Rune didn’t balk or grimace at my question. He was a smart Fae. He knew I was going to ask questions about her. When I was injured, he had said he’d tell me another time. Today was another time.
“I was coming to meet the queen and king before Torin arrived to accept the betrothal to Nyx. She was covered in a hood and fighting off three goblins in the Hallowstags by herself. I assisted her but didn’t know who she was until later that night.”
It sounded romantic, the way he came in like some white knight. I bet she loved it. I said it out loud and he roared with laughter. I couldn’t lift another arrow to the bow or shoot the target for another answer. Rune, the Fae I’d never seen fully smile or jest, was laughing. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen in my life.
“She was pissed, actually, having gone out in search of trouble on purpose. I have a tiny scar on my right shoulder from when she poked her sword into my arm for me to back away and let her finish battling alone.”
My kind of woman, and the way she handled Rune? No wonder he was in love with her. She stood up to the big bad wolf.
“Did she love you in return?” Once again, my mouth had run with my thoughts without a consultation with my mind. The lightness I’d seen in him moments before was gone. Sadness and longing had returned with his tensed muscles.
“Fifteen yards. Hit your target and I’ll answer.”
It wasn’t a no; he would answer a question I had thought about so many times as long as I hit the target from farther away.
At first, I beamed confidence. Then failed attempt after failed attempt shoved that confidence somewhere I couldn’t reach. When our training came to an end, I tried to help Rune carry the target, but he snapped to leave it. He picked up a larger bow and set of arrows he’d left by a tree nearby and stood in position to shoot.
“We were mates, and she loved me fiercely. Enough to go against everything.”
He shot the target into the little black dot, splitting my arrow in two.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“What did you figure out? A little bird told me you sneaked out in your night garments to see my aunt.” Dris sat next to me this time instead of across the book-covered table. Her features beamed with interest for the information I’d ferreted out. Celestine said to trust her, and I really needed a friend, someone else to talk to besides Rune and that one time with the queen.
“Lots of things, and yet, not a lot.” Two Fae at the next table looked over at the selection of books to our left.
“Are we safe to talk here?” I whispered, even though I’m sure if those Fae were paying attention, they would have heard me.
She shook her head, then grabbed my hand to pull me up with her. Her hand was soft, like feathers caressing my skin gently. I liked the sensation of someone else touching me. I’d been without a hug or a gentle squeeze of my fingers, and I hadn’t realized how much those simple gestures meant to me.
I didn’t feel so lonely.
Dris walked us from the table of books to a door on the back wall. A silver key in her hand unclicked the lock with ease. It was only wide enough for one person to walk through at a time, but when my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, I saw another smaller library with only about ten dark wooden shelves. Spider webs dangled between each like a warning to stay away. Dust was thick in the air, and the only light in the room was from a stained-glass window to the right. There were no art decorations, yet the room held a sense of beauty.
“This is the dark library. Only me, the queen, and her advisor are allowed in here. I believe that you are meant to be in here, as well. No one can hear what we speak of, and there are books that might aid your quest.” We walked to the only table in the room, which had two dusty chairs. My hands were dirty from wiping the thick layer of dust before we sat down.
“OK, give me the details.” She sat next to me, her hands in her lap. Her body practically hummed with eagerness for new information.
“Celestine didn’t give me much, and I get it. I have to live the journey if I am going to get to where I’m supposed to go.”
Dris nodded.
“Did you know about Rune and Nyx?” I needed to talk to someone about it, and I hoped I wasn’t betraying Rune somehow by discussing it with her.
“I knew. Some others did, too. But she was promised to be with Prince Torin.” Her sigh echoed in the quiet room. The whole thing between the three of them was sounding more and more tragic every time I heard about it.
“Rune said they were mates. Does that mean what I think it means?” I sucked in a breath, my body frozen as I waited to hear if something so indefinite existed.
Her hands covered her mouth as she gasped. “He said they were mates?” she asked, and again, I nodded.
“Finding your mate is not rare. It does happen frequently between Fae. But it is an eternal bonding, sacred and cherished. Some never find their mates and are happy that way. Some Fae spend eternity searching for theirs. Just as nature decides our internal cores, it also selects a pair when we are created. A match and a balance to ourselves.”
Nyx was Rune’s match . . . his mate.
“I never knew that they were . . .” She couldn’t finish her sentence, like the thought shook her thoroughly or perhaps filled her with too much sorrow to say the words aloud.
“He loves her a lot. It’s why he’s helping me because he believes I can save her. I don’t think he cares much for the fact that I am supposed to save Tor, too.”
“They were quite a pair together, the princess and Rune. Truly a case of opposites attracting, to say the least. They really did try not to fall for each other and fought to keep their growing interest a secret while Tor courted her, but now knowing they were mates, they really didn’t have a choice in the matter.”
Poor Tor. Poor Rune.
“Did Tor love her?” I kept my voice even, wanting to hear more of their history, although it might be painful.
Dris’s expression filled with understanding and support. “I know he was enamored by her. As were many men, but something always gave me the impression he was only doing it because he was pressured into it. She was beautiful, so it wasn’t a hard decision for him to make. They did not look at each other the same way Rune and Nyx did when they thought no one was watching them. We owls knew, though. We see everything.” She held her body straight and confident, proud of herself and her heritage. I hoped she was right. If I managed to accomplish all that was set at my feet, Tor and Nyx could be reunited, and I might have to let him go if she chose him.
Needing to change the subject to something less soul crushing, I explained what Celestine said about meeting a creature in the woods. Dris warned me about the creatures in the Hallowstags, so I promised to take a weapon I was comfortable with. Rune mentioned goblins in his story with Nyx, so I already planned on strapping myself with sharp objects.
We talked about the nature cores and who could have the onyx essence but the truth kept its distance. It would come to us in time, but for now I was grateful to have someone on my side. My burden didn’t feel so heavy now that it was shared.
“I’ll keep looking. See if I find anything suspicious in our history. I’ll even check these books out about Verin and his goons. I’m sure magic died because of him. It’s the only logic that makes sense.”