Blissa had stayed with Edmund, wrapped in his arms until the wee hours of the morning, until she knew dawn would appear soon. She’d used mending magic to repair her clothes and set off to return home. She felt fortified to speak with her father, now. The king had been right. Edmund had seen it, but she’d been too hurt to see it last night. What she’d needed was time to spend with Edmund. It was funny how they said that fairies strengthened humans when they made love. It was she who felt strengthened today, reassured.
She would talk to her father again, come to a solution. He had always loved her, and had always tried to help her when she needed it. This time should be no different.
She returned to the castle just before the sun rose. It was quiet and peaceful, the way she preferred things. This was a wonderful time to think and reflect. People would be waking soon, and there would be more merriment and business, so she quietly wove through the castle, wanting to get to her room before fairies rose for the day.
She opened the door to her room, fully prepared to climb into bed and rest before determining the best way to approach her father.
Only, he was sitting there on the bed, looking stern and unhappy.
“Where have you been?” he asked. His tone was angry. Even though he generally shielded his emotions from her, she could feel the disappointment, even from this distance. She wasn’t sure if it was great disappointment or if he’d simply not shielded his emotions, making any display of them feel momentous.
She swallowed and walked toward him. “I’m sorry I worried you,” she said. “I didn’t realize you’d be looking for me.”
He didn’t respond. He simply waited.
“I was with Edmund, the man I met.”
“Did you violate the law of the realm?”
“I was not in the realm,” she said, measuring her words. “I’m not sure I can violate the law of a place where I was not.”
Her father shook his head. “HIs cunning with words has rubbed off on you, dear.”
That one hurt her. “I’m sorry father,” she said. “I ... it wasn’t anything about him that has rubbed off on me. I simply do not wish to admit to you what I have done. I had hoped to find you in good spirits today so I could speak with you. I wanted to apologize for my reaction last night and tell you that you are right. You cannot rescind your rules in a manner so that it looks like you’ve done it simply for me.”
His mouth dropped open, and he stared at her. “Really, that’s what you planned to tell me?”
She sat down on the bed beside him, and put a hand on his. “Edmund reminded me that you were right; that a king should never make laws simply to benefit himself, but always to benefit his people. And even though this would benefit the people, it would not be right for me to use this benefit immediately because it would lessen you in the eyes of your people.”
Her father placed a hand to his chin. “So, is this Edmund trying to get in my good graces by taking my side?”
Blissa shook her head and issued a small chuckle. “No, but he is trying to do something I was too upset to do when you told me. He wants to take a moment to think and find a solution. He thought I should ask you if you knew a way that he and I could be together without it compromising your rule.”
Her father sat staring at her as if too dumbfounded to speak. “You love this man?”
Blissa nodded. “I do, father. It’s happened quickly, for sure, but I love him dearly.”
Roldan sighed. “And you’re sure he loves you, that he’s not someone hungry for power who wishes to usurp the fairy kingdom?”
“I am sure, Father, and he has said that he would gladly speak with you to discuss his intentions. He has offered to meet with you at the Crystal Pond, or in his kingdom if you wish to travel. He does not wish you to be uncomfortable.”
Her father shook his head. “I do not travel to the kingdom of men. Not since the days of Errol, and I shan’t travel there again. But this Edmund intrigues me. I would like to meet him, and then I will let you know if there is a way for you and him to be together.”
Blissa smiled. “Thank you, Father.”
He stood and walked toward the door. Halfway out of the room, he turned back to her. “I’m glad you’re home safe, and tell no one where you spent last night.”
Blissa nodded.
* * *
Blissa had returned to Edmund’s castle and told him her father would meet him this afternoon at the crystal pond. Edmund had agreed, and when she went to give her father the news, he’d said, “Good. I will meet with him alone. I want to see his mettle myself.”
Blissa had swallowed and agreed. She had no other choice. Now she was pacing the gardens as Edmund met with her father. She wondered what he’d think. She wondered if her father would think as much of Edmund as she did.
“Blissa!” She heard her name and turned to find Eldred standing at the edge of the garden. He smiled as he walked toward her. “How goes it?”
She forced a smile as he reached her. “Well, Eldred. How goes it with you?” she asked, trying to be polite.
“I’m well. My apprenticeship is going decently. Dwennon is a very good teacher, but learning the intricacies of foresight is more complicated than it looks. I sometimes wonder if the oracles who are full fairy have it easier.”
Blissa shook her head. “I doubt it. It always takes time, full fairy or not.”
He smiled, and then said, tentatively. “Do you have a minute?”
Blissa nodded, wondering what could be on Eldred’s mind. He emitted waves of apprehension as he walked with her over to a stone bench. She’d been so busy with Edmund that she’d not spent very much time with Maurelle, or found out much about her budding relationship with Eldred.
They sat, and while Eldred’s handsome face was neutral, there was trepidation coming from him. “It’s alright,” Blissa said. “Whatever you want to tell me, go ahead. It won’t trouble me.”
He offered a weak smile and dipped his head slightly before speaking. “You know,” he said, “your cousin thinks the world of you and she loves you dearly.”
That was entirely unexpected. Blissa nodded. “And I adore Maurelle. She’s my best friend in the entire world.”
Eldred leaned back a tad and frowned. He seemed very confused. Finally he looked at her and said, “Perhaps you should tell her that.”
“She knows that,” Blissa said. “We’ve been inseparable since we were children.”
“Except now you disappear in the afternoons and you don’t tell her where you’ve gone, and when she asks you about it, you lie to her, and when she tries to get you to open up, you refuse. You’re pushing her away, and it’s upset her greatly.”
His words were a shock to Blissa. She’d not wanted Maurelle to know where she was going because she knew she wouldn’t understand about Edmund. But, she hadn’t meant for her to feel left out, to feel unwanted. She thought back to the times she’d spent with Maurelle, the distance, the confusion. She’d thought she was still struggling about her feelings with Eldred, yet those feelings of uncertainty, of wondering if she were loved, had not been about the oracle in training. They’d been about Blissa. She grimaced. “I’m sorry, Eldred,” she said, looking him in the eye. She patted his hand and said, “I didn’t realize. I hadn’t meant to upset her. I hadn’t meant for her to think I was pushing her away.”
He nodded his understanding and looked down at the bench. He swallowed hard and looked up at her. “I have done something I shouldn’t have, and I hope you will forgive me. To help Maurelle, I looked into your future. Just a little bit, and I realize where you’ve been going, and I suspect you’ve not wanted to share that with her because it would upset her.”
Blissa felt a slight pang of irritation with Eldred. “Have you told her where I’ve been going?”
He shook his head. “Of course not. I’ve counseled her to talk to you, and she’s been reluctant. I think she worries you’ll push her further away.”
Blissa shook her head “I wouldn’t.”
“I think, if you tell her, tell her now, you can smooth the rift between you, but if you wait, it won’t get better.”
“Do you speak to me as an oracle, or a friend? Have you looked into our futures?”
Eldred shook his head. “I have not tried. It is not wise to seek answers to questions you have not been asked. If a vision presents itself, we must accept it, but our gifts are meant to help the rulers protect our kingdom, not to answer every whim we personally have. The good oracle is alert for important signs, but does not seek it for prurient reasons.”
He looked so unduly serious in his little speech that Blissa had to stifle a grin. “That’s very good of you,” she said. “And I appreciate you telling me. I have been avoiding the people who I thought my news might hurt, thinking I shouldn’t bother them with something that was really minor. Just a friendship.”
Eldred raised an eyebrow. “But it’s turned into more?”
“Yes, much more,” she said. “So I will need to tell Maurelle. I should have, at least, alerted her to the possibility. You’ll leave it to me to tell her?”
Eldred nodded. “I think it is best if she hears it from you.”
Blissa noted her agreement and paused a moment before asking, “And how goes it between the two of you? Has she been favorable to you?”
Eldred laughed. “I must admit that she has been more open to me, but mostly we’ve talked of her perception of your rift. It gnaws at her, greatly, though she doesn’t seem to want to admit it. It’s the reason I was willing to speak with you so directly on matters that are not actually any of my business.”
“You care for Maurelle,” Blissa said. “So her feelings are your business. I should have taken more care to attend to her feelings, rather than being wrapped up in my own thoughts.”
“Dwennon always says that when we focus too much on a single vision, we can lose view of the important tidings.”
“Of course, Dwennon is right. He always is. And I’ll talk to Maurelle,” she said. “I’ll look for her now.”
Eldred smiled politely and took his leave. She could tell that Eldred felt better having spoken with her, yet Blissa felt worse. This was not the news she had sought. She’d never meant to hurt Maurelle or push her away. She’d only wanted to avoid a discussion with her that would be upsetting, unnecessarily so when she simply thought Edmund a human. But, now that she knew which human he was, it was going to be difficult, and there was no way around it.
Blissa thought it was perhaps best to simply ease into it. To admit that she’d been sneaking away to see a human, and that she’d not told Maurelle because she didn’t want to hurt her feelings. The honesty would be good, and it would give Maurelle a moment to settle in with the notion. A moment to get used to it before she had to accept the harder thing. Edmund was Errol’s son.
But Edmund was nothing like Errol. You could see it in the way people treated him. They respected him, rather than feared him. You could see it in the way he treated others. If Maurelle met him a few times, she would see him for who he was, not who his father was.
Blissa headed from the garden into the castle, its white marble walls pretty in the late afternoon glow. Vines and tendrils climbed the walls, and a few of the bulbs were blooming at the moment. It was one of the prettier times of year in the castle. Blissa headed to Maurelle’s room and knocked on the door. She waited a bit, but there was no answer. She frowned.
Maurelle was probably out amongst the woodland creatures. She liked to visit with them in the afternoons. Blissa started out of the castle to find the path for the woods when she saw her father from a distance. She called out his name, and he turned and looked at her. His face was hard to read, so she hurried over as quickly as she could, hoping to find out how the meeting went with Edmund.
She was worried seeing her father back so soon. It seemed her father should have taken more time, really gotten a chance to talk to him before making a decision. When she reached her father, he said, “We will talk in my chamber, in private.”
With that, he said not another word and marched into the castle at a speedy pace. The fairies who were about all waved hello to him and he nodded in return. Blissa did the same, following behind her father at his rapid clip.
When they finally reached his private chamber, Blissa shut the door behind them and spoke immediately. “What did you think of him?” she blurted out.
He turned to her, the most serious expression on his face and said, “I told him I would give him my blessings and he would have my full trust if he withstood questioning under honorserum.”
Blissa felt anger and fear swell inside of her. “Father, how could you? It’s deadly to humans.”
He shook his head. “It is deadly to humans who deceive in the hour after they’ve taken it,” he corrected her.
He was right, but she didn’t like the idea of him giving Edmund something that could kill him. “And how is he?”
“How do you think he is?”
“Father,” she started. She just wanted an answer, but the stoic expression he wore hinted that he would not answer until she did. “I think he’s fine, Father.” She closed her eyes, thought for a moment, really thought about Edmund, his spirit, his kindness. “I know he’s fine, Father.”
Her father smiled. “You are correct, my dear,” he said. “I just wanted to be sure, to be sure that you have as much faith in him as he had in himself, and as much love for him as he has for you. I wanted no doubts, because I have a way for you to be with him. But, it means great sacrifice for you. Perhaps too great a sacrifice.”