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"I don't like this," Ishan whispered, glaring at the newcomer as he stepped into the garden. It'd been a year since Scarlett's falling out with her father, and the poor girl had been subjected to constant surveillance ever since. Ishan wished there was something he could do, but there wasn't anything to be done. He couldn't even get a few moments alone with Scarlett, what with her father hovering over her all the bloody time!
And now the day had come. Scarlett had recently turned fifteen, and Arjun had decided today was the day his daughter was to meet her future husband. Ishan clenched his hands into fists. He tried telling himself it was simple jealousy at the elf's looks - black of hair and blue of eye, he had an unearthly beauty that far surpassed even the fairest sun elf - but Scarlett was staring at the elf with the look of one staring at delicious food. Ishan admitted in part she had good reason to stare so; night elves were the most beautiful of all the elven races living on Pandora, but they were very few, partly thanks to a millenia-old campaign against them by the other elven tribes, due to long-standing rumours that night elves "consorted with ye olde powers of darknesse", and so on. Ishan had never given much credit to the rumours, but as the night elf bowed before his future wife, the young forest elf reassessed his thoughts. 93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCciiktiIb
"Forgive my intrusion," the night elf boy said, bowing deeply to all present. His eyes remained locked to Scarlett's the whole time, and Ishan muttered sourly under his breath. The night elf raised an eyebrow as he looked at his forest elf cousin, and Ishan blushed as red as his hair. "Have we a problem?" the night elf asked, his tone light, but an unmistakable note of warning under the suave words.
"No, we don't," Ishan muttered. "But you've got some brass coming here."
The night elf shrugged. "My future father-in-law believed it was a good idea for me to come and visit my future wife," he said. Again his voice was smooth, but he put a slight emphasis on the words "my future wife", and Ishan resisted the urge to punch his rival square in his smug nose. "I trust I won't have to ... correct any imbalances?" the night elf added.
Ishan glared at him, but was forced to admit defeat. He and Scarlett had known this day was coming for a year, but even so, Ishan felt put out that his crush hadn't even put up a token resistance to her future husband's uncanny charm. "No," he muttered. "Any imbalances were put to rest a long time ago."93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvH5F9VCVT
Scarlett put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry," she said, and to Ishan's surprise, she actually sounded like she meant it. "I had no idea he'd be so ..."
"... gorgeous," Ishan finished for her, giving her a wry smile. He could now see the war in her eyes, and he hastened to give her her freedom before she let her unresolved feelings ruin her upcoming marriage. "If I find a girl half as gorgeous as he, well, I'll have my pants down and my ... ah... well, you know... faster than you can blink."
The night elf burst out laughing at this, and Ishan frowned at him, before giving vent to a chuckle of his own when he realised his now-not-rival was laughing with him and not at him. "Aptly put," he said, and Ishan clasped his wrists in the gesture of amity not seen between a forest elf and a night elf for thousands of years. The night elf looked startled, before smiling and returning the double clasp. "Hail and well met, cousin," he said. "I'm Ihenri Drovniu."93Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzumYNA66y
"I'm Ishan," the forest elf replied. "And I do apologise for being a boor. It was ill-mannered of me, and I do hope you can forgive my atrocious manners."
"Already forgiven," Ihenri assured him. "And please, do forgive my own rather boorish behaviour. I feared I'd stumbled on unrequited love, and I worried I might have to defend my future wife from unwanted attentions. Her father is very ... keen on this marriage going through, despite his misgivings as to my fiancee's feelings on the subject. He has made it quite clear I am to ... never mind."
Scarlett rolled her eyes. "He's laid it all out for me at great length," she said dryly, her face contorting in deeply-held pain for a moment before her face smoothed. Ishan turned and saw Arjun approaching, and he groaned. He hated the man, and he found Ihenri's arrival had been more fortuitous than he'd first believed when the night elf had entered the garden. Ihenri was clearly smitten with Scarlett, and Ishan barely resisted the urge to grin smugly. Whatever Arjun's plans concerning his daughter and future son-in-law, they were about to be derailed in the most glorious and spectacular fashion possible; whatever their shortcomings, night elves possessed the one trait that all elves shared, no matter their tribe; fierce and undying loyalty to the ones they loved. If Arjun thought he could control the marriage, he was going to be in for one hell of a shock!
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