How Torlinque Became My Lifemate
during my life as the 'Lesia anyway

Part III

I waited. I knew eventually that Torlinque would have to take a turn as the Guard who watched over me while I slept. Sure enough, two days later, he was on the schedule for just that shift.

I waited until the entire house was asleep, especially the two maids who slept in the small room just off mine should I need anything in the night (K'antor was overprotective of me in those days). Then I got up out of my bed and went out to my terrace. Torlinque moved from just inside the door of my room to just outside the door onto the terrace. I knew it was his duty to keep me in view at all times during this shift, so that nothing would attack me in the night. Vor'jen have been known to use portals and materialize suddenly from nowhere. He said nothing.

I walked slowly over to the waist height wall surrounding the terrace. When I got there, I climbed up onto it and just stood there. Torlinque spoke then, because this behavior was out of character for me. "Please come down, my Lady. Standing there is not safe." He said it not because I might fall. Elves are used to walking in trees and have excellent balance. He said it because he did not know what might be lurking in the surrounding woods and I was a perfect target standing up there in my white gown in the moonlight. I could've easily been shot at.

I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled. Then I said, "Very well. As you wish." The next moment, I shape shifted and manifested my large white-feathered wings, a legacy of the Teachers within my bloodline. Then I quickly leapt off the wall. I glided gently down to the lawn below, shape shifted the wings away, and then just stood there with my back to the house.

Torlinque did not know that I could shape shift. No one but K'antor, Kharie'l and the nanny who raised K'antor and I did, and she had been sworn to silence and paid very well for her service to my mother. K'antor can shape shift too. We used to do it all the time as children, and it was one of the reasons we were sheltered away by our mother. She didn't want anyone knowing how close to being Teachers her children really were. If that were known, we would have been hunted relentlessly by the vor'jen until we were killed.

Torlinque was thunderstruck. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen with his own eyes, but there I was on the lawn below him. He leaned way out over the wall and Sent to me, "What are you doing!?" Again I looked at him over my shoulder. I Sent back, "I am unable to sleep tonight, and I am going for a walk. I suggest you do your duty and follow me, Adrastai'ne. I shall wait for you."

I could feel the apprehension in him. Still, he climbed down the vines trailing up the outside wall of the house and landed with a soft thud on his feet. When he was half way down, I started walking, so he had to sprint a little to catch up. I stayed ahead of him though and went off into the woods. "Where are you going!?" he Sent to me, confused, not understanding why I hadn't gone to the gardens where I usually walked. "To a certain spot I know." I replied, and included a certain energy vibration in the link. He knew this was personal then, and I felt the visceral change in him from a confused Adrastai trying to do his duty to a Lover pursuing his Beloved. He made no sound though.

There was no path in this part of the woods, and I had to carefully thread through the underbrush to avoid making any sound. I knew the way perfectly, having traveled it many times, so I was much faster at it than Torlinque, and he fell some distance behind me.

It wasn't long before I found the place I was looking for. It was an uninhabited part of the woods. There I had found a small pond nestled among some low hanging trees. Shrubs dotted the shoreline in places, so there were plenty of little hiding places all around the area.

By the time Torlinque finally caught up to me, and came within sight of the pond, I had already disrobed and jumped into the water to swim. He stopped short. I could see his chest heaving in the shadows as he caught his breath. He didn't say anything though, didn't tell me to get out of the water. He was still trying to maintain his sense of duty, remembering he was still technically on shift until dawn.

I went under the water and swam down to the large crystal I had hidden there earlier. I aimed a beam of Kholi'ani fire at it and it sprang to life, filling the water of the pond with a soft golden light that flickered slightly green when filtered through the moving water. All the fish darted for the shadows near the shore.

Torlinque just stood there. He had to. He had been ordered to keep me in view at all times until dawn. I knew that he could clearly see my naked form silhouetted and backlit in the water as I swam for a few minutes. All Tulari swim in the nude. It is a very common thing, but is most often done in groups of the same sex. Torlinque had never seen me naked before.

I swam for a few minutes more and then climbed out of the water. I hadn't brought a towel, and I didn't want to get my night gown wet. So, I brought my wings back out for a moment to fan myself dry with them. As I did so, I heard Torlinque gasp very softly. I turned to look at him. He had a wide eyed expression of awe upon his face. I smiled. Now he believed. Then I Sent to him, "Now you see a secret that has not been seen for many centuries. You must tell no one that you have seen it. It must remain protected for the time being." He nodded. He knew why.

I shifted back to my regular form once more and sat down on the mossy embankment of the pond. The water still glowed with light from the crystal in its depths. "Come and sit with me, Torlinque." I Sent.

A light breeze was blowing in the treetops. Torlinque took off his uniform jacket and put it around my shoulders in case I might be cold, but he didn't suggest I get dressed. Then he sat down next to me, naked from the waist up, his hip-length black hair flowing down his back like a cape.

Part IV