Page 44 of King of Immortal Tithe (Darkmourn Universe 2)

“Myrinn is horrified. She thinks you will hate her. Blame her.”

“And should I?”

Faenir shook his head, raven hair falling out from its neatly tucked position behind his pointed ears. “Myrinn is not capable of hurting. That is her curse, just like death is mine. And she would not have risked her Claim’s life for such a thing.”

“Why? Because it takes her out of the running for the crown?”

Faenir pulled a face, but his lack of questioning made it clear that he knew what Haldor and I had spoken about.

“There are many reasons as to why the elfkin take humans from Darkmourn. It is not always about ensuring succession. In fact, that is the rarest of reasons, one only my family are limited to.”

“Then why else? Faenir, help me make sense of the world you have forced me to take a part in.”

There was hesitation. He opened his mouth but closed it again. I began to believe he would not speak again until words slipped out of taut lips. “I could risk your life by telling you.”

That almost made me laugh out loud. I had to swallow back the bubble of frantic chuckles as though I could not believe he had said such a thing. “I think it is clear my life could not be more at risk because of you.”

He paused, contemplated his thoughts silently, then revealed something I never could have thought possible. “Our races are linked. Our survival is reliant on one another. If the humans perish in your world, so will the life of this world. We are nothing without one another.”

“If that was the case, where was your kind when the vampires spread their disease across the world?” I had always wondered about it. It was one of the reasons why I had a deep hate for elves long before I had been taken to their world.

Why had the elves chosen the desperate moments before the human’s demise to show themselves? Sweeping into our world as our saviours, except all they did was throw up walls and concealed us within them.

“There is much to learn about Evelina and its history. We are a realm which has been around far longer than you could even comprehend. But for the sake of your head and my patience you should understand that we thrive off the humans. Their life force feeds Evelina—it keeps us powerful; it keeps us alive. If you, the humans, perish, we follow afterward.”

“It still doesn’t explain why you take us. If the elves wish for the humans to live then why not leave us in our homes? The more you take, the less you leave.”

“Because the elves believe that the only way of ensuring the humans future is by giving them one.”

“How so?” I felt myself teetering over the edge of an abyss, with a great discovery lying just out of reach.

“You called them witches, I believe, strange name.”

“Thosecreaturesdestroyed themselves,” I interrupted, mouth filling with disgust at the mention of witches. “Darkmourn history tells us that they even had a second chance with the last witch who fell for the creature he was meant to kill and allowed the disease to spread. On two accounts they ruined my world.”

“And Queen Claria believes they will save it anew. It was not the plan the elves had for them. The name the elves had gifted them long ago was one more unique.Halflings. If we are to give your kind a fighting chance against the vampires that roam the world beyond the walls my ancestors erected, then we will need to right the tip in balance. Magic must return to your realm.”

I couldn’t believe what Faenir was suggesting. Pinching my eyes closed, the daylight that spilled into the room suddenly became too much to bear.

“Humans are taken and used to sire halflings, beings with power belonging to the elves, but in vessels of humans. Since the downfall of Darkmourn our kind has been creating you an army.”

“…that is why they never return.”

“I have not lied to you, Arlo. You and any other Chosen can leave Evelina if you so desire. It just so happens that life in Evelina is better than what it can be for you back in Tithe.”

I put my head in my hands, finding it easier to block out the world and the horrifying truth Faenir had revealed. There was no denying the intense relief I felt knowing that Auriol was back in Tithe.Far away.If Faenir had picked her, and she had the same unknown resistance to his touch, then her life would have not been as she hoped—not one of luxury without costs. Auriol would have been made to bear children.Halflings.

“Do they wish me harm because I ensure your succession, or because you picked a mate who cannot sire your children. Which is it?”

Faenir repeated a single word he had said earlier, this time just as cold and sharp. “Both.”

I laid down in the bed, unable to hold myself up anymore; I wished only to close my eyes and block out everything that had happened and had been said.

“They see you as a wasted choice, a way of me scorning their beliefs by spitting at the feet of their rules and customs.”

“And what do you see me as?” I asked, rolling onto my side and putting my back to him.

As I buried my head into the feather-stuffed pillow, not even I could drown out Faenir’s reply. “The only choice.”

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