Everyone relaxes, but I look back at Estela and feel anything but calm.
I will be fine,she says back to me, with a smile. My heart warms.
Very well, my queen.
Chapter 32
Eliat Stone
ESTELA
Another day passes, and then it’s the morning that Melisa is supposed to leave. She and I sit together at one of the larger stone tables in Hammerhead Hall, eating the food I helped prepare. Abi and Paoli are here as well, as are Iryth and Sama. They sit across from Melisa and I while Abi strokes Sama’s head.
“He’s so… big,” Abi says.
Iryth feeds Sama on her breast as she smiles at Abi. She’s the only Enduar currently sitting with us, and I appreciate her knowledge.
“He is nearly six months old—it’s normal for him to be so large. Fear not for your small body if you are mated to one of our men,” she says with a laugh.
Sama punches out his fist, and Paoli picks up the crystal toy that tumbled to the ground. When the silent girl with a hollow face hands it back to Iryth, the Enduar woman glances at Abi.
“This means thank you,” Abi says as she puts a flat hand on her lips and moves it forward and slightly down.
Iryth repeats the action, and then asks, “And how would you say it in the human tongue?”
Then the Enduar adjusts Sama’s head as he grunts and punches another strong fist. Their conversation is interrupted when Arlet joins us and sits next to Iryth. Then she puts her finger inside Sama’s hand.
“Buenos dias, mi amorcito,?1” she coos at the enormous blue babe.
I smile, thinking about the conversations she and I have had about children. Thoughts of having my own family surface, especially after the cards that Liana showed me. There must’ve been a dream I had last night… Most of the pictures are obscured, but I swear, if I focus, blurry images of a baby flicker behind my eyes.
I crave that life the more time I spend in Teo’s arms.
Iryth turns back to Melisa and me, but her eyes stop on the raven-haired beauty next to me, who has put on the red dress she wore when we first arrived.
“We are grateful for you, you know. To choose to leave and return to the giants is something we respect deeply.” Iryth’s accent is stronger than her mate’s, but it is warm and rich with kindness.
Melisa stares at Iryth, visibly uncomfortable. “Thank you,” she says. Her shyness is unlike the front she’s put up previously.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and squeeze. “You are very courageous.”
“Ra’Sa will take care of you,” Arlet says with a smile. My brows furrow as I think of the Enduar once called Salo. At first, Teo told me that he had reverted to his full Enduar name. And now… I glance up at Melisa, knowing that she gave him such a nickname.
From what I can tell, she is pleased with its use, though sheflirts with every Enduar the same amount. Everyone in the cave adores her.
It isn’t until I hear purposeful steps behind me that we turn and see Thorne, Teo, and Ra’Sa.
I blink at just how good the elves’ glamour is.
He looks completely human.
A very tall human, to be sure, but his blue skin is now a rich, umber brown, like the fading golden light that filters through the trees just before sunset. His tail has been hidden in the loose pants cinched around his hips. His long hair is now black, and it hangs in a thick braid.
I frown at such length.
“That’s too long. No male would have gone so long without having to cut his hair for tree lice,” I say, swinging my legs over the bench.
He narrows his eyes at me. He’s never been particularly friendly or open, particularly since his brother died, but he’s looking at me like a forest fowl glares at a fox prowling in the bushes, preparing to steal her eggs.
