Essie had been with the elves long enough to recognize when an elf bolted because he was done with interacting with others and needed a moment to breathe.
Essie crossed the distance to Jalissa and hugged her. Even though Jalissa wouldn’t admit it, Essie knew how hard this must be. Jalissa had begun to settle in at Aldon, but she would return there with only her guard. No Farrendel and no Essie to help smooth her way.
Instead of flinching away, Jalissa hugged her back, gripping tightly. Perhaps Jalissa was more willing to admit her emotions than Essie had assumed.
After a moment, Jalissa stepped back and gripped Essie’s shoulders. “Stay strong, isciena.”
Essie nodded. “You too. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask my family. Paige and Mother will try to smother you if you let them.”
Jalissa nodded. Hopefully she would reach out to Essie’s family rather than stay miserable by herself. They were all aching deep down right now in this strange state of missing Farrendel and grieving him, yet trying to cling to hope at the same time.
After one last squeeze to Essie’s shoulders, Jalissa stepped back and strode down the gangplank. Her silent elf guard fell into step behind her as they joined Averett’s guards waiting for him on the wharf.
“Essie.” Averett wrapped Essie in a hug. “I will join you in Tarenhiel with the army just as soon as possible.”
“I know.” Essie swallowed at the tightness in her throat. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her family just yet. She hadn’t even had the chance to give Mother, her sister-in-law Paige, and her nephews Bertie and Finn actual goodbyes.
She would still have Julien and Edmund with her in Tarenhiel. At least, when they weren’t busy scouting or planning a war.
Averett released her and gently tapped her nose. “I don’t know how that heart bond works, but if you get a chance, you tell Farrendel we’re coming for him. We’re all coming, and we’re going to get him out of there just as soon as we can.”
“I’ll do my best to let him know.” It was a bond of the heart, not the mind. So far, telepathy hadn’t been a side-effect. But, perhaps, she might be able to communicate the emotions. Even that might be a stretch. What she had experienced so far had been more like impressions.
But perhaps Farrendel felt the heart bond more than she did. She had gotten that feeling the times she and Farrendel had talked about the heart bond. And, Jalissa and Weylind had been surprised when Essie had to concentrate to feel the heart bond.
Averett tapped her nose again. “Don’t lose hope.”
It was hard to cling to hope, knowing the torture Farrendel was most likely enduring.
But if Farrendel could feel her emotions through the heart bond, then she did not wish to further burden him with her own despair. She wasn’t going to hide that she missed him. That she worried for him. But she wanted him to feel her determination.
He wasn’t dead. And he wasn’t going to be any time soon if she, her family, and his family had any say about it.
Averett stepped back. “I’ll arrive in Tarenhiel in a week. Hopefully less.”
“Will you be able to mobilize the army that quickly?” Essie didn’t want to get her hopes too high.
“Yes. I am king, after all. There are times when my commands do mean something.” Averett’s mouth tipped into a slight smile, though Essie could see the weary lines around his mouth and eyes.
These past couple of days had been hard on all of them. Her brothers had just started to bond with Farrendel, only to have him ripped away.
With a last smile for her, Averett turned and strode down the gangplank.
Essie stepped back as one of Weylind’s guards drew in the gangplank and the ship began to pull away from the wharf. As Essie had no wish to watch the Escarlish shore grow smaller behind them, she made her way to the bow.
There, King Weylind sagged against the rail, his shoulders more slumped than Essie had ever seen.
A part of her didn’t want to approach him. She was exhausted down to her bones after two days and a night with little sleep, an escape, and the ache of missing Farrendel. Not to mention, Weylind had not always been the kindest to Essie. His grumpiness had been out of love for Farrendel, but that didn’t make Essie all that eager to walk up to him.
But he was hurting as