Page 63 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
She lifts her head to pray to the Goddess Astraea. I follow her gaze to the night sky. The red moonlight from the Sangail Lunae seems to devour even the brightest of stars.
Muted conversations echoingfrom outside the tent are making me nervous. I take the opportunity to heal Darstan and Aelfric just to distract myself. The latter stares at me with a strange look on his face.
“Are we finally going to talk about it?” he asks, raising a single brow. “Something happened in that dark dungeon.”
Sometimes, I feel like my friend can see into my thoughts. I merely nod, unsure how to answer him. “The vampire was kind to me.”
Surprise registers in his face before a much softer expression graces it. Garrett seems to have a much different reaction to my confession. He kneels in front of me, gathering my hands into his.
“You have a tendency of seeing the good in everything,” the golden-haired knight says, shaking his head. “I love you for it but there is nothing remotely worth saving in that monster.”
Darstan crosses his arms; a sign that he echoes a similar sentiment with Garrett.
The tent’s entry suddenly flaps open. Eamon strides into the room accompanied by five Mhlaryan elves. Anger and irritation radiate from him in waves.
“He will not let us approach without your presence,” he says in one breath. “The Ancient Ones themselves wish to speak to you.”
A sliver of fear goes through me at the request. There is no chance to refuse or delay this meeting until Rainer is awake. The five Mhlaryan elves immediately start chanting, their palms joined in prayer.
Dark wind—power—slams against my face over their spell. The whites in Eamon’s eyes blacken into the shade of death. It is no longer the commissioner standing in front of us. These are the Elders of Aelfheim, the Aeonians.
Suddenly, the air feels stifling to the point that it’s difficult to inhale a single breath. Possessed, Eamon makes a small gesture with his hand and the others start emptying the tent. I leash the terror in my chest, signaling for my knights to leave us as well.
“We’ll be right outside,” Garrett says, casting a lingering look at me.
When all is quiet, the Aeonians fathomless eyes turn on me.
“You’ve had quite the adventure haven’t you, young queen?” they finally say without preamble. There is no mistaking that this wintry voice belongs to the Elders. My heart thunders when he circles around me.
“A sheltered flower no more,” he muses. There is something about the tone that causes a spike of fear in my bloodstream. “We have allowed you to roam freely long enough. It’s time for you to fall in line. Abide to our ruling as it was done by the rulers before you.”
Their revelations don’t come as a surprise to me. It’s the lack of hiding their intentions and secrets now that scares me.
“Eamon will propose our candidates first. But the vampire seems to have some kind of attachment to you,” he says, pinning me in place with that gaze. “Should he insist on choosing you, bind him to this.”
My eyes skim the paper in his hand.
Complete obedience to the elders of Aelfheim.
I blink at the six names listed.
Samara
Leafhdraich
Kabur
Thormein
Siullan
Kafrenn
“And if I refuse?” I dare ask.
His hand wraps around my arm in a flash, yanking it above my head. It’s so unexpected I have little time to react.
“There is no ‘if.’ You will do as we say,” they say, squeezing hard. My vision begins to cloud from the agonizing pain. I draw in a sharp breath.
