Dirt. No matter which way I turn, all I see is dirt. How do they stand it?
I’ve been here in the underground Kingdom of Altum for three days now, and I’ve scarcely been allowed to leave my room. It’s nice enough, I suppose.
To be fair, the earthen walls aren’t exactly dirty—they’re more like stucco, tightly packed and textured. But there are no windows, and the glowing mineral rocks that provide room lighting give everything an unreal, mystical quality, like we’re living in some ancient fairy tale.
The furniture here is all heavy and made of ornately carved wood. I haven’t seen a manmade fiber since we arrived. The Light Elves certainly look like the Elves from my tribe, but they act nothing like them, and where I’m so used to communicating through speech, none of them speak out loud. The ones I’ve interacted with so far have been kind, but all the mind-to-mind communication with these nature-lovers is giving me a headache.
I’ve yet to meet my groom—bad luck, Pappa says—and I suppose that’s why I’m stuck here in our assigned quarters until the ceremony, being served and pampered with pre-wedding beauty treatments and dress-fittings.
Maybe I’d actually enjoy all of it if I weren’t so desperate to speak to Ivar, to tell him about my father’s real motivation for the wedding—using me to control the heir to the Light Throne. Of course, Pappa says it’s all about uniting our people so we can join forces against the humans and claim rulership over them, to be worshipped and served by them once again as it was in the Old Days. Either way, I want no part of it.
My hope is that once Ivar knows the truth, he’ll call the arrangement off, and I’ll be free to leave and resume my search for Nox Knight.
According to what Nox’s housekeeper said, there’s still another week or two before he returns to California. That means he could be here in this very state right now—in this town even. And I’m trapped underground, wasting precious time.
The door to my room opens, and I look up from my book, jumping in guilty surprise.
Pappa strides in. “How’s my girl?” His tone is light, cheerful. His meetings today with the other tribes must have gone well.
“I’m fine, Pappa. Just bored. I’m ready to get this thing over with.”
“That doesn’t sound like an eager bride.”
I give him a sweet smile. A good-daughter smile. “You know what I mean. I haven’t even been allowed to meet him yet. My nerves are going crazy. What if we hate each other? What if he’s mean and ugly?”
Pappa chuckles. “I assure you he’s not ugly. I’ve met the young man. He seems a bit apprehensive as well, but I don’t think he’s mean.”
Hearing that my intended groom might not be all-in either gives me a jolt. It actually makes me like him a little. I guess I haven’t considered before now that he, also, might be doing this against his will or out of a sense of duty. Maybe the Light Elves aren’t so different after all.
Pappa crosses the room to the bed and runs his fingertips over the wedding dress I left wadded up there when I last pulled it off. He glances back over his shoulder at me, his eyes narrowing.
Are you excited about tomorrow?
He asked the question in the old Elven way. Which makes me nervous. He’ll expect me to answer him in similar fashion, which means lying will be impossible. Could he somehow know what I’m planning? No, there’s no way. I told no one this time. There is no one I can trust. I’m on my own—now and especially later, after I betray Pappa and tell his enemy clan what he’s really up to.
Yes, Pappa. It’s the most important day of my life. And that’s one hundred percent true. Tomorrow is the day I start standing up for myself, start doing what’s right for me instead of blindly following Pappa’s orders. My own little Independence Day.
He nods and goes to the door, leaving without another word.
I don’t like the thought of losing his love. But then, I’m not really sure I ever had it in the first place. Love is not something that’s high on his list of priorities. He’s so filled with hatred for the humans and his desire to dominate them that there’s no room in his heart for anything else.