that probably wasn’t going to satisfy anyone.
A few seconds later, Averett crawled inside, brushing snow from his shoulders. “I sent for Edmund and Julien.”
Good. She would be able to give her non-explanation to all of them at once.
Averett settled onto the blanket next to her. “I should have asked earlier. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Not a scratch.” Essie wrapped her arms around her stomach. The panic of so much magic coursing through her was fading, leaving her muscles aching and her eyes heavy. Though, the exhaustion could be because it was the middle of the night, and she hadn’t been sleeping even before the nighttime raid.
He wrapped an arm around her, and she leaned against his shoulder. It would have been far nicer to lean against Farrendel’s shoulder. But before Farrendel, her brothers had been her shoulders to lean against and cry on. That didn’t change, even though she was married.
“You don’t sound fine.” Averett’s arm around her tightened.
“Just tired.” Essie sighed. It was warm, leaning against him. “Maybe we should bunk with all of you. It would be safer. And warmer.”
“You snore.”
“I do not. I breathe loudly.” She tried to keep her tone light, but it was hard, remembering that same teasing argument with Farrendel. Farrendel, at least, had a leg to stand on. He slept as silently as a rock as long as he wasn’t having a nightmare. Essie’s brothers, though, were just as noisy as she was. “It’s not like any of you sleep silently either.”
Across the way, Weylind glanced at them and gave a tiny huff. It was the elf equivalent of an eyeroll. If he had been camping in here with all three of Essie’s brothers, then he would have been subjected to the full force of Averett’s nighttime lip smacking, Julien’s snoring, and Edmund’s...well, Edmund was mostly silent, except for when he talked in his sleep.
The cold swirl of snow blowing through the opening to the shelter made Essie peel her eyes open as Julien and Edmund crawled inside. The tent canvas fell back over the opening, keeping out the rest of the howling wind.
“What’s this I hear about a family meeting?” Julien glanced around before sinking onto the bedroll closest to the door. “A full, both families meeting, I see.”
“What happened?” Edmund jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “Besides the sneak attack to our rear lines. If this was only about that attack, then I would expect we would be having this meeting with the generals. They weren’t too happy to be put off.”
“This is important.” Averett glanced from Edmund to Weylind across the shelter before peering down at Essie. “You’d better explain. I just caught a glimpse of it.”
“A glimpse of what?” Julien’s frown deepened as he glanced from Jalissa and Weylind to Essie, as if guessing this had something to do with elves.
Where did she even begin to explain? With the blast of power?
No, she should go back farther than that. She couldn’t leave anything out. Maybe, if she gave as much information as possible, Weylind would be more forthcoming instead of mysterious with any conclusions he came to.
“For the past few days, I’ve felt a...crackle to the heart bond. Like Farrendel’s magic.” Essie sat up straighter. It seemed more appropriate to sit properly instead of slumped against Averett when giving a report.
“And you didn’t mention anything?” Averett pulled back and turned to her.
“We were all a little busy planning for war and invading Kostaria and fighting for our lives through this blizzard. Besides, I wasn’t even sure that feeling was unusual. It isn’t like anyone handed me an instruction manual on heart bonds.” She resisted the urge to glare at Weylind and Jalissa. This all would make so much more sense if elves weren’t so tight-lipped about their magic. “All this reaching for Farrendel through the heart bond has made me more sensitive to it. I thought I was just sensing his magic in him, nothing more.”
Across the shelter, Weylind was frowning, but he didn’t deign to comment. Jalissa met Essie’s gaze and just shrugged. As Jalissa had never been married and experienced a heart bond herself, she probably didn’t have anything but stories to add.
Did Weylind have a heart bond with his wife Rheva? No one had said anything one way or the other. But as their cryptic grandmother Leyleira had mentioned, elves didn’t talk about personal matters like heart bonds unless forced to. Or if that heart bond reached legendary status. Then they had no problem