HOME | DD

Description
The Elves of the Sandy Coves are very much unlike their distant Woodland kin, for they are very tribal in nature, and their skin beautifully sun-kissed. They have for a ruler a very young Chiefess...as far as the age of their people is concerned. Their shores are inaccessible by all other people, even by other Elves, and their territories fiercely protected and guarded.

Peculiarly enough, a strapping young lad washed up on their shores, the victim of a shipwreck and dread storm. He was first taken for dead, but perceiving the man still breathed, the Sand Elves nursed him back to health - an order received directly from their curious Chiefess, which they could not disobey, however much they loathed the idea. To their amazement - for they had always thought of Men as savages, brutes who looked to enslave their kind - he immediately took to helping them in their daily tasks, living as a servant among them. Their young Chiefess was so impressed by this that she finally commanded him to be brought before her, having actually spent time with him, even though he would never have known her as anything other than just a little girl among her people. They sat across from one another in a narrow, elongated and open-air sandy cave.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, speaking his language perfectly, though to him she sounded like a young girl.

"I have seen you here and there," he replied. "I don't, I confess, uh, rightly know." He found that he was at a loss for words.

"I am the Chiefess of the people here. My name is Shobira."

He was stunned. He had seen her almost every day that he had been there, but would never have taken the girl for the leader of that people.

"My name is Estiene," he replied. "So, um, you are the one they refer to as 'Your Grace' here?"

"That is so."

"Forgive me, Your Grace, I hope I have not disrespected you. It's just...I mean to say...that is...thank you. Thank you for saving my life. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for your people."

She smiled. "My people distrust Men. It was my command that kept you alive, Estiene."

"Th-thank you, Your Grace."

She drew herself a little closer to him. Her eyes bore into his as she stared up at him, and he found himself taken aback by this.

"I admit, I was very curious about you. I could have let the Mother Sea claim you for herself, but I chose instead to save your life. I wanted to see if the stories I grew up hearing about your kind were true. I am grateful, at least, that you proved me wrong."

He wanted to speak, but she continued.

"But there is something else..."

She drew out her hand, delicately tracing a small finger across his cheek. He felt himself flush, and his heart began pounding. It was in this moment that he couldn't be quite sure whether or not her kind were cannibalistic or she was falling for him. He begged the gods that it was not the former, but he was very much alarmed by the latter, considering this was, as far as he could tell, just a young girl, and he was a full grown man.

"Uh, I uh...don't know..." she placed the same delicate finger on his lips to silence him.

"I have decided to take you as my consort, Estiene."

Estiene went wide-eyed. Shock almost gave way to snickering, which he stifled quickly with his hand.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but...you couldn't be more than, what, twelve, er, fourteen years old? You...you're a child! And I'm a man! I mean, I've only been alive for twenty-five years, it's true, but still, the age difference is..."

"...significant," she finished for him. "I have been living for three hundred summers, and you are but a child in my sight. I comprehend your sentiments exactly."

Three. Hundred. Summers?!

"But you...your appearance!"

She looked at herself. "Yes, I suppose to your kind I would appear very young, since they say you age very rapidly, and live short lives. And I do appear young even in the eyes of my own people. But I do not lack in maturity, certainly to the extent that I am of marriageable age."

He found his heart racing even more. "I don't know about this. And besides, what motive could you possibly have for wanting to marry a man, and not one of your own?"

"It is unique, certainly," she said in that oh-so-serious tone that made her almost look comical because she did appear so childlike. "I already consulted with the elders of my people concerning the differences between you and I, and they have assured me that it would not be unprecedented."

"But as for what motivates me to select you as my mate. It is not just because you are very pleasing to behold," she said, letting her eyes run over him, "but because you selflessly took up the cause of my people as your own, and lived like one of us, without so much as a single thought. And you did so without expecting any gain for yourself, aside from receiving of your most basic necessities."

He cast his gaze down upon the smooth sand below him. "Well, you did save my life, and I wanted to show my gratitude to your people. I do owe you my life, after all. But I guess...I mean..." he laughed. I must be crazy! "What I mean is, is there love in this proposal?"

She smiled. "Of course. I've watched you. I would not be asking you this if you hadn't captured my heart, child of Men."

"But are...are you even mature enough, I mean..." he coughed, hardly able to bring himself to say what he had to say. "You know...I mean, marriage..." he motioned to her form.

"I am of full physical maturity," she replied seriously.

He shook his head. As honored and flattered as he was, he still wasn't sure he could bring himself to accept the proposal. It was a bizarre situation, a bizarre scene, a bizarre culture, where a woman who looked like a girl was proposing to him, completely unthinkable in terms of his own culture and people. But flattering it truly was, and the fact that she had just professed love for him....

There was no denying that she was utterly cute, beautiful even, but could he commit to this?

"Please, choose me, as I have chosen you, Estiene. I will love you with all of my being, all of my days."

"You may outlive me yet for hundreds of years, Shobira...if I may call you that."

She knelt before him, taking his hands into her own tiny hands.

"You may. And love knows no such boundaries. I devote myself entirely to you, body, soul, heart..." she looked up into his eyes.

He stroked her cheek with a coarse hand, and leaned in and kissed her passionately, tenderly. "I do choose you. I may be no reader of minds and hearts, but the sincerity of your love...even I can feel it. I give myself, my heart, my life, to you."

In answer, she returned his kiss with equal tenderness, laying her head against his chest and smiling, and there they rested as the sun began to set beneath the crystal-clear ocean waters of their home.

Description
The Elves of the Sandy Coves are very much unlike their distant Woodland kin, for they are very tribal in nature, and their skin beautifully sun-kissed. They have for a ruler a very young Chiefess...as far as the age of their people is concerned. Their shores are inaccessible by all other people, even by other Elves, and their territories fiercely protected and guarded.

Peculiarly enough, a strapping young lad washed up on their shores, the victim of a shipwreck and dread storm. He was first taken for dead, but perceiving the man still breathed, the Sand Elves nursed him back to health - an order received directly from their curious Chiefess, which they could not disobey, however much they loathed the idea. To their amazement - for they had always thought of Men as savages, brutes who looked to enslave their kind - he immediately took to helping them in their daily tasks, living as a servant among them. Their young Chiefess was so impressed by this that she finally commanded him to be brought before her, having actually spent time with him, even though he would never have known her as anything other than just a little girl among her people. They sat across from one another in a narrow, elongated and open-air sandy cave.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, speaking his language perfectly, though to him she sounded like a young girl.

"I have seen you here and there," he replied. "I don't, I confess, uh, rightly know." He found that he was at a loss for words.

"I am the Chiefess of the people here. My name is Shobira."

He was stunned. He had seen her almost every day that he had been there, but would never have taken the girl for the leader of that people.

"My name is Estiene," he replied. "So, um, you are the one they refer to as 'Your Grace' here?"

"That is so."

"Forgive me, Your Grace, I hope I have not disrespected you. It's just...I mean to say...that is...thank you. Thank you for saving my life. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for your people."

She smiled. "My people distrust Men. It was my command that kept you alive, Estiene."

"Th-thank you, Your Grace."

She drew herself a little closer to him. Her eyes bore into his as she stared up at him, and he found himself taken aback by this.

"I admit, I was very curious about you. I could have let the Mother Sea claim you for herself, but I chose instead to save your life. I wanted to see if the stories I grew up hearing about your kind were true. I am grateful, at least, that you proved me wrong."

He wanted to speak, but she continued.

"But there is something else..."

She drew out her hand, delicately tracing a small finger across his cheek. He felt himself flush, and his heart began pounding. It was in this moment that he couldn't be quite sure whether or not her kind were cannibalistic or she was falling for him. He begged the gods that it was not the former, but he was very much alarmed by the latter, considering this was, as far as he could tell, just a young girl, and he was a full grown man.

"Uh, I uh...don't know..." she placed the same delicate finger on his lips to silence him.

"I have decided to take you as my consort, Estiene."

Estiene went wide-eyed. Shock almost gave way to snickering, which he stifled quickly with his hand.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but...you couldn't be more than, what, twelve, er, fourteen years old? You...you're a child! And I'm a man! I mean, I've only been alive for twenty-five years, it's true, but still, the age difference is..."

"...significant," she finished for him. "I have been living for three hundred summers, and you are but a child in my sight. I comprehend your sentiments exactly."

Three. Hundred. Summers?!

"But you...your appearance!"

She looked at herself. "Yes, I suppose to your kind I would appear very young, since they say you age very rapidly, and live short lives. And I do appear young even in the eyes of my own people. But I do not lack in maturity, certainly to the extent that I am of marriageable age."

He found his heart racing even more. "I don't know about this. And besides, what motive could you possibly have for wanting to marry a man, and not one of your own?"

"It is unique, certainly," she said in that oh-so-serious tone that made her almost look comical because she did appear so childlike. "I already consulted with the elders of my people concerning the differences between you and I, and they have assured me that it would not be unprecedented."

"But as for what motivates me to select you as my mate. It is not just because you are very pleasing to behold," she said, letting her eyes run over him, "but because you selflessly took up the cause of my people as your own, and lived like one of us, without so much as a single thought. And you did so without expecting any gain for yourself, aside from receiving of your most basic necessities."

He cast his gaze down upon the smooth sand below him. "Well, you did save my life, and I wanted to show my gratitude to your people. I do owe you my life, after all. But I guess...I mean..." he laughed. I must be crazy! "What I mean is, is there love in this proposal?"

She smiled. "Of course. I've watched you. I would not be asking you this if you hadn't captured my heart, child of Men."

"But are...are you even mature enough, I mean..." he coughed, hardly able to bring himself to say what he had to say. "You know...I mean, marriage..." he motioned to her form.

"I am of full physical maturity," she replied seriously.

He shook his head. As honored and flattered as he was, he still wasn't sure he could bring himself to accept the proposal. It was a bizarre situation, a bizarre scene, a bizarre culture, where a woman who looked like a girl was proposing to him, completely unthinkable in terms of his own culture and people. But flattering it truly was, and the fact that she had just professed love for him....

There was no denying that she was utterly cute, beautiful even, but could he commit to this?

"Please, choose me, as I have chosen you, Estiene. I will love you with all of my being, all of my days."

"You may outlive me yet for hundreds of years, Shobira...if I may call you that."

She knelt before him, taking his hands into her own tiny hands.

"You may. And love knows no such boundaries. I devote myself entirely to you, body, soul, heart..." she looked up into his eyes.

He stroked her cheek with a coarse hand, and leaned in and kissed her passionately, tenderly. "I do choose you. I may be no reader of minds and hearts, but the sincerity of your love...even I can feel it. I give myself, my heart, my life, to you."

In answer, she returned his kiss with equal tenderness, laying her head against his chest and smiling, and there they rested as the sun began to set beneath the crystal-clear ocean waters of their home.