Page 3 of Ties of Starlight (Tethered Hearts #2)

H ow was a king to sleep the night before the woman he loved married someone else when there was nothing he could do to stop it?

The answer: He didn't.

Nyrunn stared at the sun breaking the horizon, sitting on the window seat of his extravagant and vast quarters.

He'd taken the perch when he'd returned after finally scraping up the strength to move long after Idonea had left him in the library. Since he’d made it back to his room, he hadn't moved an inch.

He was only in the beginning of his reign, but he couldn't imagine anything being harder than this. Idonea would be married to someone else—worse, to Olaug —and Nyrunn was going to live the rest of his life watching her happiness from a distance.

Worse, Nyrunn had no heir, no siblings, no cousins he could trust the kingdom to if he died. He would have to marry. Or he’d risk sending his country into chaos as any elf with a distant claim would come forth. Should that happen, the Moon Elves who were watching them with eagle eyes for weakness would come in and decimate them.

If they didn’t attack even sooner.

So Nyrunn didn’t have a choice. He would condemn some poor elven maiden to a husband who would never love her because he couldn’t control his runaway heart not to want the one girl he could never have.

But that was a problem for another day. Right now, he had to get through this one.

If he thought last night had been hard, the following one was going to be worse.

Times like these made Nyrunn miss his father and uncle. They’d had their flaws, more than Nyrunn could ever forgive, but his uncle most certainly would have at least been able to understand.

How would his father have reacted to Nyrunn’s plight?

Maybe Nyrunn should make like his father and dedicate himself to the abuse of the castle's caskets of Nebulan wine. The longer Nyrunn was king, the more he understood why his father had seldom been seen without a glass in his hand.

Of course, then Nyrunn ran the risk of becoming as wretched and miserable a creature as his father had been. Who was he kidding? He already was even without it. He'd been fending off his advisors attempts to sit him in front of a physician to try to diagnose whatever illness had taken over him and caused such drastic changes in his personality.

A knock sounded on the door.

Great. Thinking of them had summoned them.

“Your Majesty?”

Nyrunn slowly shifted, wincing at the stiffness in his muscles from his vigil. “Yes?”

“Oh. Good! You're awake.” The door opened and Nyrunn's favorite, and least favorite, advisor came in, Lord Frode. He was the only advisor anywhere close to Nyrunn’s age, which made him far more friendly and familiar than the others, unfortunately. The second Frode stepped inside he spotted Nyrunn pushing himself up off the seat and gasped. “Did you sleep at all?”

“A little. Besides, I'll catch up on it eventually. There's too much to be done today; no one is going to be taking the Midday Rest anyway.”

“Your Majesty, you need—”

“And starting tomorrow we'll be on the road for two months, so I might as well get used to being awake all day.” Nyrunn rolled his eyes.

The Star Elves spent part of the day and part of the night awake, sleeping once after midnight and then again at midday as their energy peaked and waned. It was one of the strengths they had over the Sun Elves and the Moon Elves, since there was always either the sun in the sky or the stars in the heavens, connecting to their energy and magic. But they suffered their own weaknesses, especially with the last few Cometa Couples failing to complete the rituals, and their magic was weaker than it had been in centuries.

If they didn’t strengthen their magic, the Star Elves would go the way of the Night Elves and be wiped off the map entirely.

Frode huffed. “It's impossible to argue with a king, so why don't you just be reasonable from the start and make my life easier?”

That was why Frode was both Nyrunn’s favorite and least favorite. He somehow made Nyrunn laugh on what was the worst day of his life.

“As king I get so little personal amusement. Don't ask me to eliminate what I do have in making your life difficult.”

“At least tell me you're going to make yourself presentable for this evening and less like...” Frode gestured to all of Nyrunn. “That.”

“What? The king showing up in his wrinkled clothes from the night before and unbrushed hair isn't appropriate for the wedding of the Cometa Couple?” Nyrunn shot Frode a wry look as he stretched his arms up and moved to his wardrobe, a beautiful silver and gray wood that sparkled in the light.

“Hey!” Frode clapped his hands together and stepped forward. “You made a joke and you mentioned the Cometa Couple in one sentence. We're making real headway here.”

“Did you just come here to make sure I didn't have any plans to humiliate myself or ruin the ceremony our people desperately need?” Nyrunn asked as he opened the doors and reached for the outfit his tailor had made for the occasion. “Or was there something else you wanted?”

Frode's eyes widened. “You don't, right? You weren't staring out the window coming up with a scheme that if your father was alive would have gotten you disinherited and a certain half-elf girl killed?”

Nyrunn scowled, his father’s voice echoing distantly in his memories about the importance of bloodlines and the savagery and filth of human blood. All because his father had simply caught him looking at Idonea when she’d walked by.

But he was gone, and still Nyrunn could not show his affection for her.

“If there was anything I could do to stop this and preserve the ceremony, I would have already.” Nyrunn’s grip on the fabric in his hands tightened, heart twisting. Every day he’d desperately fought the urge to abuse his power as king to stop the wedding.

It was a miracle his willpower had won over his heart.

Nyrunn looked over at Frode, grip loosening. “But I'm not so selfish as to condemn our people to another lifetime of weakening magic for a girl who is going to be happy with someone else, no matter how little he might deserve her or how miserable it'll make me.”

Frode sighed and nodded before pointing at him. “Good! That is what we want to hear!”

“Frode?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Get out before I decide to make sure you join me in my misery.”

“Yes, Your Majesty, of course.” Frode started for the door, but then paused in the doorway and looked back. “Quick question, how would you do that?”

“Well, today I'm going to be dreading the impending nuptials, and then forced to travel with said Cometa Couple to the Constellation Pool which is quite a journey, not to mention watch them complete multiple rituals along the way, and I'll need a distraction to keep from losing my mind, so I imagine I will be able to devote that time to something more than adequate for you.”

“Right. Of course.” Frode blanched, gesturing as if he could make a big enough motion that would convince Nyrunn to spare him. “Well, no need for that, I will just leave you to your solitude and pining, and I'll go make sure everything else is on track.”

The door shut behind Frode and Nyrunn took a long, slow breath. He looked back over at the window and the sunlight streaming through the glass.

Sunset. The ceremony started when the sun was halfway through setting. Then the real torture would start .

Nyrunn would normally be grateful for anything that gave him a respite from the never-ending, heavy work that came with being king, but he'd gladly take the constant letters, proposals, and reports on the Moon Elves’ movements to distract him since he didn't actually need all day to get ready for a wedding that wasn't his.

When he did try to sit down to pick up something, even just the outline of the schedule for their impending travels, all he could see was Idonea's face from the night before. She’d been bathed in starlight and framed by bookshelves towering behind her, standing in a dress that had taken his breath away when she'd stepped out of the castle in it earlier that night. He’d been captivated by the way the sparkling diamonds of her necklace brought out the bright blue of her eyes. When he tried to read the words on the page, all he heard was her voice…

“I will be happier than I've ever been when I marry Olaug tomorrow.. . What more could I ever want?”

She’d meant it, right?

She hadn’t just been saying it to placate him because even if she did want more, she couldn’t have it. Or was she just making the best of the situation she was in because there was no escape for her either?

If Nyrunn had been a little bit faster the day she’d been picked by the Constella…

No. There was no sense going down this road any more.

He gave up pretending to be productive and made himself at least decent enough to walk around the castle. Idonea had promised she would be happy and that she loved Olaug, and that was what mattered, even if Nyrunn could not fathom how she’d managed to force herself to care for him.

However, Nyrunn would be remiss if he didn't at least try to ensure Olaug knew how lucky he was. If nothing else, he could throw his weight around as king to make sure Olaug made it his duty to love and cherish Idonea; then at least Nyrunn would know that she would be well taken care of.

Maybe Olaug would surprise him.

Nyrunn doubted it.

He’d seen Olaug dancing with the maid he’d allegedly been… He hadn’t been courting her, but if the rumors were true, he’d been taking far more liberties than he should with her. The kinder gossips called it a dalliance. Nyrunn was fairly certain the edge of severity to their rumored actions was lost in that kindness.

He didn’t care if it was true or not; Olaug was going to fear for his life if Nyrunn ever heard such a rumor after he was Idonea’s husband.

Nyrunn had heard of Olaug before he'd been selected as part of the Cometa Couple. Nyrunn had seen him around the castle, but he'd never truly taken notice of him. Nyrunn hadn't had a reason to take notice of every guard, nor the lieutenants, although maybe it was on him for not knowing the squad captains who served under the captain of the guard.

Especially since he'd been one and led a squad as part of his duties as crown prince before his father died.

But he'd had... other things on his mind than the other captains of unrelated squads, not when he was searching for any chance to get away from the guards and into the library.

On the day he'd heard who had been announced as the chosen for the Cometa Couple, he might not have known Olaug then, but he’d made it his business to after.

On the surface, Olaug's reputation was pristine, other than the rumored dalliance he’d been having around the time he’d been selected as Agnarr’s chosen. One of the younger sons of a smaller noble family, charming, popular, and a warrior. But Nyrunn went deeper and spoke to the elves Olaug had served with and later led.

And Nyrunn had... concerns.

While no one could confirm or deny the rumors, Olaug was known to like pretty faces and strong drink, and the word “no” rarely left his lips.

However, events as an unmarried elf and rumors Nyrunn hadn't been able to confirm weren't enough for anything substantial. Not when the Cometa Couple requirements were clear, the groom had to be an elf warrior, a leader, and proven himself a true hero by saving the life of another, risking his own in the line of duty. It was why the groom was almost always one of the captains or lieutenants. In his time as captain, Nyrunn hadn't been able to lead missions often, given his status as heir, but it was necessary for him to go on enough to prove himself worthy of the throne. In his time as captain, Nyrunn had saved several of his subordinates in skirmishes with criminals and beasts in the forest.

It all went back to the first Cometa Couple, Agnarr and Gytha, the ones who'd discovered the comet. Their love connected the Star Elves to it, strengthening their magic and giving the Star Elves the ability to establish themselves and defend against the Night Elves, who, at that time, had been trying to wipe them out.

A human girl, a witch, and an elf's love saved them, and if they wanted to keep that strength, a girl with some human blood and an elven warrior would have to follow the same rituals the original couple had performed when the comet came around.

A millennia later, the Star Elves were still there and the Night Elves had been gone for centuries.

Nyrunn had used to love the story, until the day the Cometa Couple had been selected. The day he'd lost Idonea to it. He hadn't thought... Adastra was a decent sized kingdom with good relations with the human kingdoms, which meant they had quite a few half-elves, three-quarters elves, seven-eighths elves, and so forth. Gytha’s chosen just had to have some human blood. There were at least two thousand female elves in the kingdom that qualified.

Nyrunn had calculated the odds after the fact. It was too late by then, obviously.

Nyrunn shook his head as he turned down the next hallway, trying to push it out of his head—one in two thousand two hundred seventy-three, less than a tenth of a percent of a chance —

It was done. Regardless of how slim the chances it had been for Idonea to be chosen, it was, and he had to live with it.