Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,23
tears, I untied the string to reveal a beautiful, hand-carved bow and a quiver full of arrows, tipped with the midnight black of sharpened obsidian blades. A rare and valuable gift. I folded the note and carefully placed it in the pack on my hip that I usually used to carry a small amount of food. Then I strapped the quiver to my back and slung the bow over my chest.
I grabbed the fabric he’d wrapped it in, tossed it into my room, and shut the door. When I turned around, Eljin stood before me. I jumped back with a gasp of surprise.
“Where did you come from?”
“Better not let anyone else sneak up on you like that if you want to come back here in one piece.” Eljin smirked at me. His mask was still gone, and he was armed similarly to me. After the coldness of his dismissal last night, I was grateful that he seemed back to his usual self this morning. And that he was up and about. Lisbet must have worked on him some more during the night.
“Right. Thanks for the advice.” I turned to walk away, but he followed me. I stopped and turned to face him. “Do you need something?”
“Look, let me spell this out for you, since you’re a bit slow this morning.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m coming with you, Alexa.”
“You’re coming with me?” I lifted my eyebrows in surprise.
“Damian doesn’t want you going alone, and since he can’t go with you, he’s sending me.” Eljin looked at me steadily, the teasing glint gone from his eyes, replaced by deadly seriousness.
“Damian sent you?”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say? Yes, Damian sent me. He’s been up pretty much all night doing everything in his power to help you, since he can’t go himself.”
I swallowed once, hard, afraid I would break down in tears at any moment if I let myself think of him up all night, finding me the bow and arrow, somehow getting Eljin completely healed and convincing him to come with me, and who knew what else…. “What about your father?” I asked, trying to rein in my emotions.
A dark look crossed Eljin’s face. “Whatever has happened to my father can’t be undone. Damian is sending scouts to his castle to try and find out where he is and what’s happened. Damian’s promised me that he will do everything in his power to find him, and if he’s still …” He trailed off, looking away from me. “The true danger lies in Dansii, and if we don’t put a stop to this, both of our kingdoms will end up massacred. My father” — his voice grew strained, almost choked — “is just one man.”
He didn’t have to say anything else. I reached out to touch his arm, but he flinched away.
After a pause, I said, “Well, I suppose we had better get started.” I turned and headed toward the staircase that would take me down to the main floor, giving Eljin a moment to compose himself.
I was only halfway down the first flight of stairs when Eljin caught up to me. We finished descending in silence, but when we reached the bottom, I asked if he wanted to stop by the kitchen before leaving, to stock up on food and water, and he agreed.
We were halfway there when I heard the sound of heels clicking on the stone floor, heading toward us. Sure enough, within moments, a young woman rounded the corner of a side hall, and when she saw us her eyes widened. I recognized her immediately as well — it was Miss Durand, the young woman who had been so rude to me a few days prior, and who had been in the hallway with Jerrod when Damian and I had come out of his quarters holding hands after the fight with Vera. I expected her to sneer, or make some snide comment, but instead she froze, staring at both of us.
I could only imagine what she thought, seeing two armed, scarred guards striding down the hallway together, especially since I’d heard her less-than-savory opinion of me … and particularly now that she knew there was something between me and Damian. I was certain she’d had her sights set on the king of Antion for herself, so I expected more vitriol from her. Instead, she actually ducked her head in a small semblance of a bow as we passed. I didn’t turn to look over my shoulder at her, even though