“Is your bond-mate with you?” I asked in a tone that came out sounding rather icy.
“My bond-mate?”
“Lady Glenna.”
Stellon shook his head, confusion clouding his clear blue eyes. “I’m not married. I backed out of the wedding. Pharis didn’t tell you?”
I turned to glare at Pharis, who stood there looking murderous and not the least bit ashamed of his lie.
“I have missed you so much, Firebug,” Stellon said, taking both my hands in his. “And I have so much good news to tell you. I assume Pharis has already told you about your mother?”
“About my mother?” I asked, turning back once more to see Pharis.
He was shaking his head at Stellon, giving him a forbidding look.
What else had Pharis withheld from me? And how could either of them possibly know anything about my mother?
“What about my mother?” I asked eagerly.
If Stellon told me she was alive somewhere, I was going to pass out from joy. It had been an additional sadness to us all that her body had never been found and returned to the village.
“It’s good news,” Stellon assured me, beaming. ”And it changeseverything. Raewyn… she was Elven.”
I still felt as if I might pass out, though joy was not the cause. Shock was. My mother was Fae? I was half Elven?
“What? How is this possible?” I asked. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Mareth realized it first. It was the locket—long story—but she was not just Elven, she was nobility. Do you know what this means?”
I shook my head vigorously, barely keeping up. My mind was spinning from one surprise after the next. Why had Papa never told me?
And Pharis had known all this time and hadn’t told me either?
“Now we know Elves and humanscanprocreate,” Stellon said. “And you might have a greatly extended lifespan—immortality even.”
He leaned down and kissed me, just a quick peck, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Pharis moving forward.
Stellon ignored him. “I love you. You love me. And now there’s nothing to keep us apart, Firebug.”
Pharis reached us. Though he didn’t do anything but stand a bit too close, I could sense the energy charging just beneath the calm surface.
“Tell her the rest of that story, Stellon,” he growled.
Stellon didn’t spare him a glance, keeping his excited gaze on me.
“My father has agreed to allow us to marry. I told him about your mother being Elven and of noble birth. He has given his approval.”
My head jerked toward Pharis, and my tone was full of venom. “Youknewthe King had agreed to let Stellon marry me?”
“No, that part is news to me,” he said adamantly, “and I’ll believe it when Iseeit.”
Turning his attention to his brother, he said, “Stellon, youknowthat’s not what I was talking about. Tell her the rest.”
Stellon ignored him, and I couldn’t blame him. At the moment I felt like I never wanted to see the Prince of Partial Truths and Withheld Information ever again.
I turned back to Stellon, a sense of wonder permeating me.
“Your father really had a change of heart about me? And you believe him?”
