“Are you excited?” Rulah asked.
“I suppose.” Percy didn’t sound excited. He sounded bored.
“I mean about coming to visit the Lightwood elves?”
He said nothing.
“What’s wrong, Percival? What happened to the man who dreamed of power?” Rulah grabbed his hand and forced him to look at her. “I know of your secrets, and I don’t care. Why can’t you think of me as more than a friend?”
Her voice, once full of hope, broke as she struggled to contain her emotions. She leaned forward and her brow touched his as she lightly caressed the side of his arms. It was a symbol of greeting between lovers.
He pulled away and Rulah became distressed. “Our families have already approved the exchange. Why can’t you agree that this is the best course? So much can come of our union. The daughter of Arielle and the son of All—”
“Stop!” Percy shook his head. “I’m nothing like my father. I want nothing to do with any of his schemes, including marriage.”
Rulah stilled. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “It’s the human girl, isn’t it? She’s the one distracting you, holding you back. She’s not one of us. She will never understand our kind or our duty to our realms and each other.” Her hand dropped to her side. “We don’t love the way humans do. Our flame is eternal. It is a slow fire that burns for centuries. You may not love me now, but one day, when she is no longer of this world, you could. You could learn to love me.” She reached up on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
From a distance, I saw the surprise on his face; the way his shoulders stiffened and held back, but then slowly sank into her kiss as he returned it.
As I watched, I was overcome with remorse. They were a perfect match; tall ethereal beings, from similar backgrounds and training, destined to bring realms and clans together. I should have retreated. Instead, I watched what I could never have.
Percy's hands grasped her shoulders, and when they broke their kiss, he looked up, and our eyes met across the river.
His lips formed my name, but nothing came out.
I didn’t try to hide that I’d been spying. I turned on my heel and left. Not wanting to hear his reasons for kissing her. He didn’t need to explain; I understood. It was his life and his duty.
My brain understood duty, but all my heart understood was pain.
Lorn was right. Percy was trouble, and it was best if I ended things quickly.
Later that evening, Percy knocked on my door, but I never answered. He waited by our spot for dinner, but I ate in my room. When I went to train, he was already in the training room, warming up and waiting for me. Everywhere I went, he was there.
And my poor, human heart couldn’t handle seeing him everywhere, knowing that we couldn’t be together even as friends.
Then it was I’d who begged Lorn to leave. It didn’t take much convincing, especially when I’d felt Rhea’s magic. I’d heard her call, and knew I needed to go to her. I’d packed my bag and headed to Kiln.
I was so lost in my daydreams of the past that I ended up at the edge of the lake again.
I stilled, staring at the sun reflecting across the surface, speckled by the leaves sailing across the water. It was the same lake that Percy and I had dumped Ardax’s gear in almost two years ago and where I had watched him and Rulah kiss for the first time. A rueful smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I remembered. There were so many memories, good and bad, that plagued me whenever I came back.
“You’re back without your guardian,” a gravelly voice said from the copse of trees.
I spun, not at all surprised to see Ardax. I tensed, my hand going toward the hidden knife on my hip.
“Relax, Honor. I’m not here to harm you. I had hoped we could come to an arrangement.”
“I don’t make deals with the devil,” I said.
Ardax grinned, using charm that could easily disarm many women. Me . . . never. I had been the brunt of too many of his verbal attacks to be swayed by a debonair smile.
He let out a quick huff, showing his amusement. “Normally, that’s what I say about you.”
I snorted, and allowed myself to be at ease. It helped that Ardax wasn’t making any sudden moves. His eyes watched me as closely as I watched him.
“The affinity ceremony is upon us. For those that care about such things,” he said.
“I know.”
Ardax straightened his shoulders, his eyes looking past me, not at me. “I would like to escort you.”
“Why?” I asked, taken aback by his sudden interest.
“Don’t confuse my intentions. I don’t like you,” he added.
“No.”
I turned away, but he followed.
“Listen, Honor. I’m doing this for Rulah.”
“Then my answer is most definitely no.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn?” he called out after me. “Do you not understand all of the problems your presence has caused?”
My anger rose, and I spun on him. “Maybe I’m stubborn because you force me to be.”
Ardax backed away a step. “Or maybe it’s because everyone sees you as a threat to not just one realm, but two.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but stopped and waited for him to continue.
“I take it that you know about Rulah and Percival’s understanding.”
“I do.”
“Then you’ll see that I’m doing what I can for the good of our realms. If you go with me, make it known that you chose to go with me, then Percy will be free to attend with Rulah. He won’t feel like he has to be your protector from the big bad elf.” He pointed his thumb at himself.
I studied Ardax’s posture, the slender tightness in his lip. “You’re in love with Rulah,” I stated.
There was a sudden flare of Ardax’s nostrils, and I waited for him to deny it, but he didn’t.
“I am. But she doesn’t care for me. She only has eyes for Percy. So I will do whatever I can to make her happy.” Ardax turned slightly. He closed his eyes and raised his chin toward the sun. “I had hoped that if you felt the same way about Percy, that you would understand my plight.”
“I don’t have feelings for Percy,” I blurted out quickly. Too quickly.
“That’s good. Then can you put aside your hatred for me and help me do a kindness for someone I care for?”
I thought about what he was asking. Trying to see past Ardax’s thorny exterior to see the elf with an unrequited love. What I agreed to . . . And no matter what I’d just lied about, I wasn’t doing it for Ardax or Rulah.
“As long as you can keep the stabbing comments down to three for the night,” I said, giving in.
Ardax’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Only three?”
“And you need to provide me with a dress. A nice one.”
Ardax laughed. “I think those arrangements are agreeable. But you need to be the one to tell Percy that your escort has been taken care of and that his services as the human bodyguard will not be needed tonight.”
“Me?” My voice rose in pitch.
“Yes, and the sooner the better. Rulah and Percy’s relationship is already strained because of you.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he raised a hand, silencing me.