Page 92 of Bound to the Elvin Prince

Chapter 32

“I’ve heard too many reports of the darkindred on the move.” Kenhel leaned back against a tree that flanked the outskirts of the training fields and shook his head, frowning at his sword. “We’ll have to act before they’re allowed to breach more borders and barriers. Many of our nobility have small fiefs and not the manpower to fight the enemy amassing outside of Eria. There are enough within our borders without more breaking through.”

Relian frowned. “And with each one slipping over our borders, one or more of our people disappear. They’ll defeat us through conversion alone if they aren’t stopped soon.”

A grim smile came to Kenhel’s lips. “We kill all we get our hands on, even though they were once our brothers and sisters. The older ones still fool some of the soldiers, looking like lost relatives who’ve escaped captivity relatively intact.”

“That’s why it’s so much easier to kill the young ones. They haven’t developed the strength for such ploys yet.” Relian grimaced. “Such a simple ploy, and one we know too well, but it never fails to foil us. Why would they stop? Some poor fool will always want to believe what his eyes see, even though his mind knows it’s not logically possible.”

“We need to think about raising up the national army, Relian, not just bits and pieces of it. We need a concerted effort.”

Relian nodded. “You’re the commander of the guard for a reason. Once you give your recommendations, my father will give them his due consideration. Do you want me to call for a council?”

Kenhel’s playful smile came back in full force. “It’s already done. The council is to take place tomorrow since so many are already in attendance.”

“I see my father’s infernal plotting has a positive side to it.” Relian slid Kenhel a wry look. “Taking out two problems with one arrow, though I like it not when that arrow is aimed at me.”

Kenhel snorted. “Yes, it’s ever his way to be efficient. But have you informed Lady Cal of either problem yet?” At the sheepish look on Relian’s face, Kenhel slapped his hand against his thigh. “She needs to be informed of the enemies lurking within and outside our borders. And about her imminent bonding to you.”

“I only found out about both issues today. I’ll tell her tonight.” He hated to spring more on her, but even more, he feared driving her away with secrecy. He’d earned her forgiveness but two weeks ago. Another untruth could destroy them, even if she couldn’t truly go anywhere. There was more than one kind of distance, and she could so easily enact that sort against him. If she did, he knew he’d crumble from the inside. She was like a drug in his veins, and though the bond magnified this effect, he knew even without that link, he’d still want her. Still love her.

Kenhel nodded. “Good. In human years, in human eyes, she’s an adult. We should treat her as such. If she’s to be our princess, she needs to be in full possession of knowledge crucial to the kingdom, not what we choose to tell her. Her place here is all but guaranteed.”

Kenhel’s familiar words hit him like a blow. Cal had argued for her adulthood in a land of elves where even the teenagers were older than her. “I know, but the urge to protect her is strong.”

“You can do that without sheltering her. She’s not going off to fight the darkindred. You are. Our soldiers are. We do it to protect our families and people. You are protecting her, but you can’t keep the truth from her. Anyway, she is bound to ask questions. If she doesn’t, then her lively friend will.” Kenhel grinned at mentioning Maggie.

Relian groaned, imagining the determined Maggie digging about for information. “I’ll tell her this evening. I promise. I already confronted Father earlier today about arranging the bonding right under our noses, which he admitted to without shame.”

“With your bonding, you’re doing something that would’ve been taboo not very long ago.” Admiration and glee coated Kenhel’s voice.

Relian glanced up from the sword he cleaned. “Why would it have been taboo? Have we become so stagnant that we can’t accept change unless it is forced upon us?”

“I think that’s nearly happened to us as a people. Let me phrase it this way. Would you ever have considered a human otherwise?” Kenhel never glanced up from where he sat, one shoulder supported by the tree. His own sword gleamed from his efforts.

Relian turned an annoyed face toward his friend. “How could I have when there weren’t any here?”

“Exactly. They are there, and we are here. Segregation sanctioned and enforced by us. We effectively removed ourselves from their sphere of life.” Kenhel shook his head, finally looking up. “Sometimes I wonder if we didn’t remove ourselves too completely.”

“Are you saying you think this situation, this imbalance, has been brought on by us?” Relian’s heart caught in his throat, and his voice didn’t sound as doubtful as he wished.

Kenhel put aside his blade. “I don’t think we’ve helped it by any means. Am I saying we’re totally to blame? No, but we can’t overlook our part. Humans are ever-changing. Their governments and way of life are often in flux. Nothing stays long in a vacuum for them. They change much, while we change not at all. Our government is still led by the same king. The councilors rarely change. Our way of life rarely changes. Is there anything wrong with these facts? Taken separately—no. Taken together—that is a different story altogether. Complacency is a way of life for us now—elf and human alike.”

“What makes you so sure?”

Kenhel threw a grin in his direction. “You and your lady.”

His mouth went dry. “Myself and Cal?”

“You don’t know, do you? Everybody sees it, even those who don’t want to. Two different people from two separate worlds who complement each other perfectly. Who would’ve thought such a thing possible?”

Relian almost dropped his polishing cloth. He loved Cal—but had his people actually recognized the intrinsic depth of their relationship?

“The veil knew what it was doing by bringing elf and human together in this case. Now we all must wait to see what arises from it. Maybe you two are a bridge of sorts.”

“I don’t think the human world is ready for us or we them, not according to what Cal has said.”

“Who said it has to be on a mass scale? Mayhap, our world doesn’t have to combine with theirs. Who knows what the future holds?” Kenhel paused and leveled a penetrating look on him. “So you’re telling her this evening? Our lords and ladies will only play courtier for so long before they yearn to be amongst the people of their own settlements. There are even those who are from outside our realm, and they won’t be content to wait long, not with the state of upheaval most kingdoms are facing. After all, our people or not, their favorite pastime of prince hunting for their daughters has come to a halt.” A mischievous expression slid across his face, only to disappear. “All because of a human.”

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