Skirts & Swords (Female-Led Epic Fantasy Box Set for Charity)
Page 62
I finished it as well and started to lean back. There was a pillow behind me, keeping me in a sitting position. It was soft; everything surrounding me felt warm and smooth. I opened my eyes gingerly. I was in a bed. A very nice bed.
I looked up to see several people leaving. Steed? Grey? I fought panic as I wondered if they’d all made it. The worry throbbed in my head; it felt like my mind could splinter. I checked the faces close to me for stress, but could see none. Ruby gave me a soft smile.
“How do you feel?” she asked quietly.
I was having trouble forming a simple answer. There didn’t seem to be a word for it in the disorder of my mind. My silence was answer enough.
“It will pass.”
I hoped she was right.
Chevelle was watching me, anxious now.
“Is everyone all right?” I asked. My throat was raw, and my voice sounded as if it had been through a grater.
“Are you?” he replied in a low tone.
I couldn’t be sure.
He hesitated, almost not wanting to ask the question he knew he must. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Elfreda,” I answered immediately. He waited for the rest. But I had two answers, didn’t I? I chose. “Of North Camber.”
It must have been the right answer, because he grabbed me, exultant, and pressed his lips to mine. His hands held the sides of my head with a fierceness, a gentleness, that took my breath. His kiss was so fervent, so familiar, and yet it was a shock.
He drew slowly away, realizing his mistake, and I knew the answer had been wrong. His expression fell the slightest bit, but he didn’t take his hands away.
I knew I wasn’t the other Elfreda either, not the long list of binding words that had been my identity for so long, but I couldn’t seem to reconcile the two lives.
“I … I think I’m just Frey.”
Chevelle’s hands moved to my shoulders, tension in his grip.
“That’s okay,” Ruby assured me.
“We will find the others,” Chevelle pledged, his jaw tight. I couldn’t tell if the promise was meant for me or himself.
The others. I had forgotten, lost for so long in my dreams, the bonds I’d hoped would break, the councilmen we needed to free me. I wished I could think clearly. I tried to remember what had happened, but could only see flames.
A flicker of movement caught my eye and I turned to find a hawk perched on the ledge of a balcony. Suddenly, I needed fresh air more than anything else.
Chevelle helped me to my feet and I walked, a little wobbly, to the door. As I stepped out into the sun, I had to steady myself on the stone ledge. Not because of the lightheadedness, though I was feeling faint, but because below me, before the steps to what I now realized was a castle, was a thousand elves … watching me. I sucked in a harsh breath; I couldn’t get my mind to accept what I knew was happening.
I had been so oblivious. But as I stared down, I understood. This was my place.
I heard Ruby behind me now. In a low voice she assured me, “They have heard of your return, they have come to see for themselves.”
Chevelle stepped to my right side, placing something cold and heavy in my hand. My sword.
I knew what to do then. I took a deep, steadying breath as I raised the blade to the air and heard my name roared in the song of the crowd below.
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Please look for book two in the Frey Saga: Pieces of Eight
Melissa Wright
More from Melissa Wright:
The Frey Saga
Frey
Pieces of Eight
Molly
Rise of the Seven
Descendants Series
Bound by Prophecy
Shifting Fate
Reign of Shadows
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