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Claire groaned but kept a smile on her lips so Synora would know she wasn’t actually upset. “Please don’t call me Princess. Claire is fine.”
Synora looked doubtful but nodded. “I suppose it is an adjustment.”
Claire let out a wry laugh. “Just a small one. I had no idea any of this existed, and now…” She gestured around them. “Anyways, you look so at home out here. I want to be like that one day.”
Not only in the Forest but among the Elves. While there was a part of her that felt like this was home, there was still so much about this place that she didn’t understand. Even if it had been home to a young Claire. There was so much to learn about the people that she was supposed to lead and be a part of that the thought of learning it all made Claire’s head spin overwhelmingly.
With the looming coronation ceremony tomorrow, Claire was feeling more lost than at home among these trees. The coronation ceremony was its own separate beast that Claire was approaching blind. Literally. Greta hadn’t given her a chance to ask questions during her training session yesterday and Claire was wondering if that was intentional. Every time Claire tried, Greta drilled her on a different plant and its uses. If she wasn’t supposed to know about the coronation ceremony in advance that was fine, but by the Realm would someone just tell her that?
She was broken out of her pity party for one at the flash of sadness that flickered across Synora’s face. “After my family’s loss, I spent a lot of time out here. It’s both a more complicated place to live and an easier one. The temptation to travel deep into the Forest and stay was strong.”
While her words were delivered in a matter-of-fact tone, Claire could sense the sorrow that Synora still held. She felt bad for bringing up the topic and chanced a squeeze of Synora’s shoulder to provide a bit of comfort. Synora looked surprised but gave her a small smile.
“Do any Elves still live outside of the Capital?” Malcolm asked Toan, clearly overhearing their conversation.
“There have always been some Elves that have chosen to live deeply within the Forest like our ancestors did. For the most time, they stay out of contact with other Elves. A few came to the Capital during the Great War but there are still some who live deeply in commune with the Forest.”
Claire looked around at the massive trees and could understand how someone might want to lose themselves here. There was a stability and steadfastness that the Forest seemed to exude. Claire shuddered briefly at the memory of the Feluas. Stability and steadfastness aside, the Forest could still be a dangerous place.
“We’re almost there,” Toan said, breaking Claire’s thoughts.
A few minutes later, a big tree with a hollowed out trunk came into view. Thick ferns grew at the base of the tree, almost covering the hollowed out center. Claire had a flashback to the vision of the Felua’s babies when she had pulled the image from the Felua’s head. She must have pushed that thought down her bonds as her men stiffened and closed around Claire. Claire tamped down the small bubble of annoyance that threatened to bubble up at their overprotectiveness. She had been the one, after all, that had gotten them out of the Felua situation previously.
“It’s an old den,” Toan said, correctly reading their unease. “The babies in this litter died here. When that happens, the Feluas abandon the den and create a new one.”
Claire’s heart ached for the Feluas. That was a devastating loss, she couldn’t blame them for moving on.
Toan and Aeris carefully pushed the ferns aside so Claire could duck into the hollowed den. Once inside, she let her magic sink into the Energy around her and when she did, she felt the sadness that had saturated into the ground. It was sharper, more animalistic in its feeling, and had to have been from the Feluas.
Claire pushed her magic father out, looking for something that didn’t belong to the den. There in the corner, under the dirt, a small pocket of Energy stuck out from the rest. Claire knelt and used her hands to cup the soft dirt and scoop it away. Her fingers quickly hit the leather of the journal and Claire carefully excavated it.
A similar brass clasp to the first one held this journal shut. Claire drew the Elven dagger again to prick her thumb. Better to get this out of the way now so her men didn’t panic at the small drop of blood. Before she pricked her thumb though, she stopped. Maybe it was best to wait till they got back to the Capital. Although she doubted anyone would be brazen enough to attack all of them in the Forest at once, she didn’t want to risk it. Although the patrols hadn’t found the fake Elf yet, whoever it was, was probably still out there.
She sheathed the dagger and tucked the journal under her arm. She got to her feet, brushing the dirt off her knees and ducking to exit the den.
“Got it?” Everett murmured from his spot right outside the entrance.
“Yes,” Claire nodded, holding it to show the group.
Desmond held out his hand and Claire only hesitated a moment before placing it in it. Desmond tucked it into the satchel he had slung across his shoulder. Claire knew he would take good care of it but with each journal they found, she seemed to get a few more pieces of her mother.
She bit her lip as she looked at Desmond’s bag. While most of the journals so far had been her mother’s coded information, there were passages in them where she wrote directly to Claire. Either sharing memories of Claire growing up or Winona and Erick’s time at the Academy. Each scrawled passage felt like a piece of treasure that she gladly hoarded.
“The next journal is farther east.” Claire heard Toan say to Malcolm as she was still lost in her thoughts.
“Towards the witches' territory?” Malcolm asked, frowning.
Toan nodded and opened his mouth to say something else. He hesitated, glancing at Claire. She raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t fragile. She wasn’t going to faint at the slightest bit of bad news.
She caught Synora’s faint smile out of the corner of her eye and glanced at her. Synora rolled her eyes and mouthedmenat Claire. Claire flashed her a quick grin before focusing back on Toan.
“It’s close to where we found Winona,” Toan said.
Claire sucked in a breath. Okay, Toan’s hesitation was fair. She released the breath, blowing it out in a harsh sigh. “Okay,” she nodded. “Let’s go.”
They hiked for close to an hour before Toan started to slow. “It should be just up ahead.”
Claire nodded in response. She had been silent over the last hour, trying to process her emotions. The rest of the group had stayed silent as well, her men giving her time and space as she processed during the hike. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see where her mother had spent her last moments. She was still barely processing the news of her death. Would seeing where she took her last breath help or hurt?
