10 years later
"Tam!" Asta skidded through the mud in her efforts to race to the door. She grabbed the wall for support. "I'm meeting Braelynn for lunch. Do you need me to do anything when I'm there?" Tamlin poked his head out of the first-floor window.
"I don't think so. Just check everything is going well, and tell everyone I'll come down this afternoon." He wrinkled his nose. "You sure you don't want shoes?" Asta inspected her bare toes and wriggled them through the mud.
"I'll be fine." She began to run down the path.
"Don't be home late!" Tamlin called desperately after her. She just waved vaguely in his direction.
***
Asta relished the feeling of dirt and leaves under her feet. The ground was still damp from the light showers earlier that morning, and Asta took care to squelch through every patch of mud she could find. She wound her way through the wood on instinct, the sounds of civilization and people growing louder as she approached. She scaled the small hill and when she reached the top, her eyes lit up. Her view stretched across miles of cottages, dirt lanes, gardens filled with flowers, all teeming with faeries. On the outskirts of the large town, buildings were still under construction, even after nine years of establishing the town that would become the beating heart of the Spring Court. Asta raced towards the action. The first faerie to acknowledge her presence was a slight male with iridescent skin and wholly black eyes.
"Asta! Thank goodness. When will the High Lord get here?" He asked as he chopped wood. "We need all the help we can get."
"Tamlin will arrive after lunch, I'm guessing. Have you seen Braelynn?"
The faerie's frown deepened at her friend's name.
"She went over that way." He gestured towards the high street, colourful fabrics sheltering the pavements from the persistent rain. She thanked him and flew into the sky to avoid the bustle on the ground below. When she finally spotted her friend, She dived at full speed and slammed into the street corner a foot in front of Braelynn. She leaped back and swore as Asta cackled.
"Jesus, Az, what the hell?" Braelynn gave Asta a hand up. "You almost killed me. Expect revenge, and soon." Asta grinned.
"So, how's it going?" Asta bounced on the balls of her feet in her excitement. When Braelynn caught sight of her feet, which were coated in mud, her eyebrows slid upwards.
"You'd think a 16-year-old would be able to wear some shoes. We aren't 6 anymore." Asta groaned.
"C'mon, Brae. Let's have some fun. How about we go to that cafe down by the lake? I bet they'll do some good cake." Braelynn smiled and nodded. Asta looped her arm through her friend's and skipped through the wide streets. Over the last few years, Asta had learned to adore this place. It was nowhere near as elegant and sparkly as Velaris, all the way over in the Night Court, or as bright and beautiful as Andriata, but it was hers. That was not to say she didn't love Velaris too. In fact, if it hadn't been for visiting Velaris all those years ago, Tamlin and Asta wouldn't have been inspired to create a place where the Spring Court could come to establish a new life, to create someplace pretty enough to redeem themselves.
Asta regularly bothered Tamlin about them living out in the woods when the life of the Court was actually right here. Asta didn't understand this, but the reason Tamlin was so reluctant to move partly because their tiny hidden cottage felt like a sanctuary from all his subjects who so obviously still detested him, but also because that is where Asta grew up. It was where Tamlin grew up with her, too. Where he finally changed his ways. The High Lord of the Spring Court didn't want to lose those memories.
As Asta and Braelynn passed faeries in the streets, their faces would light up with smiles and they would greet Asta enthusiastically. Asta returned the gesture, heart threatening to burst with every friend she passed in the path. Over the years Asta had won over every fae in her Court with her brash and determined manner, and it was unusual for her to not know most of the city's inhabitants by name.
"Asta! How's the flying coming along?" One female stopped her in the street, clutching a basket of daisies to her chest.
"Wonderful! I could beat an Illyrian any day now, I bet you." The female, Milly, frowned.
"I do hope you don't let those winged males over in the Night Court do you any harm, now," Milly picked a few daisies out of her basket and tucked one above Asta's pointed ear. "We couldn't bear it if you weren't around." Milly placed another daisy in Braelynn's hair.
"The Illyrians and the Night Court don't mean any harm." Asta smiled. "I'll see you soon, Milly." Milly waved before ducking inside a little florist. As soon as they began walking again Braelynn plucked the flower from her hair and scowled.
"Is it possible to suck up to people as much as you do?" She passed the daisy to a little faeling trotting towards the high street. Asta rolled her eyes.
"Look. There's the lake." The lake was huge, big enough for a couple of fishing boats and the children playing in the shallows to have large expanses of water of every side. Asta remembered the year before when faeries were drawn to this place like a magnet, hundreds of people swimming and playing in the cool water.
"How about a swim later?" Asta gave Braelynn's arm an excited squeeze. "I will win a swimming race one day, I know I will." Braelynn rolled her eyes.
"Keep telling yourself that, Az."