Page 15 of Stolen Thorn Bride

She was sitting on the floor near his bed, dressed in a bizarre collection of tattered rags so liberally caked in mud it was a miracle the healers had let her anywhere near their rooms. In addition to the dirt, her wavy, pale blonde hair seemed to have mostly escaped its tail, and her hazel eyes were wide and startled in her lightly tanned face.

The girl stared back at him for a moment before turning a strange shade of pink and looking utterly horrified.

Perhaps he’dbeendead and returned. That would explain her reaction to him, at least, but not what she might be doing here. No human had crossed into Dairen lands for a century or more.

“Miach?” His voice sounded ancient and rusty from disuse, but it had the desired effect.

All arguing ceased.

Five faces instantly appeared above him. No, six.

The healer, Ultan. His retainers—Nuala, Callum, and Fionn. Miach. And Orain. Why a seer?

And why, he wondered anew, was he not dead?

“Did it work?” Miach sounded stunned. His words also sounded odd, and Dechlan realized belatedly that his friend had switched from Elvish to the common trading tongue. Perhaps because of the human?

Ultan bent over the bed and regarded Dechlan with the puzzled, distant gaze of a healer deep in the workings of his gift. When his eyes focused once more, he nodded.

“The breach is indeed sealed,” he said, looking a bit shocked. “He is weak, and his spirit is still dim, but his energy no longer wanes.”

And at that, Miach, king of all Sion Dairach, dropped to his knees beside the bed and clasped Dechlan’s hand between his own as tears gathered in his dark eyes. “Thank all the gods that ever were! My brother will live.”

The healer tilted his head and bit his lip. “Yes,” he said cautiously, “I believe he will, but we are in unprecedented territory. I cannot tell you whether he will recover fully. Under the circumstances”—his gaze darted up and landed on the human—“I believe we should be prepared for anything.”

Miach did not seem noticeably fazed by this announcement. “Nuala”—he turned to Dechlan’s retainer and spoke in Elvish—“please take our guest and make her more comfortable while I speak to Dechlan. I feel there are some developments he should be apprised of in privacy.”

Despite his already weakened state, Dechlan’s heart plummeted. What further bad news did his king have to share? Had the Northwatch fallen while Dechlan lay in this bed?

Nuala’s lips thinned in evident irritation, but she jerked her head at the human girl. “Come,” she said in the common tongue. “You need a bath. And clothes that don’t smell of pigs.”

Dismissing the human from his mind, Dechlan struggled to sit up. Miach hastened to aid him, propping him up until he could lean against the head of the bed while his dizziness abated. It took a few moments before his eyes could focus well enough to realize that the human hadn’t moved.

“Human!” Nuala barked. “Are you coming?”

“No.”

The girl’s hazel eyes were fixed on Dechlan, and he wished he had the strength to reprimand her for staring.

“Perhaps it would be for the best…” Miach started to say, but the human interrupted.

“Best foryou,” she said, arms crossed, the bite of bitterness coloring her tone. “But I won’t be dismissed like a child. You brought me here, you chose to involve me in your affairs, and I’m not going to be shuffled off and covered up like some stain on the rug now that you have what you want. I want to know what’s going to happen to me after this.”

“Who,” Dechlan asked coolly, “is she? And why is she here?”

Everyone fell oddly silent.

“What?” the girl asked, a mocking tone in her voice. “Now that he’s awake, aren’t you going to introduce me to myhusband?”

Her what?

“Bondmate,” the seer muttered. “The Elvish term isbondmate.”

She didn’t respond, but her arms tightened across her chest.

“Miach, what is the human talking about?” Humans did not bond with elves. They weren’t even supposed to set foot on Dairen lands.

“We had to try something.” The king of the elves looked oddly shamefaced. “I couldn’t lose you, Dechlan. And we could not take the risk of bonding you to one of us, knowing what the consequences might be. So we decided to attempt… bonding with a human.”

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