Page 47 of The Elven Healer's Apprentice

“Lippin!” I yelled. The shadow elf next to me jumped at my yell. “Stay,” I ordered him. “I may have need of you.” I strode down the path toward the animal enclosures where my assistant usually worked in the mornings and hollered again.

“Master Merlon?” The faun burst out from the chimera’s structure. “Finally, you came back! We are so worried, and I told Sina that you would know what to do. She sent word to her son for help, but he hasn’t arrived yet, and every hour matters. I fretted so that she ordered me to go feed the animals, but I can’t without thinking of Adela being abducted by those monsters.”

“Slow down,” I ordered in my calmest voice, despite the mounting panic within me. Shoving the emotions aside so I could remain rational, I forced myself to ask logical questions, beginning with the most important. “When did Adela disappear?”

“Yesterday. A man came to the gate with a story about how his pregnant wife and he were traveling, and she went into pre-term labor. They took shelter in some old barn, and when he asked for help, an elf pointed him in the compound's direction. He appeared to be human. The compound wouldn’t let him in, so Adela packed a bag of supplies and went out to meet him. I protested, but she reminded me that she had survived on her own among humans for most of her life. She promised to return after the babe was born.” He paused for breath.

“Babes take time to come, you know that. Why the panic?”

“Mistress Maddie, Uther’s mother, stopped by moments later to check because she passed Adela on the path heading toward the border of Eldarlan. She said that Adela was clearly under a compulsion spell and in the company of a changeling.”

“Male changeling?” I asked. What would a changeling want Adela for?

Lippin’s pale face blanched further. “Are you going after her?”

“Yes. Where is Sina?”

“She left to see why her son hasn’t responded yet.”

I nodded. “Tend to the animals, then. We will return.”

“With Adela?”

My heart stuttered at the thought of returning without her. “If it is in my power, I will bring her back.”

That appeared to reassure the faun far more than it did me. Unlike him, I was fully aware of my failings and limitations.

Running back to the shadow elf, I demanded he take me to Illeron. The spymaster would know how to proceed. Also, he might answer why a changeling kidnapped a human from my compound.

Thankfully, my escort appeared more eager to do what I asked than to argue. He dragged me through to Illeron’s residence with an air of slight irritation. We emerged on the garden path right outside a sprawling mansion.

“Through the conservatory doors,” my escort prompted.

I nodded and thanked him. I was familiar with the layout of my cousin’s house. After bursting through the glass-inlaid doors, I plunged through the shadowy, humid warmth of the plant room. Skidding across the grand entryway beyond, I headed straight for the stairs to the second floor. At this time of day, Illeron was almost always in his study on the second floor.

“Master Merlon!” Ergon, my cousin’s overseer, called as I whipped by him.

Coming to a halt, I spun and demanded, “Where is Illeron?”

Despite the confusion in his eyes, the elf responded promptly. “In the library, but he is with—”

I ignored him. Running down the corridor, I barged through the closed door and into the expansive room filled with bookshelves and a general air of stillness. Well, it wasn’t still at that moment. Four shadow elves in the garb of the elf king’spersonal guard melted out of shadows and blocked my way. Beyond them, I glimpsed Illeron’s stylishly mussed head.

“Let him through,” the king himself ordered.

The guards disappeared back into the shadows, allowing me egress into the open space in the center of the room. My cousins stood on either side of a table spread with maps. Illeron and I looked a great deal alike, long, lean, with pale skin. The family affinity for green eyes, however, had missed my branch of the tree. Meanwhile, King Emrys and I shared similar striking blue eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Dark-skinned, black-haired, and reserved in demeanor, Emrys possessed all the intimidating physical manifestations of his shadow elven nature without appearing overbearing. Still, I knew both elves well enough to know I could count on their help.

“Someone abducted Adela from my compound.”

One of Emrys’ eyebrows rose. “And Adela is?”

“His human assistant.” Illeron beckoned to a shadow elf in the far corner, whispered something to him, and then turned back to us. The shadow elf stepped into a shadow and was gone.

“She isn’t my assistant,” I protested. “Nor is she my apprentice.”

Both of Emrys’ eyebrows rose then. Meanwhile, Illeron eyed me in amusement. Emrys leaned back against the bookcase behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. If I hadn’t patched him up myself only a few days ago, I wouldn’t have known he had just survived a near-death experience.

“I assume this is the woman you were complaining about a while ago. The one who was wreaking havoc on your life? And you want her back?” Emrys’ assessing look made me want to squirm.

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