by Kumar, Lisa
“World War III, here we come,” Cal muttered to no one in particular. For a moment Maggie appeared she would launch out of her chair and greet the king’s face with her fist. But as so many times before, potential disaster was averted. Avrin leaned near her and whispered words in her ear, placing a restraining hand on her arm.
Cal sat back and watched the show. Relian stood behind the divan, a possessive hand on her shoulder as she listened to Maggie challenge the king.
“So tell me more about when you die? Where do you go?”
Talion lifted a lazy brow. “Me? I don’t go anywhere. I’m alive.”
Maggie huffed impatiently. “Not you. Your kind. I thought that was understood.”
He sent her a small bow of the head that came off looking more haughty than courteous. “When we die, we die as you do and go where you go, wherever that may be.”
Maggie looked at him through lowered lashes. “I thought there were legends about a paradise where only your kind goes. Wherever that is.”
His shoulders shook in a slight laugh. “You can’t believe everything you read. Some legends don’t have any truth in them whatsoever. That is one. As for the ‘wherever’ of death, why as far as I know, no elf has ever come back for a visit after leaving this plane of existence or yours.” He smirked at Maggie. “That would indeed be a memorable occasion, but alas, sadly it’s never happened.”
Maggie closed her eyes and appeared to be counting to ten in an effort to control her temper.
Relian sighed in her ear. “Children.”
Cal couldn’t agree more.
Chapter 27
In her bedchamber, Cal settled more snuggly against the padded arm of her chair. The methodical motions of the brush caused a stupor to overtake her. She wished she could stay like that for a few weeks. No such luck, though.
Behind her, seated on a stool, Arrein stopped her chatter. “My lady, you must hold still. I’ll soon be done brushing your hair. Then I will arrange it.”
“Is all this really necessary?” Maggie groaned from her own seat a few feet away from Cal’s, where Vana subjected her to the same treatment.
Yes, was it? She knew they were to rub elbows with some important elves, as their numbers had inundated Eriannon for a meeting of some sort with the royal father and son team. That meeting meant fancy dinner gatherings, not to mention spare elves wandering all over the place. Of course, it didn’t matter that she’d found the previous dinner arrangements fancy enough or that she already had enough elves wandering around her. Relian and Talion probably viewed this as a total immersion exercise, where they ruthlessly pelted her with elves from all sides.
All she knew was that Relian would parade her in front of those haughty elves like some kind of exotic freak show—look, a real live human! She cringed. As his betrothed, she was to take her proper place by his side now she could fluently speak Elvish and had been indoctrinated with proper elvin protocol for the last three weeks. As it happened, this etiquette didn’t differ much from what she’d expect human nobility or even people with manners to use.
Arrein tsked, Vana echoing the sound. Go figure, they were in on the conspiracy, too. Cal frowned and rolled her eyes at Maggie, risking a scolding from Arrein again.
“It’s very important. Many of our people haven’t seen you since you first arrived, and only those in attendance at the time. The council and the attending festivities have been carefully planned out, and most of the lords and ladies of the realm are here or arriving as we speak.”
“That was what I was afraid of,” Cal said under her breath. She didn’t want to face a horde of elvin lords and ladies. No, the servants and commoners were more than enough for her.
“Tell me about it.” Maggie didn’t sound any happier at the prospect but soon visibly perked up. “At least I’m not the one with the binding bracelet. Now all that attention I wouldn’t want.”
Cal slid Maggie a dirty look. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”
Maggie laughed. “Glad to help. I’ll be with you, even though I won’t be able to share that misery.”
“A binding bracelet should never be misery,” Vana murmured, horrified.
Cal sighed. “We meant all the accompanying attention that follows one.”
“Yeah,” added Maggie, “especially when the other binding happens to be on the wrist of the crown prince, and you’re human.”
“Ah.” Both Arrein and Vana apparently got it, making sounds of commiseration.
“Maybe I’ll be lucky, and some binding will have magically appeared on a wrist or two, or hopefully, on a couple of dozen. That might take some of the limelight away.” Hope welled up, allowing her to sink into fantasy.
Arrein yanked her right out of it. “Oh no, my lady, the binding does not just appear.” Cal’s head whipped around, as Arrein’s eyes widened and she faltered to a stop.
What? True to form, she had no clue what these elves were talking about. “It doesn’t just appear one day?”
After Arrein shook her head in the negative, fury encased her heart. Not more secrets or half-truths! Cal ground out, “How does it get there then?”
Maggie moaned and slapped her palm against her forehead.
The maid hesitated. “Maybe Prince Relian or even the king should explain.”
“Explain? It’s a simple question. Please tell me.”
Arrein shook her head, trading a wary glance with Vana. “I’m sorry, my lady. This is a subject that should be taken to the prince.”
Cal gritted her teeth. She knew all about seeking answers in relation to reticent elves. Besides, she didn’t want to involve innocent bystanders. So she sat there, smoldering. When she got her hands on him....
***
Cal walked with Maggie down the hall, metaphorically dragging her slipper-clad feet as much as she could. Neither she nor Maggie were in a hurry to get where they were supposed to be. The council had finished, so that was where they headed. Well, at least toward the council room’s doors, where Arrein and Vana had told them the congregation of elves would exit. If her memory served correctly, the area outside the room consisted of a wide-open space with massively vaulted ceilings.
All too soon they neared the area, the honorary guard assigned to them walking back a pace. That took some getting used to. While it was called honorary, she knew it was as much a matter of security as a show of power. Relian took no chances with her safety after Eamon’s attack.
Now, her gown was a show of power. The ivory confection floated over her skin, the silver threads running through it glinting like silver moonbeams.
As they entered the wide hall, she saw that Relian stood with the king, surrounded by the lords and ladies of the court. There were so many that her anger at Relian nearly deflated. Maybe that was a good thing. She couldn’t countenance making a scene here, so any confrontation would have to wait. She didn’t want everyone to remember her as “that human.”
She girded herself for patience. Patience in dealing with Relian and the measuring looks the other elves cast her way. Those speculative stares ran the gamut from open curiosity to downright judgmental. They all had one thing in common, though: their owners delivered them with an oh-so-cool demeanor that left her scrambling to find an ounce of true emotion buried under their coldly serene exteriors. Those faces could grace the highest fashion magazines back home, but all she could see was the cruel beauty that could freeze a person if one ventured too near.
She unclenched her hands. Well, she could play that way, too. Cool, calm, and collected was what she would be. Cal almost faltered to a stop. While asking for the impossible, she might as well request a new face and body. A dose of beauty would be needed to get the proper glacial look down.
Her thoughts came to a stop, allowing some sense of perseverance to flow through her, when she and Maggie halted in front of Relian and his father. She curtsied in the way Arrein taught her, adding that all-too-important hand gesture used in formal and informal situations—with head bowed, fi
ngers briefly touching the forehead. Maggie followed suit. Relian and his father returned the hand gesture, not bowing from the waist, as their station didn’t require it.
The king greeted them first. “Lady Calantha, Lady Margaret, you are both a welcome sight after a long council. If there’re no protests, I would like to introduce you both to all those gathered here. Everyone is anxious to meet you.” At this, he looked around at everybody assembled and gave them a steel-coated look. Murmurs of assent immediately arose.
Turning, the king sent his son a smile. “Relian, if you would escort Lady Calantha?”
“Of course, Father.” Then he offered up his own greeting to Cal. “My lady, it is indeed good to see you.” He lifted her hand up to his lips, causing the female populace to sigh in adoration. “You shine in that gown. It does you justice.”
Cal felt herself melting like a piece of chocolate under Relian’s insistent attentions but forced her anger to the forefront. She’d make nice with him for now, but he wouldn’t charm her out of her well-deserved rage.
“You are too kind, my prince.” Cal kept her voice an even monotone.
Surprise flashed in his eyes, and he lifted a brow. She leaned in toward him, and whispered, “Later.”
His jaw firmed and comprehension flared in his eyes. So he knew she was angry but still followed her lead. She snorted to herself. What else could he do surrounded as they were?
The king commandeered Maggie as Relian escorted her away. Her friend was getting the royal treatment and didn’t seem too happy about it. Now Cal could appreciate her own situation a little more. Even though she didn’t want Relian to parade her around, even though she desperately desired to evade all attention, there was a worse thing than having a prince by her side: it was called a king.
While Relian introduced her to the peerage of the realm, he was more formal with her than usual. She shook away the pang that shot through her heart. After more introductions and conversation than she could count, the fact some people warmed to her lightened her. Their icy reserve retreated like a glacier, slowly inching away but leaving the indelible signs of its movements. There were even a few with whom she could see becoming friends. Maybe this place wouldn’t be so bad after all. And there was Relian. Always Relian.
Her anger petered out for a second, only to reignite when he motioned for them to slip away. He led her to a private alcove located in one of the less traversed hallways. It was an idyllic spot with a gilt-framed window that sported a built-in seat nestled below it. As usual, the delicate shutters were folded open, allowing fresh air and sunshine to come streaming in. She’d since learned why there was no glass. Elves had their enchantments, especially ones over nature that could attract or repel. They could keep out rain and insects, while allowing everything else in they deemed desirable.
Pale gold curtains completed the private effect of the alcove. Relian detached the sashes that held both sides open, and the material swished closed around them.
As soon as he sat and faced her, she pointed at her binding before poking him in the chest. “How could you not tell me?” Though her voice remained steady, her hands shook, and her heart thudded in her ears. But she screeched out her next words. “Did you put the binding on me, because that seems to be how everyone else gets it?”
A flame of alarm crossed his eyes before they blanked. “No, our case isn’t the usual…occurrence.”
So he hadn’t willfully trapped her? Somewhat mollified, she placed her hands on her hips. “Then explain this “occurrence” to me.”
He avoided her eyes while pulling her down to sit beside him. “At the beginning, I had no way to know the state of your emotional health. Until I could assess this, I thought your arrival in Eria was enough for you to handle. I didn’t want to add to your burden by telling you of how truly odd the binding’s occurrence was. And then I forgot to mention it to you once I promised to be more open.”
Her mind froze at the mention of her mental health. Surely he couldn’t know her past history? The possibility wasn’t likely.
She shrugged it off, deciding to concentrate on something more rewarding: ripping into him. Sitting didn’t stop her from poking him again. “There you go again. I’m not a child. You don’t have to hide everything that’s strange or upsetting from me. There are times I deserve the full, unvarnished truth. This is one of them. And stop forgetting important stuff.”
He nodded and grabbed her hand before he could earn another jab. Relian looked down, his fingers caressing the back of her hand. Though he remained silent, she sensed he measured how much to tell her.
Cal stood up. She’d had enough. He held tight to her hand, and she let out a huff of impatience. “You know, this secretiveness is getting old. I might not be able to leave Eria, but I don’t have to make things easy on you.”
She gave up on him being forthright until he lifted his head to gaze at her. “You’re right. Even though you hold your own secrets, I should’ve given you the full story. What do you wish to know? I’ll answer as truthfully as I can, but I expect the same in return.”
Cal raised a skeptical brow at his words but ignored his demands about her own secret keeping. Where had she heard such promises before? Oh, yeah, from him. He must excuse her if she didn’t dispense with her disbelief that easily. “Just how strange is our case?”
“In all traditional cases, a couple must agree to exchange a plait of hair. If they are to have a complete bond, the bracelets will seamlessly knit closed during the binding ceremony. My people usually take many, many years before they are willing to attempt it.”
His hand moved from hers and came to rest in the strands cascading from the intricate arrangement Arrein concocted. “Most want to be as sure as possible and won’t undertake such an endeavor with someone they don’t know or care for. Many hold off for the opposite reason. They know in some cases it does not happen at all, no matter how desired. It’s devastating to go through the ceremony with a loved one and not be granted one’s most faithful wish.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Is it true love in those cases then?”
“There can be love with or without the binding. Just as there are many types of love, there are many situations in which they occur. A binding is merely a testament to a full bond being possible.”
Cal reflected on his words, thinking back to one particular instance. Could it have been their binding? Excitement and dread coursed through her. Would she learn what had connected them during that immeasurably long moment? She inhaled a deep breath and cocked her head to the side. “That day by the waterfall—what was that?”
Relian glanced up from where he’d been watching her hair slide through his fingers in the late afternoon sun that shown through the window. “I wondered when you would mention it.”
Cal fidgeted under his penetrating stare, turning to look at the curtain. His regard burned right through her. “There never seemed a good time to bring it up.”
“Indeed.” As his fingers tattooed a soothing motion on the nape of her neck, he dropped that line of questioning. “It was a moment brought about by the deepening of our link—our bond, if you will. Such incidents are isolated during the binding stage but not the sharing of emotion we both felt since then.”
Her mouth went dry, and her heart thumped like the beating of a drum in the silence that followed. “I thought we weren’t bonded.”
His fingers continued their slow discovery. “No, not fully. Keep in mind, though, that anyone with a successful binding bracelet starts the process. Once you reach our stage, only the official ceremony remains, along with the consummation. Our link is as complete as it can be without the total fulfillment of it. Already, I feel and hear you within me. I think even you’ve felt it.” He took her right hand and rested it against his heart, the beat strong and steady underneath her fingers.
Cal was sure her mouth hung agape. That was what she’d felt while at the waterfall? And the other times when she just knew what he was feeling?
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He offered her an understanding smile. “How else do you think the consequences we’ve discussed come about? There doesn’t have to be a finished bond for us to feel the effects of our link. What happened at the waterfall was a shared experience that transmitted itself through our developing bond. The innumerable futures that played out are not set in stone and only tell an incomplete story. Events within our control and those that aren’t can affect them and their various outcomes. But we can choose how we’ll walk the path that lies before us, and indeed, if we’ll walk it together as a couple.”
“Uh…. Okay.” His explanation kind of made sense, but it still blew her mind far out of reach.
She latched onto a safer, easier thought. “But why not tell me all this from the beginning?” Cal waved a hand around, encompassing everything they’d been discussing. Why did there have to be so many secrets, ones that pertained to her? They could’ve avoided so much frustration if he and the others had simply put forth the truth. That was a concrete fact to her, one she understood.
“I wanted you to have time before the full implications were placed upon you.”
She scowled. “But sometimes it’s better to be aware of the full implications right from the start.”
“Sometimes,” he agreed, caressing her check. “I will endeavor to bring these to light in a timelier manner.”
Leaning into his touch, she sighed. “I know we don’t have to technically accept the binding, all harmful consequences aside, but our choice of freewill is far different than those who willingly decide to undergo the ceremony. In our case, there was no such freewill. We didn’t have any choice. It just appeared.”
He shot her a rueful smile. “I know. That was why everyone was so surprised, no one more so than me. Besides the fact you’re human, we only attempt bindings amongst the willing. The bracelets are physically placed there by the involved parties. Never before have they appeared by themselves. If a complete bond is to happen, the plait of hair will fuse together during the binding ceremony.”
