After completing a difficult set of exercises, she finally let her arms drop to her sides. The leather hilt of her sword fit perfectly in her palm like it always had.
A twinkling noise accompanied a glowing green light that flew down from the ceiling. Pink sparkles glittered against the green. Only a moment later, Tansy flopped onto Elora’s shoulder. The sprite’s velvety hair bounced as she landed.
“I have traveled everywhere in Faerie many times, but I have never seen anyone with sword skill such as yours.”
The compliment turned Elora’s lips up. She lifted the soft mattress of her bed and hid the sword underneath it. Now she turned to the sprite. “Should I be worried that you know about my sword skill? Brannick insists I must keep it secret. You won’t tell other fae will you?”
With a glistening snort, the sprite clutched her belly. “Sprites do not speak to other fae, except to deliver messages.”
Elora raised an eyebrow. “But you speak to me?”
Tansy gave a casual shrug as she ran a hand over her spiked-up hair. “I’m not supposed to. But you did prevent us from delivering shards that would have killed half the fae in Faerie.” She shrugged. “We like you.”
At those words, the sprite flew off Elora’s shoulder. Her glowing green wings flapped hard, but she moved with the elegance of a hummingbird. Seeing the sprite fly brought Elora’s thoughts to the wings on her own back.
Brannick had given her wings in exchange for her help with sword skill, yet she had hardly used them at all. Fear was the biggest reason. But Tansy could fly, and she liked Elora. Would the sprite be willing to share her knowledge of flying?
Elora bent to test the strength of the ribbon around her ankle. The red ribbon had come from her sister, Chloe, and it acted as a ward against fae enchantments. Luckily, the knot remained as tight as ever.
When Elora stood, she tilted her head toward the sprite in front of her. “Is that the only reason you speak to me? Because you like me?” Elora had learned early on that everyone in Faerie had devious intentions. As much as she liked the sprite, she didn’t expect anything different from her.
The sprite’s wings glowed brighter as she turned in a loop. Soon, she was hovering right in front of Elora’s face. “Hundreds of my brothers and sisters are still trapped by Queen Alessandra in Fairfrost Court. We are trying to devise a plan to free them, and that plan might include you.”
“I thought it might be something like that.” Elora chuckled, but she didn’t mind the feeling of being needed.
A moment later, the captain of the guard arrived to escort her to the council room. Tansy immediately disappeared among the sea of sprites near the ceiling while Elora entered the hallway with Soren.
The stocky gnome uttered gruff complaints as he led her down the hall. Once the council room was in sight, he left to perform one last duty as captain of the guard before he would return to the council room again.
Twelve trees grew inside the room, shading the long wooden table at the center of it. The sight always took Elora’s breath away, but just then, something else caught her attention.
Blaz dipped his black-furred head, almost as if telling her to stop where she stood. Only then did she notice the two people already standing in the council room. Prince Brannick stood at the head of the table speaking to the dryad, Kaia. Her flowing emerald hair ruffled in the light breeze going through the room. Brannick’s head bent while he glared.
Neither of them had noticed Elora’s presence.
She glanced at the wolf again. This time, he tipped his nose upward at the two beside him. Did he want her to listen?
Kaia traced circles over her palm, mixing together some sort of powder and liquid. She frowned at the sight of it. “Your essence is still suffering since the battle in Dustdune.”
“I know.” Brannick folded his arms over his chest as he glared at the ground. “I can feel it. I thought seeing Queen Alessandra again had caused it, but I think it might be related to…” His voice trailed off for a moment as his nose twitched. “…something else.”
The dryad shook her head, still staring at her palm. “It hasn’t been the same since you escaped from Fairfrost.”
Brannick’s voice raised in pitch. “You said it was getting better.”
Letting out a sigh, Kaia reached into her pocket for a white cloth. “It was, but then…”
Her voice stopped as she wiped the mixture off her palm. The movement caused her head to turn just enough to see Elora standing in the doorway of the room.
The slightest twinge of pink colored the prince’s cheeks before he clenched his teeth together. “Where is Soren?”
Elora flipped a portion of hair over one shoulder. “He said he had to check on a squad before the meeting.”
That answer only brought an even angrier snarl to the prince’s lips. He hissed as he dropped himself onto the throne that merged stone and tree together at the head of the council room table. After snapping away the twisting black thorns that covered the arms of the throne, he shot an angry huff toward Elora.
The dryad took a seat at the table. She smoothed her emerald hair and glanced at the prince. “That attitude will not help you. Strong emotion could be making it worse.”
He let out another huff. “How am I supposed to control my emotion with such an infuriating presence nearby?” He punctuated his question by jabbing his thumb in Elora’s direction. “Why must she go around listening to private conversations?”
A nearly inaudible snicker escaped the dryad’s lips before she smothered it with the clearing of her throat.
Several pairs of footsteps sounded in the nearby hallway, which ended the conversation immediately. Brannick’s other council members, Vesper, Quintus, and Lyren, entered the room one after the other.
Lyren’s eyes flitted around, looking at nothing in particular. She touched a hand to her seashell necklace several times, as if her thoughts were far from that moment. In her other hand, she held a long, shimmery-blue javelin.
The other two fae were much more animated. Quintus shook his head, which rustled his neatly parted black hair. His eyes were wide when he spoke to Vesper. “You angered a giant in Mistmount by accidentally sleeping on it and then you decided to fight with it?”
Vesper slid a hand through his brown curls before giving a casual shrug. “I would have opened a door and left, but you know how I love a good fight.” He chuckled as he sat down at the table. “Anyway, the giant swung his blade, which was longer than most of the trees in Mistmount, I might add. I managed to avoid it, but a nearby home wasn’t as lucky. The giant’s sword smashed all the way through it.”
As Lyren took a seat at the table, she bit her bottom lip. Still, she stared off at nothing in particular.
Vesper sat forward in his chair, his blue and gray eyes bright. “Naturally, I summoned fire, which scared the giant away. Unfortunately, the fire also caught onto the broken home. I thought nothing of it until a dwarf child came running out of the house screaming about his parents.”
At those words, Quintus pulled a pad of paper and pencil from his pocket. He began sketching the scene before nodding at Vesper to continue.
Now Vesper smiled. “I ran into the burning home next. I did not care for the lives of the child’s parents.” His mouth tilted in a grin. “But I could not refuse the adventure. Obviously, I survived, but the entire dwarf family did too. It was one of my most memorable travels.”