Page 17 of The Serpent’s Shadow

His smile turned roguish, golden eyes glinting in the sunlight. “Perhaps we should ask the council?”

My eyes widened.Ask the council? As in . . . I’m finally going to get to talk to them—to be part of the group? They finally trust me?

Without thinking, I took his hand in mine. It felt right. His palm was warm. Our fingers threaded together.

And I walked out of the clearing with my elven captor, hand in hand.

Chapter 7

Corym

A THRUM OF LONGINGand excitement riddled my body as I walked with my hand entwined in Ravinica’s. It felt right having her so close to me.

I couldn’t explain the sensation, the same one I’d felt ever since first putting my hand on her face and getting that spark of enlightenment.

She was a beautiful creature. Though she lacked the refined qualities of elvenfolk, instead mixed with a muscled, thicker body than my people, there was enough elf inside her for me to recognize the finer aspects of my kind.

It was in her eyes—yellow and stark like mine. Her hair, of course, silver muddled with streaks of black.Where does the black come from? Certainly not my people. Perhaps her human parent?

The lines of her face were serene at times, fierce at others. I appreciated that she did not back down from a challenge. She did not wilt at the sight of the Ljosalfar. We were a proud, ancient people, and she had that same pride in spades.

The woman was used to adversity. She held herself to a high standard, and never seemed unable to do something.Lunis’ainever appeared flustered . . . until she wrapped her arms around me in an impromptu embrace.

During that startling moment, we’d lost ourselves. It gave me a hopeful taste of things to come, if my emotions and attraction to her continued to draw me down that path.

I would be lying if I said the thrill of that moment didn’t wake something inside me, just as she had claimed her inherent magic had come alive once she met me.

I couldn’t reconcile the feeling.Mingling with humans is not something I can afford to do. Not with so many elves under my charge in Midgard, untrusting of the very people who tried to destroy us.

At the same time, half-elves were not a novelty. They were rare, yet not unheard of. Though our people had been opposed for centuries now, savvy humans and elves could find ways to meet each other in the Traveler Planes or in different worlds. Not every elf left Midgard after the disaster with King Dannon a thousand years ago. Some stayed.

Thus, Ravinica was made. Somehow. A mythical creature of sorts, with the beauty of the elves and the tenacity of the humans. A true marvel to me.

I just wished my people could see it.

I was determined to learn more about her, just as I wished to give her more information about the elven side of her heritage. I was sure the humans had done a good job of breeding falsehoods and tainted opinions of my people within her. Their history books were vastly different than ours, unsurprisingly, and Ravinica had only gotten one side of the story. Until now.

I wanted Ravinica to learn about the elves firsthand,froman elf.

We walked at a leisurely pace through Delf’avernin, dodging the trees, staying quiet to listen to the gentle rhythms of the forest around us. I suspected both of us were lost in our own heads after the closeness of our bodies.

That, and Ravinica was surely exhausted from spending so much energy on her runeshaping training. She held the magic of elves inside her, and I’d finally gotten to see her capabilities for myself.

The future is as bright for Ravinica as her eyes. It’s only a matter of cultivating that growth, and I foresee her becoming a legendary runeshaper.

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