Page 39 of A Spark So Bright
Rose, who would be without him, now a potential recipient for the attention of men she shouldn't be interested in. But what if she was? What if she had looked through the crowds of those fools who simply weren't good enough for her and she had seen something she was intrigued by? Someone she was curious about?
"I..." How did he turn this opportunity down? He couldn't. This was the prince of dreams, the only person who truly mattered in this mountain. Everyone here would die for him if given the chance.
And here Gunnar was, about to turn down the opportunity of a lifetime for a woman who barely even noticed he existed.
Egil watched all of those thoughts playing behind Gunnar's eyes as if he could read his mind. "It was not a request, Bone Keeper. It was an order. You will bring my son back here, safeand sound and in one piece. Then you will rejoin the others in the bridal games. It will not take long."
"Are you certain of that?" He had to ask. "You won't release Rose from the games and I... I won't be..."
"All who remain here will take care of your glass woman. She will be looked after as she always has been while you are on your adventures." Egil slowly stood, bracing himself on the altar as he broke his connection with the goddess.
The vines slithered away from Gunnar's legs, and suddenly, he was free as well. He felt... tired. As if all the energy had been sucked out of him, and standing was difficult to do.
At least until his king reached out a hand and pulled him to his feet. "It is always hard to connect with her," Egil said with a chuckle. "She is exhausting as much as she gives purpose."
"I tried to..." Gunnar shouldn't say this. "I tried to connect with her for years. I begged her to let me speak with Tindra, to apologize for all that had happened. The goddess denied me."
"Because you did not beg her. You ordered." Egil smiled and started toward his attendants, his wings making a hushed sound across the fallen leaves. "Women do not like being told what to do, Gunnar. You have yet to learn this."
His mouth dropped open again, and he didn't know what to say to that. He ordered Rose around just fine and she... well, she was always wandering off without a soul, so he guessed she didn't listen to those orders. But she at least tried. He was certain of that.
"My king?" he called out as Egil was about to round a large tree and disappear from his view.
"Yes?"
"When do you want me to leave?"
He had a lot of planning to do, after all. There was his pack to get together, and he had to figure out routes that would avoid humans. It was the prince. He should probably avoid regulartroll routes as well. He still didn't even know where he was going to meet the man.
Egil replied, "All the information is already waiting for you in the barracks. You'll head out tomorrow afternoon. Travel at night. My son cannot see in the sunlight."
A true dark elf after all, it seemed.
But tomorrow?
Gunnar stood frozen beside the altar, his stomach twisting. What was he going to tell Rose?
Sixteen
Rose
I'm heading out tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a while.
That was all he had said. Gunnar had walked into her private room in the barracks and announced his departure. Like there was nothing else he had to say to her. Just that he was leaving. There was nothing she could do to stop him. And then he’d left the room.
Rose had been seated on the edge of her small bed, wondering about the rage that had spread throughout her and how she was stuck here. Her hands looked different, even. It was strange to look at them and know that she couldn't leave them behind. She'd been staring at them for nearly an hour when he’d interrupted her trance.
Gunnar hadn’t noticed something was wrong with her. He’d just stood there for a few seconds, looking at her rather strangely before adding in a quick,Don't do anything to hurt yourself, before leaving again.
And that wasn’t right. She didn't like it. Usually she would have slipped away to talk with Rhydian, complaining to himabout men who thought they could order her around. The elf would have snorted, told her that all men were the same, and then they would have continued their work.
Now, everything she had been spending so much time on wasn't within her grasp. Her books. Her research. Everything that she had built in that realm was... gone.
Was any of it even real?
She had no one to lean on, and no one she had told about this secondary world. She thought the only person who might understand it even a small amount was the man who had just announced he was leaving. And something in her twisted again.
Rose wasn't better by any means. But she thought maybe she was ready to be in this realm again. Or at the very least, she'd been thrust back into this world, and all she could think about was what Rhydian had said.
