Death Wind (Elven Alliance #3) - Tara Grayce Page 0,45

her in a one-armed hug. “How are you holding up?”

“All right.” Essie wasn’t sure how to describe how she was feeling. Mostly, she was impatient to start the battle and rescue Farrendel. And yet, the invasion of Kostaria would mean war. It would mean bloodshed and death and many lives lost. How many would die to make Farrendel’s rescue possible? How many wives and mothers and sisters would mourn so that Essie didn’t have to?

It wasn’t fair, in the end. Essie shouldn’t ask that sacrifice.

Except that she wasn’t the one doing the asking. Averett and Weylind were.

This invasion was about more than rescuing Farrendel. It was about eliminating a threat to both Tarenhiel and Escarland. If they did nothing, Kostaria would continue to attack Tarenhiel, and probably Escarland as well due to the alliance.

Julien squeezed her shoulders and didn’t let go, perhaps sensing she needed his continued comfort. “How is Farrendel holding up?”

“As well as can be expected.” How much should she tell Julien? They had all been so busy she hadn’t managed more than snatches of conversations with anyone. “Ever since yesterday, he’s been optimistic. More than he had been earlier. He’s still captured, but something changed. I don’t know what.”

That was the frustrating thing about the heart bond. The details were always rather vague, no matter how hard she concentrated.

But something had changed. She was sure of it. Only a few hours after Farrendel had nearly died, his pain had suddenly vanished for a while, and she’d started to get a determined, optimistic impression, and the heart bond had taken on a crackling edge.

Whatever had happened, she was grateful. The anger and distance she had sensed from him before hadn’t exactly vanished, but they were not as overwhelming as before. They were more controlled, raw-edged and dangerous.

A few days ago, he had simply been surviving. Enduring.

Now, he was still surviving. Still enduring. But also possibly plotting to kill everyone in sight. He was definitely planning something.

Whatever he was planning, she tried to send him as much of their own plans as she could through the impressions of the heart bond. Maybe he could time his plan to theirs.

“That’s good, isn’t it? Especially after...” Julien gestured toward her, his eyes going worried once again.

She had worried all of them when she had collapsed and passed out, before Farrendel had blocked the heart bond once again. By the time he had released the iron wall across the heart bond, he had gone from nearly dying to as pain-free as she had sensed from him since his capture.

It was almost as if he had been healed by elven magic. But that didn’t make sense.

Surely Melantha wasn’t doing that, was she? But she was the only elf healer that Essie knew about who could be with the trolls.

Was this some plot on the part of the trolls? Were they having Melantha patch Farrendel up after the torture sessions so that they could just torture him worse?

The sense that she got from Farrendel was far too relaxed for Melantha’s healing to be a part of the torture. As if he believed she was truly helping him. Or, at least, hoped she might be.

And that worried Essie. If this was some kind of trick and Melantha intended to use it to hurt Farrendel yet again...

Essie wasn’t sure if Farrendel could survive a second betrayal.

What did that have to do with the crackle to the heart bond? Farrendel was probably causing it. But how? What was he doing?

Farrendel could sometimes be frustratingly reticent, but at least when they were together, he would communicate. This lack of true communication gnawed at her. When she got Farrendel back, she wasn’t going to take his short answers for granted again.

Julien was still looking at her, expecting an answer.

“Yes, it is. But I’m still worried about him. I just...” Should she share her worries that Melantha might be helping him? Or setting him up for another trap of some kind? “I just wish there was more we could do.”

“I know.” Julien nudged her. “I think Averett wants us over there.”

Essie glanced up. Averett was waving toward them. Jalissa, Leyleira, and Edmund all crowded around the table by Averett and Weylind, displacing a few of the generals.

Julien shouldered his way through the crowded tent, and Essie followed in his wake. Tall, broad-shouldered brothers were handy for some things.

When she reached the table, she squirmed into a spot next to Edmund. He gave her his own one-armed hug while Jalissa leaned