Bound by the Mist (Mists of Eria) (13 page)

Cal jumped a little in her seat, and alarm spread over her face. Relian didn’t know if it was from the news he imparted or the way he imparted it. He swore under his breath. Why did he overreact around her? He felt like a young elfling who had no control over himself or his words.

Her hand shakily tucked a tendril of hair behind an ear, and he watched, fascinated. A sudden desire to see that glorious hair spilling around her shoulders rocketed through him. It would be a wondrous sight, as it had been in his dreams. He just knew it.

“I’m sorry, but all this is new to me. I need...I need time to think, and I can't possibly make a decision of that magnitude right now.”

Her plaintive words broke through his haze. Shame washed over him. He’d resolved to be more patient. Indeed, his father rebuked him to take more caution with her. But what was he doing instead? He surely didn’t show the calm exterior in which most elves prided themselves.

He forced his pulse to stop its upward spiral. “Nay, no one is asking for an answer right now.” At least, not until they pressed her to give one
.
His voice sounded hollow and empty to his ears. “All we attempt right now is to make your stay and your friend’s as comfortable as we may. Nothing more.”

Hopefully, she didn’t give his people cause to make her stay unpleasant, for they could and would if they saw the need. Much rested on what she didn’t understand, on what they didn’t understand.

“How long will I have to decide before….”

He inwardly cringed. “A few weeks, at most.”

No matter her decision, he couldn’t allow her to go home.

Chapter 13

Cal’s heart sped up but not from happiness.
Her stay here
?
A few weeks to decide
? She didn’t like the sound of that at all. Mustering all the firmness she could, she worked to keep her voice level. “A few weeks? I can’t stay here that long. Maggie, either. We have lives to live and families who will worry.” Her coveted "normal" life threatened to drain away like water from a sink, taking her college dreams along with it.

Relian responded to her rant by turning an inscrutable face toward her. Her cheeks flushed red, and her temper soared. Cal felt like a child throwing a temper tantrum, but his attitude drove her ape-crazy. She hadn’t asked for any of this, and now her life was spinning out of control.

Cal threw up her hands. “You know what? I don’t believe I want or desire your hospitality. In fact, I don’t want to stay here at all, not for another minute.” She glued a look of pride on her face and stood up. “I’ll come to a decision at home—one that never brings me back here.”

Now that she’d stood up, Cal didn’t know where to go. A multitude of flowers and plants surrounded her. She’d no way of finding her way out of the garden, let alone finding a way to her world.

Deflated, she put her trembling arms around herself in a comforting, yet defensive hold. What a complete fool she made of herself. But she didn’t want to ask
him
for help. Relian sighed from somewhere behind her, but she refused to turn around and acknowledge him.

When a hand touched her shoulder, Cal shrieked. Spinning back toward the bench, she came face-to-chest with Relian. How’d he tread so quietly? He was close, so close she almost collided against him.

Even though she wanted to turn away, the brocade of his robe gleaming in the waning light mesmerized her. All her senses flared alive and slipped beyond her control, like floodwaters through a raptured dam. Her fingers itched to reach out and touch the smooth-looking fabric that covered his strong chest. The fragrance of pine and sandalwood inundated her already beleaguered senses. She wanted to close her eyes and savor the pleasant aroma. She wanted to rub her face against his chest like a cat that rubbed against a catnip-infused toy. Horrified by her thoughts, she tore her gaze from his chest and made the mistake of glancing up and falling into gray seas.

Cal was sinking, drowning as he held her captive with his eyes. She couldn’t get a solid grip on land. Those eyes haunted her, had always haunted her, it seemed. The blue pupils glowed against their darker gray backdrop and made the whites of his eyes appear even more startling in their brilliance. Her mind grappled with the idea she dealt with someone out of her league, someone not human. Just when she could take no more, Relian broke the moment by shaking his head and gazing over her shoulder. The relief that crashed over her made her nauseous in its intensity.

He was silent for a few moments before he spoke. “The veil brought you here. It’s unlikely to take you back yet, if at all.”

If at all? What had happened to a couple of weeks? More panic at that thought should’ve welled up
.
But her mind couldn’t settle on that right now. Her body and mind numb, slight puzzlement was all she could manage. “The veil?”

He avoided her gaze. Her heart was the first thing to awaken, where it promptly dropped into her stomach and renewed her receding nausea. The sensation fueled her anger. What was so secret?

As her frustration built up like a geyser, he answered. “It is the mist that brought you here.”

Why did he give such cryptic answers? That told her nothing of what the veil actually was and why it brought her here.

He glanced down and locked his gaze with hers. “The veil is what separates your world from ours.”

Bafflement hit her. “How?” The mist hadn’t seemed to separate anything. It appeared out of nowhere and left as unpredictably.

Relian gave an elegant shrug. “The exact basics aren’t known. Magic controls it, the same magic of which it’s composed. I believe that is enough for today. The history lesson can wait. There will be time for further talk of it later.”

Cal wanted to pout like a petulant child. A look at his steely face told her it wouldn’t work. She threw him an aggravated look.

“May I show you to your guest quarters?” Without waiting for her acceptance, he took her arm and started to lead her back through the gardens.

Fighting back a yawn, Cal allowed him to do so without protest. She was tired and wanted to see Maggie. “Will it be near Maggie’s or can we share?”

“We will provide you with adjoining chambers. Will that be sufficient? What you do after that is your choice.”

She winced at the arctic tone in his voice. His demeanor scraped like sandpaper against her frazzled nerves. Feeling cold all of a sudden, she shivered.

Her troublesome hair took this chance to flop into her eyes again. With a huff, she reached for the errant piece. Relian stretched a long-fingered hand forward and gently tucked the lock behind her ear. Her breath stilled. She couldn’t reconcile such a tender act with his icy manner.

Astonished, she searched his face. He gazed at her with a strange expression on his face. His stare…it was too much, too intense. She girded herself to not look away, to stand firm, though hormones ran riot through her. What would he do if she reached up and pulled his mouth to hers? Her hands curled into fists. She wouldn’t make the first move.

How long would she and Relian stand this way? But the moment ended when he composed himself, his face returning to its normal calm mask. Whatever emotion he’d experienced, he now tightly locked away from her view. He pulled her onto a main path that hopefully led to the palace and Maggie.

***

“Details, girl, give me details!” Maggie demanded as she bounced on the tall bed in Cal’s quarters.

Cal stared at her exuberant friend before giving her a droll look. “You act like I just went on a date.”

“Well, if the shoe fits, dance in it, as I say.” At Cal’s expression of disbelief, Maggie grinned. “What? It’s so true.”

Not responding, Cal went to stand near the balcony that almost stretched the length of the wall. She wasn’t sure what to tell her friend, as she didn’t understand half of what had occurred herself. Everything had quickly become a haze—her feelings, any understanding she’d gained of Relian and the whole situation, and finally, their walk back to the palace. He’d explained certain points of interest in the gardens they passed. Though she listened, her mind wouldn’t comply with processing any requests. Even now it still spun from all she’d learned.

Meeting up with the other couple, he’d led them through a dizzying array of corridors and hallways, each lovely in their own way. But the beauty around her hadn’t soothed. Her surroundings just exacerbated her confusion. Everything looked odd and foreign. In the enclosed hallways, sheer fabric, gently blowing in the breeze, covered the windows. Shutters that could apparently be drawn shut to keep out inclement weather elicited a frown from her. She hadn’t seen any glass panes or screens. For some reason that fact bothered her. How could windows not have glass or some kind of screen?

Cal’s mind shifted back to the present when Maggie spoke again. “I wonder how long we’ll be in this place.”

“The palace?”

“The palace, this world—take your pick.”

Cal shrugged. “Relian didn’t give me a specific end date, if that’s what you mean.”

“I figured, and I have a feeling the king and his son will keep you here as long as possible.”

“They have a vested interest in doing so.”

“But how far will they go to keep you here? I know you are supposedly Relian’s “soul mate,” so will they let you go if you don’t want to stay?”

“All questions I can’t answer.” Cal flopped onto the bed beside Maggie. “Was Kenhel anymore helpful?”

“What do you think?”

“Uh, no.” She hadn’t really thought Maggie would learn anything. The elves seemed reticent. They offered bits and pieces willingly, but she had the feeling they left much unsaid.

“Guessed that in one!” Maggie suddenly stopped bouncing and deflated, bending over to hug her knees. “I’m tired. Too much action for me.”

Cal forced a teasing note to her voice. “I never thought to hear those words from your mouth.”

“Well, write it down—you did.” Maggie threw herself back on the bed and grinned. “This bed is heavenly. Try it.”

Cal complied. “This is some place, isn’t it?”

Both women perused the room, taking in all it had to offer. The chamber, just like its connecting suite, was grand. Even to Cal’s untrained eye, the room screamed out elegant craftsmanship wherever she looked. The finest silks and linens outfitted the bed with exquisitely embroidered perfection that could’ve graced the finest luxury home magazines. Tapestries and other hangings lined the stone walls.

“It’s too perfect.” Maggie gestured wildly around her. “You know, it’s not natural.”

“The room?”

“The room, the whole place.”

Cal stretched her arms above her head while considering what Maggie had said. After a few moments, she nodded in agreement. “Even the people appear that way. They have that certain air to them. Though they look perfect, there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. Maybe it’s the quality of reserve and mystery that hangs about them.”

“Repressed!” chortled Maggie, apparently finding it hilarious to imagine repressed elves.

Cal gave a small chuckle. “No, I actually wasn’t aiming for that word, believe it or not. Like I said, they have this mysterious quality, and I think they know full well what they’re doing. That’s what scares me. There’s more going on here than what we’ve been told.”

Maggie’s smile slipped from her face. “I know what you mean. They’re very carefully controlled, demeanor-wise. So what’s underneath? And are we as mysterious to them?”

“You know as much as I do. It’s a confusing place, and we haven’t been here for a day yet. Oh, and you better be careful lest you start sounding like them.”

Maggie pouted. “Me? At least I just said ‘mysterious’ and not ‘lest.’ That’s such an old-fashioned word.”

In answer, Cal picked up a green silk pillow and aimed it at her friend’s head. Maggie let out a surprised squeak, diving to the other side of the huge bed. “That’s behavior unfitting a future princess, don’t you think?”

Another pillow made its mark this time.

Chapter 14

Relian shifted in his chair as the walls of his father’s study closed in about him. He, Talion, and Kenhel were to discuss the recent happenings in an unofficial capacity. What better time to do so than when most everyone amused themselves in a celebration?

His father folded his hands on the desk, looking across at him. “Did you send a chambermaid to them?”

“Not as of yet. I did assign one to them but gave the maid instruction to not disturb them for a few hours.”

“Do you think that wise—to leave them alone after so short a time?” Kenhel laced his voice with concern. “They just arrived and might need comfort.”

“I believe they are overwrought enough from their journey as to desire rest and even sleep,” Relian replied dryly. He had the distinct feeling Cal would be quite relieved not to be in his or any elf’s presence for a while. She needed time to gather herself and her thoughts. That was no easy task. He still hadn’t gathered his.

“I bow to your superior wisdom.” Kenhel gave a bow to punctuate his words.

The king gave them both an amused glance. “Did you happen to assign one you believe will be...open-minded toward mortals and any special needs they may have?”

“Yes—” He stopped and looked askance at his father. “Special needs?” What could those be, as they seemed young and healthy?

“If I remember right, humans can be frail creatures, always becoming sick and coming down with this ailment or that.” Talion emphasized his somewhat disdainful words with a wave of a hand.

Relian stopped the biting retort that formed upon his lips. Though remarks about the superiority of elves, real or imagined, weren’t appreciated right now, he kept his voice patient. “We can also become sick, though it’s rare. I think our two women are in good health, Father. They are young, after all.” Even as he finished his last sentence, pangs of doubt threatened to grow beyond his control. What did he know of humans?

“I suppose you’re right. However, I still think it best to keep a close watch on their health.”