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I had one more audience with the queen, during which she blustered at me, insulted and threatened me, and I did a little blustering of my own, though not too much. I wanted to live to get out of there. She didn’t like the fact that I’d broken the spell keeping Pavel asleep, but I reminded her of our bargain and that she was now bound by her oath not to harm either my brother or Lord Juul.

“I’ll have to remind the king’s wizard that if he tries any spells, I’ll take it out on his husband.”

“Be careful taunting him,” I said, shrugging a little. “We’re brothers and we share the same magic. I suppose you heard what happened to King Orrin of the Dokkalfar, didn’t you?”

“Don’t you threaten me, human.”

“Or maybe not so human. My brother and I obviously have a demon somewhere in our family history.”

She only glared at me and finally let me go, but with dire threats ringing in my ears about what she’d do if I didn’t uphold my end of the bargain. All I had to do then was figure out a way to get out of the castle and back through “enemy” lines.

I found a spot near the castle outer walls where I could start a small fire. It didn’t need to be much. I cut my arm in a different spot this time because it was getting sore and let the blood drop into the tiny flame, calling the Demon Lords and asking for their help. I used the other silly words too because no one was around but a couple of ogres, grinning at me, and making no doubt unflattering comments about me in their Billy Goat’s Gruff language that I couldn’t understand a word of anyway.

It took a few seconds but finally the small flame began to smoke a bit, and I fanned the flame to get it higher. Slowly, the smoke began to waft up and cover me and, in a few minutes, I was hidden from view again, a thing that wiped the smiles off the faces of those ogres, anyway. I climbed back up the wall where I came in and lowered myself over the side to clamber down the ivy as far as it reached. Someone had taken down the helpful ladder, so when I got as low as I could, I dropped to the ground, twisting my foot. I stood up, limping only a little, and made my way across the small no-man’s land outside the castle walls.

Most of Tarrak’s army was assembled in an orderly camp some ninety meters from the castle. When the army went on a journey, they took along the makings for temporary dwellings consisting of wooden racks or thin curved poles, covered with deer hides and furs. They were surprisingly warm and comfortable, and the soldiers kept constant fires going outside each of them, where pots were hung over the flames or else placed down in the coals to keep warm. The Elves were always eating huge quantities of food, it seemed. Juul had once told me that was necessary in the cold weather, and now as I walked toward their encampment, I could smell the delicious aroma of rabbit cooking over their campfires. I had meant to keep walking past them, but my feet slowed as I got close, and I wondered if I might be able to filch a small piece of meat or even a hunk of bread. Most of the soldiers who were sitting around the fires never so much as glanced in my direction. They were casting dice or playing one of the odd games of chance they played with twigs and rocks. Some of them were drinking from big tankards that probably contained the dark ale the soldiers enjoyed so much.

I kept walking though, steering well clear of the biggest of the temporary structures that I knew housed the king and probably Prince Glorfindel. I figured they might be inside getting warm or sleeping, since I didn’t see them by any of the campfires. I stood watching for a minute or two longer, then sighed and turned around to make my way back into the forest to see if I could locate Violet—and bumped right into Glorfindel, who stood with his sword drawn, a suspicious and hostile look on his beautiful face.

“Stop right there,” he ordered in a low but fierce voice. “Who are you? Tell me at once or I’ll run you through.”

I gasped in surprise, but I thought he might be bluffing, and that he couldn’t really see me. He was looking a bit off to my left, actually, though I thought if he decided to use his sword, he’d make a wide arcing swing to ensure hitting something. It’s what I would have done. I backed up a step or two and he growled at me.

“Stop moving, damn you.”

I lowered my voice to a whisper, trying to disguise it. “How is it you can see me?”

“I can sense you there. And I can smell the woodsmoke.”

I took another quick step backward and to the left, farther away from the camp where a couple of soldiers were looking at Glorfindel curiously, as he talked to what must have looked to them like thin air. I was trying to be really quiet, but he snarled again and brandished his weapon.

“Stop moving, I said!”

“All right. Calm down. I’m not moving now.”

“Who are you?”

“Not a threat. I just want to leave.”

“Last chance,” he said, his voice full of menace. He put his sword back in the scabbard and raised both hands in the air. I froze. I’d never actually seen his ability to do anyone harm with his magic, but Pavel had told me Glorfindel was powerful, and I had no reason not to believe him.

Still, I hesitated, looking long and hard at the tree line and calculating my chances of making it. If I could get in the woods, maybe I could lose him and the other soldiers.

“Don’t even think of running.” He suddenly whipped off the cloak he was wearing and threw it in my direction, hoping no doubt to cover me. Frantically, I dodged backward out of the way and slammed right into a solid wall of muscle behind me. Tarrak.

I tried to wriggle free, but he held onto me tightly, wrapping his arms around me and taking me to the ground. The soldiers, who’d been lounging around the fire minutes before, suddenly came rushing toward us, as I felt Tarrak’s hand reach to the back of my head, grab my hair, and painfully yank my head back. A second later, I felt the bite of cold steel at my throat. A trickle of blood slid down my neck.

“Wait! Don’t!” I yelled frantically, and the pressure lessened immediately.

“Sergey?”

“Yes—yes it’s me. Don’t kill me, Tarrak, please! I can explain!”

Tarrak moved his hand down to my shoulder, grabbed a handful of my coat, and hauled me to my feet, none too gently, I might add, but at least he put away his dagger. He began shouting at the back of my head, though I thought he assumed he was yelling in my face. He was cursing me, I was pretty sure, because I recognized some of the words. Pavel didn’t allow anyone, including Juul, to curse very much around me when I was growing up, so I didn’t recognize that many of them. In fact, after all this time I still only spoke a little of the Elven language, but I’d picked up a few of the curse words during my time in the stables and from my training with the soldiers. From the startled and admiring glances he was getting from the others, though, I figured he must be cursing both fluently and inventively.

He barely slowed for breath, but finally he seemed to run out of steam and just shook me instead.

“Change back!” he yelled at me. “Do it now, Pavel, or so help me, I’ll…”

“I can’t! I mean, I don’t know how.” That last word came out as a bit of a howl—the Elves, and particularly Tarrak, were fearsome when they were angry, and I confess to being rattled. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I-I mean, I’ll change back eventually on my own, but I don’t know how to make it happen.”

He growled at me and called me a few more names and then turned to Glorfindel. “Can you do it?”

The handsome Fairy shrugged, looking a little amused. “Maybe if I knew what spell he used, I could try. But I might just make it worse or harm him in some way. It’s probably better to let it wear off on its own, like he said.”

Tarrak began the cursing again but began to drag me toward the camp by my coat that he still held clenched in his hand. I somehow managed to stay on my feet as I stumbled—backward—alongside him. He reached one of the fur-covered structures that was larger than the rest and threw back the furs covering the entrance. Hurling me inside, he crawled in behind me and over to where I was sprawled on my back on a heap of pillows and furs. Glorfindel came in behind us and stood in front of the opening, while Tarrak stared down at a spot just to the left of me.

“How long does this last?”

“I-I don’t know. Hard to say, as this is only the third time I’ve done it. I materialized right in front of Adan and Queen Olga one time.”

“You were inside Adan’s castle?”

“Oh yes.”

“What? Why?” He took a step toward me. “Have you been conspiring with the enemy? This just gets worse and worse, Sergey!”

“No, I wasn’t conspiring. Not exactly. I mean, it didn’t start out that way. I wanted to find my brother and Lord Juul and help them escape.”

“From a castle under siege? Did you have more of your… invisibility potion to give them?”

“Huh? No, I didn’t have any invisibility potion. It was a spell I used, and I just… I thought maybe…” I sighed and shrugged. “I guess I didn’t think it all the way through.”

“Really? You not thinking something through? I’m amazed, Sergey. Truly.”

“Look,” Glorfindel said, interrupting the sarcasm. I looked too at where he was pointing and saw my boots beginning to become visible. Then gradually, my legs and finally my torso came into view. I was kind of grayed out, but you could see me. Or the outline of me anyway. You could also see the tent poles through me, but it was something at least. The visibility continued on up to my shoulders and my head and suddenly Tarrak was directing his furious gaze directly into my eyes. I tried out a hesitant smile, but it failed miserably.

Tarrak crossed his arms over his chest and glared. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t beat you and then have you taken back to the palace and thrown in the dungeons.”

“Um… because I’ve made a bargain with Queen Olga for Pavel and Juul’s release?”

“Are you telling me or asking me?”

“Telling you. I made a bargain.”

“What possible bargain could you make with the queen? What could you possibly have that she would value enough to bargain for?”

“That’s exactly what Juul said to me.”

“Juul?” He leaned in closer, his eyes sharpening. “You mean you actually saw him? She actually let you in to see Lord Juul?”

“Yes. And Pavel too. They’re all right, by the way. Someone, and I think it was the queen, had put a spell on Pavel to make him fall into a deep sleep. I think they were a little afraid of what he might be able to do to them. Anyway, I managed to get the spell off him, with Juul’s help. They were both fine when I last saw them.”

“Fine” wasn’t exactly how they were, but I didn’t think I should tell the king and Glorfindel why they had both been so upset when I last laid eyes on them. It would just bring up things I didn’t want to discuss. As it was, those things came up anyway because Tarrak wasn’t one to let anything go.

“You’re not telling me everything. What are you lying about now, Sergey?”

“I’m not lying. Exactly. Juul was a bit upset with me. He didn’t like the bargain I made with Queen Olga.”

“What was this bargain? Again, what could you possibly have that would make Queen Olga want to bargain for it?”

“It wasn’t so much what I have, per se, but what I might be able to put my hands on.”

“Sergey … ”

Since I recognized his “I’m losing patience and about to throttle you,” tone, I scooted back a bit. My body had almost fully materialized in full color by now, and since there wasn’t any more hiding I could do, I decided to just blurt it out.

“I told Queen Olga and Prince Adan I could get the Sword of Light for them.”

There was a moment of stunned silence, during which both Tarrak and Glorfindel stared down at me in amazement.

“Why would you do such a thing?” Glorfindel finally said.

I was still looking at Tarrak and I didn’t like what I was seeing on his face, so I kept watching him as I answered. “I had to say something. Adan was already having me dragged out of the hall to be killed.” More silence followed this remark, and I began to get really nervous. I started babbling a little.

“Anyway, Adan didn’t believe me about the Sword, but the queen stepped in and stopped the soldiers who were taking me away. She listened to me and accepted my bargain to keep Sergey and Juul both safe in exchange for the sword. Juul got really angry when I told him and Pavel about it because he thought it was betraying you, and we started to fight. Well, he fought, and I mostly tried to survive. Pavel tried to break it up and there was a lot of noise, so the ogres came back in and started hitting and kicking Juul again. I threatened to tell Queen Olga, so they stopped, but then I, uh…I had to go. I did the cloaking spell again and climbed back over the wall, and then Glorfindel saw me and…well, you know the rest.”

Tarrak was still staring at me, his face only getting redder and angrier, so I blurted out, “Don’t be mad. I had to try to save Pavel and Juul! And don’t look so worried. I’m not an Elf. I don’t intend to keep my bargain.”

Tarrak gasped. Then without another word, he gave me a furious look and then whirled and stormed out through the fur-covered flap. There was a little shocked silence—mostly on my part—and then Glorfindel sighed.

“I suppose you think you have a spell to find the Sword.”

“Er, no, not exactly. Not a spell anyway. But when I conjured up the ghost of King Gratin, he told me. In a roundabout way. I believe I can figure it out.”

He raised one slender eyebrow. “Really? You’re not even sure, and yet you made a bargain with Queen Olga anyway? You gave your oath.”

I lifted one shoulder negligently. “Again, I’m not an Elf , as has been pointed out to me repeatedly since I first came to the Quendi, so I’m not worried about my oath or any bargain I made with that old woman. Not in the face of the fact that she was ready to murder me without a second thought, and I was desperate to save my life. She still might murder my brother and Lord Juul, and I don’t trust her, but I was trying to save my life and theirs. Don’t look at me that way, Glorfindel. I don’t have the luxury of honor, especially for the likes of people like Olga and Adan. And like I said, I needed to see my brother and make sure he was safe. I made the bargain with her to make sure they stay that way until Tarrak can rescue them. I would have promised her anything to make sure Pavel survives this.”

“Like promising to give an invincible sword to Tarrak’s worst enemies? People who would kill him without a second thought?”

“I would never actually give them the sword. Or anything else that would hurt Tarrak. I only said it to buy some time for Pavel and Juul.”

“So you’d be willing to be forsworn?”

“What? Oh, you mean will I break my promise? You’re damned right I will. Besides, it wasn’t exactly a promise. I see it more like a fabrication.”

“How is that better?”

Since I didn’t really have an answer for that, I pressed my lips together and shrugged again. Glorfindel gave me a long look and then it was his turn to shake his head at me and sweep outside. I heard him say something to someone near the flap of the structure, and then I heard the sounds of two of the soldiers talking softly to each other just outside. I knew they must be guards set to make sure I didn’t leave.

I sighed and tried to make myself comfortable until they decided what to do with me, or until I could figure a way out of this. I grabbed a fur and covered my shoulders with it because the heat of the fires didn’t reach inside. Then I eased off my boot to take a look at my bruised foot. I had hurt it a little jumping down off the castle wall, and I needed to make sure it wasn’t too messed up. A dark bruise had already started to form, and it was pretty sore, but I didn’t think it was sprained. I was rubbing it when the flap opened again and Tarrak ducked inside again.

He looked down at me and frowned. “What are you doing?”

“Rubbing my foot—I twisted it when I jumped down off the ivy on the castle wall.”

“Let me see,” he said, his voice almost as gruff as the ogres had been, and knelt down beside me, pulling my foot toward him.

His warm hands felt the bones and though he hurt me a little, he looked up after a moment. “It’s fine. Just twisted.”

“I know. I said so.”

He kept staring at me and didn’t release my foot. Instead, he began to massage it gently, almost absently, looking up to meet my startled gaze. It was such an intimate thing for him to do that it almost took my breath away.

“So,” he said softly. “You want to kill me now, Sergey? Is that why you made your bargain with Adan?”

“What? No, I don’t want to kill you, or anybody, but especially not you. I was only trying to save my brother.”

“You didn’t trust me to do that?”

“It’s not a matter of trust.”

“I think it is.”

I dropped my gaze, unable to keep looking into those beautiful, ice blue eyes. “I asked you to let me help, but you refused. You wouldn’t see me, and you sent me a note telling me to stay at the palace until you returned.”

“So you do acknowledge then that you defied my direct order?”

“I-I don’t think ‘defy’ is the right word, exactly.”

He just looked at me, his face carefully unemotional, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. He ran his thumb up over my arch, and I moaned a little because it hurt and felt good at the same time. He glanced up at me, still keeping his face carefully blank.

“Do you really know how to find the sword? After you spoke to the shade of King Gratin, I had the impression you were angry because he spoke in riddles.”

“I was, yes. But I’ve been thinking about it, and I believe I know how to solve the riddle.”

“You believe you do? And based on this, you made your bargain with Queen Olga?”

“Well, I don’t mean to actually keep that bargain.”

He stopped rubbing my foot and glared up at me. “That’s the second time you said that. You would break your oath?”

“Better to break it than to do even worse by keeping it.”

“No, Sergey. You’re wrong. When a man gives his word... he’s holding his own self in his hands, like water. And if he opens his fingers—if he breaks that word—then he loses himself.”

“I guess I’ll just have to live with that.”

He tightened his lips and frowned at me. “What will you do with the sword then? Don’t say you’ll give it to me because I wouldn’t have it now.”

“Oh, of course not, you’re far too honorable. But not so honorable that you didn’t make love to me even though you knew you had no intention of staying with me. You didn’t have any problem breaking that promise, did you?”

“I never made you promises,” he said fiercely, his gaze holding mine.

“That’s a lie. Kissing me was a promise. So was making love to me. Or it should have been. But don’t worry; as soon as I find the sword and use it to free Pavel and Lord Juul, you’ll never have to see me again. My dishonor won’t reflect on you in the least.”

“Are you saying you want the sword for yourself?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

He jumped back up to his feet and stood with his fists clenched, staring down at me.

“I don’t believe you have any idea of how to find Gratin’s Sword, even if it does exist. I’m sending you back to the palace in the morning under heavy guard. You’ll only manage to get yourself killed if I don't stop you. I’ll free Juul and Pavel, and by the time I get through with Olga and her spawn, Adan, your bargain will be null and void anyway. When I return, I’ll decide if I should send you back to your damned village or keep you locked away in my dungeons. I should by rights kill you here and now for your treason and disrespect, but for Pavel’s sake, I won’t.”

“For Pavel’s sake…I see.”

His face full of fury, he huffed out a harsh breath, clearly sick of me, and gave me one last glare before turning away again to leave. I sat there for a long time, regretting the chasm between us but knowing there was nothing I could do or say at this point to bridge it. I still didn’t intend to give up. I believed I knew where the Sword of Light might be, and I was determined to find it. All I had to do was find a way to escape Tarrak.

I didn’t think he’d come back again that night, and I was right. Other than sending in some food and water for me an hour or so later, he took no more notice of me. I didn’t get ale and roasted rabbit like everyone else was having, but at least he did a little better than just bread and water. I got both of those, but he also sent a bowl of some kind of steaming stew that was delicious. I wolfed it down, realizing I hadn’t eaten all day.

After that, however, Tarrak seemed to ignore my presence in camp and didn’t return, though I’d hoped he might. I decided to wait until the camp quieted down to try to escape, and I took a little rest in the meantime. I needed it because I felt drained by my last encounter and conversation with Tarrak.

It was easy to escape—almost too easy. I wondered if it was some kind of trap, but I decided to cross that bridge when I came to it. I managed to sneak out the back of the sleeping structure by simply working loose the ties that kept it on the frame, lifting up the back, and sliding under. I was on the alert for a guard behind the structure, but there was no one. Hard to believe Tarrak hadn't set guards on the tent.

I pulled my furs tightly around me, even covering my head and walked out of camp past the sleeping soldiers and the guards nodding by their campfires. If I thought it unusual for Tarrak’s soldiers to be so careless—and I did—I decided not to look at the situation too suspiciously and just be happy for now that it had been easy to get away.

I walked straight into the woods to put as much distance as I could between me and the camp, and then I angled back over toward where I’d last seen Violet. I didn't really expect to see the stag waiting for me, so I was surprised when I found him standing in the little clearing, munching on some lichen that he had excavated from under the snow. I couldn’t believe I had been so lucky as to find him waiting there, and I looked around myself to see if someone could have led him there and left him for me as a trap. But that meant someone would have had to find him first and know that I was the one who left him.

I decided to just take him and get out of there as quickly as I could. I located his saddle and reins under the tree where I’d left them—I’d piled some branches on top of them to hide them—and got him saddled up and ready. Then I got on his back and headed him toward Dokkalfar territory.

There was still the small problem of finding the legendary Svartalfheim, not to mention the cave of old Ludimarien, whoever he was. I remembered from the book Pavel gave me that Svartalfheim was one of the Nine Worlds described as where the “black Elves” lived. It was described as a dark, subterranean realm, but Pavel had told me about going to the realm of the Dark Elves, and I was pretty sure that was what used to be called Svartalfheim.

Pavel had gone there when he first came to the Quendi and had a run-in with their old king, Orrin, the one that Pavel made dance off a cliffside to fall to his death after Orrin tried to kill Tarrak and his soldiers. It wasn’t a particularly dark or subterranean place, though Pavel said the Dokkalfar, or Dark Elves, did like the hills and underground caves and made their homes in them. Some of them were dangerous, like some Quendi and humans were, but not all of them. As for the name “Ludimarien,” I had a feeling it must have been some ancient king or wizard of the Dokkalfar who had lived in a cave there. Maybe… I intended to find out. It would take some research and a good deal of luck and determination. It might even take a bit of Infernal Magic, but I was confident I could find the cave and then I’d figure out the riddle from there.

Tarrak, Glorfindel, and even Pavel and Juul had found my confidence to be foolhardy. Perhaps it was, but what choice did I have? I was sure that I’d bought some time for my brother and Juul from Queen Olga, but I also got the distinct impression that she wasn’t sane. Juul had said so too. I couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t change her mind, especially as Tarrak’s siege of her castle continued.

I had to wonder what Prince Adan and his mother had thought they had to gain by the kidnapping of my brother and Lord Juul. They had to know Tarrak would come after them and do exactly what he’d been doing and then exact his vengeance on them both afterward. It was a mystery and I hated mysteries. But my main focus for now had to be on finding the sword.

The trail, however, was long, and with no one to talk to, my mind kept worrying over the pieces of this puzzle that didn’t quite fit. I rode the rest of the night and the whole of that next day, stopping only to let Violet rest. I rode until late afternoon, and it was already beginning to grow dark. I thought I must be getting close to Dokkalfar territory, and I was a little nervous. It looked like just more of the endless white forest, only with a little more snow. It was bitterly cold, too, and the dark pine trees covered in snow stretched endlessly in every direction.

Most of that day I’d been riding alongside a wide, shallow stream that was not quite frozen solid, the water like gray slush as it churned, sluggish and sullen, against the rocks. I knew I had to have a fire soon because it was turning so cold I could see my breath hanging in the air in front of me and my feet were growing numb. I saw to Violet first, turning him loose so he could forage for some of the lichen that was a wild reindeer’s staple diet during the winter. I was fairly confident that he wouldn’t range too far. I had talked with him a lot during the day, mostly for company, but I also thought maybe he understood me a little. I told him how I was trying to save Pavel and Juul from the wicked queen, and I told him how brave he was for helping me and how much I depended on him.

It could have been my imagination, but he shook his antlers occasionally to make his bells jingle and let me know he was listening. After finding a place to stop for the night, I began to make a fire, taking out the fire-starting kit from my pack. I had an extra fur stowed away in there too, so I got that out as well and draped it over my shoulders as I began making my camp. I knew from camping with Juul over the years that I should take some coals from the fire I was making after it had been burning a while and bury them under a thick layer of dirt. Then I would put some branches over that and finally the extra fur. I just had to make sure the dirt layer under the branches and fur was thick enough not to catch either of them on fire. If I did it right, though, my bed would be fairly warm for the night, or at least I wouldn’t freeze to death before morning.

I had brought along a little shovel to do the job, and I set about trying to get the frozen ground to cooperate. I didn’t have much luck—not enough, anyway. I was about to resign myself to a really uncomfortable night when I heard Violet, who had wandered out of the clearing I had stopped in, make a loud sniffing sound. I had worked with the reindeer long enough to know that when one of them sensed something dangerous or unusual surrounding them, they made that snuffling sound that had been plainly audible in the cold, clear air. He was stamping his feet a bit forcefully too and snorting, which usually meant he thought a predator or intruders were not very far away. I got to my feet and drew my dagger. But before I could take more than a few steps away from the fire, I was tackled to the ground from behind by someone rushing at me from the shadows.

Whoever he was, he was strong and determined, and he disarmed me easily, knocking my dagger from my hand and tossing it past my head and well out of my reach. I struggled wildly then, unwilling to die here in this strange place where Pavel and…any others who might be interested…would never even know where my body lay. I was face down on the cold snow and trying to fight when the intruder leaned over and spoke in my ear.

“Stop all this fighting before you hurt yourself. I have you now, and you’re not going anywhere.”

I recognized that voice. At once relief washed over me, followed quickly by apprehension. Tarrak had been furious at me the last time I spoke to him, and now he’d left the siege of Adan’s castle and followed me all the way to Dokkalfar territory. Why? Had he come to stop my attempt to find the Sword of Light? He’d been so angry when he’d last spoken to me about it. He had called my actions treasonous. Had he—could he—have come to not just stop me but to kill me?

I twisted around underneath him and began to seriously fight for my life. I suppose I could have saved myself the trouble because it quickly became apparent that I couldn’t hope to win against his superior strength. He growled his frustration at me for continuing to fight and then trapped my hands over my head to hold me in place. I still squirmed and tried to twist away, so he put his body over mine, straddling me. He leaned down and shouted in my face.

“Stop fighting me, Sergey! I don’t want to hurt you.”

“No, you just want to kill me!”

“Damn it, mortal!” he cried and then he bent down and to my shock, he kissed me. I was so overwrought at this point that I might have blacked out for a moment, but the next thing I remember were warm hands under my shirt caressing my skin and then being pulled up and crushed against Tarrak’s muscular chest. I was shivering with reaction and the cold, but he stood up and swept me into his arms, enveloping me in his heat. He kicked snow over my fire and then carried me away from it and into the woods. I should have been frightened, but it was difficult when he was whispering those wild words of passion in my ear. At least that’s what I thought they were because I didn’t understand a word of what he was saying, but they sounded so sweet. A feeling of completeness went over me, like something I’d been longing for my whole life had suddenly and miraculously reappeared. And he had . I put my arms up around his neck, and he leaned down to mingle his hot breath with mine.

He ducked inside the entrance to a small cave and carried me over to a pile of furs that was warm from the fire that was blazing within. He put me down and begin pulling at both our clothes. I tried to help, but he pushed my hands away with a muttered curse. Then somehow our clothes were off, and I was naked, holding my arms out for him again because I needed his warmth. I craved it. He was running his hands over my body, while still managing to thrust his tongue inside my mouth. I put my hands over his arms, trying to pull him down on top of me, and I could feel the muscles rippling down them. All the while, he was murmuring to me in those sugar-coated Elven syllables that made my whole body weak.

His kisses had a drugging effect on me. His kisses were so sweet, and he was so luscious, his lips warm and full. I pressed my mouth against his, and then ground into it. I even heard myself whimpering. Tarrak sighed into my kisses and pressed his tongue to mine again while his big hands gently, maddeningly massaged the cheeks of my naked ass. I’d never felt this lightheaded, toe-curling compulsion to be ravished by anyone before—not even the first time we’d made love. Then I think I must have been in too much shock. Instinctively I lifted my legs and wrapped them around Tarrak’s waist.

“Make love to me,” I moaned, rutting against him shamelessly, wanting to feel him inside me. I kept trying to reach for his cock so I could hold it in my hand. “Please,” I begged him, needing him to make love to me, though I never thought I’d do such a thing.

It would have taken a much stronger man than I was to gaze into those gorgeous blue eyes, feel the tip of his cock straining against my entrance, and deny him anything he wanted. He gazed down at me then and claimed my mouth in a searing kiss. It was the most powerful kiss between us yet, even hotter than the one we’d just shared. This one was needy and strong and Tarrak kissed me like he owned me—which in my mind, at least, he absolutely did.

He kissed me until we were both panting for breath. I loved him so much, and I had loved him for so long I didn’t even know when it had first started. Somehow my heart's desire had come true, and my beautiful, fierce Quendi king was here, kissing me sweetly and passionately, his tongue inside my mouth. I heard myself sighing softly and stopped struggling to get closer, just giving in and allowing him to have his way with me. Tarrak slid his lips over mine again and again, the wet heat making my head spin.

His cock was already at my entrance, but he left me for a moment to get something from his pack. I felt bereft, and I shivered from wanting him to come back and hold me. He finally returned, kneeling over me and pushing my legs apart. He held a small vial of oil in his hand, and he tipped out some of the liquid to rub over me. I groaned at the feeling and strained toward him, but he made me wait.

“I have to get you ready, sweetheart. Be still.”

But how could I be still with him doing what he was doing to me? His fingers were inside me, stretching and massaging until I thought I’d go mad. I thrashed my head from side to side and dug my heels into his ass until he finally lifted them to his shoulders and eased himself into me, filling me slowly but inexorably until our scrotums were brushing against each other. I could feel the coarse hair against my groin. I may have screamed a little because Tarrak looked down at me in alarm, and when he saw that he hadn’t hurt me, and I was only excited, he smiled and shook his head, beginning at last to slowly move inside me.

It hurt a little, but I quickly got used to the feeling of being so full. I thought I could easily learn to crave this feeling. He took my mouth again and there wasn’t enough time to breathe between kisses. I was pushing up desperately against him and he was slowly, rhythmically fucking me into oblivion. My orgasm overtook me before I knew it and I strained against Tarrak as I came, my cum painting his stomach and chest. He came right afterward, pushing into me so hard I thought I saw stars inside the cave. It was intense for Tarrak too, because I heard him choke off a curse as his heat flooded me inside.

My head thudded back against the furs and my breathing was a series of little shudders. Tarrak held me close and stroked my hair, wrapping it around his fingers. I gazed up at him through dazed eyes and he smiled down at me. “Those beautiful eyes. I may lose a kingdom over them.”

He fell down beside me, and I felt empty, unable to bear being parted from him so soon. I reached for his hand. He gave it to me and pulled me over on top of him where he sprawled out on his back on the soft furs. It was my turn to cover him as I rested my head on his shoulder. I was still in shock at how mercurial he was when it came to me. One second, he was furious and the next he was talking about my eyes. It all made me a little dizzy.

I heard the snuffling sound again and saw Violet come into the mouth of the cave to get out of the terrible cold. Tarrak’s mount, a huge stag named Strawberry, was already inside. I relaxed then and gave myself over to sleep because I was so exhausted and because I was in Tarrak’s arms, where I had longed to be. Tomorrow and its problems would come soon enough.