ON the pretext of gathering some food, I dragged Aiden deep into the Forest, where we wouldn't be overheard.
"Does this have anything to do with whatever you felt when you used the staff?" He asked dryly.
I blinked at him. How had he known?
Aiden gave me a flat look. "Please, Princess. It wasn't remotely cold."
"Yes, it was - "
"No, it wasn't. I made that wind blow through."
I pursed my lips. "Well, you're right. When we had the staffs, to connect with Nalvia, did you...see her? Did she show you anything?"
He furrowed his brows and shook his head. "Well, she did to me," I said, watching him carefully.
He only narrowed his eyes. "What did she show you?"
I sighed. "She showed me my parents' wedding."
He raised his eyebrows. "The wedding of King Rowan Elowen and Lady Ivy Salix?"
Their titles made me flinch. "Yes," I said. "But, Aiden, something was wrong. Why do you think Ivy became the way she is?"
He exhaled, raising his eyebrows. "She never wanted to marry King Rowan and loved Sir Branch and is now taking revenge by killing you and your sisters?"
I nodded. "That's what I thought, at first."
He leaned against a tree. "So?"
"So, Aiden, the thing is...I saw the wedding. And they were happy. Ivy too."
He leaned forward, intrigued. His shirt tightened at the chest, outlining the taut muscles. "Was she acting?"
I shook my head, meeting his eyes. "No, That's the thing. They were completely in love. No elf can act that well. Believe me when I say they were crazy about each other."
He leaned back again, looking up. "Okay. So then...obviously something happened."
I nodded. "I need to find out what changed." If it didn't help us, at least it would win me some peace of mind.
He looked up, breathing deeply. "Well...either something happened to Queen Ivy when they were married, after you were born, and she turned completely crazy."
"Or?" I asked.
He looked back down, staring into my eyes. "Or, the King did something that made her hate him. Something really bad."
I shook my head immediately. "No. He loved her. I could see it."
"You could also see that Queen Ivy loved him." Aiden pointed out.
I shook my head again. "But - no. My father wasn't like that!"
"How do you know?" He said immediately. "He died right after you were born, right?"
I exhaled. "Yes, Aiden, but my sisters told me. He wasn't. It was all Ivy's fault."
He looked back up, shrugging. "If you're sure."
Something about the disbelief in his tone, the arrogance, set my blood on fire. "Are you suggesting my father was wrong?"
"No, but - "
"He never raised a hand to us! Unlike Ivy! He didn't treat us like prisoners, he didn't have a child with another!"
"Elvina, listen," Aiden said, voice hard. I fell silent, glaring at him. My father as kind and generous and loving. Ivy was the bad one.
"Maybe it wasn't your father's fault. But something happened between them. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement."
I pursed my lips, looking away. My feelings weren't hindering my logic. Aiden hadn't been there, in the prisons, to see what Ivy did to us. He hadn't heard of the wonderful things my father did - my sisters had told me about him. It was the only way I could know him - and I would not let Aiden tarnish his image.
Aiden sighed. "Let's go back."
I nodded. We walked back to our camp, only to be stopped by Grove.
"Where's the food?"
Thank Nalvia for Aiden.
He regained his composure in a fraction of a second and quickly replied, "Oh, sorry, we left it in the Forest. Come on, Princess, let's go get it." He quickly pulled me around, back into the trees.
"Where do we get food from?" I asked, my voice sharp.
"Watch and learn," he said, irritation edging his voice before he closed his eyes, head tipping up to the sky.
From above, small, hard objects began falling onto the ground. I blinked as one hit my head. "Ow!" I cried. He was obviously doing it, because none of them were even touching him.
I covered my head with my hands to avoid getting hit, but they kept falling on my arms, and as I looked down, I realized that the small objects were, in fact, nuts. I picked one up.
It brought back memories of Aiden and I eating together after the camp was attacked. He had brought me similar nuts and berries. I let go of it as a particularly large one hit my head. "Aiden!" I yelled.
I swear I saw him smirk.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the nuts falling from above. I felt a tug in my head, and they stopped hitting me. I pushed them a bit, to land on a particular location -
"Ow!" I opened my eyes to see Aiden glaring at me, all the nuts now falling on his head and then bouncing off onto the ground. They all fell on his head first, every single one of them, so I supposed I was a bit deserving of the glare he was giving me.
But really, he had started it.
He pushed a hand up, and the nuts stopped falling suddenly. He glared harder. "Really?"
I shrugged. "You did it first, you know." He closed his eyes and all the nuts gathered into a huge mound in front of him. It was quite large.
"Now what?" I asked, head still aching from the hits I'd taken.
He rolled his eyes. "Now we take this back to camp." The mound levitated, gathering in front of him. I tried to not look as impressed as I really was.
We ended up back in front of Grove, who's stare was now even more suspicious. "That took too much time."
Aiden responded quickly. "We left it deep in there, Mom." Grove shook her head with mock amusement.
"You kids." She let us go, hitting the back of Aiden's head playfully and going to the camp kitchen while Aiden and I rejoined Maple and Arden, who were entertaining Meadow along with Fawn.
"And that's how the brave soldier defeated the vicious dragon!" Fawn finished, just as we came.
"And then what happened?" Meadow interrupted, looking adorable in a light pink dress, her blond hair tied back in a braid.
"And then they lived happily ever after, the end." Aiden said as we sat down.
"Hey!" Meadow said indignantly, hitting her brother's arm.
"Ooh, that hurt, Meadow." Aiden said, rubbing his arm where she had hit him, pretending to be hurt.
Meadow pouted playfully and turned back to Fawn. "So, then what happened?"
Fawn shrugged. "Well, then the soldier was given a huge reward by the King and got to marry the Princess. And, like Aiden said, they lived happily ever after."
Meadow clapped. "I want to go on an adventure like that, Fawn!"
"Oh, you do, do you?" Fawn grinned at the excited girl. "Okay, well then, let's go!" She picked up Meadow, and twirling her around once, set her back down. Holding her hand, they raced off, Fawn narrating another imagined tale to Meadow.
Aiden grinned. I could see in his face plain adoration for his sister. It was one of those rare moments where I saw past the sarcastic rebel and found the soft boy hidden inside.
"Have you met any of met any of the new soldiers?" Maple asked.
Soldiers had begun trickling into the camp, in twos and threes. The rebels had made sure there was no trace on them. They were few, but every elf was needed.
I shook my head. "No. I don't really know any of them personally, you know."
"They never talked to you?" Arden asked. I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head. As if Ivy would allow any soldier to talk to me.
"They're good...but we're outnumbered." Aiden said, looking frustrated again. "We'll never have more soldiers than her."
"We'll make it - " Maple began, stopping when someone bumped into her.
"Oh! Sorry- oh, hello, Miss Elm!"
We all looked up in surprise at the tall figure who had just bumped into Maple. He was wearing the regular silver of a palace guard, and for a moment my heart leaped into my throat.
Then Maple's eyes brightened. "Pecan!"
His dark eyes twinkled as he gave her a flirty smile. "Hey, Maple."
Did I detect a blush? She arched an eyebrow and turned back to us. "This is Pecan Ainsley, a guard at the palace. Pecan, this is Arden, Aiden, and - Elvina."
His eyes widened, and he bowed so deeply I involuntarily took a step back. "Princess."
I glanced at my companions. Maple shrugged and smiled at me, Aiden was nearly shaking with laughter, offering me no help, and Arden was looking surprised and almost amused.
"Thank you," I said, staring at him. He was the only one who'd ever bowed to me.
He straightened, flashing me a white-toothed smile. "It's an honor to meet you."
"The honor is mine," I replied, the words coming out automatically, though it wasn't necessary for me to be so polite to common guards.
Just then, another soldier called his name, waving. Pecan looked at us. "Goodbye, Princess. Maple." He walked off.
"Let's go train," Aiden said. I gave him a harsh nod. I hadn't forgotten what he'd said about my father.
"Maple and I will catch up in a moment," I said. The boys nodded and walked away. Maple and I stood face-to-face. "What was going on between you and the guard?" I asked.
Perhaps I was being too intrusive, but I had to know. Had she had time for a romantic relationship with everything else going on -
Maple's cheeks flamed. "It's nothing like that! Pecan is...he and I, we were close friends. He told me he wanted to start something with me, but I said no. I couldn't do that, not with you and...mother."
I nodded slowly, relieved.
Maple chewed on her bottom lip, glancing at me once. "Elvina, I..." She trailed off, but I knew she was going to apologize again. I took her hand, gently.
"Maple, I forgive you. I did a long time ago." Her eyes brightened. "But I can't trust you again. I'm sorry."
If that made me a bad elf, I had no excuse. But I couldn't bring myself to trust Maple, not yet.
She nodded slowly. "I understand. But maybe, El, this time we could start over. You were my best friend, I don't want that to change."
"This time with no secrets?" I asked.
She gave me a firm nod. "No secrets."
We walked together to the boys and started training, until an elf ran up, sword swinging in his hand.
"The Queen is coming!"
Yikes, cliffhanger! Get ready for the next chapter - old readers will recognize it! Don't forget to:
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