The elven woman’s face was suddenly light and kind again, and she smiled at Aurora as she held the leaves aside and gestured for us to pass through them.

  I didn’t bother to look at Dragir, but I pulled Aurora to my side and let her lead the way to the edge of the house.

  The half-elf nodded nervously to Deya as she passed, and I noticed the violet eyes trail after her until she was out of sight.

  Then she gave me a smoldering look, smiled at me, and bit her lip slightly.

  Dragir was directly on my heels while we all made our way to the back of the house, and we each stepped carefully over heavy ivy-like vines that sprawled along the ground and spread to overthrow the stonework beside us.

  We slowed when we came to a garden that looked like it was made for a flock of fairies, and I let out a low whistle.

  Water flowed from a fountain mounted in the stone wall that encircled the secluded garden, and I recognized the same symbol I’d seen above the wooden doors embedded in the stonework beneath the faucet. Unusual flowers bloomed in every shade imaginable, and the ivy sprawled along the walls wherever it could fine a hold.

  “We have only ten naticea plants,” Deya said as she passed by and led us to a corner of the garden. She knelt beside the moss-covered pots and carefully unfurled a stray vine that had already tried to choke out one of the blooms.

  The petals of the naticea were a vibrant orange and sheer enough to see through, and the leaves were as stout as any other in the garden, but instead of being green or blue, they were a pale yellow. A rich and ruddy red soil encased them in their pots, and I recognized the shade of it from our drive south.

  “Where can we plant them?” I asked the elven woman.

  “Anywhere,” she assured me. “I will fill the whole garden with them once Dragir can risk the trip north.”

  I nodded. “I can change all of the soil if you like, but it would probably destroy these other plants.”

  Deya stood again and looked at me as she smiled with those delicious lips. “I don’t care, I don’t need them. We only want the naticea.”

  “Whatever you say,” I told her, and I realized I had a hazy sort of smile on my face.

  I quickly glanced over to Dragir, and my gut dropped as his eyes burned straight through me from his place near the back doors of the house. I cleared my throat and turned away, but I addressed the plants when I spoke, rather than the elven beauty. “We’ll get straight to work. Shouldn’t take too long.”

  Deya turned to join her brother, and I heard her tell him she would go to check on their father before the heavy wooden doors creaked and closed behind her.

  Shoshanne crouched beside the naticea to inspect the health of the plants, and Cayla nudged me casually.

  She sent me an amused smirk before her eyes flicked briefly toward Dragir.

  I raised my eyebrows innocently, but I said nothing.

  The princess chuckled and shook her head, and then she casually raised her voice to ask Shoshanne about the healing tincture the plants would make.

  I made my way to the center of the garden to get to work.

  It was incredibly uncomfortable trying to shift gears and get in touch with my Terra magic while the stubborn elf glared at my back, but I did my best as I realized how high the sun had already gotten above the fog.

  I took a few deep breaths and sat down in a patch of moss, and I shut my eyes tightly in concentration. After a few minutes, I heard Aurora beside me.

  “Not like that,” she muttered.

  I opened my eyes to find a giant mound had built itself in front of me, and I scruffed my beard in agitation as I glanced over my shoulder. “This guy’s throwing me off,” I mumbled in a low voice.

  The half-elf smirked and laid a light kiss on my cheek. “Hold on,” she said, and she walked over to Shoshanne. The two women worked together to lift a pot of the naticea, and they brought it over to place it down in front of me.

  Then Aurora sat at my side. “Just try to get in tune with it for a while first,” she instructed. “Don’t try to change everything right away. You had a full session of just being present with the metal before you did anything bigger, remember?”

  I nodded and closed my eyes once more, but I opened them a second later and leaned toward the Ignis Mage. “Will you watch my back? I keep thinking I’m about to get a dagger in it.”

  Aurora nodded and flipped around so she faced Dragir, and with my mind eased by a measure, I focused my attention more easily on the task at hand.

  This time, I didn’t force the connection at all. I started with bringing my magic to the surface of my skin, and then I breathed deeply several times as I slowly sent it out in thin tendrils through the rich soil in the pot.

  I immediately sensed its unfamiliar makeup, and I let myself explore the chemistry of the soil for a while. Once I felt well in tune with it, I extended my magic a little further to compare the balance of the soil in the garden.

  It was way too rich and felt not quite alkaline enough either. It also felt almost choked to death by the roots of the jungle plants that took over every inch of it.

  “We need to pull all these plants first,” I muttered, mostly to myself, but Aurora shifted immediately, and I heard her give instructions to the other two women to begin removing the plants.

  “Make sure you get the roots,” she clarified before she joined me again.

  It was only a few minutes later when the soil suddenly began to breathe better, and I returned my focus to the pot of naticea while the women continued in the garden.

  I was careful to measure every level of the various nutrients in the ruddy soil, and as I let myself sink deeper into my connection with the dirt, I became so aware of its makeup I felt like I was made up of plant matter myself. It was like I craved the soil, and I’d never understood the need for proper plant care so well in my life. I felt so at home in the little pot I could easily relate to the naticea, and I deeply wanted to make it as much at home in the jungle.

  This acute feeling overcame me, and I followed it as it overflowed the small stone pot and sifted into the soil around me. I moved inside the earth and melted straight through it, and as I expanded, I felt the soil shift all around me. It was like I was rain, and the more I saturated the soil, the more it changed, but I wasn’t making it damp, I was literally changing the nutrients. I felt the chemistry shift, and I knew the patch where I sat was more alkaline without having to question it.

  Then I eased into the connection all the way and fell into a sort of trance. My mind was crystal clear, and my heart pounded steadily, but my magic seeped through the earth and extended all the way out to the garden walls. I felt the women remove the last few roots as I went, and I remained in this heady state for longer than I knew to be certain the change went deep enough.

  When I opened my eyes, it was as if I’d transported myself to another world.

  The garden was empty except for the ten pots and the vines that draped themselves across the walls. The same heavy fog hung above our heads, but the soil was a rich and ruddy red in every direction, and Cayla and Shoshanne stood with smiles on their faces in the middle.

  “Gods, Mason,” Cayla chuckled. “That was incredible to watch.”

  My head felt like it floated a few inches above my shoulders, and I nodded slowly as I tried to get it to settle again. “You could see it happening?” I asked.

  “It was beautiful,” Shoshanne said as she stared in disbelief at the garden around her. “It even smells different.”

  “It does,” I chuckled, and I rubbed my temples.

  “Are you alright?” the Aer Mage asked uneasily.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “Just tired, I think.”

  Aurora looped her arm in mine and helped me to stand before she brought me over to the fountain that flowed from the stone wall. “Sit here and rest,” she told me. “Drink some water, it’ll do you good.”

  I nodded and scooped some water into my palm to drink, and only then did I realize how thirsty I was. I drank like a man in a desert, and when I was finished my head seemed to settle a little more naturally.

  Aurora sat beside me with a proud smile on her face, and I chuckled.

  “You should replace Wyresus,” I told her. “You’re a good teacher.”

  The half-elf laughed abruptly. “No thank you,” she said. “I don’t know nearly enough to be head of the Order.”

  “He doesn’t know nearly enough to be head of the Order,” I shot back, and Aurora snorted.

  “True,” she allowed.

  I nudged the woman with my elbow. “I’m serious. Most of what I’ve learned is because I had you there to help me. I mean, I’m not giving you all the credit, but you’re a hell of a mage. You could do a lot of good in a position like that.”

  Aurora rolled her eyes. “You’re just confused because you’ve had your head in the dirt for too long,” she said, and then she sent me a wink. “I’m quite happy to serve the Order, but I definitely don’t want to be in charge of it.”

  I shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’d rather have you as my own personal tutor, anyways.”

  Cayla and Shoshanne had a naticea plant uprooted from its pot, and the Aer Mage schooled the princess on the proper procedure as they worked together to plant it.

  “You guys want some help?” I called, but Cayla shook her head.

  “You’re bloodless, remember?” she said with a smirk. “You rest, we’ll get these sorted.”

  I chuckled and let out a long sigh as I stretched my arms up. I could tell my circulation was off, and my limbs did feel a little colder than they should in the middle of a jungle. So, I sat with my half-elf and glanced at the stubborn elf who still stood guard at the back doors.

  His face was much less hostile than it had been before I sat down, and he quickly looked away when our eyes met.

  I smirked and casually dropped my arm around Aurora’s waist.

  I didn’t want to hate the guy, because I had a feeling he was one of the more decent elves we’d met in Nalnora, but I definitely didn’t regret the black eye I’d given him.

  It was already half-healed anyway.

  Nearly all of my irritation had almost eased up actually, until three elven warriors rounded the side of the house and halted the second they saw Aurora. They drew their blades without pause and immediately began a heated argument with Dragir.

  The stubborn elf gestured to us and argued back, and the entire thing escalated to the point that the three warriors shoved past him and disappeared into the house with their blades still drawn.

  Dragir’s eyes flashed with rage as he watched them go, and he hurled his anger our direction when he turned around.

  “Get that half-elf out of here,” he growled. “She can wait in the jungles. Now.”

  “Excuse me?” I shot back. I really couldn’t believe the gall of the guy when he’d stood there for over an hour and seen exactly what we were doing to help his family.

  “You heard me,” Dragir returned. “Get it out of here. No half-elf should be within the bounds of House Quyn. It’s a disgrace.”

  “It?” I was on my feet and ready to jump the arrogant little shit, but suddenly a line of flames shot up from the dirt between us and formed a massive wall.

  I could hear the elf curse from the other side, and I turned around to see Aurora’s cheeks flushed a bright red as she sat with her arms crossed tightly.

  “Aurora … ” I warned as I eyed the stone house. “You’re gonna--”

  “What?” she snapped, and her emerald eyes flashed as they met mine. “I’ve been glared at and spit on since we came to this wretched land. Now we’re sitting here for no reason that’s got anything to do with defeating the Master, doing everything we can to help that ungrateful shit. I’m not sitting in a fucking jungle like a dog. If he’s got a problem with it, he can burn up for all I care.”

  I was about to try and reason with her, when several angry voices rose up, and I heard the doors of the house fly open.

  “Godsdamnit,” I cursed. “Aurora, you have to get rid of the flames.”

  The half-elf raised an eyebrow, but her jaw remained firmly set as the flames flickered violently.

  I turned to Shoshanne as the argument taking place on the other side of the flames got louder. “How many more plants?” I asked hastily.

  The caramel beauty looked nervously toward the flames. “Six,” she replied, “I’m going as fast as I can.”

  I shifted my weight uneasily and looked back to Aurora, but I honestly couldn’t think of anything to say. I’d seen how shitty she’d been treated for days, and I couldn’t blame her for finally snapping. Dragir really had been a prick, and it was probably for the best I couldn’t reach him myself at the moment.

  Then I felt a familiar shift in the air, and I glanced up to the treetops as the leaves began to tremble.

  I couldn’t make out the words being said on the other side of the Ignis Mage’s wall, but I damn sure recognized the icy tone of the elven beauty. I raised my brows as the argument ceased in her presence, and I was about to say something to Aurora when her emerald eyes went wide, and she jumped to her feet.

  I quickly turned around with my hand already poised on my revolver, but my jaw unhinged itself as Deya stepped straight through the enchanted flames.

  Her gauzy dress wasn’t even singed as she slowly came toward us, and her violet-eyes looked only concerned for the half-elf, rather than her own flesh.

  My eyes wandered all over her lithe figure, but she was completely unmarred, and her silky pink hair flowed softly as if the fire hadn’t existed.

  “Wh-what?” I stammered. “How did you do that?”

  Deya didn’t look at me or respond. She only brought herself to Aurora and said, “It’s your hair.”

  “Huh?” the half-elf asked blankly.

  I walked over to Aurora’s side, but I couldn’t manage to close my jaw yet. I just gaped at the elven beauty who ignored me completely.

  “Your hair,” she said again, and she gestured for Aurora to sit.

  The half-elf dropped onto the stonework of the fountain like her legs had given out, and I slowly joined her as Deya sat beside her.

  Her violet-eyes were soft and kind when she spoke. “True blue hair does not exist amongst the elves anymore,” Deya said in a low voice. Then she gently took a blue braid in her fingertips and looked at it with the same wonder on her face that she’d had the first time we’d met.

  “Really?” Aurora asked, and her eyes were wide as she considered the elven woman who hovered only inches from her.

  Deya nodded before she released the braid and continued. “Many years ago, there were not ten Houses in the land of Nalnora. There were only four. When rune magic became uncontrollable, many wars broke out amongst the elves. Not just between the four Houses, but amongst themselves. In the long history of our race, these were the bloodiest times, and when the wars were over, there were ten Houses that would remain enemies for the next thousand years.”

  Aurora furrowed her brow. “Things have been like this for a thousand years?” she asked in disbelief.

  Deya nodded once more, and her violet eyes looked saddened at the thought. “In that time, much has changed. Many of the sacred weapons of our ancestors have been lost, and as you know, even the mention of rune magic causes old rivalries to flare. With the separation of the Houses, the elite bloodlines of the elves were diluted, and one of the most notable losses was that of true-blue hair.”

  I glanced at the blue braids of the half-elf beside me. “But how does she have it?” I asked. “If it’s been diluted?”

  Deya smiled lightly. “I don’t understand it, either,” she admitted. “I have never seen an elf with true-blue hair, and most of the heads of the Houses haven’t either. Even Aeris, the head of House Aelin, has only a diluted hue.”

  Aurora glanced to me thoughtfully. “Was that the elf we saw in the hall of the Elven Council? The one with the dusty blue hair who led us into the hall?”

  “That is Aeris,” Deya replied. “His house was split into two during the wars. He took his father’s place nearly two hundred years ago as the head of House Aelin.”

  “Holy shit,” I breathed. “He’s that old?”

  Deya’s violet eyes looked vaguely amused. “Yes. He is in his four hundredth year,” she said simply before she turned back to Aurora. “I don’t know how it is you possess such a rare trait, but do not let my kin diminish your worth with their hatred. Half-elf or whole, it is a very remarkable thing, and an attribute of superiority. This is why they will try to kill you. If you were anything less, they would simply spit on you.”

  Aurora’s emerald eyes had begun to shimmer with tears, but she quickly wiped them away. “I … I don’t know who my parents were,” she told Deya, “but thank you for telling me this. It does help.”

  Deya smiled kindly and was about to speak again when the wooden doors of the house slammed open once more, and the leader’s voice roared so loudly the words carried easily through the battering of the flames.

  “Deya,” he growled, and the elven beauty jumped to her feet. She glanced briefly to us, and a strange smile came to her face as she lifted a finger to her lips as if to silence us. Then her pale skin suddenly flickered.

  I furrowed my brow as I thought I must have imagined it, but before I could form another guess, the elven beauty vanished right in front of us.

  Aurora gasped and shot up to her feet, and I did the same.

  “What the fuck?” I breathed as I heard the leader of House Quyn holler for his daughter again.

  I spun around, but Deya was nowhere to be seen, and the three women gaped at one another in silent shock.

  An argument erupted on the other side of the flames, and I turned back to Aurora as the leader grew furious. “Get rid of the flames,” I ordered, and in her shock she did as I told her to.

  The wall went out in a flash, and nearly all of House Quyn stood armed on the other side. I held my arms to the side and made to address the leader, but he stormed into the garden with his son close behind him.

  “Where is Deya?” he demanded angrily.

  “Umm … ” I tried, but I didn’t really know what else to say.

 

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