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Two days later in her bedchamber, Cal settled more snuggly against the padded arm of her chair. The methodical motions of the brush through her hair caused a stupor to overtake her. Could she stay like this 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. Then I will arrange your hair.”
“Is all this really necessary?” Maggie groaned from her own seat a few feet away, where Vana subjected her to the same treatment.
Yes, was it? She knew she and Maggie were to rub elbows with some important elves, as a number of these esteemed people had inundated Eriannon for a meeting of some sort with the royal father and son team. This meant grand 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 again 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 that 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 at Maggie’s words, 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,” said Arrein. “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, 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. 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 in that misery.”
“A binding bracelet should never be a 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. Arrein’s eyes widened, and she faltered to a stop.
What? As normal, she had no clue what these elves were talking about. “It doesn’t just appear one day all on its own?”
After Arrein shook her head in the negative, fury encased Cal’s heart. “How does it get there, then?”
Maggie moaned and slapped a palm against her forehead.
Cal wanted to do worse and punch something. Relian’s face would do. Why had he lied about this? Or at least omitted some very important details? He and his dad had made bindings sound as if they were some fated act of magic and nature. Instead, they apparently got on others’ wrists the normal way: someone put them there. So how had hers got there?
And here she’d been seriously thinking about bonding with him. Letting herself totally fall in love with him. She’d even given blood so they could work out their prophecy! She hated needles. Though to be fair, she would’ve done that, anyway, because it was the right thing to do.
The maid hesitated for several long seconds. “Maybe Prince Relian or even the king should explain.”
“Explain? It’s a simple question. Tell me, please.”
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.
***
Cal walked with Maggie down the hallway, forcing herself to walk at a sedate pace. Though she wanted to throttle Relian, she wasn’t crazy enough to try anything in public. Still, if he thought this was the way to win her over to the idea of bonding, he was sadly mistaken. He needed to be honest with her, not hide stuff and lie about it.
The council session had finished, so that was where they were heading. Well, at least toward the council room’s doors, where Arrein and Vana had told them the congregation of elves would exit. If Cal’s memory served correctly, the area outside the room consisted of a wide-open space with massively vaulted ceilings.
All too soon they neared the council chamber, the honorary guard assigned to them walking a pace behind. That took some getting used to. Though 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 that ran through it glinting like 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 people present 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 grabbed at any patience she had. 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 warm 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’d be. When she and Maggie halted in front of Relian and his father, her thoughts came to a stop, allowing some sense of perseverance to flow through her. She curtsied in the way Arrein taught her, adding that all-too-important hand gesture used in formal and informal situations—with head bowed, fingers 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’re both a welcome sight after a long council. If there are 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 Relian 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 only adds to your beauty.”
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 anger. He just better have a good answer.
“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?
As Relian escorted her away, the king commandeered Maggie. 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. After more introductions and conversations than she could count, the realization that some people had warmed to her lightened her heart. 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, whether he was cold, hot, or everything between. If only he hadn’t lied.
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 an elaborately framed window that sported a built-in seat.
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 the elements. They could keep out rain and insects while allowing everything else in they deemed desirable.
Pale gold curtains completed the private effect of the little space. 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 the truth?” Though her voice remained steady, her hands shook, and her heart thudded in her ears. She screeched out her next words. “Did you somehow 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. “In 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 how truly odd the binding’s occurrence was. Then I forgot to mention it later.”
Her mind froze at the mention of her mental health. Surely he couldn’t know her past history? Not likely.
She shrugged it off, deciding to concentrate on something more rewarding: ripping into him. Sitting didn’t stop her from poking him again. “I’m not a child. You don’t have to hide everything strange or upsetting from me. There are times I deserve the full, unvarnished truth, especially when it concerns me directly. This is one of them. And stop forgetting important stuff.”
He nodded and grabbed her hand before he could earn another jab. His fingers caressed the back of her hand as he looked down. Though he remained silent, she sensed he measured how much to tell her.
Cal stood up. She’d had enough, but he held tightly to her hand. She let out a huff of annoyance. “You know, this secretiveness is getting old. I might not be able to leave Eria right now, but I don’t have to make things easy on you.”
He lifted his head to gaze at her. “You’re right. Even though I suspect that 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. You never talk about your younger years.”
Cal raised a skeptical brow 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. “Promise me.”
“Promise you what?”
“No more secrets that concern me.”
He was silent for a moment and then nodded. “I will not lie to you from this day forward.”
I exhaled loudly. “Just how strange is our binding?”
“In all traditional cases, a couple must agree to exchange a plait of hair. If they are capable of having a complete bond, the bracelets will seamlessly knit close during the binding ceremony. My people usually take many, many years before they attempt it.”
His hand moved from hers and came to rest in the strands cascading from the intricate arrangement Arrein had 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 too many cases a binding, no matter how desired, does not happen. 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—that the deepest love can grow.”
Cal thought back to one particular instance. Could that moment by the waterfall have been caused by their binding? Excitement and dread coursed through her. To be connected so intimately was a frightening yet exhilarating idea. She inhaled a deep breath and cocked her head to the side. “That day by the waterfall—what was that?”
Relian glanced up from watching her hair slide through his fingers in the late afternoon sun that shone through the window. “I wondered when you would mention it.”
Cal fidgeted under his penetrating stare. 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 quite isolated and rare during the binding stage, but not the sharing of emotion we both have 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 total fulfillment. Already, I feel and hear you within me. I know you’ve felt it, too.” He took her right hand and rested it against his heart, the beat strong and steady underneath her fingers.
So that was what she’d felt while at the waterfall? And the other times when she just knew what he was feeling? That was an exhilarating thought wrapped up in layers of terror. It made her so vulnerable, and she’d already been pitifully vulnerable in the past.
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.”
“Uh... Okay.” His explanation kind of made sense, but it still blew her mind.
She latched onto a safer, easier thought. “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. Then I truly forgot that you didn’t know how the bracelets arrived on our wrists.”
She scowled. “Sometimes it’s better to be aware of all the implications right from the start.”
“Sometimes,” he agreed, caressing her cheek. “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 free will is far different than those who willingly decide to undergo the ceremony. In our case, there was no such free will. 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.”
“This has never happened before?” Cal’s mind struggled with that boggling fact.
“Not to our knowledge, and our memory stretches back very far.”
“So the veil orchestrated this whole situation?”
“Yes and no. The veil formed from the magic that permeates this world, and it’s this magic that makes any type of bonding possible. So while it did bring you here and place the bindings on us, it can’t force a bond where there normally wouldn’t be one.”
Cal frowned. “If magic is what controls a bonding, how do you know if free choice is possible? Maybe it just throws the people it wants together, setting them up.”
He pulled her against him until she sat in his lap, her back resting against his chest. “No, it doesn’t operate that way. It merely looks inside hearts and minds to determine compatibility and the deepness of the bond. Remember, people can bond on some level, but not every couple has a complete bond. The veil can prod but never coerce. At least not until now. I’ll admit it’s now skirting a fine line at coercion this time.”
“Why would the veil care so much in our case? According to what you’re saying, it’s never endeavored to bring a couple together this way. There has to be a reason.” She craned her neck to cast him an accusatory look. “You know, don’t you?”
He gave a grim smile. “Now you’re asking the hard questions. What’s so important that the veil would seek to meddle in our lives?” A strange expression flitted across his face. It was so subtle that if she didn’t know him as well as she did, she would’ve totally missed it.
“You found the prophecy, remember?” he asked softly.
“Yeah, but anyone could’ve found it. It didn’t have to be me.”
“But the blood has to be willingly given. We think that is one of the main reasons.”
“And the others?”
He shifted slightly as she stared at him. She didn’t sense any untruth from him. In fact, she didn’t sense anything at all. But she didn’t know how to tune into the bond, so that was probably expected.
“We don’t know yet. Our trusted advisors are searching for more clues, anything that may shed a bit more light on this. It may be that all we need is your blood. Nothing more, nothing less.”
As if afraid she’d escape, he banded his arms around her, his hands resting on her stomach. Though it was crazy at a time like this, she stared at his hands, imagining them roaming over her. She shuddered as his long fingers started a trail of lazy circles that soon migrated to the underside of her breasts before wandering down low on her stomach. Her breath caught. Luckily or maybe unluckily—she couldn’t decide—he didn’t go any farther.
His husky voice, along with his fluid and sensual movements, almost caused her to miss his explanation. The aroused length poking into her backside didn’t help, either. She stilled his hands and scooted over to one side of his lap. “Okay, I’m trying to understand, but I can’t think while your hands are on me. Or while you’re prodding me in the back with your mighty sword. Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, mister.”
He chuckled but behaved himself. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and exhaled slowly, trying to settle her body. “I’d expect nothing less.”
He tugged her back to rest against him, this time so she sat sideways. She melted inside as he placed kisses on her hair and just held her, nothing else.
Relian had said he’d be honest with her from now on, so that was something. Now that she fully knew and understood what rested between them, she could start making informed choices.
***
“Where were you?” Maggie whispered over the din at the huge feast.
“Talking to Relian about you know what,” Cal answered back quietly, aware of the stares they engendered by whispering at the table. She’d been preoccupied the whole time, though, barely paying the others any attention. Something felt off but what?
“You’ll have to tell me later how that went.”
“Oh, I will.”
“Oooh, this promises to be good. It better be.” Maggie’s previous decorum went right out the window, along with the wine that went down her throat. “That pompous yellow-haired faerie showed me off like a pampered pet. Do you think humans are coming in favor now? Ha, every fashionable elf will want one. Will we get a jeweled pillow along with a matching collar?”
Next to her, Relian tensed. She shot Maggie a chiding look before turning back to him. What she saw dismayed her. His shoulders shook fractionally, and he coughed discreetly in the hand covering his mouth.
Relian laughed at his father’s expense? She glanced toward the king. A visiting dignitary sitting to his left had him engaged in conversation. Her relief soon took a nosedive in the form of Lord Avrin, who was seated on the other side of Maggie. The appraising look he directed at her friend spelled trouble.
Avrin’s light voice carried an amused tone. “I can’t speak for the king, but if every human is like you, Lady Maggie, I could see humans becoming a very popular fixture in our world.” His voice lowered. “As a fashionable elf myself, I think you would look striking clothed in a jeweled collar, reclining on a pillow.”
Maggie’s eyes flew to Lord Avrin, and her spoon dropped back into her bowl of soup. Her mouth wordlessly opened and closed.
Cal blinked, her own concerns fading to the background for a bit. Had Avrin just propositioned her friend? Well, it seemed he liked Maggie but maybe not in the way she first supposed. He was not only serving as her dinner companion, but he popped up more frequently than she could ever remember. Maybe elves weren’t so different from humans after all.
This was the first time she’d heard anything so overtly sexual in a public setting. Relian had said some very risqué things in private. She shivered. His sexy words always sounded so sensual. Goose bumps covered her arms, drawing her attention to the fact that it probably wasn’t a good time to think about that kind of thing right now.
She focused back on Maggie and Avrin. Maggie was in the process of stuttering her way through something that resembled a response. “O...oh? I wasn’t really volunteering, thank you very much. I mean, I was just... Yeah. I mean no. Definitely not volunteering.”
Thankfully, Maggie finished there, not saying anything else. Cal wanted to bury her face in her hands. Her friend had to run her mouth, and now look where it got her.
Still, the sight of the very proper lord stumping her forward friend marveled her. She nearly smiled in heady relief because she’d actually begun to wonder if all elvin men were abnormally stiff in public when it came to teasing and the like. Well, except for Kenhel. No one could ever call him so. The king, either. He did so like baiting Maggie.
Relian also certainly said things to make her go pink and turn her into a puddle of sexually frustrated goo. She shifted in her chair to relieve the heated pressure building up between her legs. No, so not going there right now, though she wouldn’t mind if he did.
Stupid feast and stupid Relian for making her wait until their maybe bonding, never mind she’d agreed with him on that choice. But how could he be reserved one moment and so uninhabited the next? He had more effing personas than an actor, and elves claimed that humans were flighty with their emotions. What a double standard. It was so familiar and human.
A moment of realization dawned. The full spectrum of emotion had been there all along. It was as Relian mentioned: his people merely hid their feelings more carefully and probably didn’t show them to strangers overmuch. Though elves were often formal and refined, they could let loose with the same aplomb as humanity. For all their differences, elves were surprisingly similar to the people she’d known all her life.
What other wonders would the rest of the evening hold? She was kind of afraid to find out. Well, any other surprises wanting to make an appearance could calmly wait their turn until tomorrow.