It was a long walk to the encampment that Griffin spoke of. As we ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, the trees became more condensed as if they were gradually building a wall. In fact, that was exactly what they were doing.
We eventually arrived at a doorway carved between two trees, one you might have expected on the front of a small house. When the fae girl opened the door, allowing her sister to run in ahead of her, it revealed not a building as I expected, but a whole village of houses.
Inside was a large clearing protected by a wall of trees. No matter how hard I tried to find a gap between the ancient logs, there wasn't one in sight. A perfect defence from anything lurking within the forest. Sunlight streamed into the village as there were no leaves or trees blocking its view, a welcomed difference from the outside of this encampment. Scattered around were huts built from stone and wood, a few market stalls attached to them. It was bustling with so much life. So much fae life.
I had to duck through the doorway before I accidentally hit my head on a sign. When I turned around, I found the words Bellgrave Village carved neatly into the slab of wood. The skill someone would need to carve cursive handwriting onto it hurt my mind.
"Stick close to my side," Griffin warned. "If you wander off or try to leave now that you've entered Bellgrave, there may be little to no hope for you to keep your lives."
She led us through the village smiling and waving at the people living here as she passed. There was a woman trying to keep an eye on her several children running around her, two men with swords looking like they were preparing to hunt for food, and even a group of people tending to some crops near the forest wall. I never would have thought that a civilisation like this could have existed in the middle of nowhere.
Kayne appeared to almost be in tears, watching as the fae — people of his kind — were so full of joy. I was sure I'd be in a similar state if I found out my race wasn't going extinct after all.
We reached the back of the village and came to what I assumed was the largest building in the area raised up on a platform. Griffin stepped inside and we followed.
The girl and her sister walked up to a row of mats and knelt, lowering their heads to the ground in respect. While Griffin's form was flawless, Ceerel kept looking up and kneeling back down, as if she was excited for whatever presence was beyond the wide archway leading out of the foyer. Aside from a few potted plants on either side of the door, the entrance to the grand building was completely barren.
"Elders!" Griffin called out. "I have come to seek your assistance and guidance."
Two people emerged from the shadows and knelt before the two girls, though they didn't bow their heads. The male on the left had short cropped hair of a golden-blonde shade and long robes sewn with a light teal fabric. The male on the right, however, was almost his opposite. With long ash-blonde hair and robes of a deep violet colour, they felt like two pieces of the same puzzle.
They radiated a strong sense of power and I couldn't place my finger on how. Were they High Fae somehow? The only way I could think of a fae gaining that extra power was to accept a royal crown of some kind.
"Griffin, I see you've found your sister." The male on the left spoke, his brows furrowed in a mild anger. "I do hope it won't happen again and you'll be able to keep her under control."
"Of course," she responded. "It won't happen again, Ralnor. I promise."
"And what about Ceerel? Do you promise not to run away again, young one?" The fae on the right added in a voice much calmer than the other's. He reminded me a lot of the High Fae Queen in terms of appearance. The softer green eyes, the shade of his hair, and even his face shape. Were the two of them related somehow?
"Ceerel promises, Lathai." She looked sad, but I had a feeling it wouldn't last long. The Elders couldn't see the fingers crossed behind her back after all.
"Now, who are these people you've brought along?" Ralnor finally addressed us. I didn't know if the fact that we weren't bowing before them was offending them or not.
Lathai leaned in close to the other Elder and pointed towards Kayne. "One of them is a fae, but isn't from this village."
"While I was out looking for Ceerel, I came across these people getting chased down by a forest spirit in its defensive form. When I saved them with the Griax Horn, they saw my appearance and realised I was fae. I didn't know what to do with them, so I brought them back here for your judgement," Griffin explained, only raising her forehead from where it rested on the ground as she spoke, lowering it again when she was finished.
Ralnor's lip twitched. "So you saved them, putting the village in danger, instead of letting them meet the wrath of the forest? Forest spirits are there for a reason — to keep us safe."
Lathai laced his fingers through Ralnor's, drawing his eyes to his own. "I think it shows Griffin's kindness and bravery. She will be a good successor for us."
The girl bristled at the mention of her becoming the successor. "I came to you so you could help me decide what to do," she repeated her last point, a hope in her tone to change the topic off of her taking on the power the Elders held.
"If it's the forest's wish, they should die to the hands of the spirits."
Lathai baulked at Ralnor's decision. "But, the other fae is royalty, is he not? If he isn't from the village, then there is no other option for him to have come from. The punishment for killing a High Fae is too severe, even for us."
It was true. When a High Fae died, the whole of Racaea reacted harshly — the people and the forest that they ruled. It wasn't often one did as they tended to live the longest out of all the fae, but it was rumoured that when a High Fae died, it would release so much power that it could even halt time. The other disasters it would cause were too much of a risk for the Elders, which thankfully guaranteed Kayne's safety. Though it did nothing to help the rest of us.
"He can live here for the rest of his days then. The other three must go." Ralnor crossed his arms, stuck with his decision.
"But we don't need any more death," Lathai tried to convince the man sitting next to him, managing to retrieve his hand from where it was tucked into his chest to kiss the back of it. "We don't even know why they came here. At least let them explain and try to defend their purpose."
Ralnor shook his head and sighed, finally making eye contact with our group. "Alright, you heard my husband. Explain yourselves and we'll see if it will help your case."
"But Ceerel doesn't want them to be punished!" The little girl shot to her feet, earning a warning glare from her sister. "They didn't do anything!"
Lathai turned to Griffin. "Perhaps it's best if you let your sister leave for this conversation."
"I hope you've learned your lesson about leaving the village without letting anyone know, Ceerel." The sterner Elder smiled, something I didn't consider he had the ability to do. "It's dangerous out there. Not even we," he motioned to himself and his husband, "know every creature that prowls these forests."
"But Ceerel was fine!" She stamped her foot on the ground.
Her outburst caused Lathai to chuckle. "Your sister may have found you today, but in the future you may not be so lucky. Now, why don't you tell the rest of the village that you're okay? They've been worried about you."
Ceerel pouted in annoyance but made to leave anyway. I admired her spirit to stay strong and attempt to defy the most powerful people in the village. One day she would turn out to be an iron-willed woman, someone not to be messed with, I could sense it.
Just as she was about to leave, Ceerel turned back around to glance at us one more time and her eyes widened in shock as they landed on me. "Bleeding!" The fae girl rushed over to me, pointing up at my back. "Ceerel can help you!" She jumped to reach up to what she had seen, but it was no use. She was too short.
I was bleeding? Trying to peer over my shoulder to get a glimpse of what Ceerel saw was pointless, I couldn't see anything that was a cause for concern. Nor could I even feel pain of any sort. What was going on?
Kayne held my shoulders gently and slowly spun me until my back was facing him. He pulled my shirt back enough to get a look at what was underneath. As his cold fingers brushed against my skin, it sent a shivering jolt through my spine.
"Your wound has come open and there's a shard of wood stuck in it." I could hear the frown in his voice. "It's only small, but still bleeding quite a bit."
"It must have been when the forest spirit flung me against a tree." There was no other moment that I could think of when it might have happened. "It's not painful though." I rotated the shoulder closest to the wound. "I can hardly feel anything at all." However, if Ceerel had noticed it as she was leaving, my shirt must have been soaked through with blood. How had I not noticed? Griffin finding us and being brought to this mysterious village must have distracted me.
Auron stepped closer to get a look at my wound too. "It doesn't look too bad, but the wood will need to be taken out and it will need to be stitched back up again."
"If you're allowed to live with the information you have, I'm sure one of our healers can patch you up." Lathai smiled as he spoke, a comforting reassurance. It was quite the opposite of Ralnor's scowl.
"We're getting off track. Explain why you're here."
Lorella replied quickly, a sense of urgency in her tone now that she had seen that I was injured. "We were travelling along the main path when the forest spirit attacked us and we ran into the forest to escape it." Even though it wasn't the full story, it was definitely best not to mention that Lorella had taken the horses in an attempt to get us to fix the rift in our friendship. At least her plan had worked.
"It then trapped us and we were saved by Griffin sounding that horn," Kayne continued. "She jumped out of a tree and threatened to kill us when we noticed she was fae."
As they bargained with Ralnor for our lives and freedom, Ceerel was still behind me trying to jump up and reach my wound. Was she trying to heal it? Could fae even learn to use their abilities at such a young age? When she grew tired and out of breath, she walked out in a sulk.
"We're no threat to Bellgrave Village," Auron added in hopes to sway their decision.
Lathai looked to his husband, awaiting his answer.
"I can see you're no threat," Ralnor began, "it's just a matter of whether or not you can keep your mouths shut."
"We could always have Sharian try to enchant them so they physically can't say anything about us," Griffin suggested.
My brows rose at her proposition. Enchanting had been made illegal many centuries ago after several people practising the craft had used it to cruelly take advantage of others. Stories had circulated as warnings of people being enchanted into mindless slaves or being forced to do heinous crimes for the benefit of the enchanter. To think that this village had one was unnerving. I supposed you could get away with anything if nobody knew of your existence.
"The fae is royalty," Ralnor stated, pointing to the prince. "Most families with enough money have their children protected from enchantments when they're born."
"I don't believe I've been protected. You could always try," Kayne urged, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and the Elders before us. I could tell he desperately wanted me healed.
"I think that's an excellent idea," Lathai praised. "We can use the time it takes for that to happen to discuss what might happen if it doesn't work." The Elder rose from where he knelt, holding out a hand for his husband to help him up. "Griffin, would you please escort them to my brother?"
The fae girl rose and bowed her head. "Of course."