Fires of War (War and Deceit #4) - Erin O'Kane Page 0,57
accepts Vaeril because the Great Mother wills it, so this may be too much for him. Nausea fills me at the prospect. However, it’s actually Vaeril I’m the most worried about telling. Eldrin is one of his closest friends, and while he may already suspect I’m getting close with the scarred elf, I’m not sure how he would take it if I was to make him mine.
Inhaling a deep breath, I try to calm my nerves. “I’ll speak with them, but not today, after the move,” I tell him, and he nods in agreement. Everything is suddenly so different between us. As we both push to our feet, we watch each other with slight smiles like teenagers. I’ve never seen Eldrin smile so much. It’s not the bright, carefree smiles of Tor, but I can see the happiness in his eyes, and it makes his whole face light up. I’m watching him again when a thought abruptly comes to me, and I groan loudly, throwing my head back dramatically. “Naril is going to kill me when we tell him.” I think Eldrin’s twin has suspected that there’s been something going on between us for a while now, given the pointed looks he’s been throwing us.
Snorting, Eldrin pushes back his wild locks of golden hair from his face. “I’ll handle him.” His face settles into a more somber mask, and I know what he’s going to say before he even opens his mouth. “We should get back.”
He’s right, even though I wish he weren’t. Sighing, I give the peaceful valley one last look, committing the view to memory. I have a sinking feeling I won’t be coming back here for a very long time.
The move was just as long and arduous as I expected. It’s going to take several more days to get everyone and everything through the mountains, but we’ve got the base camp set up now, which is the most important part. We’re in the shadow of the mountain, and the sun is just beginning to set, casting us all in darkness, so campfires are being lit. A huge bonfire is roaring in the center of the camp, the large tents surrounding it where the chiefs meet, and right now, I can see Revna having a lively discussion with the painted chief, Ragnar. Concern lines my stomach. Of all the chiefs, he’s been my least active supporter. In fact, he’s stood against me on several occasions. He hadn’t wanted to move to the forest, claiming we didn’t need the elves in this war, that we didn’t need them to help fight our battles.
“Beloved?” a light, feminine voice calls, bringing me from my troubled thoughts. Schooling my expression, I turn, only to find it’s Speaker Fawne.
Smiling slightly, I dip my head in a show of respect. “How can I help you, Speaker?” The wood elf is beautiful and ethereal, and if I didn’t know otherwise, I would suspect she wasn’t in fact an elf, but one of the beautiful tree spirits I used to see dancing through the forest.
The speaker dips her head gracefully, a smile making her face seem all the more radiant as she gestures towards the treeline behind her. “The others are about to join us, we thought you might like to be there for their arrival.”
I smile and nod. “Yes, you were right. Thank you for letting me know.” I start to walk in the direction she indicated, pulling my cloak around me as the sun sets. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of the wood elves. I hadn’t had the chance to meet many of them during my short time there, but I made a few friends. Friends. My heart clenches painfully in my chest at that thought, my mood dropping. I wish I knew if my other friends were safe. So many of my other friends had been left behind. Master Ardeth and Vaeril’s friends, Taelir and Saril, were still in Galandell when we left, and I can’t help but worry for them. How did they fare in the attack on the city? I didn’t see their bodies amongst the forsaken, and I made sure to check every single corpse, even though I knew I’d be seeing the faces of those forsaken in my dreams for a long time to come.
I feel the most guilt about my human friends in Arhaven, since I never got to say goodbye or explain myself. But I regularly think of Jayne, Aileen, and Wilson, although as a