“What do elves do on Christmas?” Autumn asked.
“Everyone has different traditions, just like in the Outside, but Arbor Falls has a big celebration on Christmas day with performers and food. Even the king attends,” Crystal said.
“Except we don’t call it a Christmas celebration because the king refuses to force any singular religious tradition on his kingdom,” Jastin said. “We call it the Winter Festival.”
“Undergrounders are religious?” Luke asked in surprise.
“Some are very religious,” Charlotte answered. “The Underground has more religions than the Outside does.”
“I’m Jewish!” Forrest exclaimed proudly, making everyone laugh.
“So, do we get presents during the Winter Festival?” Luke asked. Autumn shot him an exasperated look.
Crystal laughed. “Usually a gift is exchanged between family members. The king actually sends gifts to every family in Arbor Falls.”
Autumn beamed at this, proud of her grandfather. Luke smiled too.
When everyone left Sugar Brown’s, Victor walked with Autumn towards Arbor Castle. He told Luke, Crystal, and Avery to go ahead without them. Avery didn’t seem all that happy with this, but followed Luke and Crystal anyway. Autumn looked questioningly up at Victor.
“I won’t be seeing you for a little while, so I wanted to say goodbye.”
“Why won’t you be seeing me?” Autumn asked.
“I’m traveling for the holidays.”
“Traveling? Alone?”
He nodded.
“Why don’t you stay here? You can hang out with all of the Warriors. We’re your family now.”
Victor’s expression became unreadable. “Yes, well, I have already made plans to travel,” he stated, letting Autumn know that this was not up for debate.
Autumn frowned. She’d hoped that he would become even closer to the other Warriors during the break, but now he wouldn’t even see them at all for a few weeks. She wondered why he was just now telling her this. Victor stopped walking.
“I’ll see you on the first day of Warrior training,” he said cupping her face in his hands and kissing her tenderly. “Goodbye, my Autumn.”
She watched as he trudged off down the path, away from Arbor Castle.
“What was that about?” Luke asked as she joined them at the dinner table.
“He wanted to say goodbye to me,” Autumn said, glancing at Avery, his eyebrows furrowing.
“Goodbye? Where’s he going?” Crystal asked.
“He said that he is travelling for the holidays.”
“Alone?” Luke said.
Autumn nodded. “He doesn’t have any family or anything. I assume the holidays are pretty lonely for him.”
“But he has the Warriors now,” Avery said.
“I know, but he seems to have already made up his mind.”
Avery frowned at the table. Autumn expected he was thinking the same thing she was. The more time Victor was away, the longer it would be until she could return his rose.
The next day Autumn and Luke were stunned to discover all of the tree houses in Arbor Falls covered in twinkling lights.
“They’re fay fairies,” Avery said, winking at Autumn, who blushed, remembering the last time she’d seen fay fairies.
“What are fay fairies?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow at his sister’s flushed cheeks.
Crystal explained fay fairies to Luke as Autumn glared playfully at Avery. He simply flashed her an amused grin.
“When have you seen fay fairies?” Luke asked Autumn when Crystal finished describing the glowing creatures.
Autumn looked at him with innocent eyes. “I haven’t.” He narrowed his eyes and she continued. “Avery told me that the lights in the castle are lit with fay light, which comes from fay fairies.”
“Oh,” Luke said, seeming satisfied with this answer.
“Well if Luke didn’t suspect something before, he does now,” Autumn said to Avery later that evening. He had brought his etherelle down to her branch so he could help her write a song to sing at the Winter Festival. The city council leaders had heard about her Power and asked her to perform. She had agreed, though reluctantly. Autumn had never been one to flaunt her talents, not that she had many before she came to the Underground. Atticus had taught her how to direct her singing at an inanimate object so her Power wouldn’t hypnotize anyone too heavily. They would still feel some calming effects, but they wouldn’t be paralyzed.
“Stop worrying about it, Autumn,” Avery said as he experimented with a couple of melodies. He sat cross-legged on the floor with the etherelle in his lap and Autumn was perched on the foot of her bed watching him.
“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “I like the way that one sounds,” she said, indicating the melody he had just played.
He played it again and built on to it. Autumn grabbed a piece of paper and a leaf quill and started scribbling down the song that suddenly washed over her. They worked on the song until the sun started to fall and the sky filled with a warm, orange glow. Once it was all written, they played through it once, impressed with their work. Autumn made sure to incorporate the fay fairies into the song.
Avery didn’t even look at his etherelle, keeping his eyes trained on Autumn as she sang. She had been aiming her song at the full-length mirror in the corner so as not to hypnotize Avery, but then decided to direct the notes straight at him. His hands slowly ceased playing the etherelle, his eyes glazing over. Autumn finished and laughed as he shook his head to clear it, smiling crookedly up at her.
“That feels sort of amazing.”
“I know.”
He set his etherelle aside and moved to the base of the bed, coming to stand in front of her.
“I think that’s enough practicing,” he said.
Autumn looked up at him, a coy smile dancing on her lips.
He put both hands on either side of her face and pulled her gently to him, their lips meeting and the gravitational pull taking over. She leaned back onto the bed and Avery moved with her so that he was hovering over her. His lips moved from her mouth to trail softly down her neck. Autumn let out a small gasp and felt Avery’s lips curl up into a smile.
He moved back to her lips, kissing her tenderly, which was bliss, but left her wanting more. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him forcefully to her. He caught on and kissed her more hungrily, their breathing quickening. Her hands clawed into his back as she pulled him even closer so that they were pressed right up against each other.
Suddenly they heard a knock on the front door and the creak of it opening. Autumn and Avery froze.
“Rose?” Luke called from the living room.
She cursed under her breath and slid quickly out from under Avery.
“Get under the bed,” she whispered.
“What?” Avery said.
“Under the bed!” she urged.
Avery chuckled, kissing her quickly on the lips and slipping under the bed. Right as she saw Avery’s foot disappear, Luke ambled into her room. He paused, scanning the disarrayed room, Avery’s etherelle on the floor, and the lyric papers that had spilled off the bed and were now littering the ground. Luke raised an eyebrow at her.
“What were you just doing?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Autumn said, though her quick, shallow breathing gave her away.
“Your face is all red and you’re breathing hard…”
She glanced at the reflection in her full-length mirror and saw her flushed cheeks and tangled hair.
“I was, uh, jumping on the bed,” she said, forcing an embarrassed laugh.
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I was bored.”
Luke scanned her messy floor, looking confused. “Why is Avery’s guitar here?”
“He let me borrow it. I was writing a song.”
“You can’t play guitar.”
“It’s an etherelle.”
“You can’t play that either.”
&nbs
p; “I’m learning.” She wished he would stop asking questions. “So, what’s up? Did you need something?”
“I was going to tell you that Crystal and I are going to City Circle to eat and was going to see if you wanted to come.”
“Oh, yeah, sure. I’ll meet y’all downstairs in ten minutes,” she said.
“Okay, well, I’m going to go ask Avery if he wants to come,” he said, still looking suspicious.
“Sounds good,” she said, smiling.
Autumn listened as Luke left her branch, closing the door behind him.
“You have to go up to your branch!” she said as Avery crawled out from under his hiding spot.
“Jumping on the bed?” Avery said with a sly grin.
“It was the first thing that came to my mind. Now go. Hurry!”
Avery laughed and kissed her once again before he bounded onto her balcony, springing up to his own. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. That was close. Way too close.
An Underground Christmas
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The next week was blissfully lazy. The Warriors who were still in town met up at Sugar Brown’s or Cup O’ Co every day and just hung out, talking about nothing in particular. They hadn’t had this long of a break from training since they’d become Initiates and were taking full advantage of their free time.
On Monday, Crystal and her mom traveled up to the Outside for a few days to study Outsider clothing styles. Autumn gave Crystal a large portion of her remaining Outsider money for her to buy some things. She refused at first, but Autumn shoved it in her hand until she reluctantly accepted. Autumn also asked her to stop by Mrs. King’s house to retrieve something for Olympus for Christmas.
On the day before Christmas Eve, it snowed a couple feet and the seven Initiates still remaining in Arbor Falls decided to go sledding, or what elves called “leafing.” They picked the oversized leaves off of an elephant ear plant and rode them down the steep hills that surrounded the city.
“Aren’t these tropical plants?” Autumn asked.
“In the Outside, maybe,” Cera said.
“All plants are able to grow anywhere here,” Jastin clarified.
They spent the day leafing and rolling snowballs down the hills. Kyndel even managed to go the whole day without insulting Autumn, a real Christmas miracle.
Olympus had arranged to spend Christmas Eve with Autumn and Luke. They met him in his dining quarters for dinner, which was a spread unlike any she’d ever seen. Every dish imaginable was on the table before them. He’d even asked the chefs to prepare Outsider recipes from Texas like sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, cornbread stuffing, and green bean casserole. The three of them talked and laughed as they ate their way through the feast.
“So, my young Warriors,” Olympus said, “how is training coming?”
“Really well,” Autumn said.
“Yeah, we’re getting pretty strong,” Luke boasted, showing off his growing biceps.
Olympus chuckled. “Are you prepared for the Warrior Trial in January?”
They frowned. “I think so,” Autumn said, unsure.
“We’ll be okay,” Luke assured her.
“I’m sure you will.” Olympus smiled. “I always thought your father would have made an exceptional Warrior.”
“Was the Test not during his senior year?” Luke asked.
“No, it was, actually. He simply thought he was not meant to be a Warrior—or king for that matter. He wanted to explore the Outside, where he went to college and met your mother,” Olympus said, eyes sparkling.
“Why didn’t they ever tell us about The Underground?” Autumn asked. She had wanted to ask Olympus this question for a long time now.
“I believe your father knew how dangerous this world can be for a royal elf. He wanted to protect you.”
“By lying to us?” Luke said.
“By…omitting information,” Olympus said.
“Same thing,” Luke muttered.
“Luke, I know you are angry with your father for hiding your heritage from you, but everything he did was because he loved you.”
“Yeah, look what happened to him and mom,” Autumn said. “He knew Vyra would try to come after us if we ever came here.”
“She came after us anyway!” Luke exclaimed. “And now they’re dead. At least here, they would’ve had protection. Warriors and Powers.”
“Luke,” Olympus said, “you need to let go of your anger. It is only hurting you.”
“You sound like Autumn,” Luke grumbled.
Olympus laughed at this. “Autumn is right.”
Luke rolled his eyes. That wasn’t going to cheer him up.
“How about I give you your gifts now,” Olympus suggested.
Luke perked up at this. “Gifts?”
“It is Christmas, after all.”
He stood and beckoned for them to follow him to his private library. He moved to the balcony doors at the rear of the grand library and pulled them open. Standing there, regally still, were two pegasus ponies. One a brilliant white and the other a sleek ebony. Oversized feathered wings protruded from their backs. Autumn was unable to repress her squeal of excitement.
“Are they ours?” she asked.
Olympus nodded, smiling widely.
She rushed over to the white pegasus and ran her hand across its smooth body. Luke was beside her, scratching the black one behind its ear.
“What are they?” Luke asked Olympus. “I mean boys or girls?”
“The black pegasus is male, and the white, female.”
“Excellent.” Luke grinned, apparently forgetting his anger about their father.
Autumn’s pegasus rubbed fondly against her leg and Luke’s nipped playfully at his fingers. “Whose is whose?” she asked.
“It would appear they’ve already chosen their owners,” Olympus said. “What will you be calling them?”
“Thunder,” Luke said. “You know, cause of my Power, and he’s all dark like thunder.”
Autumn laughed. “Thunder doesn’t look like anything, it’s a sound.”
“Yes, but the storm clouds are dark,” Luke retorted. “What’re you naming yours then?”
Autumn frowned, thinking and then remembered flying with Avery as the sunrise broke over the horizon. “Sundance,” she said decidedly. Luke snorted. “What’s wrong with Sundance?”
“Nothing,” he said innocently.
Autumn glared at him and said, “At least I didn’t name her Lightning or something.”
“You’re just jealous that your pegasus doesn’t have an awesome, intimidating name.”
“I find both of them quite fitting,” Olympus stepped in and said.
“Oh! I forgot to give you your present,” Autumn said.
Olympus smiled. “Surely your presence is present enough.”
“It’s nothing big,” she replied, leaving the room and retrieving Olympus’s gift from the dining room. She hurried back into the library and handed him the package.
“It’s from Luke too,” Autumn said.
Olympus looked as if he was about to well up, but simply cleared his throat roughly and slowly unwrapped the package to reveal a leather bound photo album. He opened it gingerly and flipped through the pages. It was a photo album Autumn had of them from when they were kids all the way up to a few years prior.
“You cannot know how special this is to me,” Olympus said, smiling. He wrapped them into a tight hug. She pulled back, wiping her eyes quickly. Luke even looked like he was trying to hold himself together. “Thank you,” Olympus said gruffly.
“Thanks for our gifts too,” Autumn said.
“Yeah, they’re amazing,” Luke agreed.
“Speaking of your gifts, I think it is time that they got back to their stables. They are too small to ride, but they will meet you there if you call them.”
Autumn and Luke thanked Olympus again, hugging him once more. They hurried out of the castle and around to the stables. They
both called out their names and were pleasantly surprised with how quickly the little pegasi arrived at the stables.
“They seem to fly pretty well,” Luke said, ruffling Thunder’s mane. “Wonder when we’ll be able to ride them.”
“I’ll ask Avery,” Autumn said.
“Why him?” Luke said.
“He has a pegasus too. Right there,” Autumn said, pointing to Knight’s stall.
“How did you know that?” Luke asked.
“He told me.”
“How did you know that one was his?”
Autumn frowned. She supposed she wouldn’t know that if he’d simply told her. “He told me he had a gray pegasus.”
“That one is gray too,” he pointed at another pegasus a few stalls away from Knight.
“Well that one is a light gray, Avery told me that Knight is dark gray. Let’s put them up now, they look hungry.” She couldn’t say she cared for how many questions Luke had been asking about her and Avery lately.
They moved Thunder and Sundance into the same stall since they were so small that they would still have plenty of room. They made sure they had enough hay and promised to come visit them tomorrow. Then the winged ponies curled up next to each other and fell instantly asleep.
After they returned to the castle and Autumn had left Luke at his branch, she walked into her own with a wistful smile on her face. She hadn’t had such a happy Christmas in a long time. As she entered her room she saw Avery’s etherelle propped up against the wall. He had yet to retrieve it since their close call with Luke. She picked it up, leaving her branch and climbing the short way up to Avery’s. She was sure he and his mother wouldn’t mind if she just dropped it off really quickly and then she would have the chance to tell Avery about Sundance.
Autumn knocked a few times on the front door and waited. She was about to leave when she heard yelling coming from inside. Leaning a little closer to the door, she listened intently. Suddenly, a loud crash met her ears and Autumn hastily opened the door.
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