Soulbound (The Return of the Elves Book 1)

by Bethany Adams

  “If he is a seer, then why didn’t he know he would return?”

  “After what his father did, he refused to use his power again. Do not ask him about the future, not unless your life depends on it. He does not react favorably to such requests.”

  What could cause a prince to do something so drastic? Arlyn shuddered. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

  Kai stepped from the mists onto the grounds of Ralan’s country house, though house was a bit too quaint a word for the massive edifice. A mansion built by a wealthy family in the 1840s, the huge place was situated in the middle of five hundred acres completely enclosed by a high stone wall. In large part because of the natural portal, Ralan had bought and renovated the estate some fifty years before.

  The door opened as Kai reached the porch. Ralan himself stood in the entry; either he no longer employed a housekeeper or was too anxious to wait for her. At the sight of his friend, Kai’s fists clenched in anger. The crossing itself had been easy, but the strain on his bond made him ill. Every muscle in his body had tensed against the roiling.

  “Welcome, Kai.” Ralan moved back and gestured for Kai to enter. “Thank you for granting my request.”

  “Request? If that is what His Highness wishes to call it,” Kai snapped, striding into the entry.

  Ralan closed the door with a snap. “Lyr would have told you of my need. This couldn’t be helped.”

  “Another could have come.” Kai struggled to fight down his anger before it bled across to Arlyn. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to cross the Veil with an incomplete bond? Your selfishness is putting us all in danger.”

  “No, but I know the pain of watching my daughter die.” Ralan took a step toward Kai. “Do you know what it is like to see your own child waste away? I have to get her back without my father interfering. Another guide would have gone to him at once.”

  “Fuck your father,” Kai snarled, heedless of the slur to his king. “You have spent too long running from him. Your fear of his power has caused more trouble in a shaky situation, one you do not even comprehend. Perhaps you would know what is going on if you weren’t too afraid to use your Sight.”

  Ralan fell back as though shoved. “You are one of the few to know what happened, yet you would still say such a thing to me? Perhaps our friendship is not what I believed. If I did not need your aid in this—”

  “Laial.”

  The small voice cut across Ralan’s words more clearly than any shout. Kai glanced over at the source, and his breath caught. He had never seen an elven child in such condition. Her skin was nearly translucent beneath a fall of long, black hair, her body thin and weak. Worse was her energy. Not only did she have little, but Kai could tell she was not pulling in any of the natural energy around them. Why couldn’t she connect with the earth to replenish her power?

  Kai noticed then how tired Ralan looked; fine lines of exhaustion pinched the prince’s pale face. He had likely been replenishing the child’s energy himself. Shame burned through Kai’s gut, smothering some of the anger. The discomfort of a strained bond was nothing, nothing compared to this.

  “Forgive me, Ralan. I never imagined.”

  “Few of our kind could,” the prince replied, moving to scoop the girl into his arms. “My daughter, Moranai Aldiaberen i Erinalia Moreln nai Moranaia. She goes by Eri.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Eri,” Kai said, careful to keep his voice soft so he wouldn’t scare her. He glanced around the foyer, noting the trunk waiting over to the side. “Is that all you wish to take?”

  Ralan nodded. “There is little I need of my life here.”

  Kai gasped against the sudden pressure of his bond and the touch of Arlyn’s anxiety that slipped through. “We need to go. I pray to the Nine Gods your vision was true because I’m not sure how easily I can get us all through.”

  With a glance at Ralan’s drawn face, Kai sent forth a trickle of energy designed to levitate the trunk behind him. Normally, he would have left it to Ralan and concentrated on the crossing, but it was not such a large task to do himself. The prince was clearly occupied with giving energy to Eri, and Kai had guided baggage through before. As they made their way to the portal, a rush of energy flowed past, and wards went up around the property. Those spells would hide the estate from prying eyes for perhaps centuries. It seemed his friend did not intend to return for quite some time.

  Arlyn exhaled in relief as some of the tension slipped from her body. The bond between her and Kai was growing more solid, more stable. He had to be getting close. “Almost here, I think.”

  Lyr’s lips quirked. “Useful, that you can sense him so well. At least I didn’t have to stand there the entire hour.”

  “How do you do that?” Arlyn asked as they walked back over to the portal. “Know the time so well?”

  “Like all measures, it’s a matter of experience. After so long, I suppose it is instinct.”

  Before she could say more, a plain wooden trunk appeared, then Kai, and finally a dark-haired, somehow familiar elf holding a child. Arlyn jerked in surprise as the bond snapped tight, then shoved a fist to her shaky stomach as some of Kai’s sick exhaustion leaked through. He leaned back against the stone of the arch, his face almost as pale as after he’d been stabbed.

  “What happened?”

  “The way was rough. Turbulent. Perhaps Ralan was right to call for me.” Kai ran a hand across his face. “He and his daughter were both too ill for a long crossing.”

  Curious, Arlyn glanced toward the prince, then stifled a gasp. His eyes were closed in bliss, and fine lines around his eyes and mouth smoothed as she stared, leaving him looking years younger. But more amazing was the child. The girl had been still and pale as death, but her cheeks were filling with color as she sat upright in her father’s arms.

  “Welcome to Braelyn, Anderteriorn i Ralantayan.” Lyr inclined his head in a slight bow. “We are pleased to host you in our home. Allow me to introduce a stranger to you, Callian Ayala i Arlyn Dianore se Kaienan nai Braelyn.”

  Though the greeting once would have sounded formal to Arlyn, she could tell now that it was not. Even when introducing the captain of his guard, whom he spoke to daily, Lyr had used the full title. What level of friendship did it reveal to use only a shortened form to address a prince? From the expression on the prince’s face, she thought it had surprised him.

  Finally, he spoke. “Ayala? When the hell did you have a daughter?” Ralan darted a stunned look at Kai. “And bonded already? It seems our conversation should have been longer despite the strain of distance, Lyr.”

  Arlyn’s careful, planned greeting slipped from her mind at the prince’s bluntness. It was obvious even to her that he had been brutally rude by elven standards. But beside her, her father merely laughed. “You have set a fine example for both of our children, my friend.”

  The prince reddened, but his mouth turned up in a wry smile. “Forgive me, Ayala Arlyn. I have lived too long in the human world. May pleasure, never hardship, reside with you for many years to come.”

  “Thank you. May you and your daughter prosper in our home.” Arlyn grinned. “I’ll add that it would be difficult to offend me, Your Highness. I was born and raised in the human world and have been here less than a month.”

  “Indeed?” He stepped closer. “Then let’s dispense with this cursed formality and move to someplace more comfortable. Along the way, you can tell me how you came to be born with humans when your father so clearly is not. And please, call me Ralan.”

  Kai had been right; though Ralan showed a strong dislike of elven formality, he was unmistakably royal. His birthright was apparent in the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, and how he expected others to answer him without question. Despite that, he listened to her story with obvious interest, and he carried his daughter with gentle care. By the time Arlyn, Lyr, and Kai finished recounting what Ralan had missed, she had begun to hope that she, too, might become a friend to the prince.

  “I m
ust apologize.” Ralan shook his head. “I never imagined so much could have happened here. Lyr mentioned injuries, that is true, but all of this in a mere week?”

  She studied the child, now bouncing in excitement in her father’s arms. “You had reason.”

  They slipped into the door next to the library, and Ralan drew up short, his body tensing. Arlyn followed his gaze to find Lial waiting in the hall. The healer’s eyes widened, and she caught a hint of surprise, and maybe hurt, sparking within them before his expression closed. She’d seen him in various states of grumpy but never so reserved.

  Lial gave an elaborate bow. “My Prince, it is a pleasure beyond telling to see you returned. Our family will rejoice to see the face of one so long lost.”

  “Stand the hell up, cousin. You know perfectly well that few of them would notice my absence except when they needed my skill,” Ralan snapped.

  Scowling, Lial rose. “You would hardly know such a thing considering your hasty departure and lack of contact. Your mother—”

  “Cares for no one but herself,” Ralan bit out. Then he let out a deep breath. “Forgive me, Lial. I have never had argument with you. There is much you do not know, but it will have to wait. I have need of your skills as a healer.”

  “You?” Lial’s eyes narrowed. “I see nothing that rest will not cure.”

  “Not for me. For my daughter.”

  For the first time, Lial seemed to notice the child nestled in Ralan’s arms. She met the healer’s eyes, no shyness evident in her demeanor, as Lial stared in shock. “You have a daughter?”

  “Indeed.” Ralan hugged his child a fraction closer. “This is Princess Erinalia. I must insist that my father not be told.”

  Unbelievably, Lial started to laugh. It took him several moments to compose himself, a process likely hastened by Ralan’s anger. “You don’t remember, do you? Your great aunt’s final prophecy.”

  The blood drained from Ralan’s face. “No,” he whispered. “Surely, one of my other siblings has had a child by now. It has been over three hundred years.”

  “You are the first.” Lial’s eyes danced with glee. “By declaration of the king at your great aunt’s last prophecy, you are the heir.” His lips twisted into a smirk. “Have fun with that.”

  “Well.” Arlyn blinked. “That was interesting.”

  At Lial’s words, Ralan had gone white, then stormed out, the healer close behind; Lyr and Kai still stared at the doorway through which they had departed. Should she, a stranger, have seen that argument? Arlyn bit her lip. At least she knew why Lial was so imperious. As Ralan’s cousin, he was a member of the freaking royal family.

  Kai turned to look at her. “To put it mildly.”

  “Why have I never heard of such a decree?” Lyr shook his head, still staring at the door. “He called Teyark, his eldest, the heir. We have been introduced. It was in the title. To lie about such a thing is a serious offense.”

  “Perhaps he did not lie. The decree could have named Teyark heir unless another produced a child first.” Kai frowned. “Ralan must know he will have to contact his father now.”

  Lyr turned away from the door, his brow furrowed. “I don’t like this. Poisoned energy, random attacks, and a seer as heir to the throne? The last time such momentous events occurred so close together, there was war.”

  Ralan tried to slow his pounding heart as Lial led them to the guest tower. What was he going to do? He’d never wanted to be king. Never. Kien had inherited the zeal for that. Ralan fought to keep his hands from clenching around Eri at the memory of his brother’s betrayal. Bad enough that Kien had slept with Ralan’s beloved—worse that they’d plotted together to kill him.

  And his own father hadn’t believed what he’d seen.

  Of course, the king had wanted Ralan to See that betrayal. He’d known of the relationship between Kien and Kenaren. Known the time they’d planned to meet. And he’d ordered Ralan to look anyway, to search the futures for what his beloved would do that day. The memory of his love in bed with his brother still burned through his blood after a solid three centuries.

  “Is Teyark still alive?”

  “Yes.” Lial looked over his shoulder in surprise. “Is there a reason he shouldn’t be?”

  “I haven’t had a vision, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Ralan answered. “What of Kien?”

  “He was banished not long after you left. No one knows why, except for maybe your siblings.” Lial opened the door to the guest room. “If your mother knows, she pretends well. She spends much time lamenting the absence of two of her children.”

  “I have no doubt the rest is spent trying to negotiate another marriage alliance with father,” Ralan grumbled. Since the king had never soulbonded, he’d formed marriages to produce and raise his children, but he’d only kept the alliances until the children had been grown. With at least a couple of centuries of freedom between. “That is probably the reason for the lamentations, as well. Too bad for her that father considers four children enough.”

  Ralan set Eri on the bed and stepped aside for Lial. The healer hunched down beside her with a smile, all tension gone. “Do you mind if I check you with my magic?”

  She grinned. “I already know what you’ll find.”

  “Eri,” Ralan said, warning her with his tone not to reveal her talents.

  “Okay, okay!” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t mind.”

  It took only moments for Lial to move beyond Ralan’s limited ability to analyze the health of another. While he waited, Ralan pondered his cousin’s words. Why and to where had Kien been exiled? His father had so vehemently denied the possibility of his middle son’s betrayal that Ralan could only assume he had been caught in an actual act of treason rather than by another seer. Even when Kenaren had attempted to follow through on the plot Ralan had foreseen her plan with Kien, the king had not believed.

  As the blue glow faded from Lial’s hands, he turned to Ralan. “Is there supposed to be something wrong with her that a bit of sleep won’t cure?”

  Ralan frowned. “Did you check for poison?”

  “Of course, I checked for poison.” Lial shook his head. “I’m beginning to regret working for this House. What, exactly, am I supposed to be looking for? Something unusual or rare, I’ve no doubt.”

  “Your sardonic humor is wasted on me, cousin.” Ralan examined Eri with his own limited talent and found her to be in almost perfect health. It made no sense. “On Earth, she could not pull in energy for herself. The magic was off somehow. I had to filter it for both of us.”

  “She shows no sign of any such problem here. Whatever the issue, it was not internal. Perhaps I should check you, as well.”

  The prince opened himself wordlessly to Lial’s magic. The energy swept through, scanning Ralan more thoroughly than he could check himself. His tension eased, his muscles going lax with the peaceful sensation that came with the healer’s power. A neat trick for gaining cooperation from their patients. He was almost sorry when Lial finished, so long had it been since he’d been so relaxed.

  “Well?”

  “You are not poisoned, yet…” Lial hesitated as though searching for the right words. “Your channels are raw. How have you been able to use your talents without intense pain?”

  “Easily enough. I have hardly used them at all.”

  Arlyn lay in bed once more, watching Kai sort through a trunk of his belongings. Someone had come in while they were away, for two trunks were pushed beneath the window and a set of shelves had been installed on the wall by the door. They were wooden, carved in the same delicate designs as the paneling on the bottom half of her walls. Had she not known better, she would have assumed the shelves had always been there. How had such a task been accomplished in a couple of hours? It had to have been, quite literally, magic.

  “Did you order the shelves built?”

  “I requested it.” Kai paused, then straightened. “Does that bother you? I thought after you decided to complete the sec
ond step that it would be fine, but if you’d rather wait longer, I can move my things. I do not want to pressure you.”

  “Oh, calm down.” Arlyn rolled her eyes. “I was just curious. Unless there’s some code that says I have to sleep with you because you put up shelves?”

  He let out a startled laugh. “Not that I am aware.”

  “I don’t care where your stuff is. When I decide for sure that I want to complete the bond, I’ll let you know.”

  Heat flared in his eyes, and his hands tightened on the bundle of cloth he held. “I’ll do my best to convince you. But after the way we began, the choice is yours.”

  Arlyn thought he would come close, maybe kiss her again. But his gaze dropped to his hands. Too bad. She could have used some convincing after the craziness of the day. Then he unfurled the cloth, and her breath caught. The item was a tunic, embroidered with an intricate forest scene. Branches seemed to sway in a false breeze as Kai straightened the garment. Dots of color caught her eyes, and she squinted. Were those birds?

  Kai draped the gorgeous piece over the desk and turned back to lift a long vest, cut much like the one her father had worn to her presentation, from the trunk. Eager to see more after the tunic, Arlyn sat up and shifted to the end of the bed for a closer look. Unlike the flowing mists of Lyr’s vest, this one was embroidered with the exact view of the forested hills she had seen at sunrise through the study window. It could have been a photograph.

  “What in the world did you have to pay for something like that?” she asked in awe.

  “I traded my services as a guide for the work.”