Page 162 of The War and Deceit Series omnibus

Leaning back from me, Naril looks between me and his pacing brother. “What happened?” I’m surprised he managed to wait this long before asking the question again. Opening my mouth, I prepare to tell the story when the door flies open, bouncing against the wall from the force of it.

“Clarissa?” A familiar figure hurries into the room, his eyes wide as he looks around for me. When I jump up from my chair, his head shoots around as he catches the movement, his face hardening when he sees the blood on my dress.

“Vaeril!” I cry, not caring that there are others watching as I run into his arms. He freezes for a second, then I feel the fight go out of him as he sighs and wraps his arms tightly around me, and a part of me feels like it can breathe again. Pressing my face against his chest, I inhale his scent, rubbing my cheek against the fabric of his shirt, wishing it was skin instead.

“Mate,” he exhales, the word soft and full of relief as he holds me tighter. He lowers his face to the top of my head, nuzzling against my hair. We stay like this for some time, if the sighs and grumbling from Eldrin are anything to go by, but we both need this.

“Are you okay?” Vaeril finally asks, his words mumbled as he speaks without pulling away from my hair. “I felt your terrorthrough the bond, then I got a message from one of the guards about an emergency.” His fear for me flashes through the bond, clear as day.

“The queen threatened her,” Eldrin growls. Raising my head from Vaeril’s chest, I see Eldrin sitting in the corner of the room, his arms crossed as he watches us with narrowed eyes.

“What?” Vaeril freezes, his expression icy.

“I know as much as you at this point,” Naril comments from the other side of the room. He’s leaning back in his chair, his booted feet resting on the table, and he’s wearing a carefree smile, but it’s not genuine.

“Where were you?” my mate queries, taking a menacing step towards his friend. At least, he would have if he wasn’t still holding on to me at the time.

Frowning, Naril pulls his feet from the table and leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “The queen ordered me to the border.”

Vaeril’s expression changes then, and I feel his shock through our connection. “Hmm,” he hums, glancing from one brother to the other. Sighing, he guides me back over to the chair I’d been sitting in when he arrived before pulling his own around so he can face me. He sits and runs his eyes over me again. I can tell he wants to reach out and take my hands, but he stops, clutching his own instead like he knows he won’t be able to stop touching me otherwise. “Clarissa, can you tell me what happened?”

Nodding, I check that the others are close enough to be able to hear, not wanting to repeat myself. “The queen has recognised me as part elf. She reminded me that I am now her subject and I have to obey any and all orders.” Eldrin curses from the other side of the room, but with a look from his brother, he quiets down so I can continue. “She knows about our bond, she said it’s the only reason that she won’t just kill me in case it kills you too.”

Vaeril swears this time, leaning back in his chair. He’s not looking at me now, but over at the twins with an expression of concentration. Vaeril hadn’t wanted to reveal our bond until later, after we had sealed it, but he doesn’t appear all that upset anymore.

“The queen must think we’ve completed the bond,” he muses, and Naril nods his head in agreement. “That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. I wasn’t sure what she would do if she found out we were bonded. But now that we know, we can use that to our advantage.”

I suddenly realise why this is significant. If the queen was to find out that I wasn’t fully bonded to Vaeril yet, she wouldn’t have a reason to keep me alive anymore. Fear floods my system as I look up at Vaeril, who’s wearing a determined expression.

“You need to seal the bond as soon as possible,” Naril urges, drinking from a glass of wine as if to cover up his concern. I’ve noticed this is a habit of his. Any time he shows any sort of emotion, he covers it up with his bolshy, brash behaviour.

“That is none of your business,” Eldrin snarls, causing shocked looks from Naril and Vaeril, but it doesn’t surprise me. I’ve seen the way he reacts any time someone mentions my mate or the bond between us. It causes him pain, and I wish there was something I could do about it.

“Why do you care so much?” Naril asks, frowning at his brother.

“It doesn’t matter,” Vaeril responds, waving off the comments before it turns into a full-scale argument. “I won’t let anything happen to my mate, whether the bond is sealed or not. I won’t rush Clarissa into it.” Since we’ve arrived, he’s accepted that I’m his mate, and there’s a note of finality in his voice that says we won’t be speaking about this again. What he doesn’t know is that I agree with Naril.

Do I want to complete the bond? The jury’s still out, but Idowant to be safe from the queen, and if that’s the way to do it, then I would gladly complete the bond. Although, I remember what the queen said about ways of silencing me, the wide eyes of the lady-in-waiting haunting my thoughts.

“What else happened with the queen?” Naril questions, pulling my mind to the present. All their eyes are on me, and it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I stare down at my hands, which are resting in my lap.

“Apparently, some of the elves think I’m special. That I’m some sign from the missing gods and goddesses that they will be returning. She wants me to deny it.” My voice portrays how ridiculous I think all this is. After all, why would they think I was special? A heavy silence falls over us, which makes me glance up with a frown, only to see the look the three of them are sharing. Something is going on here, something I don’t know about. “What?” I demand, not caring who speaks, I just want some answers.

Vaeril sighs, raising a hand to rub at his temples. “You know there’s been trouble at the borders?” he asks, waiting for my nod of confirmation. They never told me much about it, only that Eldrin was spending more and more time there, and I assumed that they didn’t tell me because it wasn’t important or the information was dangerous. “There’s been some trouble with the elves that live outside of Galandell. They think the queen is behind the disappearance of the gods.” His voice lowers, as if he’s worried someone might overhear him.

This revelation has me reeling, and I lean back in my chair as I try to process what this could mean.There’s unrest amongst the elves? Could the queen be behind it? She seemed pretty insistent about wiping out the rumours,I ponder. Taking a deep breath, I look at the three of them again. “How is that possible, and how is that related to me?”

“I don’t know, that’s what we’ve been trying to discover,” Eldrin replies, speaking up for the first time in a while, his eyes locked on mine. He doesn’t believe it, I can tell from the slight frown between his brows, but he’s the one who’s having to deal with the repercussions.

“The queen wants me to visit the wood elves and dispel any rumours, then report back anyone who disagrees,” I tell the room, not speaking to any one person in particular.

“She wants you to spy?” Vaeril sounds surprised. He glances over at Naril, who looks thoughtful. I’m starting to get frustrated with their silent, meaningful looks, and there’s obviously something going on I’m not aware of. My anger starts stirring in my veins, and I’m about to demand they explain what’s going on when Vaeril starts to speak again. “Well, we were planning a trip to see the wood elves anyway. We could use this as our reason. We wouldn’t need to make up an excuse to convince the queen.”

There’s a general hum of agreement from the three of them, and even Eldrin looks thoughtful, his frown easing. When he stops snarling and scowling, he’s pretty handsome. You could never call him beautiful like I would with most of the elves, male and female alike, he’s too masculine, but he has his own beauty. Sensing my gaze, he looks at me, and I wait for his expression to immediately shut down, but to my surprise, it doesn’t. In fact, his expression is intense as he stares at me, and I find myself locked in his gaze.

“You said she threatened you? What with?” Vaeril queries, pulling me from my staring match. Glancing around, I see Naril watching me with narrowed eyes, which I quickly avoid before turning to Vaeril, trying to focus on what he asked.

Get it together, Clarissa,I chide myself. Closing my eyes, I think back to my meeting with the queen. “Do you know about her ladies-in-waiting?”

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