A Savior's Worth (Book #3)

Chapter Sixty-Two

Somehow, Eldon managed to drag both Elouise and Henry to the Queen's Study. While Elouise moved further into the room, Henry remained put, still failing to comprehend Elouise's last statement. He could hear his heart drumming in his ears.

Eldon closed and locked the door, then turned to them. His focused zoned in on Elouise, though.

"A'right, Ellie," he casually began, which amazed Henry. "How do ya know that?"

Elouise stood beside the wide desk and clutched the ends of it, looking everywhere but at them. Then, under her breath, she uttered, "Udolf told me."

Henry blinked. "When did you speak to him?"

"And why didn't ya tell us?" asked Eldon.

"I, I... I didn't want to believe him," she explained, breathing heavily. "I, I thought he was—I thought he was lying; or rather, I had hoped he was, because"—she stopped as her attention landed on something in the left-corner of the room. Then her face hardened.

"Why did you not inform us that the answer was in your journal this entire time?" she demanded.

Henry lifted his eyebrows. He spun on his heel, but he didn't see anything or anyone there. He anxiously glanced at Eldon who fidgeted and hissed at Elouise to quiet down.

Elouise ignored him and resumed shouting at nothing. "Show yourself to him, then, because I have many things to say to you right now, Ashton!"

"Ashton?" Henry spewed, his mind spinning. He found the strength to walk over to Eldon, and he grabbed his arm—mostly to prevent himself from losing his stability. "Who is she speaking to?"

"To me, Your Highness," an unfamiliar voice spoke. Henry sucked in his breath and held it. He kept staring at Eldon with some possible hope that he was perhaps imagining everything and there wasn't actually anyone else in the room with them.

"She is speaking to me," the person repeated.

Eldon patted Henry's hand and nodded his head in their direction. Henry exhaled slowly and stiffly turned, his hand falling from Eldon. The man he saw was young; black waves for hair, light brown complexion, freckles—oh, Goddesses; those details weren't at all what captivated Henry.

It was his eyes—his brown eyes. And Henry could see through him.

Oh, he wanted to run, except Eldon held him in place as if he were able to sense this. He wanted to scream, except he merely sputtered instead.

Elouise gestured to the stranger and said, "Henry, this is Ashton. Yes, that Ashton. He is here, and he is an angel."

"P-Pardon?" Henry squeaked.

Ashton held up his hands. "I understand this may be difficult for you—"

"You are an angel?"

"Yes... I am."

"How is that possible? How are you here?" Henry felt faint. He supposed he was fortunate that Eldon held him.

"There is not enough time to elaborate," Elouise cut in, pulling away from the desk. "We have other matters to discuss." She glared over at Ashton. "How could you not tell us?"

"I did not know," Ashton desperately reasoned.

"How could you not know? It is your journal!"

"To be quite fair, it has been over a hundred years since I last used that journal—"

"A hundred years," Henry muttered under his breath. Eldon rubbed his back.