Page 106 of Callista and the Elf

I laughed. “That’s not exactly how they told the story.”

When Aedan opened the door to the library, we found Robin leaning casually on the wall three feet away, as if he hadn’t just tried knocking down the wall to summon us. He straightened up with a smirk. “It’s about time. You invited a group of royals from across the entire continent to meet two hours after sunrise, and you thought you’d spend the entire time hidden away kissing?”

Aedan let go of my hand and cupped my face instead. “Callista,” he said, turning away from his cousin. “Robin thinks we’ve been kissing all morning. He hates to be wrong, so I think we should make him correct.”

I ruined the kiss because I couldn’t keep a straight face, but it was still enough to get a nice gagging reaction out of Robin. Aedan straightened with a smirk, and I shook my head. “You didn’t warn me that you two grow more immature the more time you spend with each other.”

Robin rolled his eyes and nudged my shoulder. “Are you sure you want to marry my cousin? I know he has some impressive powers, but his sense of humor is dreadful.”

I looped my arm through Aedan’s. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

Two hours later Aedan and I stood in front of a massive round table, facing the door of a spacious meeting room. Behind us, Robin and his human wife Marian stood behind two chairs at the table.

Koan stepped into the room, followed by a tall, muscular man and a slender, beautiful elf with stunning white hair. Koan had volunteered to be their guide while they visited. “Prince Nolan and Princess Soleil, may I introduce the High King of Hemlit Aedan Vander Ignim and his lovely bride Callista.”

We all bowed and curtsied and barely had time to gesture to the table when a streak of lighting split the air near the door and coalesced into a portal that showed a throne room behind another king and queen. A tall, broad-shouldered elf stepped through, looked around, and then turned back to offer a hand to a beautiful human woman close to my size.

Once they both stood on our floor, the portal closed and they walked, hand in hand, up to us.

Aedan bowed. “Altair. Ella. Thank you for coming.”

The other king—Altair—bowed also and introduced his queen, Ella. As they joined the others behind us at thetable, Ella and Marian hugged while Robin and Altair gripped arms. “Nice to see you’re still traveling in style,” Robin smirked

Altair patted his shoulder. “Nice to see you’re still jealous of my portals.”

A few seconds later another streak of lightning ripped through the air and opened a portal to another throne room with another king and queen. This one was wider, and the couple stepped through together and strode up to us. Though they looked eternally youthful, they held an air of maturity none of the others had. Aedan had already told me they were hundreds of years older than everyone else.

“King Aedan,” the king greeted us, “thank you for the invitation.” He nodded at me and glanced at the others. “This is a historic moment.”

“Indeed, King Amias and Queen Caryse, thank you for coming.”

They took the time to greet each of the other couples as they walked around the table. They joked about something with Soleil and Nolan, but they stopped the longest at Altair and Ella. Instead of bows, they exchanged hugs.

“Your portal is stronger every time I see it,” Altair said.

“I think of you every time I do it,” Caryse answered. “I’m so glad you showed me how to make them.”

Robin leaned closer. “You showed Caryse, but not me? I’m hurt.”

Altair rolled his eyes. “I’ll show you when you show me how to change the tides.”

Robin laughed heartily, and the atmosphere relaxed into an almost familiar feeling. We’d hoped it would—Caryse and Altair were siblings, Altair, Robin, and Aedan had known eachother for decades, and Nolan and Soleil were on extremely close terms with Marian and Robin. I’d memorized everything we’d learned about all the royal families.

The years of Aedan’s curse had seen far more connections form across the kingdoms than he’d expected, but this final step—of bringing everyone together at the same time—had not been attempted until now.

We were only missing one couple, and it was the couple Aedan had been most anxious about coming. Of all the kingdoms, only Briskold had a reputation for a more ruthless monarchy than Hemlit. Terrarinmarin had come close for a while, but apparently Altair and Ella’s overthrow of his mother—while Sirun was isolated under a magic barrier—had become legendary. But Robin assured us that Aneira’s rule, while marked with the same magic as her parents, was significantly different.

Several sets of fast-moving boot steps echoed down the corridor toward us. A striking couple strode through the door as Mylo stepped to the side. The queen had the same brilliant white hair as Soleil, but she carried herself like she owned the world. By herself, she gave the impression of might and power, but the king next to her was so physically imposing that I couldn’t help noticing that the queen was much smaller than him.

She nodded at Aedan and I. “I hope I’m not late. I’d hate to upset your plans.” Somehow, I felt like she didn’t really mind if our plans were slightly delayed.

“Queen Aneira and King Kendrick, we’re glad you’re here,” Aedan said, stepping around their slight tardiness. “This will be a very brief meeting. We’re hoping everyone has time to visit more informally throughout the day.” He bowed, so I curtsied, and Kendrick and Aneira mirroredour gestures.

All the other couples still stood behind their chairs. Kendrick moved behind one of the last two free spots while Aneira went to hug Soleil. They whispered something before Aneira moved to the last empty chair next to her husband.

Aedan spread his arms in a large welcoming gesture. “Thank you for coming. Please, sit down.”

After everyone sat, he reached under the table and took my hand. I noticed every other couple had their hands conspicuously under the table as well. It almost made me laugh.

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