“He was a big man, wide shoulders, handsome face. He was brash, loud, and very much not elven. Of course, all those things weighed against him in my mind on that first day, but I felt honor bound to assist him. I had the tree release him, and then helped him to limp back to his hunting cabin, which was less than a mile away, and perhaps just a half a mile outside the forest’s newly expanded border.
“I set his leg, and helped to promote healing with my elven magic. After that I visited him daily, made sure his leg was healing right, and fed him since he couldn’t get around. With my help, I knew he’d be back on his feet within a week.”
She snorted, “He was a huge flirt, irrepressibly so, and came onto me each time I visited, but I ignored it at first though I admit it fed my ego. Finally, what won me over, despite all the taboos against it, was the way he looked at me. He looked at me like I was air he breathed, and was more beautiful than anyone he’d ever met or dreamed of. He seduced me with his honest and unflinching admiration and his gentle strength. I have to admit, his muscled body, and warm brown eyes eventually grew on me.
“It was a slow seduction, at least on my part. He always insisted he was in love with me before the tree let him down that day, at first sight. He… adored me, and looked at me like I was the answer to everything. It was powerful, and I gave in to it. I slept with him, fooling myself that no harm would come of it. An affair of the heart no one would know about. But then Edea, who I love more than life itself, was conceived.”
I sighed, that kind of reminded me of the way Gerard looked at me most of the time, if he wasn’t too busy being a grumpy ass. I missed him, and even the grump part.
“Then what happened, did he leave?”
I’d made the assumption the affair was short, and doomed to failure. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Ayda shook her head and looked at me like I was an idiot, “No, he loved me. He built a larger cabin fifty miles farther east, and I moved into it with him. We lived a lifetime together Katrina, a beautiful lifetime, but only a human one, which was such a small portion of mine. He would go into Bellmeadow once a month for supplies we couldn’t get from the forest, and the three of us were a family. We fought of course, like any couple, but it was a time of great joy in my life. He just died, three months ago. I didn’t know what to do, and was afraid to go home, afraid for Edea. But when I contacted my sister she demanded that we move back here.
“She’s been kind to me, and my niece, considering the truth. We are both outcast and shunned otherwise, but this is our home, and where our family is.”
I closed my eyes, I was such an idiot. That’s what was bothering me, Edea was far too balanced and resilient for someone that grew up with the hate and disgust this place sent her way. But that was all new, something she’d been dealing with for just three months, after growing up in a loving home for seventy-five years.
That was still weird to me, a seventy-five-year-old fourteen-year-old. I’d get used to it. My mind finally made the connection with that itch in my head.
“So wait, you got here three months ago? And the grubs started showing up three weeks ago?”
Ayda nodded, “Yes, but I don’t get the connection.”
“The part that’s really been bothering me about this, is if the person wanted to destroy the heart why only one grub at a time, that was relatively easy to clean up? What if this really is over, because their purpose for doing it is finished. Edea is a witch, the grub was created by a witch, but there is no witch close to here. There are a lot of elves out there who very badly want to see you two gone. I wonder if the fact that Edea wasn’t accused before now frustrated that elf. The coincidence of this plot happening right after you two show up is… farfetched, considering how strongly some of them feel about your presence here.”
Ayda shook her head, “That’s paranoid. Plus, there’s no proof, even if it was true who could be behind such a thing?”
I had my suspicions, but I was afraid to say it out loud, afraid that Ayda would tell her sister, and then word would spread from there.
“That’s what I need to figure out. It also doesn’t match with the visions from Arella, or Arelleas. Something will happen to destroy the heart and most of this city if I don’t stop it.”
Ayda asked, “Are you sure?”
I nodded firmly, “It’s my power, I can’t be lied to Ayda. All Edea is guilty of is trying to be a hero, and of showing some really bad judgement, but that’s nothing new for a teenager. She has nothing to do with the grubs, except of course, being set up to take the fall. I believe she was set up on purpose, to get her out of here. After all, she couldn’t be killed out of hand or they’d risk the reprisal of Aleisia”
Edea sighed, “What will happen at best, is I’ll be banished from the kingdom. Nothing can stop that now even if you discover the truth, I did use my magic. There’s no denying that.”
I shrugged, “You’d be welcome to come back with me to Magehaven Edea, I think you’d be surprised how well you’ll be received by humans. Some will react badly, but most wouldn’t.”
Edea said, “Really?”
“You’d have to find something to do, figure out what you want to do with your life. I bet you could make a lot of money, umm, coin, with your skills as a witch, it isn’t against the law there. Your biggest problem will be young men, you might need a sword to keep them at bay.”
Edea narrowed her eyes, “Now you’re just teasing me.”
I smiled, “Maybe a little, but it’s still true. Human men tend to go for exotic and beautiful, as your mother can attest. It’s not perfect of course, you’ll be without your family, and without the forest.”
Edea blushed at my estimate of her looks, which were right on. She was gorgeous, and the smaller elven ears, and other elven features definitely made her exotic.
Edea sighed, “I don’t know about that, I’m as long lived so far as any other elf, since I have elven magic in full measure along with witch magic. I don’t think I could handle the pain mother went through when…” she trailed off.
Ayda looked at her daughter, then at me, “If she is banished, I will go as well. Perhaps they will take me in too?”
This was a big deal, and a large responsibility to safeguard them, but it felt like the right thing to do. Maybe because I knew what it felt like to be banished. I also liked Edea, and felt like we would one day be close friends, assuming she was banished tomorrow night, and not killed.
I had a feeling the king would kill for an elven gardener, and would probably know how to hook Edea up with a witch teacher. Although, maybe I should ask Danielle first. I didn’t want to ignorantly put them in the king’s debt, I had no doubt that man wouldn’t mind having a witch elf at his beck and call.
“I don’t think it will be a problem Ayda, I imagine you would make a hell of a head gardener somewhere, but before I leave I have to figure out who tricked you into using magic, and why the heart will be destroyed. If I’m right about a conspiracy against Edea, that part doesn’t quite fit. Not yet. I’m missing something important, but this was a big piece of the puzzle.”
Assuming I was right, and not just barking up the wrong tree. It sort of fit, but not perfectly.
Not a problem, just figure it out and I only had until tomorrow night to do it. No pressure I thought sarcastically. Although I supposed I could take them to Magehaven and then return. I wasn’t sure that would work out well though, it didn’t feel like I had that much time before it would all blow up in my face. In all our faces.
Worse, my prime suspect was like a mother to the queen, and the protector of the royal family.
It fit. She had motive as a bigot and the protector of the royal family, which probably included protecting the bloodline from being tainted. She had opportunity, full access to everything, and she’s the one who caught Edea red handed with Ayda conveniently in tow.
I wanted to ask Edea if Eloen had ever wistfully said anything about it being too bad she couldn’t use her ma
gic, it might be able to solve things. Or ask Ayda whose idea it was for her to go to the garden right after lunch, hers or Eloen’s. It wouldn’t have been too hard for Eloen to work out the timing, especially if she feared I was getting too close to the answers, and took a few chances.
Eloen was also far too eager to get rid of me. That didn’t mean I wasn’t worried that I had possibly made it all up in my head, and forced the pieces to fit, since her and I had bumped heads both last night, and this morning. Regardless, I couldn’t ask those questions, because it would get back to Eloen for sure. Then I’d be in real trouble, and so would the forest.
What I needed was real proof anyway, not more circumstantial evidence from Edea or Ayda. Nothing else would convince the queen her beloved seneschal was behind it all. But I had no idea where to look, or what to do next. Worse, the woman was shielded so I couldn’t even verify it for myself. All I had was my gut feeling. I couldn’t confront her either, if I was wrong which was a real possibility, I’d be kicked out and told never to come again. If I was rash, I could doom the forest and most of the elves.
Edea interrupted my thoughts and asked, “What’s Magehaven like.”
I smiled, and started to tell her about the city, and the parts of it I’d seen. I left off the part where they didn’t know about plumbing, and needed an upgrade on the sanitation. But to be fair there was a lot of good things about the city as well. I liked it there well enough. I also explained there wasn’t a whole lot of nature in it, and to consider their options seriously. I thought the king or Danielle would be the safest bet, but they might be happier in a smaller town, with woods nearby, like Bellmeadow, or Southwater. There’d be less opportunities for them as well, but everything was a trade off in life.
My need to figure things out or not, I spent the morning talking about my adventures, what I’d seen, and answered questions about what they could look forward to in a human kingdom if that’s where things went. I also got to know Ayda and Edea better, as they told me about their solitary but very happy lives with a human husband and father, and I found out they were two of the kindest and lovely people that I’d ever met.
It was a crime that the other elves, outside of maybe the queen, couldn’t see it too.
Chapter Thirteen
I nodded in greeting to my shadow as we left the dungeon, Saida winked at me and fell in behind us as we walked back to the royal wing for lunch. I’d learned a lot, and my emotions were a little perturbed. I might be able to save the forest in the end, but it looked like the royal family was in for some real pain here soon.
The queen had just gotten her sister back, and a niece she’d just met. I knew she’d be devastated by losing both again. Worse, the only way she’d keep her sister was if she gave the order to support a death penalty decision against her own niece. How screwed up was that?
Plus, her son was a shortsighted bigoted asshole, and her seneschal was most likely the traitor.
And I’d thought that I’d had family problems growing up. It certainly gave me some perspective. Save the elves or not, the royal family was a damned mess. Which… sucked, because I really liked Aleisia, it also explained why the woman was almost a zombie this morning. She didn’t know all I knew, but she knew things were falling apart.
I thought of Gerard’s kisses, and the way he touched me, to transform my plastic smile into a faint but real one as Ayda and I walked into the dining room. I still wasn’t sure what to do next, except maybe keep track of the blank spot and follow the seneschal around the rest of the day. It should be easy enough to keep her within my telekinetic distance, the only issue of course was losing my shadow.
Saida followed me everywhere so far, except the dungeon, or when I was flying.
Everyone was there this time, prince and prince consort included as I sat down at the table.
Vaeril said coolly, “I apologize for my outburst this morning, what did you learn about my… cousin,” he said the last word like he was wiping crap off the bottom of his shoe.
He was definitely not sorry, and if his emotions were any indication, not only wouldn’t he piss on me if I was on fire, he might set the fire to begin with. I could only assume the queen had given him orders to apologize, and I wondered how he’d gotten the way he was.
“I learned that she made a mistake in trying to help with her magic, but that she had nothing to do with the cursed grubs, or putting them in the garden. She was studying it, to find a way to guard against it and destroy it.”
He scoffed.
Eloen said, “I find that hard to believe, I caught her at it. How can you be sure?”
I was annoyed for a moment, and it took me a few moments to figure out why. I’d gotten used to people just taking me at my word as a paladin on this world. The automatic acceptance that whatever I said was truth. Hell, Gerard had taken me at my word before then, once he’d verified my first story anyway. I’d have been amused at myself, if the atmosphere wasn’t so tense in here. It was weird to be treated as an untrustworthy teenager again, or perhaps they just thought I’d been fooled.
I was considering explaining my powers, but Aleisia broke in, “Let it rest. We’ll find out at the judgement tomorrow night when we question her. Let’s just… eat,” the queen finished in a tired voice.
It was only the third day, and my body was craving meat already, but the food was good, and I’d survive a few more days of this if I had to. I supposed I could teleport to Magehaven and buy something at the market if things got desperate, but I was reluctant to share that ability just yet.
After lunch, the prince took off as quickly as he could get away with, and the prince consort looked uncomfortable as well. Though, as far as I could tell with empathy, he didn’t hate anyone, he was just full of concern and worry for his wife.
The queen asked, “You were in there a long time, what else did you learn, or talk about.”
Before I could respond, Ayda reached across to her sister and rested a hand on hers, “She made a very kind offer to my daughter, and other things that I think we should speak about privately.”
The queen nodded reluctantly, and they both got up and retreated by the other door, which I guessed led to the personal quarters for the royal family. Alduin similarly got up and left, which left just Eloen and I in the room. The lack of emotions from her shielding made me a bit nervous.
She looked at me, her eyes narrowed, “What will you do next. If someone else is truly behind it, they must be caught. It is strange that no more grubs have been found for a whole day now.”
Wow, she was so sincere I almost believed her. Canny old bat.
“I’ll keep an eye on the heart.”
I bit my lip on the rest of it, because it would have been a lie. That was inconvenient, but I found myself unconsciously fiddling with my holy symbol.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said, and then got up.
She nodded, and I turned and left the room, Saida on my trail.
The afternoon was boring. I’d changed into riding clothes, and hovered close to the forest heart. It was my excuse to leave Saida behind, a bird’s eye view would give me better coverage of the heart. Which was true, if misleading. I didn’t believe for a second Eloen would plant another grub, she’d accomplished her goals, but I still kept an eye on it as I’d said I would. What I was really doing though, was tracking her blank spot through the castle with telekinesis all morning.
I also used empathy and telepathy to identify who she talked to, sometimes even skimming surface thoughts to find out what they were saying, but it was all official business.
The old woman never stopped working. Not that I was one to talk, I hadn’t slowed down since I’d gotten to this world, and while I’d have preferred a small break and not having my wedding cancelled, I found I didn’t mind it at all otherwise. I liked it even, being useful, plus it gave me something to focus on besides the loss of my old world and my family.
So I hung over the castle, and enjoyed the view of the beautifu
l forest heart, and followed Eloen with my mind. It was pointless though. Eloen simply had no reason any longer to do something incriminating. I wished I’d have done this days ago, when she was still at it. I also constantly thought about the danger that still existed, and tried to figure out why it did, and how. Nothing occurred to me, maybe I wasn’t so smart after all.
I took a bath before dinner, and changed back into a dress. Then I summoned my container of dirty clothes, and played washing machine using aqua-kinesis, aero-kinesis, and micro-kinesis. I even used a little pyro-kinesis for hot water, and telekinesis to add in the soap.
Once my clothes were rinsed and dry with more aqua-kinesis, I sent them to the wardrobe, hung up, clean, and wrinkle free. It was boring on one level, but I also enjoyed stretching myself. I was finding out just how much I could do with my powers on this world, and not just teleporting, or scanning with telekinesis, my two biggest breakthroughs, but things I never would have thought to try back on my own world.
Where I had access to things like plumbing, and washing machines. Microwaves and water heaters. Ugh, now I was depressing myself. Speaking of depressing, it was time for another meal with the royal family…
Dinner was tense, and the queen looked and felt angry. I could only assume Ayda shared my conspiracy idea with the queen, and she’d obviously believed it because the anger wasn’t pointed my way. That worried me a bit, because I was sure she’d have talked to her seneschal about it. I was doubly glad I hadn’t mentioned Eloen at all to Ayda or Edea, but on the bad side Eloen would be even more cautious now.
There was also that niggling doubt that I could be wrong, circumstantially it was obvious to me, but I had no proof, and there was hardly a shortage of people that hated the queen’s niece. I was a little tempted to just confront her and break through her shields to find the truth, but sanity prevailed, things weren’t so bad that I needed to do something so desperate.
At least the prince wasn’t present, anytime I could get away from his caustic emotions was a plus in my mind.
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