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His expression turned severe. “I didn’t include it in the message. I thought you would prefer to tell him yourself.”
The unease in my stomach soured into anxiety.
“Don’t worry. I will go with you.” Emrys guided my attention up to his face again with a gentle finger. “He can’t hurt you.”
“That isn’t what I am worried about,” I protested. “We had an agreement, he and I, remember? When he took the throne, I promised I would marry and produce heirs. I don’t think he expected his heirs to be half elf.”
“Or that your husband would insist that our firstborn not become king of Solderland. Our first child will rule Eldarlan.”
I frowned up at him. “What if we have a daughter first?”
“She will be queen.”
“And your people will accept this?”
“They will.”
His confidence helped, though it didn’t completely dissipate my disquiet. But I knew it was better to pose the worst possibility before Emrys was blindsided by it in the future. “And if Solderland doesn’t wish for a half elf as a ruler?”
“Their loss.”
I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Emrys rested his fingertip against my lips.
“Might it be better to discover what your brother’s response will be by speaking with him than to worry about the ways the meeting might go awry?”
“I am not worrying; I am preparing.”
A twitch of the corner of his mouth betrayed his amusement. “Remember, you are not alone.”
“And I am grateful.”
A slight tightening of his brow hinted at possible displeasure. I wasn’t sure why, though.
“I can carry you or you can walk. Carrying is faster, but I understand that walking affords you more dignity.”
Envisioning how my brother would react to me arriving in Emrys’ arms, I promptly chose to walk. “What do I do to…wraithwalk?”
Stepping behind me, Emrys extended his right hand over my shoulder. “Take my hand.” I reached up and caught his fingers. The touch triggered a sudden awareness of how close he stood. The loamy scent of fallen leaves, wood, and a note of rain filled my senses. His arm came around my waist, hand spread across my midriff, radiating warmth and grounding without overwhelming. “When you are ready, begin walking.”
“That is all?” Resisting the instinct to step back into the curve of his arms, I tried to focus on the task.
“I will do the rest.” His breath stirred the hair at my temple as our surroundings darkened. Wisps of night gathered around our feet.
I took a step and the room melted into a new world of undulating shadows, patches of darkness thinning to gray. When I hesitated, Emrys didn’t pause. He strode on steadily, carrying me along with him until I recovered enough to resume walking.
As we continued, company joined us. I counted three additional shadow elves, one of them the one with the silver-streaked hair. But before I could voice my reservation at their appearance, we arrived.
~~~~~
Emrys
Wary of the potential for the king of Solderland being angry enough to deny his sister an audience, I intentionally didn’t bother with stopping in the audience chamber outside his study. Our escort followed without comment.
As protocol demanded, my honor guard manifested in the room first, and I remained in my shadow form in the darkness. Barely a second later, Kate and I stepped into a spacious room with map-covered walls, lush carpets, and two large tables dominating the floor.
“She is a traitor!” one of the five men in the room declared. His soft features flushed a vibrant red that almost matched his hair as he pounded his fist on the edge of the smaller table. Directly across from him, the man I suspected was Kate’s brother flinched.
Dark-chestnut hair streaked with silver at the temples stood about the king’s ears as though he had been tugging it. His hazel eyes widened as his gaze met Kate’s, and his face paled alarmingly before flushing with shame. The three silent men turned, but the redheaded speaker continued to rant.
