Page 42 of Taloned Heart

“That’s quite romantic,” Lore said, her voice lighter than it had been for days. “Do you think we could convince them that’s the actual story?”

“I think we could convince them of a lot of things.” And maybe they should. If they controlled the narrative of the story, then that would make everything a lot easier for them. “Do you think they would believe that one? That I fell in love with a star and I couldn’t live without you? And seeing you travel across the sky every night, only to disappear during the day, broke my heart until I went mad with desire.”

Lore hummed low in her breath. “So you took to the sky, your wings beating at the north and south winds that tried to force you back to the earth. Instead, you fought and fought until you could claw at the home of the stars and I fell to your feet.”

“A vision covered in blush colored flowers,” he murmured.

“No,” she replied with a laugh. “I believe the dress was blue.”

“Pink.”

“Yellow?”

“It was pink.” Abraxas would never forget the moment he saw her in that forest. “You were covered in cherry blossoms and giant dahlias, with a dress made of spider silk and gossamer. The moment I crossed your path, I knew I would forever be mad for you. My heart stopped in my chest at the sight of you. There will never be a prettier sight than you standing in that clearing, waiting for me.”

Lore stared up at him, her heart in her eyes. “I love you so much, Abraxas. More and more every day.”

He grinned. “I know you do. Now let’s go underground again.”

CHAPTER16

Lore tried to keep the lighthearted nature of their conversation going while they made their way to the mouth of a cave. This one differed greatly from the one she and Goliath had stood at, waiting to go deep into the earth together. She remembered that one was a little muddy and old, surprising that it was even still open.

The opening that Mirin led them to was clean and gleaming with metal that held it open at the top. The brackets made the descent appear much safer than she ever expected.

All around the edges were pretty little embellishments. Runes for safety, a few carved deities that she assumed the dwarves worshiped. All depictions that were pretty and made with an artistic hand.

A small cart waited for them at the mouth of the cave, set up on rail systems that definitely wouldn’t carry all of them. Mirin seemed to hesitate when he caught her looking at the cart, but then he shook his head. “We don’t use those for travel, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Oh, thank goodness. She couldn’t get in that metal box and plummet into the darkness. Lore remembered what it looked like in those tunnels. She remembered the dark, and the echoes of creatures crawling along the walls.

Just imagining diving into those shadows made her heart race. She couldn’t do it, even if that was the only way to get into that home.

“Ah,” she replied, trying to hide her embarrassment at thinking they used them to travel. “Very good.”

“I can arrange for someone to bring something to help if you’re needing transportation.” Mirin rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick she thought, while looking up and down her body. “I thought you were fine, but I don’t know how to tell if an elf is injured.”

“I’m not injured,” she rushed to interrupt. “I’m fine, really. Thank you.”

Abraxas eyed her with a narrowed gaze, watching her for any signs of danger before they all started into the cave. He knew what it was like when she got overwhelmed and these days it was… well. Not safe for anyone else around her.

Lore had expected the cave to be the same as her previous visit. A massive hole with dirt floors and barely held up ceilings. A questionable entrance into a kingdom that was grand and massive. Instead, she was surprised yet again. Metal plates covered every inch of the ceiling. The floor was earth, but quickly turned into polished stone with carefully abraded surfaces where people were meant to walk.

Lights glimmered on the wall, some torches, but most orbs of magic that lit everything almost as bright as daylight. The glow from the polished stone reflected all the lights into a mirror effect that made it difficult to remember they were even underground.

“I’m bringing you right to the king first,” Mirin said. “He’s been waiting to see you, and I know that he’ll be excited to hear you’ve finally arrived. Hopefully, we can all settle in after that. If you don’t mind meeting my mum right off the bat, I think you could stay with us. She likes visitors, you see. She’s a bit odd of a woman, but she makes the best honey pies.”

Lore stopped listening to him after all that. She hadn’t expected to meet a king today, and knowing that she was going to do so while covered in sweat and bog water wasn’t exactly reassuring.

But she wanted to know why the dwarves were so interested in her, and why they had been waiting for her arrival for such a long time. They clearly had thought she would come to them first. But that made little sense at all. She’d never been friends with the dwarves, other than Goliath. And he’d been cast out of his family years ago.

So what had changed? Or, she supposed, what was she unaware of?

Her thoughts ran wild in her head until Mirin froze in the center of the tunnel. She could see light at the end of it, the main part of the dwarven home she supposed. Then he turned to look at her and his jaw dropped open.

“I forgot you’ve been traveling.” His eyes widened with horror as he took them all in. “No, this won’t do. You can’t see the king like this!”

Lore glanced down at her muddy clothing and bog water covered arms. “I was thinking the same thing myself, but then I assumed it was a matter of great importance that your king see me soon.”

---