The following day, Skywise went to see the Mother of Memory. On her throne, radiant Savah was like a high one, wise and gentle.
"What do you seek from me, child?"
"I wish to know about the maiden called the Mute. Dilah."
"And why do you wish to hear about her?"
"I am puzzled by her behaviour towards me."
"Because she is not like other maidens? Because her eyes are hard and her mouth never smiles?"
"I would like to help her. To make her smile."
"Dilah has never wanted anyone's help. I will tell you her story. She is over four hundred years old. When she was young, she decided she wanted to learn magic. But she had no magic in her blood, and without it, no teaching can give an elf any magical abilities. Had she had even the tiniest spark, it might have grown and matured with care and practice, but she was completely blank. She asked for my teaching, and although I knew it was useless, I took her in and started telling her about the nature of magic. I explained at length why Dilah's wish could not be granted. I showed her how others used their natural talents. Finally Dilah told me she understood she had failed. I said: 'You have not failed in learning - you know more now than when you started.' To this, she replied: 'Is wisdom the same as weakness?'"

"Three days later she came to Leetah for healing. There was a wound stabbed through her left palm and she refused to tell what had happened. Leetah healed her and told me later she thought Dilah had pierced her own palm with a knife, on purpose.

"Some years went by, Dilah trying all kinds of weird tricks to find magic and force it enter her. She fasted for months, went into the desert to seek mirages and visions that were nothing but air wavering in the heat, she joined passionately with every magic user who would take her to their bed, she did strange things with blood and stupid things with mushrooms. Everything failed. Finally she declared she would stop speaking for the rest of her life. Perhaps she thought that if she gave up something, something else would replace it. Ever since she has lived alone, walked alone, eaten alone. She does her share in her mother's garden, carries a spear but seldom hunts, and sometimes, just sometimes, surprises a male by inviting him to wild and wordless joining. Her last such lovemate was Rayek. He didn't tolerate her for long, though - he likes to be in charge, not the subject of a female's whims. If you want to be with Dilah you have to obey her rules."

"I see. Rayek? Well, well. Thank you, Mother of Memory. I think I understand things a bit better now."

In the evening, Skywise saw Dilah returning from the gardens. He followed her to a tiny hut at the edge of the village. A white cat leaped from the windowsill and leaned against Dilah's legs. She stopped to fondle it. Skywise knelt down, seemingly to pat the cat, but he let his hand touch Dilah's. The female elf picked up the cat and snarled at him in a way that had become all too familiar. Skywise remained kneeling and looked up into her eyes with his eyes full of pleading, like a wolf puppy trying to convince its elf-friend that it is completely innocent of everything, especially chewing that new bow to splinters.

Dilah took hold of his hand and hoisted him up with surprising strength, then pressed him against the wall of her hut, and only then did she free her other hand by putting the cat on the windowsill. Skywise felt something cold touch his neck - the blade of Dilah's knife. The girl was mad! Absolutely mad. And he was mad himself for getting interested in her. Finally she was pressing against his body, but not in the way he had dreamed of.

And then, suddenly, without moving the knife, she kissed him.

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Please review, everyone! I need lots of help with this baby, this is my first Elfquest fic ever! Especially comment if something seemed odd or wrong for the World of Two Moons. I won't continue writing if I get no reviews whatsoever.

- Yours, Arwen Imladviel