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."

I was stunned. My lips parted in surprise, my jaw slacking. "That's what the war was over? Land?"

Kalor shrugged. "It has always been land or other petty differences. Is it not this way with the humans? Wars can be sparked from the simplest begrudgement. I have yet to witness a war I would call just."

"I suppose, but... "

"That is enough of times past, Wren," Kalor said. "Simply leave it to say the ruling fae from the war who still live would certainly still hold their burning distaste of us. After seeing our king fall and our cause lost, I am content to let the Wyldes be a distant memory. Eidelhein is now our home."

I pursed my lips together, not really happy with how it ended but not wanting to distress Kalor further. "Very well, Kalor. I'm going to freshen up and attend the midday meal. Will you be there?"

"No, I was caught up in my own readings and forgot to break my fast until just a short while ago. I'll see you tonight though."

A small smile crept on my face. That sounded more like the Kalor I had come to know. "I'll see you tonight, then."

I yawned as I left the common space and slipped into my room. I was happy to fill the tub in my bathroom, remembering to light the fire under it, and peel off my dress. It was bliss to reach into my messy hair and scratch my head, freeing the messy curls from the remainder of yesterday's braid.

When I finally sank into the hot water, I sighed and laid my head back. I took a short soak, cleaned my body, and tied my hair back loosely with a ribbon. I climbed out of the bath, a bit reluctantly but not wanting to miss the midday meal. I put on a tunic and breeches instead of one of the nice dresses I had been gifted. Not that I didn't appreciate them, but I just couldn't spend every day in skirts.

The people in the common corridors all flowed toward the dining hall, and I joined them. Filing in and taking seats, I was pleased a few days ago to find that the seating was much more relaxed outside of dinnertime. I slipped into the end of a table of scouts, who I had found to be mostly friendly, if not still cautious around the dreaded fae.

I smiled as Schula came in loudly with a group of familiar green cloaks. Laughing and talking, and generally being a happy Schula. They were all wearing practice clothes, and must have just come from the training fields. When she spotted me, she grinned and came to sit next to me.

"It's good to see you awake," she said. "How did you sleep last night on the table?"

I grimaced. "Not well. If it wasn't the table, it was the..."

My eyes shifted to the curious scouts around us. We hadn't talked about the black presence that haunted us since we arrived. But Schula already knew what I was talking about, even if I hand't mentoined it out loud.

She cleared her throat. "Right, me too. Let's settle in, I'm hungry from beating Liana at everything this morning."

The group behind her started to snicker and cough, hiding their amusement as they spread around the table and found seats of their own. Liana raised an eyebrow and took a seat across from Schula.

"I wouldn't have lost if you hadn't cheated," she argued.

"You can't expect your enemies to play by the set of rules you used to learn combat," Schula said. "If anything, I'm doing you a favor."

"You know, Liana," a shy, lanky boy spoke up. "She could probably teach you something. You can already beat all of us, except for Captain Teyber of course. Maybe this is a good opportunity for you."

Liana frowned, her cheeks turning red. "I'll beat her into the ground tomorrow, I wasn't prepared for her cheating this time."

"Hey, speaking of the Captain, where was he this morning?" one of the scouts asked.

I glanced around the room. Sure enough, Teyber wasn't here. He wasn't the only one, I didn't see the council members either. Usually at least a couple of them were here, but not today.

"Maybe he got tied up with the Lord elves or the Eidelhein representatives meetings," Liana suggested. "He's had to spend a lot of time this week with both of those parties."

"Food!" One of the scouts exclaimed, and the rest of us dropped the discussion to look around at the servers bringing out the trays.

My mouth watered as I saw we were eating meat for lunch. A thick stew of some kind was being passed around, as well as bread and roasted squash. I said yes to every tray that passed by me, and when we began to eat I was glad to sink my teeth into a juicy bite of wild hare.

"I could eat about five of these bread things," Schula said, holding up half a roll.

Liana snorted. "Of course you could."

Schula narrowed her eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Liana opened her mouth to answer, when a pounding sound stopped her. I looked around the room, and then spotted Halduin at the elven table. He was hitting the wooden tabletop with a gavel. A few other elves were present as well. In fact, the only one missing was Kalor.

"Hear me, you who dwell here in the keep," he began. "Continue to eat your meals, don't let me interrupt. But please listen as I have a short announcement."

"Is this normal?" I murmured.

The scouts looked to me, shaking their heads slowly. I frowned.

Halduin cleared his throat before continuing. "The council, along with the support of the city representatives, would like to address the rumors of danger at our doorstep. Some of you have been whispering behind closed doors that we are preparing to receive an enemy here in Eidelhein. That is simply not true. While we have indeed taken in more scouts to train this season, it is not due to threat of safety. So please, quell the rumors. Do not participate in spreading undue fears. That is all, please enjoy your meal."

Halduin stepped back from his table and walked to the back of the hall. The other council elves followed silently behind him as he left. I could see representative Berd at the doorway, just as Halduin joined him and they all disappeared from the dining hall. The last one out was Fandor, and he paused just long enough to flick his eyes over the room. I could have sworn they found me, but it was so brief I couldn't be sure. And then, they were gone.

The moment the elves were gone, the room erupted in whispers.

"What was that?" Schula hissed. "We warned them and they aren't going to do anything about it?"

"I need to find the Captain," Liana said, scooting her chair back and leaving, the rest of her meal forgotten.

I was still in shock, and I watched her leave through the main door to the dining hall. The other scouts were whispering to each other. Some of them ignored their food as Liana had. Others scarfed it down quickly so they could leave as well.

"What is going on here?" Schula grumbled.

"Excuse me, Lady Wren," one of the food servers whispered next to me.

I turned to see a small girl, holding a tray of bread that looked too heavy for her to carry.

"I am here to bring you a fresh roll," she said.

Before I could protest, she slipped it onto my plate and scurried away, struggling to not drop the rest of her rolls.

I turned to watch her go. "But I didn't need another one..."

"I'll take it," Schula said, and reached for the roll in question.

She began to lift it up, before slamming her hand back down. Her eyes met mine, her brow furrowed in thought. "Nevermind, you eat it."

"Schula, what are you..." I reached slowly for the roll but when I began to pick it up I saw what she must have seen. A piece of paper was slipped under my bread.

I set the roll back down, eyes wide.

'Read it,' Schula mouthed.

I looked down again, lifting the roll and quickly read it before setting the roll back down.

"What did it say?" Schula whispered.

"Just two words," I breathed. "Garden. Midnight."

Schula nodded. "I'm coming with you."

"Should we tell Nassir?" I asked.

"I think so," she whispered. "But this is a discussion for later. Let's eat first. Don't be suspicious."

"Right." I nodded, and we ate.

And I wondered.

This had to be about Halduin's announcement, but who could have moved so fast to reach out to me?

I thought about it as I chewed my meal. Whoever it was, I just hoped they had some answers.