Page 19 of To Save a Kingdom

Shadow made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Or maybe it was a hairball.

Aliya hoped it was a hairball. It would serve the woman right.

“He saved my life at least three times. You have him to thank for Malkov being overthrown. Or have you forgotten?”

“Do you truly think he will stay by your side when the elves leave?”

Aliya worried her lower lip with her teeth. As much as she wanted him to, he belonged with his mother, with his people. Stuck in the human realm, cut off from those he loved, he wouldn’t be happy. She shook her head and sighed.

“Then it’s time to quit acting like a wishful child and be the queen you are.” Shadow flicked her tail. “You don’t need to make a decision today, but you will soon.”

Something cracked in Aliya’s heart, splitting her chest with a phantom pain that rivaled being stabbed. Soon, Elessan would be gone, and she’d be on her own.

“Why don’t you like him, really?”

“Would you like the list in alphabetical or numerical order?” The clipped words did little to hide Shadow’s anger.

“What does that even mean?”

Shadow jumped off the desk, putting an end to that line of questioning. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet the eligible bachelors, so you can decide which one you can best tolerate. Have your father set up luncheons or tea times with the candidates while your elf is distracted with his mother.” Coming to a stop at the door, she turned and sat, curling her tail around her feet as she watched Aliya expectantly.

With a sigh, Aliya stood and crossed the room, opening the door to let Shadow out. “You could just change into a human and open it yourself.” She still had no idea what her aunt’s preferred human shape looked like.

The cat stared up at her with round quicksilver eyes and blinked, looking for all the world the disappointed tutor with a dunce student. “Why waste the water on an unnecessary shift? Besides, I’ve been in this form so long, it’s the easiest for me to maintain.”

Fair point.

Chapter 8

Elessan

“I’m so proud of you, my son.” Sorisana put her palms against Elessan’s cheeks and kissed his forehead, an action he only allowed because it had been so long since he’d seen her. And because of the sudden bloom of warmth spreading through his stomach at her approval. “I’m told you ended the war almost single-handedly.”

He snorted as heat rose to his face, glancing around the small receiving room that resembled a library, complete with desk, threadbare chairs and a settee in an outdated pattern next to the cold hearth. “Your reports appear to be exaggerated.” Most of the credit went to Aliya, Zadé and Tsara. He’d been so worried over what Malkov was doing to Aliya, he’d mostly been along for the ride.

The black cat that always hovered near Aliya nudged its way past the door and into the room. Elessan wracked his brain for its name but came up empty. With an annoyed swish of its tail, it jumped into the window and curled up in the sun. Burying its face beneath its paw, it went to sleep as if they weren’t even there.

Sorisana shook her head, pulling Elessan’s attention back to her. “From what I hear, you rallied the elves and the dwarves to march on the Cerel stronghold, saved the human queen, and personally executed the last of the Cerel line.”

Well, true, he had done all of that. “It wasn’t just me.”

She smiled, the action highlighting the warmth in her eyes that reminded him of summer nights spent together gazing up at the stars when he was a small child. “I know. But I’m proud of your contribution. And I cannot wait for you to come home, so you can find a mate and settle down to raise a family of your own.”

Elessan paused, pulling back from his mother as ice filled his veins. “What?” Mate? Family? Where was this coming from?

The edges of her lips turned down as she blinked. “Don’t you want to return home?”

“Of course I do, but…”

Tilting her head, she studied him. “But what?”

“Find a mate? Have a family?” He shook his head. That would mean leaving Aliya.

“I always hoped you and Princess Tsara…”

He choked back a laugh. “Even if there was anything between us, her father would never let her tie herself to me. You know that.”

She gave him a soft smile, the same one she’d always given him as a youth when she told him he could be whatever he dreamed. “Love finds a way.”