Page 17 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
I swallow, my throat dry.
“My best guess is that you have no confidence in your knight winning against me,” he answers his own question. “So, you’ve come here tonight to assassinate me in my sleep.”
There is no judgement in his eyes, only curiosity. “You have everything to gain by bringing down that dagger upon my heart. Why didn’t you do it?”
“I was about to.”
“You’ve been contemplating for almost an hour,” he says with a humorless smile.
Heat rises to my cheeks. Garrett was watching me the entire time.
“The guard two levels below us is smoking his pipe, the cook in the kitchen is making himself a late-night meal,” he suddenly says. “It’s an awareness I have as a servant of Kvatosh. I served His temple for sixty-nine years.”
That is the longest anyone can stand the harsh training to cultivate the blessings of the God of War. Even my uncle only stayed for thirty years.
Now Garrett is bragging in his hubris. I already know how strong he is.
“Let’s have a duel right here and now.” I glare at him. “I can hold my own just fine.”
His sharp emerald eyes shoot to me. “Oh, I know you can. I’m telling you all that because…” he pauses momentarily. “I couldn’t sense your presence at all when you entered.”
Gone is the warm demeanor. Garrett looks every bit like the menacing warrior he’s supposed to be. I remember howRainer’s expression usually darkens the same way whenever he encounters a worthy opponent.
“I’ve dishonored my deity.” He stretches his neck, preparing for a fight. “I checked your background. You spent less than a year in each temple but never registered your Prime. Who is the main God you serve?”
The commanding tone in his voice prompts me to answer.
“The Un.”
The male takes a step back. His jaw clenches and unclenches. “The Forgotten Gods?”
I merely nod.
A long stretch of silence passes between us as he stares at me unblinking. His lips curve to a smile until a burst of laughter escapes him. It’s the nice and deep kind, which makes it more infuriating.
My face burns once again.
Garrett struggles to rein it in. “I’m sorry. I can’t help myself. You are an interesting one.”
He strides across the room, opening the door leading to the outside balcony. I notice he left his blade on the table, taking nothing but the book. A servant of Kvatosh can kill a person with their bare hands. Maybe he plans to smash the hardcover on my head. I keep my guard up as I follow him to the patio.
“A servant of the Un…” he muses to the distant stars. “There is a reason they are forgotten. Those gods don’t even have a proper temple.”
I add nothing to his words.
“There was a myth about a wild girl who got lost in the dark woods of Astefar,” he finally says, his sharp emerald eyes glinting in the dark. “It was you.”
Rainer and Aerin did their best to erase my past. But now I am found.
“How did you survive in the wilderness of that godforsaken forest?” he asks, his dark gaze set on me.
I stay silent.
His brows scrunch together as if piecing a puzzle in his head.
“Temple years don’t count…” Garrett runs a hand across his jaw then rakes it through his golden hair. “If I assume Astefar is the Domain of the Un, this means you’re barely seventy years of age.”
Sixty-eight years old to be exact. I swallow nervously as he casually spills my secret into the night air. His eyes remain locked on mine. “You’re not even a High Elf, are you?”
