Page 66 of Between Realms

“As I’ve said before, that’s not a viable option. She has no qualifications, no ties to the mortal realm. He will see through that flimsy excuse to keep her at your side.”

“Then what can I do?” he asks.

“Let her go. Don’t visit her room anymore at night. Have this ball, but don’t show her much attention.”

“I don’t think I can let her go,” Eldrin whispers. He walks over to his window and stares out at the forest beyond the castle walls.

“You can’t keep her for yourself. You are likely putting her in danger.”

“Isn’t she already in danger in Elfhame? The ghoul attacks might just be the first assault on humans. No, she is safer here… with us.”

“Jaden or I could become her Elven keeper, though I doubt anyone would believe you weren’t still pursuing her.”

“Yes, could we do that?” Eldrin looks eager.

“Since you granted Wyn her freedom, we’d have to get Wyn to agree to it.”

“It would only be for show. She could be free with you or Jaden as her keeper.”

“So you would burden her and make her carry the weight of this secret?” I ask.

He rubs his eyes and growls with frustration. “I can’t think. Let’s just get through the ball and we can come up with a solution will work to protect her. That’s the most important part.”

“Even if leaving might be the best for her?”

“I don’t think it is. She belongs with us,” he says, stepping closer and searching my face. “Don’t you feel like she has healed something within us? Within me?”

“I can’t deny that she is a bright spot of my day, and it seems Jaden enjoys her company, too.” I sense Jaden more than enjoys Wyn’s company, but I won’t admit to our more than passing interest in her. Even though he claims he wishes to be more thoughtful, Eldrin is a jealous male. “She seems to compliment our small group, but that doesn’t mean she will find acceptance amongst the rest of the elves in this castle or beyond.”

“First things first. We need to get her to stay and remove Turgon’s interest in her presence.” Eldrin grabs my shoulders and looks me in the eye. “Will you help me?”

“There is an easier way to remove the target from her back,” I remind him.

“No. I can’t let her go.” His grip on my shoulders tightens. “The very thought of it throws me into a spin.”

“I thought you said you were trying to be less selfish. Your desire to keep her shouldn’t take precedence over her safety.” I soften my tone and say, “We’ll send her back to Merlara’s and you can sneak off to visit her occasionally.”

“And lose precious days, hours, minutes I might have with her?” Eldrin releases his hold on my shoulders and paces. “You know how it is with her kind. She will be gone within a blink of an eye. And I will have lost something too precious.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. He has a fucking point, although I don’t want to encourage his behavior. All three of us might allow too much time to slip by between visits, and Wyn would be gone before we even realized it.

“The only way I’ll support this is if she willingly agrees to your offer of accepting Jaden or me as her keeper,” I remind him. “But she won’t be free anymore, not even if you grant her special privileges. She’d have to agree to become a servant again. It will look suspicious if she sits with us as an equal in our dining hall and then gets caught sneaking away with you.”

The idea of owning Wyn turns my stomach. I had hoped Eldrin would tire of her—before she captured the attention of the castle, Turgon, and the king. My stupid heart wishes she would have accepted my affections. No matter what, that is only a dream now.

Besides, I could never have a proper Elven mating bond with her. Even if the binding magic worked, it would probably kill me when I lost her. I would go mad with grief. It seems that is the case with our king. He hasn’t been the same since losing his mate. He was one of the strongest, most controlled elves I knew, but he lost all sense of kindness after Eldrin’s mother died.

“We will make it work,” Eldrin promises as if he could make such a claim.

“I think she should leave—” I put my hands up when he protests. “Just for a little while—a month or a year to make the castle forget about her. Then we can bring her back.”

Eldrin shakes his head and slashes his hand in the air, a sign he won’t go along with my plan. “No, you only suggest that in hopes I will forget her.”

“Are you worried that I might be correct?” I ask without judgment in my tone.

I eye him intently, watching and sensing his emotional reaction, reading him as I can. Of course, I have felt a shift in him, or at least the yearning to be different, but elves are often too stubborn to change long term. Our personalities are strong from birth, and only huge catastrophes can change us.

When he doesn’t answer me, I prod him, “Are you worried you might lose interest if she weren’t directly under your nose?”

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