Page 46 of Ties of Legacy

Elliot laughed and even winked at Avery, and she relaxed. Apparently he had adjusted to Lorne’s more outrageous qualities already. She wasn’t surprised. Most people liked Lorne.

She just hoped he knew something that would help Elliot. Even if Avery didn’t like the idea of breaking the tie that held them together, she couldn’t forget the promise she had made to him. Elliot’s future hung on breaking the bond with the lamp, and Avery intended to help him do it—even if that meant saying goodbye.

Chapter 16

Elliot

Lorne was nothing like anything Elliot had been expecting, but he liked the old man. He could tell his affection for Avery was genuine, and he spoke of her grandparents and parents with real grief. He also seemed to know a startling number of her cousins. But given the decades he had spent traveling the kingdoms, Elliot shouldn’t have been surprised. He just hoped Lorne also knew something that would prove to be of help in Elliot’s situation.

When they gathered around the fire in Lorne’s study that evening, Lorne’s manner was reassuringly serious. But even so, Elliot struggled to open his mouth and start the story. His eyes met Avery’s, and she gave him a reassuring smile and a small nod.

He drew a deep breath. He had told her that it was time to try a different approach, and he had meant it. Now he had to follow through. He gripped his knees with his hands to hide how his fingers trembled and began.

His first few words were hesitant, but as he continued, the tale of his birth and his connection to the candelabra flowed more naturally. The trembling stopped, and by the end he was breathing easily.

Lorne considered his words in silence for a moment, and Elliot glanced around at the bookshelves while he tried to contain his impatience. The shelves covered every available inch of wall and held the accumulation of decades of travel through the kingdoms. Surely there was something in there that could help him.

“Let me get this straight,” Lorne said at last. “Instead of being tied to a kingdom, you’re?—”

He broke off, his head slumping.

Elliot let out a shaky breath and glanced at Avery. “I think having already told you made it easier. But that was still difficult.”

Avery smiled encouragingly. “I’m sure it will get easier each time.”

Elliot winced. How many people was he going to have to tell?

“—tied to a candelabra?” Lorne finished, reclaiming both of their attention. “What a remarkable tale!” He beamed at Elliot, appearing as unaffected by his mini sleep as ever.

“Lorne.” Avery leaned forward, her voice reproving. “I know you would have loved to be tied to something portable, but it’s been a nightmare for Elliot. He doesn’t want to travel. He’s only doing it now because he’s stuck with me.”

“Stuck with you?” Lorne’s brows rose, and he looked questioningly at Elliot.

Elliot frowned, not looking at Avery. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that.”

“But it is like that,” Avery said indignantly, and he tried not to feel offended.

She kept her eyes on Lorne. “It was bad enough when he was tied to a candelabra! But then someone stole it and sold it to a smith who melted it down and made my lamp, so now he’s stuck with me. And he suffers dreadfully if he gets too far from the lamp. Think how vulnerable that makes him!”

Elliot shifted uncomfortably. Nothing in her words was untrue, but he didn’t like thinking of it in quite those terms.

“It’s a lamp now?” Lorne looked a little confused. “Then why don’t you sell it to him, Avery? Don’t tell me the issue is coin? You may be a merchant, but your parents taught you better than that.”

“Of course it’s not about the coin,” Avery said hotly. “But I waited six months for that lamp. It came from the smith in Henton.”

From Lorne’s expression, he knew the significance of the Henton smith. It made Elliot wonder why he hadn’t heard of the man before his unfortunate encounter with him. He obviously hadn’t known as much about the kingdoms as he thought he did.

“I can’t give the lamp up,” Avery concluded, “because it was a special commission for…for someone who needs it desperately.”

Elliot didn’t miss the sideways glance she gave him, although he’d been doing his best to look nonchalant and not desperately interested.

“It’s a matter of life and death,” Avery told Lorne, who looked almost as intrigued as Elliot felt. What had happened in Bolivere that they had such desperate need of a lamp made by a smith from across the mountains?

“That sounds like a whole other story,” Lorne said, sadly not pressing Avery to tell it. “But I see that it makes the present situation difficult.”

He steepled his hands and rested his chin on them, looking at Elliot with piercing eyes. “I think we can accept that it is a matter of import that you break your tie with this lamp. And with any luck, when you do, you’ll find yourself completely untethered—just like young Avery here.”

“You think it’s possible to break the connection, then?” Elliot watched him carefully, hoping the man wasn’t just speaking empty sympathy.

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