Claimed by the Elven Brothers: Decision (An Elven King Novella Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

The marrow in this case was finding out if last night’s
dream had really been another seemingly lost memory surfacing, and if so, I was
dying to find out who Hilde was. Just thinking about the name made something
within me stand up and take notice, but it was so vague that I couldn’t tell if
it was in a good way or a bad way.
    I nearly fell over backwards when Seren suddenly appeared right in
front of me even before the strange landscape of the Inbetween could fully
replace the trees that once surrounded me, though I couldn’t stop my startled
squawk.
    “Are you trying to give me a heart attack!” I scolded in an attempt to
hide my embarrassment.
    “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
    Today he was dressed in silver and white robes of silk that made him
look even more like the mythical creature he was than yesterday. It made me
feel suddenly nervous.
    “Where’s Locien?” I asked, finally noticing the other’s absence.
    “Attending to a matter within the realm,” he replied. “He will join us
shortly.” He gestured towards a navy-blue blanket spread out a few yards away.
“Come, have a seat.”
    It was not lost on me that he had prepared a place for us within easy
view of the doorway back to my world. It made me wonder just how much like a
deer-in-headlights I had looked yesterday. Shrieking the minute I saw him today
probably hadn’t helped matters much. I really didn’t want him or Locien to walk
on eggshells around me, deciding to keep things from me or only tell me
half-truths in order not to upset me.
    Once I was seated, Seren handed me a cup of something cold and almost
as clear as water. I took a cautious sip under his watchful eyes and found that
it was the same sweet and bitter drink that I remembered drinking in one of my memory-dreams.
I half-expected my mind to start fuzzing out and braced myself to fight it, but
when a couple of silent minutes went by and both my thoughts and vision
remained as clear as ever, I set the cup down onto the blanket beside me and
was finally able to relax.
    In a way, my elven host had just passed a test he hadn’t known he was
taking.
    “I had another dream about us last night,” I confessed abruptly,
breaking the thick silence.
    Seren’s expression at once became more excited. “A memory?”
    I shrugged. “It was pretty vivid, so I would guess so. Does the name
‘Hilde’ ring a bell?”
    He flinched as if I had suddenly shot my fist towards his face. “I
suppose I should not be surprised that her name surfaced within your
subconscious,” he said with a wry smile. “You were quite upset the first time
you learned of her. Perhaps it is fortunate that Locien is absent this time
around as things may not get so awkward.”
    His words caused my chest to tighten unpleasantly. Going by the context
within the dream and Seren’s cryptic remarks, two and two were suddenly adding
up really quickly.
    “She’s his wife, isn’t she?”
    “She is,” he confirmed, watching my face closely.
    “So, what, you elves practice polygamy?” I tried to sound calm about
it, but from the look of concern on his face, I don’t think I quite
accomplished it.
    “It’s not frowned upon, but also not something that is done often. In
the case of a Sidhe taking a human bride, it is almost always so.”
    This was just getting better and better. “I guess that means you have a
wife, too?”
    Again, Seren flashed me that wry smile. “I suppose in this, I have been
somewhat of a rebel within my family. While they would have liked to see me
bonded with any number of families for political reasons, I have seen little
gain for myself to do so for that reason alone.”
    “Because you’re from the royal family?” I asked, remembering another
aspect of last night’s dream.
    “Ah, good,” he said. “You remember our conversation about the king and
the Royal Wife.”
    “Uh—no, I don’t,” I said, leaning forward in interest. “In the dream
last night, we talked about elven parties