Behind the Mask

4. The beginning of the end

Maximus 

I breathed deeply and went to see Melinda. Elric was waiting for us in his office. We were ready to tell her the whole truth and not leave any of her questions unanswered.

She was in her sitting room with Lea and baby Alexander. The little one was playing with his stuffed animals in her arms.

“Dad,” Lea said as soon as she saw me, but she moved her gaze away swiftly. She was still angry about Alexus.

I was successfully losing everyone I cared about, even my little girl, the one who with everything was always easy, and natural. My sweet younger daughter.

We have already talked after she argued with me, but very superficially. Having such talks didn’t come easy for me, which was very odd for a diplomat like myself. I could discuss peace terms and strategies, come up with treaties and declarations. But when it was about talking about feelings, issues, mistakes, all the words seemed to falter. Hence, I used to write my Melinda letters. I’ve never stopped writing them, but she stopped answering a bit more than a year ago when the mask fell down.

“Lea, Melinda,” I greeted them and Melinda looked away as well, after nodding politely. 

“How may I help you?” She asked, formally, distant.

“I want to talk to you.” I took a few steps in her direction. 

She sighed and gave the baby to Lea. 

“What do you want, Maximus?” She cast me a tired, hopeless look. The light in her eyes faded away a tad as she looked at me. 

I broke my mate, so many times! I didn’t deserve her, however, I couldn’t have it any other way. 

I would fight for her until the end and win her back.

“You say you want to talk, but we never really do it, at least not about what really matters,” she added, standing up graciously.

She always kept her aura of royal perfection.

Being this straightforward wasn’t typical of her, she indeed reached her limit. Elric was right, delaying this talk would only make me lose her further. 

“I want to tell you everything.”  I looked intently at her big blue eyes and saw them grow even bigger for an instant, she was surprised. 

“Please come with me,” I added and she didn’t react, her eyes narrowing slightly, studying my expression without staring at me, glance by glance.

I reached for her hand and she didn’t pull it back but also didn’t move forward.

“I’ll tell you everything, answer all your questions. Elric and I have a lot to tell you,” I said.

Hearing Elric’s name made her a tad calmer. What was she thinking? That I wanted only to lure her to my bed?

“Lea, I want to talk to you too. Later,” I told my daughter, as I approached her with fast strides and planted a kiss on her baby’s head.

“Fine,” she sighed, not so agreeably.

“Shall we?” I asked Melinda. She nodded before I took her delicate hand in mine once again and we flashed to Elric’s office.

The time of truth had come. Just like big lies, the truth could have a devastating effect, leaving all that was built in the shadows in ruins after its brightness arise. 

~ * ~

Melinda looked between Elric and me. I was silent since we arrived, no one was making a sound and the tension in the air was thick. It was hard to start the talk I avoided for years, To find the words I feared. 

Melinda sighed and shook her head, probably doubting my intention to tell her everything. 

“Mel, we want to tell you everything. How it happened,” Elric started, attracting Melinda’s blue gaze towards him.

“Thank you, Elric. But you're not the one who owes me the truth, who has wronged me,” she said softly.  

“Actually, I do,” Elric replied, “It is partially my fault and it was entirely my fault in the beginning. Please take a seat.” he motioned to a green love chair. 

My mate looked astonished for a moment before she composed herself and took a seat in front of Elric and me. 

“Instead of telling me, show me. I can make a Memory Spell,” she suggested. 

I was worried about what she would see. But I couldn't deny her that, and neither could Elric. 

She portaled away and came back with salvia, two blue runes, three candles, special ones that I recognized as made from the lava of the blue volcano at the east of Avalon’s Realm. 

It was a memory spell, to bring the past to meet the present. I had seen it before, a long time ago. Each of the candles represented a dimension of time, past, present, and future. 

She placed the candles aligned on the accent table in front of her and brushed them with salvia.

“Elric, come here, let’s have your memories revealed,” she called. He took a step towards the love chair, but before he got closer to her, I sat by her side and took her hand in mine. 

“I am the one who owes you the truth, who owes you everything.” My eyes were fixed on hers. 

“Very well. Close your eyes and concentrate, inhaling the salvia and recalling the memory you want to show us,” she murmured before chanting the spell underneath her breath. 

I did as she said, feeling her delicate hand in mine, taking comfort in her proximity. As I opened my eyes, the fumes of salvia took shape, and images formed before us. 

***

“I have learned more about your mate. She is a royal, related to King Avalon, even though very remotely.  The chances of her accepting you as her mate are very low. Even if she does, King Avalon could forbid her,” Elric said, atypically agitated. 

“What can we do? What can I do, I can’t be away from her. She is my mate, Elric. I will talk to her, convince her sooner or later. If King Avalon tries to prevent us from being together, we can run away, we can fight…” my voice resonated with urgency and conviction. 

“This wouldn’t be a prudent move. It would be too risky, she could reject you, severing your mate bond forever.” 

I sighed deeply, running my fingers through my hair in exasperation. 

“There is another way. She would accept you, if she thought you were a wizard like her.” 

“How? Do you want me to lie to her?”  I questioned my King, one of the fairest men I had ever met. 

“No, not a lie. You could only hide the truth, conceal it behind a mask. Ask her to come to your encounter, conceal your Elf aura. You should make her wear a mask in your presence. Even though she won’t be able to see you, she will feel the sparkles, the connection and grow to care for you, want to be with you, it is only natural. This way you can lay with her and produce the child from the prophecy, my future mate and queen, the one who will bring  peace to our land.”

“A mask? Why? Why can’t she see my face, even if I conceal the fact that I am an Elf at first? Is it truly necessary? She hasn’t ever seen me,”  I wondered, confused. 

“What if even though she hasn’t seen your eyes and identified you as her mate tonight at the bar, she saw you among our elf group? She could easily realize that you are an elf. We can’t take risks, Maximus,” Elric replied with a deep sigh. 

I covered my face with both hands, and after a few minutes I finally said, “You are right.”

“We have to do it. The prophecy must be fulfilled, Maximus. These lands can’t be washed over with the blood of innocents anymore. ‘Only a love designed by destiny and intertwined with the golden strand of desire shall wash over with peace the Six Lands under the sky. 

Into the darkness, it shall emerge, from the entrails of feud, fire, and blood it shall lit its uncanny light. Love shall bring two, uniting all. Two will divide to finally multiplying, and attain one.” Elric repeated the prophecy, the Goddess’ words. Words that I already knew by heart. 

I took a sharp exhale, like the man who was carrying the weight of the destiny of the six realms on my back.  

“Elric, what is her name?” I asked, finally meeting my friend’s gaze. 

“Melinda,” he replied. 

“Melinda,” I echoed, trying her name, feeling it in my lips. Her name only was sweet like honey, I wondered what her lips would taste like. 

Of course, I cared about peace, very deeply. It wasn’t only Elric’s mission, but mine as well. The war took too much from my family and my realm, from all realms. It had to stop. But more than fearing the continuation of the war forevermore, I feared losing her. I feared that she would reject me, if she knew who I truly was. 

I had only seen Melinda once, but my fear of losing her was already immense and all-consuming.