"Almost to Thepa."

Bidant gazed across the vast expanse of alfalfa fields as the sun began to rise over the horizon, casting a warm glow on the grassy plains. In the distance, the shining city of Goldale stood, shimmering like a beacon on the sea. He estimated he was just a few hours away from his destination, finally nearing the end of his journey. It had taken him an extra two days to reach where he was at, having navigated a rougher pass than expected, but none of that bothered him. In fact, he was in high spirits.

Ever since Gamma had begun sending him messages, no amount of hardship, distance, or bad weather could dampen his mood. Each moment was pure bless, one that carried him long into the day. There, he would pass the time thinking of her, their moments together, and what he would say to her when they reunited.

"How long?" he responded to the voice he sorely missed.

His heart pined for her presence. While the memory of their time together worked overtime to settle the aching beat, it was a poor substitute. The feeling that it left behind lacked the substance that could only be filled by standing in her presence.

"Three hours," Gamma replied, her voice soft and close through the whisper spell.

If anything, the Whisper Spell was a tease. Between the two of them, Gamma was the only one who could cast the spell and the constraints were frustrating. They had only about a hundred words per day between them, most of which had to be spent on mission updates. Yet Bidant would have given all the gold in his pouch, than be denied those few precious words.

"Jealous," he murmured.

The road had split and he took the left path that had been trodden under the feet of a thousand footsteps. Though he had taken this road only once in his life, he knew it would be his final push into Goldale.

"Of Thepa? You think she's prettier than me?" Gamma teased, her amusement evident even through the brief connection.

Her playfulness surprised him. It was uncharacteristic of the Youngling of the Plains, but it filled him with warmth. It showed they were getting comfortable enough with each other to let their hair down. Still, just in case, he didn't want to leave room for any misunderstandings.

"Of course not. Just her time with you."

"That's sweet of you, my love."

The foreign word startled him. Not that he didn't know the meaning of the word—everyone did. The word was as common as the grass in the field he now walked through and as tossed around as the bees that scattered to and from the flowers. But to him the world might as well have been the sun, moon, or stars; distant and untouchable.

""Love?" he echoed, his voice uncertain.

Silence lingered, and his pulse quickened as he walked, breath catching in his throat. His mind raced.

Was it a mistake? A slip of the tongue? If it was, was I okay with it? If not, could I handle it? Should I say it back? What would the Order of Kai say?

Not many Saintians joined the Order of Kai. Among the three Clayborn guilds, the Order, led by Prince Lumaris, was known for its strict discipline. Training consisted of grueling twenty-hour days filled with lessons, meditation, and a vegetable-based diet. Those who survived were expected to forsake all personal attachments. Only Kai and the Kingdom mattered, mostly in that order.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

Gamma's words abruptly cut off as the spell reached its limit. With this being her fourth cast, Bidant knew he wouldn't hear from her again until tomorrow.

So, it was a slip of the tongue, he thought. If that was the case, then why do I feel sad? Why do I feel as if my whole world has come crashing down as if the safeguards of my brain I had put in place to protect myself from the iniquities and desires of Sainta were made of melted butter?

That's when it clicked.

Love was the sun, the moon, and the stars. Love was the brown hair that smelled strongly of lilacs and moon flowers on a warm summer's day. Love was the green eyes he found himself getting lost in, even when they weren't looking. Love was a skin so soft, its slightest touch sent shivers down his spine. He had found love broken and desolate before nursing it back to health, but since that day love landed in his arms and he tasted its tender lips, all the armies in the world would not have been able to keep his heart from fighting a million battles just to once again see the woman who was love incarnate.

"I love you, Gamma. I love everything about you, from the way you care..."

The spell wore off, but Bidant didn't care. He prayed fiercely to Gamma's goddess, Chandeidra, hoping her divine grace might somehow carry his words to Gamma's heart. He spoke his love aloud, undeterred by who might overhear, only focused on making sure his message reached her.

"...about others more than yourself. I love the way your brow furrows when you're deep in thought. I love how your hands move when you pray to your goddess. And most of all, I love the way you say my name, as if it's the first time it's ever been spoken."

For the next two hours, Bidant wandered through the fields of Goldale, his voice carrying his love for Gamma into the open air. His words flowed freely, unburdened by fear or restraint, as if the whole world could hear his heart. But slowly, the rhythm of his speech faltered, overtaken by the frantic energy around him.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

A large number of people both young, old, rich, and poor moving frantically through the vineyards hastily gathering crops. No one stopped to pay him any mind, but curiosity got the better of him. Finding well-dressed youth, stuffing grapes into a potato sack, he ask what was going on.

"BEASTS!" The youngling screamed as he went back to his task.

The fear in his voice told Bidant everything he needed to know. Urgency gripped him as he raced toward Goldale's gates. Normally, a guard would have checked his credentials, but the gate was abandoned. He called out, but when no one answered, he pressed forward, navigating the interlocking barriers until he reached the city's third level—only to find it in chaos.

What should have been a place of refinement was now overrun with looters from every walk of life, ransacking shops and stalls. Only a few storefronts remained untouched, their magical protections bouncing stones and bricks harmlessly away. Guards who should have been maintaining order instead stood in formation around the barracks, heavily armed but unmoving.

Bidant ran as fast as he could through the riot-led street. At one point, a thief attempted to extract some item from his bag, but a quick grip of the wrist and a slight twist made sure the would-be rogue wouldn't be doing anything like it ever again. When he finally made it through the riot to the spire, he found it to be as equally blocked as the barracks.

"Sergeant!" Bidant addressed the nearest soldier in command. "I need access to the palace."

"No one gets through," the sergeant replied.

Bidant expected as much, but he flashed his credentials anyway.

"I'm with Elite Team Zero. I have the highest authority. I'm here seeking information on either Elite Team Zero or One."

The sergeant hesitated but shook his head. "I'm sorry, but my orders come from the captain himself. Only the royal family, Royal Guard, or officers of lieutenant rank or higher can enter the fourth level."

"What about seeking asylum at my embassy?"

"All ambassadors have been evacuated to the docks and put on ships bound for their homelands." The sergeant offered a sympathetic look. "There's no one here you're looking for. I suggest you try the barracks."

Bidant sighed and turned back toward the crowd.

Large fights continued to break out across the street as the shops yielded fewer and fewer stolen goods. People were looting what had already been stolen, driven by desperation. Near the hospital, an older female elf sat against the wall beside her broken husband, who lay sobbing in the dirt. Her purple dress had been torn and her face was covered in soot, but her circumstances did little to deter her shouting at the people on the streets to "go back to their own level."

To avoid the chaos, Bidant ducked down a narrow alley running alongside the hospital. It was eerily quiet save for the body lying still in the middle of the path. He stepped around it, thankful for the brief respite from the crowd, and hurried through the alley, emerging to find himself once more in front of a row of soldiers.

"Lieutenant!" Bidant called out, skipping formalities and flashing his credentials. "I need your help."

The older elf officer eyed him suspiciously at first but then, as her gaze fell on his papers, her expression shifted to shock. Her lips moved, mouthing a single word so faintly that without his ability to read lips, he would've missed it entirely.

"Thepa?"

Finally, he thought. Progress. He nodded. "I'm here for—"

"You're here for the prison transfer," she cut him off, her voice raised over the growing noise.

"What? No, I'm—"

"Yes, the prisoners. Follow me." She grabbed his arm and led him inside the building before he could object.

Confusion set in, but at least he was getting somewhere. Bidant followed her down two flights of stairs before she stopped in front of a locked door.

"I'm Lieutenant Kilyn," answered the woman to his unspoken questions. "Earlier today I watched a travesty committed against two fellow soldiers. They are friends of the former captain. I need your help in getting them out of the city."

He pleaded, "You don't understand—"

"No, you don't understand!" Kilyn interrupted, her voice hard. "If you don't help, innocent elves will die. One of them's already been marked for execution, and I fear the other's fate will be the same."

Bidant rubbed his chin, weighing his options. Even if what she said was true, this wasn't his mission. He had come to gather critical information, and getting involved in a prison break wasn't part of it.

"Look, I'm sorry this is happening," he said, keeping his voice firm. "But I can't help you. Believe it or not the information I seek may be greater than the fate of the wrongly convicted. I'm looking for anything related to Elite Team Zero or One. Can you help me or not?"

Kilyn glared at him, her eyes burning with contempt. She started to speak, stopped, then finally turned on her heel and shoved past him.

"Wait here," she spat. "I'll be right back."

As Kilyn disappeared up the stairs, Bidant leaned back against the wall, frustrated. His mind raced with thoughts of how complicated this had become, when a soft voice called out from the shadows.

"Hello?"

Bidant ignored it. He leaned back against the wall and kept his eyes fixed towards the stairs.

"Is anyone there?"

Come on..., he thought.

"I'd just like to speak to someone, anyone. By the god or you serve, please help me."

Still, he was defiant. It wasn't his place to interfere with Goldale's government or the will of the gods. At least, he hoped it wasn't, the whole thing smelled fishy, which wasn't helped by the prodding in the back of his head.

"Tell me," asked Bidant one day as he watched Gamma read from her holy book. It was the first time he had seen her read the book after learning about what had transpired between her and Rory. After having spent months with nothing as much as a prayer, he was surprised she would spend any time exploring its pages.

"Why do you admire Chandeidra? What's so great about her?" he had asked.

Gamma had smiled, her eyes full of understanding. "I haven't been the best follower lately. I've forgotten, perhaps too absorbed in my own self-pity to remember one of the most fundamental truths in all of her teachings."

"Which is?"

Religious teachings had been a soft subject for Bidant. It wasn't that he was against the concept of a deity, but he never had any desire to learn about one. However, Gamma had changed all of that. Gamma was patient. Gamma was kind. Gamma was in essence, the perfect teacher.

She stood and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and lovingly hung on his neck while staring deeply into his eyes. That day, her spoken words fell on deaf ears as they were lost in the pounding of his heart, but now, he truly understood what she meant to say.

"Chandeidra is love. To be a Youngling of Chandeidra you must know Chandeidra and love Chandeidra, but there's more to it than that. You can't love Chandeidra if you don't love her younglings. Forgiving Rory hasn't been easy for me. She will have to seek her own penitence, but I can't love Chandeidra, if I don't love Rory. That's all on me."

Bidant served no gods but worshiped the ground at the feet of one of their greatest servants. If Gamma loved the people of Sainta, he would too and he knew she would not have hesitated to answer the call of help from Kilyn or the unknown Saintian on the other side of the door.

"I'm coming!" he said, but his words didn't matter.

The voice didn't need words, the voice needed action; an action he was ready to do because love existed in his heart. He just needed Gamma in his life to realize it.

I love how you make me want to be elf, he thought to himself as he finally walked through the door at the bottom of the stairs.