Haldir stared at Ilyana, shocked as hell, as a pale color swept on his cheeks.
"This is what you have married," Ilyana snapped. "The witch you have married wants to reject you because of our customs and traditions. Because of the fact that she is now a part of the Evindal kingdom. Didn't you tell her what it was to be a royal? Doesn't she have a spine?"
Haldir's heart froze at the way Ilyana retorted. He thought that he forgot to breathe. He watched Ilyana turning on her heels and stomping away in the alley, her yellow gown billowing against her ankles. His throat dried as his thoughts scattered. Slowly, he turned to look at the door of his bedchamber and with a heavy heart he walked inside his room.
Inyanga was leaning against the ledge of the window and seeing the snowflakes outside. The room was warm and a soft glow from the fire hearth lent its light to it. His gaze turned to his son, who was sleeping on their bed without a worry in the world. He went to her and stood right behind her, stiff as a ramrod. Every muscle in his body was tense. He didn't know if he was even breathing or not. Reject him? Why? What had he done? He knew that from past several days, she was not talking much to him because of how he dealt with Ruvyn, but if he could help, he would.
Feeling his warmth, Inyanga leaned against her husband's chest and he immediately dipped his head to bury his face in her neck. He inhaled her scent to soothe the storm of emotions that were swirling in his heart, and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I am sorry…"
Inyanga closed her eyes. She rubbed his arms gently and said, "You don't have to be. It is all so twisted that I feel like giving up sometimes. And sometimes I feel like leaving all this and running away with my son to my kingdom. My child is too young to be separated from me. It is not fair for him and for me. I am still nursing him. Who will nurse him back in Evindal? Ilyana said that there had been no births in the elf kingdom for hundreds of years, then who will nurse him?" She felt her eyes burning.
"Please don't leave me," he murmured, his lips on her skin. It was a plea, it was a prayer, it was not a request or an order.
Inyanga turned to face him. She cupped his cheeks and said, "I want to run away from here with my child, but I know that Theodir is going to go berserk over it. He would take it all out on the Lore. Nothing will stop him from taking Ruvyn, and— and—" The tears ran out. Her voice choked at the back of her throat. She had so much to speak, but nothing came out.
Haldir scooped his wife in his arms and took her to the bed. He made her lie gently on the silk sheets and then lay beside her. The first thing he did was to wipe her tears with his kisses. "You look bad when you cry," he said in a low voice. "And I hate when you cry." Gently he caressed her hair. She was so beautiful that it tugged his heart every time he looked at her. Her rich, shiny skin under his fingers bloomed. "I love you a lot, Inyanga. Please don't leave me," he pleaded. "I can't— I can't think of a day without you. If you will reject me, I will die, and—"
Inyanga placed her fingers on his lips. "Don't ever say that. Value your life, always. And I love you too much to leave you." She knew that even he was suffering a lot internally but being a man of few words, he hardly ever spoke his mind. He suffered silently. And he was tied to the laws of Evindal—something he couldn't get out of.
For a moment he stared at her and then took a deep breath. "Then, Ilyana?"
"Ignore her," Inyanga chuckled.
"Gods above!" Haldir rasped and embraced his wife so tightly that she squeaked. He showered a trail of kisses on her as relief replaced the fear. She laughed and he kissed her more. "I love you!" he said in between the kisses.
—
In the temple, Anastasia received Theodir. There was a small ceremony in which the netizens of Draoidh had come to worship their ancestors and deities. Since they all saw Anastasia as a deity, they called her. And Anastasia invited Theodir. Ileus couldn't come because he said he had important work back in the palace. He said he would join later, which Anastasia knew that it wouldn't be possible for him. He was too tied to his work. Since Adrianna and Dmitri had taken off from the court for Iona, he had become extremely busy.
Anastasia was sitting on a high chair. An ivory chiffon cloth was draped and wrapped loosely over her, its length left to trail behind her. A flower wreath was sitting atop her golden hair. She had been made to take a scented bath. When Theodir came, he was also in a white chiffon shirt and white pants. The priest of the temple made him wear a flower wreath on his head. He was taken to sit on a chair beside Anastasia Anastasia bowed to him and smiled. When the both were seated the ceremony started. The netizens looked at the two with sheer admiration and devotion.
The ceremony was taking place in the courtyard where Anastasia had cast her magic to create a shield over all of them to stop the snow falling on them.
—
When Ilyana came to her room, she was trembling with anger. That woman had the audacity to speak to her like that? Who the hell did she think she was? She started pacing the room muttering curses. She wanted to give Theodir a piece of her mind for delaying their going back to Evindal. How dare she say that she would reject Haldir and take away the baby? If that was the case, then she had to up her efforts to take the child as soon as possible. After that she could reject Haldir and she wouldn't care. Ilyana was raging with the revenge she wanted to take from both the brothers. She was taking the herbal potion to never have Theodir's child and she would snatch Ruvyn, Haldir's child. The two brothers would always suffer for what they did to her.
She walked to her balcony to soothe her fury. She went to the railing and then looked at the room that was right across hers, the room where the lights were glowing softly, from where she could hear soft moans of love making. She started to shiver in rage. She pressed her hands on her ears and then stormed inside her room. Vengeance. She wanted revenge. She went to her wardrobe, opened it and dug inside to get her herbal potion. She was going to drink it so much that she would never conceive and then Haldir would be forced to give his baby to her. But it wasn't there.. Ilyana paled.
