For a while they walked in silence through the woods next to each other. He had taken the heavy bag from her, which he had to hang loosely over his shoulder.
They hadn't exchanged a word since they'd left the gloomy clearing.
The whole time Tháleia looked shyly along the ground, while he constantly examined the surroundings critically and listened to the voices of the forest.
When she finally crossed the line between the dark and the bright part, she started to think it was necessary to start a conversation.
She looked up at him and asked softly, "Are you an elf?"
"Hm?", He detached his gaze from a bush that he had just examined and turned his attention to her.
"Whether you're an elf," she said a little louder now.
"Do you think that I am," he replied with a serious expression.
"I suppose so."
"Then I will probably be one too", now he gave her such a charming smile again, as he had often done before, "just like you.""Yes, I probably am," she lowered her gaze again.
"What is it? Did I say the wrong thing?"
"No, it's okay," she nervously fiddled with her fingers, "everything is fine."
He eyed her carefully from the side.
"Come on, don't you think you should start trusting me?"
"Yes, of course, but ..."
He stopped and looked at her piercingly: "Tháleia!"
"You won't want to have anything more to do with me," she said, not taking her eyes off her fingers. A small tear fell from one of her eyes. She sniffed softly.
He stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulders.
"Tell it to me! "
She turned to him and looked him straight in the eye.
"I'm an elf. At least partly."
"What does this mean? "
"Well, my mother was one," she ran up to a big old oak tree and sat down next to her.He followed her, carefully put the bag down and sat down next to her.
She plucked out a couple of blades of grass while she continued: "My father was a person. They met in the Nach area, in one of the small, old restaurants there."
"Not a very nice area," he said.
"Really not," she replied quietly, "at least that's where they got to know each other and spent the night together. My father was an outcast from Naarem and must have made an interesting impression on my mother. She was a thief, you know . "
She took a deep breath and then went on to say: "She stayed on this one night too, but it was enough. That night I was conceived, something my mother hadn't expected. As soon as I was old enough to be alone running and talking, she put me down and disappeared without a trace.I was four years old at the time.Since then I've been traveling here alone. "
He was pensive. She gave him a hesitant look from the side.
"I'm a freak, something that shouldn't be. Half-human, half-elf, where else can you find something like that?"
He still didn't say anything.
"I told you," she continued her nervous games with her fingers and wrapped the torn blades of grass around her, "nobody wants to have anything to do with a mongrel like me."
She started to get up, but he held her arm: "I think you have misjudged me, my dear!"
He looked down at her seriously.
"Do you really think I'm that superficial?"
She sank down next to him again and began to sob. "No," she said sadly.
"Well, you see," he put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, "show me those who have made your ancestry a disgrace and I will button them up."She laughed softly: "You are crazy."
She hung her head, not sure whether to cry or laugh.
She was very relieved that she could finally let it all out unrestrainedly. Especially her fears about her parentage.
As the tears ran down her flushed cheeks, she buried her face in his shirt and let out all of her emotions.
He admitted it without a word and stroked her hair.
After a few minutes there was no more sound from her and he assumed that she had fallen asleep.
He let his gaze wander over the surroundings, leaned his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes as well.

When she came to, she found herself alone, with her head on her pocket, in the middle of a clearing.
Groaning softly, she straightened up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Slowly but surely the memories came back.She had told him and he hadn't pushed her away. She didn't think something like this would ever happen to her in her life.
She eyed the small clearing, lit by the afternoon sun, and saw that she was alone.
He had gone and left her behind. She should have known, but at least she had been allowed to feel accepted for a brief moment. She rose from the floor and picked up her bag.
Now that he had brought her back to the safe part of the forest, she would find her way to Ara on her own.
She looked around and decided on a narrow path with a few forget-me-nots at the edge and started to stroll, dragging the bag across the floor again.
As she walked, she bent down for one of the small blue flowers, plucked one and tucked it into her hair.
"I won't forget you," she said softly with a smile and continued on her way....Sequel follows...

© Sarah Jakobeit 2004