The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 20

Two weeks go by In a blur, the Faye were surprisingly hospitable, they were always willing to accommodate me starting with my room, I couldn’t sleep a wink on the first night with how incessantly bright it was outside so I asked Raydia if I could get a room in the higher, preferably dimmer part of the tree and she brought me a Luna Sphere, a sphere that when activated over a distance dims the surrounding creating an illusion of night, I was very grateful and impressed that they had one just lying around

The food was also nice, I was allowed to cook and even hunt for myself, I would go out the barrier once a day to meet with Adromeda, every time Raydia would insist on coming with me, she probably thought I was going to run away, I can’t say I didn’t consider it at first but that was before I began exploring their library

True to their word, I was given full access to the every section of the library where I spent most of my time, the Faye never bothered me outside of customary greetings they wouldn’t even talk to me, all except Grundal who would sneer at me from time to time which I learned to ignore, as far I as knew I never did anything to warrant his open animosity, the biggest source of my discomfort was the Faye that asked me that question the first day who seemed to have vanished into thin air, I hadn’t seen him once since that day, with more and more Faye arriving at the tree as days went by my looming discomfort grew to heavy suspicion, presently there are 35 Faye in this tree, I asked Raydia about it and she said it was purely coincidental, that Faye covens frequent this spot from time to time, Last time I checked Faye covens don't mix well with each other and prefer to keep to themselves, could the little I knew about the Faye be entirely false?

Raydia had been me attached to me since the first day only leaving my side when I slept, that being because I wouldn’t allow her sleep with me, she was clingy, very clingy, other than that she was by my side every waking second of every day, at breakfast, lunch dinner, when I explore the palace, when I go to the library, when I found a book In the library about refining and internalizing mana, when I learnt the meditation techniques to further purify your mana channels, when I found the perfect spot for meditating which coincidentally happened to be the spot she showed me on the first say and whenever I sit down to meditate, Like right now

“Could you stop that, I’m trying to focus” The eager finger that was tracing the tattoos on my back came to a halt, still lingering on my back just not moving

“Why?”

“You can see I’m trying to meditate Raydia”

“You should take a break, you’ve been doing so well”

True, since I started meditating and filtering out the mana going through my body strengthening the path way that mana flowed in my body, otherwise known as my mana channel, it became easier for me to stay in the barrier, the first night was hell, I woke up 4 times drenched in cold sweat dry heaving and now I mostly sleep fine but I knew that wasn’t what she meant

“You’ve said the same thing for the past 5 days, I only get better because I mediate, now do you mind?”

She pouted, she seriously stuck out her bottom lip like a spoilt child, she ignored my protest and turned her attention back to my back, the finger that paused started moving again this time tracing over something else

“Why do you have so many tattoos on your back, is it to cover your scars?” she asked and unknowingly answered her own question

“Yes, it is a Sylphorren custom to cover one’s scars with a tattoo, it isn’t mandatory, it’s just a choice”

“Why do you have so many?” my eyes must be tired from all this sun because for a second I could’ve sworn she looked Angry, but what reason does she have to be angry?

“It’s an honor”

“To be covered in scars?!!”

“Yes!! they are proof that you have been restored, surely the cracks are where the light enters you” I repeated a quote my mom often told me, my mother always had the right words to say, Like when I got my first scar, a cut on my thigh, she showed me a similar one on her tight which she had covered with a tattoo, a fond memory I couldn’t help but smile at

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone this happy to be covered in scars”

“Then you’ve clearly never met a moon elf” I said with a smile fueled by pleasant memory

Silence, for a short while she was completely silent, the only sound between us was the rustling of leaves, she stared at me as if I grew a second head, in an attempt to hide my growing unease from her heavy gaze I winced away, running my right hand over my face

“Is the sun too much for you?”

“What?” she doesn’t wait for my answer, instead she waves her hand and a veil of leaves come down to cover us

“How do you do that? Use magic without words, I looked through every book I could find in that library but none of them spoke on how you evoke spells without incantation”

“You’re asking the wrong questions, you should be wondering why YOU need incantations”

I never thought about that

“I’m sure you noticed how different races, say the spells in their own languages, It’s the same words but spoken differently, have you ever tried saying a spell in a different language? Did it have the same effect?”

“I never tried”

“Of course not, it wouldn’t have felt right now would it? you have no connection to those words, the magic you evoke comes from the words you give power to, we Faye have that same connection but with nature itself, the purest form of mana, most of the trees you see were probably planted by a Faye”

“Is that why you care so much about the plants and the trees?”

“Some more than others...." she paused and began to run her hand over the branch we were sitting on "....Do you know that these plants are alive? They live, they breathe, they grow, they remember” as she spoke she gently caressed the branch back and forth almost lovingly

“I came across something like that in a book in the library, turns out it's a common speculation that because plants have life forces they were alive but it was disproven, in fact they called the very idea insane”

“How would they know?!! They never planted, cared for or nurtured a tree, they could never feel the steady rhythm as it breathed, the life it buzzed with, they know NOTHING!!” I didn’t expect her to get this heated or to be this offended, her outburst caused me to move back so I could put some distance between us

“I’m sorry” I apologized unsure of what to say in this situation

She fell silent for a bit “Would you believe me if I told you, that I planted this tree?”

“Wouldn’t that make you older than 2 centuries, Raydia?”

Silent again

“Teehee, you are a smart cookie, I knew I couldn’t pull a fast one on you...." and just like that, the mask was back on, traces of the serious conversation we had nowhere to be found “....Now come on let’s go back inside, I’m feeling a little cold”

She faked a shiver, quite the audacity she has to say that when she is wearing silk so thin it looks like spider webs across her skin

In no mood to argue with her I rise from my spot packing the books and parchments I brought with me for study and she latches on to my arm talking animatedly leaving me to wonder why was she like this? I owe so much of what I learnt to her, my first day at the library I picked up a book on runes, I was 12 pages in and ready to give up, I had no idea what I was reading, it was Raydia who brought me a book on the Theasis of transmigration, showing their relations to script carves which were the origins of runes, she knows so much more than she cares to admit yet she prefers to act the fool, I wasn’t sure if she was truly foolish or purely diabolical

Either way she never stops talking, most of the times I zone her out, a technique I picked up as a kid for times when Uncle’s Desmond’s reprimands got a little lengthy

“Greetings”

My savior!!, I was thankful for anyone who would put a pause to her rambling even if it were Grundal

“Hello Grundal” Raydia answers, I just give a curt nod

“I see she’s still here”

Geez Grundy it’s a pleasure to see you too

“Yes she is” Raydia says coldly while giving him a stare to match her tone

“Theory of Morphis and Transmigration to Stabilize energy....” he reads out loud the title of the book I was clutching to my chest “....you understand this?” he finally directs a statement at me

“Yes, I do, I find the internalization of mana for effective stabilization and recuperation a fascinating and much needed skill in all aspects”

“I can see you’ve been practicing, your Core looks clearer...”

My what? I raise one eyebrow at him questionably, he doesn’t elaborate on his statement instead he turns to Raydia “....Gaizen will be returning soon”

Her arm tightens around me, she opens her mouth to retort but clamps it back shut, looking around at anything except him, till her eyes landed on me where she paused then immediately looked away

“Let’s go” she drags me away from him

“kjisy haurg be ruu da” There’s still time,

He says from behind us

“I think he’s not done talking to you” I tell Raydia

“Ignore him” was all she said her eyes trained to the ground as we walked, I couldn’t handle when she rambled but I would pick that over her silence any day, this atmosphere was suffocating

“So how do you feel about flowers?” in an attempt to snap her out of what ever trance she was in

“WHICH KIND?!!!” and it did the trick, she was back and she was rambling on and on about the different phylum classifications of Calyx plants, this was more like her

Hours go by after our encounter with Grundal and the impromptu botany lesson, I came back to my room to continue studying the books I got from the library, none of them mentioned the seal but they still had a lot of new things to learn when all of a sudden I hear shuffling from behind my door, It swings open revealing Raydia, her hair a mess, contrary to the neat braid she always had it in, she was panting and covered in sweat, her silk dress bunched up in her hands, she looked distraught

“Are you ohkay?”

Before I could get an answer the door is pushed open further revealing 4 more Faye, two of which I recognized from the first night

“What are you two still doing here? Gaizen is back”