Guards shoved their way through the crowd until a tunnel opened up to Thane at the other end. His silver crown sparkled in the sun, his large stature a beacon of power. He wore no weapons, but he didn’t need them to be feared. “You will not touch my mate!” he roared and it was enough to cause every one of the elves to step back several feet without the pressure of the guards.
The panic welled up in Layala turned into relief. Lifting her skirt, she moved toward him, walking at first and then her pace quickened. She could still feel where the hands of strangers groped her, and pulled her hair. She felt dirty, and was upset she was helpless to stop them. She burst into a run, scared they were right behind her, reaching for her until she slammed into him. She wrapped her arms around his body, breathing hard as she pressed her forehead into his chest. Holding onto him was the only thing keeping her knees from buckling.
He placed a firm hand on her back. “Today is our most sacred day. We are here to celebrate the Summer Solstice and ask the Maker to bless us. I hope this abhorrent behavior hasn’t cursed us in our plight against the pale ones. You must all do your duty and dance the Kenatara well tonight. Now go, have fun. But do not make the mistake of coming near Layala again. I will not tolerate it a second time.”
Layala peeked out to watch the crowd disperse. Once they were far enough away, it struck her that she was still holding him and she didn’t know if it was because his wonderful scent drew her in, or if it was the comfort of a strong male she didn’t want to admit she missed. She hadn’t held a male like this since Novak. Pulling back abruptly, she ran a hand over her hair and smiled in embarrassment.
“Um, thank you. For rescuing me. I remembered what you said about the shrines and everything, but I didn’t expect that.”
“Are you alright?” His gaze traveled down her form then back up. “I apologize I wasn’t out here with you sooner.”
“I’m alright.” She nodded. “You don’t need to apologize. You have other things more important to worry about than me.”
His tense face softened. “No. I don’t.”
She held his gaze until Fennan and Sunshine stepped up, drawing Thane’s fierce eyes. “What happened?” His voice was harsh but calm. A king reprimanding his soldiers, not a friend. They both spilled like a couple of lady’s maids. Talon got most of the blame, but they took the brunt of it when he snapped at them for not seeing the signs sooner and removing Layala from the situation. They took the rebuke in silence.
With Thane at her side, Layala walked without anyone daring to come near. Several guards trailed them including Fennan and Sunshine, but it wasn’t them that kept the onlookers at bay. They respected Thane. Their wariness of him was as clear as mountain river water.
“Would you like to go back inside?” he asked.
“No.” Layala folded her hands behind her back. “I want to enjoy the festival. It was fun until the incident. Fennan and Sunshine—I mean Aldrich, were about to show me how to dance the Kenatara for this evening.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Were they?” Something about his tone said he wasn’t pleased.
When Layala looked back the two seemed to shrink a little as if Thane lashed them. “Is that a problem?”
“The Kenatara is a divine dance and shouldn’t be taught by those who don’t know it well. I’ve seen the pair of them dance it and they always miss a few steps, usually several. Practically throw off the entire thing.” He smiled despite his words. “They didn’t take their lessons seriously as children.”
“Maybe I should sit it out. I may offend the Maker.”
“But the dance doesn’t require perfection; it’s the effort that matters most or those two wouldn’t be allowed. We have time before dusk. I’ll show you.”
He brought her to a stone gazebo where vines grew up the eight pillars and covered most of the gold-domed ceiling. Tiny white flowers that resembled roses grew all around its base and within the vines. The black marbled stone floor was pristinely clean and shiny. She was amazed that not even a speck of dust seemed to be found. Their feet lightly tapped as they stepped inside. The guards waited several yards back and turned around to give them privacy. Nervousness bloomed in her belly when Thane stood opposite of her and dipped forward from his hips. “First we bow.”
“Is this a couple’s dance?” she breathed, heart beating faster.
“It’s a partner dance where you’ll mainly be with a single partner but switch a few times throughout.” He lifted an eyebrow and his right hand. “Put your right palm up to mine but don’t touch it yet. They’ll hover about an inch apart, and then take three steps to the left.” She followed. “Good. Now we switch hands and take three steps to the right.” Layala rotated and counted her steps, then waited. “Now for the fun part.”
They stood face to face, and he held out his hand. She stared at it for a moment. “Am I supposed to—” Without waiting for her to finish her question, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, leaving almost no space between them.
“That’s better,” he cooed. “Now it’s four basic movements. Simple so even children can do it, which goes to show you how much Fennan and Aldrich don’t pay attention to the finer things in life.”
“I see. And do you pay attention to the finer things?” There was an electricity between them, humming and alive, she swore it. Like the charge of thunderclouds before lightning lit up the sky, before thunder cracked. It only grew more intense when his hand glided over her hip and settled on her back.
“You’ll find out here in a moment.” A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “The basic steps are forward, sidestep, close feet together, back, side, close, repeat. With a few spins here and there.”
It sounded simple but she figured it would be more difficult than that. “You lead.”
He stepped and she followed. After stumbling and stomping on his toes a few times, she started to get it. She focused on her feet watching each step, thinking forward, sidestep, feet together, back, until he put a finger under her chin. “Up here.” Their eyes met, the moves flowing easier when she wasn’t staring down. He carried her around the gazebo with ease. Warmness blossomed in her chest and trickled throughout her body the longer she stared into his face, into those unique green eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. His eyebrow ticked up. “I’m sorry I came into your room that night and held a knife to your throat. I—I’m sorry I tried to kill you.” Confessing the last bit was almost like chewing on sand, hard, gritty and difficult to swallow. “I’m sorry I’ve been so rude. I misjudged you then.”
“And now?”
“I’m not sure, but you’re not what I once believed,” she confessed. “But I think you hide behind a mask of brutality.”
“I don’t hide. It’s one of the many faces I must wear being High King. I am brutal when I need to be against the pale ones, against those who would wish people close to me and my kingdom harm, but it’s not all of who I am.” He spun her around in a circle and gently tugged her back in. “And I appreciate your apology, though I’ve already forgiven you.” He spun her out again and said, “This is where you would take the hand of the male to your right and do a single round of steps and then he will spin you back to me.”
She nodded but didn’t care about the dance just then. “I can see that you forgave me, but why? Why do you put up with me when I’ve been horrible?” She was glad he wasn’t who she thought but with the way she’d treated him, she thought it would have pushed him away. And yet she knew it hadn’t. Even as they slowly danced, holding onto each other’s bodies, their connection burned, an invisible force willing them together, basking in their closeness. Her mate rune tingled with warmth. As if taking notice of the sensations building between them her heart picked up, thudding loudly. Could he hear it? “And don’t say it’s because I’m your mate.”
“Two years ago,” he started. “I felt something break in you. It hurt me like my own wound, nearly dropped me to my knees. Your pain was so sharp and profound I first thought someone had injured you mortally; it scared me. But I realized it wasn’t physical pain. I don’t know what happened, and you don’t have to tell me, but you were crumbling. Where you were once colorful, you became gray in my mind’s eye. I wished I could go to you then, but it wasn’t the right time. I swore when I did come for you, I would put back those pieces no matter how long it took. I would make those once bright colors shine again.”
The lump in Layala’s throat thickened and her eyes prickled with threatening tears. She stared at the golden whirls on his sky-blue tunic. He wanted to put her back together? He spoke of when Novak died. The agony of Novak’s passing broke her; she hadn’t even fully smiled in a long time. But that wasn’t the reason for her emotion now—she wished she could fall in love. Thane was this charming, beautiful elf king, who wanted her, almost needed her. He was someone who could have swept her off her feet if there wasn’t the terrible past. But falling in love with Thane was dangerous for him, for them both.
“I think I’ve got the steps now. Thank you.” She tugged out of his arms and turned her back, holding her hand to her mouth. Walking to the edge of the gazebo, she put her palms on the stone and stared out at the elves in the distance, flocking from stand to stand. A white butterfly fluttered around her hands a moment then landed on her wrist. Its small wings slowly opened and closed.
“That’s a Pieris butterfly.” Thane leaned against the gazebo beside her. “They say if one lands on an elf, she is brought luck for a year.”
“Is that true?” Layala asked, eyes fixed on the creature.
“I’ve never had one land on me so I can’t say from personal experience.”
The butterfly lifted into the air and flew toward the sun, now hanging low in the sky. She hoped it was true. Before things grew serious again Layala blurted out, “Did you know there is a gnome that lives in my room? Her name is Tifapine. I’ve taken her on as my lady’s maid.”
Thane smiled. The sight of it made Layala’s heart beat faster again. “I did. She sings when she thinks no one can hear.”
“You knew and let her stay?”
“I have nothing against gnomes and she’s only one. It’s not as if anyone was using the room before you arrived and when you came you didn’t seem to mind.”
“I like her. She’s become a friend. My only friend here it seems. Your sister is the one who started the spectacle earlier, you know. And her friend.”
Thane frowned. “I’ll have a talk with both of them later. What happened earlier was dangerous, not a silly game.”
“I can handle her.” Layala started thinking of ways she could retaliate. Nothing too damaging but she’d get what was coming to her. She wondered if there was anything between Thane and Vyra. Was there a past there? Talon said her friend should be at Thane’s side.
Chuckling, Thane said, “I think Talon should be afraid, but please don’t kill her or her friend.”
Layala half smiled. “I won’t. Will you take me to the south? I want to see the battles.” Perhaps if she saw them with her own eyes, it would make her feel more for her own people. She still couldn’t connect with the elves. They still didn’t feel like hers the way Briar Hollow did. Maybe they never would. The need to help them wasn’t there, but she was capable of it.
Shifting uncomfortably, Thane’s lips formed a hard line. He still leaned against the pillar, but his casual body language had noticeably stiffened. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I can’t stay here forever, Thane. I know you worry about the enemy getting me and so do I, but I need to see the war for myself. I don’t want to hide. I want to help our people.”
He lifted his chin and looked out. “I should never have said that to you. Staying away from my father and living among the humans was the best thing you could have done. There is no obligation for you to fight. That belongs to me.” His gaze flicked back to her. “And what of your quest to break our bond?”
Clenching her teeth together, she brushed her fingers through her hair. If seeing the war didn’t change her mind about wanting to help and fight for the elves, she would have time to go to the mountains and find the dragon sorceress. “I’m still working on that.”
His jaw muscles twitched. “There is someone down south who might know more about our bond too. We can leave tomorrow. It’s a three to four-day ride.” Squaring his shoulders to face her he said, “But you will not go anywhere near the battlefield. You’ll watch from afar.”
The rebellious side of her kicked in. “My mate is giving me orders?” She practically growled the word. “I’m well trained, you know. I’m probably a better fighter than most of your soldiers and you’ve seen what my magic can do.”
“No, your High King is giving you an order.” There was no room for argument in his tone. “You want to compare yourself to a soldier then listen like one. I’ve never seen you in battle, and just because you can throw a punch and a knife doesn’t mean you can go sword to sword with a pale one. You’ve trained against humans, not elves which is starkly different so I truly don’t know if you can fight well enough. Your magic could draw a horde of pale ones that may overwhelm my soldiers. When we are down there you must listen to me, Layala. I’ve never lost a battle because I know what I’m doing.”
She would never admit it but when it came to large battles, she was naive. Besides, fighting wasn’t entirely why she wanted to go south. “I trust your judgment,” she relented, although the words tasted bitter.
He stared at her a moment, seemingly stunned. “As you should,” he said with a growing smirk.
Layala stepped out of the gazebo and said over her shoulder, “Don’t let it go to your head.”
For the rest of the afternoon, they went around to different booths. Thane sampled a variety of foods which delighted the merchants. Layala took an interest in a small potted tree with thin twisting trunks wrapped around each other sprouting green, pink and white leaves. She’d never seen one like it. Aunt Evalyn would be impressed. “What is this called”? she asked the maiden merchant.
“It’s Drivicus Dendium. The white leaves induce invisibility for a time when ingested.”
“I didn’t know that was possible. I’ve never heard of it.” She could have used it earlier when the mob surrounded her.
“It’s yours if you’d like it.” She smiled. “A gift from me to Lady Lightbringer.”
“Allow me to pay you for it,” Thane said beside her. “It must be rare.”
The lady shook her head. “No, no. I insist it is given as a gift.”
“Thank you,” Layala beamed, knowing what a treasure the plant was. Aunt Evalyn would love it. Perhaps she could bring her here to the castle one day. “That is very kind of you.”
“It’s my pleasure.” She bobbed her head and smiled at an approaching customer.
Fennan took the plant to Layala’s room, so she didn’t have to carry it while they enjoyed the evening. Layala and Thane were lost in conversation about whether Fennan or Aldrich would win in a fistfight. Layala bet on Fennan, as did Thane, which made the two males threaten to start a match right then to see for certain.
When the sun was on the verge of dipping below the horizon, all the elves gathered together near the musicians. “The dance! We’re going to miss it!” Layala exclaimed.
Smiling, Thane took Layala’s hand and pulled her into a run. “We can make it.”
“I don’t even have a partner!” Fennan shouted behind them.
“That’s lucky for the ladies,” Sunshine retorted.
They stepped into one of the lines of elves. Piper came out of nowhere to dance with Fennan, and Vyra snuck up and took to the spot opposite of Sunshine. Slow drums started. Thane bowed and Layala copied him. They held up their palms and she counted her steps one way and then the other. He smiled at her all the while and she couldn’t stop her lips from tugging up. And then she was in his arms again, spinning around and somehow everyone else faded away and it could have just been the two of them moving to the steady booms of the drums. The energy vibrating between them was much stronger than before, as if the music added to it, as if the drums were a living thing. Her skin flamed. She glanced at her arms to make sure she wasn’t glowing. Did everyone feel this way? She could get lost in this intensity blooming for hours.
Maker above, he was truly beautiful, sinfully so, as she once thought. She didn’t notice the small braids in his dark wavy hair until now or that the slight bronze on his cheeks reminded her of a summer day.
When he spun her out a second time and Fennan grabbed her hand, it broke the connection. While she followed the steps with Fennan with her feet, her eyes were set on Thane. When she glided under Fennan’s arm and back to Thane, she hated that unwanted desire flooded her insides and her mate rune seemed to pulse as if it was willing them to stay close.
When it was over, all the elves kissed the inside of their fingers and held their palms to the sky. “May the Maker bless us. May light defeat the dark,” they said in unison. Then a thunderous boom followed by a shimmering gold light that burst in the sky for a brief moment. Golden trails rained down all around them and then everyone cheered. Layala whistled and threw both her arms up. May the light defeat the dark.
An elf in full battle armor approached, breathing heavily as if he’d been running a while. The dirty face and dried blackish-blood on his hands made Layala shift back nervously.
“Sire,” he said, bowing before Thane. “The pale ones have overrun Bogg’s Landing,” he took in a deep breath, “many are dead; I don’t know the number, but they are gathering to take Doonafell.”
