Chapter 20 #2
“There’s something else you’re not telling me.” Chrys didn’t respond but pinched the bridge of his nose before running his hand through his hair.
“I told you this was a dangerous game, Owain.” He sighed deeply before finally looking at him.
“Word of your… affection for your brother’s killer has reached your father’s ears. The other lords are now whispering that you may have turned traitor to the kingdom and that you are working with her to exact revenge on those who hold you in low esteem.”
Owain ran his hands through his hair. This went beyond bad; this had become catastrophic.
Chrys continued. “You know there is no love lost between me and Edam. I’ve never given a shit about Elven politics.
I am loyal to you as my best friend. But I need to know: Is she worth dying for?
Because that’s what’s at stake now if we can’t convince the lords that you aren’t engaging in treason. ”
“Say what you’re really thinking.”
“Honestly, Owain, I’m thinking that only a fool would fall for a nymph and expect that love to be returned. And I’m afraid that you will wind up dead over a female who could never care for you as deeply as you care for her. So, I ask, is she worth it?”
Love. Chrys had insinuated that Owain was falling in love with Orla.
It wasn’t an idea that he had let himself stew on for long.
He knew the reputation of nymphs, knew that Orla herself had expressed worries about her capacity to love.
But when he thought about Chrys’s question, the answer was simple.
Yes. He didn’t even have to think about the question. Being with Orla felt like taking his first breath after being held under water. He felt like a different person when he was with her. And he wouldn’t use her in their plans, regardless of the consequences.
“Yes,” he breathed. “She is worth everything I have to give.”
“Then you and I need to come up with a new plan.”
* * *
Three stern-faced Elven males looked at Owain with varying degrees of contempt etched on their faces.
It was several hours after Chrys and Owain had spoken, and Owain found himself in yet another palace meeting room.
This time, he convened with Chrys and the Edamish lords.
It would have been smarter, safer even, to have them meet in his rooms. But over the past several days, those rooms had become a sanctuary from the games of court.
His own little hideout with Orla where he could truly be himself.
The mood in the room was tense, to say the least. Lord Patrin and Lord Allium were sneering at Owain, while Lord Calix eyed him, assessing.
Calix was the one he really had to worry about.
Like King Mikki, Lord Calix was gifted with a kind of mind work.
He couldn’t control another’s body like Mikki could, but he could read into an individual’s wants and desires.
Even ones they hadn’t fully admitted to themselves yet.
Having grown up around the male, Owain was usually good about keeping his mind guarded from that kind of power, but he imagined in his panic to save Orla’s life, things might have slipped.
“Gentleman.” Owain inclined his head in greeting, but none of the lords spoke, clearly assessing him.
“As you know, I have been indisposed the last few days, and I wanted to give a few updates that will help us finalize our plans.” No one spoke, so Owain went on.
He told them what he learned when observing the king’s army.
Making note of the general size and experience level of the army and outlining areas of weakness that their own forces could exploit.
This garnered interested murmurs from the lords, though they all looked at Owain with hostility.
Lord Patrin was, unsurprisingly, the first to speak. “And what of Lady Orla? We have heard no updates and that is still a key aspect of our plans.” Owain knew that whatever he said next had the possibility of damning him.
“We don’t use her for now.” He couldn’t say he had no intention of using her or that he would defend her life as if it were his own if it came to it.
“And why not?” This time it was Lord Calix’s turn to speak. The older male had copper-colored skin, and his hair had grayed with age. “You had the perfect opportunity to let the changeling impersonate her while she was indisposed, and yet you didn’t take it.”
He had prepared for this line of questioning.
He knew they would be looking for weakness or any signs of the way Owain felt about her.
“Saving her in that garden will curry favor with King Mikki. She’s his most decorated hero, and we are meant to be his allies.
If I left her to die in that garden, the king would have seen through our plans and may have even blamed us for the attack.
Now we can continue on as planned but with increased goodwill from King Mikki and his people. ”
Hells, he felt sick even thinking about using Orla in their schemes, but he had to play this part. If he played it correctly, he could still achieve all he had worked for. He would be legitimized as his father’s heir, and he would keep Orla safe. He refused for this to fail.
“It’s one thing to save her, it’s another to fuck her. Or is that also somehow to our advantage.” Rage roiled through him at Lord Allium’s words. He knew the older male was trying to bait him. To catch him off guard so that he made a misstep.
“Our lord is playing the long game,” Chrys piped up. “By bedding the chit, Owain secures her trust, making it easier to use her when the time comes. She won’t be suspecting it, and neither will anyone else after the little play he put on in the gardens.”
He really was going to be sick. Even though he knew Chrys was helping him out of a tight corner, he hated them talking about Orla like she was some piece of meat. Like she was nothing to him.
“Is that true?” asked Lord Patrin, his eyes narrowing in on Owain. “You’re simply bedding the female to gain her trust?” Owain clenched his fists under the table, nails biting into the skin of his palms.
“Yes.” It was all he could say. Anymore and his voice might crack, revealing the lie. The other lords nodded as if convinced by his performance.
The meeting continued on with Lord Patrin and Allium outlining strategic allies that would not challenge Owain’s father’s claim to the throne, while Calix informed them of Edamish troop movements.
They were stationed right at the border between Edam and Emmental so that surprise would be on their side if it came to a battle between Edam and King Mikki’s army.
Owain sat, stone faced and jaw tight throughout the meeting.
It was nearly evening by the time they were done hatching their plans.
As the lord’s left the room, a missive was delivered by the court messenger.
It was from Orla saying that she would be staying the night in the city but that she would be back in the morning and not to worry about her.
His heart ached at the letter. He wondered if he had misread things between them.
Chrys’s earlier words worming their way back into his mind.
Maybe she wasn’t as interested in him as he was in her.
They spend a night together, their first real night together, and she spends the next night in the city.
He was putting so much on the line to be with her. He hoped it wasn’t all for nothing.
Owain knew better than to expect a nymph to feel as strongly as Elves did in romantic relationships.
It wasn’t in their nature to fall as fast or for life, but Orla wasn’t just a nymph.
He hoped to Amara that in that way, she was more Elven and that she was falling for him as deeply as he was falling for her.
Sensing his dismay, Chrys crossed the room, taking the message from Owain’s hand and reading it over. “Come on,” he said, gripping Owain by the shoulder and leading him out of the room. “Let’s go hit something.”