Bound to the Elvin King (40 page)

He shivered. The remembrance of that horrible feeling still bit into his consciousness with every beat of his heart. Guilt pummeled his heart. He shoved it away.
Duty now.

After the court was over, he’d go to her and try to repair things between them as much as possible. He’d make her understand there were some issues afoot that simply were safer for her not to know. But he’d divulge what he could without placing her in further jeopardy.

The farmer’s wife, a seamstress, jerked his attention back to the Court when she mentioned Maggie. “—allowing me to create Queen Margaret’s wardrobe. Your generosity humbles me.”

She beamed at Talion, surely appreciating the ample coin he’d provided for her services. He’d chosen Marinna, a talented but relatively unknown seamstress, to make Maggie’s wardrobe from the first. His patronage now assured her good fortunes for many years to come.

He gave Marinna a true smile. “Your beautiful designs do my queen justice, and I’d want none other on her.”
Or off her.

Marinna curtsied. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

After she and her husband left, others quickly took their place, and Talion’s thoughts again slid to Maggie. Though he needed to focus on his people right now, no matter how he tried, thoughts of her occupied his mind, nearly crowding out everything else. Was this what obsession felt like? Because the urge to track Maggie down was overpowering. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, wishing she were here, anger and all.

Maggie’s absence was conspicuous, but he hadn’t even bothered to mention the Court to her. If anything, she should be appreciative. The repetitive scraping and bowing of his subjects left a strained grimace on his face. Accepting their greetings and well wishes for his prosperous rule, not to mention the new bond, had to be done with complete magnanimity.

During a lull in conversation, Baltor strode up before the dais and bowed. “Your Majesty, where is the…queen?”

Talion stiffened. The way Baltor had voiced his question made it sound like a challenge and an insult at the same time. And his voice had carried far farther than Talion liked, if all the heads swiveling in their direction was any indication. If the fool thought to profit from his preoccupation, he would be proven wrong.

Leveling a cool stare on Baltor, Talion made him wait for a response until the other man dropped his gaze. “Her majesty is not required yet to be in attendance at any event or meeting.”

“I would think our queen would be eager to learn all she could about Eria and our ways. I do hope she plans to come to council meetings,” Baltor said, an ill-concealed smirk on his face.

Talion shrugged, though he fumed inside. If Baltor didn’t stop this line of attack, he’d lose more than his council member seat. But Talion wouldn’t allow either of them to make a public scene here. “Even once the time comes where she feels comfortable enough to pick up the reins of her position, she need not make an appearance at every meeting. Queen Serrina barely attended council meetings unless her presence was requested.”

Baltor inclined his head. “Of course, how forgetful I am.” The fake acquiescence in his tone said otherwise.

“I see that. I do hope you’ll…
remember
better next time.” Remember who was king, in other words.

His intent must’ve been clear, for Baltor’s smile faltered. “Yes, Sire.”

Before Talion could dismiss him, the gold flash off of a royal guard’s breastplate caught his eye. Maggie’s grave-faced guards walked up to them in a quick march. Dread formed so deep, it twisted Talion’s stomach into knots.
Maggie.
For her guard to have deserted their post, something dire had to have occurred.

Jocin stepped forward and bowed, “Your Majesty, if I may have a word alone with you?”

Talion’s tongue suddenly felt thick and clunky, but somehow he got the words out. “Of course.”

Behind the dais was a semi-private spot, so Talion and the three royal guards congregated there. He rounded on them, his calm façade slipping. “Her majesty is well?”

Jocin looked at him with worried eyes. “She’s not in her room.”

“Not in her room?” Talion parroted back the words. How could that be? She’d been sleeping. He’d checked that she was in— No, he hadn’t. Horror flooded every fiber of his being. He’d been about to verify her location using the bond, but one of his councilors had interrupted him with a minor emergency.

Swallowing down his dread, he accessed the bond, only for it to reveal nothing. He couldn’t locate her, which meant she was out of the bond’s reach and not merely asleep somewhere in the palace. The reality of the situation slammed into him, and fright exploded in his veins. His knees went weak.

She was out of her room, loose somewhere outside the palace. All because he’d shown her how to bypass all the public routes. She surely used the secret passage from her chamber, and could now be in anywhere in Eriannon. But if she’d merely escaped to town, why was the panic rising up in his chest faster than a surging tide?

Another possibility could be she was blocking him through the bond, and was still in the palace. But while there were ways to do this, she couldn’t possibly know of them. Any hope that had flared to life within his chest stuffed itself out.

“We’ve swept the area around her chamber,” Jocin said. “There’s no sign of her.”

“Have you checked the passages?” In case of the minuscule chance she was blocking him.

Jocin stilled, understanding for Talion’s words clearly written on his face. “She knows of those?”

Talion ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, fool that I am. I never imagined she’d use them to evade her guard”—a bitter laugh welled up—“and me, but after this morning’s announcement, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” By the great Green Mountains above, had he driven her away?

Batin laid a comforting hand on his arm. “She’s still probably in the palace. We’ll find her.”

Talion gave him a tight smile. Though his heart didn’t lighten, he remembered why he’d assigned these three to Maggie. Not only were they strong soldiers, but they also served him loyally while managing to offer up their friendship. “Thank you, old friend, but I don’t sense her within the palace. Unless she’s learned how to block me, I fear she’s not on palace grounds.”

Batin’s mouth formed an O before he appeared to gather himself. “That does complicate matters, then.”

Everything with Maggie was complicated.
“While I don’t want it to be known publicly we’ve misplaced the queen, as many sentries and sentinels as possible should scour all portions of the palace grounds and Eriannon to see if they can find a trace of our queen.”

Jocin nodded. “It will be done. Leave that to us, Your Majesty.”

Talion sighed and ran a hand down his face, his mind threatening to spin into total chaos. “I will. Now I have to gather my trusted advisors and inform them of this latest happening. Please keep me posted of any developments, and I’ll do the same on my side.”

The royal guard bowed and walked away. Talion watched them go, despair battling for a firm hold on his heart. He hoped to the Mist they’d find her in the palace, but his commonsense warned him the possibility didn’t exist. If his instincts were right, then the enemy had her, thanks to a traitor in the palace. Scouts would have to be sent out farther afield than Eriannon to see if they could discover any enemy trail, and the palace made ready for any messengers who might bring word about her.

Talion’s hands fisted helplessly at his sides for a moment before he straightened his shoulders. Though his stride was resolute as he went to retrieve his most trusted council members, an almost physical sickness dogged his every step. But that was the least of his problems. His sanity was in a far more precarious position because the maddening sensation tickling his mind would only get worse if they couldn’t find Maggie. And if they didn’t find her alive….

A shiver licked his spine. He’d be a quivering lump of flesh incapable of rationality if he kept up this line of thought. And the Mist knew, it might be his fate anyway.

In every way, there was no life for him without Maggie.

***

The newcomer gave a feral grin and walked to the bottom of Maggie’s bed. An insane light that glinted in his gray eyes shone in the lamplight. “No one has told you about me?”

She opened and closed her mouth. Hope deflated. It wasn’t Talion. The elf before her had a craziness about him that Talion lacked, thank God. And though their appearances were similar, their bone structure did differ slightly.

The Talion look-alike pouted. “I see not. How could my dear brother never mention me?”

“Brother?” she asked faintly.

“Oh, this is just too delicious.” He clasped his hands together in front of him and waggled his brows. “Talion is my brother. Of course, he pretends I no longer exist. Well, except when he tries to have me killed.” He tsked and something like pain ghosted across his face. “Which is not very kind of him.”

Maggie shook her head, trying to clear out the chaos. Talion had a brother? It had to be true. They were too much alike. That had to make them brothers, right? But then, Eamon and Relian could pass for brothers and were merely cousins.

Unless elves had a magic means of altering their appearance, which she was pretty sure they didn’t, Talion had a brother and never told her. Another wave of betrayal washed over her. Had the bastard told her
anything
? Sure, his brother was apparently on the wrong side of the law and Talion wanted nothing to do with him, but how could he have not told her?

Some sarcastic part of her asked,
Just like you told him about your parents?
A little guilt crept into her thoughts, but she pushed it out. Their situations were different. Her parents weren’t here and working for the enemy.

Talion’s brother rocked back and forth on his heels, humming. Mistrust and wariness twined together in her heart. Being stuck with evil and insane elves did nothing for her nerves. But was this elf more insane than malicious? Something about him gave her pause. There was a troubling wrongness about him, but he didn’t necessarily seem evil. The discord she sensed within him seemed somehow familiar. Where had she seen it before?

“Dear sister, I never had you pegged for being this quiet. The rumors about your loquaciousness must be false.”

She licked her dry lips. “Sorry I’m not very talkative right now. Being kidnapped and held captive will do that.”

He nodded his head solemnly. “That it will. And since you’ve been gone for less than six hours, you haven’t become acclimated to us.”

“Don’t tell the human anything,” Eamon spat.

A mocking smile curved the other elf’s lips. “It’ll be fine. She is, as you say, a human and a prisoner at that.”

Maggie somehow thought that sardonic grin was aimed more at Eamon than at her. Maybe a jibe at Eamon? If she wanted to get out of here alive, she had to keep her eyes open for anything that might help her. But more important right now was trying to figure out where she was. So it’d been less than six hours since she’d been taken?

How many miles from Eriannon could she be? Hopefully, not too many. Could Talion— Excitement built in her chest, only to quickly die.
No, scratch that.
Avrin said the tracking and sensing effects of the bond only worked over close distances. So no help on that front. Damn it, why couldn’t the bond actually be useful for a change?

She frowned at Talion’s brother. “I don’t want to become used to you. Not that it matters, but what’s your name?”

“How remiss of me!” He bowed with a flourish. “I am Andrian.”

Andrian. Where had she heard that— Then it struck her. After Relian had come back unharmed from a battle with the darkindred, she and Cal had been standing outside the open door of Talion’s
study
when mention of that name had made it to them. Of course, when Talion realized they were there, he’d cut off his sentence. Apparently, Andrian was the family’s biggest kept secret because she was sure Cal didn’t know about him, either.

“I would say it’s nice to meet you, but it’s not,” she said.

Andrian turned to a scowling Eamon. “I like this one. Why can’t all your hostages be so delightful?”

“You’re just like your worthless brother. What is it about the human that fascinates both of you so?”

Andrian shrugged. “She’s different, and I enjoy that.”

Longing dug deep into Maggie’s bones until she was nearly ill with it. He sounded so much like Talion right now.

Eamon spat on the floor. “Bah, what are you? A dirty human lover or the captain of my army?”

“You know what I am all too well.” Andrian’s low utterance barely made it to Maggie’s ears.

“I’m not sure.” Eamon sent a nasty smirk to the other elf. “You could turn traitor like your brother.”

In a flash, Andrian was next to Eamon and slammed him back against the wall, wrapping his hands around the dark-haired elf’s neck. “Say that again, Corruptor, and I’ll put my fist through your heart.”

The breath froze in Maggie’s airways. Wow, talk about animosity exploding in front of her. Which portion of Eamon’s sentence had set Adrian off, and what was the “corrupter” part about?