Chapter 17 A Golden Cage #2
Elden’s Ice Cream Shoppe sat near the docks a few shops down from the playground on the beach.
During the summer, it was swimming with families—children begging their mothers for an ice cream cone, fathers digging through their pockets for extra change.
During autumn, on the other hand, it was almost deserted.
Anyone walking through Sigurvik was bundled up in coats and gloves to protect from the harsh wind coming in off the bay, and no one so much as glanced at the little ice cream shop.
Killian swung the door open, and the bell at the top of the frame jingled.
“Well, good afternoon, youngins,” Mr. Elden said from behind the counter. “A bit Baltic out for ice cream, isn’t it?”
“We’re taking a study break.” Ember smiled as she squeezed Theo’s hand. “Any specials today?”
Mr. Elden waggled his brow, conjuring three ice cream cones in his hand.
“Chocolate is always a fan favorite with the weans,” he replied, and as he did, chocolate ice cream floated out of the container in front of him, swirling through the air.
“Minotaur tracks is another popular one, and of course, Pint of Many Flavors.” Ice cream swirled around in front of him, bending back and forth in the air, just barely missing each other, and Theo’s eyes lit up in amusement.
Ember cocked her brow. “Pint of Many Flavors?” she repeated. “What exactly are the many flavors?”
Mr. Elden grinned as he flicked his wrist, making the condiments behind him come to life and dance through the air as well.
“Oh, many things,” he replied, “chocolate chips, marshmallows, other odds and ends that the Brownies find delightful.” He leaned forward, like he was sharing a great secret and whispered, “And the Neverberry, of course.”
Ember furrowed her brow. “Neverberry? What's a Neverberry?”
“The sweetest tasting fruit you’ll ever have,” Mr. Elden replied.
“Some say our ancestors brought them over when they landed on the island, others say the Elves have grown them for centuries. But some say they come from somewhere else entirely—another world completely unlike our own, amongst the stars.”
“We’ll take three.” Killian grinned, dropping a handful of coins on the counter. Three cones floated through the air, ice cream landing in each of them before Killian grabbed them, handing them to Ember and Theo.
“Thank you,” Theo signed with a bright smile.
Mr. Elden nodded and signed back, “You’re welcome.”
The trio made their way out of the shop and into the biting November wind, Theo licking his ice cream like it might suddenly disappear.
Ember led them to the middle of town, and they sat on the edge of the large fountain watching the people mill about as they did their afternoon shopping.
Theo watched the kids run around town, yelling and playing games, and Ember couldn’t help but notice the hint of sadness in his eyes.
“Want to go join them?” she signed after taking her last bite of ice cream.
Theo shook his head, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the cobblestone.
“It’s such a beautiful day for ice cream,” a voice rang out from across the cobblestone, and Ember found herself smiling as the platinum haired girl walked toward them.
“Hello, Odette,” she said, as the girl perched on the fountain beside her. “What are you doing out and about today?” It was so cold that Ember couldn’t imagine why anyone else would want to be outside. But then again, this was Odette.
“I had a lovely conversation with the dryads in the park this morning,” she mused. “They have some wonderful ideas for the Summer Solstice celebration next year.”
Ember grinned as she shook her head. Killian took Theo across the street to hunt for seashells on the beach, and Ember found herself wanting to know more about the odd girl sitting next to her.
“Do you have any plans with friends this weekend?” Ember asked, as she took a bite of her ice cream. After she asked, she realized she never really saw the girl hang out with anyone, and since last spring, Odette had been spending more and more time with her during school hours.
Odette shrugged as she shook her head. “I don’t have many friends,” she replied. It didn’t seem to bother her, but Ember’s heart sank.
Ember bit her lip. Perhaps Odette needed a friend just as much as she did.
It scared her to make more friends after how terribly Rowan betrayed her, but maybe it was worth it to try again.
Not to replace her friendship with Rowan, but to find a way to open her heart to new friendships.
New people that would carve a spot in her life simply because they wanted to, not because they wanted something from her.
“You do now.” Ember smiled, and she truly meant it.
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, watching the boys across the street dig through the sand and run from the seagulls diving in the air. Ember twiddled her thumb as she looked at Odette.
“Can I ask why you spend so much time in the Dark Forest?” It was something she had wondered since last year, since the first time they had spoken about it.
Ember had dreaded every single time she had to walk into those dark woods, but Odette seemed unfazed by it—maybe even enjoyed it—and Ember couldn’t understand why.
Odette hummed to herself as she closed her eyes, smiling toward the sky. “Did you know that the Dark Forest isn’t its name?”
Ember scrunched her nose. “I’ve never heard it called anything different.” Even the professors all called it that, surely they would know if it had a different name.
Odette nodded. “The Vala gave it their own name when they landed on the island, as they did with everything they touched, claiming it as their own. But this island had a pulse long before our ancestors arrived—long before our ancestors received their magic and decided they deserved more.” She spoke with a conviction that made Ember’s blood run cold.
She swallowed dryly as she tried to nod. “Do you know its name?”
Odette nodded. “Danann Forest.”
Ember furrowed her brow—why did that sound so familiar?
“It is said they arrive on a cloud of mist. The Tuatha Dé Danann are where every being on this island came from,” she continued, “either descended from or made entirely. The Tuatha Dé were the beginning of it all. Legends say that the High Danann kings and queens were descended from Anu—the Mother Goddess.”
Ember mulled over the words, until it all fell into place.
Tuatha Dé.
Tribe of Gods.
Ember sucked in a breath.
“You mean there are more?” she whispered, as if the trees might report back to their creator.
Odette simply shrugged. “More? Perhaps,” she replied, “or perhaps they’re one in the same. Perhaps the gods that bestowed us our magic are the same ones who bestowed it upon the island—the Fae, Merrow, and dryads. Perhaps we all aren’t so different after all.”
Ember felt a cold chill run down her spine, but it had nothing to do with the wind whipping through Sigurvik that afternoon.
“I feel him there the most,” Odette almost whispered, her voice catching as she spoke.
“My Da’. In the trees and the wind and the way the moonlight filters through the canopy if you know where to look.
Sometimes I go to talk to him or just to feel him near me.
I didn’t know him well, not for long. The uprising took him before I was even old enough to learn to read, but sometimes I like to tell him about myself while I’m out there.
I like to think he would be proud of me… of everything I’ve overcome.”
Ember didn’t even realize she had begun crying until the tears were sliding down her cheeks. Maybe they were more alike than she ever could’ve imagined. “I think he would be too,” she replied quietly.
Ember quickly brushed the tears away as Killian and Theo ran up to them, both covered in sand and laughing so hard their cheeks were red.
“Ready to go, Starshine?” Killian asked, as he brushed the sand off his trousers.
Ember smiled as she nodded. “Can we run into the Bookwyrm first? I need to see if Nessa has that copy of…” But Ember realized Killian wasn’t listening anymore.
“Well, what do we have here,” he said, as he narrowed his eyes across the street.
“Is that the Warden from Heksheim?” Ember asked, as she squinted toward the end of the street where Killian stared. Blond hair flashed in the sun, and Ember could just make out his gold-plated leather bracelet wrapped tightly around his wrist.
“Aye.” Killian nodded; his usual joking manner replaced with a seriousness that gave her chills. “What do you suppose he’s up to?”
Ember shrugged as she scrunched her brow. “Completing his weekend errands perhaps?”
The Warden looked over his shoulder several times and quietly slipped away behind a building, hiding him from sight.
Killian cocked his brow, stuffing a hand in his trouser pocket. “I don’t know, Starshine,” he replied. “Shall we find out?”
Theo looked up at Ember with a grin. “Follow,” he signed, nodding in the direction the Warden had snuck away to. Both boys looked at her with pleading eyes, and she couldn’t fight the grin that was threatening to take over.
“Oh, alright,” she replied, as she rolled her eyes. Theo grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, and the four of them made their way down the street, toward the building he had slipped behind.
“We will see what he’s doing and then we’re leaving,” Ember whispered, as she pressed herself up against the brick wall. “I don’t have any desire to get roped into whatever he’s up to.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Starshine,” Killian whispered, his breath hot against the back of her neck. “I’ll protect you.”
Ember felt her cheeks burn as she swallowed dryly, inching closer to the edge of the building. She could hear two voices mumbling back and forth to each other but still couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“He’s talking to someone,” Ember whispered. “What’s he up to?”
The voice grew louder as they reached the end of the building, and Ember could see the two men standing just a few feet away from them now. Theo’s grip on her hand tightened as they stopped, and she put a finger to her lips.
“Either, you have something, or you don’t,” a gruff voice said, coming from the man standing opposite the Warden. “He won’t wait much longer, Collum.”
“Aye, I know,” the Warden—Collum—replied. “I’ll have it soon. I just need a few more days.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Killian whispered. “Uncle Malcom is having shady business meetings in dark alleys now it seems.”
“That’s your uncle?” Ember asked, wide-eyed.
“Aye,” Killian nodded, “and if Collum has anything to do with my kin, he can’t have good intentions.”
“He’s red,” Odette whispered.
“Red?” Killian scrunched his brow as he stared at the girl. Odette nodded.
“Collum. His aura.”
“And my uncle?” he asked almost sarcastically.
“Black.” She whispered in reply, and Ember felt her blood run cold.
“You will bring her to him immediately,” Malcom replied. “No more excuses.”
“Of course,” Collum nodded. “I just need a few more days.”
Theo shifted his weight from one foot to another and leaned too hard on one of the loose bricks in the walls.
The scrape, however brief, ricocheted between the buildings and through the alley, like thunder echoing through a cavern.
Ember, Killian, and Odette winced simultaneously, and Theo gave them a confused look until it dawned on him.
“Loud?” he signed, guilt almost audible in the way his fingers trembled.
“A little,” Ember replied, trying not to make him feel any worse than he seemed to.
“Who’s there?” Malcom asked, peering through the darkness in their direction.
Ember’s heart thumped in her throat as she grabbed Theo’s hand and felt Killian’s hand wrap around her other.
“We need to go now,” he whispered and tugged her down the back of the alley, Odette following close behind.
Killian slowed down as they reached the busy street once again, but Ember could still feel her stomach coiling into tight knots. Killian was right—whatever Collum was up to, it couldn’t be anything good, not if Malcom Ellingboe was involved.
“Becareful,” Odette said quietly, and then disappeared down the street.
Theo’s face brightened to a smile again as they made their way toward the terminal.
Ember could feel the familiar tug in her sternum that stretched toward Killian and Fen, even though Fen wasn’t there.
She was beginning to find her rhythm in this new life, a comfort she wasn’t sure would ever replace her time at the Kitts’.
She didn’t need to tangle herself in yet another mystery that could upend everything.
She didn’t need to put these people that she loved so deeply in danger again.
Right?