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Claire was too tired to argue so she nodded.
“Come on, little cupcake,” Desmond said, standing with her still in his arms. “Let’s get some rest.”
13
By the time morning rolled around, Claire was still wide awake. Everytime she had closed her eyes, images of the wounded Elves or the dead Feluas assailed her. Her eyes felt like they had sand in them as she had tossed and turned trying to fall asleep. She finally gave up pretending as rays of soft sunlight penetrated through the cracks in the door.
Her men slept deeply around her, seemingly unaware of her turmoil except every time she shifted last night. Everett and Malcolm shifted closer to her until she was pinned in by both of them and couldn’t toss and turn. Unable to move her body physically, her mind moved instead as she processed through all of the information she had learned from the Elves and all of the questions they still had to answer.
She didn’t want the Elves to be targets anymore so leaving for the Academy and the Dragon Mountains as soon as possible felt like the right move. But at the same time, there was so much she felt like she still had to learn from Greta and Toan and all of her people. She wanted to explore her connection with the Royal Tree more now that she was connected to it. She wanted to read more books on Notuses in the library and learn more about the different plants and their uses. She wanted to go deep into the Forest with Synora and learn to survive and thrive in the deep Forest like some of her people did. There was so much to learn, but now she had to leave them to keep them safe.
But would it keep them safe? Would this person really leave them alone if Claire left? They had enough Fortis to last them a while and there had been a focus on Claire. So even though it would put her and her Triad in more danger, she hoped they focused on her and left the Elves alone.
Movement shifted on her right and she dropped her eyes from the gnarled wood of the ceiling over her shoulder. Everett’s green eyes blinked sleepily at her. “You didn’t sleep at all did you?”
Claire smiled softly. He could always read her so well. “Not really,” she admitted softly. “Too much to think about.”
“You need sleep.” His low tone softened the scolding.
“I know.”
“What do we know?” Desmond’s sleepy voice rose from the foot of the bed.
“That Claire needs sleep,” Malcolm said, not opening his eyes.
“You didn’t sleep?” Desmond’s sleep tousled hair fell over his eyes as he propped the side of his head up on his hand.
“Not really,” Claire repeated, smiling at her rumpled mate.
“You need sleep,” Desmond said, yawning through the sentence.
Claire rolled her eyes. “We’ve covered that. Hard to sleep when your brain won’t quiet down.”
“What’s going through your head?” Everett asked, placing a soft kiss on her shoulder and rolling to his side so he could look down at her.
“Lots of things. Are the Elves going to be in danger if we leave? Or are they going to be safer because I’ve left? Who at the Academy would betray my mother? Isn’t the Academy supposed to be neutral or does that not include its staff and students?”
Desmond just blinked at her onslaught of questions, sleep still heavy in his eyes.
Malcolm opened his golden eyes. “You will be safer once we are out of the Forest and that’s what matters right now. The Elves can take care of themselves.” Claire bit her lip. Wasn’t she supposed to be responsible for the Elves right now though?
“We’ll comb the Academy for answers and then pick Malcolm's father’s brain and library,” Everett assured her. “He might have differing records then the witches do. And Malcolm’s right, although his delivery could use some work. Toan and the others are formidable warriors. Don’t insult their abilities by not trusting them when they tell you they’ll be fine.”
Claire let out a slow breath. “I know… I just…”
“Worry. I know.” Everett pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
“That reminds me,” Desmond said, sitting up and stretching with a yawn. Claire was momentarily distracted by his shirt riding up. “I wanted to ask my father if what we learned was true. That the Council favored the witches to the point where they excused inexcusable actions.”
“What does that matter now?” Claire asked. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the Council should be held accountable but the actions were in the past.
“It’s one more thing we will have to address after all of this is over. We will need to rebuild the Realm’s confidence in the Council and that comes with transparency and admitting that their actions were wrong.”
Claire had barely thought about what would happen once they had all the answers. She had been too focused on finding the answers first. But Desmond was right, once they figured out who was behind this and what their plans were and how to put a stop to them, they were going to need to do a lot of repairing of relationships in the Realm. Especially if the Elves and Fae wanted to rejoin the Council and reopen trades.
“First things first,” Malcolm said, throwing back the covers. “Let’s get packed up and head to the gate.”
Before Claire could get out of bed, Everett pulled her down for a quick morning kiss that had her toes curling. She smiled up at him breathlessly when he released her and then giggled as Desmond tugged her leg until she slid down to the foot of the bed. She kissed his waiting lips, letting out a soft groan when he pulled away.
