AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I will,” Claire promised.
Greta gave her a nod before ushering up and onto the next plant. Claire tried her best to listen and absorb but in the back of her mind her thoughts swirled. Could this be what the dark magic user was after? The Fortis plant? Is that why they attacked Claire and her men? They didn’t want them to warn the Elves? But that didn’t make any sense because she was attacked before they made the decision to go to the Elven Forest.
Greta stopped and Claire almost ran into the older Elf before she caught herself. Puck looked up from his place on the chair by the garden door. He hadn’t moved since they had entered earlier, content to nap instead.
“Go on,” Greta instructed. “I can tell you are distracted. Tell your men and Toan what you figured out. We can pick it up tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Greta.” Claire felt bad but she had been distracted.
Greta waved her off. “It’s fine. Discuss it with them and come back tomorrow with a clear head. We’ll review the plants and begin using Puck to ground your magic.”
Claire nodded. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She scooped Puck up as she passed and pushed through to exit Greta’s tree. She was so distracted, she didn’t feel her bonds as she pushed open the door until she ran into Malcolm’s chest.
“Claire, what’s wrong?” Malcolm caught her as she startled.
“Did she do something to you?” Desmond asked, fiery blue eyes looking past Claire to the tree like he was going to storm in there.
“No, it’s fine. She didn’t do anything. I… I think I figured something out. But we need to tell Toan.”
Everett studied her face. “Okay, little mate. Let’s go find him.”
Without asking her any other questions, her mates fell into step around her. “He said he was going to be at the training grounds he showed us earlier,” Malcolm said, his voice a soft grumble. “We’ll check there first.”
Claire nodded, her heart filling with warmth at their trust in her. Hopefully, she was right and not wasting everyone’s time. But her magic had told her this was important, and she knew better than not to listen.
* * *
Claire heardthe training grounds before she saw them. The clash of swords and the thud of arrows provided a soundtrack to the otherwise quiet Forest afternoon. The harsh melody died off when Claire and her men entered the training grounds. A sharp command from Toan had it starting back up again as he broke away from a match.
“Claire, what is it? I thought Greta would keep you all afternoon.” Her uncle wiped a hand across his face as he sheathed his short daggers. He caught Claire eyeing the similarities between his daggers and hers. “Fae craftsmanship,” he said, answering her unasked question. “A gift from your father for protecting your mother.”
Claire nodded, filing her questions away later. She almost snorted at the thought. At this rate, her filing cabinet for these unasked questions was going to be overstuffed. She shook off the amusement when Toan arched his eyebrows.
“Sorry, long morning. Greta sent me. We… I mean I think I found something that could be important.”
As she explained her theory about the Fortis Viridis plant and the connection with dark magic, and the proposed motive of the dark magic user that was following them, Toan’s facial expressions got darker. Brow drawn in a tight line, he turned and immediately started barking orders to the Elves training behind him.
He sent a larger contingent to check on the stores of the plants in the Capital and assigned three pairs to go deep into the Forest to check on the known areas where the plants grew.
“It’ll take the Forest contingents a few days to check if those patches have been disturbed,” he turned back to Claire and her Triad with a grim expression. His face sharpened as his eyes lit up. “Do you remember what that fake Elf was carrying when he gave you the directions over the bridge? You said it was a basket. What was in the basket? Fortis?”
Claire closed her eyes and scrunched her brow as she tried to remember. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember what he was carrying. I know it was a basket but that’s all I can recall.”
Toan nodded. “We have to assume it was Fortis or other dangerous plants. That had to be what he was after all along. The attacks must have been distractions.”
“Maybe,” Everett said cautiously, echoing Claire’s thoughts. They shouldn’t underestimate this shifter or whatever they were. Claire had a strong feeling they hadn’t seen the last of them.
“I’m going to join my warriors in searching the Capital,” Toan said, “But I was hoping, Claire, that we could spend dinner together? With your Triad of course. I imagine you still have questions to be answered.”
Claire smiled. This would be a good opportunity to empty the filing cabinet of unanswered questions. At least a little bit. “I would love that.”
Toan nodded. “I will come fetch you when I get back.”
He left, jogging to catch up with his warriors who disappeared from sight quickly.
“What should we do now?” She turned back to her men.
