Chapter Five #3
He stood on his back legs, front paws on my thigh.
Heaving a sigh, I lifted him up, tucked him into my shirt like a wee babe at its mother’s breast, and began sloshing forward.
Seawater soaked through my leather boots.
The corridor was tall, rounded, hewn from the very rocks that held up Avolire, and coated with fine salts.
So the water here rose to engulf the passage with the lunar tides.
Whoever had used this hidden path had to have known they had limited time to enter the castle and exit with two children before the waves began to roll in to block them off.
Or trap and drown them. Teryn’s fur was damp but warm against my bare chest. His toenails dug into my hip as I carefully made my way along.
He smelled of wet dog. Tiny black nose kept high, he worked the air currents, large ears perked forward.
“Do you smell the children?” I asked, rounding a corner and pausing as I gazed out at a large cavern.
He never answered. Probably because the trail had been washed away.
The walls were water-worn in places, rough and craggy in others.
Large rocky stalactites hung down from the ceiling.
Rotting seaweed and the stink of dead fish filled the moist air.
The sea lapped at the gravel under my feet.
Stepping onto a small dock, I stared out at the Silvura, the twin moons painting the rolling sea milky white.
“Fuck,” I moaned and sighed. “Whoever this was knows the castle far better than I, and that in and of itself is distressing.” Teryn licked my jaw and whimpered softly.
Automatically, I pat his soft head, holding his small furry form just a little closer.
“Let us go back to the king and fill him in on this.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Aelir announced from behind us, pushing through the tide with Le’ral on one side and my cousin on the other.
His robes were soaked up to his knees. His eyes were wild with panic as he joined me on the slippery dock to stare forlornly out at the ocean, ever placid, small whitecaps falling over themselves as they had since the first elves drew breath.
The king began to weep. Quietly, his face buried in his hands, the shuddering of his shoulders was the only outward sign of his torture.
I stood at his back, as did Rolim, and allowed Fylson to comfort the monarch.
A moment later, Aelir was in possession of himself. Using a damp sleeve to swipe at his face, he turned from the Silvura to give the silent fox in my arm a long look.
“Thank you for discovering this, Teryn. This is a shock to me, as it was to Fylson.” I glanced at the grand advisor, who was still studying the ocean, lost in thought.
My attention darted back to Aelir. “I had held out hope that they’d somehow gotten down here, but I see that is not the case.
They have truly been taken.” He sucked in a shaky breath.
“I shall send out a raven to call back their mother and my consorts. I would bid you two to come to my solar at sunrise. There is little time and much planning to do.”
“As you command,” I whispered, wishing I too could reach out to pat the king on his bowed shoulder.
But that was not my place. Le’ral would do so.
My job was to protect those assigned to me.
“We shall meet you in your solar as bid. I shall take Mahouk Nouradi to his rooms to dress for that meeting.”
Hiking the tiny fox up, I began the long climb back up into the bowels of the castle, stepping out into a far too quiet nursery.
I’d never experienced such a horrid quietude.
My heart ached for the king and his queen when she found out.
Teryn snuggled into my side, a father himself, his emotions easy to pick up even if he were furred.
We moved through the painfully quiet castle without speaking.
Obviously so. The day staff were noticeable, but just barely.
Maids with wet cheeks went about their duties of lighting fires, gathering clothing to be taken to the washerwomen, and sweeping the corridors.
Young men snuffed out torches as the sun began to show itself.
Usually the castle was a buzzing hive of soft voices, sometimes even song, but not this morn.
This new day was cloaked in a pallor that the bright day arriving would not be able to burn off.
Guards in the halls were on edge, each one looking curiously at me as I passed, toting a fox.
They would lower their heads, then place a fist to their breastplate, but their eyes lingered on Teryn.
Arriving at his chambers, I pushed inside, noting that the guards stationed outside were now in full plate.
Not a good sign. And not a command I had made, so whoever had called for such an aggressive posturing would be called out as soon as I found out his or her name.
I placed the fox on the floor, amid the tumbled bedding we’d kicked off in our haste not that long ago.
It felt as if a full season had passed since we’d been lost in each other.
Teryn shook his fur out, his eyes closing as a whirlwind the size of a chair sprang to life.
Dust and ebony sand swirled around him, rising in height as the man returned.
When Teryn stood before me, the magical storm subsided, leaving naught but a few motes of reddish-black particles that disappeared completely with the blink of an eye.
He was just as stunning as he had been when I’d first seen him nude.
A lurch in my lower belly told me that my body was still incredibly drawn to him.
Turning from him, I walked to the patio, giving him my back so he could dress in privacy.
“You do not need to turn away, Pasil. We have seen each other naked before.”
I forced my soggy boots to remain where they were. “That was…” I searched for what I wished to say and came up empty.
His hand lighted on my shoulder. I yearned to turn to him, to pull him into my arms. To breathe him in and hold his scent within me forever. But that was not possible now. Or perhaps ever again.
“I understand. You find yourself straddling a chasm with your king on one side and me on the other.” I nodded. My sight fixed on a gull kiting overhead on the warming air currents. “I shall not push you to engage with me in a personal manner again until this situation is resolved.”
That comment stung. I could not let it pass with my back to the man, so I turned from the gull to catch his attention.
“Teryn, you did not push me into anything. I came into your arms and bed quite willingly. My thoughts have been besieged with you since I saw you facing into the wind on the deck of your boat. I was enchanted then and still am, so please do not feel as if you imposed your will on me, for that is far, far from the truth.”
A timid tug at the corners of his mouth melted some of the hurt from his face. “That is good to know. I would never wish to make anyone feel pressured. I know I can be rather flirtatious when someone catches my eye.”
“Your seductive teasing is not what I am used to. My people are less honest in their courting. It caught me off guard. I am just…” Again, my words withered. “I just do not want to find myself in the position of locking you into our dungeons.”
“That would not happen, not to me or my offspring.” He assured me as he tied up the front of a silver and blue robe, the laces long and glittering, catching the eye just as the man tethering them did.
“The ones that travel with me are at the greatest risk of imprisonment. I do have a witness to where I was when the children were taken.”
Yes. Me. I was the one who would need to give testimony to his whereabouts. That would not be received well, especially if Umeris were feeling mentally and physically fit to sit in on the questioning.
“I would tell them the truth. That you were with me.” I walked back into his chambers. The fruit now gathering tiny gnats that crawled over the bright orange melon halves. I waved them away. My stomach rumbled even though I felt no desire to eat. “And let the die fall as they will.”
That brought his amber eyes up from the intricate ties of his robes.
“You are an honorable man. I would speak for your tenure as well. Please know that if you were to be stripped of your rank for some ludicrous reason, the Sandrayan Elite Guards would be happy to have a warrior of your distinguished record enlist.” I said nothing, merely nodded my thanks as I watched while he looped the strings into a lazy bow that rested on the divot of his throat.
The urge to bury my face in that indentation was staggering.
“I shall speak with my son and daughter to see where they were last night. In their chambers, I would imagine, but perhaps they have witnesses of some sort to verify their location.”
“With the blessings of both of our gods, they do.” He gave me a feeble smile as he slid his feet into plain brown sandals.
“And that is how two nations become one. Shall we go meet the king? I will never be more ready.”
Nor would I, but by Ihdos, I wished I had dry boots.