In the grand scheme of things, Elred didn't foresee herself sitting among the Entobern clans, ripping piece after piece from the stale bread on her fingers with her teeth. Civility had left her senses. All she could think of was how much of a salvation it was to be eating solid food after a long time of downing nothing but stale fairy potions.
She sat among the lesser known members of the clans, keeping the clan leaders in her periphery. Unlike the animosity they shared when she met them in the upper cities, seeing all six leaders pour reheated soup into their bowls with genuine smiles and laughter gave her dissonance. Weren't these people trying to kill each other a few years ago?
It probably was luck when one of the scouting parties led by Lady Yarxus found Elred wandering in the tunnels covered in dirt and with hair matted with mud and blood. They exchanged pleasantries and invited Elred back to camp. There, she got another change of clothes which she saved for the actual event she'd need it. Now, she ate with it tucked between her elbow and her thigh.
The bread had come and gone. She wanted more. Xanthy wasn't kidding about the wonders of bread. No wonder the Virtakios loved eating it to the last crumb. Soon, a bun slid into her periphery and she turned to find Lord Visa offering it to her. She narrowed her eyes. Did it come with conditions? They did refuse to help her defend Helinfirth from Synketros. Maybe they wanted to barter for more rights or to gain back the freedom they once enjoyed before they plotted a coup against the crown.
"Are you going to take it? My arm is getting tired," Lord Visa said, jostling Elred's attention back to the bun.
With reluctance, she plucked the bread from the leader's hands and started to hunker back to her group of nameless fairies when Lady Rovalor spoke up. "Join us, Princess."
The word left a sour taste at the back of Elred's throat. Nevertheless, she scooted over to their little circle as they made space for her. She decided to bring back a little bit of her grace and tore a piece of the bun with her grimy fingers. She'd yet to find water to wash them with anyway. "I'm not a princess," she said with enough distaste to satisfy the Queen. At least now, she knew her place. She stuffed the bread into her mouth and chewed the rubbery thing before continuing. "What led you to these parts? To think you'd actually turn tail and believe me."
Lord Sarbalar set down his bowl made from a hollowed out gourd. His long dark hair had been sheared close to his ears Elred had trouble believing he and the grumpy leader were the same person. "We took your word for it, Elred. We just didn't have enough resources to help you then," he reasoned. "We thank you for warning us. You have saved our people."
"They are my people too. I did what I could," Elred looked away and forced herself to find the clump of bioluminescent pink and cyan algae interesting. "I'm glad you're surviving just fine. Do you have news from the upper cities?"
A grim cloud of silence passed across the circle. Lord Kemaruis coughed into his fist and shoved his golden hair off his face. Even in the midst of adversity, it stayed lustrous. "It doesn't look good out there," he said. "Makes me glad we have these tunnels."
"Which I built," Elred added.
A loud whistle wrestled her gaze towards Lady Yarxus. The hardened woman's auburn hair had changed to a straight bob to her chin. She also lost her purple cape sometime ago. Elred couldn't tell if the woman thought about it every now and then. "Then, we thank you for this as well, Your Majesty," she ducked her head at Elred, making her blink. Never in a million years did she imagine one of the Entobern leaders—the fearless and uncouth rebels that they were—would thank her with enough sincerity in her tone.
Or maybe it was just a ploy to get Elred to lower her guard and play right into their game. Whichever one they're playing now.
"We are not primitive villains, Elred," Lord Sahdar—the only leader who insisted he be called by his first name—said. "You can relax. We are not in court anymore."
"And we know your heart is not fully with the Queen in terms of the sanctions," Lady Rovalor added. Her milky white skin reflected the algae's light so well she might as well start glowing blue. "I received word from before how you fought for Entobern's rights but were denied. Rest assured all of us remembered that gesture."
Elred finished the last strip of her bun and swallowed. It's nowhere near enough to make up for all the days she missed eating hard food, but she'd take what she could get. "Is that why you're keen on helping me now?" she asked.
"We help all manner of lost travelers," Lord Visa replied. "But for you, we do it with more gratitude in place."
"How did you end up here, Your M-Elred?" Lord Sarbalar asked. It was the first time he spoke, reminding Elred he was there. Wasn't he the one who's yapping like a degenerate enya before? "The last word we have of you is you vanished somewhere in Avalora. What brings you all the way to Rabante?"
So, this was Rabante. She picked the right direction when escaping from Ok-Sa, then. "I have been to Narfalk, first. Then, I found myself in Peltra," she pursed her lips. How much should she divulge to these people? "It is for a personal task."
There were the issues of thrones, or Synketros and Cardovia, and of the Sovereign and the Heiress doing all they could to get the Virtakios and the thrones in their possessions. Elred didn't even know where to start. "Have you heard any word from the other clans?" she asked. "I also heard the clans from Abshire and the other cities were sent to the bunkers."
Lady Yarxus tapped a finger against her knee, still tucked behind a metal brace. "The ones from Xixora and Gingow have gone back to the surface. I hear they're trying to rebuild."
"And failing at it," Lord Kemaruis sniffed with such disdain. He turned to Elred and waved his spoon in her direction. "Look, while I appreciate you leveling the playing field in Helinfirth, I would have preferred you to not have done it literally. Rebuilding is a real pain in the ass."
"Tyril! Watch your tongue," Lord Sahdar hissed. He turned to Elred with an apologetic smile. "My lady—"
"It's fine," Elred cut him off before he could bother with pleasantries. She'd had enough of that. Talking to these people like they're...well, people had never felt so liberating. "How about the Queen? What has she done after expelling me?"
Lady Rovalor pursed her lips. She gave Elred an uncertain look, almost in question if it was already a good time to talk about it like it was nothing. Elred flashed her a glance of nonchalance. "Our spies reported she's preparing for a trip," she said.
Elred's eyebrows shot up. "A trip?" she inclined her head to the side. "Also, you have spies?"
"We prefer to have eyes and ears everywhere," Lord Sarbalar commented before hunkering back to his stew. For a soldier, he ate slowly.
"Where is she going?" Elred prompted.
Lady Rovalor shook her head. "We do not know, Your Majesty."
Elred exhaled through her nose. "What about the Virtakios?" she asked. "Did your spies report something about her?"
Yarxus turned to her, the leader's face scrunched up in confusion. "Who?"
"Never mind," Elred waved a hand in front of her face. "Just a friend."
Before their conversation steered towards the things Elred didn't want to blab about, she retreated from the circle and ducked her head bashfully at the clan leaders. "I've had a rough and quite challenging day," she said. "May I get a few hours?"
Soon, she was shooed off to a spare mattress smelling of spilled cousa that had gone stale. She turned to her side, keeping her face away from the rest of the Entobern clans. Showing someone's back while sleeping was the perfect sign of trust. If anyone was out to kill her, now would be the most perfect time.
Seconds ticked into mindless hours. By the time Elred's eyes snapped open, the algae hadn't stopped glowing, but the raucous mixtures of snores and sleep-rustling told her the entire camp must have been dozing off. There would be night watches, of course, so Elred called her magic and copied the face of the next man over. Using glamour in a den full of shard fairies trained to see through them was a gamble, but she had no other choice. If she was to outrun both the Synketrian soldiers and the renegades, she had to keep moving. That way, she wouldn't cause two or three distinct worlds to clash. Never again.
She hauled her form up, staggering towards the nearest unguarded satchel at her feet. A bag of fairy potions, a spare short sword, and an empty skin. That's all she needed for the long journey ahead. The rest, she could figure out along the way. She tucked the change of clothes she used as a makeshift pillow inside the stolen satchel too.
Then, swiveling her head around, she took note of the camp's layout. None of the night watches were in her region. She could slip away unnoticed without alerting anyone. A temporary luck, more like.
Still, Elred would take it.
She crept away, each step taking her farther and farther away from the dozing camp. She didn't dare look back, even as she reached the first corner. Better that way. What's supposed to be forgotten must stay forgotten.