“Marry me.”
My reckless words are like magic. In one way, they hang over us like a smothering blanket. Yet, they are also an echo in an empty ballroom, reverberating through my skull repeatedly.
They are gallows, and I’m being led to them, wishing desperately for a last-minute pardon. Yet they are also a gift I saw Uriel stash away from me, a surprise that could be wonderful or disappointing, depending on what it finally reveals.
My words are met with silence.
I stare at Elspeth. Elspeth stares at me.
Then she blinks. “Very well.”
Did I hear right? “Really?”
Elspeth nods cautiously. “I suppose so.”
I feel the sun rise in my heart. Before I can stop myself, I wrap my hands around her tiny waist, lift her light form off the ground, and spin her around in jubilee.
When I put her feet back on the ground, she grasps my forearms, and I thank the Emperor-God that I have not been skipping my broadsword practice.
But I feel like I could thank Him for much more in a few moments as I stare down into Elspeth’s now cerulean eyes. “May I kiss you?”
She lowers her lashes demurely. “You may.”
I need no further urging, and lean toward her. The scent of wildflowers wafts over me, drawing me closer still like a forbidden spell.
Elspeth’s eyes slide close, and I feel her exhale on my lips. I pause for a moment, savoring this moment. Exhilarating that her plump lips are so close that I can almost taste them. If I lean forward just a smidgeon more, I can learn what a kiss truly is. . .
Suddenly, Elspeth is yanked away from me.
I startle, wondering if the thought of kissing me became a horror to her rather than a wonder.
But then she cries out in pain, and I see a shadow looming over her, clutching her by her freely flowing tresses.
It takes me a moment to make out his scowl by the moonlight, nearly hidden under his brown hood.
Adalbert. Holding my bride-to-be by her hair.
Rage like I’ve never known before fills my veins like liquid fire when I manifest the power of my lava rocks.
I charge forward, ready to wield the right of the sword that came with my divine privilege of ruling.
Then someone else clutches the back of my tunic and tugs me backward. The smell of books and plants envelops me. Uriel?
“It seems your prophecy was correct,” Adalbert rasps from behind Elspeth.
Elspeth, whose eyes are wide with fear, but whose jaw is stern with determination. She may be scared, but she will not cower.
It will not be difficult to fall in love with her.
Once I free her. “Let her go!” I demand. “You have no right to touch her!”
Adalbert snorts. “Neither do you, boy.” He releases Elspeth’s hair, though, but then he grasps her forearms instead.
I pull toward her, but Uriel keeps his grip on me. I could easily break it, but not without injuring him. Elves have lighter bones than mortals. Which means, as strong as she is, Elspeth is very vulnerable in Adalbert’s arms. “She is my betrothed!”
For a moment, I think I see a glimmer of a smile on Elspeth’s face. It distracts me from our circumstances for a moment.
Until Uriel finally speaks. “I am sorry, my prince. But I’ve seen your future. This betrothal must not be so. At least not yet.”
I glare back at him. “You don’t get to say that. He certainly doesn’t get to say that!” I turn my scowl back toward Adalbert.
The High Sorcerer is unconcerned with my wrath, though, and plucks Elspeth up to carry her away.
Elspeth writhes in his arms, trying to get away, and all I can think about is how easily her bones or Uriel’s can snap as I strain against the latter. Still, Uriel does not release me.
Fine. If I cannot use might, I will use magic. I am forbidden from using Heritage Magic outside of my secure practice sessions except in the greatest of emergencies. But an evil sorcerer absconding with my future empress seems like an emergency to me.
While my arms are held back, my hand is free enough to slip into my pocket for my stones. The lava rock can equip me with fire, which I can use as a projectile weapon. But will I be able to use it without burning Elspeth?
Uriel seems to sense my intentions, because he yanks my arm out of my pocket. “You cannot, my prince. You must not expose the true nature of your Heritage Magic before Adalbert; he is not to be trusted.”
A horrifying helplessness a Sacred Prince should never feel overcomes my soul. “He can’t be trusted with Elspeth!”
“He will not hurt her,” Uriel assures “He has bound his magic with a vow against it.”
If Adalbert won’t hurt her, then I can’t justify using violence against him that could injure Elspeth, or else injure Uriel to go after him myself.
This is it. This is what happens when I step outside the rules for even one moment. Not even completely outside of them, just slightly around them.
I think I can have something that isn’t meant to be mine yet, and then I watch it get snatched away.
Elspeth seems to sense my thoughts as well as Uriel did, because rage flashes through them as they darken. “How could you?”
Her words are like an arrow shot through my soul. They almost bring me to my knees. I can’t let them kill me, though. Not when she needs to know that I’m going to fight for her, for us. At the right time. “It doesn’t matter where you take her, Adalbert!” The words feel empty as Adalbert continues to carry Elspeth away. “I will find her!”
“Stay here,” Uriel orders. “I will fetch her.”
Relief fills me, and I have the urge to sink to my knees again as Uriel rushes after Adalbert and Elspeth.
I move to follow as Uriel calls upon elvish speed to close the distance between them.
Adalbert stops at Uriel’s approach, but doesn’t release Elspeth. Uriel appears to be speaking to Elspeth, mayhap trying to calm her.
Picking up my speed, I continue toward them, watching as Uriel reaches forward to place a finger on Elspeth’s temple.
Her eyes roll up in her skull, and then she slumps in Adalbert’s arms.
I still, confused at what I’m seeing.
Adalbert hands Elspeth into Uriel’s arms. The older elf shows no sign of drooping under her weight as he turns and strides away.
Well, he fetched her. But why is he not bringing her to me?
Adalbert catches my gaze and grins. Something about that smile chills me to my bones.
I turn to hurry after Uriel, but Adalbert is somehow right in front of me.
Startling, I stagger backward to keep from hitting him. Adalbert has many great mortal magic lines in his blood, but I know of no ancestry that gives speed like that.
Adalbert is completely unconcerned with his unnatural tendencies, though, as he grips my forearms. “Your father wants you to forget tonight, boy.”
“Unhand me at once!” I try to pull away, but Adalbert’s grip tightens. I am far less scared of hurting him, though, so I yank one hand free.
“But I do not merely blindly obey,” Adalbert assures. “And I do not expect you to blindly submit.”
“I will never submit to the likes of you, and you will obey me!” I shove his other hand away and stagger backward, wishing I had grabbed my ceremonial Sun Sword. But I did not think I would need that to go a-courting.
Adalbert doesn’t reach for me again; merely stands there and smirks under the shadow of his hood. “Let me show why your match must not be, boy. Uriel and I have seen the future this day, and I assure you that your fate is not one you would desire.”
“Elspeth is everything I could have ever wanted!” I cry.
“Very well then.” Adalbert turns away, his hands folded behind his back and his sleeves draping behind his back. “If you do not want to know what has your tutor and me so concerned . . .”
“I trust Uriel, but not you.”
Adalbert glances at me over his shoulder. “We have both seen your destiny. The death reserved for you.”
My blood runs cold. “Wh-what? How do I die?” Do I even want to know?
Well, now that knowing is a possibility, I do.
Adalbert’s wintry smile is the most gleeful I’ve ever seen on him. “Her name is Lady Elspeth.”