Page 21

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Amberstar’s interior was nothing like the basic front facade. Pointed -arch windows decorated with elaborate latticework greeted Rohan everywhere he turned. The structure exuded warmth, not just from the rich hue of the wood used but also from the simple, elegant furnishings. The building might be in the middle of a clearing in the rainwood, but plants and potted trees were tucked in corners, hanging from the walls, and sitting on shelves.

Rashmi stood just inside, waiting for them with a smile. “ Welcome to Amberstar .”

“ Thank you,” Rohan said. He glanced at Farah , who was busy staring as he had been a moment before.

“ We each have duties to see to daily, which is why most everyone is out and about instead of here to greet you,” Rashmi said.

A dark-skinned human woman poked her head out of a room to the left. She walked toward them in a long-sleeved, ankle-grazing, soft pink tunic dress with gold embellishments at the neck and wrists. Her hair was shaved, revealing a slender neck and large, bell-shaped earrings hanging from her lobes. Her deep brown eyes radiated warmth.

Rashmi spotted her and returned the smile. She opened her arm to the woman and brought her against her side. “ Rohan , Farah , let me introduce you to Halima . My love, we have a new couple joining us.”

Halima stood a head taller than Rashmi . She looked from Farah to Rohan and bowed her head. “ Welcome . We don’t get many new members, so it’s very exciting. You’re both going to love it here.”

“ Everyone will return within the hour for the noon meal. Let me show you to your room so you can relax,” Rashmi offered.

Rohan was keenly aware that Farah hadn’t uttered a word. She wore an easy smile, but he saw the rigidness of her posture as she fell into step behind the couple. Was it the prospect of pretending to be romantically linked with him because he was human? Him specifically? Or was it something else he wasn’t aware of?

She didn’t trust anyone here. Not that he blamed her. But if Rashmi had seen Farah’s picture and didn’t turn her in, then that was something. And if Rashmi hadn’t been shown Farah’s picture, they at least had a little time. Regardless , they both needed a few hours to think and plan without worrying about being hunted. Not to mention a decent night’s sleep.

“ The main areas are in the middle here.” Rashmi pointed as they turned left to walk down the hallway. “ The kitchens and dining area are to the back. There is a library and another area on either side of the front doors.”

Rohan brought up the rear of their group. He looked up to see a second-floor balcony that ran along either side.

Halima glanced back. “ Bedrooms are on both sides of the house. Originally , we designed them to be on the second floor, but we soon ran out of room and had to convert a few downstairs areas to private chambers.”

“ How many rooms do you have?” he asked.

Rashmi called over her shoulder, “ Eleven for the moment. We plan to expand. You two are taking our last remaining bedroom.”

“ There are two stairways, one on either end of the building,” Halima explained as they came to the first set hidden behind a wall.

The switchback stairs were crafted with the same care as Rohan had first noticed upon entering the structure. The two women pointed out rooms, naming their occupants as they passed. He wouldn’t remember everyone. Farah nodded as though committing it all to memory.

“ Here you go,” Halima said as they halted next to a door squarely in the middle of the others.

Rashmi opened it and smiled. “ We’ll let you two freshen up. Just follow your noses to the dining area.”

The women waved and walked away hand-in-hand. Farah lingered outside, but Rohan walked past her and entered the room. It was small. Barely big enough for the bed. The view from the window overlooking the back of the property was stunning. It was arched like the others and had a narrow bench along the bottom, perfect for sitting. But his eyes were on the mountains rising through the trees. He had glimpsed the peaks from the ocean, but this vantage point was different, the range closer.

“ What are you doing?” Farah asked in a harsh whisper.

He ran a hand down his face and turned toward her. She had closed the door already. “ I’m looking at the scenery.”

Her eyes blazed as she stalked toward him. She kept her voice at a whisper when she said, “ You know what I mean.”

“ And you know the answer to that. Aren’t you trained to pretend to be someone you aren’t?”

“ Keep your voice down,” she hissed angrily.

Rohan drew in a deep breath and turned back to the window before releasing it. “ This is a safe place.”

“ For how long? You heard that woman talking to Rashmi .”

“ We need a plan.”

Farah plopped down on the bed. “ We have one.”

“ We need a better one.”

“ Fine , but I don’t want to be responsible for bringing harm to anyone here. You know that will happen if we remain.”

“ We’ll stay one night.”

“ If we aren’t found out,” she whispered.

He cut his eyes to her. “ What’s that supposed to mean?”

“ They’ll figure out the truth about us soon enough.”

“ Not from me.”

She snorted and fell back onto the bed. Her eyes closed. The next time she spoke, it wasn’t a whisper. “ Right .”

He studied her, not bothering to answer. How much sleep had she gotten the night before? He didn’t know how far she’d had to go for the herbs or even what she had to do to get them. All Rohan remembered was waking up with his head on her legs. He cleared his throat and started to look away when he realized she had fallen asleep.

She was uncomfortable here. Was it because of the lie? Or him? She hadn’t even wanted to tell him what Amberstar was. To her, it was nothing but somewhere to get clothes. He hadn’t known such a place existed or that there were enough human and elf pairings to necessitate such a location.

The snow-capped mountain peaks drew his gaze again. A person could get lost there. It looked cold and desolate. Untamed and violent. And he wanted a closer look. Needed to see the mountains as they were, not view them through trees.

Rohan let Farah sleep as he continued to stare out the window. Humans and elves emerged from the rainwood and headed toward Amberstar . No one looked nervous or edgy. That might change when he and Farah joined them for the meal.

He turned and spotted a mirror on the wall. He was a sight. He washed his face and hands in the sink and patted his face dry with a cloth. Then he released his hair and combed his fingers through the length before tying it back again. He looked toward Farah in the mirror, but she was no longer on the bed. He found her standing at the window.

“ What don’t you like about it here?” he asked.

She shook her head. “ There have always been rumors about this place. I discovered it was real some years back.”

“ Why didn’t you tell me what it was?”

“ I don’t know.”

He grunted as he moved away from the sink. “ Aye , you do.”

“ It’s embarrassing.”

“ Which part?”

Farah turned her head to look at him. “ All of it.”

“ I thought elves raised human babies.”

“ They do.” She shrugged. “ You’d think that would make it easier to accept an interspecies couple, but it doesn’t.”

He leaned a shoulder against the wall. “ We both live in this country, but that’s the only thing shared. There are no humans in your village, are there?”

She held his gaze for a long time before she said, “ Nay .” Her eyes flicked away. “ There are some settlements of humans throughout the rainwood, but I’ve learned that most stay in the cities.”

“ And you wonder why my people live as we do.”

Farah rolled her eyes. “ Don’t try and be high and mighty. There are no elves in your village.”

“ Your people outnumber mine, what? Twenty to one? Thirty ? Try to imagine if your kind were the ones in the minority.” He pushed off the wall. “ We should go down.”

He went to the door, but she stopped before the mirror and tidied her hair. Rohan waited while she washed her face and hands. Then they made their way downstairs together. Voices reached them as soon as they left their chamber, and by the time they were on the stairs, he could smell the food. They followed both to the center of the building. The dining area sat at the back beneath a soaring, open-air ceiling and arched windows covering three walls, with latticework at the very top. Vines with deep green leaves the size of his hand grew along the arches and the short, two-foot wall.

Six large, amber-colored sconces hung from the beam to illuminate the room. The rectangular table with its live edge was large enough to seat everyone. The chair backs were crafted to look like leaves joined together, and the legs like twisted vines. Sun filtered through the windows, displaying breathtaking patterns on the planked wooden floor.

“ You found us,” Rashmi said as she entered the room from a side door carrying a bowl. “ Please , sit anywhere you like.”

Halima hurried out carrying a platter of food. “ In the middle so everyone can see you. Right here,” she said after setting down the tray.

Rohan walked to the table and waited for Farah to join him. “ Is there anything we can do to help?”

“ I’ll be happy to carry in food,” Farah offered.

“ Not today. Sit back and enjoy,” Rashmi said before disappearing again.

Farah looked at Rohan before she pulled out the chair and sat. He did the same as he looked toward the doorway where all the conversation was coming from. No sooner had he gotten comfortable than others came out carrying more food. Within moments, everyone took their seats. He counted six human women and four men. As for the elves, there were three Sun , three Wood , two Moon , one Star , and one Sea .

Introductions were made, but the names went right out of Rohan’s head. He was too busy gauging each couple instead of paying attention to the introductions as they passed the food around.

“ So ,” a male Moon Elf said. “ How long have you two been together?”

“ Seems like just the other day,” Rohan replied.

One of the human women asked, “ How did you two meet?”

Farah had just taken a bite of food and shot him a quick glance. He saw the flare of worry in her eyes regarding what he might say.

Rohan bit back a grin and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “ Let’s just say there were sparks.”

She choked on her food. He grinned and lightly patted her on the back as the others oohed and ahhed .