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Chapter 12
With avid eyes, Cal took in her surroundings and worked to match her stride to Relian’s longer one as he led her deeper into the gardens. She loved the way plant-life merged with the structures and statues. Art and nature melded together in a way she’d never seen perfected quite so well.
Even though truly enthralled with her surroundings, she purposefully focused her nervous attention anywhere but on Relian and the strange feelings he created. Her hand tingled where it rested on his arm, but she wouldn’t draw notice to herself by removing it.
They walked on for a few more minutes, the whisper of leaves and the song of birds surrounding them. The marble statues of elves and forest creatures glowed in the waning light.
Relian stopped before a stone bench and waited until she seated herself before folding down to sit beside her. They remained silent in the fading light. Would he talk first or should she?
“Night will soon fall.”
Relian’s voice startled her out of her thoughts. “Yes, it seems so,” agreed Cal quietly, not wanting to be the one to break the triviality of their conversation. However, this stilted exchange wouldn’t solve anything.
“Cal...Lady Cal, may I call you Cal in private?” She nodded, and he continued. “You may also address me as Relian if you desire it. Such formality when we’re alone seems outmoded given the situation in which we find ourselves.”
Cal let out a rueful laugh. “I couldn’t agree with you more.”
“Why do I have the feeling you won’t so readily agree with me in the near future?”
He gave a small smile that made her heart rate lurch before speeding up. Damn him. “Because, Relian.” She stumbled over his name, still unused to speaking it aloud. “We’re from different worlds. We can’t change that. I suppose our views will be quite different.”
“You speak wisely for one so young.”
Cal stared ahead but gave a slight shake of the head. “Not wise, just realistic.”
She leaned forward and dropped her elbows to her knees, turning to look at him. Cal almost wished she hadn’t. Seeing him just compounded the dilemma. Relian resembled no man she’d dated or even seen. His features were undeniably elvin, but she couldn’t give a concise answer of what made them so. He, like the other elves she’d noticed, had winged eyebrows that arched more sharply than most humans’ would without the help of wax or tweezers. Then there were the slim ears that gently curved into a point at their tip. Still, she didn’t know what made him so different from a human man. He just was.
His puzzled voice broke into her scrutiny. “Why do you look at me so intensely?”
She sighed. How could she explain? “You’re so different. I’m not just referring to the cultural aspects, either. You look like no man I’ve ever known, and I admit I’m finding that hard to digest. And you’re immortal, which is totally impossible.”
“Well, I don’t look like a human man, for I’m not one and have something akin to immortality. But that is a subject we’ll discuss at a later date. I’m not that different, though. Our two races were designed along the same fundamental lines. I have two hands and feet, just like a human male. If it would make you feel better, I am a man, just an elvin one.”
He talked so matter-of-factly and with such pride, Cal stifled an urge to laugh. Yes, she’d been well aware he was male. She supposed males—no matter what race, species, or whatever she should call it—were not so very different. It appeared, elf or human, both had egos their female counterparts had to watch carefully.
“That’s true. But everything, from the landscape to the people here, seems so foreign to me.” While saying this, she gestured at the garden surrounding them and then at him.
“I can’t deny that much of what you see here is strange to you. That fact will only abate with time and effort.”
“Time and effort?”
“With time, our ways won’t seem so different. With effort, you should be able to adopt them as your own.” He said this as though he thought it were the simplest thing to achieve.
Her ire flared, and she pulled herself up straighter. Relian didn’t ask her if she wanted to adopt his people’s ways—he just assumed she would. He took too many suppositions for granted. She didn’t know how long she’d stay here, let alone anything else. At this moment, she’d leave if she could. Even as that thought flickered through her mind, though, she didn’t quite believe it. Her dreams—and the contentment that often arose from them—pulled at her to find out what her life could be like here. With that, her anger sputtered out.
She didn’t know what she wanted, and that was dangerous for her life back home.
***
Relian sensed the agitation his words caused. “My lady, nothing has been decided as of yet.”
As he spoke, he knew the untruth of what he said. It had all but been decided. By him, his father, the council, and, most of all, the veil. If they could keep her here, they would—even by force. Somehow, she tied into the future of their survival, all of theirs. Her world and theirs. He didn’t want to burden her with that news unless he had no other choice. Finding out they not only expected her to bond with him but that they also thought she might play some part in saving two interconnected worlds would be too much right now. It was almost too much for him.
Cal took a deep breath, and her anger seemed to fade. “So what happens next? I’m kind of at a loss here. How do we get home?”
He held back a scowl. Of course, she’d think about returning home right away. He couldn’t fault that logic, even if he didn’t like it. There had to be a way to reassure her that staying in Eria was in her best interest, as well as in his. He’d have to phrase his words carefully so as not to offend or scare her. The best course of action lay with some cautiously placed truths. “My people, for the most part, are now aware of the binding. Those that aren’t will surely know by tomorrow.”
She folded her arms. “Why is that?”
