Page 5 of Light and Shadow
I resist the urge. “My mother hoped that my youngest brother would be a girl, but another babe born six months earlier was the last female elf born in Domhan.”
She blinks those soulful eyes. “How old is your brother?”
“Thirty suns. My mother was pregnant when the curse was cast.” I hope both my brothers survived the portal magic and found their women more malleable than Harper. That thought makes me smile. I can’t help liking this strong, sad, beautiful woman. It does me no good to care. I need her help, not her affection.
“Is that years? The number of times the Earth goes around the sun?” She wrinkles her nose.
“Yes. You call it years.” I remember from my training. My brothers and I had to learn as much as we could about this world before we made the trip.
She stands and props her hands on the curve of her hips. Now those eyes flash at me. “Your youngest brother is thirty years old. How freaking old are you?”
“I’m thirty-seven.” Unsure why she’s so animated, I keep my seat and let her hover over me.
“You look much younger. Is there some fountain of youth over there?” She waves her hands, as if Domhan might be in the air outside the windows, then turns and walks to the kitchen. After taking a glass from the cupboard, she fills it from a spout in the door of a metal cabinet, then drinks it down. Clearly, she’s agitated, but I can’t imagine why.
“Elves don’t age as quickly as humans. We live much longer as well.” What else am I supposed to say?
Those full lips of hers twist in what might be annoyance, and I can’t help finding it adorable. “Tell your story. You said it’s been thirty years since a female baby was born in your world. That seems pretty serious.” She drinks more water and leans onthe counter, which sits in the middle of her kitchen, with a sink in the center.
Everything about the way these humans live is foreign to me, but Mother warned me it would be. She and Father came here years ago to look for answers to the curse, but they didn’t have the prophecy yet. They couldn’t know what exactly they sought. “It’s going to get a lot more serious. It will mean the end of our people. Some have already gone begging to the witch queen for help, only to be turned into creatures in her army.” I swallow down the bile of that betrayal and push on. “My parents took a large group to the walled city of Tús Nua. It’s not the only elven settlement, but it’s by far the largest. We cast wards to keep the witch queen out, but those won’t last forever. The oracle protects the western continent, but even that magic is fading. We need to break the curse and depose the queen.
“For years, we searched for some clue about how to do it and finally found a prophecy which required time to decipher. Three human women have the magic to open the Great Watcher’s Gate.”
She cocks her head and sighs. “And I’m one of these women?”
“That was what the oracle said. And since you were the only one pulled out of time today, I’d say they were accurate.” I get up because I feel strange sitting when she’s standing. “I’m sorry, Harper, but we need you, or an entire race will die, and Domhan will fall into darkness.”
“And why should I care?” The softness in her voice betrays that she does care, despite the question.
“Our worlds are connected. The witch queen will find her way here and destroy this world too. It might not be in your lifetime, but eventually, she will dim your sun with her evil.” All I can do now is wait while this human woman decides the fateof everything I love. The problem is, I can’t even blame her for saying no.
“You know, this all sounds insane, and it’s too much to process after that whole jumping out of a hole-in-the-wall thing. I’m going to change into jeans and go to the bar.” She looks down at her black slacks and pink blouse. Without waiting for a reply, she turns and goes down a hallway. A door closes and locks.
Everything about this house, connected to other houses, is foreign to me. The sink is white like the flat cabinets with their black handles. It’s the first time I’ve seen cupboard doors made from just one slab of wood. I open the door where she got water and peer inside the device. Its metal front catches the light from a chandelier, and it has glass shelves. We have something similar, a cold box powered by magic to keep milk, meat, and cheese from spoiling. I’m again struck by the differences between our worlds. The wooden floors are the only similarity, but these are stained dark brown. The food is in packages. Mother told me about the markets here that are super, and you can buy all the food in one place.
Harper seems to live alone, but the large room has a dining table with six chairs. All the living space is in one room so you can see from the kitchen to the couch. It’s strange but rather nice.
I sit until I hear the door open again, then I get to my feet.
Sparing me the briefest glance, she grabs her bag from the hook near the door.
Not to be left behind, and admittedly curious about the pub, I follow fast on her heels. I work a quick glamour to hide my ears. Between that and leaving my sword behind, I feel a little exposed.
In heeled boots and denim pants that hug her round ass and make my mouth water, she walks at a clip down the block. At the corner is a well-lit area with people outside laughing andsmoking. Harper says hello to a man with a beard who waves and calls her name.
I hold the door open for her to enter. The bar is a rectangle with alcohol bottles in the center, four bartenders, and beer taps, two on either side. The sun is just setting, and the place is crowded, with only two stools empty at the far end.
Past the bar is a dance floor and stage. Music is playing, but there are no musicians. This is the first place that feels a bit more like home and reminds me of the pub in Tús Nua.
Harper sits and leans toward a woman who puts a pink drink in front of her without her being asked. “Thanks, Ashley.”
The blonde gives me a long look. “Who’s your friend?”
“Aaran, this is my friend Ashley. Ashley, Aaran, who I met at the DMV today.” Harper’s voice is flat, and she sips the drink.
“Well, I never have this kind of luck at the DMV, girl. Aaran, what are you drinking?” Ashley smiles, showing off straight white teeth and an easy manner.
As much as the pub is similar to home, I have no idea what the pink drink is, but I know what I’d order at home and hope they have something like it. “Whiskey, please, lass.”
