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Every path they took was a crowd of confused, terrified, and scampering beings all trying to escape as fast as they could. Now that Aria was within the Enchanted Forest’s borders, she sent out a message to her Fairy Sentinels to station all the guards and knights at the borders of the forest.
“No one else besides us should get in or out while we deal with this,” she explained to Arthur. “It will be just the three of us, and perhaps my mother too. You’ll need to work with her to contain the situation.”
“Are you sure we won’t need any assistance?”
“Trust me, it’ll be easier to manage any souls that escape when they don’t have many targets to possess. But, just in case thatdoeshappen with any of us, I know the Faes can help reverse it if any of us fall victim.”
Arthur put his fingers in his mouth to whistle for Callie, who fluttered next to them as he asked her to call for the strongest and most capable Faes to assist them.
“Why would they help us?” Callie called over the wind and loud galloping of the horse. “We literally ostracized them.”
“Ask for Hector!” Aria yelled. “Tell him I sent for them!”
Callie looked surprised, but zipped away, and Arthur kicked his horse to pick up their pace.
When they neared the lake, they found King Travus and his best men battling the Fairy Sentinels with Arias' mother in the lead.
“You’re not allowed here!” yelled the Fairy Guardian ferociously with her hands aglow. “Begone!”
A flash of gold exploded from her palms, sending a ring of rippling energy through the forests that caught Travus’s knights and sent them flying off their horses. They crashed against the trees, catching Aria and Arthur by surprise.
“I didn’t know my mother was so strong…” she breathed in awe. “Is it the power of the Enchanted Lake?”
“Would that tempt you into accepting the role of the Fairy Guardian?”
“Maybe.”
They watched Travus, unaffected by the woman’s power, swing off of his horse and raise his arm to stop his knights from reassembling.
“Go!” he said to them as he threw his cloak away, revealing a large satchel at his waist. “There’s nothing that can stop me now that I’m here.”
The Fairy Guardian stood defensively on the bank of the lake, the Sentinels fluttering around her with their swords ready, arrows pulled on their bows, and fingers shimmering with magic. Everyone watched, tense and nervous, as hepulled out the Council Stones and held them out in his hand, marching toward the lake with his shoulders squared and the other hand on the handle of his sword.
“It would be funny if it didn’t work after all this effort,” muttered Arthur, and Aria elbowed him through the slit in the armor’s waist. He hissed in pain because of how sharp the hit felt, but he led his horse quickly toward the lake and right in front of Travus.
The horse neighed loudly as it was pulled to a halt, and Travus stopped walking when he saw Aria on its back.
“Listen to me, Travus,” she begged, gripping onto the saddle as her other arm grabbed her abdomen. “You don’t understand how much danger you’re putting everyone in. Thisisn’tthe way!”
“Aria!” the Fairy Guardian cried out and flew to the horse, grabbing her daughter’s arm. “You’ve put yourself in enough danger! Fall back immediately!”
“Let me speak!”
Arthur almost faltered under the hard gaze her mother gave him. “Sir Guisgard, I command you to take my daughter away from here atonce!”
Aria snatched her arm out of her mother’s grasp. “He doesn’t answer to you,” she snapped and slid off the horse. “Please, Mother, step aside.”
The Fairy Guardian paid no mind and grabbed Aria’s shoulders, watching the Fairy Sentinel moan as she clutched her belly. Travus stood in place with a stoic expression, but Arthur could tell from his eyes that he was worried for her. The Fairy Guardian’s eyes shimmered, and she gasped, her hands pulling back as she stepped away in horror.
“What is the meaning of this?” she said softly as her widened eyes darted between her daughter and Travus. “How…how is this possible?”
Travus’s eyes softened, the corners of his hardened mouth twitching with sadness and frustration. The Fairy Guardian glared at him and shielded Aria behind her.
“For weeks, I didn’t chase after my daughter because I believed this would be no different from all her other missions,” she started in a low and dangerous tone. “I thought she was, once more, doing something honorable and maintaining the realm’s peace. To bring you down!”
“That, she was,” Travus grunted as he gripped the stones in his hands.
