Old Grudges

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"You, elf." A gruff sounding human man was seated in a tavern in the human village of Earlestown. It had once been a bustling market place, a meeting place for merchants and scholars. But now... It was lucky if a handful of hunters passed through on their way elsewhere. The people here lived close to the neighbouring kingdom that boasted that is was the seat of all civilisation, Elven, of course. The exact border was somewhat of a foggy issue, meaning battles often broke out over ownership of land. Elves passed through, most of them simply wishing to look down upon what they considered the uncivilised and rather boring humans, before returning to their own cities of silver.
"Elf?" The dark haired female asked, spitting that one word back at the man who had called it to her as she walked past his table. "You do not address the other women here as 'human', so not call me by my race either." She added rather haughtily.
"Well la-di-da! Ain't you just lady of the manor!" The man sneered, banging his glass down on the creaking wooden table. "Your kind aren't welcome here! You never will be! Get your knife ears back to your own side of the border!" 
The elven woman sighed heavily and with silent and sudden movements, she was in front of the human, her ornate elven dagger slammed into the chair all too close to his privates. "Do not test me, human. I have no humour for your kind this evening."

"You don't really have a choice." Dahlia informed Saul as she seated herself at the dining table. "If you refuse to let him take me, he will drag your countries to war."

"And? That's not your problem. Right?" Saul asked, nodding to the two servant girls who entered. They began helping him remove his shirt, both of them stifling giggles. They put a new shirt on him, their hands lingering longer than necessary.  It was clear how much they both wanted him and he didn't even notice. "You'll be free to go as you please." He said as he turned back to the dark haired elf, almost as if for her approval. He sat to allow the women to brush and tie back his golden hair in a thin leather strap. This they did with relish, practically purring like kittens. Again he noticed nothing. "I won't let him return you to a cage you don't belong in, Dahlia." He finished, moving to the chair opposite her and waving away the two servant girls. "I owe you that much."

Dahlia's violet eyes had watched everything that was happening, wondering if Saul didn't notice the women, or he just didn't care. "This is the kind of cage I can never be free from." She whispered after a moment of watching Saul before letting her eyes wander to one of the large windows. "He thinks forcing me to marry someone of his choosing will banish any thoughts I have of avenging my mother." Those mysterious eyes again fell upon Saul. "Why aren't you married? Isn't that expected of a king? To have a queen, and an heir?"

Saul gave her a strange look. "You know, I never put much thought into it. After what my own parents went through its not really ideal for me either. I don't want to be despised. I don't want to rut a woman to produce a child to one day replace me. It's lunacy." Saul said softly. "If I can't marry for love then I don't deserve her."

"Then you plan to live forever?" Dahlia asked, arching her brow slightly. "I don't believe in love. How can  something that makes people act like fools, be something so many people search for?" She asked seriously.

Sone of the brightness behind Saul's eyes disappeared. "If the elves do not believe in love there really must be no hope." He shook his head. "Just tonight I have had dwarves here telling me they are shedding blood on stone to create offspring. There is nothing left for us is there?" He sounded disappointed, his good humor completely gone.

"My opinion shouldn't speak for all elves." Dahlia breathed when she realised she had offended Saul. She stared down at the table for a moment, trying to simply keep from saying something else hurtful. Perhaps her father was right, perhaps it was best she simply keep her mouth shut and be exactly whatever everyone else wanted of her. "You won't hand Isla over to the dwarves, will you?" She asked after some time had passed.

"She is dangerous, Dahlia. To herself as much as others. What choice do I have on that matter?" Saul asked. He pushed his large hand through his hair, already pullingit out of t the binding in some places.

Dahlia's eye twitched slightly as she watched Saul, feeling her hot temper begin to flare again. "The same choice you have in offering me my freedom instead of handing me over to my father." She told the human king icily.

Saul glanced up at her as if he hadn't even considered it. "I..." He gave her a somewhat sheepish smile. "I'm not so sure about her. What if we offer her to your father instead of you?" He teased.

Dahlia wasn't smiling. "She has the same right to freedom that anyone does, being a dwarf should not change that fact." She chastised. "I'll go with my father, and prevent him waging war, if you set Isla free." The dark haired woman offered after very little consideration.

Saul was quick to shake his head. "No matter how you two feel about me, I'm not throwing either of you to the wolves." He told her. "Even if it means starting a war with elves and dwarves alike. Does that please,you, Dahlia?"

For once Dahlia actually seemed speechless, but eventually her smooth brow did crease into a frown. "Why would you do this?" She asked at last. "You think I actively tried to kill you."

"Because I know what it's like to feel like no one gives a shit about you. The gilded cage is beautiful but it's more for those looking in than those looking out. I am not my father or yours. I refuse to cage anything that doesn't want to be. Caging myself is enough." Saul told her as he got to his feet and headed to the door. "You must have had reason if you did try to kill me. Humans are strange to you after all. Right?"

Dahlia scowled at Saul as he walked away, then picked up the water jug from the table and threw it at the wall. "I do not know of any more ways I can tell you I was not the one who tried to kill you!" She screeched. "Isla is also the reason you didn't die where we found you! You talk like you are more enlightened than other humans, but when it comes down to it... you are all the same!"

"Why would you try to save me? It goes against everything you have said to me today!" He shouted, turning back to her moments before he got to the door. "You hate humans as much as the next elf. Don't try to deny it!"

"And you judge every elf exactly the same!" Dahlia shot back. "I already told you a thousand times we were not the ones who injured you, and that I didn't care what happened either way, so long as it happened on human territory, not elven!"

"Because you were afraid we would blame your people...oh Dahlia, I'm so sorry." Saul's voice went extremely soft. "I never even considered that. I would have done the same. You must forgive me."

Dahlia hated how emotional she had gotten. She blamed this damn dress, she felt to exposed and vulnerable without her weapons. "I must do nothing." She whispered. "Where is my father? He will want us to leave as soon as possible." It seemed she had made her choice at last, though it had nothing to do with preventing war, and everything to do with this human that had her wound so tightly.

"Are you to be taking the dwarf with you?" Saul asked, squaring his shoulders and turning back to the door. "Your father won't be too happy with that one." He finished woodenly.

"Isla can do as she chooses, after all... did you not say no one should be caged?" Dahlia whispered, her violet gaze looking at Saul one last time before she heard the sound of her father's entourage approaching.

"You are making a mistake." Saul whispered, his hand on the door. "You will die in his cage." He opened the door at last, bowing ceremoniously to the men as they filed past. And then finally bowing lowest to Abalas, showing the greatest respect.

Perhaps that is simply how it has to be. Dahlia thought silently, her violet eyes filled with despair when she saw her father and the man he had promised her to enter the room. 
"Daughter, I see someone finally got you to wear a dress." Abalas commented as he looked his youngest child over.

"It was her own choice, your majesty." Saul said firmly,  noting the way Dahlia looked at the silent elf. He didn't like it. "I couldn't imagine forcing anyone to do something they didn't want to."

"And that, child, is why the elven kingdom flourishes, while humans see war at every turn." Abalas replied coolly. "You do not know our ways, so you would do best not to try and understand them."

"As you say, sire." Saul murmured, sounding like he was speaking to his own father. He pulled out the older man's chair and then Dahlia's, giving her a pointed look. Abalas' right hand saw it and gave his master a gentle poke.

Dahlia's violet gaze had lingered perhaps a little too long with Saul's, and Abalas slammed a palm down on the table. "Daughter, it does not do for a royal princess to stare at the king of another nation." He sniffed. "Forgive my daughter, Saul, she is young and wilful. But do not worry, we will have that pried from her soon enough. Marriage changes a woman, no matter how much they resist."
Dahlia's gaze shifted to the wall directly ahead of her, though her slender fingers were gripping the arms of her chair all too tightly, a silent testament to how hard she was trying to control herself.

"Indeed," Saul said, a sudden and yet slow smile sliding across his lips as he sat at the head of the table. "Our marriage will change a great many things, your magesty. More than just her title as princess."

Dahlia's mysteriously coloured eyes were wide when those words slammed into her. Her full lips parted slowly, as though were actively trying to form around the words. Any words. As is was, she was simply left staring wide eyed and open mouthed at Saul. Dahlia knew her father, and she knew he wouldn't just let this happen. She did't dare try to find the reason why her stomach filled with butterflies at the idea of marrying the golden haired human king.
Abalas was also smiling, a single finger tapping the heavy oak table beneath it. "Dear Saul, you think I would allow my youngest, most sought after, child to marry a human? King or no."

The silent elf was fuming, his entire body alight with rage. His hands were pulled into fists in front of him. He was not so calm as the two kings. 
"I'm afraid, dear Abalas, that I did not ask you." Saul said evenly. "This is not your choice. It is hers."