Chapter 5

Morning found the newlyweds walking along the mountain for the perfect location for their home. The two agreed that it should adjoin the mountainside for additional expansion when their family grew as well as for a more home feeling for Gaeln. In his full Grollin form, he worked quite hard at coaxing the natural stone to shape into blocks and walls. Mailyn prepared him a huge lunch of rabbit stew in her new cookpot over an open fire near the construction.

Watching her husband eat the stew very carefully she wondered what she did wrong in its creation.

"Is it not to your liking husband?"

"It is lovely dear, but there are some secrets I must share with you about Grollins." Gaeln stated before putting his bowl down. He laced his first three fingers together and ignored the extra on each hand in his Elvin form that he wore for her during the meal.

"Grollins are a different type of people. We can be as sophisticated as kings or as wild as rabid dogs. Stone working is a standard gift, but excessive manipulation causes us to be slightly aggressive. The consumption of flesh also causes this attitude. Unfortunately it is a self perpetuating cycle and once started it becomes difficult to break."

Mailyn noticed his laced fingers had turned white as he clenched them together. Swallowing quickly she bit her lip and looked up at her husband with a look of fear. Gaeln simply shook his head, hiding slightly behind the long curtain of his hair.

"Don't worry, I think I have control of it for now but in the future, if meals could contain no flesh this would be easier upon me. Fish causes only a minor rise in libido."

The last was said with a quirk of a smile to his new bride who quickly blushed. Though a look of confusion crossed her face a moment later and he knew she had just come up with a question...

"How is it a self perpetuating cycle?" She asked.

"An aggressive Grollin will fight or hunt and that usually results in either consumption of blood or flesh. The more they get, unless they lose the first few fights, will lead to more and more as the bloodlust overtakes them. Even the most mild and in control Grollin can turn into a blood hungry monster in a short space of time."

She looked upon him with fear, though not as extreme as Braagd had frightened her. Still she was now afraid of her own mate and was unsure what to do now. Seeing her discomfort, Gaeln tried to reassure her.

"I will be fine love, simply make tonight's stew out of vegetables only and by morning I will be quite ok."

"But wont building the house also contribute?"

"Yes it will, but it is for a good cause and I would do anything to make you comfortable and happy, Mailyn."

She smiled shyly at his gaze before turning to begin cleaning up their meal. In the back of her mind though she counted herself lucky that their stream was quite plentiful in it stock of fish.

Soon the two of them were back to working hard to perfect their humble abode. It stood against the rock face of the mountain in a natural clearing, the stream at the tree line on one side and a large open area to the other. Gaeln had created furrows in the soft dirt after making sure it was fertile and rock free for Mailyn to plant the seeds they had purchased yesterday. She wore her torn outfit and knelt along each row, sprinkling seeds into the trough cut into the soft dirt. Her hands soon became caked with dirt as she covered up each row with care.

Gaeln did not fare much better as he stood inside the shell of their house and directed the rock into walls and windows, making it look like a home. There were even built in shelves and an oven. The rooms inside the mountain were easier for him to construct and they became more elaborate behind the stone door protecting his hide away.

Their bedroom was inside this portion and had a thin but sturdy door of solid granite. The floor was inlayed with quartz and marble square tiles. The walls had thin inlays of gems as artwork and a ribbon of silver surrounding each portion like a frame. A large bed was formed of marble posts with delicate swirls that separated into a lacy sphere only to reform to continue up to the ceiling. The frame left a deep cavern for a mattress of soft feathers. There was a small table with two chairs as well as a fireplace in the room. He turned to leave before realizing they needed a storage cabinet. Soon the room was finished and he headed out.