Chapter 4

Elana surveyed, with a hidden revulsion, the brown lumpy food before her. After the short introductions, Luhan had pulled Elana over to a table telling her to sit. The table itself was a large solid wood table surrounded by just as solid wooden chairs, the chair at the head of the table covered in intricate designs. It had a cast iron, or it looked like cast iron, Chandler with candles over it, and was placed next to a large stone fireplace. There was no electricity, so the only lights came from the fire and candles placed around the room. Covering the room with an eerie glow.

After Luhan had sat Elana down at the table, he had disappeared down a dark hallway leaving Elana and Kris alone. To say it wasn't awkward would be an understatement. The room was completely silent apart from the crackling of the fire. Elana wanted to say something to break the silence, but she never was one to initiate a conversation. Kris was the same, she could tell. It was basically a race to see who could find something to say first. Kris ended up winning.

"Would you like me to hang your bag up?"

Elana peered towards Kris than to her bag still strapped across her shoulder. She lifted the strap over her head moving the bag to the chair next to her. "Is it okay if I just leave it here?" She pointed to the duffle. Kris nodded his head, and silence overtook the room again. Elana fidgeted in her seat, adjusting her cloak, before deciding to take that off as well. Unhooking the clasp, she folded the fabric before setting the piece carefully onto her bag.  It was at that moment that Luhan came back, now carrying a few plates of food. He set the food in front of Elana, as well as a cup that he filled with a foggy liquid that smelled sickly sweet. Elana tried hard not to grimace, the only thing that looked edible was the pear, and maybe the bread, but that also looked a bit stale. Elana wasn't sure, however, of the lumpy bowl of, well she assumed it was soup but it was really hard to tell. Maybe it was the low light, either way, it looked too much like puke. That was going to be hard to force down. 

"Is it not to your liking?" Luhan's soft voice spoke up over the quiet. She had been staring too long. Elana didn't want to be seen as rude, rejecting the food before she had even tried it, but it just looked so gross. Now though she felt guilty. Luhan had been so kind, well mostly, to her all day.

"Ah no, I've just never seen food like this before. What is this exactly?" Elana pointed to the lumpy brown goop before her, eyeing Luhan's response. He looked shocked like Elana has just asked the equivalent of "What's Mac'n Cheese?" 

"Really? You have never had Mutton Stew before?" Elana shook her head. "Hmm, well it is very good, and" He pointed to the bowl of stew. "That is a fresh batch, the Bakers wife brought it over this morning." Elana picked up her spoon, now was not the time to be picky. Besides she had tried mutton before, and it had been pretty good. She scooped up a spoonful and swallowed it. The warmth spreading across her empty belly. It was good, flavorful and hearty, she could taste the freshness of the ingredients. Garden-grown rather than store bought. "Do you like it?" Elana nodded before stuffing with another bite. As she ate Kris and Luhan moved to sit at the table with her. Kris to her right, at the head of the table. Luhan sitting across from her.

"So, where are you traveling to? It must be very import in order for your husband to allow you to travel alone." Elana choked on her food, grabbing the cup, she had yet to touch, to clear . 

"Husband? Why would you assume that I have a husband?" She questioned Kris. He sat leaning back in his chair, his hands folded in front of him.

"You are not married?" Luhan spoke, a bit bewildered.

"Of course not, I can't get married I don't even have a boyfriend. Not to mention the fact that I'm not old enough," Luhan and Kris frowned at each other. 

"Boyfriend? What is that?" Elana hit her hand on her forehead. Right she forgot she was in a different time. 

"Uh, I mean suitor? But still, I'm not old enough." 

"How old are you then, if you are not old enough to be married you should not even be traveling." Kris had taken over questioning her, and although Elana knew that, once upon a time, men and woman's rights had been unequal. Elana couldn't help but roll her eyes at Kris's question. 

"I'm seventeen," she stated, taking a bite of her bread. Kris and Luhan exchanged another look. 

"Seventeen is more than old enough to get married. Girls in our village get married by the age of fifteen. They have children by the time they reach seventeen." 

"Well, your village is weird, where I'm from it's not even legal to get married until your eighteen. And besides, you two have to be older than me, where are your wives?" Elana scooped up the last bits of stew with her bread, finally feeling full. 

"We are older, but our job does not allow us to get married." Kris calmly stated.

"Do not forget, Kris, we have only lived in this village for three years, we have yet to really meet any of the women here." Kris nodded. 

"I can not forget when that brash man called the village leader will not let me forget. Every time I see that man, he has to remind me of how he found the both of us half dead on the side of the road, and how he  saved our lives." Kris clucked his tongue. "I know he does it as a warning. We are only staying here in this dinky village because of our 'debt' to that man."  Luhan sighed, he hadn't meant to set Kris off. That information wasn't generally something they liked sharing with people they were familiar with, yet Kris had just blabbed in front of Elana, an almost stranger. At least he hadn't mentioned the fact that neither of them could remember anything before three years ago. That was part of the reason Luhan had never gotten married. For all he knew, he already was, and his wife was out there somewhere waiting for him, but then perhaps he was hesitating for no reason at all and he could just be a single man. 

The table was quiet for a minute everyone lost in thought until Kris's deep voice interrupted the silence. "You never did answer my question, Elana, for why are you traveling all alone? 

Elana bit her lip, as she thought of how to answer a question she didn't even know the answer to. At a time like this, the best thing would probably be a partial lie mixed with an exaggerated truth. Perhaps it would be smart to role-play until she figured out how she even got here, and how to get back. She took a deep breath, "Well, I left my town because I needed to get some important...important. Uh, um." Okay, she hadn't thought this through well enough. What would be important enough that she had to leave by herself? Not food, clothes wouldn't work either. Elana glanced up at the two men, then she glanced around the room before her eyes landed on something hanging in the corner of the room. "I uh, left to get some very special, rare herbs for our town's doctor. One of my best friends in very ill, and when I found out that nobody else was willing to get the herbs, I volunteered." That had to be the farthest stretch of a lie she had ever told. Elana just hoped they wouldn't ask any more questions. 

"That is very kind of you." Elana smiled at Luhan, he was always such a gentleman, but she wondered what he really thought. She could tell his eyes spoke differently than his mouth.

"Tch, kind, and extremely senseless. You could have been killed, or worse. What kind of village sends a girl out by herself into such dangerous unknown territory." Kris stood up from the table and began to pace in front of the fire. 

"I wasn't in any danger," Elana mumbled to herself, unfortunately, Kris still heard her.

"You would have been if Luhan had not found you. The woods around here