Elvi

The Inquiry

As the wagons rolled into the sight of the village, trilling and cheering could be heard. The witches had left the safety of the dome shield to greet their returning Coven. Those able, ran forwards, searching the crowd for their kin and loved ones. Elvi dropped herself down off the moving wagon, landing heavily on her feet in front of the King. She pushed away his hands as he attempted to stabilise her, he held them up in surrender. He frowned as she eyed him up and down in disgust and turned towards her Coven in the back of the wagon.

Priestess stepped aside with the King, speaking quietly as the Coven slowly made their way back into the shelter of the dome charm. Elvi noticed that chairs had been placed in front of the stage, and some of the elderly and unwell of the Coven were already settling themselves in. She helped the last of her Coven down the stairs and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. The elder pulled her into a light hug, before turning away wordlessly. Elvi turned around to find Priestess in a passionate conversation with the King. She watched as his brow furrowed, and Priestess swung her hands towards the growing crowd. She took several steps towards the village before stopping at the sound of her name.

“Elvi. I need you,” Priestess called. Turning on her heel she closed the gap, but standing with as much distance as she could get away with from the King. “We will be having a meeting of the Coven in five minutes. I want you to have a few minutes by yourself before that happens.” Elvi raised her eyebrows at the Priestess, waiting for her to explain. “You will be spending the next three days travelling in the convoy to release the other prisoners.”

Elvi opened her mouth to protest but was met with a raised hand to silence her. She knew why the Priestess wanted her to take a few minutes. To calm herself down and seem as if she was on the same page as the Priestess. She had feared something like this might happen. If she was honest with herself, a part of her wanted to be there to make sure the shifters behaved, but she would be away from her Coven. Her brother could not be expected to be with her; he would need to stay to look after Arawn as he settled in.

“You will go with Fiadh (fee~a),” she turned back to the King, not dropping her eyes from his, Elvi watching on with curiosity. “She is adept in defensive and glamour magic,” the King narrowed his eyes, “alongside her vast knowledge of medicinal herbs and healing spells. I think she will be the best one to have with you, just in case you are in need of support. Who knows, she might teach you something” she finished, finally turning away from the King, and walking back into the dome without another word.

Elvi sighed heavily, rubbing a hand down her face. When she finally opened her eyes she found the King watching her. He looked tired, she observed; as though he had had life sucked out of him that day. He took a hesitating step, before committing and closing the gap between them. She turned to leave him, finding a large hand engulfing her fingers, gently holding her in place.

“I want you to know,” Rowan said in a small voice, “That I didn’t know that the prisoners were left in the cell if they died. I know that doesn’t change that it happened, but I was under the impression they were given adequate food and burial. There will be an inquiry once we have everyone home.”

Elvi nodded slightly, unable to turn and face him. He dropped her hand, letting her leave in peace. Elvi walked to a public storage shed by the border, closing the door tightly, before slumping down onto a crate by the door, falling into silent hysterics.

*

Elvi quietly walked onto the stage and sat in one of the two empty chairs, trying to not meet the eyes of her Coven. Priestess had already started talking to the crowd, taking longer than she would have liked to admit to pull herself together. She had performed a very simple glamour spell that Haydeon had taught her on herself to remove the blotching from her cheeks, and redness from her eyes. Elvi froze as her eyes unintentionally landed on Morana. She berated herself as she took in her appearance and was happy to see her looking so unkept and as though she had too been crying.

“... I cannot express how much joy I hold in my heart seeing you all here, as you should be. All of the highers will be available day and night for those who have returned to us, if they require anything at all. For those coming home to an empty house, we will be providing someone to stay with you, for as long as you require their presence. Now, some of you will not know, but the reason that this has all been made possible, is because the Shifter King found his mate.” Elvi made a point to look over the heads of the crowd, staring at a crow sitting in a nearby tree instead. “He found his mate, in our sister Elvi.” A small gasping ripple through the seats at the front of the group. “Through conversations with the King, Elvi has been able to secure the release of all of those Witches incarcerated, the banning of witch hunts, prisons and killings, and safe passages for witches wherever they may travel. She will be travelling in my stead for the next three days to oversee the release of the other prisoners, to make sure that the shifters hold up their end of the bargain.”

“WHAT?” Haydeon exploded from the fifth row. “You have to be joking.”

“No. I am not joking, Haydeon. Who do you suggest I send? Arryn? Or have you forgotten what the King did to him today?”

“No. He deserved it” Haydeon said forcefully, attempting to stand from his chair, finding Arawn’s hand on his shoulder.

“Oh, I see. So you agree with the brutality of the shifters on your own kind” she replied with a voice of venom.

“I didn’t mean it like that. He touched my sister. It would have been me if I had known before.”

“We will discuss this later, Haydeon. Now is not the time,” she finished with irritation. “Elvi will travel with Fiadh. She is a well rounded witch who has skills perfect for concealment and escape should they be necessary. While they are away, we will focus on settling in our returned Coven. That is all” she finished, turning to Elvi. They walked down the stairs together and began to walk to Priestesses house, being joined by Fiadh, Haydeon and Arawn.

“The King and his group will be here at seven in the morning so that you have plenty of time to get to the rest of the convoy. I have made it perfectly clear to the King that should anything happen to either of you, I hold him personally responsible. I want you to pack your things for four days, eat a filling meal and get to bed. You will need your strength.

*

Elvi had offered her bed to Arawn while she was gone, having lost his family over the years; they were more like siblings than friends. She had asked him to sleep in her bed that night, thinking he was dead all these months, she needed him to be close to her over the night. She woke at five to the sounds of the early rising birds, Arawn curled up to her, his arm hanging loosely over her middle, snoring lightly in her ear. She smiled to herself, taking his hand in hers. She didn’t want to leave him so soon. She had cried for weeks when he had been taken and presumed dead. Now here he was, worse for wear, but here with her. He jerked awake at the touch of his hand.

“You’re okay. It’s just me, Elvi” she said quietly.

He pulled her roughly into him, slipping his other hand under her to hug her properly. He buried his head into her hair and held her quietly. Elvi used a calming technique she had learnt, by matching his breathing speed, then slowly lowering her own so he subconsciously met hers.

“I don’t want you to go with those monsters” Arawn whispered after a few silent minutes.

“I don’t want to go either,” she admitted.