by E. L. Todd
“I didn’t. A poisoned arrow. His death was immediate.”
Everyone at the table was silent, including the queen.
Callon shifted his body closer to her, his hands coming together. “Did you make this poison? A witch?”
“No. I harvested it from those big-ass poisonous frogs…” She gestured with her arms. “You know, the ones that jump super high and come after you with a vengeance?”
“Yes.” Callon’s voice dripped with disappointment. “I know exactly of whom you speak.”
You mean of what you speak?
He turned back to the queen.
She looked even more pissed off.
“What?” Cora asked. “I’m not lying. I can prove it to you—”
“And you better not.” She shook her head slightly, her jaw tense. She eventually pulled her gaze away entirely and looked over the edge of the platform, seeing the trees and forest beyond.
Cora turned back to Callon, her eyebrows arched. “What the hell is going on right now?”
Queen Delwyn flicked her wrist at Callon without looking at him. “We’re finished here.”
Callon immediately rose to his feet and gave her a bow. “Your Majesty.”
The queen ignored him.
Cora got to her feet because she’d rather follow him than stick around here. Wasn’t exactly a spa treatment.
They took the long stairs that blended into the trunk of the tree and reached the floor of the forest near the structure where she’d first set eyes on the queen. Callon walked forward, his cape billowing behind him slightly, his powerful arms by his sides.
She caught up to him. “What’s happening?”
His eyes ahead, he continued through the clearing, passing the wooden pots of flowers, the small structures on the ground that resembled restaurants and shops. Other elves appeared, looking right at Cora. “I’m escorting you to your quarters.”
“So, I can stay?”
“Yes.”
Cora walked beside him, feeling more attention shift in her direction. “The venom from the frogs will kill the Shamans. I’m absolutely certain. That information I provided was accurate.”
With his head held high, he carried himself like he had a weight of respect to carry on his shoulders. “I’m sure it was. But it’s of no use to us.”
“Why? The frogs are far away from here, but I can take a horse—”
“Let’s not speak of such things.”
She furrowed her eyebrows, understanding the situation less and less. “Okay…you’re gonna have to spell this out for me because I don’t have a clue what’s going on right now.”
He halted in his tracks and regarded her head on. “You’ve asked for asylum in our lands. You’ve asked to be one of us. If that was genuine, then you need to learn to be us. Don’t expect us to adapt to you. You must adapt to us.”
“How do you expect me to do that without asking questions?”
He stared at her, unimpressed.
She stared back and waited.
“Galeco Frogs. That’s their proper name.”
“So, you’ve seen them?”
“There’s a clan that lives in our forest.”
“A clan?” she asked in surprise. “What are they? Orcs?”
“Yes. Clan.”
“Then that’s perfect. Let’s just go hunt them—”
“Don’t say that again.” The softness that had been in his features moments ago disappeared, replaced by his sheathed ferocity. “We do not hunt. It’s barbaric.”
“You don’t hunt anything?”
His cold expression was answer enough.
“Then what do you eat?”
“The forest supplies more than what we need. Berries. Nuts. Edible flowers.”
She looked him up and down, knowing he was muscular and ripped underneath the armor. “You look like that eating nuts and flowers?”
His eyebrows furrowed, unamused. “Humans are obsessed with slaughter. They take more than what they need because if they don’t discard waste afterward, then it wasn’t enough in the first place. You cut down trees instead of working around them. Their souls are planted to the earth, but you’re too disconnected from the world to feel it. You build your towers of stone to look down below instead of climbing to the tops of the mountains for a better view. You spend your time conquering instead of living. Humans have been a deadly plague to this earth—and you’re a perfect specimen of that.”
She nearly turned her head because it felt like his palm slapped her in the face. “I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. In my limited experience, I’ve seen everything you’ve described. But not every human is that way. And I’m certainly not. Yes, I hunt, because that’s how I survive. And out there, it’s all about survival. We don’t have beautiful forests—”
“Because you cut them down. All of them.”
“I get that, but that wasn’t me.”
“But it was your kind.”
“So, I’m guilty for something that happened hundreds of years before my time?” she asked incredulously. “Look, I understand why you guys don’t like humans. I’m not a fan of them either. But you assume that all of them are uncivilized, when it was just a few cruel men who made things this way. The people in my village revered dragons. We only took what we needed. We looked out for one another. I thought some of the practices were ridiculous, like the marriage lottery and all that crap, but they’re good people. I’m good people.”
His eyes flicked back and forth as he looked into her gaze. “We can’t harvest the venom because that’s against our laws. We do not use an animal for personal gain without their consent. And we certainly do not kill to take what we need.”
“Their consent?” she asked in bewilderment. “You can talk to animals?”
“We can feel with animals.”
A quizzical expression appeared on her face.
“You claimed to feel the heart of the forest when you came here. That’s because the heart of this forest is the collection of every soul that lives here. The woodland creatures, the elves, the trees—all synthesized into one sensation. But we can focus our minds on a single individual, to feel their soul on an intimate level, and to know someone’s soul is to know their wants and desires.”
“Wow, that’s…unbelievable.”
His hostility waned slightly, the tension leaving his face.
“That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He continued his walk.
She came back to his side. “Can you do that with other elves?”
“No. I can feel their presence in a room, but that’s it.”
“Why?”
“Elves are intellectually superior. It would take someone very old and skilled to be able to do that. But it’s not necessary because elves will speak plainly. Men dabble in meaningless diplomacy, whereas elves get straight to the point.”
“That’s ironic since you have all the time in the world.”
“It’s the opposite reason. When you’ve lived for so long, your impatience wanes.”
“So, you guys are basically a bunch of old, grumpy people.”
He looked at her, his eyebrows raised.
“Sorry, that came out harsher than I meant.”
He looked forward again, a slight smile on his lips. “Guess you’re an elf after all.”
Cora looked up at the steps that wrapped around the base of the tree and led to the dwelling at the top. “This is where I’ll be staying?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a tree house.”
“Yes.” He stepped on the vine stairway, maneuvering with grace around the trunk without even looking at where his feet landed.
She followed him, toppling over several times until she decided just to crawl instead. When she reached the front door, Callon stared at her, unamused. “It was my first try. Don’t judge me.” She got to her feet and crossed the threshold, relieved to be on solid ground.
With his arms behind his b
ack, he stood there and waited for her to examine the room.
She saw a small bed up against the wall underneath the window. There was a dining table that could accommodate four people, a small kitchen, and a bathroom with a washtub. The windows weren’t made of glass like in the rest of Eden Star. Vines of flowers rose from their pots and wrapped around the windows, across the wall, and to the other window. As a result, bees buzzed around the flowers and little birds sat on branches. Nature and domestication combined into a single unit.
Callon waited for a response. “If there’s nothing you need, I shall leave you to rest.”
If she’d sat around the campfire in her village and heard stories of the elves and their tree houses, she would have dreamed of it every night when she went to sleep. It was hard to believe, hard to appreciate, hard to understand. “It’s…amazing.” The structure was small, but it had everything she needed for a single person. “I just hope you don’t have bats or spiders…”
“We do. But they’ve agreed not to approach our homes.”
Thank god.
He gave a subtle nod before he departed.
“Whoa, wait.” She turned back to him. “Now what?”
He turned back around, his arms behind his back even though he stopped in the springy vine stairway. “You wanted to live here. So live.”
Five
Alfreda
Cora’s belongings had been placed in her closet. Her bow and quiver, her dagger, everything except her sword.
She had to get it back.
Her evening in the tree house was well spent because she hadn’t slept like that in a very long time. When Flare wrapped his presence around her mind and protected her from the nightmares, it kept them at bay. But the energy here was totally different—like she didn’t have nightmares to begin with.
The thought of Flare and Rush gave her a hint of sadness.
She missed them, even though it’d only been a day since they parted.
Hope they’re okay.
The sunshine came through the windows, waking her up at morning’s first light. With every passing hour, the sun rose higher and higher, and the music of the birds mirrored that, growing louder and louder.
Her kitchen had bowls of fruits, nuts, flowers, fresh vegetables, and water. She ate a couple things then got ready after a wash in the tub. The grime and dirt were washed from her body, and she immediately felt better once she was clean. She pulled an outfit from her closet, skintight dark blue pants and a white blouse. A bowl of flowers sat on the vanity in front of the mirror, so she inserted them into her braid.
She practiced her balance on the way down to the ground, but she lost her footing a few times and nearly toppled over the edge. She had to crawl the rest of the way. “Too early in the morning for this…”
When she made it to the bottom, somebody was there.
A woman.
In a pink gown with sleeves and sandals, her long straight hair over one shoulder, the woman had eyes that were light like the queen’s. Her hair was strawberry-blond, and her fair skin had a blush to her cheeks. Intelligent eyes watched Cora approach.
She flashed a smile. “Hi, I’m Cora.” She extended her palm for a handshake. “Oh shit, wait.” She pulled her hand back and gave a bow instead. “Sorry…I’m new to this.” When she righted herself, the woman had the same stoic expression.
“Greetings between elves are conducted with a bow.”
“I know, which is why I apologized.”
Her green eyes weren’t nearly as callous as the queen’s, but she was definitely unkind.
This should be fun.
After a long bout of silence, the woman brought her hands together in front of her stomach. “I’m Alfreda. I’ve been asked to give you a tour of Eden Star. I will show you the library, the Great Hall, the meditation fields, et cetera.”
“Sounds good.”
She turned around and walked away from the base of the tree.
Cora quickened her steps and caught up to her. “I can’t believe—”
Alfreda sped up, taking the lead once more.
This time, Cora remained behind her. We aren’t friends. Got it.
It actually made her miss Callon. He was brusque like the others, but he was at least responsive. “Your forest is beautiful.”
“It’s not my forest. It’s everyone’s forest.” Her pink dress dragged on the ground behind her, combing over the short grass and the flowers.
Clearly not mine. “What’s first on the tour?”
“The market.” She kept her hands together at her stomach, bracelets made of beads and strings around her wrists. With the posture of a statue, she glided forward, not making a sound.
They walked through the trees and saw tree houses up ahead. Elves were watering pots on their balconies and feeding the birds. They halted what they were doing to look at Cora, but their stares only lasted a moment before they returned to their tasks.
Cora had never felt more unwelcome.
They entered the market, wooden tables showcasing different fruits, clothing, flower arrangements, and jewelry. There were cafes, people sitting together and enjoying cups of tea and coffee.
Elves engaged in conversation—but words were nearly silent.
It was so quiet. Everyone spoke in hushed voices, as if they were creeping through the darkness, wanting to remain unseen. It allowed the birds to fill the entire glade with their song, like the forest was uninhabited. “It’s really quiet.”
“Elves have remarkable hearing. We don’t need to speak loudly.”
“I’ll say.”
“And we try to interrupt the forest as little as possible.”
Most of the women were in gowns, flowers in their hair. The men were in trousers like she was, wearing loose shirts on top. Almost everyone was barefoot. Every elf there was fit and strong, the men having muscles and the women also. “How do you buy things?”
“Buy?” Alfreda stopped and looked over her shoulder, her eyebrows furrowed. “We don’t buy things. That implies that the person you’re buying it from owned it before you did.”
Was every question she asked really that stupid? She didn’t think so. “So…then you just take it?”
She turned fully around and regarded Cora, visibly annoyed. “We share.” She gestured to the fruit stand. “Helda goes into the forest, harvests the daily fruits she finds, and brings them back here for everyone to enjoy.” She moved to the flower stand, where a man worked behind the table. “Aerin does the same, bringing flowers to his brethren. Take what you need, but never more than that.” She continued forward again. “I’m sure it’s a practice that’s impossible for you to understand.”
Cora rolled her eyes as she followed behind her. “I’m a lovely person, you know. If you gave me a chance, you’d see that.”
“Every human I’ve ever met has been anything but lovely…”
“Well, I’m only half human.”
“And half as bad is still not lovely enough.”
With Cora’s tough skin as thick as an orc’s, it was nearly impossible to offend her, but the chinks started to form in her armor.
She was led past the queen’s sector, her private hall at the base of the tree that contained her meeting room and, Cora assumed, her own tree house at the very top so she could see everything down below.
A trail was formed by two lines of hedges and trees on either side, leading to another glade. Throughout the forest, tree houses were everywhere, as far as she could see in any direction. “How many elves live in this forest?”
“Thousands.”
“And everyone has their own tree house?”
“With the exception of spouses and families.”
She’d only seen adults—never children. “Are there a lot of children in the forest?”
“No. Children are rare.”
“Why?”
“The forest has a finite number of resources, and we’re nearly immortal. If we procreate, those resources will dimini
sh, it’ll stress the forest, and everything we cherish will be ruined. Children are seldom born, and usually only to the royal clans.”
“There are clans here?”
“We’re all one people, but yes.” There was another glade, another market, and more trees and elves. But she moved past that, walking in the forest for a long time, leaving behind civilization.
Cora followed, unsure where they were going.
Rocks lined either side of the pathway, and the trees were so thick and tall that she and Alfreda were cast in complete shade. The sound of water was somewhere in the distance, trickling peacefully. Moss grew on some of the trunks. The sounds of the birds were diminished, swallowed by the bark on all the trees.
Her anger dissipated far quicker here than outside in the forest. Every time she was provoked, it was smoothed over like a massage over tired muscles. It was difficult to remain upset. Best anger management ever.
They left the trees and entered a large clearing.
Away from all the trees sat a large complex, the size of a castle.
Cora blinked in disbelief.
“The Great Hall.” Alfreda moved across the clearing, her blond hair barely shifting because her posture was so steady.
“It’s…big.”
“It’s enough to house us all in the storms.”
“Why is it so far away from everything else?”
“The only area with enough land between the trees.”
“But you must have chopped down some trees to build this…”
Alfreda turned back around before she approached the large double doors, designs carved in the spectrum of different wood types. There were spirals, flowers, vines. Squirrels, birds, fruits and berries. “We harvest fallen trees from the forest. We preserved them before we erected the Great Hall.” She moved to the doors and gestured with her fingertips, pointing at the different kinds of wood. “Birch. Pine. Maple. They’re all here—gifts from the forest.”
“Then it must have taken a very long time to find enough natural wood…”
“Yes.” With her hands clasped together, Alfreda stared at Cora with the same subtle hostility. “But a very long time for you is not a very long time for elves.” She opened the double doors and gestured for Cora to enter.