Invincible Blood Sorceror

Chapter 235: Marriage to the six elves

She looked at Kleela, still sleeping peacefully, unaware of the adult complications unfolding around her. The child needed stability, needed care, and needed people who would prioritize her well-being over their own competitive instincts.

That was more important than the rivalry over who slept with Jorghan first.

Nami had deep respect for Faeries, and it was what made her move by Kleela’s condition.

Nami settled back down beside Kleela, pulling the child closer, deciding that her priority tonight was ensuring this tiny faery felt safe and protected. Morning would come soon enough. Then they could all navigate the implications of Sashru and Jorghan’s precipitous intimacy.

But for now, in the quiet hours before dawn, with red lilies surrounding them and the ruins of Colloniel bearing witness, Nami made her choice.

She closed her eyes and returned to sleep, content with her decision, already planning how to build her own connection with Jorghan in ways that complemented rather than competed with what Sashru was establishing.

They were all in this together now.

Might as well learn to navigate it with grace rather than constant rivalry.

The Sol’vur clan was being built one relationship at a time.

And if those relationships sometimes moved faster than expected, sometimes involved midnight encounters by campfires, and sometimes created complications that needed managing—

Well, that was just life.

Messy, complicated, beautiful life.

And Nami was determined to make the most of it.

*

Four weeks later,

The meadow was painted red with red lilies, stretching over a few acres of land, which was present a couple of miles away from the Coloniel Ruins.

In the meadow, there were lots of tents, smaller to bigger ones, set up two weeks earlier.

In one of those tents, present in the center, was the main tent of Jorghan Sol’vur.

The tent served as temporary headquarters while the main migration from Brownhill Dunes was still in progress. It was spacious enough for administrative work, furnished with a large table covered in maps and documents, cushions for sitting, and a smaller area where Kleela had claimed space for her own purposes—currently occupied by small plants she was teaching to grow in decorative patterns.

Jorghan stood near the entrance, reviewing supply inventories that Sik’ra had delivered earlier. Eight hundred elves had now relocated to Colloniel Ruins, living in temporary camps while the actual reconstruction planning continued. Food stores were adequate, and water sources were good, but they’d need to establish more permanent infrastructure soon.

Nami sat at the main table, her golden eyes scanning a parchment she’d just received via messenger from Dewura’tt. Her expression showed disappointment that deepened as she read, her shoulders slumping slightly with each line.

Kleela sat cross-legged near her plants, humming softly while she worked, her drooping ears swaying gently with the melody. She seemed content, happy even, a dramatic change from the frightened child they’d found in the ruins a month ago.

Jorghan noticed Nami’s reaction and set aside his inventory work.

”Bad news?”

”Frustrating news,” Nami replied, setting down the parchment with more force than necessary.

”I sent inquiries to the Great Library in Dewura’tt about faery clans, trying to find information about Kleela’s origins, where her family might be, and what happened to them.”

She gestured at the parchment.

”This is what I got back. According to their records, there’s been no confirmed faery activity in the past several decades. The last documented encounter was approximately sixty years ago when a faery settlement clashed with some unknown race. After that conflict, the faeries simply... disappeared. No sightings, no communication, no trace of their communities.”

”So Kleela’s family might be...”

Jorghan trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence where the child could hear.

”Dead, scattered, in hiding—I don’t know,” Nami said quietly.

”The library couldn’t provide specifics about what race attacked them or why.

Just that there was conflict, and afterwards the faeries vanished from all known territories. Kleela might be one of the last survivors, or there might be others hiding somewhere we haven’t looked.”

She looked at the small faery child, who was still absorbed in her plants, apparently not paying attention to the adult conversation.

”I wanted to give her answers. To find her family or at least understand what happened to them. But I’ve hit a dead end. The information just doesn’t exist, or if it does, it’s not accessible through normal channels.”

Jorghan moved behind Nami and wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder as he lifted himself up in the air slightly, given that she was taller than him.

”You did what you could. Sometimes there aren’t answers to find, or the answers come later when you’re not actively searching. For now, take care of her. Make sure she’s safe and loved. That’s more valuable than historical information.”

Nami leaned back into his embrace, accepting the comfort even though disappointment still showed in her expression.

”I know. I just wanted to do better for her. She deserves to know where she came from.”

”Maybe,” Jorghan agreed.

”Or maybe she deserves to know where she’s going more than where she came from.

A future with a new family rather than a past that’s gone.”

Kleela’s voice interrupted their moment.

”Jorghan’s being naughty again!”

Both adults looked at the child, who was grinning with the particular delight of a ten-year-old who’d caught adults doing something mildly scandalous.

”How am I being naughty?” Jorghan asked, genuinely curious.

”You’re holding Nami like you held Sashru that first night at the ruins,” Kleela explained matter-of-factly.

”The night you two were being very quiet but not actually quiet enough. I could hear everything even though you thought I was sleeping.”

Nami’s face flushed with embarrassment.

”Kleela! We thought—you were supposed to be—”

”I know,” Kleela said cheerfully.

”I pretended to stay asleep because it seemed like you wanted privacy. But my ears are very good at hearing things. Faery ears pick up sounds elves miss.”

She returned to her plants, adding casually, ”It’s okay though. Sashru is nice, and she makes you smile more. And now Nami makes you smile too. I like it when you’re happy instead of always thinking serious thoughts.”

Jorghan and Nami exchanged glances, both processing the revelation that their attempts at discretion had been completely ineffective against faery hearing capabilities.

”We’ll need to be more careful,” Nami muttered.

”Or accept that Kleela is remarkably perceptive and adjust our expectations accordingly,” Jorghan replied. He released Nami and moved to sit beside Kleela, examining her plant work. ”These are coming along nicely. You’re teaching them to grow in spiral patterns?”

”Spirals are pretty,” Kleela explained, immediately distracted from adult relationship matters by the chance to discuss her real passion.

”And they’re stronger than straight lines. If wind blows, spirals bend but don’t break. I’m teaching all the plants around Colloniel Ruins to grow in patterns that will make the ruins prettier and stronger.”

”That’s good work,” Jorghan said sincerely.

”Keep doing it. When we start actual construction, having you guide plant growth will be valuable for creating gardens and green spaces.”

Kleela beamed at the praise, her drooping ears perking up slightly with happiness.

Nami watched them together and felt the disappointment about the library response fade somewhat.

Jorghan was right, knowing Kleela’s past mattered less than ensuring her future.

And right now, the child was happy, safe, and integrating into their unusual group with remarkable ease.

Nami made her moves on Jorghan and made her feelings known to him, and Jorghan reciprocated them. They had a couple of nights together, showing the love and intimacy and getting to know each other on deeper levels.

*

The previous three weeks had been a whirlwind of ceremony and political maneuvering that Jorghan had navigated with mixed success and constant exhaustion.

After that night at the ruins when he and Sashru had consummated their relationship, Nami had made her own move.

She’d been more deliberate about it, waiting until they’d returned to Brownhill Dunes, arranging an evening where they had actual privacy rather than just hoping sleeping companions wouldn’t notice.

Her approach had been different from Sashru’s boldness, more sensual than aggressive, more about building gradual intensity than immediate passion. But the result had been equally successful, and Jorghan had discovered that his two future wives had very different styles that both worked remarkably well.

Then came the formal marriages.

Simple ceremonies given the circumstances, no elaborate festivals or weeks of celebration, just traditional declarations witnessed by clan members and recognized by the makeshift Council authority that Sigora had assembled.

Nami had married him first, claiming primacy through age and status as matriarch of one of the larger absorbed clans.

Sashru had followed the next day, accepting second position with grace that suggested she cared more about the substance of the relationship than formal hierarchy.

Those two marriages had apparently triggered something in the other absorbed clan leadership. Within a week, four more matriarchs had approached Sigora with requests that ranged from genuine interest to political necessity.