Page 96 of Tristan
His eyes give me his most disapproving stare and I can only hope he will not punish me in front of Diekin for what I’ve said.
“Your insolence proves my point. You do not have the wisdom required for such a task. I will join you and that is final.”
There is nothing more I can say to that. Once Alrik’s mind is made up, there is little one can do to change it. I’ll have to accept his help and keep my secret another way. I give him a tacit nod, but make it clear I’m displeased.
He leaves and I’m alone with a smiling Diekin, who is trying hard not to laugh at me. I slam him against the wall andthat’sthe thing that sends him over the edge with laughter.
“You’re not yet in my good book as I believe the Markaytian saying goes.” I keep trying to practice them for Tristan, so he’ll feel at home—once he finally is home. “Why are you laughing?”
“Because. The two of you are hilarious. Who needs the theatre?” His laughter reaches uncontrollable, so I help him control it by punching him square in the gut. He’s only just been healed to full strength, but his behavior is going to earn him a punishment that will rob him of some of that good health.
“Oof!”
I let him drop to the ground.
“Oh C’mon, Corrik. I’m only teasing.” He’s still smiling. There are times when Diekin and I are formal and other times when we aren’t. I know he acts familiar now, and teases me to ease my tense demeanor, but I’m not in the mood to appreciate it. “Don’t tease me—I’m short on patience of late. Go see my sister.” I don’t possess large amounts of patience to begin with.
I’ve effectively wiped the smile off Diekin’s face. They’ve seen each other, but he hasn’t had to face his mate yet and he knows she will be disappointed in him. Diekin cannot stand her disappointment. Between the two of us, only I know that she won’t have the nerve to be hard on him—she was too sick over his absence and is glad to have him back. But I’ll let him think he must view her full disappointment; the cheeky bastard needs some form of punishment. He leaves and I am alone.
Alone with the true weight of the problem I now face.
I know this war is my fault.How long will I have to pay for that mistake?I fell in love with Ando a long time ago, but somethingalways prevented me bonding with him. I like to think it was fate. I do love him still and yet I love Tristan, more. I once dreamed of forging an alliance; I would have been the one to finally add the eighth Elven realm to our sphere, but then I saw the vision that told of Tristan and I thought the eighth realm could be damned. We already have seven, do we really need an eighth? With seven realms, the Rogue Elves would never dare oppose us. I don’t see why they would dare now. It’s a fool’s errand. They will lose. But one thing shakes me to my core; if Andothair can move an entire kingdom, can sneak Elves onto a boat, defeat my large army, and steal my husband,what else can he do?
I look at the ring Tristan returned to me and spin it around in my long fingers. I can feel remnants of his energy still present in the ring and even though it is no longer on his hand, it has energy enough to warm its twin, the one on my finger. The energy is weak, it’s been dying awhile now. Too long without the bearer and both rings will go cold—that’s how I knew he wore it after our betrothal, that’s how I know he hasn’t worn it since we lost him—the heat in my ring began to fade instantly. It’s why I was beginning to think he was dead.
But he isn’t, he’s very much alive.
I could sense him through the ring, and I got to know him by it, even better than through the book I left. I felt his essence through the ring and I got to know his beautiful heart. I fell in love with him the first time I saw a vision of him in my dreams, but my love grew deeper as I got to feel his warmth. I tried to send my love to him through the ring. Every night, I pictured him—what I’d seen in my visions of him and what I’d seen of him that first time when Father and I travelled to Markaytia.
I wanted to take him with us that very day, but my father made me wait because of my brother. Alrik was against the marriage from the start and is against it still. He doesn’t care that it was foretold by prophecy. Thankfully, he couldn’t overrule Father.
It’s hard for an Elf to be in the presence of the one they know as their mate and do nothing to assert dominance, even before bonding.I wanted to leave him with a mark and the best I could do was a ring—this ring.
He doesn’t wear it now, nor my marks, nothing to display that he’s mine. This makes me crazy. When he’s home, I shall have,Property of Corrik Cyredanthem, please return if found,tattooed on his arse—seeing as he’s so fond of tattoos—he’s mine and someday he’ll know it.
When you are back Tristan, I will make sure to impress this upon you.
Taking my sword from its sheath, I bathe the blade in blood, by holding it in my fist and running the blade inside, its sharp edges cut through the skin and tendons of my palm and fingers. If I were a human, this would devastate my hand and it would be useless, but I am Elf, and my hand will heal in full before the next rising dawn.
I feel the pain as my sword tastes the blood and I say these words,“Tristan. With this ring I bind you eternally to your one true love.”I place the ring on the table and slam my sword down to imbibe it with the powerful Elven magic I call forth.
It’s anti-climactic. There is no flash, but I can feel the power crackling around the ring when I pick it up from the ruin that is now the table.
When he places the ring on his finger, it will give him faith once again, for it will bind him to his one true love and he’llknowwho that is forever and for certain.
Now, I just have to hope that his one true love is me.
THE END
