Page 77 of In Darkness Forged

Aislin let out a long sigh and relaxed against him, and for a moment, Tal could barely breathe. Her head rested on his shoulder, and she seemed utterly content in his arms.

Even after all his failures, she trusted him with her safety.

“It is not the shield,” she explained tiredly. “It is the stone. It was enchanted, and the enchantment was broken. If I do not fix it, I cannot go home. And I must go home so that I can take care of everything until Father returns.”

Her father. “And if your father does not return?”

Perhaps if she’d been fully awake, she might not have answered, but in her exhaustion, she did not hesitate.

“He will,” she murmured, turning her head so that her cheek was pillowed on his chest. “My mother is afraid he simply can’t bear to come home. That he cannot face his own failures to protect us. But he’s not gone. Something has prevented him from coming. I just need to hold on a little longer…”

Tal’s arms tightened in an almost unconscious response to her story. And as Aislin yawned and nestled a little closer, his heart threatened to crack in two.

He was angry again, but it was not the same corrosive, bitter feeling he’d lived with for so long after Lani’s death. This was a pure, clean sort of anger—linked to his desire to protect Aislin from the cruel lord whose demands had nearly sent her to her death. Perhaps even to hunt down the father who had likely abandoned her.

Even if he could do neither of those things in the end, he could ensure that she would not be evicted from her home. She had not asked him for help—and likely would not—but he could promise himself that much.

Aislin had been carrying the full weight of the safety and well-being of her family for so long, it might not occur to her that someone would be willing to fight for her. She might even argue if he tried, so he would keep his intentions to himself for a little while longer.

At least until they stood in front of Vanadar once more.

That conversation was going to go very differently than the last one.

CHAPTER21

Aislin remembered very little about that ride. She recalled her exhaustion, leaning back against Tal’s chest, exchanging a few quiet words, and then… nothing.

She did not awaken until daylight was fading and a gentle grip on her arm interrupted her dreams.

“Aislin.”

It was too soon, but she cracked her eyelids open just a sliver, wincing as the light of evening pried its way in. “Go away,” she muttered. What could it hurt if she slept for just one more hour?

“We must not delay our return to the settlement,” a quiet voice insisted. “If we ride now, we will likely arrive before daylight. Your business with Vanadar can be concluded, and you can be on your way home.”

Vanadar.

The venom.

Talyn.

Aislin’s eyes shot open to see him crouched beside her, a slight crease cutting across his forehead. He’d replaced his torn shirt and appeared to have washed at least some of the blood from his skin. But something even more than that… something was different.

She sat up, trying to remember anything at all about how she’d gotten here—to a bed beneath the trees with the sound of water nearby.

“I did not wish to wake you,” Tal explained. “You have been asleep since last night, and I judged that perhaps it was best to allow you to remain so.”

He must have carried her. Set up camp alone and watched over her while she slept. A flush crept up Aislin’s cheeks as she regarded the night elf beside her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I did not mean to leave everything to you. I’m sure you’re as tired as I am.”

To her utter shock and amazement, his lips curved, and hesmiled. The expression was somehow neither bitter nor mocking, and Aislin wondered dizzily whether she would ever fully recover from its impact. That smile, tiny as it was, transformed the remote, untouchable night elf into a person of humor and warmth, so dizzyingly gorgeous that she nearly stopped breathing.

“I slept already, thanks to the aranthas,” he said.

Aislin blinked several times in astonishment because apparently Tal was capable of making a joke, and she’d had no idea.

“I would have allowed you to rest longer,” he went on, “however, I thought you might prefer to have time to decide how you will confront Vanadar.”

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