The Echolone Mine by Elaina J Davidson Page A

vaulted to his feet and
laughingly paced away.
    “You are
suddenly chipper,” Torrullin said. He sat up.
    “State of
mind.”
    “What brought
it on?”
    “I have
realised it cannot get worse. I have been in hell with Cassy
before; this isn’t a new road, not a new torture.”
    “You
contradict yourself.”
    Elianas
stopped. “Do I? I did not hate sleeping with her and I never found
her distasteful. The problem was I loved you, not her. Until I know
where I stand with her, I cannot deal with you.”
    “Now that is
more honest.”
    Elianas
stalked over and fell to his knees beside Torrullin. “You want
honesty?”
    Gods.
“Yes.”
    “I meant what
I said. I have not been with a man and do not intend to do so. Ymir
was lashing out at you, not a desire for sex. I do love a woman’s
body, with all the complications, but have not yet found one who
drives me insane. I am not jealous when you sleep with a woman,
whether your wife, Lowen or a prostitute somewhere, and I hope you
will have the same control when and if I meet someone. However,
speaking honestly, I want you in every way possible, but you are
the exception.”
    “As you are
mine.”
    “Then we
understand one another.” Elianas leaned forward. “Your move.”
    Torrullin
kissed him. It was a hard, uncompromising, take everything kiss,
and it shattered Elianas’ calm completely. He dragged himself
away.
    “For fuck’s
sake!”
    Torrullin
rose. “Do not play your games with me.” He walked out.
     
     
    Cassy awakened
three days later and Quilla summoned Elianas and Torrullin.
    They were in
his chambers when he brought her in. He shrugged at them, telling
them without words he did not have a result. The result lay in how
Cassy would act next.
    “Cassy?”
Elianas murmured.
    Her golden
eyes fixed on him. “Elianas. You chose to save me from the
netherworld.”
    He swallowed.
“You did not deserve it.”
    “I did not
deserve much of what came to pass, but events happened nonetheless.
I thank you for the second chance. I only hope our daughters are
happy where they are.”
    “As do I.”
    “Where is my
father?”
    “He was taken
into Reaume.”
    She closed her
eyes. “Thank the Goddess. I am free of him.”
    “Are you all
right?”
    She opened her
eyes. “Do I have my sanity? Oh, yes.” She smiled at Quilla. “You are a friend, and I thank you.”
    He inclined
his head.
    She ignored
him for Elianas again. “Whether we have a marriage remains unclear,
but I am not about to make the same mistakes, and I doubt you want
to.”
    “No,” he
managed.
    “Then we allow
the hours and days ahead to determine where we go. I aim to remain
at your side, and his, until we know where we stand.”
    “Very well,”
Elianas said.
    “Torrullin?”
    “Agreed.”
    “Do you agree
for me or him?”
    “For
Elianas.”
    “Decidedly
more honest,” she said. Then she changed. “That is personal, but
now I have something to discuss with both of you regarding the
sacred network.”
    Torrullin
moved, feeling free enough to do so. “What about it?”
    She pulled a
face. “I may not like you, but I can trust you to help me.
Torrullin, did you feel the network before?”
    “No.”
    She paced over
to him. “You should have. Elianas should have. We waited far too
long and we waited because you did not feel it.”
    He frowned.
“Cassy, I was distracted with other problems.”
    “And I was
bound in the Throne,” Elianas murmured.
    “So that is
where you went.” She giggled. “My god, my father would have had a
heart attack had he known!”
    Elianas
managed a laugh in response. “He sometimes thought he heard the
seat talk to him; he thought he was mad.”
    Torrullin
snorted. “Gods, that I would have liked to see.”
    Quilla’s brows
were sky high.
    Cassy,
smiling, held a hand up. “It is amusing, yes, but we need talk
about the network.”
    They sobered.
Torrullin said, “You are suggesting the network should have been
obvious to