And he also started to cry.
With his formal aristocratic posture maintained.
But with tears specifically present.
And with a voice that trembled when he spoke.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes, Lord Vaelith."
"The gesture you just accepted is the greatest act of love this hall has witnessed in several decades."
Nathan stood still for a moment.
*Wait.*
*Love?*
*What?*
*Whose?*
*Mine?*
*Wait.*
Lady Marell spoke then, with her voice also broken.
"Hunter Voss. House Vaelith recognizes with deep emotion the personal sacrifice you have decided to assume. Apparently we know your origin is common. We know you are human and that interspecies marriages between humans and elves have challenges that elven social conventions rarely openly support. However, we have observed, since your arrival yesterday, that the bond between you and our niece is sincere and apparently built on solid foundations. And considering all of this, House Vaelith formally approves the relationship between the two of you."
Silence.
Nathan stood still.
With his smile.
Adjusted specifically to "uncomfortable smile" mode.
*....*
*Wait.*
*Relationship?*
*What relationship?*
*I didn’t say anything about a relationship.*
*Liaraen didn’t say anything about a relationship.*
*She said "informal guardianship."*
*Informal guardianship.*
*Not relationship.*
*The uncles heard "informal guardianship" and processed "interspecies commoner marriage approved by House Vaelith."*
*Apparently.*
*Aristocratic elven adults have their own way of hearing information.*
*Apparently.*
Nathan glanced at Liaraen out of the corner of his eye.
Liaraen had her aristocratic posture fully restored.
Not correcting her uncles.
Not clarifying the interpretation.
Not saying absolutely anything about it.
Just nodding with ceremonial formality.
*She’s not correcting them.*
*She apparently doesn’t consider it necessary to correct them.*
*She prefers them to think what they’re thinking.*
*Good.*
*I’ll keep the uncomfortable smile anyway.*
Lord Erenn continued, with his voice also softer and tears still present.
"Hunter Voss. However, House Vaelith also has a specific condition that must be established now to avoid future misunderstandings."
"Go ahead, Lord Vaelith," Nathan replied, with controlled calm.
"Our niece turns eighteen in approximately ten months. And those ten months are going to include periods when the two of you are going to be in continued proximity without appropriate supervision."
"Understood."
"Elven convention establishes that until she turns eighteen and completes the major transition, no type of physical contact between you that exceeds the strictly guardian nature can be permitted. This includes acts that most equivalent human couples would consider appropriate at Liaraen’s current age. Apparently in elven society, the major transition is specifically the cultural threshold that authorizes those acts, not the apparent chronological age."
Nathan kept his uncomfortable smile.
*Ah.*
*Only a couple of stupid or perverted humans would consider something like that appropriate.*
*I have no intention of doing any of what they believe I might be considering doing.*
*Apparently.*
*No, I really have no intention of doing it—I’m not a pervert.*
Lord Erenn continued, with a threatening undertone beneath the formality.
"Hunter Voss. If you were to violate this condition, apparently House Vaelith and all allied minor houses are going to consider the act a direct affront. And the kingdom of Aelthoren will process the matter as a major diplomatic incident with specific consequences that will include legal responses that will not favor your personal well-being nor that of your extended family, if you have one."
"Understood."
"Ten months."
"Understood."
"Not a day earlier."
"Understood."
Nathan maintained his smile.
Externally, calibrated.
Internally, specifically thinking.
*The elven uncles just legally threatened me about not doing inappropriate things with Liaraen for the next ten months.*
*Things I have no specific intention of doing.*
*Not now.*
*Not in ten months.*
*Not ideally ever.*
*Because Liaraen is Sprout.*
*She’s a little sister... Of course, when she’s older maybe...*
*She’s a person for whom I’m assuming informal guardianship.*
*She’s not a romantic candidate yet.*
*The elven uncles don’t know this.*
*Liaraen is specifically not correcting them.*
*Good.*
*I’ll keep the uncomfortable smile.*
*And I’ll nod.*
*And I’ll wait until the conversation ends.*
*And then I’m going to have a different conversation with Sprout about what just happened.*
Nathan inclined his head formally.
"Lord Vaelith. Lady Vaelith. I appreciate the clarity of the specific conditions. I am going to respect the elven convention for the next ten months without exception. You have my specific word on that."
"I appreciate the word," Lord Erenn said.
"I appreciate the word," Lady Marell said.
"Acceptable," Nathan said.
Liaraen, beside him, maintained her aristocratic posture.
Not correcting.
Not clarifying.
Not commenting.
Just nodding formally, though inside:
*Nathan just promised my uncles he’ll make me his when I’m of age... Wait, why am I thinking this? It’s not that Nathan is a bad guy, and he is kind of handsome, but... No, no, no—what are you thinking, Liaraen.*
---
The conversation continued for approximately an hour.
Lord Erenn detailed the logistical conditions of their departure. House Vaelith was going to provide a cart, escort to the border, provisions for the journey, and a reasonable amount of money for operational expenses over the coming months.
Nathan accepted this time.
Apparently informal guardianship required specific resources he didn’t have, and apparently refusing all material support was going to be specifically irresponsible in a context where an elven daughter was involved.
Lady Marell added details about the clothes and provisions Liaraen was going to need. Apparently taking the departure as an excuse to prepare a completely new wardrobe for her, considering that the clothes Liaraen had brought from the kidnapping were already ruined from the journey.
Liaraen accepted with aristocratic formality.
And around midday, when the conversation reached a natural pause, Nathan and Liaraen retired to their rooms to rest before the formal lunch.
Nathan closed his bedroom door.
He sat on the edge of the canopy bed.
He stared at the floor for approximately thirty seconds.
Then he started to laugh.
Quietly.
With the specific disbelief of someone who’d spent the last hour in an elven hall where continued informal guardianship had been interpreted as an approved interspecies romantic relationship by two major houses.
*Sprout.*
*You’re specifically more cunning than I am.*
*Apparently.*
*Noted.*
He lay back on the bed.
Looked at the canopy.
*Ten months.*
*Apparently the next ten months are going to be interesting.*
*Good.*
*Let’s go.*