Chapter 10 #2
I leaned back again and crossed my ankles. “What about all of you?” Even though I was fairly certain they hailed from Faewood, I had no idea what city they came from. “Where’s home for you three?”
“Marrotum,” Jessip replied. “We all grew up there. It’s in Faewood, on the coast, just south of the Ustilly Mountains.”
I took another sip of my tea. “I’ve never been there before. Is it a large city? Or a village?”
Nym took another swig of his ale, draining it, then signaled the barkeeper for more.
“No, it’s not large at all, and if you’ve never been there before, don’t bother visiting.
You’d be bored out of your mind. We have a total of three shops, twenty houses, and about eight hundred fishing nets.
That’s pretty much the entirety of our village. ”
I laughed. “Eight hundred nets? So it’s a fishing village?”
“It is.” Felix’s hand brushed against me again. “All of us work on the boats. We grew up together at sea.”
“Do you plan to live out your days there?” I asked just as another tray floated over carrying more drinks. The enchanted tray deposited five drinks on the table, one for each of us.
When I looked at them questionably, Nym said, “This round’s on me.”
“Oh, thanks.” I tentatively picked up the mug of ale. Usually, I didn’t drink. Alcoholic beverages tended to go straight to my head, but I figured it was only one glass.
“Solls,” I said, raising my drink.
The others lifted their mugs too, and Kole did as well since we were all waiting for him to clink our glasses together.
“As for whether or not we’ll all indefinitely stay in Marrotum . . .” Felix shrugged. “I guess that depends upon if we find the Wishing Stone or not.” He shifted in his seat, his hand brushing me anew. “I, for one, wouldn’t be staying there if I had endless riches.”
The warrior eyed Felix, and his aura flickered, but Kole continued to eat methodically, clearing his plate in large bites, and he didn’t join in the conversation.
I smiled and canted my head. “I was wondering if you all were hunting the Stone.”
“Aye, we are.” Jessip shrugged. “Although, our siblings all think us foolish for doing so, and don’t even get me started on our parents.”
“Same. My aunt wasn’t a fan of me leaving to hunt it either.
I’m sure many families in the realm have similar opinions since almost everyone fails at finding it.
” I cocked my head. “But what made you come all the way up here to look for it? I think most fae are on the eastern coast searching for it, perhaps even near your home village.”
Nym side-eyed Jessip. “Are you going to tell her, or should I?”
A blush stained Jessip’s cheeks, and she elbowed him. “You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”
“Well, if you’re right and we find the Stone, even I’ll stop teasing you,” Felix remarked.
I leaned forward, eager to know what they were talking about. Inadvertently, I brushed against Felix when I shifted my position on the hard stool, and the fairy placed his hand on my thigh. But instead of removing it after I’d settled, he left it there.
He did it casually, as though touching me was something he’d been doing for centuries, and the familiarity of it rendered me speechless.
Felix smiled in my direction, then squeezed my thigh before removing his hand. “Sorry. You’re just so damned cute. It’s hard not to touch you.”
I laughed shrilly, not sure how to respond. I hadn’t been flirted with like this in so long that I failed at a witty comeback.
Kole’s fingers wrapped tightly around his glass, and he leaned forward, knocking his shoulder with Felix in the process. Felix jerked from where he sat, hands flying to the table to steady himself.
“Sorry,” Kole said dryly, then brought his drink to his lips again.
Since Felix was no longer touching me, and my shock at his blatant flirting had cleared, I raised my eyebrows at Jessip. “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. What brought you up here?”
Jessip ducked her head. “Stars and galaxy, it’s rather embarrassing, but I had a dream. It told me to venture to the northern part of Stonewild, and that was where the Stone had landed.”
My eyebrows shot up, and even Kole slightly inclined his head.
“A dream?” My eyes widened. “Do you have Mistvale seer abilities that allow you to see the future? Do you possess magic from two kingdoms?”
While it wasn’t common to possess magic from more than one kingdom, having dual magic wasn’t unheard of either. And even though some considered it rude to ask of another’s magic, my shock at hearing Jessip’s dream had apparently thrown my good manners out the window.
Jessip’s cheeks darkened even more. “I wish I could say my psychic ability led us here, but that’s not the case. I only possess elemental magic. It was just a dream, truly, but I swear it felt so real.”
“Real enough that she was able to convince the two of us to travel all the bloody way up here with her.” Nym grinned, his eyes slightly glassy-eyed, and I realized that sometime in the interim, another tray of drinks had been brought to us.
“You never know. You could be right.” I shrugged encouragingly, even though I hoped I found the Stone before they could.
While I had nothing against any of them, my uncle’s life depended upon me finding the Stone, and since only one fairy could claim its magic, that didn’t allow me to share in its bounty.
“What about you, Kole?” Jessip asked him. “It sounds like Prim’s Stone hunting too, but are you?”
I glanced at the warrior, curious to hear what he would say, but all he did was shrug and reply, “I’m not hunting the Stone. I’m here on work.”
“On work?” I repeated, unable to help myself, and wondered if my guess that he was here to keep the peace had been right.
He inclined his head. “Indeed. Someone has to keep the crazy fae hunting the Stone in line.”
The other three eyed the sword at his back and nodded, either curiosity appeased or too intimidated by the fact that he was obviously a law enforcer to ask more.
But a grin split my lips, and I sat up straighter. The question I’d been curious to learn the answer to since meeting him was finally revealed, and his response confirmed that my guess had been right. I couldn’t wait to tell Ree.
Still, it was quite coincidental that Kole just happened to have followed the same path as me, although, if I truly thought about it, it wasn’t that improbable. There were only so many roads traveling through the Wood, and as luck should have it, Kole had chosen the same ones as me.
I drained the last of my ale and was about to settle back to enjoy the music, but Felix nudged me.
“Do you want to dance?” He nodded toward the cleared area by the stage where several other fae were dancing to the beat.
Kole stilled, but Felix jumped to his feet, then held his hand out to me.
I shrugged and placed my hand in his. “Why not? I love to dance.”