Of Werewolves and Curses by Emma Hamm
Chapter 21
She found Eldridge in the garden of tide pools outside the cliff village. He was surrounded by jewels of the Summer Court, each handmaiden more beautiful than the last. They were almost blinding in their stunning nature, but Freya didn’t want to look at them.
She wanted to look at her Goblin King, who stood in the center of all the chaos with his hands clasped behind his back. His eyes were narrowed on their work, his voice sharp and critical. It almost looked like they were gathering things from the pools, but what could he have found?
“Eldridge!” she called out.
His gaze traveled up to the village, and he stared at her for a few moments before a bright smile crossed his lips. “My darling! What are you doing here? How are you here?”
The steps to walk down were slippery with saltwater and a sticky residue she couldn’t name. Freya clambered down them, less than gracefully, but she didn’t care who saw her stumble. She wanted to throw her arms around the Goblin King and not let go.
Two weeks had been far too long. And she didn’t intend to do that again anytime soon.
With one last trip, she tumbled into his arms. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t very graceful, or even that she must have looked ridiculous. All that mattered was the way his warm, strong arms came around her and held her close to his heart.
He still smelled like sweet apple pie and cinnamon. Even surrounded by the ocean. And the tittering elves that held their hands to their masks didn’t bother her, even though she knew they were watching.
Freya tilted her head back and wrapped an arm around his neck. She drew him down for a deep, long kiss that fueled her soul with each lingering press. “I missed you,” she whispered. “I missed you so much.”
He drew back with a bemused smile, clearly not sure why she was so clingy. “I missed you as well, my love. But what are you doing here? We had a plan.”
“We did.” Freya looked around and noted how lovely the sun reflected on the metallic shimmer in the handmaidens’ gowns. “I already spoke with Leo, he’s coming to visit soon.”
“Soon or tomorrow?”
“Soon.” She glanced up, then frowned at his expression. “What?”
“Leo is a very good manipulator. He twists words with the best of us and I just... I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll be coming as he said.” Eldridge released her and stepped back toward the handmaidens. “Perhaps you should return and force him to come here.”
“I believe him.” And it made her cheeks heat with anger to think he didn’t think she was capable of convincing Leo to come here when that was the only job she’d had. “We struck up a strange sort of friendship in your absence, and I know he’s going to come to the isles. He wouldn’t have said so if he didn’t have the plans in his head.”
“Freya, I know you made some kind of friendship, and I’m not surprised by that. The fae seem to love you.” He rubbed his cheek, clearly uncomfortable. “But I don’t think you know him as well as I do.”
“A person can change.” She didn’t understand why he was so determined to not believe her. Or Leo.
It was like Eldridge had some vendetta against the man. He was so certain that Leo was the same boy who had so disappointed him long ago, that Eldridge couldn’t see through the visage Leo had built around himself.
The Summer Lord was a decent man with a weak spirit. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t change or grow with the right help. Like any tree, he needed a place to put his roots, and then he could flourish with the support of family and friends. Without that support, he would continue to topple over and have to start anew.
“I—” Freya started, only to be interrupted by one of the handmaidens.
“My lord! We’ve finished gathering all the crystals you requested in the water. What would you like us to do with them?”
Eldridge turned toward them with a bright grin on his face. “Excellent! Bring them to the section of the village we’ve taken over and we’ll start enchanting them. Soon, this isle will glow with lights like the stars!”
The women teetered off, all of their arms overladen with bags of tiny crystals. So that’s what they had been gathering. Why there were crystals in tidepools, Freya would likely never know.
“I thought maybe we could take the afternoon together?” Freya was very aware of her sodden dress that likely smelled of seawater. She’d need a bath before they did anything, but she could dunk herself in the ocean again. Or maybe they could swim together.
She would love to have an afternoon swimming in the magical waves with the man she loved. Maybe this was the perfect time to tell him that she was madly, deeply in love with him.
But Eldridge wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes were on the handmaidens as they raced toward the opening in the cliff. A thousand thoughts danced behind his eyes and Freya already knew his answer long before he opened his mouth.
“If Leo is coming soon, then we have less time than we thought to prepare. This is the first step toward getting your father back, Freya. The first step toward our future. We can’t slow down now.” He reached for her hands and squeezed her fingers. “I know it’s tough, my love. I also want an afternoon with just the two of us, but we have too much to do.”
And then he raced off after the other women without even a second glance back at her.
What was she supposed to do? Freya had nothing that was under her control here. She was left standing on the rocky beach, wondering what had happened that made her feel so... alone.
Wrapping her arms around herself, Freya turned down the beach and started walking. She didn’t know where she was going or what plan was in her head. All she knew was that she had to keep putting one foot in front of the other. For a little while at least. Otherwise, all those horrible thoughts would spew out of her mouth.
Logically, she knew Eldridge was right. They needed to figure out this riddle in the Summer Court, although Eldridge had no clue that she’d already found her father. The forest had to be appeased or they would never get him back. And the forest wanted Leo and Cora to accept their rightful place in the court.
And if they didn’t, then she might as well give up now and head back to the Goblin Court with her proverbial tail tucked between her legs. She didn’t have a luxurious one like her sister, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t feel it when she returned to her mother and told her that she’d failed. Her father would likely go back to being a mindless beast slathering in that prison for the rest of his life. And she would never let herself live this down.
Which meant she had to follow the plan. She had to focus now, and then she could figure out what she was doing with her relationship later. It wasn’t like they didn’t have all the time in the world.
Except they didn’t.
She touched a finger to the corner of her eyes where she’d noticed a few crow’s feet were already showing. She wasn’t that old yet, but she could already see the signs of age. Eventually she would be this ridiculous, old woman limping after a handsome Goblin King. Maybe he would still love her when she looked like that, but maybe he wouldn’t want to deal with the pain and discomfort that came with old age.
Freya knew she was spiraling. But she couldn’t stop.
She paused next to one of the tide pools and stared down into the crystal clear water. The surface was so smooth it was like a mirror, reflecting her own wide-eyed stare back at her. She looked manic. Mad. Crazed knowing that she couldn’t stop the aging that would divide her and the man she loved.
No, she couldn’t think like this. Freya tapped the surface of the water and watched the ripples spread from the single tap. If only she could make sure that she wasn’t crazy. That he loved her still as much as he said he did.
The temptation to scry rose again. The trees wouldn’t have told her to use that magic if they hadn’t seen that she would need it. What if they were warning her to look, because something important was happening right underneath her nose?
It was a bad idea. The Goblin King might even feel that she was spying on him, and then how would she explain herself?
Freya still let all the thoughts trickle from her mind and whispered, “Can you show me the Goblin King?”
Guilt already gnawed on her conscious, but she was given the opportunity to prove to herself that the whispers in her mind were nothing more than anxiety. This was all in her head, she had nothing to worry about.
The water shimmered with magic. It wasn’t her magic. Freya didn’t feel that strange pull on her very life force like it had the few times she’d used her power. This was almost like the Summer Court was showing her what she needed to see.
Suddenly, she wasn’t looking at the tiny stones at the bottom of the pool or the crab picking through kelp. Now she was looking at Eldridge as he strode into a room where Cora stood in the center. He held out his arms for the beautiful woman and tucked her against his heart, as he did to Freya when she needed someone to lean on. He whispered something to Cora, who laughed with her entire body.
The scene was innocent. She shouldn’t read anything into the body language that they exhibited and yet, she did. Cora was too comfortable. Eldridge was too happy. And she was standing alone on a rocky shore covered in seaweed and saltwater.
Swallowing hard, she whispered to herself, “It means nothing. They’re friends. You know they’re friends.”
But it still hurt to see him hugging Cora. Her heart twisted in her chest knowing that even though this was an act of comfort and excitement that the Summer Lord was finally going to be here, it didn’t matter.
Jealousy was a wicked poison that spread through her chest like a wildfire through a dry forest. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. All she could do was stare down at the water in shock and horror.
She had to stop or she would surely go mad. She’d rush to the room they were in and slap both of them, making a scene out of nothing.
Freya dashed her hand over the water, slapping the surface so it wouldn’t show her that horrible image any longer. If only she could get clarification, hear what Eldridge had said...
She stood back up and pressed a hand to her chest. This was the poison the forest was talking about. The Summer Court was sick, and it was affecting her. She’d never been this jealous woman who wanted to follow her significant other around and limit what they could or could not see.
Freya had never once questioned his adoration or his intention with her. Eldridge was a doting, loving partner who had seen that she needed more reassurance than most. He’d given her that and here she was. Spying. All because there was another beautiful woman around him and she couldn’t stand it that she wasn’t the prettiest girl in the room.
Freya had never been the prettiest girl.
“You have been surrounded by fae this entire time,” she reminded herself. “And he still picked you.”
The grubby, strange, arrogant mortal woman who had been bound and determined to hate him no matter how hard he tried to convince her otherwise. Their love hadn’t bloomed suddenly or without work. They had struggled through the courts together and...
No. She couldn’t do this anymore. She needed to clear her head.
Staring up at the cliff’s edge, she resolved herself to being better. She would go back into that village and she would help Cora get ready for the moment when Leo arrived. Then the Lord and Lady could reconcile their broken relationship. The forest would be happy and it would release her father.
Then and only then would she focus on fixing her own relationship with the Goblin King.
