60
“Leave us, Araton,” I commanded in Elvish as soon as my mother and Amlach had left the garden.
Araton scoffed at me. “Not a chance.”
“Go,” Father ordered him, switching to our language as well.
Araton’s resentment deepened the groove between his brows. “Father—”
“We shall talk later,” the king cut him short, so harshly that my brother didn’t even try to reply.
I took the raging look he shot me, then listened as his footsteps echoed down the many steps in the garden before he headed toward his wing of the palace.
Once I was sure he was out of earshot, I moved a step closer to my father with a determined frown. “It should be me,” I declared.
He instantly understood what I meant, and anger flared in his sapphire irises. “I suggest you say nothing more.”
I didn’t obey. “Amlach is a king,” I said furiously. “And a king should marry someone of his own status, not a noblewoman below him.”
His eyes flashed. “They are my sister’s daughters, keeper of Calien’s Crystal before you, and they are inferior to no one.”
“I am the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of the Elves,” I growled. “I am the future queen. Amlach should marry me.”
“I’d think you were joking,” he said, punctuating each word through his teeth, “if I didn’t see your eyes burning with such wrath and despair.”
I had to calm myself down, damn it. I tried to picture Amlach still beside me, filling me with a sense of protection and peace through his towering presence.
I pictured him by my side for the rest of my life.
“Father,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “There is no mate meant for me.” The tears I had held back until that moment streamed down my cheeks. “Let it be me. Don’t force one of those girls to sacrifice herself.”
The king reached out to wipe the salty drops away with the back of two fingers, then he wore a menacing expression. “I will never permit our royal lineage to be tainted by human blood.”
I fought against myself to resist the rush of anger that surged through me.
“A union between our thrones could be revolutionary,” I replied emphatically.
“It could lead to the birth of a new kingdom, so powerful and unassailable that we might consider traveling outside the Lands of the East and expanding our realm.”
Father gave me a stern look. "Don’t pretend this is a political matter, Nauriel.” He stepped threateningly closer. “I see everything. I feel everything.” He looked at me with disapproval. “And I perceive the raunchy desire that oozes from your skin like a miasma.”
I blushed in shame but did not look away, not even for a second, digging my nails into my palms to suppress the shocking urge to attack.
“You want the half-blood,” he continued with obvious disgust. “And he wants you, with just as obscene passion. Neither of you bothers to hide it.”
My nostrils flared as I fought to keep a smirk from curling the corners of my lips.
“I don’t know what happened between you during the time you spent together.” His eyes lingered on my belly, and his brows drew together even more. “But I sense for sure that he did not possess you.”
He had, in fact. Amlach had possessed me from the very first moment with his astute gaze, with the captivating cadence of his voice. He had taken me with his rough fingers and his insatiable mouth in my dream.
I was his.
And I would never permit him to become someone else’s.
“Know this.” The king took my chin between his thumb and forefinger, pinning me with a grim stare.
“I will never let that happen. Once he has chosen his bride, the King of Men will instantly return to his kingdom, and you will never see him again, for you belong to your people and your duty, not only as the future queen, but as keeper of Calien’s Crystal.
” He tightened his grip. “Is that clear, my daughter?”
My molars ground tight enough to crack, as I felt the distinct and terrifying impulse to bite Father’s thumb off. “Yes, my king,” I answered.
“Very good.” He let me go and wiped away the final tears that rolled down my cheeks. “I consider the matter closed.” He looked down on me solemnly. “Your infatuation with the half-elf ends here.”
I listened to his steps as he walked away, my furious stare fixed on the trees that wound steeply up the mountain.
Mine wasn’t just an infatuation.
It was a need. An addiction. It was something more powerful than any elf bond I had ever seen.
And I would make Amlach understand that.