AllFreeNovel
Share Us
All eyes swiveled toward him. It took everything in him not to flinch away from all the attention. The human princess’s eyes—a light blue-green as he was now close enough to see—widened, and they had a speculative gleam as she studied him.
“Brother, do you believe we should consider this…offer?”
Farrendel dropped his gaze to Weylind, almost relieved to look away from the human princess.
Weylind’s jaw tightened. “This must be a trap of some kind. We cannot trust them.”
Never trust a human bargain. Farrendel sneaked a glance at the humans, hoping that none of them understood elvish. “We planned to agree to whatever was necessary to appease them. We should hear them out before we refuse. Besides, this is most likely a bluff they hope we will refuse. It would give them cause to label us as uncooperative diplomatically.”
Something King Averett could spin as a reason for war. Or, at the very least, a reason to ask for more when he demanded appeasement.
There was nothing they could do but call the human king’s bluff and see if that uncovered his real intentions.
Sindrel glanced between Weylind and Farrendel, as if reluctant to interrupt. But when Weylind glanced at him, Sindrel tipped his head in a nod. He must agree with Farrendel that playing along with this bluff would be better than challenging it.
Weylind turned back to King Averett. “Would a marriage alliance as you propose guarantee peace between our kingdoms?”
King Averett flinched, his skin paling, before sharing a look with his sister. The humans were so expressive that it was difficult to tell if this was a genuine reaction or feigned. In an elf, such a display of emotion would have been the work of a bad actor over exaggerating his role for comedic effect.
Was this an over exaggeration to disguise the fact that King Averett had been hoping they would take his bait and step into whatever trap he had laid with proposing a marriage alliance? Or was this real emotion because his plans had been foiled?
Weylind’s voice turned hard. “Unless you were not genuine in your offer. We would take it very unkindly if your gestures of peace turn out to be empty.”
Ah, good. His brother was taking the opportunity to push the humans, hopefully to force their true purpose to the surface.
King Averett appeared genuinely uncomfortable now, squirming in his seat like he had been caught in his own trap. The human diplomat had paled and kept glancing at his king as if seeking guidance.
The marriage alliance had to have been a bluff of some kind. The humans were too uncomfortable now that Weylind had stepped out of whatever trap they had been laying.
The human princess, however, was the only one not squirming like bait on a hook. Instead, something in her expression glittered as she raised her chin. “Yes, we are genuine in our offer.”
She said it with confidence, as if she was the driving force behind this marriage alliance idea. Unlike all those stories about human princesses forced unwillingly into marriage, was she perhaps volunteering willingly for this?
Farrendel caught his breath, stomach churning. What if this marriage alliance was truly what the humans wanted? This could be the cost they demanded for peace, and their show of reluctance was just that. A show. A means to convince Weylind to agree.
If this princess was the Escarlish side of the marriage, that could only mean one thing: Farrendel was the other half. Weylind, after all, only had one brother.
Unless the humans would be content with a high-ranking lord. Did they even know Weylind had a brother? It was not like Farrendel’s existence was something Tarenhiel had celebrated, given his illegitimacy.
Would the humans even want to marry their princess to him if they knew? He was a prince only because his father had been honorable enough to claim him and make him a real part of the family. By all rights, he should have been raised on the streets in some border town, a pauper scraping by for his existence, never knowing his father had been the king of the elves.
The human diplomat made that strange sound in the back of his throat. “Generally, a marriage alliance would include our princess marrying one of your princes while one of your princesses would marry a prince from Escarland.”
Farrendel noted the wording. Yes, the Escarlish wanted an elf prince for their human princess, but they did not appear to be certain there was an elf prince available.
Weylind’s tone remained cool, the set of his shoulders stiff. “No. I will not marry my sister to a human.”
Farrendel could not allow himself to be hurt by Weylind’s words. Weylind hadn’t objected to a marriage alliance for Farrendel. Just for their sisters, Melantha and Jalissa.
He understood. Agreed, even. Melantha had already experienced far too much heartbreak of her own to find herself bargained away to a human. Nor would Weylind ever sacrifice Jalissa’s happiness to something like this.
But Farrendel? Farrendel was illegitimate. He was already disposable, even if Weylind would deny it. He had no happiness left to lose.
Perhaps Weylind had merely meant to avoid confirming that he had a brother, hoping to avoid whatever trap the humans might still be concealing.
King Averett straightened in his chair, jaw tightening. “And I’m not going to marry my sister to an elf without a reciprocating offer from you. Unless your offers of peace weren’t genuine?”
Farrendel clenched his fists behind his back, muscles tightening with the renewed tension in the tent. Why were the humans so set on pushing this? Surely if this had been merely a bluff, they would have let it go and tried a different tactic instead to secure whatever trade deal or concessions they actually wanted.
