To my pleasant surprise, Corvin answered, his voice relaxed. “Tercel, Farryn, and I have known one another since childhood. Zorana came to live at the South Sky Tower as a teenager, and we’ve all been inseparable since.” Farryn briefly rested her head on Zorana’s shoulder with the easy familiarity of best friends. The gesture caused my heart to momentarily constrict in envy, wishing I could experience that same closeness.
“What made you decide to become a ternion?” I asked.
Tercel looked across at Zorana, smiling mischievously. “That’s easy—Zor begged me to be their third.”
Zorana snorted. “As if—you approached us!”
“Begged,” Tercel repeated.
Zorana shook her head, but her gaze was full of nothing but warmth when she looked back at her friends. “I think you have a selective memory, Tercel. But I’ll be the first to admit, the three of us make an excellent team. Farryn and I first met working in the gardens together back home. We share an affinity for plants. And apparently, an affinity for keeping these two out of trouble.” Zorana jerked her thumb at Tercel and Corvin. “We’re going to be the first team to beat out Grodin’s ternion. Between Farryn’suncanny ability to always know what to do, and Tercel’s blatant disregard for his own well-being—”
Tercel huffed a short laugh. “My fearlessness, you mean.”
“Whatever you want to call it. My point is—we’retheternion to watch.”
“I believe it,” I said, my smile broad and sincere, impressed by the ferocity driving her words.
I turned my head toward Corvin, detecting a flicker of jealousy fleeting across his face, though it was quickly masked by the presence of genuine affection.Did he envy his friend’s bond?I assumed if he belonged to a ternion, he would have mentioned it by now. Being excluded never felt good. And come to think of it, hadn’t he told me in Kothia that he often felt left behind? If so, he wasn’t alone. I could relate tothatfeeling all too well. Almost without thinking, I let my hand drift closer to Corvin’s on the table, brushing the side of his hand in a quick, reassuring caress. He made no comment, but I heard his soft intake of breath the moment our skin touched and felt the gentle pressure of his hand briefly pressing back against mine.
“Remember what happened a few weeks ago?” Zorana continued teasingly, casting a sidelong glance at Tercel, who buried his head in his hands with a groan like he knewexactlywhere this story was going. She turned toward me. “So we were asked to replenish the Tower’s supply of Great Blue Heron feathers. They’re very patient birds. They’ll stand almost completely motionless scanning for their prey, then use their night vision to strike. Turns out preternatural stillness and night vision make for quite the stealthy combination. If you’re a Zrocan anyway, but that’s all beside the point. The point is that Great Blue Herons like to build their nests in wooded, swampy areas. Not a biome that’s very common around home. And searching through a bird’s nest is a great way to find an errant or discarded feather. We spend almost all day searching thisswamp. Trying to find a nest. And I meanallday. But Tercel herefinallyspots one. But then he starts bragging about how he’s the most valuable member of the team. I mean like thewholeway back. He won’t let it go, right?”
A wild laugh bubbled out of Zorana’s mouth, temporarily interrupting her storytelling. “And then—” she continued, clapping a hand over her mouth as she burst out in another round of uncontrollable laughter. “And then—then this bird—lands right—lands right next to Tercel—splashing and flapping its wings—covering—absolutely covering him in mud—I mean it was almost head to toe!” She clutched her stomach, doubling over in laughter at the memory of Tercel boasting about his importance, only to be splattered with mud.
“I’m glad you find my suffering so amusing,” he muttered, but his smile grew wider the longer Zorana’s infectious laughter filled the kitchen. “Next time I get covered in mud, I’m going to shake it off onto both of you,” he threatened playfully.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Farryn squealed.
“Don’t let itbogyou down, Tercel,” Corvin said with mock seriousness, exchanging a smile with me afterward. I figured in addition to teasing Tercel, he was thinking about our time together in the Spring Court when he first met me in person.
“Yeah, you gotta keep onmuddling through,” I chimed in cheekily to everyone’s delight, setting off yet another round of raucous laughter, Tercel cracking up just as loudly as his friends. I relaxed back into my chair, marveling at the lightness that overcame me in the laughter’s wake. Looking around at everyone, the kitchen didn’t feel cramped at all.
No, no, it felt…comfortably full.
I agreed to give everyone a tour of the island’s grounds after dinner. As we exited the cottage, opalescent moonlight danced upon the trees and shimmered across the lake’s surface. Proudly, I pointed out the blooming moonflowers slowly unfurling along the trellis vines. “These certainly came in handy before,” Farryn approved, cupping a flower in her hands to smell its perfume. She shook her wings and a light pink dust fell onto her skin, shimmering in a glittery aura that appeared magical to my eyes.
I beckoned everyone toward the path. “Watch your step,” I warned as we strolled down the cobblestone walkway, though I needn’t have worried; the lampposts illuminated our path with their violet glow. Looking at the light all around us, I was filled with an immense degree of pride. I caught Corvin’s gaze, and he pointed at the lampposts and grinned, drawing a smile onto my own lips.
As we meandered around, I did my best to point out anything I thought my guests might find interesting. Zorana and Farryn were both clearly enamored by all the plants and flowers growing on the island, pausing each time we passed something new sprawled across the landscape. “Dessert!” Farryn happily proclaimed when we walked by a blackberry bramble, popping a ripe fruit into her mouth.That’s lucky.Soon the blackberry bush would cease to fruit since the first frost recently dug its freezing claws into the soil.No, it’s not just luck.The bush seemed to respond favorably to Farryn’s presence, a few blackberries which had expired ripening again at her encouraging touch.
“How about you, Elvira?” Tercel asked, wiping dark purple blackberry juice from his chin.
“Hmm—what about me?”
“How did you come to live here on this island?”
“I grew up in Solaris in an orphanage. My Fae ancestry made my adoption unlikely. The humans living there still fearaccidentally offending the Fae, who oftentimes have a great deal more power than they do, even after centuries of King Filvendor’s rule. But one day a woman showed up, and for once my bloodline seemed to be a positive. She asked me if I wanted to leave. Told me about a magical island where we could live peacefully, surrounded by books and calm waters, as long as we kept the history preserved within its grounds. I was only ten years old—there wasn’t much she could have promised me thatwouldn’thave sounded appealing. Faced with life in the orphanage, I chose the apprenticeship she offered. She told me later that the island came with a title: The Midnight Sovereign. She passed away earlier this year, and now I’m trying to figure out what exactly this place used to be and what my position used to mean to Olayra.”
“What did she tell you was the purpose of your island?” Zorana asked.
I slowly shook my head. “Kaylin never really knew, or at least she never told me much. But I’d like to understand. I think preserving the realm’s history, learning its customs and laws, is simply a means to an end. Toward helping the people who show up at our doorstep. Toward midnight bargains. Except, no one is showing up anymore. I’ve been slowly gathering more information, figuring things out piece by piece. With that in mind—I don’t suppose any of you have ever heard of the Midnight Sovereign?”
Farryn twirled a lock of her hair. “I remember hearing that title once. My parents had an odd reaction to the name, demanding we change the subject. They always refuse to talk about the most random things. They fled the Spring Court before I was born. They don’t like to talk about it much, but they lived through some dark times. Censorship was rampant where they lived. I think they’re still afraid of talking about anything theleast bit taboo. Even after all this time… I’m sorry, I know that didn’t really answer your question.”
“All I know is that Queen Minerva was the very first Midnight Sovereign,” Zorana said.
“Who?” I asked weakly, in a way that made it clear that was new information to me.
“Queen Minerva? She’s a former Witch Queen. We were taught that she abdicated her throne. Left behind a life of power and privilege because she felt compelled to help the realm instead. Her sister took over for her and ruled in her stead, maintaining the bloodline. I’m sorry I don’t know more. I haven’t lived in Adrasea since I was twelve years old.”
