Rominy turns to the elf princess. What did her father say her name was? She stares back at him with something akin to hurt, as if Rominy has somehow wounded her. Her brilliant smile is gone, and questions linger in her eyes.
Did she travel all this way expecting to marry him? No wonder she keeps looking his way—she thought he was meant for her.
Stars above, he was not prepared for this.
Rominy tears his gaze away from the silver-haired princess to await his father’s response. Surely Father won’t expect Rominy to go through with this. How in the world can Arisanna be so calm in the face of marriage to a stranger?
Of course, she’s had all her life to accustom herself to the idea.
But this is all just a misunderstanding. Father will sort it out soon enough.
“I beg your pardon, Lorial, but did you say children?” Father asks as Mother clutches Father’s arm.
“I did. Is that a problem?”
Yes. A big problem. Huge. Gigantic.
Oh, this is a nightmare. Rominy glances back at the princess. Hopefully, she won’t take any of this personally. She’s probably a lovely woman.
But Rominy has no intention of marrying her. At least, not tomorrow.
“We were not aware you had a daughter,” Father says slowly, as if he, too, is weighing his words carefully.
Rominy turns his eyes back to King Lorial as he awaits the elf king’s response, and King Lorial meets Rominy’s gaze.
“You were not expecting to bind with my daughter? To marry her?”
“As lovely as I’m sure the princess is, I admit this is a surprise to me.”
“I see.” There’s a pause as the elf king studies Rominy, and Rominy doesn’t rush to fill it. Then King Lorial glances at his wife before turning back to Rominy. “Are you attached to someone else?”
“Well, I...no, Your Majesty. I am as yet unattached.”
This is not going in a direction Rominy is eager to pursue.
“Are you implying that my son should go through with this?” Father asks.
King Lorial exhales slowly before responding. “If he does not, I fear the magic keeping his heart beating may be too great a strain on my weakened queen. It is in all of our best interests to fulfill the requirements of the heartbinding that was woven between our children at the time of their conception.”
“What?” The word pops out before Rominy can stop it. “Heartbinding?”
King Lorial scratches his brow and looks at his wife before turning to Rominy’s family again. “Was not the magic that produced your children explained to you at the time of our agreement?”
Father makes a sheepish sound at the back of his throat before responding. “I’m afraid elven magic has always been a bit...mysterious to us. At the time, the details of the magic itself didn’t seem necessary for us to understand in order to agree to your terms.”
King Lorial’s gaze darkens. “Then I will explain it to you now. Twenty-three years ago, your wife ingested a tea given to her by our healers that had been imbued with my wife’s magic. Queen Nestraya ingested the same tea, and two children were conceived, bound by my wife’s magic to maintain the beating of their hearts as one. It is heavy magic to wield, and my wife has taken that burden on herself this entire time.”
Rominy frowns as he studies the elf queen. Is that why she looks so ill?
“Prince Rominy, has your heart ever raced while you were at rest?” King Lorial asks.
“He has a minor heart condition that our doctors are not concerned with,” Father answers for Rominy, but the elf king shakes his head.
“It is not an illness. It is my daughter’s heart rate affecting his. Their hearts are linked.”
Rominy looks at the princess again. Their hearts are linked?
“Elowyn, will you demonstrate for them?” the elf king asks.
