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I expected Nikolai to deny it, or to be flustered, but he only smiled in the same slow manner of the older Elverin. “Sometimes I forget that you’ve only known the impatience of Mortals when it comes to such things.”
I stole another nut. “The Elverin don’t seem to have any trouble making their intentions known.” I eyed Nikolai’s half-tied and crumpled tunic that I knew he had pulled off Lash’s floor that morning. “You, especially.”
A mischievous look flashed in Nikolai’s eyes as he chuckled. “Mortals fret their entire youths over finding a partner to share their short lives with.”
The nut cracked loudly against my teeth. “Only those who have the power to make that choice.”
Nikolai’s gaze flicked to the east as if he could see every person in the kingdom who had been forced into a union they did not want. “Yes. Another difference between our kinds.”
I spanned my arms across the back of my chair. “But there are many Elverin who find partners to spend their lives with just like Mortals do.”
Nikolai nodded. “Yes, many do. Eventually. But until the first Halfling was born, all the Elverin lived for millennia. And many of the first Halflings are with us still.” Nikolai stretched his armswide to demonstrate the length of that time. I leaned back, unable to imagine so many lifetimes, so much pain. “For those that feel such hungers,” Nikolai continued, “we are encouraged to spend the entirety of our first millennia on our own. We take lovers and enjoy the company of many, but it is a time to explore our tastes and our passions.” Nikolai leaned back in his chair and winked.
I pulled my boot onto my knee. “In the eyes of the Elverin, you and I are considered youth?” I made sure to coat every word in sarcasm.
Nikolai choked on his drink and broke into a fit of laughter. I crossed my arms when he slapped his thigh mid-wheeze. “Keera dear, I may flirt and joke with you because it amuses both of us, but there would be many hot words flung in my direction—and more fists than just Riven’s—if I were todoanything with someone as young as you.”
I leaned forward on the table. “You are just over seven hundred years. We’re both are in our first thousand years.”
Nikolai had the decency to cover his mouth as another chuckle burst through his lips. “I will try to explain the difference to you in terms you may be more familiar with. To the Elverin, my seven centuries would make me something of a gangly young man, old enough to marry in the strictest sense, but it would attract many shocked gasps if I did.”
My face and voice were deadpanned. “So I would be a child.”
“An infant.”
I shoved his shoulder. “The Elverin view me as a child yet allow me to be part of a rebellion?”
Nikolai sighed and tilted his head. “It was the Halflings who first encouraged the rebellion to begin with. The rest of the Elverin could not stop them … and war changes many things. But notallthings; it would not be allowed for someone as old as I to be involved with someone as young as you.”
I crossed my arms, feeling indignant. “Lash is thousands of years older than you are.”
“I know,” Nikolai said with a wicked grin. “But we are not partners. He does not map the decisions of his life by my compass and neither I with him. We enjoy each other’s company and that is all. And until I reach my thousandth year, that is all the Elverin would allow between me and anyone his age.”
I slumped back in my chair to gather my thoughts.
“This surprises you?” Nikolai’s brows disappeared under his tight curls.
I shrugged. “As a Shade I never thought about marriage. It was something only the Mortals did. But I’ve seen marriages between men with heads of gray and girls just past their first bleed. Such unions are not treated with contempt.”
Nikolai couldn’t hide the disgust on his face. “How could Aemon have allowed such a thing?”
I scoffed. “He presided over a few of them himself.” My mind wandered to the faces of young girls who had been married to rich lords to secure their families’ wealth and status.
I twisted my braid in my fingers, remembering the caring way Riven had weaved it that morning. “If this is the Elvish view of life, many must be horrified by Riven and I.”
Nikolai shrugged, throwing another nut into his mouth. “You and Riven are both very young. I don’t think many would see your union as serious.”
My stomach turned to rock at those words.
Nikolai quickly swallowed. “But knowing you both, I think it is a gift from Elverath herself to have found each other so early in life. Especially when none of your tomorrows are assured.”
“Even if we win this war, I may not live for millennia,” I whispered.
Nikolai’s arm froze midair. “Keera do not joke about such things. I thought you were feeling better.”
My brows knitted together, not understanding the horror in his voice. But then the truth fluttered inside my chest. “I forgot,” I whispered, and Nikolai’s worry softened.
I flexed my hand on my lap, feeling the magic coursing under my skin. My amber blood marked me as a Halfling, but my magic meant I was something else too. I was a Light Fae. I had never stopped long enough to consider what that meant for my mortality. If we won this war, I wouldn’t have decades of peace. I would have millennia.
