Skye
Mother was curled up on her side fast asleep when I entered her bedchamber.
“We gave her a sleep draught, milady,” Thedia, the maid who assisted her, explained when she opened the door. “And oils for the injuries to her hands and arms.”
Worry stirred my empty stomach. “Injuries?”
“Some minor discoloration and cuts, milady. Nothing to fret about. She was quiet, though shaking something fierce, after she bathed and climbed into her bed.”
Yes, I imagine she was. I looked to the bed where she was covered to her neck with blankets. Somehow the small fire in the room failed to keep the cold, damp air at bay tonight. My own extremities were struggling for warmth.
“Thank you, Thedia. You may leave us. I will stay with her.”
The maid bobbed a small curtsy and flashed a warm smile before making her exit.
Though my eyes were heavy, I sat at her bedside and kept watch. My mother. A woman I’d long presumed dead. It was still difficult to comprehend. Emotion tickled the back of my throat. She’d gone through indescribable hell, only to return to a time fraught with more hell. McClintock was dead. What did he say to push her past the brink?
I drew my robe closer and cuddled into the thick velvet. I should return to my chamber. Return to Xander. The memory of his face when I told him I loved him had me smiling. I traced my lips with a fingertip, his taste and scent fresh on my senses. He wanted to marry me. Could we do it? Could we defy the laws long ago set aside for Guardians and royals? Could I defy my prophecy? What if being with Xander ruined everything? With a yawn, I closed my eyes and prayed Nickoli would reach Edendawin and Griffin safely. I prayed the elves would bring us the answers we desperately needed.
Sound sleep eluded me. A damp heat clung to my skin as I shifted on my unusually hard bed. Something pricked my cheek and I jerked to my elbow and pried one eye open.
“And the Prince meets the Princess once more.” The smoothly accented voice pierced the bubble of sleep surrounding me.
I blinked my eyes open to a long-awaited sight crouched before me. “Griffin!” I threw my arms around his neck and the Elf Prince tilted beneath my weight and buckled to his knees.
His earthy scent tickled my nose. “You’re real.” Which meant…
“I’m in Edendawin?” I peered beyond his shoulder, expecting to see the greens and golds of the Enchanted Forest.
“Hivernia, Your Majesty,” he corrected.
Hivernia? With an anxious breath, I pushed up from the ground and scrambled to my feet. I still wore my bedclothes! I must have fallen asleep at Mother’s bedside and woken up … I adjusted my velvet robe and re-tied the sash.
When I visited Griffin in the forest, I woke amongst flowers and trees. Tonight, I was on a bridge made of smooth cobblestones that rose directly out of a body of water. There were no docks or boats to be seen—only this bridge rising from the water like it awaited people walking from the depths of the sea. I circled where I stood then visually followed the path of the bridge to where it ended. My body swayed at the sight. Towering proudly before us was a tree, its massive roots tangled and woven together and growing out of the water below. The bridge led straight to the tree and an arched doorway glowing with blindingly bright lights.
My awed gaze lifted as I measured the trunk mentally. Xander had described the elves’ homes in Edendawin. I understood they lived in the trees, but I never imagined something so massive. My imagination pictured tree houses and huts. This tree was the size of a skyscraper. Its height cast a shadow far beyond where we stood. Brilliantly lit rectangular windows lined the doorway on either side and a second row encircled the trunk above the doorway, along with an arched and carved balcony. Branches intertwined throughout the balcony and down from the center of the tree meeting the bridge where we stood on. It was like each one was woven with purpose instead of having grown naturally.
My already large eyes grew wider as I beheld the foliage. A breadth of branches so stout I couldn’t fathom their size held large clumps of leaves throughout. The coloring a brilliant green bright as emeralds. Everything was alive and fresh. It shimmered in a way only magic created. And as if everything before me wasn’t enough, dozens of waterfalls magically cascaded between the limbs and foliage.
“Do you approve of my home, milady?” Griffin asked, humor coating his words.
“Approve of your…” I pulled my attention from the splendor and looked at Griffin. “This is amazing. There are waterfalls falling from your tree. Waterfalls,” I repeated, dazed.
Griffin chuckled and I returned my gaze to the sparkling water cascading from between the branches. The long streams ended noiselessly in the deep blue water surrounding us.
“Welcome to Hivernia, Your Majesty.”
I shoved the beauty from my mind and finally gave Griffin my full attention. His elven glow was twice as glorious here in his homeland as it was in Edendawin. He resembled the Prince he was. His royal green tunic was trimmed with golden threads intricately sewn to mimic vines running up his chest and decorating his forearms. His pale shoulder length hair was slicked back and held in a low ponytail as opposed to the messy look he wore at our previous meetings. He appeared so different; so royal.
However, hair and clothing were trivial and as I stared at him finally standing before me, it hit. “It’s been months, Griffin. Where were you?” I asked, unable to tamp down the feeling of betrayal at his abandonment.
He inhaled deeply. “Forgive me.”
“Forgive you? I thought Xander was dead and you disappeared.” Was he as indifferent as he sounded? “I was completely lost. I needed your guidance.”
He remained emotionless. “When will you learn? You need no one.”
Broken laughter scratched its way up my chest and through my lips. “So I’ve been told,” I said with a hard eye roll. He frowned at my sass. I looked around once again and asked with unease, “Why did you bring me here? Where are the other elves?”
The tree, while luminescent and magnificent, was quiet. There was no movement behind the windows, on the balconies, or along the bridge where we stood. This was his elven empire? One waterfall blessed tree abandoned in the middle of a shimmering sea?
His slim shoulders rolled back. “Do you know the last time I was in Hivernia?” he asked. I shook my head. “Your mother was merely a child. I left this land and remained in Tyalbrook because I became enamored with a human girl. I did not know at the time what a sizable part she would play in our existence. What a role her child would have.”
“You fell in love with her,” I confirmed, more for myself than him. Xander already relayed Griffin’s story from when they met.
“I did.” He held out his hand. “Walk with me?”
I stared at the mystical tree overshadowing everything and knew without asking where we were headed. This was part of my journey. We needed the elves, and Griffin had answered that call—in his own timing. I placed my trembling palm in his.
“I wandered for years. Never happy with the responsibilities of my title. I was trapped here, a prisoner of my future.” My fingers squeezed his at our mutual plight. “Edendawin turned into a sanctuary for me and many others. The gardens were always an extension of the elven realm, but they were not ruled over as closely as Hivernia. Those who moved there gained freedom. When I met Kerra and stayed, they accepted me as an elf, not a Prince. Though, it did not take long for them to call me their Prince. They looked to me for leadership, but they did so because I earned their love and loyalty. I did not force my leadership upon them. I thought I found a new life. I should have known my father would never let me go so easily. He knew one day I would be back.”
His words were painted black with frustration. It was so unlike him. I opened my mouth to speak, and he beat me to it.
“This is the gate to Hivernia, Skye. Were you back in the Enchanted Forest you would travel here through Lake Ceresius.”
I glanced back at where the bridge gradually sloped toward the water. Rainbows rippled beneath the surface and I was reminded of his warning not to fall into the lake the first time we met in the garden. It was a portal between their two worlds.
“Once we pass through the tree of Everly he will know you are here.”
I glanced up at his perfect features, his glow making me squint. “He?”
“Aeromin. My father. The King of Hivernia and ruler of the elves.”
My hair stood on end as my courage faltered. “How will he know?”
“No one who is not under his rule enters Hivernia without his knowledge. Our realm is protected by ancient and powerful magic. One must be of elven blood or traveling with an elf to arrive here.”
“So because I am human he will sense me?”
“In a manner of speaking. We are attuned to the bloodlines of those around us, to the past flowing in your veins. My father though, has expected the Queen born of the prophecy to arrive for some time.”
A rush swooshed through my ears, pounding as sweat broke out on my forehead. My thin slippers dragged along the stones, my legs growing heavy with the weight of anxiety with each step we took.
Griffin stopped walking and stepped in front of me. “Skye? Do you think I would guide you here if I thought he would hurt you?”
“I don’t know. Would you?” I asked with a dry mouth.
He dropped my hand and pressed his palm over his heart. “Your Majesty, I am a servant of yours. Not my father. I pledged myself to protect you. I swore.”
My fear turned to guilt as the Prince of elves turned himself inside out for me. “Of course. You once told me to trust no one. I took that to heart. Forgive me?” I mimicked him and covered my own heart with my hand and bowed.
“As you should have, milady,” he said dryly. “Come, we have much to do and little time before you wake.”
I was asleep. I’d forgotten how this worked. Back in Tyalbrook I was sleeping soundly, slumped over the side of Mother’s bed. Anyone could wake me at any moment. I followed behind Griffin as he picked up his pace, eager to learn as much as I could.
Maintaining my composure was difficult as we neared the tree. My neck craned, my eyes touched every magical detail, my nose and lungs took in the crisp air. The scent was indescribable.
We approached the doorway of light and once again I hesitated. It was a sheet of pure white fire—bright and glittering and absolute. There was nothing beyond, only light.
“Is it a portal?” My fingers stretched forward, testing. A bolt shot through my hand and up my arm, and I yanked back instinctively. I’d expected heat or burning. I received tickling vibrations instead.
“After you, my Queen.” Griffin bowed, a smile playing on his lips. Of course he would not give me an answer.
Rolling my shoulders back, I passed through the light like one would pass through a waterfall—thousands of beams sprinkled over me like feathers caressing my skin. The sensations were too much. They smothered my senses, coiling my stomach and tickling my skin. Then it was over, and I stood in the splendor of Hivernia.
We were in a city filled with delicately carved buildings made of white stone. Their vine-covered spires stretched toward the star covered sky. All around us, elves crowded the cobbled streets, their colorful silk and velvet clothing immaculate. An unexpected laughter provided the music here. I could not have pictured the grandiosity of this place had I tried.
With his hand on the small of my back, Griffin ushered me forward. He described little details of the buildings we passed, like I was on a special elf city walking tour and he was my guide. His normalcy only heightened my anxiety. I needed him to be freaked out too, even if only a little. Nope, no freaking out on his part. He simply pointed out architecture and greeted the elves brave enough to speak to him like this was a normal day. Each time someone walked by, their bright eyes furtively turned to me. They studied me as they bowed to their Prince and I lowered my gaze. Uneasy at their curiosity.
Griffin weaved my hand under his arm. “They know you are not of elven blood, but they sense our blood within you. They are confused,” he explained when yet another elf gave me a contemplative look. “The elves do not trust humans.”
I plastered on a smile for the benefit of our onlookers. “You tell me this now? While I’m in the middle of your world and surrounded?”
He patted my hand. “I told you you would be safe here. Do not forget, they can see your marking. They know you are special. Plus, you are with me.”
He said special, but I heard cursed. I had the urge to undo my hair and cover my face as their stares burned my cheeks. “Perhaps they are looking at their long-lost Prince and wondering what he is doing with a disgusting human?”
“Oh, I am sure that is what many of them are thinking.”
My head jerked up and Griffin arched his brow and smirked. Insufferable elf.
We stopped walking. “The moment we step onto this bridge his guards will come out to meet us.”
I looked at the cobblestone beneath my feet. There was nothing different about the stone underneath my slippers and two feet forward. They were all the same—smooth, earthy colored stones of different shapes and sizes. Two steps and the King of elves would meet me. Like the moment I stepped through the portal from Earth to Tyalbrook for the first time, or the moment when Cillian and his men hoisted Xander and I from the hole I’d fallen into—this was a simple step. A step that changed the course of everything.
I took the two steps.
Griffin followed. “Skye, I have been here since the attack on Xander, looking for ways to convince the King that the elves must join Tyalbrook in the fight you face.”
“That is what you’ve been doing all this time?” He nodded and I shook my head. “Vonnedenia told us we needed your help. Xander sent Nickoli—McClintock’s son—to Edendawin to find you.”
“Yes, he waits in the forest with my guards.”
Relief replaced the brick of fear I’d carried in my stomach since Nickoli left Montibello. “He’s safe then? You spoke with him?”
“I have not, but he is safe. I was forbidden by the King to leave Hivernia. My advisor in Edendawin brought me the news.”
His reassurance brought tears to my eyes. Nickoli was safe. I was finally with Griffin. The elves would help with us and…
“Wait, you said you were looking for ways to convince the King—your father—to help us? Does that mean he refuses?”
“He has refused thus far. That is why you are here.” Griffin’s gaze flickered toward the spirals touching the star-studded sky as elves dressed in gleaming metal vests and shimmering silver marched their way across the long bridge before us. “He has refused me, but he expected your arrival. He must know something more than I do.”
I swallowed. “And what is it you do know?”
“That the evil you face is something he once faced.”
Griffin’s words lingered in the back of my mind. They danced around and kept me guessing as we were led through a glass and white marble castle. For all their beauty, the elves were simple creatures. There was little furniture in the halls we walked. Instead, there were flowers and plants, gleaming water features, and glass. Sheets and sheets of glass. We passed a wall made entirely of beveled glass panels and just as my mind comprehended the beauty surrounding me, we turned down a hallway wrapped from floor to ceiling in illuminated white marble with gold veins throughout.
I reined in my wandering eyes when our honor guard fell to their knees before a two-story turquoise door at the end of a hallway. Three thick branches ran over the width of the door and scrolling iron vines grew off each branch in every direction, intricately weaving around and forming a complicated pattern. I looked closer. It was a giant lock. Each branch and vine sank into the marble surrounding the gothic shaped doorway.
“Iron?” I asked as Griffin inched closer to my side. I wasn’t well-versed in mythology, but I read books and saw movies. “Aren’t elves supposed to be repelled by iron or something?”
“You should never believe fairy tales, milady.” Laughter tinged his words. “Shall we?”
His finger brushed over the center of the iron and the branches retracted and released the locks. The door swung open effortlessly and Griffin pressed his palm to my spine.
“She knows who is welcome,” he said against my ear.
“She?” I asked as we entered a vacant room save for a golden tree sitting at the far end. Its branches arched out, away from the windowed wall behind it, and covered the ceiling. Cut into the trunk and formed with the roots at the base was a throne. We stepped closer until we stood beneath the golden foliage. Behind the tree throne and beyond the windows was a garden, its layout eerily familiar. I glanced at Griffin for confirmation.
“This was my childhood home. I designed The Enchanted Forest after it.”
I spotted the golden feathers dancing in the breeze, much like the ones that once left a trail of glitter on my palm, and smiled. “Does the castle have a name?”
He spread his arms out wide. “This is the she. This is Everly.”