“I’ll wait for you at the palace,” I told the prince as I quickly left his base. “Don’t you dare get hurt!”
Damaeon smiled at me, and I could see some of the tension melt from his stance when he realized he would not have to worry about my safety. He raised a hand in farewell, and was reaching for his helmet and sword as I closed the door behind me.
The city had changed in the few minutes I had been speaking with the prince. The streets were full of armed soldiers racing towards the walls. My eyes followed them as they moved, and I saw them bracing the tall wooden gates that kept the Huryl from entering the city. Above them, I could see the elves standing ready with their bows, their keen eyes on the lookout for any movement below. My heart lurched for a second as I thought of Fynn and his bow, and I wondered if he had decided to help the Huryl now instead of me. I felt someone catch my arm, and I turned quickly to face them. It was Jakob, dressed in the armour of a Dyrel general, his brown eyes full of worry.
“Leila! What are you doing here? Get back to the castle!” he cried.
I nodded, and he released my arm to join his troops at the wall. I realized Damaeon must have given him a command, and I wondered how the Dyrel felt about having a Huryl leader. Doing my best to stay out of the way of the army, I made my way back through the streets of Oponoe and up the stairs leading to the palace. I saw Gael standing in the centre of the main hall, issuing orders to her own army of servants as they prepared for the casualties that would inevitably arrive.
“Lady Leila!” Gael gasped when she saw me. “I thought you would be with the prince!”
“I thought my talents would be best served here,” I replied with as much of a smile as I could muster.
“Good. Maybe he’ll listen to you,” Gael said, pointing to a closed door that lead to one of the servant’s closets. “Jakob put him in there before he left.”
I frowned in confusion, but Gael’s attention had already been taken from me. As she resumed her command over the infirmary, I headed cautiously to the closet, wondering what I would see inside. Something was definitely moving, I could hear thumping and the occasional crack of an object striking stone. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. Will was crouched on the floor like an animal, muttering to himself and throwing clay jugs at the door. Liquid that smelled strongly of vinegar stained the walls and pooled into puddles beneath my feet. When he saw the door was opened, he leapt to his feet and charged at me, skidding to a halt when he at last recognized who I was.
“Will!” I
exclaimed, entering the room and closing the door behind me. “What’s wrong? Why
did Jakob lock you in here?”
“The bee! The bee that stings
is not as sweet as the flower where it gets its nectar!” Will cried angrily.
“How dare she? How dare the honey pot take what is not his?”
I held out my hands soothingly, trying to calm Will down. He fell to his haunches again like a dog, breathing heavily and muttering under his breath. I knelt before him and put my hands on his shoulders.
“Take a deep breath, Will,” I told him softly. “Even you usually make more sense than this. Think about what you want to say and tell me.”
Will did as I instructed him, closing his green eyes for a moment and breathing deeply. He was much more relaxed when he looked at me again.
“The witch of the dogs,” Will said slowly. “She is here. I smell her. I feel her.”
“Ruella?” I asked. He shook his head fiercely.
“Of the dogs! The dogs!”
“Ellena? Are you walking about her?”
“Yes! I will kill the witch! Take her heart and return it to the bees for what she did to the honey!” Will’s eyes flashed with such intensity that I felt a flutter of panic in my chest.
“Will, Ellena is being held prisoner. Promise me you won’t hurt her.”
His eyes fell, as if I had asked him to do the most unfair task in the world. He averted his gaze from mine and bounced up and down on his heels, biting his lower lip and wetting his beard.
“Will, promise me,” I repeated, giving his shoulders a little shake to get his attention.
“Fine,” he muttered sulkily. “Can I leave the closet now?”
I rose to my feet and nodded. Will sat down as I went to the door and opened it. His eyes bore into my back as I left, I could feel them almost burning holes between my shoulder blades, but I trusted him. I knew he would not go after Ellena. I left the door slightly ajar so he could leave when he wished, and returned to where Gael stood, wringing her hands anxiously.
“I wish I knew when the battle would begin,” she said to me. “I hate waiting.”
I winked at her and closed my eyes, this time viewing the world as a wind spirit would. I could see the gates of Oponoe below me, with Damaeon and his men standing ready against any assault. On the other side, I saw the Huryl gathering at the edge of the forest, just out of arrow range. Suddenly, the Huryl gave a loud cry and charged. The elves on the wall loosed their arrows, and dozens of Huryl dropped to the ground. From within the ranks of the attackers, a few arrows came flying at the wall, and I saw several Dyrel fall.
“What do you see?” I heard Gael ask me. Her voice sounded very far away.
“The attack has started,” I told her. “We have arrow wounds.”
The gates opened and a small force of Dyrel poured out, only to have the gates firmly closed behind them. The elves stopped firing at the Huryl, in case they accidentally hit one of their allies. I could see Jakob among those who fought outside the gates. I focused on him, the wind spirit flying closer so I could see him more clearly. Jakob fought with a fury I had not seen before, as if he did not care if he died. He took risks that my untrained eye thought were too risky, narrowly avoiding getting skewered in order to take a swing at his opponent. I forced the eyes of the wind spirit away from him, and flew higher.
There were much fewer Huryl than Dyrel on the field, but I could see both sides held many hundreds of men in reserve. Neither would know his opponents full strength. It also appeared to me that Jakob and the Dyrel had nearly succeeded in pushing the Huryl back into the forest, when I felt a gentle tug on my sleeve and opened my eyes.
“My lady,” a maid said, looking at me with fearful eyes. “The wounded have arrived.”
I could not spy on the battle any more as I did my best to tend to the soldiers. Gael ordered me around just like her servants, and I found I could not think of anything other than the task she asked me to do. We worked for what felt like hours before a triumphal cheer reached our ears, and the main doors were thrown open. Prince Damaeon marched into his palace with his general, and I rose to my feet to greet them.
“What happened?” I asked. “Did the outside force managed to force them back?”
The prince raised an eyebrow at me suspiciously. “Were you spying on us?”
I blushed.
“Only until the injured started arriving. What happened?”
“You were right. It was only a
small force to test our defences. They held, but I fear tomorrow the full
assault will be on us. Time for a small celebration, followed by a great deal
of planning, I think,” Damaeon smiled.
I was surprised at how few wounded there actually were, and in a short time I was able to join the prince and his generals at the feast. While we ate, I noticed that Jakob did his best to avoid looking at me. I wanted to congratulate him, but never had a chance to get close before he quietly excused himself and disappeared from the hall.
It was very late when I was once again in the solace of my rooms. I lay down on the great bed that Damaeon had given to me, but found I could not sleep. My spirit was restless, and I chuckled a bit as this thought passed through my mind. I vaguely wondered which of my spirits was so restless. I rose to my feet and left my room, thinking I would visit Ellena, but instead my feet brought me to the large garden where I had walked with Damaeon, and where he had kissed me.
The garden was transformed at night. Plants that did not bloom during the day now opened up their leaves, which shone in the moonlight. The greenish light of the plants illuminated the garden, making it appear as if I walked through a star-lit sky. I smiled to myself and headed towards the grove of trees where I had planted the seeds of the dead tree spirits. As I knelt before them, I was surprised at how large they had grown in so short a time. They were already saplings, about a foot high each, but I saw no trace of the tree spirits within them.
“When the trees are a year old, the spirit will be born,” a voice said behind me.
I rose slowly to my feet, my heart pounding. I recognized the voice as if it was my own, but I scarcely dared to believe I had heard it. Slowly, I turned to see Fynn standing on the path I had just treaded, watching me. He stood a few feet away, his bow resting on the ground and one hand lightly holding it in place. His eyes looked sad and distant, as if they were trying to tell me something his lips could not.
“Fynn,” I breathed.
“Be careful tomorrow,” Fynn said. “The Huryl king is here, and Mattis too.”
I blinked at him and frowned, the anger churning inside me. I could almost see Clothis’ dead body lying at his feet, his hands red with her blood, his bow the sword that had taken her life. Yet he stood before me, talking to me like nothing had happened.
“How dare you?” I spat. “How dare you come here after what you did? Did you think I would forget all about Clothis? Was her life just another life to you, to give to your Queen? Well, she wasn’t just another life to me! She was my friend! She was your friend, and you killed her! You killed her!”
Tears streamed down my cheeks and I fell to my knees. Fynn didn’t move a muscle as I yelled profanities at him in the moonlight.
“You just waltz in here, like everything is the same. Don’t you have a heart? Did you think what you did would be forgiven because I lo-“ I cut myself off short, my eyes widening in surprise at what I had nearly said.
“Leila,” Fynn sighed when I had finished my tirade. “You’re always trying to understand things. You can never be content, just let things be as they are.”
“I guess I can’t understand why one friend would kill another in cold blood,” I snapped angrily.
“Do you have the necklace, Leila? The one Will took from my Queen?”
I reached into my pocket and held it out to him. “Does she want it back? She can have it. I didn’t want it in the first place.”
Fynn watched the locket twirl on its silver chain as if mesmerized. He began to reach out to take it, but snatched his hand back and closed his eyes to compose himself.
“Keep it safe,” he told me. “The Faerie Queen has all of servants on a short leash right now. You caused quite a stir in her kingdom. I don’t think she’ll ever be same again. Whatever you do, don’t put it on, but always keep it with you.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and returned the necklace to my pocket. Fynn seemed relieved to have it gone from his sight, and he turned to walk away.
“One more thing,” I called after him. “Before Clothis died, she said something to you. I saw her lips move, but I couldn’t hear what she said.”
Fynn paused, his back still to me. “I asked her forgiveness, and she gave it.”
As the Woodwalker disappeared into the darkness, I was left kneeling in the garden, my cheeks stained with tears and my heart torn in half. I wanted nothing more than to run after Fynn, to hold him tightly and tell him I forgave him too, but I didn’t know if I ever could.
The next morning, I awoke to the sound of people running down the corridor outside my room. I quickly dressed in the same white robe that the Dyrel were accustomed to seeing me in, and hurried towards the throne room. Damaeon and Jakob were already there, pouring over a map of the city and its surroundings. I hurried to join them, gratefully accepting a hot mug of tea that a servant handed to me as I passed.
“The attack is coming,” Damaeon was saying. “We’ll have to evacuate the city, for the protection of the people. There are caves in the forest behind us where they can find shelter.”
He gestured to a waiting attendant, who hurried off to begin preparations for evacuation. Damaeon continued staring at the map, jabbing it with his finger.
“The walls are weakest here, and here. We’ll have to watch for sappers trying to dig into our cellars. Prepare a force to guard them. Jakob, you command the main force at the gate. If the Huryl break through, it’ll be up to you to slow them down.”
Jakob nodded. I pulled on Damaeon’s sleeve to get his attention.
“What can I do? I want to help,” I said.
“Highness, her powers would be helpful at the front,” one of the generals said. “She could harass the enemy using the spirits. It would give us a great advantage.”
“The women and children evacuating the city will need protection too, General,” Damaeon spoke up. He looked at me. “It’s up to you, Leila. I hope you’re aware of the dangers that either job will have.”