Solace

by Bethany Adams

  Lial smiled. “I will speak with Lyr. We’ll work it out.”

  He would need to figure out how to shield her at a greater distance, something that wasn’t a problem when she stayed in the room upstairs, but it would be worth it not to have the new trio radiating love and happiness in the room above him every day and night.

  Lial barely suppressed a shudder. Any inconvenience would be worth avoiding that.

  Lynia tried to avoid mental communication with Lial whenever possible, especially lately. The rich, low tones of his mental voice made her quiver every time, and she was beginning to suspect she’d been lying to herself about the reason. At first, she’d told herself it reminded her of the dark days after Telien had died, when Lial’s voice had acted as a tether amidst the painful tumult of a broken soulbond. Then he’d whispered into her mind again to prevent her from slipping away with the pain after she’d shattered her back in the fall.

  Some nights, she woke from a deep sleep with the echoes of his murmurs resounding through her mind as though they were still connected. But a quick check of her shields always proved that to be untrue. No, it was memory. Twice, Lial had fought to keep her alive when she wasn’t sure she could continue, and it was time to stop pretending that his attention made her unhappy.

  Bothered, that’s what she was. She just couldn’t decide if that was a good or a bad thing.

  Lynia set another book on top of the stack on her favorite research table and settled herself into her seat. Time to stop stalling lest the morning slip away. She was going to need Lial’s input before she requested those research materials from Delbin, and it would be faster and easier to connect mentally than to track Lial down in person.

  She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, careful to only tap against his awareness so she didn’t intrude. Lial hated deep mental links, and after seeing the pain he’d experienced from Aris’s healing, she could understand why.

  It only took a couple of breaths before he completed the connection. “Lynia? Is your back—”

  “No,” Lynia interrupted sharply. Would he ever think of her as healed? “It isn’t my back. Though I might injure it throttling you if you don’t cease making that assumption.”

  Shock flowed between them. Then amusement. “Fair enough. I was merely concerned since you do not contact me this way often.”

  Lynia winced. Hadn’t she been thinking that very thing? “Also fair. In this case, I was seeking your input. I plan to ask Delbin to find research materials on the causes of sickness on Earth and bring them here. However, I am uncertain what would be most helpful.”

  “I see,” Lial answered. “Have you found anything here yet?”

  She ran her gaze along the stacks of history, anatomy, and healing texts and sighed. “Nothing directly related to physical illnesses, but there are several topics I want to study to have a stronger grasp of them. It might go faster if you could cull some of the healing texts so I needn’t analyze them.”

  “Of course. I’ll come to the library immediately, before someone else requires my services. I am always happy to lend you aid, Lynia.”

  Something about the way his mental voice caressed her name sent a shiver running through her, a reaction she desperately tried to ignore. “Thank you.”

  He disconnected their link as quickly as he’d allowed it, and Lynia sagged against the hard back of her seat. That man was going to cause her no end of distraction, and he wasn’t doing anything untoward. Gods help her if he actively pursued her. Gods help both of them, really. There was no way they could be a good match, not when they each held their burdens so close.

  Ah, but the temptation…

  Straightening, Lynia opened her eyes, only to startle at the sight of Meli standing a few paces away. And from the hint of a smirk on the other woman’s lips, she’d probably been there for much of Lynia’s conversation with Lial. Hopefully, Lynia’s expression hadn’t been too telling.

  “Speaking to Lial?” Meli asked, her soft voice belying her teasing tone.

  Lynia groaned. “Not you, too.”

  “I hope you aren’t upset.” Meli placed her hand on the table and leaned forward. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s only… I haven’t known you long, but I can see a difference in you of late. Even Lyr hopes you’ll consider a relationship with Lial at this point.”

  Lynia lifted a brow. “Even Lyr? I was unaware he had that much of an opinion about this, though I suppose that explains why it was on his mind this morning.”

  Red flushed across the Ljósálfar woman’s pale cheeks. “I have overstepped.”

  “Of course not.”

  Lynia stood, hoping it would help put Meli at ease if they were at a similar height. The poor woman hadn’t received the best treatment on her home world of Alfheim, and although Meli was adjusting, she sometimes struggled. At least she’d grown comfortable enough to tease Lynia in the first place.

  “In fact, I’m glad you’re here,” Lynia continued. “And in a good enough mood to jest at my expense. I suppose sleeping in was good for you.”

  Instead of blushing again, Meli grinned. “Very much so.”

  Lynia almost made a joke of her own at Lyr’s expense, but she really should ask her favor before Lial arrived. The more texts she had for him to examine, the better. “I don’t suppose you’re rested enough to help me out with your runes?”

  Meli tugged a small pouch from her tunic pocket and jiggled it. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll find it.”

  The god who’d given Meli those runes might not have intended for her to use them to help Lynia retrieve books in the massive library, but Lynia was grateful all the same. As a Diviner, Meli could use her runes to locate anything lost so long as she had the direction. Now Lynia just had to find the proper questions.

  Chapter 4

  Kai is going to be insufferable, Arlyn grumbled to herself.

  Her bonded turned from the window, his eyebrow lifted. “I heard that.”

  “Then you know not to start,” she said aloud, glancing back at her now-confused father. “Sorry for the interruption.”

  Lyr straightened in his seat. “Should I leave you two alone?”

  “No.” Arlyn rubbed the heel of her palm against her temple. Considering the news her father had delivered, Kai had a right to be worried. Not that she wanted to admit it to him. “I’m being grumpy, and he caught one of my complaints along our bond.”

  If either one of them mentioned pregnancy hormones, so help her…

  Fortunately, even Kai knew better than that. “I’ll try not to be overprotective, but I can’t help but worry. If I lost you or our child, I don’t know what I would do.”

  Arlyn’s heart turned over, and she couldn’t resist launching herself from her chair and into her bonded’s arms. Kai gathered her close, and for a moment, she could forget the new threat that lingered on the air, unseen but certainly felt. Of all the things she’d worried about since crossing the Veil from Earth to Moranaia, a plague hadn’t been one of them.

  She lifted up slightly to give Kai a quick kiss before she pulled away. When she turned back to her father, his worried frown hadn’t abated. It wasn’t her fault, but it still felt like he’d had nothing but trouble since her arrival. The poor man needed a break. She didn’t say so, though, as she sat back down beside him.

  Silence fell, other than the sound of Kai’s footsteps as he crossed the room to stand behind her. Arlyn almost wished Lyr had done this in his study instead of here, a homey room overlooking the gardens that they’d begun to use as a retreat over the last couple of months. Before her arrival, her father had spent most of his time working in his study, and Lynia had stuck to the library or her rooms. But as the months had passed, they’d sought a more comfortable spot to spend time together. Now, at least one member of the family could usually be found here, reading a book on the overstuffed couch by the window or working at one of their hobbies. Arlyn even had a small woodworking bench in the corner.

 
; “I take it there’s some kind of plan?” Arlyn uttered, unable to bear the silence any longer.

  Lyr sighed. “As much as there can be at this point. According to Ralan, Lial needs your grandmother’s assistance with research, and much of what we do depends on what she and Lial discover. Actually, Laiala was hoping you might help, too.”

  “Me?” She glanced over her shoulder at Kai, who leaned against the back of her chair. “Why me?”

  “You lived on Earth where sickness is common,” Lyr answered. “She’s planning to ask Delbin to gather resources and bring them back, so I suppose she wants guidance on what the human world has to offer.”

  Arlyn furrowed her brows. “What kind of resources?”

  “Books? Tools?” Lyr lifted his hands and let them drop. “I’m not certain. I believe she’s in the library if you want to speak to her.”

  Want was a bit too strong—if Arlyn had a choice, she would avoid thinking about the situation entirely. She’d rather be practicing her archery with a quiver full of randomly enchanted arrows—while blindfolded—than to deal with something like this. But she’d faced danger before. She’d survived being shot by an arrow because of her bodyguards’ neglect, getting captured by a Seelie lord, and having her energy infected while dispelling Kien’s handiwork. If not for the fairies—

  Arlyn jerked to her feet at the thought. “The fairies!”

  Lyr’s head tilted. “Which ones?”

  “There are more than…?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Never mind. Princess Nia, the one who healed me of the energy poisoning. Maybe she could help with this, too.”

  “That was tainted energy rather than physical illness, but it’s worth pursuing. They may have knowledge of other types of illnesses, too,” Lyr said.

  Her chair jostled as Kai pushed away, and he stepped around to sit in the chair across from her, his attention on Lyr. “I could go out to the fairy pond while Arlyn speaks to Lynia.”

  “You?” Arlyn couldn’t resist giving him a smirk. “Are you sure you can handle that level of diplomacy? The man who accidentally started our bond the first time we met?”

  He huffed, but she could feel through their bond that he wasn’t truly angry. “I only lose my composure so fully around you, my love. Usually.”

  Snickering low, Lyr finally stood. “True or not, this plan is sound. It’s a beginning, at least. You’ll go now?”

  “Yes,” Kai agreed.

  Arlyn rose at the same time as Kai. “And I’ll go to the library to consult with Elnaia on what she might need from Earth. The more I can help her with her research, the faster we have a solution.”

  “A good plan,” Lyr said with a nod.

  They walked together into the hallway and all the way to the study, where Lyr left them. Arlyn slipped her hand into Kai’s as they turned toward the library where they would part. Fear thrummed in her veins like an electrical current, but it felt good to be doing…anything, really. Action was better than inertia.

  Lial thumbed through yet another ancient tome written by a healer who’d died long before he was born. He’d read this one, of course, as he had the three he’d already discarded. Before settling at Braelyn over four hundred years ago, he’d made it his mission to learn as many healing techniques as he could, even seeking out apprenticeships and assignments in far-flung places during his first thousand years or so of life. These particular books were common enough to have been in almost all of those libraries.

  Not that they were useless. There might not be information about viruses, but all contained sections on how elves’ bodies processed invading bacteria, which might be of benefit if that turned out to be the cause of the mystery illness. This one even mentioned the humans’ robust physical immune systems, an evolution to compensate for their lack of magical regeneration and purification.

  Unfortunately, he’d long ago memorized them all.

  This one could be helpful for Lynia, however. It didn’t rely on significant advanced knowledge of the subject and did a fair enough job of explaining the concepts that with Lynia’s research skills, she would have no trouble comprehending the technical details. She only needed a little time.

  The woman in question sat back down across from him and opened the book she’d grabbed from a shelf. Lial fixed his gaze on his own text. He had to stop staring at her like the lovesick fool he’d become. Especially after her bluntness the evening before, when she’d mentioned “all the reasons we would never suit.”

  Apparently, she kept a list.

  The comment haunted him, but he had to honor that she wasn’t interested. It wasn’t her fault he’d been in love with her since Telien’s death. She didn’t remember the link they’d shared during her earliest days of grief, and it might not mean the same thing to her if she did.

  Lial shook himself free of the memory of those days. He needed to start considering his future plans, or he would remain alone forever. If he didn’t remove himself from her presence entirely, he would no longer be able to move on. A few thousand years pining by himself in the healing tower wasn’t an appealing future. He’d already spent fourteen hundred years pining the loss of Aralee.

  But any plans would have to wait until they stopped this newest disaster.

  Carefully, Lial placed a marker against the current page and set the book on the possibly helpful pile. “I believe that text will provide a good introduction. How advanced would you like to go?”

  Lynia looked up from her book with raised brows. “As far as you can find, of course. Even if I can’t actually heal anyone, I can still understand it.”

  “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” Lial said, biting back a sigh. Ever since her fall, she’d interpreted his concerns and questions as criticism or doubt—at times with good cause, he had to admit. But he wished she would stop assuming the worst. “There isn’t anyone in the kingdom I would rather have researching this, and not because I feel… It’s only because I value your skill. However, I don’t want to waste time on information you won’t need.”

  Her expression softened. “Sorry. I shouldn’t make hasty assumptions. I suppose I have been for the last couple of months or so.”

  Gods. So often, their thoughts were in accord. Not duplicates of one another but a close parallel. Did she even realize it? They would get on so well together if they could just—

  With a muttered curse, Lial pushed back from the table, the echo of chair against floor screeching up through the tower. Lynia blinked up at him in confusion, but he didn’t have the words to explain what he was thinking, at least not without sounding like a fool. Iron’s curse, but he had to get away from this madness. It was time he found his pride and stopped moping over what would never be.

  Before he could think of an excuse for his odd behavior, Arlyn entered, waving over her shoulder at Kai as she closed the library door behind her. If she noticed the tension in the room, she ignored it, but her face was pale enough that she might have been oblivious. Lial frowned. Was she ill? She was between her first and second quarter of pregnancy, and unlike Cora, Arlyn hadn’t suffered from the typical stomach complaints.

  Lial met Arlyn in the center of the room, his aggravation forgotten. “Are you unwell, Ayala?”

  “You must be worried if you’ve slipped back to using my title,” Arlyn answered with a soft laugh. “I’m concerned about the news my father just gave me, but I feel okay.”

  He waved toward the table. “Sit. I want to scan you and the babe.”

  Though Arlyn rolled her eyes, she complied. “I counted on Kai being insufferable, but I didn’t consider you.”

  “An oversight, that.” Since she’d taken the chair he’d vacated, Lial pulled out the one beside it and settled it close before plopping himself down. “You should know well enough that I don’t wager with anyone’s health.”

  Lial almost told her what truly drove him, but he didn’t want to scare her. He’d seen more go wrong with pregnancies over his centuries of healing than he wanted to t
hink about. If being thought of as an overbearing annoyance saved her and her child from a preventable complication, then he would happily endure the bad opinion.

  Arlyn’s lips twisted with frustration, but she closed her eyes and nodded. “Fine.”

  Between breaths, he swept his healing magic through her, scanning for any hint of trouble. Her heart rate was elevated, at least until she relaxed beneath the calm his gift brought. Lial checked to see if her heart was overburdened from the strain of pumping extra blood, a rare but unfortunate problem. Thankfully, that wasn’t the cause.

  Stress hormones had increased, though not unduly. If Lyr had told her about Lial’s and Lynia’s mission, that would account for it, but that would need to be confirmed. The stress wasn’t bad enough to affect her son, he found as he checked the baby. No irregularities had developed since his last examination, either. Even so, he ensured her energy was at full capacity and her stress reduced.

  Satisfied, Lial drew his power back and waited for Arlyn to open her eyes. “You know,” she said, “I was annoyed, but I have to admit that was good for my anxiety.”

  “I have my uses.” Lial smiled. “And I am happy to report that you are both well. He or she…they… Are you certain you don’t want to know the child’s sex? This is becoming tedious.”

  Arlyn laughed and then surprised him by patting his arm. “Nice try, but you know Kai will cave before I do.”

  Lial shook his head at that—mostly because she was right.

  Footsteps drew near, and he glanced over in time to see Meli approaching from the staircase, a book gathered against her chest with one arm and her other extended, light gleaming around her palm. After a few paces, the light winked out, and Meli lowered her arm. Blinking, she crossed to their table and stopped.

  “I believe I’ve found something,” Meli said.

  Lial peered at the book she set in front of Lynia, but he couldn’t make out what the elaborate print said from this angle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t likely to be On Preventing a Plague Amongst Elves and Fae. This illness was so unprecedented that they’d be lucky to find anything remotely useful.