❝ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏ ɪꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍꜱ ᴡᴇɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴀʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ? ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ꜱɪᴅᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄʜᴏᴏꜱᴇ? ❞
Ever since she was sold to the Kingdom of Racaea as a young child, Sabre has grown up on the castle grounds as a blacksmith's apprentice for the roya...
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It was a long walk to the encampment that Griffin spoke of. As we ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees became more condensed as if they were gradually building a wall. In fact, that was exactly what they were doing.
We eventually arrived at a doorway carved between two trees, one you might have expected on the front of a small house. When the fae girl opened the door, allowing her sister to run in ahead of her, it revealed not a building as I expected, but a whole village of houses.
Inside was a large clearing protected by a wall of trees. No matter how hard I tried to find a gap between the ancient logs, there wasn't one in sight. A perfect defence from anything lurking within the forest. Sunlight streamed into the village as there were no leaves or trees blocking its view, a welcomed difference from the outside of this encampment. Scattered around were huts built from stone and wood, a few market stalls attached to them. It was bustling with so much life. So much fae life.
I had to duck through the doorway before I accidentally hit my head on a sign. When I turned around, I found the words Bellgrave Village carved neatly into the slab of wood. The skill someone would need to carve cursive handwriting onto it hurt my mind.
"Stick close to my side," Griffin warned. "If you wander off or try to leave now that you've entered Bellgrave, there may be little to no hope for you to keep your lives."
She led us through the village smiling and waving at the people living here as she passed. There was a woman trying to keep an eye on her several children running around her, two men with swords looking like they were preparing to hunt for food, and even a group of people tending to some crops near the forest wall. I never would have thought that a civilisation like this could have existed in the middle of nowhere.
Kayne appeared to almost be in tears, watching as the fae — people of his kind — were so full of joy. I was sure I'd be in a similar state if I found out my race wasn't going extinct after all.
We reached the back of the village and came to what I assumed was the largest building in the area raised up on a platform. Griffin stepped inside and we followed.
The girl and her sister walked up to a row of mats and knelt, lowering their heads to the ground in respect. While Griffin's form was flawless, Ceerel kept looking up and kneeling back down, as if she was excited for whatever presence was beyond the wide archway leading out of the foyer. Aside from a few potted plants on either side of the door, the entrance to the grand building was completely barren.
"Elders!" Griffin called out. "I have come to seek your assistance and guidance."
Two people emerged from the shadows and knelt before the two girls, though they didn't bow their heads. The male on the left had short cropped hair of a golden-blonde shade and long robes sewn with a light teal fabric. The male on the right, however, was almost his opposite. With long ash-blonde hair and robes of a deep violet colour, they felt like two pieces of the same puzzle.
