Page 56 of Bound to the Elvin Prince

Cal’s heart plummeted, and her stomach lurched. So that was what Cianve’s staring had been all about? She’d been Relian’s lover? With his age, why wouldn’t he have lovers littering the palace?

As if he sensed her turmoil, Eamon leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Lady Cianve is such a beautiful elvin lady, wouldn’t you say?”

She shivered, the breath against her ear causing all the wrong kind of chills. He sought to goad her but wouldn’t get a response. His game was all too apparent.

“Hmm, no answer for me? Well, I might have to see what I can do about that.” He drew his fingers down her neck, scraping the tender skin.

Cal recoiled and knocked his hand away. She touched the slight sting his fingers left. Eamon was well past creepy now. “Get away from me. I know there’re sentries around.” Concern exploded when he didn’t look a bit scared and paid no heed to his surroundings. But he moved no nearer.

“Are you so sure, my dear? I sent a few to check out a...disturbance. The rest are conversing with your companions.” He shook his head sadly. “They’ve forgotten their duty, which is tragic, really. Humans are such fragile things, after all.” He fingered a dagger on his belt, looking contemplative. “They should be more careful. We wouldn’t want your heart broken, now would we?”

Electricity flooded her synapses. It was time to run or scream. She couldn’t decide which. Her gaze flickered around while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. An escape route...she needed one. Now.

Eamon’s hand shot out and grasped her arm. “Now, where are you trying to flee to, my pretty little human? The fun’s just beginning. You can’t leave yet.”

Cal ignored the fright that flowed through her body. Gritting her teeth, she stared down at his hand. “Release me. Now.”

He gave a low laugh. “I’ll release you as you wish. I hope the arms of death are as comforting as Prince Relian’s. It’s nothing personal, but you are a blemish that must be removed.”

His arms snaked around her, forcing her against his chest. Cal struggled, but his muscles were like steel bands. She couldn’t even get her arms free.

The bite of a dagger against her cheek froze the breath in her lungs. This elf was seriously unbalanced. As he slid the blade down her face and neck, a fiery trail sprang up. A telltale warmth seeped out of the thin line. He pressed the dagger right above her heart. She was afraid to breathe, fearing the action might send the blade plunging into her chest.

She closed her eyes against the tears. He was going to kill her no matter what she did. She had to act now. Just as she opened her mouth to scream and bring her heel down on his foot, a voice shouted, “Stop!” Eamon startled behind her.

The blade slipped and dug painfully into her breast.

Relian stood about fifteen feet away on the garden path, sword drawn. Good lord, someone was in for a whole lot of hurt. Please, not me or Relian. The dagger pierced deeper. Agony exploded as a wet feeling slicked her skin. Eamon removed the knife, but the throbbing in her chest didn’t disappear with it.

“Let her go, Eamon.” Relian’s command was gentle yet threaded with metal. “You have nothing to gain from this.” His face gave nothing away, but his gaze flickered over her more than once.

Even though Cal couldn’t see Eamon, the sneer lacing his voice told her of his likely expression. “I’m ensuring human blood stays out of the royal line.”

“That’s not for you to decide. Stop this folly now, and you may escape with banishment only.”

“I’m not going anywhere. It is you who will see the folly of your ways. I do admit she’s sweet. She’d make a satisfactory plaything if only you would see reason.” He bent down and slithered his tongue up the side of her neck.

Disgust filled her every pore, temporarily dulling the pain. “What, your plaything? Eww.”

“Do you never muzzle your toy, Relian? She actually dares to have the audacity to talk back to me.”

Relian growled, and his eyes flashed angrily. “She’ll never be anyone’s plaything, least of all yours. Let her go.”

“Well, if you feel that way, I have no choice. I do this for the family since no one else will.” Eamon drew the dagger up before accelerating it down toward her heart.

Now or never. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Her elbow went back into his ribs, and her heel slammed into the top of his instep. The air huffed out of his lungs, and the dagger stopped. But the arm around her tightened, and the blade made its descent again. Just as she prepared herself to wage another attack on him, a whizzing sound buzzed by her ear. Eamon’s body flinched. He grunted.

Pushing her away, he sent her sprawling to the ground. The hard press of the path’s stones against her side oddly comforted her. Anything to be away from that madman. She glanced up through the curtain of her hair. Archers and other soldiers climbed from trees and emerged around hedges. They surrounded Eamon. He lay on the ground, clutching his arm.

A bubble of relief rose up through the pain and terror. Relian had brought reinforcements.

“Cal.” Relian abandoned his normally measured stride and ran the few remaining yards toward her. He dropped down beside her, pulled her into his lap, and ran insistent, yet shaking hands over her body. His implacable façade melted and left his face pale under his light tan.

After apparently finding no broken bones, he reached for something one of the archers handed him and pressed it against her chest wound. She hissed. It stung and elicited the same reaction when he dabbed at her neck and cheek.

Relian’s eyes gleamed with suspicious moisture. “I’m sorry. Until we get you to a medic, this will stem the bleeding and help with any possible infection.” He finished his ministrations by placing a strip of material over the chest injury just above her low neckline and applied pressure.

She nodded as her mind struggled to understand Relian’s words. The events hardly seemed real. Shock was catching up with a vengeance.

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