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I made a noise in the back of my throat, neither agreeing nor denying.
“I’ll bite,” Aristide started.
“Not here,” Ker said, attempting to lighten the moment.
Aristide ignored her and continued, “You’re taking this too seriously for a sudden hobby cultivation in mysteries. What’s up?”
I set my jaw and turned away from the crowd, drawing my friends in closer. “You’re correct that the fae seems intent on creating a fuss, but for what? There have been injuries, but it hasn’t been disastrous. Even today’s incident I expect the greatest outcome will be building expenses from the glass.Why? If he is so intent on damage, why not scale it up?”
“Is it possible he’s just trying to sow seeds of chaos?” Ker asked. “The artifact ring we broke was small time problems—nothing hugely threatening.”
“No, but it rubbed at the relationship between humans and supernaturals,” Aristide pointed out. “And it was too carefully set up for it to be entirely accidental. Which proves Noctus’s point. If he was the brain behind the artifact ring, he must have a goal in this, too. Is that what you’re getting at?”
“Yes,” I said. “Which means it is likely each incident is carefully chosen for a specific reason—whether it’s for the location, or a test run of sorts.”
“Test run?” Ker stood straighter in her alarm, all signs of her usual kind demeanor leaving as her wolf eyes hardened. “But we’ve already covered that he hasn’t done anything on a larger scale before.”
“That we know of,” I said.
Ker tilted her head back and studied me with the intensity of a predator. “So, we really are going to operate under the assumption he’s part of that organization the Paragon is after?”
“The organization has already proven to be overly invested in Magiford,” Aristide chimed in. “Between all the wizard drama and the attempts on Queen Leila’s life. If Chloe’s tracker belongs to it—like the Paragon seems to think—they likely have a larger presence here than we assumed.”
Ker sighed, which came out as more of a growl. “Every instinct I have says we’d be better off just cutting and running from this place. But that’s still not an option, is it?”
“Not just yet,” I said. “Though it might be in our future.”
“Goodie,” Aristide said, his voice sour. “I just love living in indecision. It’s my favorite.”
His sarcasm broke Ker out of her wolfish intensity. “Indecision? Please, we’d still be living in Calor Villa no matter what city Noctus moved us to. It’s his people that must deal with the indecision and if the portal locations were changed.”
“I resent that,” Aristide said. “You forgot, a good half of the elves in Calor are Mors elves. They roll out of their beds in the morning ready to leave it forever. Minimalists, the bunch of you.”
“Calor Villa could never be constructed as a work of minimalism,” I said.
“Compared to the other elven sanctuaries that used to exist, it’s downright dowdy,” Aristide stated.
“Ah,” Ker said. “Of course, you do keep the past close to your heart, nostalgia—”
“Finish that sentence, Idare you,” Aristide said.
Ker erupted into a belly laugh, giving Aristide time to sniff.
“Well, now that we’ve distracted Noctus from his pining, shall we hear what the elves present at the time of the event had to say?” Aristide asked.
I looked back over my shoulder. “Oleander is on her feet, let’s start with her.”
“You got it.” Ker maneuvered herself in front of Aristide so he could take her arm.
“Did you notice, Ker, how Noctus did not negate my accusations of pining?” Aristide said.
“Did you notice, Ker, how last night Aristide went to bed early, near the same time as when the secret history podcast he listens to that he thinks none of us know about drops its new episodes?” I countered.
“You’re the worst,” Aristide complained.
“Someone’s got to keep you company,” I said, a slight smile pulling at me despite the situation.
I couldn’t stop being king—there was no one else in Calor who could fill the position. It had many inevitable conclusions that I didn’t want to face at the moment, but at least I still had Aristide, Ker, and Charon.
