“Iliva…”
“Yes, Tulomon?”
“I… Uh… I…”
“Yes?”
“We… I mean… I…”
Iliva laughed. “Something the matter?”
“Um… No, I guess not.” I got up, and looked out the window. The sun was rising, casting its brilliant rays through the small Dark Elf community.
“Iliva,” I said tentatively, “it’s tomorrow.” Iliva got up, and walked over to stand beside me. She was so… beautiful.
“You’re right,” she agreed, gazing at the sun’s brilliance. “But does it matter?”
“We agreed to work out our… differences in faith tomorrow. Today.”
I’d been a Dark Elf, but no more. I’d given it up for her. But she had become a Dark Elf for me! Neither of us knew quite what to do.
Iliva sighed. “I suppose you’re right… Perhaps praying to Cr- I mean, our respective gods will tell us something?” I nodded.
“Yes. But isn’t his a village of Dark Elves? Where will I…?”
“Not everyone here is a Dark Elf,” she assured me. “Some were exiled for other reasons. Take Kataya Liluthwin for example; she fell in love with a barbarian human of all things! But she still worships Cra. Don’t worry; there’s a temple of Cra here.”
“Then… shall we?” I asked, preparing to leave.
Iliva’s housing complex was very near the Temple of Cra, but we were waylaid at the entrance by Iggle Miffkins, the happy-go-lucky Halfling I’d been travelling with since I was exiled.
“Hi Tulomon!” he greeted me in his high, squeaky voice. “You’d never believe how adventurous the people here are! They’re much more interesting than you! But I guess you would believe, ‘cause you’re here, too, and you’ve apparently made some friends. Who’s she? What’s her name? Is she nice? Only, you wouldn’t be friends with her if she wasn’t nice, would you? Will she be my friend, too? Are you friends with her? Is she a Dark Elf or a non-Dark Elf? When did you meet her? Where does she live? Does she live near you? Has she had lots of adventures? Will she tell me about them? Is she-”
“Iggle Miffkins, this is Ilanaliva Rilness. Iliva, this is Iggle Miffkins, my… travelling companion for the past few months.”
“It’s very nice to-” Iliva began, but the annoying Ipah cut her off.
“Your name is Iliva? Are you the Iliva? The one Tulomon’s been moping about? Tulomon, is she-”
“Yes.”
“Wow! Who’d’ve thought we’d see her here! What are you doing here, Iliva? Can I call you Iliva? Or should I call you Ila… Ilaniv… Whatever it was?”
“You may call me Iliva,” she told him, smiling. How could she smile around the wretched Ipah? “And I’m here because I was looking for Tulomon.”
“But Tulomon thought you would hate him, ‘cause he’s a Dark Elf. Do you hate him?” I felt my face go red. Wretched Ipah!
“No, I don’t hate him. In fact, I became a Dark Elf myself.” Why was it Iliva could get along with the Halfling?
“Then everything’s perfect! It is perfect, right?”
“Well… Um…”
“Tulomon, what is it?”
“I became… I gave up being a Dark Elf so I could be with her,” I told Iggle Miffkins.
“Really? That’s good! You didn’t make a very good Dark Elf, Tulomon Iliva, you should stop being a Dark Elf. Tulomon didn’t make a very good Dark Elf, so if he likes you, you probably have a lot in common with him, so you probably won’t either.”
“Really?” Iliva asked, surprised. “What do you mean ‘not a very good Dark Elf’?”
“Dark Elves are supposed ot kill, which is mean, by the way, and Tulomon wasn’t very good at it.”
“Oh.” Iliva turned to me. “Tulomon-”
“Is that a dog? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a real live dog before!” Iggle Miffkins dashed off.
I turned to Iliva. “Uh… I think… What Iggle Miffkins said…”
“Yes, I agree.” How she could agree, when I didn’t even know what I was saying, was beyond me. “How do I… forsake my vows?”
“Uh… You could go to the temple.”
She nodded. “Let us go.”
The Canihin Priest was only too happy to help Iliva forsake her vows once he’d learned why she turned to the paths of darkness. He was also happy to see me formally forsake mine. Then he bid us good day, and hurried us out of the temple as quickly as possible.
Once outside, I took a deep breath, and turned to Iliva.
“Iliva, would you… Will you marry me?”
“Of course! Didn’t I already agree?”
“Yes, I suppose you did…” I then became to… distracted to say anything else.