Page 18 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
My heart races wildly at the question. He knows I’m an imposter. A little elf playing queen. I suddenly feel small.
“An elfling…” he muses as he watches me. The intensity of that dark stare pierces straight to my heart. Instead of calling for the sentries, Garrett turns away. I watch closely as he settles on the granite edge, dangling his feet to read his book. I don’t understand what he’s doing but the male has his back turned on me now. He’s completely open and vulnerable.
Do I bury the dagger between his shoulder blades?
For some reason, I choose to follow him instead. I don’t dare sit too close in case he decides to push me off the ledge. I glance at the book in his hand; Captured.
“You’ve smuggled human literature?” I ask curiously.
He passes the book into my hand. “My brother did.”
“I’m sorry about Hakkan.”
“He wouldn’t shut up about you. It’s never the same without him,” he says, sorrow and longing swirling in his voice. I follow his gaze to the distant Atlas. “I wish a fae princess would kidnap me already.”
My eyes widen at that random confession.
“I dreamt of it a week ago.” He chuckles, low and soft.
“You know what they say about dreams woven by Somnus,” I drawl.
“Premonitions of the things to come,” he finishes for me. “I grew up in Aelfheim all my life. I love this kingdom, every brick and every stone, but the walls have become suffocating.”
His feeling echoes my own. Most of us young elves have never stepped out of the capital. There are times when I feel like a finch trapped in a golden cage.
“You seduced a Grimsbane. I think you should hold your horses on the fae princess,” I say, lightening up the mood once again.
He loosens another chuckle and I realize how beautiful he is in the moonlight.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“You’re not how I pictured the Commander of the Valorian would be,” I mutter in the quiet. I feel obligated to tell him about my dream in return.
“I’ve had several strange ones too the past few days. There’s a voice calling me….” I pause momentarily, failing to put it into words.
Understanding sweeps across his face. “Ah… like a call for adventure?”
“Something like that,” I say. I don’t know why I’m telling him this. It’s just easy talking to Garrett.
“Or it could be a call from your mate.”
I whirl to look at him. “That is rare…” Downright legendary and mythical. It may be common among orcs and fae, but one in a million for elves.
“But not impossible. My uncle confessed to hearing a tune in the middle of the battlefield. It carried him to his mate.” He shrugs. “It happened to your own knight, Darstan.”
It did.
“Compared to that powerful tie, the Arawynn bond is nothing but a contract.”
“It’s still sacred,” I whisper in respect to our ancestors and gods.
A comfortable silence falls between us, and I start reading the book. After a while, I feel Garrett’s warm breath tickling against my neck. He has fallen asleep against me with half his blanket wrapped around my shoulder. I don’t know how I went from trying to kill this guy to snuggling with him.
I touch his face softly. “Wake up.”
He stirs, opening his eyes groggily. His gaze remains fixed on me for a moment. “It’s getting cold now. Come.”
I take his strong, capable hand and he lifts me to my feet easily. I follow him silently into the warm comfort of his room.
