I nodded to Calista and Faelith, who stood at our arrival. “Faelith, please take Farris outside.” My gaze turned to Calista. “Please go to the kitchen and bring tea and cakes.” I glanced at Dorion and Laphira. “Unless you’d prefer a full meal.”
“Something light would be fine,” he said. Laphira nodded.
Calista curtsied. “Very well, my queen.”
The women left, Farris scampering along with Faelith on his leash.
Something odd happened with Farris,I told Lore.We’re going to share everything with Dorion, correct?
Yes.
What about Laphira?
Perhaps.
My thought exactly.He needs to hear what I discovered. Let’s hope he remembers Halendor myths and riddles.
Now you’ve piqued my interest, wife,he rasped.
“Some would say that’s rude,” Dorion drawled, glancing between us.
I lifted one eyebrow his way.
“Fated mates.” He tilted his head toward his hand linked with Laphira’s, showing off the matching mating marks on their wrists. “I’ve heard of some mated couples being able to speak to each other in their minds. How did you make it happen?”
“Um…” My face heated.
Lore leaned close to Dorion and whispered.
“Ah, yes.” Now Dorion flushed. “Very well.”
“What?” Laphira asked, a delicate frown creasing her brow.
“I’ll share later, love.”
I waved to the sofas flanking the fireplace. “Please sit. We have a lot to talk about.”
A flick of Lore’s finger, and the fireplace blazed.
We sat, Lore and I on one sofa, Laphira and Dorion on the other, facing us. He warded the room just in case.
“I want to thank you for all you did for us,” Laphira said right away and with complete sincerity. “We…” She looked down at her hands lying on her lap. “My mother was not a kind woman.”
“I…sensed that.” I was proud of how diplomatic I sounded
“She bound me with a spell to keep me compliant. Five years ago, after she discovered Dorion and I planned to run away together, she…” Her chin lifted and her hazel eyes met mine. “She locked me up. Forced me to marry someone else.”
Dorion took her hand, squeezing it. He leaned close and kissed her temple. “Love you.”
She gave him the sweetest smile before turning back to us. “I was given no choice but to marry him. I thought Dorion had leftme. I only recently learned he was locked inside his family’s labyrinth all this time. When my husband died, my mother started talking about arranging another marriage. I tried to run away with Brys, but she caught me and cast her spell. I don’t remember much after that.” She swallowed hard and her eyes sparkled with tears. “I’m grateful you could see something was wrong, that you brought Dorion back to me.”
He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles.
“And now I’d like to repay you in whatever way I can,” she said with complete sincerity. “Dorion told me a bit about your situation. There must be something I can do to help. It’s past time our courts established friendly relations. It makes no sense to war when we could be allies.”
That’s enough for me. I think we can trust them both,I told Lore.
I agree.
