19. Nightmares
19
NIGHTMARES
ELDRIN
“ C an you help her?” I ask Mage Neven as Rhys lays Princess Twyla on a patient’s bed in the temple’s healing wing.
He looks anxiously at the mage for her answer.
“First, I will have to investigate what is causing this.” Neven brushes a stray lock of hair from Twyla’s face. “However, I fear that it’s Idril’s work.”
I rub my chin and worry over what happens if Twyla doesn’t recover. “She just collapsed suddenly. No warning. This isn’t like Wynstelle’s spell-walk.”
Neven hums her acknowledgement and turns Twyla by her shoulder to reach the changeling mark on her back. “The mark’s seal is shattered.” She looks at me with confusion. “But why do I sense the mate bond is still intact between you and Wynstelle?”
I glance uncomfortably at Rhys. Intellectually, he knows Wyn is mated to us, but he probably doesn’t realize what’s involved, magically and sexually. “We were able to reestablish the bond after it was broken.”
Neven jerks her head up in surprise. “Even though Wyn’s connection to Twyla was gone?”
I frown, finding it alarming that the mage thinks that re-bonding was unlikely when it was effortless for us. “We thought it strange, but we didn’t want to question it.”
“But you can’t have accomplished this…” she trails off, her expression contemplative.
By her reaction, I wonder if I have imagined the mate bond with Wyn. “But we did. Wynstelle can mirror and amplify our magics as well,” I insist.
Rhys gasps in surprise. Well, that secret is out. Though I believe he will keep it to himself.
“Once a bond is severed, it shouldn’t be able to heal,” Mage Neven says in awe. “Twyla’s connection with Wynstelle allowed the mate bond to happen in the first place. So without Twyla’s flow of magic, Wynstelle shouldn’t be able to create the bond on her own.”
“What if Wyn is a human with magic of her own? Could that make it possible?”
Neven continues to inspect Twyla, her mouth pinches in thought. “I knew Wynstelle was important to the unfolding of events… to you and your advisors. Her magical gifts must have been hidden from me under the power of the changeling mark. I had assumed any magic I sensed within Wyn was only mirroring the elves connected to her. But it makes sense now what I felt.”
Rhys grunts with aggravation. “That is all very fascinating, but what about Twyla’s current state?”
Mage Neven gives him a compassionate smile. “Everything is connected, my dear. I know you are eager to have your love back in good health soon. This entire time, I have been using my magic to evaluate her condition. Now I must fall deeper into my Sight , and I cannot have any distractions. You both will need to leave me with her while I work.”
Rhys opens his mouth to protest, but I tilt my head to the door and say to him, “We should give the expert what she needs.”
With a huff, Rhys lets go of Twyla’s limp hand and follows me down the corridor back to the main chamber. My guards, Corwin and Daylor, are in tow.
Abela is waiting for us. “Would you like to sleep while you wait for the changeling’s recovery?”
Rhys groans. “I suppose I should attempt it.”
“I would like to be with my mate,” I state.
Abela nods. “I believe she is already asleep. The poor thing is so exhausted I don’t think her mind or body could handle another moment of this world.”
Her tone suggests that I will be a bother to her. “I’m fully aware of my mate’s condition,” I reply curtly.
Mage Abela bows her head in an unspoken apology. “She is down that hall on the right.”
Without a word to either of them, I stride down the hall, nod to Baelen outside Wyn’s door, and quietly enter the dark room. Wyn doesn’t stir, which I expected. Through our bond, I know exactly how exhausted she is.
In the doorway, I turn back to my guards. “Take turns at watch and make sure you are rested for whatever comes next for us.”
“Do you think we need to be on high alert while we are here?” Daylor asks.
“Right now, I don’t trust anywhere to keep Wynstelle safe,” I hiss. “None of us are safe until we stop my father and his mage.”
“Understood,” Corwin nods. “One of us will stay posted here at all times.”
“Good enough.” I turn back toward Wyn.
From the light in the hall filtering into the tiny room, I see Wyn curled up on a small pallet bed in the corner. Memorizing her placement on the mattress, I shut the door, crawl into bed, and curl up behind her, tucking myself closely against her body. I deeply inhale her scent and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, I have a moment to just be with her, even if it’s only for sleep.
I’m startled awake by Wyn crying out. The room is pitch black, and I briefly wonder if there is someone in the room with us. However, I don’t sense another presence.
“Wyn?” I call, holding her. “It’s only me, Eldrin.”
“Stop,” she whimpers.
I jerk my arms away from her, realizing she might not want my touch. Through our bond, I feel her frustration. I jump up to leave and open the door, casting the dim candlelight from the hall sconces into the room.
Wyn cries out again, “Why are you doing this?”
By the meager light, I can see that she’s still asleep. She isn’t talking to me. Then her frustration shifts into fear.
What’s happening now? Is it only a nightmare? Or is she somehow experiencing what Oakes and Jaden are actually going through presently?
I stand frozen in the doorway. Should I wake her and break her out of whatever kind of nightmare this is? Or should I let her sense what she can so that we might find a way to rescue them?
There is no simple answer. The need to protect her is overwhelming, but having her mates back is part of helping her too.
“Jaden!” she howls.
I shut the door to block her shouts and stop them from disturbing the rest of the temple. I rush to her side and sit in the dark, holding her hand in solidarity.
I won’t wake her. Wyn will be angry if she misses some insight into saving them.
It occurs to me that with my power, I can help her focus on doing just that. Fortunately, the few hours of sleep have re-energized my magic.
Leaning down, I whisper in her ear, using the weight of my magic, “Wyn, you need to pay attention to what you are seeing. Is there anything to indicate where you are? Are you underground? In a castle? In a cabin? Look around.”
Wyn stills for a moment, then I feel her head twitch back and forth, as if she’s doing what I ask.
“Who is in the room with them? What do they look like? What realm does it feel like they are in?”
“Don’t!” Wyn commands.
I pause, then perceive her protest is for whoever is featured in her vision.
Suddenly, Wyn bolts upright and grabs onto my hand with both of hers, as if I were the only thing keeping her sane.
“Wyn?” I ask cautiously.
“Eldrin.” She collapses into my arms and presses her head against my chest. “I saw them…”
Her voice sounds like she’s suffering in the same way the mate bond felt when it was broken. My entire being ices over in fear. “What happened? Are they…”
Wyn shakes her head. “No. They’re still alive. For now.”
“Could you get a sense of where they are?” I ask gently. I don’t want her to feel bad if she wasn’t able to grasp any details.
“It felt like Ryven Castle, but nowhere I have been before. The walls were of the same dark stone.”
“Was there a window or a door that you could see?”
Wyn takes a moment to remember. “I don’t recall a window. The door looked to be made of iron, but that isn’t possible to have something like that in Ryven Castle, is it? Elves don’t use iron. So I must be wrong about it being in Ryven.”
“Wyn… I don’t think you’re wrong. Our dungeons have iron to keep our enemies from pounding on the doors and to prevent escape.” I sigh and pull Wyn closer, appreciating her warmth, which comforts me in the darkness. I hope I bring her the same comfort.
After a long silence, Wyn finally breathes out, “Someone in a cloak was torturing them.”
“We’ll stop it,” I promise. Then I ask, “Are you sure that the place felt like Ryven?”
Wyn buries her face against my chest. “I’ve only been to a few places in my life. So, no. I can’t tell for sure. But the stone structure of the walls looked the same. And there was an energy that felt familiar.” Pure anguish leaks from Wyn into me. “But what if I’m wrong? We might waste time looking in the wrong place—time that could mean the difference if they live or die.”
“It is more information than we had to go on an hour ago.” I brush her hair back from her face with my fingers, soothing her. “Whatever happens, don’t blame yourself. Blame me, blame my father, blame the realms and this idiotic struggle for power. Oakes and Jaden would be upset if you blamed yourself.”
“I suppose they would, but I can’t help it. I just need them back with us.”
“We will get them back,” I say, fire smoldering in my words. I feel the loss of my mentors and advisors—my friends . It’s as though my limbs have been cut off. “You still need more rest. Can you do that for me? Then, in the morning, we will check on Twyla and see if Mage Neven can help me with the plan I am currently concocting.”
Wyn grasps the front of my shirt in desperation. “You have a plan?”
I catch her hand and squeeze it reassuringly. “I believe I do.”