The gathered men and women spotted Alyssa and Eagene on the steps and briefly bowed low before them.
“What may we do for you this morning, my good man?” Eagene asked of the nearest person. He approached to within a few feet of her, eyeing the guards, and bowed again.
“I came upon this vase in my travels. It once belonged to Queen Anastasia the Great, and I also acquired the letters of proof,” he said, handing an exquisitely fragile white vase adorned with violet Elder Flowers to a guard for them to inspect.
Alyssa did not need to see the seal at the bottom or the letters of proof; she recognized the vase from a portrait of her great-great-grandmother. This vase was a wedding gift from Moab, the fairy queen, to Anastasia—her youngest daughter—a fairy who took elven form to be with the
