Ileus: The Dark Prince

Did you find her?" asked Haldir, relaxed that Ileus had returned. It must have taken a lot of precision to do that. He was sweating profusely and Guarhal and Aidan supported him as they walked out of the cavern. They could hear the time funnel sizzling while collapsing within itself. 

"I did," he replied in a very low, hoarse voice. This time travel had taken a lot of energy out of him. He walked with wobbly knees back to the portal. When they came back to Eynsworth Palace, Haldir took him to the healers rather than to his bedchamber. 

Ileus had closed his eyes feeling extremely weak and worn out. The royal healers were around him. 

"Your Highness, we suggest that you don't use so much energy again. It will weaken your system and would take a long time to replenish. It is possible that you may lose some powers in the process or they may become dormant for a long time," said the main healer. He gave him a sleep draft mixed with potions. The other healers were wrapping linen soaked in green herbal solution. 

Ileus nodded feebly. He clutched the vial under his cloak. More wisps of his father's memories were there and he had to use them wisely. He was trying to get to his sister to know who was the person who had abducted them. If he could get one more hint, he would be able to catch the culprit. Not only was he going back in time, he knew that there was a kernel of chance that he was visiting her dreams. That is if she was dreaming. If she was as dark as he had left her, then he would have to be content with whatever information he could glean. Using the wisp of memory, he could slide inside the carriage when he traveled back in time. It was extremely complicated and he had to be very precise. And that was the reason why so much energy was spent. 

"When will I heal?" he asked with a ragged breath. The healers had started stripping off his clothes, as they wrapped the warm linen around his body. 

"It will take at least a week to ten days m'lord," he replied, offering him the glass with the draft. "And in those ten days you have to be very careful. No physical exercise." What he meant was no sex. 

Guarhal and Aidan laughed and laughed as Ileus grunted. "We will let Anastasia know about your, ahem," he coughed, "condition," said Guarhal and they laughed again. 

"Get out, both of you," Ileus said in an annoyed, low voice.

Haldir was smiling widely with his arms crossed across his chest, his white hair tied in a man bun, his sword sheathed to his side. Looking at him grinning, Ileus rolled his eyes. Guarhal asked him, "How is Inyanga doing? I believe you are about to become a father soon!" That was a jab at Ileus for not being able to have sex for a week. 

Haldir understood it. He tipped his head back and burst into laughter. Then he nodded and said, "She is doing fine. She has developed a new fetish." 

"Fetish?" Aidan asked with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of fetish?" he sounded worried. 

"She loves eating blueberry ice creams, a thing which humans relish and something which I have to get for her every now and then from the human realm!" Haldir said exasperatedly. 

Ileus, whose eyes were closed, sprang up on his elbows. Even Anastasia was eating salads of cherry tomato and cucumber—a lot. Could that be considered a fetish? He stared at Haldir with wide eyes. 

"What happened m'lord?" asked the healer, feeling worried that he had done something very wrong. 

"N— nothing," he stuttered and realizing that everyone was looking at him, he lay back on the pillow. Gods, did her fetish mean she was pregnant? She would surely rip him apart. And it was not his fault. It was the healer's fault. He had given him the wrong herbs. He shot a dark glare at the healer who appeared to shrink. He took the glass from his hand and drank the bitter draft. "Ugh!" he wanted to spit it out. 

Turning his attention back to Haldir, Aidan said, "Do you mean that she continuously wants to eat it or she get these episodes of wanting to eat it?" 

Haldir rolled his eyes. He grabbed a chair and pulled it to sit. "The ice cream needs to stay in the palace at all times. Not only that I am beginning to get exasperated by the fact that she has these weird mood swings! She is happy for a minute and the next minute she is crying like a baby. And then I am consoling her. Every night I walk into this mess." He put his hands up in the air. "I will not have more babies after this. This is the only one I am having and that's it!" 

For the first time Haldir actually shared his life as about-to-be-a-father. And the men could only agree with his… misery? 

Guarhal shook his head. "Man, I am never going to marry. There are so many women to swive. Why go to the length of marrying?" he let out a humorless laugh and then said, "But I can't imagine how cute your child would be, Haldir. I will play with him or her." It was as if he was volunteering to be the child's nanny. Imagine a broad, muscular, Guarhal as a… nanny. 

A smile spread on Haldir's lips. With his chin high, he said, "I think the baby will look like me. I am extremely sure that he or she will have white hair like me and the nose and lips and cheeks and chin will resemble me a lot." And for the first time Haldir's narcissistic-self showed. Why was it that Ileus could relate well?

At the same time, Aidan was just too shocked. He released a slow whistle. "Darla has developed a fetish for eating chocolate cakes," he said nervously. 

"What?" Haldir and Guarhal asked him in unison. 

Aidan's face was ruddy and Ileus was… dumbstruck, his eyes half open despite the draft showing its effect. Ileus wanted to ask if he noticed a change in her smell, but he realized that Aidan wasn't a werewolf. How would he? The world was conspiring against him. Suddenly he had this strong urge to be with his wife, sleep in the comfort of her arms and forget about it.

"She has stacked a bunch of chocolate cakes in her house and mine. Her parents are flustered and they asked me if I was serious about her," said Aidan. 

"Are you not?" asked Haldir. 

"Of course, I am!" said Aidan for the first time, declaring his feelings for Darla in front of them. "But I am too scared to ask her. What if she refuses?" he rubbed his hands over his face out of nervousness. 

Haldir, Guarhal and even about-to-sleep Ileus looked at him with pity and fear. The idea of rejection was… painful. Ileus just closed his eyes. The healers had wrapped his body in the warm linen and servants had added more logs to the fire. He didn't want to imagine Anastasia's wrath.