Page 25 of The Broken Elf King
“I was not,” he said softly, looking far off at the cave wall as if trapped in a memory. “My sister Trini was, then my father, then me.”
The royal family had the most potent healing bloodline. It’s how they became royal in the first place.
Pain and sorrow slammed into me so harshly then that I gasped. A vision of dead bodies littering the dining room floor with white foam coming from their mouths flashed into my mind and I whimpered. The elvin king, the queen, Raife’s siblings, all with their moonlight-colored hair and fancy clothing. They littered an elegant dining hall, clutching their throats as a young Raife screamed, shooting bursts of purple healing magic at each of them. But it wasn’t enough, he wasn’t strong enough, and there were too many. I felt his sanity slip away as darkness took him, and now it took me.
In the healing pool, the king’s hands ripped away from me and I immediately started to sink, the water coming up to my ears and then covering my face. I kicked my feet frantically but was forced to hold my breath as my head submerged. Just when I thought I might drown, the king dove under the water and grasped me by the waist, pulling me upward.
I breached the water and gasped for air, coughing.
“Hades!” he cursed. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry,” he said, pressing my body to his as he rapped on my back and I sputtered for air.
“I’m fine,” I muttered, my heart hammering in my throat as he held me smooshed against him. My breasts were pressed against his chest with only a thin piece of material separating us and we seemed to realize it at the same time. He pushed me away from him, holding me at arm’s length but not letting me go.
His face looked panicked and I felt his disappointment seep into me. “You trusted me and… I nearly drown you. I’m sorry, I was trying to give you space because I knew you were feeling… my emotions.”
“It’s okay,” I told him again as he dragged us to the edge of the rock grotto. Once I reached it, I tore away from him and gripped the edge for dear life, hauling myself up over. I lay on my back, panting as my frazzled nerves settled.
He pulled himself out in one elegant move and went to stand but I grasped his wrist, forcing him to look down at me.
When his eyes reached mine, they were steel gray, thinned to slits.
“Tell me what it is.” My voice shook.
I didn’t need to explain. He knew. I had just felt what he was feeling through touch. Isawhis family dead for a split second in my mind. This wasn’t normal.
He sighed, removing my grip from his, and seated himself next to me. I sat up, turning to face him, and decided to stare him down until he unloaded the entire truth.
He watched me as if wondering how much to tell me.
“This will be like helping Corleena for me,” I warned. “I won’t rest until I know everything. No book about empaths will go untouched in the library.”
A halfcocked smile pulled at his lips and my stomach did a summersault. “Are you threatening to read all the books in my library?” He shook himself. “I’m scared.”
I scowled at him and his smile faltered.
“Empaths areextremelyrare,” he said. “So rare in fact that it’s believed only a few live at any given time. Like a magical force that the world cannot handle too much of.”
Chills broke out onto my arms. “Well, if they are so rare, how do you know about them?”
His whole body collapsed inward and I knew the answer would be painful. “Because my mother was one.”
The breath was stolen from my lungs. Even sitting a few inches apart and not touching, I felt the grief from here. He loved her the most. He would never admit that out loud but he did. She waseverythingto him, his protector and nurturer, his inspiration. The grief was all-consuming, cutting into my heart like a physical blow. A tear wobbled in my vision and spilled onto my cheek; he moved to scoot away from me but I reached out to stop him. “Let me take it. Even if only for a moment, let me take the pain,” I told him.
He gazed up at me then with such a confused vulnerability I wasn’t prepared for it. It was like he was begging me to take it but didn’t want to hurt me. Without overthinking it, I leaned in and took him into my arms, hugging him.
Unbearable sadness seeped into me then, but the sigh of relief that escaped him made it all worth it. I had to bite down the sobs that wanted to rip from my throat.
So. Much. Guilt.He felt so guilty for being left alive; it ate at him every second of the day. He’d rather be dead with them than alive alone. Tears flowed down my cheeks unchecked, my throat hurting from trying to keep the wailing inside of me. I wanted to scream, I wanted to pound my chest, I wanted to murder someone. I was so filled with rage.
Life wasn’t fair. I wanted to die. How could one go on living in a dark world like this where six-year-olds were poisoned?
It was at these desperate thoughts that the king pulled away from me and cleared his throat. “We should get back. I have a lot of meetings.” He stood, grabbed his boots, and walked out of the cave, taking his sadness with him and leaving me in a tumultuous emotional whirlwind.
What the Hades had just happened?
As I peeled off his wet tunic and slipped into my dress, one thought struck me.
He’s so much more broken than I thought.
