Eldric followed his gaze. "Elenya Solwyn, the Dawn-Blessed of the Sunlit Path Church. Some call her the empire's most radiant jewel. She's as brave as she is beautiful, they say, and she's spent years tending soldiers without hesitation… as though touched by the divine itself."
Lumberling let his eyes linger on her.
She had hair as black as midnight silk, spilling down her back in an unbroken sheet. Her skin was pale, almost luminous in the winter light, the kind that seemed to drink in and reflect the day. Her face was beautiful, as if the gods themselves had sculpted her to their own exacting pattern. Her eyes, deep and dark, held a polished clarity that revealed nothing of the thoughts behind them.
Yes, she was beautiful… but Lumberling's mind inevitably compared her to the elves, three women whose beauty wasn't simply skin-deep, but fierce and alive, carrying the weight of centuries in their gaze. His lovers. His heart stirred at the memory.
