Page 49 of The Oracle's Journey

“And for that,” Emma gestured to them both, “I am sorry. I didn’t realize that I could do that until much later.”

“Lhoris, Lobikno…” She started again.

Lhoris cut her off. “Oh, please don’t apologize for getting my crew killed, they were just awful.”

“I’m not about to apologize for that,” Emma said with a wry chuckle. “I’m sorry I cost you an opportunity to rescue your little ones. I honestly can’t say which bothers me more—that, or intentionally leading my guardsmen to their deaths. My men at least knew it was a possibility to die in my defense. Children are innocent in all ways.”

Lhoris and Lobikno’s faces dropped. I took Lhoris’ hand and shook my head, looking between the two elves, trying to communicate that I hadn’t told anybody about their story.

“Little ones?” Duke Nicolas asked, dark brow furrowed.

Lobikno and Lhoris kept their gazes lowered, as if they weren’t ready to discuss it. I sighed and put my hand on Lhoris’ forearm, “Love, we need to tell him in case your people come here. We can’t leave Emma yet; she still needs us.” Lhoris clenched and unclenched his jaw, then nodded.

“Shit,” spat Lobikno as he got up from the table, the chair legs barking over the stone floor with the abruptness of his rising. He left the suite.

“Is it that terrible?” Duke Nicolas asked, sitting up straighter in his seat. “We know very little of elves here.”

“The dark elves have a very bad reputation,” I explained. “They are known for their cruelty and malice. They mistreat their young, believing it will make them stronger. My mate and his brother would rather not be entangled in their people’s traditions, but a warlord named Dulanzo is holding Lobikno’s children and subjecting them to worse than typical treatment. Lhoris and Lobikno were only working for Dulanzo to earn the children’s freedom.”

“That’s the basic story,” Lhoris said, his voice little more than a whisper. “But Dulanzo has put a price on our heads. Please don’t disclose our presence here to any of our kind. At least, not until Emma is stable enough to be without the pair of us.” He took my hand. “Naturally, Lobikno and I will leave if you don’t want our trouble on your doorstep.”

I snapped my head to glare at him. “You’re not leaving me behind. Where you go, I go.” The look on his face when he met my eyes was … heartbreaking. The fear I’d glimpsed in those moments when he couldn’t stop himself from feeling everything. That fear was about this? I didn’t know if it was fear that I’d get hurt because of his troubles, or fear that he’d have to part ways with me—or maybe both. The look was there for just a heartbeat, but I’d seen it.

The duke sat back in his chair, arms crossed over his broad chest, frowning in contemplation. “I admit I do not want trouble with a warlord, although I cannot have Emma losing her control, either. We will turn to the castle library to see if we can find more information about this Becoming. Perhaps it’s something we can help along.”

Emma seemed aghast. “Nicolas, I don’t want my friends to leave. Self-control or not.”

Duke Nicolas clenched his jaw, appearing a little disheartened.

“Emma,” I said, “Duke Nicolas has a territory full of people he is responsible for. The fate of a handful of strangers cannot outweigh his obligation to keep those people safe.”

“Yes,” the young duke said, leaning toward Emma. “I would give you anything so long as it didn’t put the people of my territory at risk. Don’t think I’m unmoved by the plight of innocent children. I’d give your friends supplies, horses, whatever I could without risking the wrath of a foreign force. Truly.” He reached across the table and held Emma’s hand, his eyes pleading for her understanding.

“Could they come back?” Emma asked, her face hard.

“If they wanted to,” he said, sorrow in his eyes, “I have no objections as of now, so long as they don’t bring danger on their heels.”

Emma nodded and sighed.

I knew it wasn’t proper for Emma to be so attached to her staff and a pair of rehabilitated dark elf bandits. Either the duke or the princess would need to adjust their expectations.

“I’ve put aside most of my meetings for the coming week for wedding preparation,” Duke Nicolas said, moving on from the topic. “Tomorrow, we can take a tour of the chateau and the lands around it.” He paused and added, “All of you are welcome to come along, including your charming mother.” He said the latter to Eve.

“Thank you, your Grace,” she said with a slight bow of the head. “But my mother and I are already expected to attend to household tasks tomorrow morning.”

“I understand,” he answered. “Then we can all stop in the library afterwards to do some research? Perhaps I can pry Uncle Ubras away from his own studies to help. He’s a full wizard.”

Lhoris’ eyes widened at the mention of seeing the library, though all I could think of is how the uncle was the only wizard in this whole mess. I wondered if we should warn the duke off involving his uncle. Would we be tipping our hand or missing an opportunity?

“I’d be honored to join you in research,” Lhoris said, his eyes bright with excitement. “Love?”

“Oh, I hardly think I’d be helpful,” I grumbled, honestly. Research would just put me to sleep. I couldn’t imagine Lobikno would be any better off. “And one of us needs to stay on duty if we are to be the princess’s personal guard. We didn’t get to discuss any of that before Lobikno left.”

“Always the pragmatist,” Lhoris said with a silly, besotted grin, as if it was my most endearing aspect. I loved it.

“I expect you three to check in with Marshal Tibbott at some point tomorrow,” the duke said to Lhoris and me, rising to his feet, which cued everyone else to stand as well. “You can get on the training rotation.” He turned to Emma. “Emmelina, thank you for sharing your tale in its entirety. I hope you’ll join me for dinner tomorrow evening, just you and I.” He took her hand and bent over it, placing a gentle kiss on her knuckles. She blushed and visibly stifled a smile when he looked to meet her eyes.

“Of course, Nicolas,” she replied.

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