Page 126 of Pretense

After a long moment, Weylind slid the paper into the envelope, and he raised his gaze to meet Edmund’s again. The hard elf king was still there, but the glower was gone. “Thank you for proving not only your honor, but your brother’s honor as well. I will let you know when it is convenient for my schedule to discuss this.”

Another knot loosened in Edmund’s stomach. That was as good of a blessing as he would get from Weylind, especially since he was willing to give it even before their discussion.

Weylind folded the envelope in half, then half again, until he had a tight square. He held it out to Farrendel. “Please destroy this.”

Edmund breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a huge risk on Averett’s part to put this offer in writing and sign it. A year ago, Weylind might have used such a letter as a weapon against him. But now, the two kings held a great deal of respect for each other. A friendship even, though Edmund wasn’t sure Weylind would admit that out loud. And because of that friendship, Weylind was ensuring that this letter would never fall into the wrong hands.

And, perhaps, he was making one last jab at Edmund, showing him what should have been done with that doomsday plan after the treaty had been signed.

Brow furrowed, Farrendel took the folded envelope, pinching it between thumb and pointer finger. With a crackle, his magic flared bright, then vanished. Nothing, not even ash, remained of the envelope and letter.

By the way Essie was bouncing a little in her seat, Edmund could tell she was itching to ask what was in the note. Everyone in the room probably was.

But no one asked. They were royalty. They all knew that there were questions that could not be asked and answers that could not be given.

Now that the two hardest gifts were out of the way, Edmund set to work distributing the rest of the items. Ryfon received a book on the history of the castles of Aldon—one that Edmund had re-read to double-check that it was not disparaging of elves. Brina squealed, then clapped a hand over her mouth as if she couldn’t believe she had done that, when he handed her a book on the history of Aldon. It was one of the quirkier history books, the kind with an easy-to-read narration that enjoyed pointing out the oddest facts the author could find.

For Rharreth, he had an Escarlish pistol with a matching derringer for Melantha. The weapons used the same ammunition since he figured that would make it easier for Rharreth to source. Weylind was still leery of providing the trolls with Escarlish weapons, but he didn’t voice any objection to Edmund’s gifts. A sign of the progress their three kingdoms had made.

Rheva had been more of a challenge, but he had finally decided on a fine linen tablecloth with intricate embroidery of flowers and birds around the edge. Rheva smiled, thanked him, and didn’t even seem too surprised when it happened to be the perfect size for her tea table.

“And now, for my favorite brother-in-law.” With a flourish, Edmund pulled out one of those elf ear mugs, the ones that an artist in Escarland had created. It was an interesting piece of ceramic, that was for sure, from its white color to the jagged blue lines running through it to the large elf-shaped ears sticking out from either side.

Farrendel frowned, his nose wrinkling. “I do not think you understand the purpose of this tradition. You are supposed to give thoughtful items that the recipients actually like. It is not the occasion for…humorous gifts.” He did not look like he found this gift humorous, but he did not want to say anything more offensive out loud.

Far too easy. Edmund was really going to enjoy teasing Farrendel for many, many years to come.

Grinning, Edmund switched from presenting the mug to Farrendel to holding it out to Essie. “That’s why this gift is Essie’s. Or, part of her gift anyway. So that the two of you will have matching mugs in that new workshop of yours.”

Essie laughed and snatched the mug, hugging it to her. “Yes! This is perfect!”

Farrendel kept frowning, as if he blamed the mug for the fact that he fell for the exact same joke a second time.

“Essie, the rest of your gift is a hand-carved mug rack, shaped like a tree. Fingol will be delivering it to Farrendel’s workshop tomorrow, though you can put it wherever you want. It was too big to fit in my bag.” Edmund reached out and tweaked her nose the way he had when she was little. “There are only spaces for twenty mugs, so choose wisely.”

She laughed again, shaking her head. “You don’t have to bribe me for my approval. You already had it.”

“This is your gift, Farrendel.” Edmund pulled out the second-to-last item in his bag and held it out. It was a pair of goggles like the ones the inventor Lance Marion wore.

This time, Farrendel’s eyes widened, and he snatched it from Edmund’s hand nearly as fast as Essie had claimed the elf ear mug. “This is the latest model. It has both magnifying and welding glasses attachments. I was hoping to get a pair the next time we were in Aldon.”

“Well, there goes one idea for an anniversary gift.” Essie gave an exaggerated sigh, touching the silver, heart-shaped necklace she wore.

Farrendel peeled his focus from the goggles with what looked like effort to share a smile with Essie. “You do not have to get me anything. You have already given me the best gift.”

Edmund started to edge away. By the way Farrendel was looking at Essie, things were about to get disgustingly mushy.

Oh, well. He now had the perfect revenge. He would kiss Farrendel’s sister in front of him and see how he liked it then.

Essie patted Farrendel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have other ideas. I was thinking maybe a pet cat. I’ve heard pets make great practice for parenting. I’ve always been more a dog person, but I think a cat might handle living in a treehouse far better than a dog. What do you think? Paige let me know that one of the cats in the stables at Winstead Palace had a litter a few days ago, if you want to pick one out. You aren’t allergic to cats, are you? I’ve never noticed that elves struggle with allergies. Is that because elves don’t have allergies or because your healers can help you manage them?”

Edmund caught only a glimpse of the semi-horrified, semi-intrigued look on Farrendel’s face before he turned away. He had not officially received a blessing from Farrendel, but that was fine. Farrendel hadn’t asked for Edmund’s blessing before he married Essie, so now they were even.

Finally, Edmund faced the person he had wanted to see the most.

Jalissa still stood just inside the doorway, her hands pressed over her mouth. Her eyes glittered with a wet sheen, though no tears had yet spilled onto her face.

He halted in front of her, pulling out the last item from his bag. He had scoured every bookseller in Estyra until he had found an exact copy. And then, because he was sentimental, he had sneaked into Ellonahshinel’s library, stolen the book from the shelf, and replaced it with the copy. No one besides him and Jalissa would ever know the difference. Besides, she was Ellonahshinel’s princess. The book already belonged to her, kind of.

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