Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Find her family. It won’t take long to draw the witch out if she sees the smoke.
We strode down the main road of Ayla, where hundreds of elves had gathered in the frenzy of celebration.
While all of them dressed in bright colors, with ribbons and flowers in their hair, Isla stood out in her bright pink top and bottoms that glittered with white jewels and silver thread, a stark contrast to the stunning bronze of her skin.
Her black hair was curly and loose, framing her face.
Sea glass and gems were hung in woven vines draped from the crossing bridges above the city. The streets were lined with vendors, and bouncy music rose in the air, floating in from various alcoves along the side streets.
We ducked into a large wagon where a petite elf scanned my long, olive arms and torso. Isla tossed her a coin, and she began her work.
Golden swirls of various designs covered my bare skin by the time we left, each curve reflecting the sun’s bright mid-morning light.
The twisting silver ferns on Isla’s dark skin shimmered as she hooked her arm in mine, and we joined the celebration, falling in line with others making the pilgrimage to the Eye of the Wood.
Isla scooted into a tavern, and Tiberius sauntered up behind me as I waited outside. The crowd split for him, a hush running through it. I gave his velvety coat a pat on the shoulder, hot from the sun.
I reveled in the glee and activity of the festival.
The brightness of dawn and ensuing festivities could almost make me forget about the ashen.
About the dark king and the tribute and the civil war happening in my own home.
Even Tiberius looked on curiously. Performers of all kinds lined the roads from musicians to theater troupes, to elves that swung on vines and branches, flipping across the road, wearing little more than undergarments.
I blinked as Vulcan stalked up to us.
“Surprised to see me?” he grumbled, giving a nod of respect to Ti. He was dressed in his usual leathers, not bothering to don the billowing pants of the other male elves and going shirtless altogether. He scanned the activity around us, eyes snagging on the musicians a street ahead.
My mind drifted to those first few nights on the Evecta last year when he’d filled the deck with his soul-wrenching voice, nearly bringing me to tears with words I didn’t understand in his tenor vibrato.
“Can I expect you to bless us with that voice of yours today?” I murmured.
“You utter a word about that to anyone on this continent, I’ll make your morning training a living nightmare,” he warned.
Tiberius tensed, and I sent my reassurance along our connection.
“You sang on the Evecta after you rescued me from Mount Telum,” I countered, still not looking at him.
“I didn’t rescue you.”
I resisted the upward tug of my lips. “Still. You sang for me.”
He bristled. “I didn’t sing for you. I sang in front of you. And if we’re being honest, I didn’t think you’d survive this long to be able to tell anyone.”
“That sounds dangerously close to a compliment,” I said, unable to keep the smile hidden.
I glanced at him and could have sworn his lips twitched upward before he schooled his features. “Wasn’t meant to be.”
Isla skipped up to us, handing me a cold glass of some fruity drink along with a handful of decadent, buttery sweets. “Vulcan! What a surprise. You may join us, only if you promise not to be a killjoy. I assume that’s why Nerissa isn’t here?”
Vulcan raised his blonde eyebrows at her.
“Kidding! Gods above, I’m kidding. Where is she, anyway?” she asked, looking around.
“She’s decided to stay with Marian,” Vulcan muttered.
It was enough to suck the joy right out of me. Guilt churned my stomach. She still hadn’t left the Evecta. I’d tried to talk to her so many times since Odessa. Since I’d killed Oslo. I was nauseous from the thought of it, and the shadow over my soul answered back, You deserve to be.
As if sensing it, Isla put her arm around me and murmured, “Whatever you are thinking, stop. Today is a day to celebrate.” She gave my shoulder a squeeze.
Liquid burned along the ridge of my eyes. I certainly didn’t deserve her.
We continued our trek with hundreds of elves, all heading into the forest where the road was wide and worn after years of elves traversing the sacred path to the Eye of the Wood.
The trek would take most of the morning, and we would arrive at the large lake before noon, when the sun was highest, to illuminate the entire Eye.
An hour and a couple of drinks into our trek, a wide river opened through the thick branches of the forest. Isla glanced up at the sun and then pulled me aside, Vulcan following closely behind.
Isla led us through a thicket to the edge of the cool, rushing river.
The aqua blue of the water reflected brightly against the beaming sun.
I leaned into the soft, floral breeze that followed, savoring the coolness in the stifling heat that had arrived mid-morning.
I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to the trickle of the clear water and the whisper of the trees as the wind rushed through them.
I opened them, smiling for a moment before Isla slammed her hands into the center of my back, sending me flying into the calm waters at the river’s edge.
The chill water sent a shock through my system. My feet scrambled against the stony bottom, my hands slipping on the slick green algae coating the larger rocks I used to push myself up.
“What the hell!?” I snapped, leaping up.
“You looked hot!” She laughed. “And I’m sick of seeing you in all black.”
Vulcan rolled his eyes before turning back to the main road.
Isla stepped forward into the water.
“Trust me,” she said, holding out a hand and winking.
I shook the water off myself, glancing at the golden paint still intact along my arms.
I grabbed her hand, holding her in place as I splashed her with my other.
“You brat!” She laughed, shoving me back into the water and hurrying up the bank. Laughter escaped my lips as I got to my feet.
I paused as the familiar tingling sensation crept over my shoulders. I whipped my head around, scanning the rocky banks across the river, looking for the silver flash of pixies.
I waited a moment, eyes scanning the thick green and brown brush across the river, searching the dark shadows that separated them. They snagged on a set of glowing, golden orbs.
They disappeared a second later and then reappeared a few feet away. Eyes. They blinked again, and another set blinked open. I craned my neck to see better as more blinked open. I counted six sets, that tingling sensation growing stronger.
“Let’s go, Lyv!” Isla called from the top of the embankment.
Like a snuffed candle, the eyes disappeared in an instant, along with that curious tingling. We were back on the main road a moment later when Drystan found us.
“Why are you soaked?” he asked, amusement dancing in his eyes as he took in my sopping form. He donned billowy, blue pants to match his striking eyes.
I threw a look at Isla, who snickered, wrapping her arm around Drystan’s shoulder and tugging him into the crowd.
I suppressed a laugh as Tiberius stalked to a cart of fruits of vegetables, waiting in line for the carrots at the bottom.
The vendor eyed him warily, looking between the massive, winged horse and the rest of his patrons.
They merely shrugged, and he continued helping those in line ahead of Tiberius.
A thunderous boom echoed ahead, followed by the vibrant cheers of the elves around me and the joyous laughter of children.
A boisterous beat of drums and a chorus of voices followed.
I whipped my head around and stared in awe as plumes of fine, brightly colored powder exploded into the air, raining down on the elves below. Nebulis.
I side-eyed Isla, who stared at my soaked black clothes, smirking as her plan unfolded.
We hurried forward into the ensuing chaos of another boom.
Golden powder exploded overhead, and I leaped through the shimmering power, arms wide, coating me from head to toe.
The gold shimmered overhead and clung to my garments, brightening my attire and blocking out the black entirely.
Tiberius stalked through the next explosion of powder, emerging on the other side covered in bright pink. Vulcan choked before turning away.
What’s wrong with him? he asked, turning his head toward Vulcan.
You look great, I said with a wink.
He snorted in reply, ruffling his feathers and spraying me with pink.
We continued our meandering through the forest, stopping alongside various entertainers and vendors, until finally we arrived at the Eye of the Wood. Tents of various colors surrounded the cliff-lined lake and the tens of thousands of elves that gathered along its edges.
Queen Antares stood atop a large dais in front of a newly sung throne of vines and bright flowers.
She scanned the throng of elves with a benevolent look plastered on her face.
Isla caught my eye and smirked. We both knew if the queen wanted me found, it wouldn’t be hard.
Not with her soldiers or the countless spies in the crowd. But I was no longer a beacon in black.
I spied Tiberius out of the corner of my eye as two elven children eyed him curiously. He lifted his big head toward them, wings tucked in tight. The elder of the two elven children stopped only a few feet away before dipping into a deep bow.
Good gods.
I rolled my eyes as the second quickly followed suit. Tiberius held himself higher and flared his wings in acknowledgment.
They said something, and he bowed his head.
The older one pulled out a sack of orange powder, and Tiberius stretched out his wing.
The elf tossed the nebulis into the air, the shimmering dust floating down over his long, dark feathers.
A laugh escaped my lips, and Ti whipped his big head to mine and leered.
Have fun with the foals. I winked.
We edged our way through the throng as eight mystics, identifiable by the large wreaths of berries on their heads, stood at the edge of the cliff with arms raised high.
“I wouldn’t bother getting close enough to hear,” Isla murmured next to me. “It’s the same every year… ‘Prayers and thanks to Aelius, Brother of the Sun, yada yada,’” she mimed.
We continued inching our way closer to the mystic ahead of us. A man, older than Bayne and the rest of the crew but not as ancient as the master of spells.
The crowd shifted as we grew near, those around us moving aside as Tiberius sidled up to me. The mystic’s gray-blue eyes caught on mine, and something flashed in his eyes as his lips tilted up in a deadly grin.
My stomach dropped as a familiar swirling liquid silver flashed in his eyes.