Page 30 of The Elven Healer's Apprentice

“And the other reasons?”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “The role of apprentice means I would have to be teaching you, which would be challenging considering your lack of magical ability. When I consider that, I fear I have little to offer you beyond tangible necessities.”

“And I remain in limbo.”

“No, that wouldn’t be right.” I frowned down at her. “I don’t have a solution, but I won’t accept that as an option.” Not when she was becoming so vital to my happiness.

“What ho!” A voice called from right behind the hedge hemming in the road's edge.

Instantly recognizing the traditional hobgoblin greeting, I responded in kind. “Ho, hey! Who goes there?”

“Oy! That is my line!” A short, male hobgoblin vaulted the hedge and landed in the center of the path.

Wizened with brightly luminous, coral eyes that contended with a hook nose for dominance over his features, he grimaced up at me. Standing at below average height for a male hobgoblin, his head barely reached my waist. The red belt about his middle and the forked staff in his hand declared his position in their community—defender of the perimeter. Yellowing silvery hair sprouted about his oversized ears, emphasizing their swiveling as they declared his suspicious assessment. The rest of his hairhad vacated his head, leaving wrinkled baldness and a pair of bushy eyebrows behind. These he lowered to glare at us.

“You’re strangers. We don’t take with travelers in these parts. Be off with you.”

I presented open hands toward him in the culturally appropriate motion of peace. “We are foreigners, but I am known in these parts.”

However, the hobgoblin ignored me. His narrowed eyes fixated on Adela as his ears flattened in disgust. “She is a human. We don’t allow humans here. Dirty creatures.” He snarled at her, lowering his forked staff in her direction.

“Ho there,” I protested as I took a step closer to her. As comical as it was to even contemplate a hobgoblin attacking someone out of hand, this male clearly was considering it. “She is with me,” I declared. “Lower the stick, sir. She is under my protection.”

He snorted. “Doesn’t matter who she is with. She isn’t welcome in these parts. We don’t need any sniveling thieves with runny noses, carrying disease or what not.” He spat in the dirt. “Now git, human, before I perforate you with my staff.” He lunged at Adela.

In the same instant, I caught Adela’s arm and hauled her behind me. Uttering a command, I reached for my weapons. The familiar smooth leather of my baton hit my palm as Adela jumped. She moved closer as the magic of my personal defensive ward sprang up around us.

“She is with me,” I stated more firmly as I whirled my baton once in my dominant hand. Bringing it back to hover next to my ear, ready to defend myself and Adela, I glared down at the hobgoblin. “Unless you wish to declare war on all of Eldarlan, stand down. I am the cousin of Emrys, King of Eldarlan, Emperor of the Shadow Lands, and he will be livid to know that anyone under my protection was harmed.”

“Ruffion!” A new hobgoblin appeared over the rise in the path. “What in tarnation are you doing?”

This hobgoblin I knew. “Hubert!”

“Merlon, is that you?” Hubert’s youthful features split into a wide grin. “What are you doing here?”

“Passing through on our return trip from Casimir Whispier’s estate.” I dropped my ward and turned to greet my friend. However, I didn’t put away my baton. Instead, I switched it to my non-dominant hand.

“Our? The notoriously isolated hermit healer has brought along a companion.” Hubert’s ears perked up. He tilted his head, his dark-brown ears swiveling toward Adela as she emerged cautiously from behind me. “And who is this?”

“Obviously, it is a disgusting human.” Ruffion bellowed and lunged at Adela with his forked stick.

“No!” I grabbed Adela and pulled her into the curve of my body, blocking her from the overly enthusiastic hobgoblin’s assault.

Chapter Ten

Adela

One moment, a hobgoblin was jabbing a forked stick at me and the next, I was in the circle of Merlon’s arms. Magic surrounded me, but the usual tingling discomfort didn’t follow. Instead, I felt safe, warm, and protected in a way I had never experienced before.

“Cease!” the second hobgoblin, the one who knew Merlon, yelled at the older one. “Muddlehead! What do you think you are doing, attacking the healer?”

“But—”

“No!” The sound of wood cracking against wood split the air. “Drop it.”

“Did he touch you?” Merlon asked, his jaw moving against the top of my head as his gravelly voice rumbled close to my ear. The magic sensation intensified around me. I suspected he was accessing it to check my wellbeing for himself.

“No.” I shook my head, which caused my cheek to rub against the soft linen of his tunic. Who knew that elves were so warm—or smelled so good? I closed my eyes and breathed deeply of linen and chamomile. “He didn’t even get close,” I whispered. Tempted to nestle my cheek against the inside of his shoulder, I forced myself to lift my head.

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