sense of Farrendel, had gone cold. It was still there. Not empty as it would be if Farrendel had died. But like an iron wall had been put up between them.
What did it mean? What was happening to Farrendel?
“Not gossip. An inspiration. The stuff of legends and stories.” Leyleira’s deep brown eyes were soft, the gray streak in her dark brown hair giving her bearing a regal wisdom. “As to your questions, every elishina is different. Some manifest as simply a bonding without any particular strength and magic, perhaps because they have never been tested. Others, like yours and Farrendel’s, are incredibly strong.”
Essie swallowed, that iron wall still in her chest. “Jalissa said that Farrendel’s father and the late queen shared a heart bond.”
The faintest hint of lines crinkled around Leyleira’s eyes and mouth. “Yes, they did indeed.”
And, if Essie were to guess right, Leyleira had shared one with her late husband, though she probably wouldn’t talk about that one.
Weylind cleared his throat, turning toward them. His dark eyes focused on his plate, the line of his jaw hard. “He felt it, that day, when she died. She was not killed instantly.”
“She wasn’t?” Essie hadn’t heard the details of how the late elf queen had been killed. Farrendel didn’t talk about her much. Understandable, as she wasn’t his mother, and the late queen’s death had been the start of the cracks that tore the family apart.
Still, it was unexpected that Weylind would bring it up. He was not the most forthcoming of her elven family members, and this was his mother he was talking about.
Leyleira’s eyes saddened. “Lorsan had not been with her that day. She had gone ahead, visiting with distant cousins of hers who lived near the border with Kostaria. Lorsan planned to join her in a few days. When her party was ambushed, Lorsan felt her pain, until she cut off the heart bond. For the rest of his life, Lorsan carried the guilt that he failed to save her, even though there was nothing he could do. I believe it is one reason why he mourned so hard and so deeply for her.”
The late elf king had mourned his wife so desperately that it had eventually led him to seek solace and a single night of forgetfulness with Farrendel’s mother.
“I think...I think Farrendel might be doing something like that right now. I don’t know. The heart bond doesn’t feel as warm and vibrant as it normally does.” Essie rubbed at her chest again. “But what did you mean that he felt he failed? Was there something he could have done?”
Was there something she could do to help Farrendel?
Lines dug into the corners around Weylind’s eyes, making him appear older than Essie had ever seen him. “It is possible that, when one person in a heart bond is killed, the other can also die if they try to save them. There are times death is inevitable.”
Leyleira raised an eyebrow at Weylind, something in her tone firm. “Have I taught you nothing? You are supposed to comfort her, not frighten her.”
“She should know the dangers. It is her life at risk, as well as Farrendel’s.” Weylind crossed his arms.
“Do you really believe Farrendel will allow anything to happen to her?” Leyleira reached out and patted Essie’s arm. “Farrendel is strong, my dear. Do not give up hope.”
“My parents were strong too.” Weylind’s words were murmured, so low Essie wasn’t sure they were meant for her.
Essie’s fingers went cold. The heart bond had always seemed like such a good thing. But it had dangers, especially with Farrendel in the hands of the trolls who hated him.
She had saved his life during that ambush. Had that really been less than two weeks ago? So much had happened since then.
She had so naively saved him with that heart bond. If the healers hadn’t been there to stabilize Farrendel, what would have happened? Would she have let go in time to keep from dying along with him? Or would he have been aware enough to save her by severing the bond that made her heart keep his heart beating?
Let the sacrifice be my choice this time. That’s what Farrendel had told her on the train when they’d been captured. He didn’t want anyone to be killed trying to rescue him. That would include Essie trying to save him through a heart bond.
If it came to it, Essie would be hard pressed not to at least attempt to save him, even if she