Part 1:

It was a beautiful, sunny day in Thundering Oak, home of the Topaz Tower, although, ‘tower’ is a misnomer these days.  After centuries of adding on to the original tower, it has evolved into a castle, complete with additional connected buildings.  It is the seat of power for Chancellor Lilly Smith’s kingdom of Blitzeiche.  Ilyana was spending some of her day off tending to the gardens growing medicinal herbs and plants in the baily near the hospital wing of the tower.  She was dressed in a simple homespun dress, sitting down with her legs off to the side with a hand trowel digging up weeds and harvesting anything that was ready to be pulled, all while humming a tune she’d heard one of the other girls singing the other day.  Other slaves were in the area also tending to the gardens or just relaxing in the sunshine.

Ilyana was humming a tune to herself when off in the distance behind her a tall, red haired woman was stealthily approaching the blond elf from behind.  She was moving quietly between the rows of herbs and when she was about fifteen feet away from Ilyana the elf paused slightly in humming her tune and then resumed humming away.  The woman slowly finished her approach and then glommed Ilyana from behind in a fierce hug.

“Ah!  Heather?  You surprised me!”  Ilyana said with a smile in response to the hug.

Heather laughed, “You are still a terrible liar!  You heard me before I got to you.  Like you always do.” Then leaned closer and puckered her lips.

“Well…  True, but you did get closer to me than you usually do before I detected you.”  Ilyana replied with a giggle, before taking the offered kiss.

The kiss lingered for a few seconds before Ilyana pulled back and asked, “How was your shift?”

“It was OK, we finished giving the last batch of kids from the orphanage their immunizations.  Until we get more kids everyone is current now.”  Heather replied.

Ilyana got up, picked up her basket with her harvested herbs in it, and brushed the dirt from her dress and replied, “Good, Mistress should be pleased with that news.”

“Heh, I’m pleased that we won’t have to hear Dr. Hu complain about being behind schedule on it anymore!”  Heather replied.

Ilyana laughed and said, “Well, I bet she has another task ready to give us.  So, she’ll have something to complain about again.”

 

The two continued talking as they walked back to their dorm.  When they got to the room they shared with the other nurses, an intense and slightly nervous looking Heather asked Ilyana to sit down on the bed.

 

“Sure, everything OK?”  Ilyana asked, wondering what was behind Heather’s mood change.

The usually confident Heather nervously continued, “Nothing’s wrong…  In fact, things are amazing being with you Ilyana…”

“Aww...” Ilyana replied with a blush.

“It’s been just over 10 years since you came to the tower and into my life and I…  I want…  Um, In the village I came from, couples would formalize their relationship with another person if they wanted to be exclusive to that person.  It was a commitment to be with one another for…  For the rest of their lives.  I…  I want to make that commitment with you, my love.  I want to be your life mate.”  Heather finished, holding Ilyana’s hands in hers, heart in her eyes.

Ilyana’s expression went from stunned to overjoyed, “Oh my god!  Yes!  A million times yes Heather!”  Ilyana threw her arms around Heather, hugging her hugging her tightly, tears of joy streaming down her smiling face.

A relieved Heather returned the hug but then grew concerned when she felt Ilyana stiffen in her embrace.  Heather pulled back and saw Ilyana’s once joyous face now etched with concern, “Ilyana…  What’s wrong?”

Ilyana wiped her eyes and with a wan smile replied, “Oh Heather, I’m super happy that you want to be with me forever, but…”  she now looked worried and afraid.

“But what dear?”  Heather asked while caressing one of Ilyana’s tear streaked cheeks with her hand.

“I...  Before we go through with this and become life mates I…  I need to finally tell you why I was so obsessed with getting to Earth all those years ago.  When I tell you…   You might not want to be with me anymore…”  Ilyana’s tears flowed once again, this time in sadness.

“Wh..  What?   What could be so bad that you’d think I wouldn’t want to be with you anymore Ilyana?” A dumbfounded Heather asked.

“<Sniff> Not yet.  It’s not fair for me to tell you and force you to hold what I say a secret.  Mistress Lilly should hear what I have to say as well.  It might affect my status with her too…”  Ilyana looked terrified at the thought of telling her secret and what might happen once she did.  “I’ll… I’ll ask Dame Renna to get us an audience with Mistress Lilly.”  She finished, coming to her feet.

“Ilyana!  Nothing you could tell me would diminish my love for you!”  Heather said quickly, coming quickly to her feet.

Ilyana put a finger to Heather’s lips, “Shhhh….  Please.  Don’t make that promise.  I have no idea if you will want to keep it once I tell you what I have to say.  I’ll go see Dame Renna now…”  Ilyana managed a wan smile for Heather before turning and leaving the room.

A puzzled and worried Heather sunk back down to the bed, wondering at what revelation Ilyana had that she felt was earth-shattering enough to ruin her life as she knew it…

 

Part 2:

 

Dame Renna informed Ilyana that her appointment with Mistress Lilly would take place in two days, at 7PM sharp in Lilly’s Throne Room.

Those two days passed slowly for Heather.  Ilyana was a nervous wreck waiting for the audience and she was keeping Heather at a distance, not letting her talk about the audience with her.  Heather was worried about her.

Finally, the wait was over.  Ilyana and Heather waited outside the closed throne room waiting to be admitted inside.  Even though Ilyana was looking ill with worry and still wasn’t saying much to Heather, she didn’t pull her hand away when Heather took her hand in hers and gave it a gentile squeeze.  They were both dressed in their most formal clothing.  Ilyana wore a green halter style dress with detached sleeves and a split skirt and Heather was wearing a black and red short dress with a tapered skirt and just straps on the sides to hold the dress together.  Heather was looking at Iyana’s downturned face, drinking in its beauty when Dame Renna opened the doors to the throne room, letting them in.

Ilyana started walking forward and Heather pulled back on the hand she had a hold of and wrapped Ilyana in a tight hug before letting her walk in.  Ilyana returned the hug and gave Heather a small smile then the two walked in.  Dame Renna had a slight smile on her face as she shut the doors behind them.

Ilyana jumped slightly as the doors shut behind them with a heavy boom.  She’s not in the throne room very often so she scanned the room quickly.  The walls were still lined with different types of statues, all former rivals or enemies that Lilly didn’t have any other use for other than using them as decorations for her tower.  A couple of them wore Lilly’s collar.  Ilyana then looked at Lilly and swallowed hard, her nervousness coming back in force.

Lilly was sitting with her legs crossed, sipping on some wine.  She was also dressed in the outfit she usually wears when she’s doming someone.  A red, over bust latex bustier corset with black trim.  Shoulder length, black latex gloves and finally black pantyhose covered by red, latex thigh high boots.

Lilly saw Ilyana’s trepidation and with a faint smile at her unease said, “No need to worry.  The outfit was what I was wearing for the audience I had before yours.”

Ilyana and Heather finished approaching the throne and bowed formally to their Mistress.

“Mistress Lilly, permission to address your Chancellorship?”  Ilyana asked while bowing.

“Permission granted Ilyana.”  Lilly replied.

“Thank you, Mistress.  The reason we are here is twofold.  A couple of days ago Heather asked me to be her life mate, as is the custom in the village where she is from.  We came to ask your blessing to become life mates but before that, long ago I promised to tell Heather why I was so obsessed with escaping to Earth.  I want to tell both of you my background before I accept her offer.  I…  I don’t want there to be any secrets between Heather if I accept her offer and…  I don’t want to keep it a secret from you anymore either Mistress.  I want to do this now because I’m afraid that what I have to say could affect my stay here at the tower.”  Ilyana said, eyes moist and shaking from her nervousness.

Lilly raised an eyebrow and took another sip from her goblet of wine, “Oh?  You have my interest.  Please continue.”  Lilly stated then thought, “Hmm, interesting turn of events.  Too bad she doesn’t know that I’m already aware of what she was on earth…”

 

“Well…  Uh…   <sigh…> Heather, do you remember me telling you that I was taken in and raised by humans to explain why I didn’t know anything about my Elven heritage?  The reason that I was trying so desperately to get back to Earth is because I am from there.”  She said, looking back at Heather and then averting her eyes.

“Uh, I didn’t think elves were native to Earth?”  Heather asked.

“They aren’t, I was born human.  I didn’t become an elf until I came to Trivium.”  Ilyana answered.

“I’ve heard of magic that can do that kind of change.  I don’t care if you were human before coming into my life Ilyana.  This wasn’t your secret was it?”  Heather said, looking perplexed.

Lilly hid an amused grin by taking another sip of her wine then said, “Let Ilyana continue.”  She said to Heather, “I’m curious as to what you did on Earth before coming here Ilyana.”  She said, but based on Ilyana’s medical knowledge she had a pretty good idea.

“What I did before?  Y…  Yes, Mistress.”  She replied, pausing to gather her thoughts once more, “Well, after finishing college I got a job as an EMT.  Er…  Emergency Medical Technician.  I drove an ambulance and responded to medical emergencies.  I got patients stabilized and rushed them to the hospital, so a doctor or surgeon could finish helping them.”  Ilyana revealed.

“So, that explains why your knowledge of earth medicine is so in depth.”  Heather stated.

“Yes, I had to know just as much about medicines as a doctor does.”  She answered then continued, “I was an EMT for three years, and got married to one of my co-workers.   That…  That didn’t work out and we got divorced three years later.  Between the stress of the job and problems in my personal life I got depressed.”  Ilyana stopped and reflected on that time in her life and found that those memories of that time were not as painful as they used to be.

“Interesting, what happened next?”  Lilly asked.

“Well, I threw myself into my work for the next couple of years Mistress.  I figured the less time that I had to dwell on my problems the better.  It was around that time that one of my college friends got back in touch with me.  Reconnecting with my friend, Kelsey really helped come out of my depression.  After a couple of weeks, she told me they had a vacancy in their Mountains and Monsters game and asked me to join the group.”  Ilyana said.

“Mountains and Monsters?  What was that?”  Heather asked.

“Er, it’s a role-playing game, a game of imagination.  A group of people get together and make characters using the game rules and then pretend to be those characters while the Game Master tells you what the situation is that the characters are in.  Dice are used to randomize combat and skill checks.  I…  I’m not sure how well it would translate here…”  Ilyana said with a dubious look.

“You can explain it to me later.”  Heather said.

“If you want me around later…” Ilyana mumbled under her breath, averting her gaze from Heather.

“I assume telling us about getting together for this game has some importance to what you are trying to tell us?”  Lilly asked, sounding bored and feigning ignorance about what happened to Ilyana and the others that night.

“Yes, Mistress.  I was invited to play and when I arrived that night, Bradley, the Game Master had us, as our characters recite a spell to open a locked gate in the game.  Well, it turned out when we recited the spell it really opened a portal in real life and that portal took all of us players to Trivium.  We were locked in a room that was magically sealed and there were instructions left for us that the door would not unlock until we opened the chest that was in the room with us.”  Ilyana paused, trembling again and in a voice full of emotion continued, “When…  When we opened that chest, we were all transformed into the characters we were playing…”  She finished with her eyes tearing up.

Heather got up and hugged Ilyana from behind and said, “That sounds like it was scary for you honey, but I’m still not understanding why letting us know this is worrying you so.”

“When everyone was turned into their characters my friend Kelsey became Malithia, the Tiefling.  The other girl in the group, Nicole became Kiana the High Elf archer.  The other guy in the group was playing a female character and was turned into Mara the Half-Elf Fighter.  I…  I was…”  Ilyana stooped, the tears that were forming before started flowing.

“Ilyana…  Please, what is it?”  Heather said hugging her tighter.

Lilly was leaning forward now, looking intently at Ilyana, saying nothing.

“<Sniff…> I…  I was there that night to replace one of the players that couldn’t play anymore.  We didn’t have time to make a new character for me that night so Bradley just had me…  Had me play their character that night.”  Ilyana said, her eyes full of fear at how her Mistress and Heather were going to react to what she was about to reveal.

“OK.  It’s OK Ilyana, please go on.”  Heather encouraged.

“So, I got turned into the character the girl who had to drop out of the game made, Ilyana the High Elf Healer.  I…  My name before I became Ilyana?  Victor Matthias…”  She finished, pulling away from an astonished Heather who now finally understood what Ilyana was worried about.

Ilyana stood a couple of steps off to the side now and with red-rimmed eyes said, “I’ll understand…   Understand if you don’t want anything to do with me Heather, Mistress Lilly…”

Lilly was still leaning forward and looking impassively at Ilyana and opened her mouth to speak but, “Damn it Ilyana!  I…  I don’t care who or what you were!”  Heather came up to Ilyana and spun her around to face her, “Do you love me Ilyana?”

“I…  Yes Heather, with all my heart I love you…”  Ilyana replied, looking up at Heather.

“I couldn’t care less what you were before I meet you.  Who you are right now is who I fell in love with and…   And honestly, I think on some level I think I knew…”  Heather said reflecting.

“You…  You knew??”  Now it was Ilyana’s turn to be astonished.

Lilly leaned back on her throne once again and smiled openly now.

“Well…  Not outright but for the first couple of years that you were here?  Thinking back, you acted pretty… manly.  Sitting with your legs apart until you caught yourself and corrected.  The fact you had no idea whatsoever on how to take care of your long hair…  Lots of things in hindsight really should have tipped me off.”  Heather finished with a chuckle then fiercely hugged her lover.

“You…  You don’t care??”  Ilyana asked relieved.

“I do admit that when you came out with it just now, I was shocked for like half a second.  It didn’t affect my love for you though.  I love you for many different reasons, The way you say good morning, the way you snore softly when you sleep in my embrace completely at ease but mainly for who you are here.”  Heather replied with a smile, tapping Ilyana’s chest over her heart.

“Thank you!”  Ilyana said hugging Heather tightly.  After a couple of seconds, she pulled away and with trepidation turning to look at her Mistress who looked at the two slaves in front of her, her unnoticed smile gone now, “Mistress?  Am I…?   Am I still welcome here now that you know?”

Lilly was silent only for a moment and answered Ilyana’s question, "This confession changes nothing. You're still a valued healer and part of my workforce." She then turned her attention to Heather, “You both have my blessing to become life partners.  However, you do know that you will still be on rotation for statue duty?”

“Of course, Mistress.  Thank you for your blessing!”  Heather replied.

“Yes, thank you so much, Mistress!”  Ilyana said happily and gave an inward sigh of relief.

“Was there anything thing else that you needed to address with me Ilyana?”  Lilly asked.

“No Mistress, that was all.  Thank you for your time tonight Mistress.”  Ilyana said, bowing.

“You are both dismissed then.  Good evening ladies.”  Lilly said, then got up and walked to the door to her private stairs in the corner of the throne room, to head back to her chambers.  Ilyana and Heather bowed again and took their leave.

Part 3:

The two lovers walked down the hallways of the tower, slowly making their way back to the dorms.  Heather looked down at Ilyana and saw her eyes, although still red were dry now and she was smiling contently.

“Feeling better now that you’ve got that off your chest?”  Heather asked softly.

“I do.  I had been holding on to that secret ever since Mistress bought me from those Orcs.  It’s a tremendous weight off my shoulders.”  She replied.

Heather stopped making Ilyana stop as well, “What were you wanting to accomplish by escaping back to earth?”

“Just that, escape.  Escape from everything that is Trivium.  I spent every waking moment since I was transformed into this, looking for a way back home.”  Ilyana said quietly, head down in thought.

“What were you going to do when you got back though?  Elves don’t exist there, were you going to go into hiding?”  Heather asked.

Ilyana chuckled then replied, “I REALLY didn’t know very much about how magic worked yet.  I had only been in Trivium for a month before my capture.  I was hoping that once I went through the portal, I would be returned to normal back on the earth side.  Heh, I know better than that now…”

“Ilyana, do you…  Hate what you’ve become?”  Heather asked, concern for her evident in her expression.

Ilyana squeezed Heather’s hand tightly and took her free hand in hers too, “I did at first.  I went to a house with a friend to play a game and wound up on a different world in a different body.  I didn’t ask for any of that.”  She paused for a moment and took a deep breath, “I hated the change with every fiber of my being.  If I had been playing a character that I made myself then I would at least still be male.  <Sigh>” Ilyana said.

“You keep using the past tense.  You don’t hate who you are now then?  What about a gender change spell or Mistress’s Transformation Masks?” A concerned Heather asked.

Ilyana looked up and into Heather’s eyes and with a small smile said, “No, I don’t hate who I am now.  I researched the spell and the masks back when I first learned of them.  Both could change me back into a man, but I wouldn’t be ‘Victor’.  I’d be a male version of who I am now.  I have the occasional moment when I’ll think about how I was before, but Ilyana is who I am now and I’m at peace with it.  I have been for years now. “

“What happened that made you be at peace with it?”  Heather asked.

Ilyana got up on her tiptoes and gave Heather a long passionate kiss.  When she finished, she smiled and said, “This is going to sound corny, but you happened.  I fell in love with you and my world changed for the better in ways I never could have imagined before.” She answered with a content smile.

Heather with tears in her eyes, enfolded Ilyana in a fierce embrace, “Oh, honey I feel very much the same!  Thank you for opening up and telling Mistress and I about your past.  You were very brave.”

“Heh, I was scared stiff to be honest, but you needed to know the truth.”  Ilyana said and then noticed that they were drawing a crowd, “Er, we seem to have picked up an audience…”  She whispered to Heather.

“Oh!”  Blushing, Heather let go of Ilyana and took her hand and started walking again.

After a few moments, Heather said, “You know…  I’ve seen some of Dr. Hu’s magazines that she brought back from earth.  How do you feel about mixing some Earth wedding customs to the ceremony I’m planning?”  She said with an impish grin.

“Uh, sure…  I don’t see why not.  Not that I know anything about your village’s life mate ceremonies.  I didn’t know you’d already started planning...”  Ilyana said, looking curiously at Heather.

“Don’t you worry about a thing!  I’ll take care of everything!”  Heather said, her grin even bigger now.

“Heh, you telling me not to worry has me worried…”  They both laughed as they continued their way to the dorms.

 

Part 4: 

The next two weeks flew by and on a beautiful sunny day, Ilyana was in a tent that was set up for her in the garden bailey sitting down in front of a vanity while Zinreth, her wood elf teammate in Valmoria’s squad brushed and styled Ilyana’s long hair. 

It was only a couple of days ago when Ilyana found out what Heather meant when she said she wanted to add a couple of Earth wedding customs to the life mate ceremony.  The ceremony was going to be traditional in the fact that the two of them will pledge themselves to each other in front of their friends.  The earth customs that were being added were their outfits for the ceremony.  It turns out Heather was in love with Earth’s wedding dresses.  Ilyana smiled as she smoothed the skirts of the wedding dress Heather asked one of the tower’s seamstresses to make.  It was a snowy white strapless number with full skirts with petticoats to show off the full skirts.  There wasn’t a veil, but her hands were adorned with fingerless gloves made with a beautiful and delicate white lace.  She even had a bouquet of roses to complete the ensemble.  The other custom was that Heather borrowed from Earth was that the two shouldn’t be allowed to see each other before the ceremony.

Ilyana was staring off into space thinking about today when Zinreth asked, “How are you doing?  You don’t look very nervous.”

Ilyana smiled and replied, “I’m not nervous at all.  Just thinking about everything that lead up to today and how lucky I am to have Heather in my life.  I’m thankful for all of you on the squad too.”  She added looking up at her, “I really appreciate your help in learning how to be stealthier recently.”

The wood elf got embarrassed at the compliment and blushed, “Er…  Well, you were stomping through the woods all the time.  It got annoying!  I swear you were louder than a human is when in the woods…”  She said looking away, trying to hide her smile at the compliment.

Ilyana laughed loudly at Zinreth’s comments.   If she only knew how much truth was behind that inadvertent observation…  “You look lovely in the outfit you chose today.” Ilyana said, admiring the dark green dress with gold trim Zinreth was wearing.

“Oh, thanks!  It’s very formal by wood elf standards.  I felt it was the right thing to wear today.  I…”  Zinreth was interrupted by someone poking their head into the tent.  It was Valmoria.

“Ladies, it’s about time.  Are you ready Ilyana?” Valmoria asked with a smile.

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask my hairstylist.”  Ilyana said while standing up.

“She’s as ready as she can be without letting me weave some flowers into her hair.”  Zinreth said with a smile and a shrug.

“Let’s go then, Heather is waiting.”  Valmoria said while holding her arm out for Ilyana.

“Oh?  She decided to add the Earth wedding custom of having the ‘bride’ be given away, eh?”  Ilyana said with a chuckle as she interlocked her arm in Valmoria’s.

“She did indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has more surprises in store for you today either.  She seems to be enjoying herself immensely.”  Valmoria replied.

“I’m looking forward to it.”  Ilyana said with a smile as she allowed herself to be led out of the tent.

She ducked under the flap and looked at the scene in front of her.  The tent was set up opposite of where she and Heather would be standing for the ceremony.  The rest of the squad was there along with a bunch of nurses Heather and Ilyana worked with in the hospital wing, and a few slaves from other sections as well.  There were around thirty-five people in all.  She gave a small gasp of surprise when she noticed that Mistress Lilly came to watch as well!  Even though she said that she wasn’t nervous while in the tent, a slow blush colored Ilyana’s cheeks and Valmoria lead her up to the small dais under a pavilion where Heather was standing expectantly.  She smiled wide when she finally noticed what Heather was wearing.  Heather was standing there fidgeting slightly looking very fetching in her tuxedo.

“Heh, I was expecting her to be in a dress too…  I really should have known better...”  Ilyana said to herself.

Valmoria and Ilyana finally got to the dais through the smiling crowd and once Ilyana was up on the dais with Heather, Valmoria stepped back to where everyone else was to watch the ceremony.

“Welcome everyone and thank you for coming to watch Ilyana and I pledge ourselves to each other.”  Heather said in a loud voice, so everyone could hear then continued, “In the region and village I come from when a couple wants to take their relationship to the next level and dedicate themselves exclusively to one another we participate in the Life Mate ceremony.  It’s normally a simpler affair than what I’ve arranged for here today, but I have a fascination with Earth style weddings which have a few similarities to the life mate ceremony.”  She explained and gave a wink to Ilyana.

“Clever girl, she is blending the traditions but hiding the fact that I came from Earth in her explanation.”  Ilyana thought to herself.

“While an Earth wedding is more formal and has a cleric of their god officiating, the life mate ceremony is less formal in the fact that Ilyana and I will just make a statement about why we love each other and then swear to stay with the other for the rest of our lives.  I’ll go first.”  Heather said then turned to Ilyana and clasped her hands.

“Ilyana, I saw you when you first came to the tower.  The circumstances of your arrival were not the best and you put on a brave front, but I could tell you were very scared.  I have worked with new arrivals of nurses in the hospital wing for over 40 years, and out of all the girls I had helped get acclimated to life here at the Tower you were hurting inside over the changes that were being forced on you more than most of the others that proceeded you.  However, with the way you carried yourself, I could tell you had a strength of will and character that a lot of the others before you did not.  When I realized the depth of that strength is when I first started falling in love with you.  Even when you were still stressing out about being a slave and kept trying to escape, I noticed that those escape attempts only took place when you weren’t on task with an assignment or when you were with patients.  You never tried to leave when someone was relying on you.  You placed the well being of your patients over your desire to leave.  That made an impact on me.”  Heather stopped and took a deep breath, to gather her thoughts before continuing eyes glistening as she looked at Ilyana.

“A couple of weeks ago when I asked you if you would become my life mate you told me more about your past and why you stopped trying to escape the Tower and it melted my heart, solidifying my desire to be your life mate.  Ilyana Vakalyn, if you become my life mate, I swear to hold you above all others and love and cherish you till the end of my days.  Will you have me?

Ilyana, her eyes glistening as well replied, “You’ve been by my side since our Mistress bought me from the Orc slavers that had captured me.  I had lost my friends and my freedom all in a very short amount of time.  I was a stranger in a strange place and I was desperate to get away to try and find my friends to see if they were all right.  It was all I could think about, and it consumed my every waking moment save when I was helping my patients or on task with something else.  It didn’t take me too long to realize that I wasn’t as much of a stranger here as I thought I was.  I had a new friend.  One that helped center me.  One that calmed me down after my escape attempts and the resulting punishments.  A friend that was there for me even if I didn’t realize it at first.  I realized finally that I had you and that my escape attempts were tearing you apart inside with worry for me.  It was then I realized that you helped complete me.  So, I stopped trying to escape and strove to give my all to my job, my Mistress and to you.  Yes, Heather Redgrove, I will be your life mate and I swear myself to you and will cherish you till the end of my days.”  Ilyana finished, voice filled with emotion.

With Ilyana’s acceptance, the simple ceremony was completed.  Heather squealed in delight as she enfolded Ilyana in a hug and kissed her passionately accompanied by a joyous round of applause and cheers from the people in attendance of their ceremony.

End