Page 33 of The Broken Elf King
FIVE
Have you ever wondered how your life got to its current place? As I stood outside the door to the meeting Raife was having with his council, I wondered how mine had come to this moment. I fingered the delicate elvin gold, it’s swirl shape curving around my marriage finger. I’d just come from the seamstress, giving her ideas on how to design my fake wedding dress to wear to my fake wedding. Now I pressed my ear to the door as Haig bellowed, “She’s half human, weak, a liability!”
I winced.
Raife all but growled, “Don’tspeak about my future wife,yourfuture queen, like that.”
“My lord, I merely mean any children you have might be compromised in the healing gift department if her human lineage were to overwhelm—”
“She’s an empath,” Raife declared, and the room erupted into gasps.
My heart hammered in my throat at his revealing of what felt likemysecret.
“You’re sure?” Haig asked, shock apparent in his voice.
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Raife said.
“Let’s focus on the information that the king has in fact taken a betrothed,” Foxworth cut in. “This is good news. When is the wedding?”
“Next month. We can’t wait to be wed,” Raife added quickly.
He couldn’t wait to start a war with the queen was what he meant.
A deep chuckle came from the room. I didn’t recognize who it was until he spoke. “All this flirting and casting long glances at her, I knew you were falling in love,” Greylin added.
I blushed, wishing that were true.
Raife cleared his throat. “What can I say, she’s beautiful and smart and… all the things you would want in a life partner.”
Oh, how I wished I could smell a lie!
“We should host an engagement party tomorrow. The court will be thrilled to know you’ve made a decision. Maybe now the daily questions from the mothers will stop,” Haig added with a mild annoyance. Were the mothers seeing Haig and asking about when Raife was going to choose? Now I felt a bit bad about that.
An engagement party tomorrow sounded soon, but Raife agreed immediately. “I’ll have my event planner get everything set up.”
At the sound of the chairs scooting backwards, I jumped deep into the hallway, at the far wall with my hands clutching my notes and the king’s schedule for the rest of the day. When the door opened, Haig was the first to see me.
His eyes raked over me suspiciously before falling on the engagement ring at my finger, and his features softened.
“Congratulations, Kailani. We look forward to the upcoming nuptials.”
I gave him a big gummy smile, acting the part of an excited new bride. “Thank you, sir.”
The other council members stepped out, each one congratulating me, and then they left down the long corridor to some part of the castle I had yet to explore.
Raife finally stood before me, taking in my lavender dress with a deep V-neck and sheer sleeves. “Foxworth and Greylin are sold on it,” he whispered. “But we need to convince Haig and Aron.”
I swallowed hard. “Convince?”
Raife nodded casually. “You know, that we’re really in love.”
Right.
I tossed my hair over one shoulder. “Well, not to brag or anything, but I did get top marks in theatre class my upper-class year.”
Raife smirked, looking insanely handsome. “I took theatrics in my upper-class years as well. Top marks.”
“Game on, then,” I challenged him.
