5. ELOWAN
“That’s your third cup this morning, Ellie,” Regin said lowly into Elowan’s ear, eyeing the cup she held firmly in her hands.
They sat at the family dinner table together with Alfre and Alston – Regin’s mother and father. A sense of sadness hung in the air as they waited patiently for Zala to return from Fyllera’s town centre.
The room that had always emanated warmth felt cold as of late.
Ellie was tired.
All of them were.
It had been weeks since Cam had passed. His body burned upon the funeral pyre they had built in the field by Regin’s family home. Weeks had slipped through her fingers. Weeks where the pain and hollowness in Ellie’s heart had not abated. The only semblance of solace she could find was in the bottom of a bottle or cup of hard liquor. It was only in a state of numbness she could function without wanting to the tear the world apart.
“And?” Ellie didn’t care. So what if it was her third or fourth cup of the day and it hadn’t hit noon yet?
Ellie could feel the heat of Cam’s short spear burning against her hip. A reminder for her to carry. A reminder that you couldn’t trust anyone. A reminder that you could never let your guard down, because if you did, someone dear to you would twist a knife into your back as if the dirt they walked upon was more valuable.
Ellie could feel the pressure of Alfre and Alston’s eyes on her now, like two hot blades pressed precariously upon her neck. She didn’t mind the bite.
“Nothing. I just want to let you know I—” Regin was cut off.
Zala the wraith, hurriedly opened and closed the door behind her, pulling her dark black hood off her head. Silently, she looked to everyone in the room, her head dipped in sorrow.
Alfre was the first to get up. Her chair screeched as she did. “It’s true then…”
Everyone paused.
“It’s true,” the wraith confirmed.
Everyone except Ellie shot to their feet, chairs screeching.
Ellie sat still, staring into the cup that had just a sip of rum left.
“So Queen Calliea has secured Faery’s strongest warrior by her side?” Regin wrung his hands through his long blond hair.
“We’ve still got hope,” Zala said firmly.
“We do.” Alfre stood tall, with a hand on Alston’s shoulder. Regin’s father nodded in support of his wife, his purple eyes determined.
“The Lord of Fyllera will stand with us. Summeira has not yet stated their allegiance, but I imagine they are partial to Kaine with him being Summeiran. Soxis is our next best shot,” the wraith said plainly.
After Cam’s untimely death, Kaine disappeared. Convenient.
Word had quickly spread across the courts of Faery. The blood-red queen had given life to her namesake and confessed to the mass murder of the promised children. A bartering tool, she had so regrettably explained. A ”necessary sacrifice for the greater good” she said without so much a bat of an eyelash. She didn’t even bother allowing the parents of the children lost a moment to mourn. Queen Calliea’s confirmed union with Terr was the heavy axe upon all of Faery’s neck. ”To save Faery from the blight that has crept into the edges of Fyllera and Summeira,” she announced. The blight. She was blight.
The power-hungry rich flew to swear allegiance to Queen Calliea like a moth to a flame. The parents who had lost their children over years and decades however, mourned. And from the ashes of their anger rose a rebellion. One not led by anyone but by the common goal of peace and righting what had been wronged.
“The Lady of Wrenntia and her people have sought refuge in Soxis too. It would increase our chances of doubling our allies,” Alfre added.
Alston signed to his son and Ellie, his hands moving swiftly.
“I think that’s the best way, Father. Zala, Elowan and I will make for Soxis, secure our allies there while you and Mother make your way to our potential allies in Windspire Cay. We’ll cover as much ground as possible,” Regin nodded confidently, before looking to Zala who responded with a curt nod – agreeing to the plan they’d just hatched.
Dark times were brewing. The air was thick with the threat of war, like the moments before a catastrophic storm. This was the start of a war to end the twenty-year blood reign and now, it was just a matter of moving their chess pieces. The queen had just secured her strongest knight while the rebellion made way with the pawns they had available to them. It wasn’t a strong start for the rebellion, no, but they would not let a tyrant reign supreme. They would not let Queen Calliea’s chokehold on Faery remain any longer. They’d break free of the chains and the conqueror who crossed the line.
Alston, Alfre and Zala now looked to Ellie who had finally lifted her sorrowful gaze from her only vice. “I’ll go pack,” Elowan rose quickly from her seat without another word. The alcohol had settled itself in her legs and she wobbled slightly.
Righting herself, she walked out the back door of the Fylleran cottage that once felt so full. She could feel the pitiful gaze of Regin, her soulmate, and the worried glances her friends and family no doubt shared among each other.
Elowan was sick of playing politics but if this was their shot against Queen Calliea and Kaine, she’d take it. What else was there to lose?