Chapter 30 #2
Elden held my hand as we stood with our horses before the portal.
The heat of his hands warmed my entire body.
I shivered, looking up into his beautiful golden eyes.
Would I ever get used to the way he made me feel?
Elden opened his mouth and wove an intricate elvish phrase through the air.
I could almost see the golden words as he spoke them, melodic in nature, tinkling like tinsel, though his voice was a deep baritone.
White sparks flashed at our clasped hands.
My mouth popped open in awe at the exquisite beauty.
It brought to mind the moment before the Evergate as the king held my hand. He’d looked at me then, truly looked at me, and I felt as if he could see within my heart, no matter how I tried to protect it.
I’d hated him then, but now my heart sang with a knowing warmth. I loved him.
“You and your horse have been granted passage through,” Elden said, hands lingering on mine. “I will follow straight after.”
I raised my chin, gripping Sapphire’s reins, and stepped through.
It was as if I were walking into a pool of water, but I remained dry.
My clothes clung to my body as I was pinched and squeezed.
My foot hit the floor, my ears popped, and I stepped out onto the other side—all in one long stride.
I listed forward, almost falling on my face.
Sapphire shook her mane and flared her nostrils, clearly as pleased by the strange sensation as I was.
I coughed, though I had no reason to, then shook my body out, smoothing down my traveling clothes.
I was in an altogether different kind of bedchamber, this one belonging to Elden.
I could tell by the forest green tapestries and cream linens, and from the embroidered stag antlers of Elkhaven to the curved mahogany furniture.
Dozens of plants in golden pots lined the walls and hung from the ceiling.
Several rare plants I couldn’t name were labeled and protected inside cloches. It suited him.
Moments later, Elden followed, his hair flying in a wild white mane as he stepped through.
I smiled and took his hand, planning on planting a giant kiss on his smiling lips when a loud call sounded through his chambers.
“Majesty!”
Both Elden and I spun to see his bodyguard, the austere female Serrina, emerge from the well-lit hallway connecting his rooms to the outside chamber. She looked us over with an expert eye, searching for any signs of damage on the king. Probably hoping for some on me. I was happy not to oblige.
“Serrina.” Elden inclined his head. “I am pleased to see the wards are still up.”
“I was notified as soon as the portal was disturbed, majesty.” Serrina bowed, her blonde braids grazing the smooth stone floor. “I am relieved to see you. It has been a most eventful week.”
On that, we could agree.
“What news?” Elden asked openly.
Serrina eyed me with thinly veiled apprehension, then said to the king. “There are several matters I wish to discuss. One of urgency and one that requires delicacy. I wish to speak to you in private.”
Was this the moment I would be pushed aside? Would this be the end of our shared trials?
Our journey on the same path?
Elden turned to me, then kissed my hand. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Noelle.”
My heart flew at the trust. I nodded and smiled. My mother and father had shared everything. The burdens and the joys. I was grateful that Elden felt the same way as me.
Serrina inclined her head, but spoke, “I regret to inform you that your father has passed beyond this world.”
Elden flinched, and I pulled him close to me, offering whatever paltry comfort I could with my arm about his waist.
Serrina continued, “Prince Aldaar had found his way into the chamber where we kept your father and—”
“Aldaar was there?” Elden interjected, his mouth hanging open in shock.
“I was never far from the child, Majesty.” Serrina dipped her head.
“He believed he could talk to the beast, make him remember, and for a few days, it seemed to be working. There were moments where the beast would calm at Aldaar’s voice.
Then, just last night, a great wind blew through the palace.
Every gemstone glowed brilliantly. Aldaar had taken to sleeping across the room where we kept your father.
Once the blight was lifted, your father and Aldaar spoke for a few moments before… he passed to our ancestors.”
“I’m so sorry.” I placed a hand on Elden’s shoulder. “I know you wished to see him.”
Elden blinked, red rimming his eyes. Then a smile grew on his face. “Father was not alone, not in the end.”
“There is another matter.” Serrina cleared her throat and shot me an accusing glare. “It seems that one of the baker’s human friends followed her across the Falls and was trapped in the Evergate without the blessing of the king.”
I blinked, reeling. “One of my friends?”
“A Samuel Hawking.” Serrina answered briskly. She’d been there in the human village when I’d been taken from my family. She’d noted the young man who cried after me, anger and recklessness in his eyes.
If he had found me right after I’d arrived, I would have gladly tried to run home to the human realm with him. How could a heart, my heart, change so much in such a time?
“Where is he?” I asked, worry warring with fear. “What has happened to him?”
The king gripped my fingers tightly as Serrina said, “He is ill and in prison, awaiting his fate.”
I blinked up at the king, still not able to wrap my mind around it. Sam had followed me here. He’d tried to save me. “And what will be his fate?”
Elden stared into my eyes, which must have been huge and pleading. I was going to be sick. It was well known that no human could pass beyond the Evergate without a blessing from the king. So, what happened to the individual who attempted it?
“The penalty for trespassing is”—Elden lowered his head, white hair spilling around his shoulders in a cascade—“death.”
“Death?” I stepped back once, then again. Death for my friend Sam, who brought me eggs every morning? Who played with my dolls when we were ten just because I wanted to? Who brought me the last bluebell of the season?
My heart pounded as my breaths came in quick gasps. “It can’t be so. It just can’t be.”
I looked from the king to the bodyguard and back again, searching for any kind of hope.
Elden’s face offered no such kindness.
“But we stopped the curse. We renewed the treaty. Surely there can be free trade and travel between our peoples again?” I asked through a closed throat.
Serrina stared at me with a blank expression. Elden’s eyes searched mine intently, his mouth working slightly. “When someone enters the Evergate without my magic, they accept the consequences. This magic is beyond me now.”
I dropped my head and the king’s hand from my grasp. Sam. His very name filling me with a sense of loyalty and pride.
I raised my chin to meet the Elf King’s sorrow-filled gaze. “I wish to see him.”