It was strange that today, as she made her way through Skainhart towards the transcon, she felt more eyes on her than usual.
As she passed by the shops, markets, and inns on the town's main avenue, the elves seemed to watch her more intensely than they usually did. Today, it seemed even worse than any time before. Their stares made her feel as if they sensed something about her that they severely disliked.
The evening air turned colder, and Mericlou brought her cloak more closely about herself. She wished that she could turn herself invisible; the stares seemed to bore into her, a million eyes penetrating into her circuits. Now, more than ever, she longed for Aldrec's presence.
Her fear increased with the intensity of the eyes upon her. At last, she prepared to break into a full run, but stopped short. Someone had come up beside her.
A hand touched her shoulder. She froze, and nearly switched to combat mode … …Until she heard Aldrec's voice: soothing, and quelling all fear.
"Don't be afraid, Tulyr," he whispered. "Everything will be alright."
Mericlou nearly cried with relief. She started to lean her head onto his shoulder, but to her shock and confusion, he stopped her.
"Walk beside me," He said. "Don't touch me until I say so."
Not completely understanding his curtness, and more than a little hurt, she nevertheless obeyed as they continued to the trancon station.
Once aboard the train, and in an empty passenger car, Aldrec finally placed his arm around her. Mericlou, relieved, leaned her head against his chest. This time, he did not stop her.
"I'm sorry," he said, running a comforting hand across her cheek. "I didn't want to rouse any suspicions."
"Suspicions?" Mericlou echoed. "What do you mean? Aldrec, what's going on?"
"You saw the way they were staring at you, right?" Aldrec said.
"Yes. It scared the life out of me."
"You know how most elves are, don't you?"
"Yes, I do," she answered, remembering her conversation with Sedriil in the garden. "But how could they know about us? Did you tell them?"
"They didn't know." Aldrec said, looking out at the swiftly passing blur of jungle and mountains.
"They … didn't?" Mericlou said, now more confused than before. "Then why were they staring at me that way? I'd sure guess that they knew."
"It's a little hard to explain," Aldrec replied with a thoughtful expression. "The best way I can put it is that we elves can, in a way, sense each other. It's almost subconscious, but in close proximity, we become aware of each other's emotional states, even those of humans, dragons, and some androids. In the case of two people in love, the sensation is magnified. And so they were aware of how you felt about me, or rather, how I felt for you through you, from the moment you entered the town. And since no elf has ever fallen in love with an android … and since none of them would think that one ever would, they find that even more disturbing."