Page 107 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

He didn’t answer.

Kolfinna reached for his arm—something to grab onto—but he backed away from her, his face pale even in the dim lighting.“Joran, look at me! What do you mean by forever? I thought this mark was only for fifteen years?”

“It is.” He swallowed but couldn’t look her in the eyes.

“But?”

“You and I will be together forever.” His green eyes flicked to hers. “Sijur intends to bind us together through an ancient fae ceremony. We’ll grow stronger together.”

All the color drained from her face and she dropped her hands on her lap. She knew about that ceremony, had read about it before.

“TheBryllupceremony?” She wanted to vomit.

“You know it?”

It was a marriage ceremony the fae did to share their power together. The drawback was that they would be bound for eternity, even if they split up. Not to mention that they would never be able to do it again with another person.

“I can’t …” She swallowed the dryness in her throat. She couldn’t imagine a life like that—bound to Sijur and then bound to Joran for eternity. “I can’t marry you.”

“Why not? We’re both fae?—”

“So what? So what if we’re fae?” Kolfinna suddenly became lightheaded. Marriage, to Joran? She didn’t want that, but Sijur wanted them to become more powerful so they could bind more people to him. People who didn’t want to be bound to him. “I can’t marry you.”

“Why not?” There was a hardness in his tone. “Is it because of Blár Vilulf?”

“No.” Her voice became shrill and she gave him a wild look. “Because I don’t love you!”

“You could learn to.” He grabbed her arm and his fingers dug into her biceps. “You don’t love him, do you?Do you?”

She couldn’t think properly. Did she love Blár? All she knew was that the thought of marrying Blár was far more pleasant than marring Joran. “Let me go.”

“Kolfinna, we’re both fae,” Joran murmured, his pleading eyes searching her face for something. “We’d be good together.”

“Joran, stop.” She yanked her arm away from him. She felt lightheaded, like all the blood had rushed to her head. Like she was swimming in an ocean of anxiety. “I don’t want to marry you.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Joran watched her sadly. “I think you could come to love me. Eventually.”

“Joran,stop.” Her head spun and she had to close her eyes to stop the room from spinning too. He was right—if Sijur ordered her to marry Joran, she wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.

“We’ll be powerful together,” he whispered. “You’re a strong fae, and so am I. It only makes sense.”

“No. I won’t be bound to you like that.”

Forever.

She wanted to throw up.

“We’ll be good together,” Joran repeated and then nodded quickly as if he was sure of it. “You deserve to be with a fae, not a human. You know that’s the way it’s supposed to be. For our race’s survival and for us to remain strong.”

Kolfinna scooted on the edge of the bed, her gaze flicking over to the doorway and then to the wall he had repaired. Her only exit was through that door. “Joran, please leave. You’re making me uncomfortable.”

He opened his mouth to protest but seemed to think better of it.

“All right, Kolfinna. But I want you to know that I’m not your enemy.”

She didn’t say anything even after he left the room.

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