The Prince's Wish

Chapter Twenty One

TWENTY ONE

Frozen in terror, my breath caught in my throat, my fingers evolved from a shivering mess into a vegetative state and the contact my eyes had made with the body on the floor had failed to cease. Danyl's breath was warm on my neck, but the usually relaxing sensation just made the situation more eerie.

I cringed.

I retracted my foot from the body before me, stumbling backwards into Danyl's embrace. I turned my head into his chest and he folded his arms around me protectively, stroking my hair calmly. "Who is it?" I cried into his chest, refusing to take another look at the body.

The room was dark and silent and I knew Danyl was squinting to find out. Despite the rigidity of his body, I knew he was yearning to know just as much as I was.

"Is it my mother?" Jiem asked quietly, his voice broken and soft behind us.

Danyl released me from his grip and I found myself wrapping an arm around Jiem's shoulder. Danyl crouched, closing the proximity between he and the lifeless body on the floor. "Oh no," he whispered, almost inaudibly.

"What?" I shrieked, my stomach turning over, my heart beating approximately eight million beats per second and my hands shaking. "Who is it?" I asked again, squinting my eyes desperately to dechiper whose unfortunate body lied still at our feet.

"Take Jiem to Grandfather," Danyl instructed, covering my view of the body, "most of the townspeople will be hiding out at the Kingdom, but speak to nobody, do you understand me?"

"Tell me who it is, Danyl," I instructed in return. At his reluctance, I raised my voice: "tell me!"

Danyl shook his head and stood from the ground, ushering me out of the broken doorway with his hand on my back. As usual, the sensation was warm and enticing, but his motives were cold and icy. "You have to go, now."

I shook my head as well, releasing my arm from Jiem's shoulders and folding it across my chest. No, he wasn't sending me away again. He couldn't keep doing this. He'd done it with the Togre, he wasn't doing it again.

"It's Mother, isn't it?" Jiem asked, his voice croaky and barely existent. Again, Danyl ignored him. I gave him a sympathetic look. I'd find out for him.

I plunged one of my shaky hands into Danyl's chest. "You are not keeping me out of the loop again, Danyl! Every time something happens here you send me away! I can handle it. This is my world now, too, Danyl, and I plan to act accordingly. Just tell me who it is."

Danyl remained silent, placing a hand on my shoulder. He pulled me in for a tight hug, his arms muscular and relaxing around me. He nuzzled his head in between my face and shoulder, kissing my neck sweetly. "It's Elondra," he said, whimpering ever so softly, "do not tell Jiem a thing."

My eyes widened furiously at him. "He has a right to know," I whispered, my breath caught in my throat, "I can't keep that from him."

I could see in his eyes the eternal battle he was having with himself. I knew he was thinking it was the right thing to tell Jiem, but at the total wrong time. I could see the pain in his face and feel the conflict in his heart.

Danyl shook his head. "Please, Adara, do not tell him yet," he sighed, "there might be something I can do for her."

Anger shot through me.

"What, so you can bring her back into our lives and allow her to ruin us all over again?"

Danyl froze. "What? Adara, what is the matter with you? Elondra is a human being, one of my - one of our - people. I love her like I love all Elsetimers. I must do something."