Then she solidified that concern when she said softly, “I fear, my Seoafin, after I say what I’ve come to say, you will not feel this same way.”
I felt my heart squeeze and a million thoughts raced through my head, primarily Sjofn wanting to come back and wanting to do that early.
Okay. Shit. First things first.
I needed to go get Frey.
“Please sit,” Valentine invited, regardless that it was actually my bedroom, and she did this by gracefully throwing out her pale hand to indicate the bed.
“I…” I started, didn’t know how to go on then I went on anyway. “A lot has happened Valentine, you can’t imagine. A lot. Huge. I need to go get someone so you can meet him and then we need to talk.”
“Please, Seoafin, sit,” she semi-repeated and I blinked at her.
“Seriously, I have to –” I started but she interrupted me.
“Tell me you are married to Frey Drakkar and you are pregnant with his child. This, ma cherie, I know,” she stated, I sucked in a surprised breath and she went on. “Now, please, considering you are, indeed, expecting, I would very much prefer it if you were seated when I say what I’ve come to say.”
I stared at her thinking this did not sound good.
Then I moved to the bed and sat.
What I wanted to do, watching her face, was move to the door and run.
Penelope, shockingly, didn’t leave Valentine’s lap but stayed purring right where she was and while doing it didn’t even twitch.
My cat, by the way, was still holding her grudge.
Once I was down, I unhooked my light wool cloak, pulled it off my shoulders and it fell to the bed as I kept my eyes on her.
Then I asked, “How do you know about Frey and me?”
She tilted her head slightly before answering, “I told you I am not a seer and this is true, I am not. I do not have visions and I cannot call up scenes from the future. This does not mean I cannot tune into people of our world, or this one, and see what has past. And this I have been doing with you since you left.”
“You’ve been keeping an eye on me?” I asked, not upset about this, exactly, just surprised.
“It was not by choice. You call to me, Seoafin, I do not know why. But you do. So, yes, since you do, I have been keeping an eye on you.”
It was interesting, this “calling to her” business, but I decided for now that we needed to keep on target.
“So you know when I got here that I –” I started.
“I know everything,” she interrupted me, took in a delicate breath, her eyes narrowing slightly on me and then she went on, speaking softly but even so, the words she spoke rocked my world.
“I know that your emotion runs deep for your husband and his for you. However, I feel it is important that you know all so the happiness you are experiencing will be true and rich rather than shadowed by misunderstanding. So, I’ve been watching and waiting for your husband to clear those shadows. Alas, he has not so, unusually, I feel compelled to do so.”
I didn’t have anything to say to that and since I was concentrating on keeping my tightening neck muscles from snapping, I didn’t make a peep.
Valentine carried on. “Therefore, I must inform you that I also know that before you felt this emotion for him, and he was aware of his depth of feeling for you, in order to bind you to this land and to him for the future of this country and for his own ends as he held extreme distaste for your twin, he ordered the elves of this world to bind you here for the rest of your days at the same time he ordered that the other Sjofn be bound to your world… and your life… for the rest of hers.”
I blinked but said nothing mostly because I had no air in my lungs and my throat suddenly felt parched.
Valentine kept speaking. “The power held by these creatures is immense, unbreakable. It is so powerful I have never felt the like of it. Still, I have searched for magic or some means of thwarting it but my search was fruitless and I fear this kind of magic does not exist.” She paused, held my gaze and delivered the killing blow, “You are never to go home, Seoafin, ever. And your twin will never come back, ever.”
I stared at her, now unblinking, she held my stare and continued.
“Your husband made this decision without consulting you and he did this on the night you first learned of the existence of elves.”
I kept staring as my mind reeled.
That night… that night…
Oh my God. We barely knew each other back then. He’d just come back from being away with his men. Although he told me he fell in love with me while I was mixing pancake batter, and maybe when he looked back this was the true, but at the time he didn’t trust me and I wasn’t even certain he liked me. He didn’t even know who I was until the elves told him. In fact, he wouldn’t start being really sweet and gentle, becoming my Frey, until after that night.