9th day of the 7th month 580th year of the 8th era

Akuchi awoke. His head was on fire. He opened his eyes slowly. I am at home. His head started pounding. He closed his eyes. I didn’t drink that much last night ... Last night I was with the king ... I got married ... How did I get home? A faint memory of complete blackness was followed by him puking several times, while a woman stood next to him. Is that my wife? He searched his memory for her face, but none came, just images of her legs.

A soft humming wafted over his thoughts and Akuchi groaned. The humming stopped and a wood-on-metal clang followed by the door creaking open. He opened his eyes. Pain seared through his retinas again. He caught a flash of a woman with the light behind her. Her hair was cropped short, she was slim and naked. He moaned again and the door closed with a gentle thud. He opened his eyes again. The room was darker, and he could see clearly, though with great pain.

“You are awake, that is good,” a soft gentle voice came to him.

“I think I am hungover,” he answered.

“Yes, you did well to drink so much with the king.”

“So, that really did happen. Did I vomit near you?”

“Yes, but with that much wine, and a merge, you did well.”

“I didn’t do anything to hurt you? Did I?” he asked his voice rising.

“No, you fell asleep after arriving home.”

“Tell me, Aife,” he began. “Do you like my home?”

“It is very basic.”

“I am sorry; I have been focusing on growing food for the fort, not building my house.”

“No big deal,” she replied. “I think I can make it a home.”

“Good,” he murmured.

The smell of food wafted into the house, stewing vegetables and water. His stomach grumbled.

“You are hungry,” she exclaimed as she arose and exited the building. The light seared his eyes. He blinked and the pain eased.

“You can cook?” he asked.

“Yes.” She giggled, through the open door.

Akuchi got up, his head protesting each movement, and shuffled out like an old man.

The sun was well above the sky, indicating mid-morning. Aife sat on a log with a wooden spoon in her hand, leaning over the pot that sat on a wooden tripod, hanging over a roaring fire.

Akuchi frowned. When did I get a tripod?

Aife’s back was covered in red warts and laced with small white scars, that crisscrossed her back. Akuchi shuffled and sat on the log next to Aife and inspected his new wife closely for the first time. She was unpainted, her skin a dark brown. Her legs were perfectly formed and toned with lean muscles. Her face was pockmarked with pimples, warts, and scars. Her nose was bent to the left and her lips looked swollen. Under the bottom lip on the right was a huge wart that had a few strands of hair sticking out.

Now I understand …. she has been marked quite heavily by the curse.

His eyes travelled down her body. Her stomach was flat, but her skin was pulled so tight over her chest that Akuchi could count her ribs. It took him a great effort to look at his wife.

Has she been starved? She is ugly, far more so than any of the other elves that I have seen, even those at the baths.

Her pubic hair matched the dark black hair that clung in patches around her face.

Aife lifted the wooden spoon with a sample of the contents of the pot and tasted it. She then lifted a small wooden bowl and began to fill it from the contents of the pot. Once full she then handed it to Akuchi, who took it without pause.

“I had some ideas about improving the quality of life on this farm,” Aife began, “if you don’t mind making a few changes?”

“I spend most of my time in the fields tending to the crops,” replied Akuchi, “anything you can do would be welcome.”

“Thank you, husband.” She smiled and filled another bowl with the contents of the pot.

My wife is very ugly ... Sadness welled up inside of him as he began to eat.

“I do have a request,” Aife stated.

“Hmm?” Akuchi indicated she should continue. This stew is pretty good, so glad she can at least cook.

“When I was the princess, I encountered a diary from one of the old queens that said royal blood could fix the curse.”

Is there any hope of fixing the curse?

“But it required a non-elf to help.”

Akuchi raised an eyebrow and looked at Aife over his bowl.

“She wasn’t certain, and at the time there wasn’t any way to get a non-elf to help.”

Akuchi finished his food and handed the bowl back to Aife.

“It’s a small chance, and I am not certain it would work.” Aife went red. “You and I would need to …”

“… have sex?” Akuchi asked, swallowing heavily.

Aife went even redder and blushed.

“And you haven’t?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Oh,” mouthed Akuchi. “I was under the impression that you had.”

“No, never,” she avowed, “who said that I had?”

“Vel,” Akuchi answered. “Though he never said so, he just implied it.”

“How?”

“He said that most dark elves have sex early. And that you have had a number of suitors.”

“Oh.” Aife slumped her shoulders. “I have had suitors, but none could get past my face.”

Akuchi said nothing.

A tear escaped from her eye, and she wiped it away.

“I understand that I am ugly,” she murmured, “and I know we don’t know each other. I would not expect you to be faithful to me. I know that you would have had plenty of partners.”

Does she know how ugly she is? The sweet soul, I don’t want to hurt her.

“I had resigned myself to never getting married and living the life of a virgin spinster for the entirety of my life. Then you came along, and I remembered that diary of Queen Feme and I had hoped that I would become beautiful for you.”

More tears began to run down her face. She hid her face in her hands. Akuchi arose, sat next to her, and placed an arm around her shoulders. She turned into his embrace and cried.

“We could try it,” he mumbled into her black hair, “there is a way to make it work.”

“To break the curse?” she asked between sobs.

“I can make love to you tonight when it’s dark.”

“It doesn’t have to be good … Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

“Thank you.”

“I have chores to do,” he said, “and I am several hours behind.”

She sat upright and he stood.

“I will get you some meat for this stew and we can eat well tonight.”

“Thank you,” he said as he headed out to the other building.

Going into the storehouse he took out his axe and a shovel. He then walked past the fields where the crops were growing and to the edge of the forest. He set aside the shovel and began to swing at a tree.

She said she would not fault me for having a little action on the side.

He swung the axe and it bit deeply into the softwood of the tree.

I want a family. Is that something I can make with Aife? I could go into the fort in the afternoon with my delivery and do either Mayu or Aquillia before coming back at dinner time.

He swung the axe again and it bit into the tree again.

Is that something I could do?

He swung again at the tree and the axe bit into the wood, splintering off a piece.

One more and this tree will come down. Can I break my vows?

He lined up the swing and hit the weak spot. He then swung and as he pulled the axe out the tree began to fall. He nimbly stepped out of the way of the falling tree. The tree hit the ground with a loud crash and a snap from the tree stump.

I can’t believe that I am even thinking about breaking my vows before I have even made love with my wife. I would have to tell Oggy that I don’t need the guards.

He moved alongside the tree and swung at the branch of the tree, his axe biting into the wood.

Who was here when we came back? Was it Aquillia? Does she know that I am married? Would she still sleep with me if she knows?

Tears streamed down his face. I might not be able to have a family. Unless I can work out how to have children with Aife. Would they also be cursed like her? Could I love our children?

He swung the axe again and it cut through the branch and it fell to the ground.

The vows I took didn’t say I couldn’t … I said that what is mine is hers and what is hers is mine. What does that even mean? Does that mean that all that I have is hers? Then where is her stuff? Does it mean that we are each other? She didn’t even come with her full-length veil. Where is her stuff?

Akuchi swung at another branch and severed it from the trunk of the tree.

My vows did not say I had to be faithful to her. They said that all that is mine is hers. It didn’t say that I am hers.

He sat the axe down and the shovel against the tree trunk. He gathered up some the tree branches and began to haul them down the narrow path that led back to the hovel.

I need to dig that well soon.

He dragged the branches and set them against the small wood pile that sat against the hovel. Aife came from the front of the house and watched him place the fresh wood next to the house.

“New firewood?” she asked.

“Yes, I let it sit for a few days to dry out before splitting it.”

“Can I take the bits with leaves on it and turn it into a broom?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “We will need some kindling.”

“Got it.” She smiled at him.

He smiled a thin smile back at her.

Her face went red. He turned around to and walked back down the path.

Akuchi returned to the tree he had felled and started digging into the ground around the stump. He got underneath a root and used it to lever the tree up and out of the ground. As the tree came out of the ground it sent a shower of dirt up and over him. He turned his head away from the dirt and spied a small creature hopping along the log. It hopped the log and bounded its way up the narrow path towards the house.

He followed the animal as it scurried up the path. The creature made its way up to Aife and bumped into her. Aife was tying a bunch of short-leaved branches together with a piece of bark. She turned and looked down at the animal, bent down and picked it up by the scruff of the neck.

“I think you will be big enough to make my husband very happy,” she spoke to the animal.

It didn’t fight; it just twitched its nose as she grabbed its head and wrung its neck.

How did she do that? I have never been able to catch a rabbit, and this one came and offered itself to her.

“How do you plan on skinning it?” Akuchi asked stepping around the fence.

“You don’t have a knife?”

“No, I always got my meat from the fort.”

“To be honest, I did not think that far ahead,” she said.

“There are a couple of people who owe me in the fort,” he said. “I could get a knife for you.”

“Is there anything else you might need?”

“A bigger bed,” she joked.

“I think they only have single beds.” He smiled.