Chapter Ninety Four

Upon arrival at the university, there were various formalities to go through before the two of them could get their room numbers and collect their keys.

The rooms were fairly basic, with the standard university bulk purchase furniture, but with the addition of various items they'd each brought from home they soon started to look a little more personal and lived in.

Elenie was able to get permission to plant some seeds in one corner of the well appointed gardens, but she didn't have long to do so before the two of them had to head off to the orientation "meet and greet" which was scheduled at the student union.

It turned out to be a lot less interesting than Elenie had expected, with stalls set up around the place advertising various activities and a considerable amount of paperwork telling them their class timetables, rules etc.

There weren't many people around, so once Elenie and Ieaun had browsed the various stalls and picked up their timetables etc they headed upstairs to the recreation area where they played a few games to pass the time.

Classes started shortly afterwards, Elenie had chosen to take a degree in science and almost all her lectures were held in the science faculty.  

There were also impromptu class activities held nearby, using a very large, strange machine, the purpose of which completely baffled Elenie

Ieaun had opted to take a degree in communications, there wasn't an individual building for that so normal lectures were held in all the other faculties, while class activities were held out in the main university quad.

Outside of their classes, the two of them spent a great deal of time at the library.  Whilst they did a certain amount of university work, they mostly concentrated on researching any myths and legends they could get their hands on about the fae, looking especially for any stories which mentioned kidnapping...

One evening, after a seemingly fruitless afternoon of researching in the library, Ieaun suggested that the two of them head over to the local coffee shop for a bite to eat and to take a break.

Once they had finished their snacks, he slipped his arm around Elenie and she leaned into his shoulder, relaxing from the stresses of all the studying she'd been doing.

The two of them spent some time just relaxing and chatting, but as they got up to leave Ieaun paused, looking at Elenie; "you know, Elenie, you look so beautiful tonight, your hair is like silk and your eyes are so deep I could almost fall into them..."

As Elenie blushed and looked down at the floor, Ieaun reached behind him and, concentrating hard, conjured a bunch of red roses which he presented to her with a flourish.

Although the coffee shop was shutting for the evening, neither of them really felt like calling it a night and so when they got back to their halls, they headed out to the back garden where there was a small hot-tub.

From there things progressed in a fairly natural fashion as the two of them explored their relationship a little more.

Or perhaps a lot more...

Over the course of the term Elenie also took a little time of her own to explore the local area, while she knew that studying and her research in the library were important, sometimes her fae nature just pushed her to be outdoors and she loved to feel the breeze pushing against her as she flew around.

She also found a surprising number of useful items for her ongoing research into alchemy, a couple of the recipes she had found called for gem dust and there seemed to be quite a few raw gems to be found in the hills around the university.

In one of the smaller rooms within the castle walls, she'd found an old gem-cutting machine and she took full advantage of this to cut up her finds into attractive shapes while carefully gathering up the dust which was a by-product of the process.

There had been enough space in the small room for her to set up a small cauldron together with a book stand for reading from and a small table for storage and she took a small amount of time each week to experiment with the few recipes she'd learned so far - with varying degrees of success!

When Ieaun got a break from studying and researching he liked to lock himself away in the small library within the halls and practice his magic. Conjuring apples was fairly easy, turning them into other objects however was a tad more difficult.

He persevered though, casting the same spell over and over again as he thought of his mother's words when he first started to learn how to use his magic "It's all interconnected Ieaun bach, even when it seems totally different, and the more you exercise your powers the more strength and control you will have, in every aspect of their use."

The term seemed to fly by as they studied, researched and practised and in no time at all it was the day before their exams.  The two of them were once again in the library and Elenie had just finished making notes on a medieval treatise on the relationship between unicorns and the fae.

Slipping the book back in its place on the shelf, she turned to Ieaun; "my eyes are going to go crossed if I spend any longer looking at books today, and with those business students starting their presentations we'll never be able to concentrate anyway!  How about we head off to a bar and relax for a bit?"

When they got there, she slung her arm around Ieaun's shoulders and, turning to face him said "smile for the camera!" as she pulled out her phone and took a quick snapshot of the two of them.

Leaning in close to her, Ieaun felt almost drunk on her presence.  "You're so amazing Elenie, so good and beautiful and clever...  I don't know what I've done to deserve you, but I'm so glad to be here with you"

Elenie reached up to frame his face with her hands; "Silly, of course you deserve me, have you already forgotten how you rescued me from my evil stepfather?  Doesn't the prince always get to marry the damsel after he rescues her in the fairytales?"

At this he leaned in close to whisper in her ear "well then cariad, if the prince always gets to marry the maiden he rescues, will you marry me when we get back home?"

"Oh, Ieaun!  Of course I will!"

Their future decided, the two of them sat down outside and gazed up at the brilliant stars.  Elenie pointed up to the brightest one she could see and murmured in Ieaun's ear "you see that star?  Your soul is so many times brighter than that..."

As they came out of their last exam Elenie turned her phone back on and was surprised to see several missed calls from her brother.  She phoned him back immediately, and was immediately put on high alert by the subdued sound of his voice, even before he choked out "Elenie, you need to come home as soon as you can, Gran's ill..."

From there, everything turning into a whirlwind of packing, Elenie and Ieaun checked with their respective professors who said that they would arrange for their grades to be posted on so Elenie would be able to get home to her grandmother as soon as possible.

When Elenie got home, she rushed into the house calling for her grandmother, and heard Mira's voice, sounding very weary and worn, coming from the living room.  Elenie ran in, where she saw Mira sitting quietly in the rocking chair, she seemed to have aged enormously since Elenie had left for uni, her face far more lined and creased and her body shrunken in on herself.

As Elenie ran into the room, Mira looked up at her and smiled "I'm so glad I got to see you again, I love you baby."  With those words she suddenly rose into the air, a bright light surrounding her...

Within moments a dark figure materialised in the room and stood before Miralys as her body made the final transition into pure spirit.  She looked over at Elenie who was sobbing into her hands and said "Don't worry child, it's my time and I'm quite ready, you and Coryn will have to look after each other now."

Turning back to the dark figure with his scythe, Mira simply shook his hand and moved on into the afterlife.