Chapter 28 #3
Ellisar advanced beside her with effortless grace, smiling and waving when appropriate as he constantly scanned the surroundings, but he seldom focused on her.
When the guides brought them to the raised platform in the center of the square, the gathering’s true nature became clear. Regional leaders and Norn commanders stood in precise formation, observing intently.
Ellisar approached first and nodded at the men as they bowed their heads and murmured their welcomes. The Norn watched with unbroken, evaluating stares. When it was Imani’s turn to speak to the gathered crowd and politicians, she raised her hand, and everyone fell silent.
“You stand here because this realm matters,” she said, her voice echoing across the square.
“And I will not let it fall to division or fear.” She took a deep breath, then continued.
“Under my rule, Essenheim will be strong. Its borders will hold. Its people will be protected. We will not turn on each other when there is more at stake than power. We will build something that lasts.” A few shouts rang up from the audience before she added, “Peace is not weakness. Prosperity is not given. We will secure both—together.”
A beat of silence stretched before the square erupted in a fierce, explosive roar of acceptance. Music swelled, and the celebration truly began.
Ellisar placed a hand on her back and shepherded Imani around to the various community leaders and dignitaries. She listened more than she spoke, letting the nobility reveal their hands, while Ellisar subtly directed the flow of conversation.
The third noble, in as many minutes, began explaining his family’s historic contribution to Vathis grain storage.
She feigned a smile through gritted teeth and leaned closer to Ellisar. “If he mentions his grandfather again, I’m throwing myself into the fountain,” she muttered.
Ellisar continued nodding politely at the speaker. “Too public.”
“Poison, then.”
“Paperwork.”
She crossed her arms and shook her head. “You really do know how to ruin everything.”
His expression remained perfectly formal, but she caught the tiny pull at the corner of his mouth.
As the night stretched on, and Imani continued navigating the political currents with Ellisar at her side, she found herself feeling grateful for his presence.
The gap between them had subtly diminished, narrowing with each passing moment.
Their familiarity had become something constant, comforting, and impossible to ignore, and the change caught her off guard.
What had started as mutual respect had taken root in her chest, blossoming into an emotion she could no longer keep at arm’s length.
Yet as soon as the thought formed, her mind summoned his ghost.
The difference between the two elves was striking.
What she had shared with Kiran had always been instinctual and effortless, a violent force that stripped her bare. He’d always named her dreams, her most depraved shames, and reveled in all of them.
In contrast, being here with Ellisar was a stark reminder that she had never had a choice before. Her bond with Ellisar had grown over weeks on the road, and she chose to embrace it rather than be swept away. This distinction made the connection, and Ellisar, feel intensely real and undeniable.
She stood among the Norn nobility, feeling her heart split in two. Her chest swelled with a slow, trembling breath.
“Essenheim will need an Heir Apparent,” a Norn lord remarked, his voice as casual as if he were discussing grain shipments.
Another inclined his head. “It would secure the line.”
“And stabilize the monarchy when we desperately need it,” a female added.
“The realm would answer to certainty,” a fourth chimed in, her eagerness unmistakable.
The agreement pressed in around Imani, each voice transforming a possibility into an expectation.
Her face heated, but she kept her expression still as stone.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want children.
She had simply learned long ago not to assume they would come.
Fertility had been declining among elves for generations, enough that every birth carried political significance now.
Heartmates conceived far more easily than other pairings, but they were not the only ones capable of having children.
And she and Ellisar had the advantage of both being elves.
Matches within the same type of breed produced children more often than mixed-breed pairings did, even without a heartmate bond, which made an Heir Apparent possible.
But possible wasn’t the same as promised, since the Fabric chose the monarch.
“I’m confident that Imani and I will secure the future of this realm together with an Heir Apparent,” Ellisar said, lacing his fingers with hers. “When we have children, and if the Fabric deems them worthy, they inherit a kingdom built to endure .”
Her jaw nearly fell open at the conversation swirling around her. Everyone around them was already speaking as if possibility had become certainty, including Ellisar.
Old feelings of being backed into a corner without choices surfaced… stoking a flame of fury that only grew worse as the night wore on.