章節 12: The Elders
Yet when his gaze went to the wrinkles on the bed sheet, contoured by her shape. Inadvertently, his hand went to the bedsheet, longing to touch her. His instincts screamed. That bloody meeting could wait. He placed the pillow back, got up from the bed, and strode out the room, his soldiers marching behind him. He ordered them again not to enter the room. The clouds above had burst, and it started raining on his kingdom.
When he walked into the training arena with just his breeches on, every soldier out there freaked out. He had so much rage inside him that it manifested in his locked jaw, his bulging muscles and a lethal look in his eyes. "I want you to come in batches of two to fight with me. We will not fight with swords. This is going to be a hand combat."
The first four recruits were lying on the floor with ruptured noses or lips in a few seconds. Eltanin watched the others like a hawk with his hair on his forehead and blood on his knuckles. Sweat trickled down his shoulders and torso. He looked like he was going to kill them all.
Fafnir gulped as sweat broke out of him. At this rate, the king was going to probably kill all the soldiers.
"Next!" Eltanin growled, his expression that of a wounded lion. Soon two more were down, groveling on the floor.
"These soldiers are new," Fafnir interjected. "Still under training…"
Eltanin whipped his head in Fafnir's direction. He scowled and let out a low, dangerous growl. Without warning, he jumped out of the arena and ran to the back side of the palace. Moments later, Eltanin shifted into a massive black wolf and loped in the forest. There, he was joined by Fafnir, Prince Rigel, and a dozen soldiers, all in wolf form. Fafnir's wolf was a gray beast, whereas Rigel's wolf was white.
Rigel was growling in anger at Eltanin. 'Come back!' Rigel could establish a mind link with him because when they were younger, he had given a blood oath to Eltanin. With that oath, he could hear Eltanin's thoughts and vice-versa only if they allowed. Right now, Rigel was trying to hit the strong mental shields he had built around him.
The rain was pouring heavily. The ground was too slushy, but Eltanin didn't care. He had to run, had to do something to temper his rage, his anxiety. Something was wrong with him, something driving him mad. Rationality, logic, reasoning were his strengths. But this feeling — it was beyond comprehension. So, Eltanin ran like the beast he was. Faster than before.
'Eltanin!' Rigel shouted at him. But Eltanin wasn't listening.
They returned to the palace a little after evening, sweaty and breathless. Eltanin shifted back and retired to his bedchamber. He was tired, and his rage had gone down a bit. At the end of it he comprehended that this was just restlessness and nothing to do with the girl. There was nothing that he needed to be afraid of.
In his bathroom, two maids were waiting to bathe him. He removed his clothes and stepped inside his marble bathtub. He rested on the headrest and closed his eyes, letting the maids clean his every pore.
It was not long after his bath that Rigel came to meet him in his bedchamber. An extremely handsome man, so handsome that some he looked like a chiseled statue of a deity with sharp blue eyes. His auburn hair was trimmed neatly at the neck, and not a hair was out of place. Almost as tall as Eltanin, Rigel was also a prince who did not want to be married. His father had forced him to marry some princess, and so he had come to be with Eltanin. The two friends were happy in the other's company as they shared the same concern about marriage.
After Eltanin's run in the forests, Rigel was a bit worried about him. He could sense it that Eltanin hadn't been so anxious in all these years — even when he had been captured by Felis.
Eltanin stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped over his lean hips. His long dragon tattoo curved behind his back and coiled around his waist. He dismissed the maids and walked to the bar, his steps steadier, but not his heart.
He poured wine into two flutes and offered one to Rigel.
"Care to tell me what that was all about?" Rigel asked, taking the wine from Eltanin's hand. He sat on a couch near the window that overlooked the gardens and orchards beyond. He had woken up after Fafnir nervously pounded on his door early in the morning. There had been two girls on his side. Not remembering who they were, he jumped over them to answer the door — almost ready to kill the servant for such a folly. When Fafnir told him that Eltanin had run all alone to the Eslam Forest, he joined with the General to seek out the angry Alpha.
Eltanin pursed his lips, on his bed with his feet up, resting against the cushioned headboard. One hand behind his head, he took a deep breath. "Father insists that I get married."
Rigel chuckled. The irony was not wasted on him. He had come here to escape his father as Eltanin was facing his. "What's new about that?"
"He wants me to get married to Princess Morava."
Rigel jerked his head back.
"The Elders of our Kingdom are after my father's life. But I suspect that it is my father who is desperate to marry me off in such a hurry," Eltanin said, a kernel of fury searing inside his chest once again. "And this is getting bloody serious."
Rigel glanced out the window. The rain hadn't stopped. They pelted against the glass as the howling winds rattled them. "I can understand his worry. Felis is growing stronger, and if my reports are right, he is gathering allegiances. You should get married to Princess Morava. We can't avoid him for long, Eltanin."
"I don't need a wife!" Eltanin said obstinately.
Rigel let out a sigh and sipped his wine. "How long can you deal with the Elders, Eltanin, and how far can you go?" he asked. "You haven't found your mate. How will you stall them?"
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