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Elyria’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout as she swung her legs off the bed and padded across the room to the bathing chamber door. “Fine, but don’t think this is over, Sir Knight.”

“Oh, but how a man can dream,” he said tiredly, and Elyria was still grinning when she closed the door behind her.

Elderglade was a flurry of bustling activity when Elyria and Cedric finally emerged. There was a surprising number of people out—sylvans carrying baskets of linens or foodstuffs from one house to another, a small group of giggling girls playing by the stream, folks darting to and fro as they carried about their daily lives. Quiet laughter and the occasional squeal drifted over from the schoolhouse. Steam curled from earthen mugs as the two of them passed the dining hut, which held far more of Elderglade’s residents than it had the day before.

By the time they reached the massive, sprawling goldwood tree that housed the sylvan council chamber located on the far side of the glen, Elyria could no longer hold it in.

“Were folks avoiding me yesterday?” she asked.

“Why would they be avoiding you?” Cedric replied, a little too quickly.

She cast him a sidelong glance, her eyes narrowing on his suspiciously innocent face.

“Well, it wasn’t my idea, but⁠—”

Her eyes narrowed further.

“Okay, fine, it was my idea. But it’s not that they were avoiding you. I just asked the council if it would be possible to provide a . . . quieter day for you. I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed. You’d just awoken, had only just finished healing. And this place can be quite, er, boisterous.”

Elyria smacked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “You banished the people who live here to, what, stay in their houses all day while I frolicked around the glade? Stars a-fucking-bove, as if I needed to arm them with even more of a reason to hate me.”

Cedric balked. “Hate you? What in the name of each of the Five would possibly make you think they would hate you?”

“It’s just my default assumption, really. I am still the Revenant, you know. I’ve got quite the reputation.”

“Among humans, maybe. And that was before. I think you forget that you are also the Victor of Nyrundelle, as well as my own personal savior. Elder Larkess has made it very clear to every resident here that you saved my life and⁠—”

“Which time?” She grinned.

“—they owe you their gratitude.” Before Elyria had a chance to vocalize the protest that immediately tried to dive off her tongue, Cedric had already raised his hands in placation. “I know, I know. I told her you would hate that. But I’ve made little headway in convincing them of such. They are in awe of you, Elle. They’ve been treating your time healing here with a sort of reverence, and I just didn’t want their fawning to make you feel like you⁠—”

“I see. It’s . . . It’s fine,” she said with a shrug that she hoped made her look more at ease than she felt. Now that she was paying closer attention, she saw the way heads kept turning in her direction, noticed the whispers being exchanged. One particularly brazen mixedborn young woman was outright staring, her finger outstretched as she pointed animatedly at Elyria and she batted the arm of the sylvan standing beside her.

Elyria sighed.

Cedric grimaced. “I can ask the elders to extend the orders to⁠—”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That will probably only make them more eager. And anyway, I’m sure it’ll wear off before long. I’m bound to offend the wrong person sooner or later, so they may as well get back to their daily routine. I’d hate for them to hold my disruption of their usual rhythm against me in the future.”

Cedric shook his head, even as amusement flitted down the bond between them. She was going to say more, but the arrival of a cheerful-looking dwarf, a serene-faced sylvan, and a fae whose brow was already creased with concern interrupted her.

“Well, ye’re certainly looking more like yerself there, Rev,” Thraigg declared, slapping Cedric on the arm in greeting as he sidled up beside the pair.

“Feeling more like myself too,” Elyria said. Mostly, she added in her head.

“That’s good,” said Jocelyn earnestly. “That’s really, really good.”

Young Shep looked from Elyria and Cedric to the door set in the gnarled bark of the goldwood tree before them. “No sign of the council yet?”

“We’ve only just arrived, but no, nothing yet,” Cedric replied.

“I’m sure it won’t be long.”

“Are they already inside? Or are we waiting for them to arrive?” Elyria asked.

A round of shrugs made its way through their little group. Elyria laughed. It was nice not feeling like she was the only one left out of the loop in this, at least.

“You were able to rest well, I take it?” asked Shep.