AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Forcefully she stopped her sobbing breaths. But though her chest still hitched when she continued, her voice was flat. “Lady Faraine admitted that she had purchased the prophecy. That she had given it to the witch to recite. Because she’d known what I thought of Kael the Conqueror and had heard rumors of his bride search, so she paid the witch to give to me a prophecy designed to persuade me to marriage.
“I’ve said nothing of it to those who are still with me. To some, the prophecy had given hope, because we were all so tired. And I knew not whether there was anyone I could trust. I do trust Serjeant Iarthil to keep me safe, but do I trust that he will not undermine my intention to return to Aleron?” She shook her head. “So I trust no one. Which is so painful and lonely, Warrick. But everyone whom I’ve opened my heart to…it seems that once they’ve seen what is there inside me, they no longer think me worth their loyalty.
“But there was another reason I did not tell anyone the prophecy was false.” She swallowed hard against the ache in her throat. “In Grimhold, with Queen Anja, I learned that when wishes are spoken aloud, they sometimes become a spell—and that when something is said enough, it can become truth. And I so desperately wanted every part of the prophecy to be true. I wanted to find someone who would help me fell my uncle. Someone I could trust, because they would not care for me merely out of duty or because of a vow made to another queen—but because they had looked at me, and they’d seen someone worthy of their love and loyalty. I wanted to know what it is to be loved. Truly loved.”
She sighed heavily, feeling completely emptied out. “And perhaps the prophecy has always been true. Lady Faraine might have lied about paying the witch. She might have been lying about all of it, so that I would lose faith in Serjeant Iarthil and give up my quest. But I could not be certain whether she lied or not. The truth seemed impossible to know. And after I was struck by my uncle’s curse, it seemed all the more imperative to speak the prophecy into being. So that I could help my people…and maybe know a little of love before I die.
“So I never stopped speaking of it. Though I dared not hope it would come true. Until you. Now I pray that I am not wrong to open my heart to you, because I think another betrayal might kill me. If the curse does not do it first.”
Elina laughed the last, because she was tired of crying—then could laugh no more with Warrick’s kiss fierce upon her lips. So fierce, and so deep, as if to persuade her that she was not wrong to open her heart. As if with this kiss, he vowed never to betray her.
Perhaps the meaning she felt in his kiss was only a reflection of her own wish, but Elina wanted to let herself believe in it. He spoke her name against her mouth, then turned her again, her back to his chest, and held her securely in his arms. Almost like beasts again…and never had she felt so warm and protected.
Perhaps she could let herself trust again.
Warrick the Trusted
The Northern Road
In the morning, Warrick gave to Elina a cup of poison.
Or so it would seem to whoever had filled a jar of doxweed with bloodbane. The powders looked similar, but Warrick knew their smell and flavor—and despite Chardryn’s careful labelling, the contents were not doxweed.
And it wasn’t a curse that was killing Elina.
From the moment Warrick had given her his own breath, he’d suspected bloodbane from the taste of Elina’s mouth—but there was always something to prevent certainty. Her tooth powders. The raspberry. The sweetness of the tonic.
But he was certain after tasting her cunt. Her body was steeped in the poison, its presence betrayed by the faint bitterness of an unripened cherry. So much bloodbane, she ought to have been dead.
Would have been dead, if not for the Stars of Anhera.
I think another betrayal might kill me.
It would not. Elina was strong enough to survive anything. Of that, Warrick was certain. But her heartbreak would become far worse before it was better.
So would her illness. Because even as bloodbane slowly killed, the flesh came to depend upon its presence. Its cessation and the purge were more painful than the poison…and Elina had so much bloodbane to purge, she might wish that a curse had killed her instead.
But the jewels would help her.
So would Warrick.
There were a few days yet, however, before the purge would begin. In that time, he could help her by finding out who had changed the powders.
