Page 56 of Healed By the Grumpy Elf

Something flickers across her perfect features, anticipation perhaps, or satisfaction? I’m not sure. Lorian appears in the doorway, and the air seems to crystalize around us. His tall frame fills the entrance, but it's his face that catches my attention. The color drains from it as his eyes lock on Karanda. His mouth parts slightly, and for the first time since I've known him, Lorian Reizenhart appears completely at a loss for words.

The temperature in the room seems to drop several degrees. My visitor rises with theatrical slowness, her movement fluid and deliberate, like a dancer performing for an audience.

"Lorian," she says, her voice soft but carrying an undercurrent of undeniable hostility, "I've come to bring you home."

I stand quickly, my chair scraping against the wooden floor. The sound is jarring in the tense silence.

"What is she talking about?" My voice comes out squeaky like a mouse. “You’re leaving?”

“Duchess Karanda.” Lorian inclines his head in her direction, ignoring my questions. “You should have announced your visit in advance.”

Duchess?

My heart pinches, and when I look down at my hand, it’s trembling. What’s happening?

“Who is this woman?”

The woman answers before Lorian can, her eyes never leaving his face.

"I am Duchess Karanda Nurenbatin of the Elven High Court," she says, each word precise and measured. "One of Empress Palantia’s official envoy."

The Empress of the Elven Court’s official envoy, sitting in my kitchen? That may explain the woman’s cold shoulder and expensive attire, but it doesn’t explain why she’s here for Lorian.

Or why she’s here at all. Unless she’sthatduchess. The one whose boy died.

My gaze goes from Lorian to the duchess in succession as my rapid heartbeat drowns out everything except the sound of my own blood rushing through my veins.

Lorian remains completely still, his face a mask I can't read. This isn't the man who laughed with me over pink glitter, who whispered my name like a prayer as we made love. This is the formal, distant elf doctor I first met. Or someone else, someone even more remote.

Someone out of my reach.

The duchess retrieves an ornate wooden scroll case and hands it over to Lorian. He accepts it without a word, his expression made of stone as he opens it and retrieves a parchment sealed with blue wax.

“By express order of Her Imperial Majesty, you are summoned to return to court.” There’s a satisfied lift of her lisp as she watches Lorian like a hawk, but her voice is smooth like the velvet of her dress. “Effective immediately.”

I look at the scroll, then at Lorian.

"What does it mean?" I hate the hint of panic in my voice. “This can’t be serious. You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to go.”

Lorian says nothing, his posture rigid, his eyes fixed on the scroll as if it might explode.

“I'm sorry if you had other expectations, dear.” The duchess’ gaze shifts to me, cold and dismissive. “Perhaps Lorian didn’t explain his duties to the court supersedes any… let’s call them distractions, shall we?”

The way she says it makes my skin crawl. What is she insinuating? I bristle, straightening my spine.

"What Lorian does and where he goes is none of your business." My voice shakes with suppressed anger. "And he doesn’t have to obey to anyone, empress or not."

The duchess ignores me completely, turning back to Lorian as if I hadn't spoken at all.

"Her Imperial Highness has decided your exile has lasted long enough," she says with cold precision. "After all, your family has been petitioning for your return since the day you left."

My breath catches as understanding dawns. My eyes dart to Lorian's face and what I see there sets a dagger of ice between my ribs.

“Lorian,” I call his name and I see his shoulders tense. Still, he refuses to look at me. “Please tell me she’s lying.”

He was always going to leave? I can’t believe it. I’ve been so stupid. So gullible. And to think I fell in love with him.

His expression gives me nothing, but the tension in his jaw speaks volumes. The duchess’ words hang in the air between us, heavy with implication.