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Kooriime (Koh-Oh-Ree-May)
Elves in the City
By L. A. Jones, Antonio Clemente Fernandez Abbott Press
Copyright © 2013 L. A. Jones
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-0923-8
CHAPTER 1
SAYTEN LALEIWELIHWYN
A few days before the American New Year, everyone had finally received some reason to rejoice. Adriaan had been discovered alive in Imperiallyss and was brought back to Rikku's Place. I didn't get to see him when he was brought in, but I took the return of our savior to be a sign of hope from the Ammiyallyss. No one seemed to know the details of Adriaan's alleged death and rebirth, but there were a lot of rumors circulating.
Everyone gathered in the mellornyaa tree hall at Rikku's Place, three weeks into the new year, for a conference that would be held by Adriaan. No one I knew had seen Adriaan since his return to New York. Everyone sat cross-legged on the floor with baited breath, awaiting the arrival of our savior. When he finally arrived, the entire hall was overcome with emotion. We all leapt to our feet and screamed and cheered. Some people cried, others ran up to him and embraced him. He didn't enter the hall alone. Walking closely behind Adriaan were the other militants who had been on the scene during my rescue from Antarctica; but alongside Adriaan was a young man I had never seen before. He has mahogany hair that fell past his shoulders in layers and big, sharp, grey eyes with thick black lashes. I found him to be quite handsome. What was unusual was that his fingers were interlaced with Adriaan's and they never parted; not even when other Elves had approached Adriaan to embrace him. I shook the arm of Fiero, who was standing next to me.
"Do you see that?" I hissed.
"Yes ... who is that man?" he asked me.
"I have no idea ... but do you see their rings?" I was in awe.
"Sure, but that doesn't mean that they're together. It only means that they're both married to someone," Fiero said.
A hush fell over the hall as Adriaan and his party reached the front of the room. We all knelt before him.
"Please don't," Adriaan said in his kind voice. "Do not kneel before me. Please, just have a seat. I wish to speak to you all today about the crimes that took place while I was in Kooriime last. But first I would like to introduce my husband, Ris Evangalarya, to you all ..."
Murmurs erupted all over the place over Adriaan's last statement. I could see my mother shaking her head with contempt.
"... I wish to do so only to better explain my story to you all," Adriaan called out over the murmuring.
Adriaan launched into his story about Callehndrina agreeing to marry him and Ris. He then launched into the story about her propaganda campaign against him and the Traveling Army, and then he went on to tell us about how Callehndrina had poisoned him in an attempt to kill him, which failed. Callehndrina had attempted to prise his powerful beryls from his arms in an attempt to increase her own powers and destroy Adriaan for good. Adriaan then thanked his crew members for coming back to Imperiallyss in search of him, and for rescuing him.
He continued by saying:
"I have seen many of the people that we have returned to Kooriime ostracized for being imprisoned by the scientists, just because they bear the scars from experimentation. Some men have been imprisoned as if they had committed crimes. The Elder Elves fear all of you. They think that any of you could be spies for your ex-captors. That you may even have been brain-washed or carry tracking devices deep within the cores of your bodies that may lead more trouble to Kooriime. The air is thick with paranoia. Callehndrina and Alexdor inspect all who return. They will inspect your minds and your bodies. If you have something to hide, then I ask you to apply caution when making the decision to return to Kooriime. You are all innocent and have suffered deeply, but that hardly seems to matter. You should be welcomed home with open arms, not treated like contaminated bearers of ill will. I can no longer promise that you will be safe in your own homes. That being said, the Traveling Army will only make one last voyage back to Kooriime and with us we will take any and all of you who wish to return there. Any of you who wish to remain here in New York City will receive schooling and life-training to help you adapt to your new lives ..."
"Who the hell would ever stay here?" I heard my mother say loudly.
"... I for one will remain here where I can live in peace with my husband. My comrades have also agreed to remain behind. I will do my best to negotiate terms and secure treaties with the world leaders to protect our rights as humans living in this world. Rikku and Maru have agreed to assist you all in finding sources of income and housing. We can build a community here in Elf Village beyond the reach of Callehndrina, and work together to live in harmony and practice our culture, as well as embrace new ideas as we see fit. That is all that I have to say to you all. The ship will leave for its final voyage to Kooriime at midnight on the first day of Calainis (May)."
The hall was entirely silent as Adriaan, his husband, and the other militants left. No one seemed to know what to say. One by one, the crowd began to thin.
"This is great! We get to go home!" my mother exclaimed after a while. "I only wish that it were sooner."
I looked over at Fierohaan, who seemed to be lost in thought. I took his hand.
"What is it?" I asked.
"What do you think that Adriaan meant when he said that our minds would be inspected as well as our bodies?" he asked me in a dazed whisper.
"Well, haven't you heard the stories about the trials with Callehndrina?" I asked him.
"No, is that learned in the last year of school?" Fiero asked.
"No—it's just gossip really. They say that if you stand trial before the Elder Elves, they penetrate your mind and look at all of your thoughts before deciding whether you are guilty or innocent. But what are you worried about?" I said.
"Rikku and Maru will help us. They intend to stay here as well," Fiero muttered, more to himself than to me. "She'll see that I've killed ... this must be what Adriaan is talking about. People are being imprisoned for committing crimes in an attempt to survive. That's the injustice. She'll see that I've taken human life and convict me, even though it was only the lives of those vile, evil, sadists." Fiero spoke in a rapid terrified whisper.
"Come on guys! We're going to have lunch," Tillary called.
"She'll know that we're together. That's why Adriaan told us that he is married to Ris. Callehndrina pretended to be okay with it because she had promised him a reward, but she did her best to make him suffer for it. She decided that he should die—that he is too radical and setting the wrong example. That he is shaking the foundations our social system is built upon. Men can't marry men in a matriarchal society, Sayten. She pretended that Adriaan had committed treason, but really she just wanted him out of the way because he was gaining too many admirers and going against the rules. And you! You bear the scars of experimentation ..."
"Let's just go and eat," I said consolingly. I was trembling. My mind was now racing with the thoughts Fiero had just implanted there. I needed a subject change. We could talk about this later.
"No, you go," Fiero said. He turned on the spot and dashed off in the opposite direction.
People all around me were surprisingly conflicted over the idea of returning to Kooriime. It was the one thing that we all thought we'd wanted for so long, but now, after hearing what had happened to Adriaan, no one seemed certain. The conspiracy against Adriaan wasn't something that anyone had ever heard of before. We all trusted the Elder Elves, not to rule us, but to keep order amongst us all. How could any of us possibly live in a world where we were in danger of persecution? I had a long conversation with Rockliiastan about this one day while we worked outside in a light snowstorm. According to him, we are already living in a world of persecution. But wasn't being back in our familiar world the lesser of two evils?
This matter seemed to be tearing Fierohaan apart. He was quiet most evenings and would stare vacantly. We were all sitting in the main room of our suite having a bowl of kale tea together when Azurelli blurted out,
"I'm not going back. I'm staying here."
My mother dropped her bowl, and the glazed pottery shattered. Hot tea spewed in all directions.
"What do you mean, boy?" my mother growled.
"There is nothing for me there." After Azurelli spoke those words, he rose from the table and went to bed.
"Make yourself scarce from him, Meilynn. He's a bad influence," my mother said. She took Azurelli's empty bowl and poured herself some more tea.
Fiero had left his bed that night for the bathroom. Everyone seemed to be sleeping, so I followed him. He was standing very still on the tiled floors with his back to me. When I walked around to face him, I saw that he stared at nothing.
"Fierohaan, what is it? What is happening to you?" I practically pleaded. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. "Please, Fiero, talk to me."
A single tear trickled down his cheek.
"I don't think that I can go home either," he said after a moment. His voice sounded strained when he said those words. I watched him for a while in silence.
"I don't want to lose you, Sayten. Even if I did go home, I would lose you. We live too far apart as it is.... Was this all just a big mistake?" he croaked.
"I would do anything for you, Fierohaan. All you need to do is ask," I said plainly.
More tears rushed from his eyes. I had never seen Fiero cry before. He had been so strong through everything that a part of me thought I never would see him cry. He was still beautiful in his weakness.
"I could never ask you for the things I want ..." Fiero said.
"Fine then, I'll make you an offer. I am offering to follow you wherever you go, Fierohaan Orrebbiore. I never planned to be without you. I have always thought that I would leave my family and follow you from the very beginning. You have me, Fierohaan. I am yours."
I thought these words might make Fiero feel better, but he only cried harder. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly.
"I'll never see my family again!" he cried.
"You don't have to make any decisions tonight, Fiero. We still have a little over two months." I began to dry his tears with the sleeves of my night shift. I kissed his nose and then his salty lips.
"Please don't cry any more. We'll figure everything out together. You're not alone in this," I said before kissing him again.
Before I knew it, our clothes were in the empty bathtub and we were rolling around the pearly tiled floor. I completely lost myself in my attempt to heal Fiero's heart. Fiero's shouts echoed around the bathroom walls, but I barely noticed. Before I climaxed, a bloodcurdling scream filled the room. I looked up to see my mother standing in the adjoining doorway. My mouth fell open and my penis softened automatically. Fiero was stiff as a board beneath me. I couldn't remember any prayer that might save me. I clambered into a standing position. Fiero seemed to be playing dead on the floor. My mother approached me slowly and I could feel every minute hair on my body stand up. She swung her arm back. I didn't even see it happen. I felt something heavy collide with my ear and I fell sideways into the empty hot tub. The other side of my head collided with the bottom of the tiled basin. I saw Glorianna's feet next to my face once she had jumped down into the tub. She reached down and grabbed me by my hair. She kept tugging until I was on my feet again. Her eyes were wider than I had ever seen them.
"What were you doing?" she asked in a shocked whisper. She shook me by my hair when I didn't answer right away.
"I love him, Hiril," I managed to choke out after a few moments of dead silence. Glorianna didn't seem to know what to say to this. Her eyes kept roving back and forth as if she was looking from one of my eyeballs to the other.
"What did they do to you?" she whispered.
"Who?" I asked.
"The scientists," she said almost inaudibly.
"I—I was this way before the scientists, Hiril. I've always wanted—,"
"Shut up!" my mother screamed. "Not my son. There is nothing wrong with my son. You're just missing Tandriia. The scientists have confused parts of you, but you will feel much better once you're home and you see Tandriia again."
"Mother, Tandriia is probably married by now and I want to be with Fierohaan ..." Glorianna had begun shaking me by my hair once more.
"No! It was him! He's the one who did this!" Glorianna looked to where Fiero sat at the edge of the tub. Fiero shook his head profusely.
"N—no! I didn't do anything," he said.
"Hiril please! We want to be together!" I pleaded desperately while trying to prise her fingers from my hair.
"You stop this right now, Sayten, or you cannot come back to Kooriime with us! I'll leave you here. MARK MY WORDS!" she screamed.
"I'm not going back. I'm staying here with Fierohaan." The words came out of me before I even had the chance to think of them. Is this really what I wanted? Before I could decide whether I wanted to take my words back, Glorianna let go of my hair and lurched towards Fiero. I ran after her and caught her by the waist.
"You can't do this!" she shouted. "You can't do this to my son! You've poisoned him! I know you have!"
"Hiril, we're in love! We've been in love for a long time!" I shouted as she squirmed. Glorianna stopped moving abruptly after a moment. She whipped around to face me.
"How long?" she demanded. Her eyes were still wide and her nostrils were flaring dangerously.
"Since the basement ..." I stated. I looked to Fiero for support. He sat frozen at the edge of the large basin with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. My mother opened her mouth to speak again but she couldn't seem to decide what to say. She drew her hand back again and smacked me down to the floor again.
"Hiril!" I heard someone shout. "What are you doing?"
Every bedroom had a door leading to the bathroom. Meilynn had come out of his room to see what all of the commotion was. My mother ran to Meilynn and began to sob. She told him about everything. I stood up in time to see Meilynn's wide eyes staring at Fiero sitting naked on the floor. By the time I had climbed out of the bathtub and reached Fiero, Tillary had entered the room, and then Errianna and Aeahwyn. Ceringtehn could sleep like the dead. We stayed up all night yelling and screaming and fighting in the bathroom. My brothers and sisters, who I had spent my entire life caring for, had turned on me. They all tried to beat up Fiero, but I wouldn't let them. They shouted horrible things and pleaded for us to stop this. They said that what we were doing was disgusting and wrong. Meilynn told me that I was embarrassing this whole family and that our father would kill Fiero in front of me if he were here. When the sun came up, Fiero and I grabbed some clothes and escaped. The last thing I heard was my mother deciding that this was somehow Adriaan's fault. They could argue amongst themselves for as long as they wanted as far as I was concerned.
CHAPTER 2
MEILYNN LALEIWELIHWYN
My head was throbbing so hard I was sure it would split open. How could Sayten do this to us? He was ruining everything. We were finally getting the opportunity to go home and he was ruining everything.
"How long have you known about this?" my mother screeched as she entered my bedroom. Tillary and I exchanged looks. We had left our mother alone in the bathroom to bathe once Fiero and Sayten had taken off. Now that she had regrouped, she was back on the war path.
"I didn't know anything!" Tillary cried defensively. He looked over at me.
"Don't look at me!" I snapped. "How was I supposed to know what Sayten's been doing? I never see him in the day and he disappears at night."
"You must not speak to him any more until he stops this! Do you understand me?" my mother hissed.
"But—," Tillary and I said at the same time.
"No!" our mother cried. "He is ruined! We will leave him here to spoil. We cannot have that in our family. We cannot bring him back to Farlindan to ruin the reputation of this family. As far as I am concerned, I only have three sons. If anyone asks, I've always had only three sons."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Kooriime (Koh-Oh-Ree-May) by L. A. Jones, Antonio Clemente Fernandez. Copyright © 2013 L. A. Jones. Excerpted by permission of Abbott Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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