The Battle of the Trees - Sword, Ring, and Crown Book Two

Chapter Five

Later that evening, I'd found a secret spot in the library and used my key to hide in there. I'd needed a quiet location to regroup, and this hidden area also held the rarest books the library owned. Currently, I had Life of the Ekeinos, an incomplete historical account and physiology of the Edentrees, in front of me as I poured over it for answers about the strange leaf on my leg. I had thought that Edentree was the official name, but it turned out that Ekeino was the actual name for an Edentree.

Although I learned a bit about the links between my friends and me, I learned nothing about the leaf. The account had also been slanted towards Duir, so I doubted its accuracy. Although not completely helpful, I realized my links were not so uncommon among the Trees. What was unusual was being linked with beings that were not one of the Edentrees. According to the text, Trees formed links to other Trees that held a similar resonance. All the Trees once linked together. However, during the ancient battle, the links fell, and each Tree had only a few connections between them and other Trees. Some Trees had none and grew weak enough to have their realms absorbed by more vital Trees. At one point, more Trees existed beyond the eighteen as there were Trees that sprang from the originals, but they all lost their sparks and became mere avatars.

If I understood things correctly, my links weren't necessarily romantic, which was relieving. But they could be broken, which was a little worrying. Maybe it was my Tree nature, but I liked the peace and connection they brought me. My links seemed more special than the others since I had made them with beings other than trees, save for one. I wasn't sure what would happen when they were severed.

But those were selfish thoughts. Some might want to be disconnected. Adrian came to mind, although with how he was acting lately, maybe I was wrong.

One other helpful tidbit in the book was the matter of exchanging soul fragments or pieces of life force. Trees did this to ensure survival in injury and strengthen certain bonds. There was a small blurb that the exchange could create a new life if the pieces were mixed, but the ability was lost.

I shut the book and ran my gaze over the other aging volumes in this room. The collection wasn't extensive, and the room I was in was small compared to the expansive, comfortable library beyond the door. In the other room, the shelves needed rolling ladders to reach their tops, and there were several comfortable desks, plus some lovely globes of Aleria and the Earth.

Although I'd learned a lot, I hadn't learned a thing about how to break bonds without some tragedy, and I hadn't learned a thing about how to fix my broken mouth.

Just as always, I bumbled through that request to band together with the other Elect and made a mess. I should have asked Elsie or Jeanne to work as my spokeswoman. My ability to be diplomatic was at the toddler stage, and I sure made a lot of disasters.

As I was mentally berating myself, a knock sounded on the door. It was Luke, and I smiled to realize that I could now recognize the different root signatures between my links. At least I had a small measure of progress.

I also realized I couldn't hide from them any more than they could hide from me.

Knowing that he'd stay by the hidden door until I emerged, I finally opened it and let him in. Luke entered and sat down in the lone chair I'd vacated. So, I sat on the table.

His pale green eyes widened at the realization of what he'd done, and he shot up from the chair. "Please, Madeline. Sit down there. I shall stand."

"No, it's fine. Sit there, Luke. I was almost ready to stop sulking, anyway." At least he stopped calling me My Lady.

"I was hoping to thank you for that — for defending me, even though it caused tensions to rise." He lifted my braid and stroked the end of it as he smiled at me.