Page 142 of Troll Queen


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He half-turned to her, raising his eyebrows.

“Could you keep an eye on Jalissa? I think I may have given her bad advice months ago.” Melantha searched the darkness under the shelter, spotting her sister lingering near a tree. Hopefully Melantha would have a chance to speak with her directly, but this time Melantha was not going to take any chances. She met Weylind’s gaze. “Please make sure she does not make the same mistakes I did, all right?”

Weylind nodded, glanced over at Jalissa, then he and Rheva strolled away.

Rharreth and Zavni were still talking while the other trolls remained standing tall and unshifting. Hopefully none of them were too impatient yet.

Melantha strode toward Jalissa, holding her breath that Jalissa would not run when she saw her coming.

Perhaps Jalissa also wanted to speak to Melantha for, instead of running away, she leaned against the tree and crossed her arms, scowling. “I still have not forgiven you.”

“I know. I do not deserve your forgiveness, nor do I expect it.” Melantha stared at her feet, trying to hide how much Jalissa’s words stung anyway. She wanted her sister’s forgiveness, even if she knew that she had no right to ask for it. Not after what she had done.

Melantha drew in a deep breath and forced herself to meet Jalissa’s deep, burning eyes. While she had the chance, she had to try to undo some of the damage she had done. “Before you left Kostaria, I told you that the duty to marry into the elven nobility would now fall on you. I realize now that I never should have said that.”

“But you were right. It is my duty to Tarenhiel to marry one of the nobility, especially after you and Farrendel married non-elves.” Jalissa straightened her shoulders, something in her eyes going hard and almost dead.

Melantha’s stomach sank hard and cold all the way to her toes. What had she done? Her warm, friendly sister now looked like she was on her way to execution in the forsaken grove. “Please listen, Jalissa. I know we have a duty to our kingdom, and both Farrendel and I have found love in our arranged marriages. But, if I had done what I thought was my duty and married someone like Hatharal earlier, I would have been miserable. Please, do not feel like you have to choose a loveless marriage. Weylind will figure out a way to deal with the consequences if you fall in love with someone not from the nobility. Pleasing the court is not worth being miserable for the rest of your life.”

“Yes, well, it seems I do not have a choice when it comes to that.” Jalissa pushed off the tree and brushed past Melantha, stalking off into the night in the direction of the main part of the Tarenhieli encampment.

Melantha sighed and braced herself against the tree. If Jalissa continued like this, it would be another thing to weigh on Melantha’s conscience.

“I see you have discovered the perils of giving advice.” Her grandmother Leyleira’s voice came from the forest behind her, as crisp as always. “Even with the best of intentions, advice can all too often turn out to be wrong.”

“And yet you always give out plenty of it.” Melantha turned to face Machasheni Leyleira, bracing herself for what she had to say. Melantha had not talked to Machasheni since her betrayal of Farrendel had been revealed, and she deserved whatever tongue-lashing she was about to receive, no matter how she dreaded it.

“Yes, but I am always right.” Machasheni Leyleira’s mouth twitched with her smile. “Perhaps you will be too, once you have lived eight hundred and thirty-seven years.”

“I doubt if even then I will be as wise as you are.” Melantha leaned against the tree behind her, soaking up its living presence while she could before she returned to the stark coldness of Kostaria’s mountains. “What advice do you have for me now?”

Machasheni tilted her head, her smile widening a fraction. “I would tell you to never pretend to be less than what you are, but it seems you have already discovered that for yourself.”

“That would have been helpful advice to be told years ago.” Melantha huffed a sigh, trying to rein in the wisp of heat that threatened to grow inside her chest. She was done resenting people for the smallest thing, even if it still was far too easy to do.

“Yes, but you were not ready to hear it then.” Machasheni gestured in the direction in which Jalissa had gone. “Nor is she ready to hear advice now. But I trust that she will be brought to learn a few lessons of her own soon, as you have learned yours.”

Melantha winced as Machasheni Leyleira’s gaze and voice turned sharp on those last few words. Her grandmother could pack so much rebuke into so few words. “I am so sorry for what I did. If I could go back and undo it, I would. Not for my sake, but for Farrendel’s. I was so foolish and so wrong.”

“If I did not know that you were sincere in that, then we would be having a different conversation.” After another moment of that sharp look as if to make sure Melantha was well and truly squirming, Machasheni’s face softened, and she gestured in the other direction toward Rharreth and the troll warriors with him. “Now, I do believe that troll husband of yours is waiting. Go on and do not look back. Your life and heart no longer belong to Tarenhiel.”

Melantha nodded and, as she pushed away from the tree, she released whatever last ties she had to the kingdom of her birth. Machasheni was right. Melantha’s life lay ahead of her in Kostaria, and she had to give herself to it wholeheartedly. There was no room for regrets or longing for what she had left behind. There was only the future and the life she had ahead. “Thank you, Machasheni.”

“Of course.” Machasheni Leyleira patted Melantha’s cheek. “Besides, I am ready to have a few more great-grandchildren.”

Before Melantha had a chance to answer, Machasheni strode away at a surprisingly fast clip for someone her age.

Melantha just shook her head. Machasheni should go pester Elspetha and Farrendel if she was so eager for more great-grandchildren. Melantha would like children with Rharreth someday. But, she had a feeling her brother would become a father sooner rather than later.

With one last glance at the massive trees of Tarenhiel, Melantha turned in the opposite direction, heading for Rharreth and their troll escort.

As she reached Rharreth, he put an arm around her, tucking her closer. The last of her lingering tension eased with his warmth and strength. They were not yet in Kostaria, but as long as she was at Rharreth’s side and he was at hers, she was already home.



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