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My birth mother might still be alive if anyone in the area had access to moonsilver essence when she fell ill. It wouldn't have prevented my father's death from advanced age, but it might have lengthened his time with us.
The leaves were also valuable for fertility purposes, and in the care of new mothers and babies. Fae reproduction rates were lower than other races, and that early period of life was when we were most vulnerable. Again, a valuable tool to have.
But moonsilver was a fussy, delicate plant, and it had to be harvested in a very particular way in order to ensure its potency and to ensure that the plant wasn't destroyed forever. Earlier generations of fae—and others—hadn't been nearly careful enough, and as a result, the plant was nearly extinct. One of the biggest rules of handling moonsilver was that the flowers had to be harvested on a full moon.
And the next full moon was a wild moon.
If Raven team wanted to grab hold of this victory, and provide healing for countless numbers of Elfhaven residents…they were going to have to stay in the Untamed Wood through the wild moon.
There was a chance that there were some lingering blooms from the last full moon, but the possibility was very slim, and those leftover blossoms wouldn’t be nearly as potent as fresh ones. They could always take a clipping of the leaves and provide that as evidence to the officials, attempt to mark the location and let the royals handle the actual harvesting. But that would mean an entire moon cycle would be lost before the plant could be harvested again—an entire month in which countless people might suffer or die who could otherwise be healed by the plant.
I already knew what they would do. They were good men. They would choose to save as many people as they could, no matter the outcome of the silly competition or the risk to themselves.
"Goddess," I whispered to myself. But I didn't finish the prayer.
I didn't dare pray that they found another way to win. Not when Elfhaven would benefit so much from this discovery. But at the same time…there were dangers here in the Untamed Wood. Easily avoided if you were respectful of the denizens of the wood on a normal day, yes. But under the wild moon? Who knew what would happen?
"Let them be safe," I finished my prayer. "Just please keep them safe."
Fife's bright green eyes glanced my way again, and I swear he gave me a tiny, barely perceptible nod of acknowledgement.
The males of Raven team were intelligent and strong. And they had a powerful cleric looking after them. I had to trust in them to see this through.
Turning Balefire away, I went to find a place to make my own camp where I wouldn't be discovered or overheard.
Chapter 26
I camped alone in the woods, but I felt no fear. I was respectful of the surrounding forest, and disturbed things as little as possible. As I went about setting up camp, it reminded me of all the times I had camped in the woods with my father. He had always made it into a fun experience and taught me all kinds of things about the natural world.
That night, as I sat by my small, concealed fire watching the fireflies and the pixies dance among the leaves, they brought me a gift.
A rambling wisp—capable of mischief or assistance, depending on their mood—floated down to hover near me, just outside the ring of firelight. I felt no malice from it, but was instead flooded with warm, pleasant feelings. My eyes slipped closed and vibrant, happy memories of my parents danced behind my lids.
I opened my eyes quite some time later, my heart flooded with love as the wisp drifted away into the night. "Thank you!" I called after it, my voice soft, but carrying over the background thrum of insects and other creatures in the quiet woods.
I felt safe as could be when I crawled into my tiny tent and snuggled into my bedroll. The forest had accepted me here. It wasn't to say that nothing bad could happen, but the likelihood was low, for now. I drifted off to sleep with my heart so full it felt like it might burst.
I woke the next day to the early morning chatter of the birds and a few sleepy pixies who were probably in charge of gathering up the morning meal for their hive. The poor pixies seemed none too happy to be the ones up and about after spending all night frolicking through the forest. I smiled to myself at their antics as one little pixie fought with a bird over a fat, juicy caterpillar they had found.
I didn't pause in my packing to interfere. It was the natural order of things, and you never knew what you might upset by disturbing the balance. For all I knew, I could help the pixie only to find out that the bird was the prize pet of some awful forest guardian, and end up with my corpse feeding the trees.
Balefire had returned from wherever he flew off to last night, and there was a little extra pep in his step. "Find yourself a pretty kelpie mare or something, did you?" I asked him as I patted his currently horse-like flank.
He gave a self-satisfied snort and butted his head against my shoulder, earning a laugh.
Soon enough, I was mounted up and heading off to check on my champions. I glanced down at my locator ring to decide who was closest and where I should head next. Sighing in resignation, I decided I should just repeat my original order, visiting Lion first, then Bear, Peacock, and Raven, since I had just ended with Raven so recently.
Lion was the furthest away, their gemstone glowing the most faintly on my ring. Based on what everyone had decided yesterday, their trajectory probably had Lion team moving the furthest away. I would probably only get to a couple of teams today. Ignoring the childish part of me that just wanted to follow Raven team around all day and drool over them, I squared my shoulders and shared my plan with my mount, then used the charm on my ring to direct me on my way.
I continued to soak in the wildness and beauty around me as we traveled. I felt guilty that I was out here enjoying the scenery when I should be back in Larkwood doing actual work and taking care of my people and my stewardship. But a bigger part of me was determined to enjoy this brief vacation while it lasted.
The variety of wildlife here was astounding, even to someone who spent so much time in the Wild Wood back home. Partway through the morning, I came across a pool where something dark and dangerous lurked. I could feel its allure calling to the edible human part of me, even as the wiser bit of my fae blood rebelled. Luckily, Balefire wasn't about to let me entertain my curiosity. He refused to slow, skirting the little grove where the water folk lived, and moving on with speed.
Thick flocks of winged creatures darted through the canopy above—pixie swarms, birds, butterflies, and shadow moths filling my peripheral vision with darting bursts of color, adding to the low-level cacophony that filled this place as it hummed with life.
When I finally came upon Lion team half a day later, they were exactly where I had expected them to be, almost at the gold vein, and discussing ways to pan some nuggets from a nearby stream without disturbing the water folk who lived there. At least they were being cautious of the wildlife—although I think it was more out of self-preservation than from any great concern about the wellbeing of the forest. They weren't taking as much care as I would have liked as they trod through the place. It was as if they believed they were the biggest, toughest males around, and nothing could stop them.
They were wrong, of course. But even though I might not like them that much, I didn't want the men of Lion team to find that out the hard way. I quietly muttered as much to the goddess in a prayer for their safety.
