Page 86 of In Darkness Forged
When she finally broke the kiss with a gasp, her pulse racing and her hands trembling, it was only to bury her face in Tal’s broad chest and listen to his heart, galloping along in time with her own.
His arms settled around her shoulders, and he gave a sigh, deep as the roots of the Darkspring. Whatever might come later, this precise moment—the two of them together—seemed profoundlyright.
If only it could last.
“We should go,” Aislin murmured into his shirt.
“Yes.” But his arms only seemed to tighten.
“I need to finish my quest.”
“Your family is waiting,” he agreed.
“Tal.” She pulled back reluctantly, only to take his hand and hold it between her palms. “There’s nothing in the world I want so much as to take you home with me. But I can’t promise you’ll be safe.”
“I never asked for that promise.” Tal’s expression remained unperturbed. “If you wish for me to come, I will come.”
Could she truly do this? Would her people accept this dangerous, other-worldly night elf? Or would this only end up being counted as one more rejection in his life?
“It might go badly,” she warned him. “They might hurt you, and you might end up regretting it.”
It was an echo of their first meeting, but this time, it was their hearts on the line.
“As you told me once before,” Tal reminded her, “there is but one road forward. I do not need your people’s approval, only yours. And if you allow me to stay, I will not stop, I will not give up, and I will not go home. Not until you tell me there is no more hope.”
Aislin swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “Yes,” she whispered. “Come with me. Please. I don’t want to do this without you.”
And he nodded, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.
“Then I will,” he said.
* * *
Cuan found them only a short distance down the path, and Aislin rejoiced as she reflected that it was not so terrifying a journey when traveling by wolf. No sentries tried to stop them, no calamities or predators interrupted their peace. It seemed almost too short a time before they stood staring at that slender stone span across the churning waters of the Dredwall.
Aislin nearly held her breath once more as she took her first step onto the bridge, but it was a different sort of anxiety—more anticipation than fear. And this time, she was not alone.
What had been a day’s ride on a slow horse took only the space of an afternoon at Cuan’s steady lope. Thus, it was just before nightfall when they reached the top of the ridge, and Aislin looked down into the hollow where her village lay quiet in the dusk, a light haze of smoke from hearth fires trailing into the air.
How long had she been gone? Not many days, she realized, but it felt as if nothing would ever be the same. No part of her had gone unchanged, while her village and those she left behind would remain exactly as she’d left them.
“Tal,” she said quietly, hesitantly, “would you be willing to wait? Just for a short time? I don’t know how anyone will react to my return, and the people here are… Well, they’re terrified of night elves. They’ve heard so many stories embellished by drunken mercenaries that they don’t know fact from fiction. Our innkeeper once lost his leg to a night elf, and I just don’t want…”
Tal remained silent, and she feared she’d wounded him.
“I don’t want you hurt,” she finished helplessly.
“Why do you imagine I would allow them to hurt me?” he asked. The cool evening breeze ruffled his hair as he stood beside her, tall and seemingly invulnerable.
But Aislin knew better. Had seen him near death too many times, and she trembled at the thought of enduring that again.
“There are many of them and only one of you,” she reminded him. “And even if they cannot hurt you, they can try, and then you would have to defend yourself. If anyone comes to harm, I don’t know how I can bring them to accept you, and… I want this to be your home.”
Tal’s eyes glowed slightly, and when he looked down at her, his expression was implacable. “I will not hide from them forever, Aislin.”
“And I would not ask you to,” she assured him. “Only until I have finished my quest and spoken to my friends. Perhaps I can smooth your way.” She could not help a tiny smile as she looked at Tal and Cuan. Tal was one thing, but no matter what she said, no one could possibly be prepared for the dreadwolf.
“You once told me you wished for someone to bear burdens alongside you,” Tal said after a moment’s silence. “So that is the only right I ask for. I would make your way easier rather than harder. And if remaining out of sight is what will cause you the least anxiety, I will not challenge your wisdom. However”—his tone grew stubbornly final—“neither will I watch you walk into danger alone and unguarded.”