Page 27 of Keeper of the Word (The Unsung and the Wolf Duology #2)

Chapter

Twenty-Two

ELANNA

“ D o not leave.” Elanna stood in the courtyard painted with the dawn. “You are the keeper of the word. You swore to stay with me. And I must stay in Asalle until we’ve witnessed Dashiell’s marriage.”

“King Rian is making a declaration today that the wedding will be on the Nay Moon of the Rainless Moon season. I will return by then. I swear.”

“You swore to protect me.”

“Stars, woman. There are other matters happening in the realm besides a blasted wedding. We’ve spoken to Dashiell. I’ve spoken to the sovereign. Whatever you’ve Seen is now righted.”

“The future is never finite, Sir Tolvar.” Her anger burned in her. She said aloud the stars’ forewarning. “ There are threats unforeSeen to tempt those with wounds. Stray not from the path or accept certain doom. ”

“What in stars’ name does that mean?”

“Tell me that you, yourself , must offer reinforcements to the Earl of Greenwood for no other reason than your duty to the realm. Tell me. Why must the Wolf go? Your knight-captains are strong and trustworthy men and women. Why you? ”

Tolvar’s glare chilled her. “Because I’m the Wolf, and whatever is transpiring will cease once I am there.”

Elanna snorted. “Pride. To tempt those with wounds. I do not know all your past, Sir Tolvar, but ’tis plain on your face.”

“And I do not know all your past, but I know that you understand naught of what actually occurs outside your pristine city.”

Elanna was at a loss for words. No one ever spoke like this to her. Ever. “You are the keeper of the word.”

“That phrase continues to be tossed around as if it will save the continent. What does it even mean? Truly?”

“Lord Wolf,” Hux broached, breaking his silence next to them. Joss and Barrett stood behind him, eyes searching the ground.

“What does it mean?” Tolvar’s voice rose.

“I know not…yet. But when it has been revealed to me, I need you here. ”

“And I will be. When I return.” Tolvar mounted Valko, nodded to Gus, already astride his horse, and the two exited the inner gate.

Something flashed before Elanna. The reverberation of the rumbling from last night returned. An intake of breath escaped her.

“Lady, are you well?” Hux asked, his fingertips grazing her forearm.

“Wait,” she whispered. “Wait.” She closed her eyes. Wait for what? Wait for the wedding? Wait for time? Wait?—

“Wait!” Elanna yelled. “Tolvar! Sir Tolvar, wait!” Her first few steps were stumbles, her legs like mint jelly, but she willed herself to lift her skirts and pump them after Tolvar and Gus. “Wait!”

Making her way out of the inner keep, she spotted them at the other end of the outer courtyard; they were almost to the castle’s main gate.

Sidra Castle guards and pages gawked. Behind her, the smacking of others’ footsteps followed.

Joss caught up with her. But Hux dashed past, his pace quicker than she’d ever witnessed a man sprint. He, too, yelled at Tolvar to halt.

They’re not going to halt.

When they were almost through the gate, one of the entrance guards darted in front of Tolvar’s horse, pointing back to Hux and the others running up behind him. Tolvar shifted and gave them an expression of surprise. Valko cantered toward them.

“What is it?” Tolvar had his hand on his sword and was scanning the vicinity. He dismounted.

Elanna panted, unlike Joss, Hux, and Barrett. “Give me…” She had to catch her breath. Her lungs and legs simmered.

Tolvar leaned down so they were eye level. “What is it?”

“Give me that stone in your pocket,” Elanna finally uttered.

Tolvar straightened himself and patted the lump in his hose’s pocket. “What stone?”

“The Edan Stone?” Hux asked next to them.

“Aye, if that is what ’tis called. Give it to me.”

The two men shared a glance before Tolvar crossed his arms. “Why?”

“I promise to return it to you. ’Tis more vital than either of us know. Pray, give it to me for safekeeping until your return.”

Tolvar scratched his beard. She could feel his mind working, wondering how she knew he had a stone in his pocket.

Why have the stars chosen a man so full of doubt? She immediately bit the side of her cheek for the thought. StarSeers ne’er questioned the stars. She gave a silent apology to the veiled stars and vowed to go to the Delara as soon as she had that stone.

“Please.” Her cheeks warmed from not yet having caught her breath.

Tolvar’s hand grasped the lump in his pocket, and he withdrew it, covering it fully with his fist so Elanna was unable to glimpse it. They stood silently while Tolvar squeezed his fist around it.

After a time, Tolvar peered around, rolling his eyes at the scrutiny that had developed around them in the courtyard.

His tone was soft, for Elanna’s ears alone. “This stone is why I am alive. This stone is why someone I loved is not. ’Tis a curse. And a weight. But I find I must carry it so as to not”—he scratched his chin again—“break.”

Elanna placed a hand on his forearm. She had so little strength left.

But in this moment, so, too, it appeared, did the Wolf.

She did not feed Tolvar any of the warmth from her being.

He did not want it. But she knew—mayhap from the lack she’d experienced—the touch of another soul could create wonders within one’s essence.

Elanna did not know the extent of the relationship between Tolvar and Sloane the Unsung, but the Wolf carried so much more than love.

Guilt. Grief. Unease. The last troubled her, and she found it strange that the Wolf wanted for assuredness.

You’ve Seen him. You know what his fortune holds. She did. Her faith. Her very being could— would —carry him to his path.

Tolvar clasped her hand on his forearm and placed the stone into her palm, cradling his fingers over hers around it. It was a weight. Smooth. Cold. Very cold to her touch. She lifted her hand to eye level and studied the coal-black ovoid rock. A curious, deep blue fissure streaked through it.

“Edan Stone. As in the Edan Lore? There is no mention of a stone in the prophecy.”

“Correct. However, this stone allowed Sloane to speak to the goddess of the Azure Moon. It also protected the one holding it from the Befallen.”

Elanna nodded. She understood. She did not need Tolvar to say more. Sloane had obviously given this to Tolvar at some point, and it had saved him—not her.

“The stone is a piece of the moon itself,” Tolvar said, his eyes still clinging to it. “Or so I was told.”

Elanna gave a half-smile. So that is why it felt cold to her touch. The moon’s pale beam and the stars’ glittering heat were contrasting lights.

And a new understanding unveiled itself to Elanna.

The Edan Stone disappeared safely into the pocket of her dress, and their eyes met. “Farewell, Sir Tolvar. This shall be yours once more upon your return.”

Tolvar nodded, and if Elanna hadn’t known better, she would have sworn he seemed relieved to give it up for a time.

A day spent in prayer was comfortable. Natural. Albeit a bit prosaic after weeks outside Ashwin, but ’twas entirely what Elanna needed. To fill her starlit well. To feel close to the heavens. To rest.

When she stepped out of the Delara and into the late afternoon light, she found Joss and Hux standing in the courtyard.

“Did you make sure to pray for me, too, Lady?” Hux grinned.

Elanna smirked. “Are you in need of prayers?”

“Of course. Mayhap more so than any other man.”

“Hux, we are in her service.” Joss’s scowl mirrored the glower her earl would give. “Where may we escort you, m’lady?” Joss asked.

“Have you two been standing here this entire time?” Elanna asked.

“’Course,” they said together, though in very different tones.

The trio made their way through the corridors to the Crown Hall, only being halted twice, once by a passing Warin, who questioned their direction, and again by a castle messenger, who feigned to need direction so he could speak to the StarSeer.

Joss spoke to both, throwing her shoulders back as she did so.

Elanna was gladdened she could dine in the sovereign’s smaller hall, away from the frivolity of the Great Hall.

She suspected that the sovereign was glad, too.

He did not seem to want much attention directed toward Elanna.

After dinner, Barrett relieved Joss. The two men followed Elanna into the gardens, neither saying much to her.

She didn’t know if the stars would call to her this evening, but in obedience and from habit, she stayed out under the night sky well after the stars dotted the darkness.

Seated on an uncomfortable stone bench at the edge of the queen’s garden that bordered the sovereign’s labyrinth, Elanna watched courtiers pass by.

Most were in groups of five or six, but one pair, giggling and clinging to one another, entered the labyrinth without noticing her.

They melted into each other’s embrace at the entrance, and Elanna’s chest stung to watch. Her fingertips grazed her mouth. What would it feel like to have another’s lips on hers? The woman giggled once more, and they disappeared .

Her eyes turned to the sky, the stars silent.

“Think we should report them?” Hux’s teasing voice spoke from behind before he came to sit next to her.

Elanna relaxed her shoulders.

’Tis because of the lengthy journey spent together. Not to mention his rescue of you in Tam’s Ford, she reasoned.

Nevertheless, a smile crept to her face as she brushed her eyes over him. “Seems terribly unfair, as they do not know we are here.”

“’Tis why you should always be careful in your acts.”

“I find that I have little concern regarding that dilemma. I am oft watched, and even if I were not, I do little that would be of concern to anyone.”

Hux chuckled, folding his hands into his lap. “If today is any indication of how you usually spend your days, I’ve no doubt of that. But mayhap all this is a sign that you should live a little.”

“My life is bound to the stars.” The answer was so automatic, so void of emotion, that Elanna’s chest suddenly stung again.

“Cannot there be room in life for pastimes outside the stars?”

“Not for a StarSeer.”

“Why?” Hux’s dark eyes reminded her of a night of the Nay Moon. Without meaning to do so, she glanced at his lips.

“Do you believe in the goddesses of the moon, Hux?” She ignored how his smile inched deeper. It was not the first time she’d said his name, but it rolled off her tongue differently. Stars, had the night air grown mild?

“Of course, Lady.”

She nodded. A heathen from Deogol, mayhap.

But mayhap not. “The goddesses are providers. Protectors. But as Deogol abandoned them more and more, they forfeited their power of guidance and shielding of your land. But the StarSeers are the Light of the stars incarnate. The Five are essential to the Capella Realm’s Light. ”

“’Tis an enormous amount of pressure placed upon you.”

Elanna had never considered that. “I was born blessed. Any pressure bestowed upon me is ordained and accepted with reverence.”

“Yet you are still a woman. ”

Distant giggling broke their conversation. The couple exited the labyrinth. Elanna’s cheeks warmed.

But she composed herself. “My role as StarSeer is more essential than anything else.”

Hux nodded. “I think I understand. But, in the meantime, while you wait for the prince’s and your destiny, why not enjoy a few moments’ freedom?”

“Such as?”

“Such as,” he paused, his eyes playfully alight. “On the morrow, accompany me—and Joss and Barrett, of course—on a ride?”

“Where is Barrett?” Elanna asked, suddenly very aware that she and Hux, too, were paired together in the garden.

“He went to relieve himself. He’ll return. But as I can count the number of Sidra guards surrounding the garden—eleven all together—I feel you’re quite safe here with me.”

Her eyes flitted to his lips again. What was she doing?

Elanna stood. “Very well. I do ride regularly in Ashwin, so ’tis not as if I cannot spend an hour or so riding.

Rasa does need the exercise, of course. But after I spend the morning in prayer.

And it must be a short ride. I shall need to return for midday prayers.

But…” She bit her lip. Stars, she was rambling.

“It does sound pleasant. Tomorrow. Aye, on the morrow, we’ll ride. ”

Hux inclined his head. “Marvelous.”