Half Magic | Book 2

Fifty: Monsters Among Elves

Warm. Dark. Floating.

I gasped as I woke up, peeling my face off the book I had fallen asleep on. A blanket had been placed over my shoulders at some point, and it now fell back onto the chair as I moved. The room was dark, all the candles I had lit before were out. I groaned as I reached to the nearest one, pinching the wick and lighting it with purple witch flames.

The black thing wouldn't let me sleep peacefully. Again.

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling it out of the nice braid Schula had given me. We had been at this for a week now. Not only had we not found our answer, but I hadn't found Fandor at dinner all week. Cedric, as helpful as he was trying to be, was actually hindering my progress with his constant stream of information and pulling me away from Kalor's halls to learn this or see that. 

Schula had taken to attending the morning practices in the training area with the scouts. Nassir spent many mornings in Lark's garden meditating and feeding Puko. And in the evenings, we tried to find answers in the crumbling pages the witches left us.  Much like the tome I had fallen asleep on.

The book I had been reading wasn't much help. Combined with our other notes we'd barely been able to piece together that they had to go along the entire border of the Wyldes to put a barrier in place, but the last location where they finished the spell was still a mystery. So was the incantation they used that could possibly be all we needed to refresh the spell. 

I shoved the book away and stood, stretching as I glanced around the room. The old tomes that were entrusted to me had been flipped through by several hands, with notes shoved in the pages and covers left open on aging spines. I frowned, taking a moment to clean and tidy them to the best of my abilites, hoping I could return them with little more wear on them than when I had taken them in the first place. 

"Daughter, you're awake." 

I turned to the doorway where Kalor was standing, one hand on the carved wooden frame that marked the entrance to the common room. His eyes were tired, he wasn't sleeping well lately either, but he wouldn't tell me why.

My eyes darted to the blanket in the chair and back to my father. "Thank you for the blanket."

He smiled. "Alas, it was not me. Nassir brought it to you, it's him you'll have to thank." 

I nodded, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Do you know what time it is? I can't tell how long I slept so far inside the keep."

"It's late morning," Kalor answered, coming in to take a seat at the large table. "Did you find anything new last night?" 

I shook my head with a frown. 

"Ah, well. Hopefully you find what you need soon." He gave me a strained smile. "Though I do wish you to be able to find the spells for your barrier, I will miss you sorely when you return to the Wyldes."

I bit the inside of my cheek. It was somehting I had thought about as well. "I wish you could come with me."

"I know," Kalor said softly. "But I will not go back to a land like that. Besides, it would endanger my people if more of the fae found out where we were."

"But if you were exiled, and you're staying away from the Wyldes, would any of them really bother coming to find you?" It had bothered me since I first arrived in Eidelhein. How could anyone hold a thousands year grudge against such a peaceful city?

"My daughter." Kalor sighed through his nose. "The temperments of fae are hot and fierce. The temperaments of elves are old and unchanging. What sparked us joining with the other creatures against the fae courts in the first place would not change now. They wanted to take more and more of the Wyldes into court territories, leaving less and less for those of us who wanted to live without it. The elves would not align with certain courts, just to stay in the homes we had kept for centuries. The fae would not allow unclaimed lands to fester unseelie creatures. It is an argument we have been in circles over since the first elves and fae met."