Free The Darkness of Glengowyn by Isabo Kelly Page A

for the few hours they had, the only time they might ever have once news of their fall reached the king and queen.
    She buried that fear deep, hiding from it while she anchored herself to the present and her love for Einar.

Chapter Eight
    Nuala rolled into Einar’s arms after a light doze, feeling rested and sated in her soul. He stared down at her, his dark eyes thoughtful, his expression quiet.
    Now what? she thought. She loved him. They’d defied their king and queen. Already she could feel the threads connecting them binding tighter. They couldn’t stop the process now. The Shaerta was too strong between them. A reaction only possible when two were in love. She’d managed to step away from this love once. Now, that was no longer possible.
    “We’ll be banished,” she said, surprised how matter-of-fact her tone was, how easy it was to say aloud after avoiding those very words for the last few hours.
    He nodded.
    “Will they…?” She swallowed. “Will they impose the Or’roan ?”
    She was no different from the other elves. The thought of ending forever, of joining the traitor she’d killed in black nothingness, terrified her. Never to move on to the next plane or see another life… Horrifying prospect. It was why the punishment was so powerful among her people. They all feared it. Which was one of the many reasons the sovereigns had imposed the Or’roan on the traitors.
    By loving the Darkness and risking her magic, she’d put both herself and Einar in the same position as the traitors.
    “They may,” he said after a quiet moment. “Mainly as a statement to others who might dare to defy them. It depends on how angry they are with us.”
    “We’ve never been sure how this would affect my magic. Maybe it won’t be so bad? Maybe they won’t have to punish us, after all.”
    Desperate dreams, she knew. The queen had made her position on this clear when she’d ordered Nuala to stay away from Einar, to never bond with him. There would be no mercy.
    His firm mouth tilted up at one corner. “We’ll be banished, but maybe they’ll resist cursing us. Either way, you’re worth it to me.”
    Her throat tightened with emotions she tried to suppress. Though why she felt the need to hold anything back with Einar, she wasn’t sure. “As long as I’m with you, even if we can’t travel to the afterworld together, I’ll be happy.”
    He gathered her close and kissed her.
     
     
    At sundown, they dressed and returned to the roof, hiding behind the parapet as they studied the streets. Noman’s Land had been quiet all day, something that surprised Nuala. She’d expected at least a human patrol after the night of fighting. But the streets remained eerily silent. Not even random squatters or sentries made themselves known.
    They waited for a carrier owl until well after full dark, silently keeping vigil. She wanted to talk more, to make sure he was prepared for the consequences of what they’d spent the day doing. Could he really just abandon all he’d ever stood for—Glengowyn, protecting the sovereigns, defending his people? All of that…for her?
    And there were his inner demons, the topic they’d avoided all this time. The brutal killer he became in battle. Some called him a berserker. She knew that wasn’t the right description. He wasn’t overwhelmed by bloodlust, killing indiscriminately. What happened to Einar was scarier, colder, more methodical. A type of battle madness never seen before among the elves.
    There was no name for it. But the berserker title added weight to his position as bodyguard to the royal couple, so he didn’t try to deny the rumor. Neither did he comment on the suspicion that he was the only elf capable of killing other elves. She knew better than that too—from her own experience now. But again, the whispers added to his legend. Something she was sure the queen and king encouraged.
    Beyond the legend and rumors surrounding the Darkness, though, there was a violence in