The Sage's Vow

6.3 || A Little Secret

"You see, Josh," Eytia went on, "years ago, my colony and I were attacked. I and a few of my fellow sprites separated to take them away from the colony. I do not know what happened to the others, but I was badly injured, and my wings wouldn't work properly for months. Thankfully, I discovered a couple near here who knew all about magic, and they helped me get back to full health and fed me while I stayed in a small patch of trees behind their yard."

As she spoke, puzzle pieces slowly fell into place, and with the end and a meaningful look from the sprite, Josh realized the full picture. "My parents helped you?"

"Yes, that is correct," Eytia said. She smiled softly at him. "I have known you since you were still learning to climb trees. You almost found me many times. I am glad to see that you are safe and well. Your parents are too, as Hannah has told me. But that does not finish my explanation. When you and your parents left, I knew not what to do. So, I explored, and when I happened upon a garden with many delicious vegetables..."

Hannah rolled her eyes. "Mom and I thought that a squirrel or a rabbit was sneaking in to steal our tomatoes and peppers."

Eytia chuckled. "Apologies for that. But yes, one day, Hannah stumbled across me, but she has been kind since then, keeping my existence a secret and giving me other foods when she can."

Josh's mind spun with all the new information. He could have found out about magic so much earlier in his life if he'd ever accidentally gotten too close to the sprite. But if he was still learning how to climb trees, he would have been very young. He stood from his crouch and frowned down at the sprite. "No offense or anything, but why are you still around?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hannah asked. She inched even closer to Eytia, who'd fluttered higher, flying as high as Hannah's head.

Eytia sighed. "Again, Joshua makes a fair point. I came to stay with your parents a little more than a decade prior. By all means, I should have left by now. However, it's dangerous for Elementals to travel alone, and I've not had a way to find another colony of sprites since I've regained my powers. Your parents were very gracious and allowed me to stay within their warded area."

Of course his old home would have been warded just like his parents' current one. He shook his head. It would never fail to amaze him how much magic had unknowingly been in his life. "Okay, so is that why you had Hannah tell me about you? So I can work to find out where another sprite colony might be?"

The circles that made up Eytia's irises flicked to Hannah and back to him. "I believe it is best if I were to stay here for reasons I will explain when we have a moment alone. I have other reasons for testing if my belief of your... connection to be correct."

"Connection? Oh, you mean my—" He cut off, biting his lip, when Eytia raised a single finger to her lip.

You're really bad at this, Boomer said.

Unless you have anything helpful to add, shut up, lizard, Josh said, ignoring the heat on the back of his neck. "Anyway, yeah. That thing. If it's not to tell the... the others, then what is it?"

Eytia ran her hands along her leafy clothing and worried at her lower lip. "I have wronged Hannah in many ways by my mistake. I appreciate her silence, but in keeping it, she has made herself alone with the burden of knowledge."

Josh's heart dropped somewhere close to his navel as he glanced at Hannah. She wouldn't meet his eyes. He swallowed around a thick lump. He had only been here for a couple of days, and he'd already experienced some struggle of walking among people unaware of the truth he knew, and he'd fought against the desire to tell the truth to the ones he cared about. She would have had to deal with that for months now, except she couldn't look forward to returning to a place like the Sanctuary.