AheLee's view

I was peacefully resting in the place I knew Garvan would not return to - the deeps, when all of a sudden I had the feeling of Garvan standing before me stroking my face, "Goodbye, my past love and sister, my time is done." and with that he was gone.

I wondered at it "Was this a hallucination?" I decided then I would go to the outlands to see if it was or not.

So, I packed up my things and left, heading for the place Garvan could most often be found - the outland lodge where he ruled over the outland drow.

My travels took a couple of weeks. I stopped by Elizabeth and asked if she had heard from or seen Garvan, and got, "No dear, why are you looking for him? The last I heard was he went looking for Sue as she disappeared leaving no trace. He was the only one of the husbands who went looking, I believe."

"I had a strange dream that he died," I said, "It seems too preposterous to be true, but I can't shake that it is true."

"Perhaps you are missing him," Elizabeth said wisely, "I know when Tyvan is gone too long, I start thinking things like that, and it scares me."

"I do miss him," I sighed, "But I cannot be with him, what we shared was wrong, and now he has the Goddesses blessing - he is where he belongs."

"I am sorry Ahelee," Elizabeth looked at me with sympathy, "I am sorry she did not give you other partners to be with like she did Garvan."

I shook my head, "No, she did the right thing, I need no one else, I can't be with anyone else... I know our situation is wrong, but it does not change how my body is permanently wired to his now. I know it isn't a marriage bond it is something deeper and I guess sicker. I know it would consume me and make me Unseelie if I did anything with anyone. No, it is better this way."

"I did not realise that you felt that on edge," Elizabeth smiled sadly, "But I do understand. I guess it is a trait that runs in the family. I would feel the same if Tyvan ever took another wife and I am pretty sure Tyvan would feel the same about me taking another husband. Not to mention your father truly did become Unseelie for a while because of his obsession with me."

"I never understood my father," I admitted, "I guess it was because I never really met him, I was raised by Grandma Lee and Grandpa Sylvan. They did not talk of Corvan nor Coran or my mother. All they did was teach me the way of being the Priestess of Aine."

"Yes, Lee was like that," Elizabeth nodded, "Even to me she wanted me to fulfill the role accurately, but I couldn't. The thought of another man - human or fae repulses me."

I stayed with Elizabeth another week, just relaxing in the care of a mother. It had been a long time since I had been treated as a child, and in that moment, I needed it. Elizabeth helped me get into a suitable frame of mind to see Garvan without wanting to act on my need of him. I knew that Garvan would not want me that way anyway.

I arrived at the Outland Lodge late in the afternoon after I had left Elizabeth, only to find Garvan not there either. I was saddened by this as it meant I had to look for him further. As I was tired, I just fell into the tent most often used by my Grandfather and his kelpie bride.

The next morning, I rose to find Caspian asleep out in the lounge, his arm covering his face.

"Caspian," I said shaking him awake.

"Hmm, what?" he moved his arm to look at me as he woke.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded; it was rare to see Caspian in someone else's tent.

"Oh, I was looking for you," he said, now fully awake and looking at me, a grave expression on his face.

"Why were you looking for me?" I asked him, puzzled as Caspian never looked for me now as I reminded him too much of Lee and Sylvan.

He took my hands in his and sat me beside him, "AheLee, I have some news to tell you of Garvan."

"What? What is it? Is he alright? That Sue do I need to discipline her?" I blubbered my worry.

Caspian shook his head as his beautiful green eyes filled with tears, "No, Garvan is not alright, you do not need to do anything to Sue though," he quickly said at my gasp of anger, "Ahelee, I am truly sorry to tell you this, but Garvan is dead."

"What? What do you mean he is dead? He can't be dead, he was still young, I am still young, he is still young..." I cried.

"He is dead Ahelee, I was there when he died, we all were," he said.

"Who is we all?" I hiccoughed.

"Sue, Kell, Glorifrir, and I," Caspian said sadly.

"Why did you not get me? How did he die?" I demanded an answer.

"He died of old age, he aged really quickly over 3 days and died. I did not think of you at that moment, I was too busy watching my third love die. I did not think of you at all, I am sorry. I have been at his gravesite for the past 2 weeks grieving with Sue and the others. It was Sue who remembered you. Again, I am sorry."

I nodded, astounded that Sue of all people remembered me and my love for her husband, and not the husband who was sitting before me. I knew Garvan and he had been intimate as he and Garvan had released their needs with each other for the love of Sue. Caspian had instigated it as Gavan had reminded him of his beloved Sylvan. Sylvan and he had always been together, sometimes with Lee and sometimes without. Then they both died, and Caspian was at a loss.

Caspian threw himself into his work, hardly eating nor sleeping, that was until he married Sue and met Garvan again. Garvan accepted his proposition and they had been together ever since. Although Caspian was not as present in Garvan's life and he had been in Sylvans, mainly because he was bringing up the next king of the fae court. It was his last chance to raise an heir to take over both courts and he did not want to stuff it up.

"Can you take me to where he is buried?" I asked eventually.

Caspian nodded, "Do you want to go now?"

I nodded, "Yes thanks."

"Are you sure you do not want something to eat first?"

"Yes, I better have breakfast first, I have a feeling I won't be eating much afterward," I agreed, and we headed off to have breakfast with the rest of the drow gathered there.

After breakfast, Caspian and I returned to the tent and he opened a portal to where Sue, Kell, and Glorifrir were grieving. It was only then I noticed Caspian's hair was not gold but grey.

Caspian and I entered a cave that smelled like sex, but it was strange, the 3 that were there stayed apart. They took us to Garvan's grave and allowed us to grieve. We stayed there a full day and night not eating or drinking anything, just kneeling in silence looking at the gravestone.

I found it a bit odd in that all the names of Sue and her husbands were there with their birth dates but no end dates. 'Sue is really young,' I thought, 'she really did not have long with her husband. Such a shame...'

She left with Caspian and Kell. Glory stayed with me for some reason making sure that I ate and drank. As I found the situation odd, I found myself asking him questions about the situation and the person called Gee.

At the end of the week, I decided to leave and go see Elizabeth and let her know she needed to take up the mantle of Priestess again. I had decided to be with Garvan in his death.

"Elizabeth," I smiled and hugged my Aunt.

"Ahelee, what is wrong?" she said holding me tight trying to give me comfort.

"Garvan died," I said, hearing her gasp after hearing the short statement.

"How?" Elizabeth asked withdrawing from the hug to look at me.

"Caspian said he died of old age," I said, as she drew me back into a hug holding my head.

"I am sorry dear," Elizabeth said, "I know how much you loved him. Is there anything we can do?"

"Can you please take over the role of Priestess again? I do not think I can continue as her servant now he is dead," I begged her.

Elizabeth thought for a while before nodding, "It is the least I can do for my sister's children. Garvan was my son for many years too. Where is he buried so that I might visit him someday?"

"Where Garvan was conceived," I said, hoping that Elizabeth knew where that was.

Elizabeth nodded as if she knew, "I will go when I can then. You go in peace and rest your soul."

"Thanks Elizabeth," I said. I stayed with her a week before leaving to return to the cave.

I was sure that Glory would have gone by then, I had not seen him leave when I left, but I suspected he would as he no longer had a reason to be there at the cave.

I arrived and kneeled at the gravesite, I put my hand on the now sunken grave, room for another body was there. I decided in that instant I would believe in and follow the God of Gods like Garvan had.

"Speak your decision," a voice spoke to me, and yet there was no one around me.

I got up and searched the area, there was definitely no one around, so I kneeled back down, returning to my thoughts.

Again, I heard, "Speak your decision." when I was thinking of following the God of Gods, and so I did.

"I AheLee Morrowind, give up my status as Priestess of Aine and I now choose to follow the God of Gods that Garvan gave his life for."

And a shooting pain shot through me, and again every hour afterward.

'Oh Garvan, Daddy, so this is what you both went through," and I wept, there was no one to help me.

I knew it would take 3 days as it had for Garvan, I had no idea how long my father lasted, I only knew that he had died this way from talking with Sue, one of the brief times we had met when she had been with Glorifrir.

So, the first day, I collected rocks to place over myself and placed them all around the indentation caused by the rapid deterioration of Garvans body. I doubted even his bones remained now.

The second day I wrote on the tombstone, "I, AheLee Morrowind have gone to rest with my beloved brother Garvan, this day." I then wrote the date I was born to the date I died. I hoped that anyone who came would figure out that I had died and buried myself here. I then went and found a flower that could grow over the gravesite to fill the area with the sweet smell from it.

The plant I found, to describe in human terms was like a rose bush ground cover, but the flowers looked like the joyfulness rose. I figured the joyfulness rose was appropriate as I was going home to be with my mother, father, and brother.

On the third day, the pain was the worst, so I lay down in the indentation left by Garvan and proceeded to bury myself. I covered my feet and legs with dirt and rocks. Planted the ground cover rose between my knees, lay back, and put the rocks over my head and upper body, allowing room to breathe.

The trickiest bit was to cover my arms that had been doing all the placing. I eventually settled on knocking them down onto my arms. Which took 5 tries to do. I took my last breath not long afterward.

My gamble on believing in the God of Gods paid off, I was greeted by Gee, and he brought me to my family. I was thankful that Gee met me, so I knew what the God Garvan followed looked like.

A/N If you enjoyed the chapter please vote.