AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Everyone in our realms fears you,” Myriam said. “Even back then, you were a beast. You were a different kind of beast, one with promise and a future ahead of you. It would have taken you only a handful of years to pull the elven realms together and unify them under your banner.”
We’d all had that hope back then. It was the very reason I agreed when my father asked if I would like to marry Arven. I’d looked upon him and thought that the fighting would finally end. We would all be free of it because of Arven.
That’d been a lie.
“That sounds nice and all, but the other elven lords wanted to keep control of their kingdoms they’d fought so hard to obtain.” Myriam tapped her nails on the lacquered table. “When they saw that you had the potential to take everything away from them, even in the name of peace, they wanted to ruin you.
“What better way to ruin a man than through his woman?” She waved the same hand in the air. Purple smoke curled around in circles. “Locke knew that you weren’t lovers, not really. Yet, he saw the potential in your union. A man with a beastly side always needs a tender woman to tame him. It would have made you into the perfect elven lord if you had the little woman here to warm your bed after a long day of fighting.”
My lip curled at the thought of being a man’s bedwarmer, let alone being soft. I couldn’t imagine the kind of person I could have been had nothing bad ever happened to me. It…it almost made me grateful.
But I was starting to put the clues together. Arven’s words outside made more sense. The way Myriam spoke, I knew what she would say next.
“Locke knew that he had to find a way to take Delphine from you once and for all. He knew that if she escaped, she would run to you. So, he had to do it in a way that she would never trust you again.”
The world spun around me. I couldn’t process what she’d just said. The beat of my heart was too fast, too loud, tooeverything. My entire world had been rearranged by this woman’s words, words that she’d spoken far too nonchalantly. I couldn’t make sense of anything as this new world settled in around me.
Licking my lips, I asked, “Are you trying to tell me that you and your husband planned the siege on Eveningwind?”
She recoiled. “Absolutely not.”
My knees almost buckled.
“I had nothing to do with it,” she continued. “My husband planned all of that. He’s a grimy kind of man. Always has been. I’m not here of my own accord. Just like you, I was in a position where my father sold me off to the highest bidder. Locke gained power through my father because he had enough money to buy my hand in marriage.”
“My father didn’t sell me.” The words came out as a growl.
Myriam gave me a knowing look, as if all men were the same, and none could be trusted. “Because he never got the chance.”
She’d never had anyone in her life that she could lean on. The fear that we could have been the same jolted through me. Would I have become like her had I married Arven before the fall of my court? Would I hate him for holding me there like a caged animal so he could use my family for his wars?
Arven’s hand slid down my forearm until his fingers were able to intertwine with mine. The touch alone promised that he would never do such a thing. He’d meant it when he said he wanted to turn back time and go through it all over again by my side.
He didn’t say withmeathisside. No, Arven wanted to be by mine. He wanted to be there while I learned to survive, to hunt, to kill. He wanted to take part in everything that made me who I am now…because he liked who I’d become.
No matter when Arven and I crashed together, the outcome never would have changed. It was as if fate had molded us to one another. I’d been running from him my whole life only to find out that he wasn’t the one I needed to fear.
I didn’t need to fear anyone now. Faust and Beryl had been defeated. Arven wasn’t quite the monster I’d always thought he was. And Locke? Locke was a grimy man who didn’t deserve the air he breathed.
I dragged in a deep breath and tried to settle the churning waves inside me. This was a lot to take in so suddenly. While it all made sense, it was still at war with what I’d thought for so much of my life.
“What I want to know, now that I’ve given you the information you came here for, is who put the hit out on my husband?” Myriam pointed her cigarette fingers at me.
“I don’t know. Do you think I ring up every contract holder and interview them for their moral standing before I accept a job? I’m not exactly the kind of person to judge. I take what’s given, and I get the job done.”
The truth was, the holder of this particular contract had been a little difficult to find. Sometimes, I research my jobs and why they’re posted just so I have a handle onwhyit needs to be done. It was easy to figure out why Locke needed to be taken down, though I missed the fact that he’d been behind my family’s downfall.
In my search for the holder of this contract, all I’d found out was that it was an elven lord, though not a crown-holder. It was someone in line for a crown, a man with dark hair and a gentle voice. I didn’t know any gentle men, so that was hard to narrow down.
“My husband deserves what’s coming to him,” Myriam said. She gestured to the banner on the table and the creature on my shoulder. “I think you know that already.”
Locke needed to be taken down. I would gladly be the one to do it. His devious machinations ended with me.
I stared at the smudged banner on the table. The screams of family and friends filled my ears. I could see the fabric wavering in the wind as ogres held it high. The air smelled of blood and smoke. I could almost feel the blood-slick floor beneath my feet even though I was wearing socks and boots.
Shaking my head, I tried to break free of the memories trying to creep in. There was no escaping them this time. They barged in and took ahold of my mind. Now that I knew who had really been behind the siege andwhy, I couldn’t escape this rage simmering in my heart.
Without another word, I shoved the wolpertinger at Arven and spun on my heel. I marched outside like fresh air would do anything. Instead, it felt like escaping Eveningwind castle all over again. The smell of Myriam’s cigarette smoke didn’t help. It lingered and clung to my hair and skin.
