Page 27 of The Elven Healer's Apprentice

“The cutting remarks of the past few days, the grumpiness—I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” I paused, scrambling to think of what else to say.

“Your rudeness to Casimir about wraithwalking?”

“I told him no.”

“His wife and children were in danger,” Adela countered.

“True,” I acknowledged. “But he ignored me.” More like overpowered me and dragged me bodily into the shadow world he walked so effortlessly.

“You demanded that I be included in your declaration of never again. And you did it without asking my opinion.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You’re telling me you enjoy walking through the shadow lands.”

Her delicate jaw tightened. “No, I did not enjoy it, but that doesn’t mean I refuse to do it again, especially when there is an emergency.”

“I was wrong to speak for you,” I admitted.

“Why does wraithwalking bother you so much, anyway?” she demanded, examining my expression much like she studied a patient.

I frowned down at her torn between a dread of reliving the past and a genuine desire to share it so she might understand me better. In some ways, she was right. I did not trust easily.

“In exchange for something.”

Narrowing her gaze in confusion, wariness tightened her features. “What?”

“Your promise that you will tell no one.”

Her expression cleared. “Agreed.”

Chapter Nine

Adela

A sad smile laden with longing pulled at the corners of Merlon’s mouth. “Let us walk while I explain. If I stand still and talk, I won’t be able to get through it.”

Alive with a sense of anticipation, I readily fell into step next to him. He slowed his pace to match mine, and within moments, we fell into a rhythm. Only then did he speak.

“My father died before I turned five. I have no clear memories of him, only others’ memories retold to me. My mother always spoke of him as though he were a great mythic hero, dying for honor. From a young age, I developed a very poor opinion of those who gave their lives away when their children were too young to defend themselves.”

Merlon swallowed hard before continuing. “My mother, left to fend for the two of us on her own, accepted her brother’s offer of shelter and support. My first memories are of a small cottage on the estate of the king’s spymaster. Elves traveled to and from the grand house at all hours of the night and day. They frequently passed our cottage on their way. That was how my mother met my stepfather. He had business with my uncle. My mother and my future stepfather chanced upon each other in the gardens one afternoon while I napped.” He cleared his throat.

“I could easily see what he saw in my mother. Her beauty outshone all others, even among the elves. With hair like gold and eyes like emeralds, she practically glowed. Males noticed her.” He paused. Only the sound of our footfalls and the rustling of the breeze in the foliage about us broke the silence. “What many didn’t see was her sadness. She would cry herself to sleep at night, missing my father, which is probably why she married my stepfather. She often said that we needed a grown male in our family. I think she really meant that she needed someone other than a child for companionship.”

A bitter note entered Merlon’s gravelly voice. “What she saw in him beyond that remains a mystery to me. My stepfather immediately alienated us from my mother’s family by offending everyone and insisting Mother take his side or face his ire. Within a year, both of us learned that my stepfather’s anger came with painful consequences. He lost his position with my uncle. Few wanted to hire a shadow elf dishonorably discharged from the service of the spymaster of the king, so work became hard to find. You can guess the rest.” He fell silent again.

After a few moments of Merlon stewing in his thoughts with his anger, stirring up what little magic he still had, I prodded him. “Is that why you and Casimir irritate each other? Does he remind you of your stepfather?”

“No!” Merlon swung to frown at me. “What gave you that idea? Casimir is nothing like my stepfather.” He huffed softly. “If anything, he causes me to think of what my father would’ve been like. Consumed with duty and honor, but still capable of a deep love for others.”

We reached a line of boundary stones that flared out from the sides of the road. Elvish script marked the tallest stone on two sides.

Merlon nodded to it. “We are passing from Casimir’s domain on to his brother Illeron’s land.”

“The spymaster?” I asked. “Your uncle’s son?”

“Yes, on both counts. My mother’s brother raised up good elves.”

I resisted pointing out that he rarely treated Casimir with the respect I now heard in his voice. I couldn’t judge how he acted with Illeron since I had never seen them together, but I was suddenly eager to meet the other elf that had earned such high praise from Merlon.

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