155.1: Do You Dream of Me?
Note to readers: Jonas & Taliel takes place concurrently with Season Four+ of Elven Heartbound and contains spoilers for the main story. The episode number indicates where it fits in the overall Elven Heartbound narrative, and the first episode should be read after Episode 155 of Elven Heartbound. Thanks for reading and enjoy! -Elizabeth xoxo
Curious.
Taliel takes in the fabric draped overhead before glancing around what appears to be a room constructed of stone.
A re-creation of a Nunian castle?
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” a voice beside her says, and she turns to see Jonas shoving off the wrought iron bed they occupy. His guard uniform hangs open at the neck, unbuttoned to his chest. Is that hair peeking through? He has hair on his chest?
He follows her gaze and quickly buttons the green jacket to his neck. “I don’t know what happened, but I assure you I am not in the habit of waking up in bed with a woman I barely know and no memory of how I got there.”
“Prince Rominy said you’re an honorable man.”
Jonas’s brows furrow and his lips move, but no sound comes out. He looks even more confused than before. “Rominy?” he finally manages. “You spoke to Prince Rominy about me?”
“I know this is all very confusing, but I can explain. What do you remember?”
“The Wildthorne Woods. An attack. And then...I don’t know. It’s fuzzy.”
“You threw yourself in front of me, Jonas of Nunia. Took an arrow meant for me.”
“Are you saying I’m dead?” He fumbles for the bedpost holding the canopy overhead.
“As far as I am aware, you are still very much alive. I would like to keep it that way.”
“Wh-what?” He turns and runs his hands through his mahogany hair. “None of this makes any sense. I was there. And now I’m here. A dream? With Taliel? Why am I dreaming about Taliel again? This is getting out of hand.”
Whistling wind. He dreams of her? And he called her Taliel.
He’s never used her name without her rank in the real world.
“It’s a dream.” He shrugs. “No point in fighting it.” Then he pounds his fist on his forehead. “Jonas Caveneau. What is wrong with you?”
This is fascinating. She’s heard humans often speak to themselves.
The topic of his conversation leaves her a little warm, though. Is Jonas attracted to her? He’s always been kind. Well-mannered. Never treated her in any way untoward.
His heart consented to their heartbinding. Is this why?
“Jonas, come sit with me,” she says softly.
“A dream. This is just a dream.” He mumbles the words as he turns back to the bed and studies her. “You’re too beautiful for my own good.”
“I will take that as a compliment. Come.” She holds a hand toward him, and he takes it, threading his fingers with hers.
“A dream,” he whispers. Then he buries his other hand in her hair and groans. “This feels so real.”
“Jonas, I—”
But before she can finish, his lips are on hers in a hungry kiss.
Whistling wind. What sort of dreams does he have of her?
“Jonas,” she whispers, and he trails kisses along her jaw. She starts to say it isn’t a dream, but the words stick in her throat.
It is a dream. And she can’t lie to him now.
It’s not that sort of dream, though.
“Jonas, stop.”
He immediately pulls away. “What is wrong with you, Jonas? Get a hold of yourself. Taliel is not meant for you. Dream or not.”
“A heartbinding!” she finally blurts out as his words ring in her head.
She should have started with that. Before he kissed her.
Not that he shouldn’t kiss her. But they should probably at least talk about this first.
He stares at her. The blood drains from his face, and his eyes grow wide. “What did you say?”
“To save your life. This was the only way.”
“Are you saying you’re real?”
“As real as you are,” she says. When his face morphs from white to red, she struggles not to laugh, though a smile slips across her lips unbidden. “We weren’t sure it would work. Your heart needed to consent. I see now that our worries were unfounded.”
A Nunian curse slips from his mouth, and she does laugh this time.
“Forgive me,” he mumbles as he looks away.
“I’m a warrior, Jonas. I assure you, I’ve heard far worse.”
“So we’re married now? This is a forever sort of thing?”
“Yes.”
He curses again.
“Forgive me if you would have preferred death, but I was always taught that debts must be repaid. And you saved my life. Now, I’ve saved yours.”
“I can’t believe I kissed you. I promise I’m not a cad.”
She laughs again. “I’m unfamiliar with that word, but I can imagine what it means.”
He clears his throat. “I’m sure you can.”
“It is fascinating to me, though. Before I told you we’re bound, you kissed me. Now that you know, you refrain.”
“Stars above, Taliel! I thought you were a figment of my imagination.”
“So you only kiss me in your dreams?” She smiles playfully at him, and he turns red again.
“Perhaps I am a cad.”
“I doubt it. Prince Rominy spoke highly of you.”
“Are we really married?”
“I can’t lie to you. The magic ensures that.”
“Unless you’re not real.”
“Did I feel real when you kissed me?”
He gazes into her eyes before looking away without responding.
“You didn’t have to do this,” he whispers.
“I know.”
“I wasn’t planning to marry.”
“So the prince said. And yet, your heart consented.”
“I don’t even know your last name. Or how old you are. Or where you’re from.”
“I am Taliel Everescent, I hail from Darlei, and I am fifty-three years old.”
“Fifty-three?”
“That’s young by elven standards.”
“I suppose so. I am not fifty-three.”
“I know. Prince Rominy informed me.”
“And we’re married?”
“Yes, Jonas. Not just married. Heartbound. Like Prince Rominy and Princess Elowyn.”
“And this is the heartlanding?”
She takes in the stone walls again. “It seems so.”
“And we’ll come here every night?”
“Now that, I cannot tell you.”
“Taliel, what happens when Prince Rominy and Princess Elowyn return to Nunia?”
She looks down at her hands. “That, I also do not know.”
“You’re one of King Lorial’s elite warriors.”
She looks up and forces a smile. “Let’s not worry about it tonight.”
“Taliel.”
Her name rolls off his tongue like a gentle waterfall. It’s such a contrast to the Nunian words they speak.
“What’s done is done, as Queen Miravel likes to say. And I would do it again without regrets.”
He eyes her for a moment. “And you can’t lie to me?”
“Try lying to me. Tell me an untruth.”
He opens his mouth, but silence follows.
For a few moments, neither of them says anything, and she gives him time to process her words.
“Jonas,” she eventually says, and he looks her way once more.
His eyes are such a dark shade of brown.
“Do you dream of me?” she asks.
He glances away and breathes out slowly. “I believe you know the answer to that.”
“How long?”
“Since the day we met when you crossed the border into Nunia with the royal family of Lostariel.”
“We didn’t even converse that day.”
“No. But I wanted to.”
“Do you often dream of kissing women?”
He sends her a look of horror.
“Or is it only me?” she adds quietly.
He doesn’t answer right away. Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked.
“I swear it’s only you. I can’t get you out of my head.”
His words fill her with some measure of relief. “I suggest you stop trying, Jonas of Nunia. Embrace the magic that seems to have prepared your heart for this.”
“And what of your heart?”
“I’ve witnessed the power of the heartbinding in Princess Elowyn’s and Prince Cerian’s lives. It’s powerful magic. I expect to fall completely in love with you and don’t intend to fight it. For what it’s worth, I admire you already. I doubt falling in love will be hard.”
His eyes dart to her lips, but he doesn’t act on whatever he’s thinking.
“What happens now?” he asks.
“I don’t know. We wait to wake, I suppose.”
“I mean out there. In the real world.”
“The heartbinding will require us to stay near each other, as I understand it.”
“Do you live at Windhaven?”
“I don’t. I live with my brother and his binding partner in Darlei. I’m willing to relocate to Windhaven so you may be nearer the prince.”
“You’d do that?”
“Of course. Though I suspect we’ll be traveling to Celesta before long. I’ll speak to Rafelis about extending my assignment as liaison to your guard unit. We can figure out the rest later.”
He nods. “I told Princess Elowyn I signed up for the adventure. I never imagined it would look like this.”
“Neither did I. We further peaceful relations between our kingdoms with our binding, though. This isn’t a bad thing.”
“I suppose there are worse things than waking up married to the woman I can’t get out of my head.” He offers her a smile, and she laughs.
“That’s a relief. You may kiss me again if you desire.”
But before he can respond, everything around them fades into the darkness of the Wildthorne Woods.
