Khel and Brom

Twenty minutes later I was in full costume, center stage as the young lover, Saelia. Playing opposite me was Aste. He, Saelia, was an idealistic young elf, lowborn, with grand dreams for the future who falls desperately in love with a noble's daughter, Yava. It's an old story of love overcoming obstacles and adversity. Tonight of course these themes had me on the verge of a breakdown several times throughout the performance. As I sang and moved about the stage, I scanned the audience tirelessly. I couldn't find my red-bearded dwarf anywhere.

Near the end of the production, Yava is killed accidentally by her jealous ex-lover and dies in my arms. The final song began and I sang the words directly from my heart. The lyrics told the tale of Saelia's immeasurable sorrow over the loss of his only love. At the height of the melody I was at the edge of the stage, reaching into the darkness, singing, nearly screaming my lament over allowing Yava to die. Saelia's pain was a mirror to my own and as the final, powerful line fell from my lips, I collapsed to my knees, fresh tears staining my face. The music died and the single lamp behind me was doused.

I still wondered if Brom had come to see me for one final night, at last able to see the real me, stripped of disguise and vanity, heartbroken over what I had done.

CHAPTER 7

On the last morning, our caravan was busily packing all of our makeshift town back into wagons and carts. Within a couple of hours everything was ready to go, the only exception being me. I had pleaded with my fathers, the leaders of our troupe, to wait until just after noon to leave. They finally agreed but it was for naught, Brom never came. I don't think I really expected him to show.

When we reached the surface after a couple short miles, I think it was the horses who were the most excited. They whinnied and trotted at having sun on their backs again and dirt under their hooves in place of stone. It took some time to adjust to the brightness of the topside world again but it had truly been missed, by all of us.

Our next show was a couple weeks away and until then we traveled by day, camped in our wagons at night and the others sang and joked around the bonfire. I was having a hard time but Aste was always nearby, willing to lend an ear or try to make me smile. The shows in this town went well, and luckily Saelia and Yava wasn't scheduled to be performed. I wanted to distance myself from the role awhile longer. Months passed and we had performed at a handful of elf and human towns and cities in that time. Brom was never too far from my thoughts, and each time I was reminded of him I would get a sharp pang inside. Joren was right though, everyday it hurt just a tiny bit less.

Half a year had passed by now and we were performing in a human city called Hartholm. I was dressed as a woman for the evening's production. There was a tall fellow with a blond beard standing in the audience who gave me wide grins as I performed. He was ruggedly handsome which reminded me of Brom. I decided I would look for him after the performance. He wasn't too hard to spot and I caught up to him easily as the crowd was dispersing. I still wore my dress costume from the show.

"Hey!" I said as I approached.

He turned, and gave me an easy smile. "Well hello." He greeted. He was a good head and a half taller than me. His yellow beard was full for a human but nothing compared to a dwarf. He had short hair, blue-grey eyes and a strong build. I guessed he performed manual labor of some kind for his livelihood.

"Did you like the show?" I asked.

"I did." He said, "I certainly liked you." He gently touched his fingertips to my arm.

I gave him a coy smile. "I liked you too. Is there somewhere we can go?"

He introduced himself as Ethan and I introduced myself as Khel. I said we could skip the dinner and instead of a pub he showed the way to a nearby inn where he plunked down coins for a room.

When we reached the room, he closed and locked the door behind us and began to pull off his shirt. He looked me over, his eyes filled with lust. "Hope you're ready, for this elf." He said.

I pulled off the curly black-haired wig I had been wearing. He paused.

"Before we do anything, you should know I'm a guy." I said.

Ethan returned to undressing after considering my words for a few moments. "I'm not normally into that." He replied. "But that hot little body of yours... I can fuck you from behind."

"I just needed you to know first." I explained.

"It's fine. Get out of that dress and come here." He ordered.

I stepped out of my shoes and slid the dress down my body. I removed the gloves and stood in front of the man wearing nothing but a necklace. I stepped over to him and he grabbed me roughly by the shoulders.

"Nice." Ethan leered. He savagely began to kiss my neck and moved down to my chest. He lifted me from my feet suddenly and walked us to the lumpy inn bed. He threw me down and slowly looked over my body. He began to stroke himself openly as I watched. He was sizable and I could see the glisten of his early fluid at the slit of his fat purple cockhead.

"Wet this up for me." He instructed.

I crawled towards him and took a teasing lick of his swollen head. A string of his fluid connected my tongue to his cock as I pulled slightly away. I took another long lick. The musky smells of a human in heat were quite different than a dwarf's. I felt another pang in my chest but decided to ignore it and opened my mouth to take more of Ethan.

"Enough with the foreplay." He said. The man grabbed my head and forced it all the way down his engorged member. I gagged violently and tears stung my eyes. "That's better." He growled.

He kept his hands on the back of my head and began to pump and thrust into my throat violently.

He fucked my throat raw and I was finally able to pull off of him before I passed out. I gasped for air.

This man was nothing like Brom. Any fleeting similarity had been purely physical. Brom had been gentle and courteous throughout our time together. What had I really expected from tonight? This is what I wanted wasn't it? A man to fuck away the pain I still had, to give me a brief way to forget? To punish myself for being so stupid?

Ethan pushed me backward and rolled me onto my hands and knees. I considered getting up to leave but decided I was going to see this through. Honestly I wasn't sure if Ethan would have let me go.

"Hope you lubed me up enough, elf." He chuckled as he positioned his cock with his hand up to my asshole.

I cried out in pain and alarm as he attempted to penetrate me on his first push. "M-more spit!" I yelled.

He grumbled, but spit a generous amount into his palm and smeared it into the crack of my ass and over his rigid maleness. He went more slowly this time and I was able to push back against him. I was more than grateful that his prick wasn't nearly the thickness of Brom's. After several thrusts he picked up his rhythm and began to thrust with abandon. He smacked my ass as he did so, it stung painfully but I said nothing. Eventually I began to get more into the sensations and reached down to stroke my cock as Ethan rammed into me.

"That's it, baby." He whispered. "Get into it."

After a few more minutes we changed position and he lay down on his back and had me straddle him. I began to rock up and down, impaling myself on the man's dick. He reached up and pinched my nipples, twisting them painfully. I clenched my teeth to keep from shouting out in pain. Ethan's face and wicked smile suggested he liked causing me some pain. My mind drifted away, back to the apple trees on the island in the small lake where Brom had taken me all those months ago. We had made love, just like this, but nothing like this.

As I bounced up and down on the big human's cock, the necklace I wore bounced against my chest. The man under me began to quicken his pace. I knew he would cum soon. I stroked my own hardness.

"Get ready, kid..." Ethan said as he bucked himself into me. "Here it comes!"

As he began to spurt up inside I brought myself to orgasm, arcing cum through the air and spattering Ethan's stomach and chest.

The man finished his climax and then looked down at my pearly semen spattering his body. "What the fuck!?" He responded angrily. He shoved me off of him onto the bed. "You fucking cummed on me? I told you I don't like doing this with guys!" He rose to his feet, looking for something with which he could clean himself.

"Give me your underwear." He commanded.

"What? No." I said defiantly.

He balled up his fists. "This is your damn mess, so you clean it up!"

It wasn't worth getting beaten up by a man practically twice my size. I tossed him my underwear and he wiped himself down.

He began to get dressed, saying nothing as he did. I followed his lead and pulled on my dress, wig, gloves and shoes.

"Thanks." He managed as he left the room.

I gave him time to leave, I didn't want to run into him downstairs and then headed home. This had been a mistake, I had hoped sex with a stranger would prove to heal my heart faster or at least provide distraction, but instead it brought feelings and sensations to the surface that I thought I had successfully forgotten.

In several more months' time I realized something which I eagerly anticipated. When we had first gone to Stonefield, nearly a year ago, the troupe had determined that if the trip proved lucrative we would go back the following year, same time. I recalled hearing from Vahn and Joren during the trip that each night had proven to be a full house. By now the return trip to Stonefield was only a few weeks away. I'm not sure what I was so excited about, Brom would have moved on, he likely wouldn't attend the performances. I knew he hadn't forgiven me. Just the prospect of seeing him, even from afar filled me with guarded hope.

When the caravan would have been scheduled to start heading east for the mountains under which was submerged Stonefield we continued north. That night when the wagons were camped, I went to see my fathers who were busy helping with dinner near the bonfire.

"Hey." I said to the both of them, "Where are we going? I thought we'd be heading east by now for Stonefield?"

Vahn and Joren gave each other a quick look before answering.

"Honey, we're continuing on to Belforde." Vahn said.

I was in disbelief. "What? Why?! Was the Stonefield trip not worthwhile? We sold out every night!"

"Don't be upset, it was a troupe decision. We made good money but the majority, not to mention the horses, didn't really like being underground so long." Vahn rubbed my arm. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

I felt like the wind had been taken out of my sails. "Nobody told me." I replied weakly.

Joren stepped forward. "We honestly thought you wouldn't want to go back, not after last time."

I gave them a fierce look. "You should have asked me. I'm hardly a child." I spat.

Vahn gave a sigh and his shoulders slumped. "Were you hoping to see Brom?"

"I thought that affair had ended badly?" Joren added.

I leaned against one of the wooden tables where Vahn was preparing food.

"It ended badly." I confirmed. "But I need to see him again. I hate how I left things. There's not a day goes by that I don't think about Brom."

Vahn folded me into a hug. "Oh Khel. You fell so hard for this one. And we're both truly sorry but we aren't going back there, for the sake of the caravan."

Joren gave me an empathetic look.

I pulled away from Vahn. "I understand, father." I said. "I just wish someone had included me in the decision."

I strode away from them. I forewent eating dinner and instead went for a walk under the stars. The night air had a chill and it felt invigorating as I meandered along. It was my one last chance to see my old flame and it wasn't going to happen. I gave a drawn-out sigh and sat in the cool grass. We would be in Belforde, another large human town in the next few days. I would put all of my efforts into my performances and finally place my attentions on the future.

CHAPTER 8

Belforde was a beautiful town, full of life and color and old trees lined the streets. The troupe performed admirably but unfortunately there was rain the last two nights and even though we covered our stage, there hadn't been a way to shelter much of the audience. As a result the ticket sales were quite low. It was an unfortunate but inevitable event, something the larger cities would never allow. They would have had us perform in a town hall, or at least been able to erect large tents for the crowds.

Joren had left Belforde the night after the rain began on horseback promising to return within a couple of weeks. He explained that there were provisions we still needed that would be unavailable in the coming months as we continued making our way north. It wasn't too uncommon to make supply runs like this but we usually sent others as Joren was the main promoter and overseer of our productions.

We finished our business in the human town and continued north. Occasionally we would have a day of sunshine poking through the clouds, but it was usually wet and grey. We were in wagons much of the time, reading, mending clothes, sleeping. It was evening and still raining when we stopped midway to our next destination to set up for the night. We set up large canvas tents so the horses would have dry cover, and we set up another to serve as the kitchen. Finding dry wood for the bonfire wasn't easy, but ultimately we got a spark going. Some of the troupe members along with myself helped to make the evening's meal and pass it out in bowls to the rest. After dinner we sat around, cursing the weather, joking about past performances and playing instruments. I felt good, rain be damned, it was shaping up to be a wonderful evening.

It grew late and some of my friends began to yawn sleepily as they excused themselves for bed. I was getting close to turning in for the evening myself when Vahn strode over to me.

"Come on, get up!" He said enthusiastically. "Your father's back safely, he wants to see you."

"Glad to hear it!" I said as I rose quickly to my feet. It was always heartening when a supply run was fruitful and the rider came back without incident of injury or robbery, especially when the rider is one of my fathers.

"Did he get what we needed?" I asked as we walked.

"I would say so." Replied Vahn.

We moved out from under the cover of the tented areas and into the rain. Vahn and I pulled the hoods of our cloaks up over our heads. It was quite a downpour and I could just barely see Joren with his horse and a wagon, he also wore a heavy cloak and hood to help repel the water. I rushed over to him and he embraced me.

"Dad! I'm glad you're back! How was your trip?"

He released me and gave a warm smile. "It was an interesting trip." He replied as he began to unhitch his horse from the supply wagon. I looked over the wagon. It was a somewhat strange design, though familiar, I wondered where he had to go for supplies.

"Would you mind getting something out of the back for me?" Joren asked.

"Sure!" I said as I ran to the side of the wagon. I was about to call back that I didn't know what specifically he had wanted but I stopped short. There was another man here with Joren, wearing rain clothes and standing rather short. A large beard came midway down his front and even in the dim light cast by our camp I could see it was a vibrant red. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't believe he was here.

"Hello Khel." Brom said.

I had trouble forcing myself to speak. "Wh-what are you doing here?" I finally managed.

Brom nodded behind me to Joren who had finished unhooking the horse from its bindings.

"Yer father came and, spoke with me." Brom said. "He invited me to accompany him back."

Behind me, Vahn met up with Joren and called to us, "We'll leave you two alone, don't get too wet out here!"

"So this is rain then?" Brom asked me quietly.

"Yeah, this is pouring rain." I confirmed.

"I don't think I like it much." He grumbled.

I laughed and he gave me a shy smile. "It's... really nice to see you." I said tentatively.

"It's nice to see ye again." He said. I watched as he shifted his weight nervously.

I took a step back from him and held my arms out. I showed him my coat, simple pants and boots. "You wouldn't have seen me like this, but this is how I usually look. Nothing fancy, no dresses, no make-up unless I'm performing." I explained

"I know what ye look like Khel. I couldn't ferget." He said with a shake of his head. "It wouldn't matter what ye had on."

I said nothing, I was at a loss for words. I didn't expect it to be this difficult, for both of us it seemed. We both fidgeted, in the rain and mud, neither of us knowing what to say until I finally asked, "Brom why are you here?"

He rubbed his neck, as if searching for just the right words. "I've... had a lot of time to think, about things." He began. "After ye left, I, had a rough time of it." He swallowed. "I didn't know how to handle things, and I can be stubborn, I know that. Oy, this is harder than I thought it would be!" He laughed nervously. "Have ye been well?" He suddenly shifted the conversation and caught me off-guard.

"Uh, I've been okay, recently. It's been quite a year for me, emotionally." I admitted. "But I've been trying to grow, and make better choices."

He nodded. "Good that's good to hear!" He wrung his hands nervously. "Khel I, do ye still have the stone I gave ye?"

"The fire garnet?" I asked.

Brom nodded again.

I reached under my cloak to my chest and pulled out the necklace I wore. The fire garnet held in the center. "I had a merchant make this for me after we left Stonefield. I've never taken it off since that time." I explained. In the darkness, the stone glowed with warm orange light.

Brom surged forward and enclosed me in a crushing bearhug.

"Oh lad! I can't believe ye kept it! I had hoped against hope ye would!" Even in the rain I could see that tears began to trail down his round cheeks.

I hugged him back, he was so warm, and it felt so good to have him in my arms again. "Of course I kept it, you gave it to me." I said quietly in his ear.

He looked up at me. "It's me family stone." He said.

"I don't understand." I said.

"Do ye remember when I gave you this?" He asked.

"You know I do." I said earnestly.

"I told ye I didn't want to be with anyone else, that ye were the one fer me." Brom said.

"Yes, I remember." I assured him.

"Well, what I failed to mention at the time... it's more than that to us dwarves. I only have one stone to give, and I chose ye. I'm bound to ye, and by ye keeping it safe fer all this time..." He sobbed quietly. I held him close.

"Ye kept me in yer heart, ye never stopped loving me." He finished.

"I could never stop loving you, Brom." I said easily.

He looked into my face, and I marveled again at his beautiful amber eyes. "Khel, I'm sorry, so sorry. It took me a long time to understand why ye did what ye did, but I finally figured it out. But ye were right. I fell in love with ye, all of ye. I don't care that yer a lad, I want to be with ye!"

The words bubbled out of him and I think he had more he wanted to say but I couldn't hold back any longer. I bent my neck forward and kissed his mouth. He closed his eyes and I did the same. My heart leapt up at the feel of him. Our tongues intertwined as they used to and I squeezed him so tightly. The rain continued to pour down on our heads, washing the tears from our faces. We kissed there, in the pale light of the caravan's lamps while the rain cleansed us of any wrongs we may have done to each other until at last we were shaking and soaked through. We pulled apart at last, out of necessity.