A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic, #1)(30)

The glint I saw was sunlight from a skinny window at the end of this impossibly narrow hall. I have to side step as the walls try and crush me. But as I do, I notice there are small perforations in the stone. It is as if the builder didn’t completely fill in every gap with mortar.

Through these holes, I get glimpses of the throne room below. Voices echo up to me. Eldas paces the floor before the thrones, hands gripped so tightly at the small of his back I’m surprised his bones aren’t shattering. Rinni is there too. She’s relaxed before the raging king. This is clearly nothing new to her.

“How can I do this, Rinni?”

“If anyone can, it’s you, Eldas.”

“She will not listen. I cannot work with her. I waited for the queen I was promised and did not get her.” Eldas stops, slipping his long hair over his shoulder. “Her power is only a fraction of Queen Alice’s. It’s further indication that the line of queens is diminishing. If the power of the Human Queen dries up entirely, then our world is doomed.”

“That is a concern for the future. Focus on the here and now,” Rinni advises calmly.

“The here and now is that she might be the last Human Queen.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Rinni says. It’s accurate, yet there’s the ghost of doubt drifting around her words. “You’ve only just begun working with her. Give her a chance.”

“How can I ‘give her a chance’ when she delights in disrespecting me?” Eldas stops, turning to face his knight with a palm on his cheek. “She actually struck me.”

The full spectrum of emotions runs across Rinni’s face. I see her brow furrow with worry. Then her lips part in shock. I see her close them quickly to hold back what looks like laughter.

“Rinni—”

“About time, Eldas.”

“She’s won you over already? She’s even stealing my allies.” Eldas scowls and resumes his pacing.

“You’ve become unbearable these last few months.” Rinni doesn’t mince words and folds her hands together smugly. “Someone needed to put you in your place, and I certainly wasn’t getting through to you.”

Eldas pinches the bridge of his nose and hangs his head, raven hair slipping over his shoulders and shielding his face. “I suppose I have been somewhat curt.”

Rinni snorts. “Somewhat?”

My words exactly. I’m not sure if I’m relieved that Eldas is admitting it or all the more angry. If he knew he was being an ass then why allow himself to act that way?

Eldas comes to a halt, staring at the door I left from. There’s a murky expression clouding his gaze. I can’t make out the depths of it all…but dare I say it? Is that remorse?

No, it can’t be. He was cruel and he knew it. Those facts trump everything else. Yet, the longer I stare at him, the cloudier my own feelings become. Your heart is too soft, Luella, I scold myself.

“I wonder if…” Eldas murmurs.

“If what?” Rinni presses.

“If she’s all right,” Eldas finishes. I was right, there is worry in his eyes. “I should check—”

“Don’t.” Rinni rushes over and catches his elbow. “I don’t know exactly what you did, but I suspect it might be best to give her some space. You’re likely the last person Luella wants to see right now.”

“I doubt—”

“Eldas, am I wrong?” Rinni cuts him off with the deadpan question and a harsh stare.

She’s not, I think. I don’t know what I’d do if Eldas tried to run to me and apologize right now. I’d like to think I’d accept it. But part of me wants him to stew a bit more over what he just did, make sure he’s really sorry before accepting an apology.

“Fine,” he mumbles. “I’ll apologize tomorrow.”

I doubt he will. I doubt it strongly.

“I think that’s wise,” Rinni says.

Eldas drags himself over to his throne, sinking onto it heavily. “First the fae, now her. The Fae King has made it clear that he thinks I am softer, weaker than my father. He wants land returned to them and wants recognition at the Council of Kings.”

I lean closer to the openings. I watch as Eldas angles himself, slumping onto an elbow. He props his head up with his hand, as though his crown is suddenly too heavy to bear. He looks weary…vulnerable.

He looks nothing like a king right now. He looks like a man. A tired and weary man.

Then I remember how he used my true name against me to treat me like a puppet and any sympathy evaporates.

“Waiting for her this last year was a mistake. I stayed too long secluded in the castle, keeping everyone away, waiting for the coronation,” Eldas murmurs, so softly I almost don’t hear it. “My people think I abandoned them. The other kings of this land think I’m weak.”

“You stayed secluded in the castle because you were waiting for your queen and her coronation—to introduce yourself to Midscape as one with the Human Queen. It wasn’t a mistake; you were honoring our customs,” Rinni says gently and reassuringly. “The people will understand as everything returns to normal.”

Eldas was secluded? Waiting for me? He mentioned something about that yesterday, but it was lost amid all the excitement. My nails scratch lightly against the stone. I’ve only thought of him as a powerful Elf King—cold and unfeeling. I’ve thought of him as lording over this castle in delight.