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Chapter 18

A rdan hardly let her out of his sight. In fact, it drove her mad that he was her constant shadow, no matter where she went or what she did.

Mostly, she spent long hours in her room, staring at the boarded window. A few times, she had the impulse to march around to the back of the house and rip off the wood. But explaining to Yirrie and Elator why would be difficult.

As much as they taught her about nature, connecting with nature, they did not understand how deep her magic went. She missed her friends, Annilen and Faradill. She worried there were hunters in the woods looking for unicorns.

On the night of the full moon, she was curled on her bed gazing at the covered window wishing she was in the forest, talking to Faradill and Annilen. Listening to the hoot of the night owl and the chirp of the crickets. The rustle of underbrush as a nocturnal animal foraged for food. How she missed it all.

She held the pendant between her thumb and forefinger, thinking about Master Harwin and the dark wizard. Both of them urged her to return home and reclaim her throne.

But how? She had no army. It wasn't likely the elves would back her. Tasnia would be happy to see her go.

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. Odd, this time of night.

"Yes?" she called.

The door opened a crack and Elator stuck his head inside. He gave her a mischievous grin. "Yirrie is sleeping."

He said this as if this was the best news.

Snow sat on the edge of the bed, her bare feet on the floor. "Is she?"

Elator pushed the door wider and whispered, "Come with me."

Then he disappeared into the shadows of the house. Snow, uncertain what he was up to, grinned. She reached for her dressing gown and pulled it on over her shift. In truth, she had been about to crawl under the covers and try to sleep but now she was curious to see what Elator was up to.

She hurried through the house and found him standing at the front door. He put a finger to his lips to indicate silence and she nodded, her heart pounding with excitement.

Elator pulled open the door and waved her through it. She saw there was a small fire and two chairs on either side of it. Grinning, she stepped outside into the night. Behind her, Elator closed the door, then waved her to one of the chairs.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"You've been stuck inside for days," he said. "I know what it means to you to be out in the evening air when there's a full moon."

Surprise flickered through her. "You do?"

He nodded as he lowered down into one of the chairs. Snow did the same.

"Yirrie doesn't understand, but I do. You are connected to nature more deeply than any of us are. I sensed that when we found you at the foot of that tree ten years ago. I sense it even now," he said.

Words failed her as she looked at the man who had raised her for all these long years. She hadn't given him enough credit for understanding her. He reached for a long stick by his chair and handed it to her. There was a fat marshmallow stuck on the end.

When she was a girl and had first come to the village, she and Elator spent hours outside late into the night roasting marshmallows. He told her fantastical stories of when the elves were under the rule of the High King, when the landscape of their kingdom was different. When dragons roamed the skies.

Of course, she never believed these stories, but she loved hearing them.

She took the stick from him.

"You understand me," she said, wonder in her voice.

"I do. I am not so unlike you." He stuck the marshmallow in the fire, turning it slowly to roast it evenly.

She watched the fire flicker for a long moment, then said, "This means a lot to me."

"I know you are human," he said. "But you're special. We've always known you were special since the moment we saw you sleeping at the foot of the tree. That seems like only yesterday."

"But you've never treated me as if I were different."

She thought about the past and how they had raised her, loved her, kept her safe. And all she'd done was run off to the forest, breaking through the magical barrier Tasnia placed to keep her safe from more dark magic. She'd broken her promise she would stay within the boundaries of the village.

"We tried not to," he said, still turning his stick. "But we both understood that someday you may want to return to where you came from."

Hot pinpricks went over her skin as she cut him a glance. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know that I understand if you have to leave it. You're a young woman now. Perhaps you want to return to your parents—"

"No," she said, cutting him off. Her gut clenched. "My parents are dead."

But there was something to return to—her throne. Rule of the Mystic Vale kingdom which did not include the Wyldwood Forest.

"Ardan told me about the stranger in the forest," Elator said.

Snow's head snapped over to him as cold pinpricks went through her. "He shouldn't have done that."

Elator cut her a glance, but there was no anger in his eyes. "He said the man was human, like you, and that you seemed to make a connection with him."

She stared at him. She tried to think of a response, but her mind was blank. He shifted in his chair, still slowly turning the stick with the nearly charred marshmallow on the end.

"I think what I'm trying to say, Snow, is that if you wish to return to your world, then you should."

"But…What about Yirrie? Won't she be upset?"

"I'll handle Yirrie." He gave her a small smile.

"You think because I made a connection with another human that I want to be among them. Is that it?"

His shoulders slumped as he nodded. "Don't you?"

Snow sat back in the chair, the stick dangling from her hand as she thought about his words. He was, essentially, releasing her from their village. Though not in a way that appeared to be pushing her out. He wanted only the best for her and, it seemed, he felt as though the best was for her to return to her own world, leaving the isolated world of the elves behind.

Did she? She had no place to go, no place to live. No place among humans. How would she survive among them once again?

"I don't know," she said, her voice hollow. Then, "I'm sorry I broke my promise to stay within the village protective magic."

He made a derisive sound. "Snow, what Yirrie doesn't understand is how connected you are to the energy of the surrounding nature. I do. I understand there is nothing that will keep you within the confines of this village." He paused, pulling his stick out of fire and frowning at the burned gooey substance on the end. "I regret boarding up your window, but Yirrie made me do it."

It meant a lot to Snow to hear him say it. For a moment, she didn't feel so isolated with the elves.

"I brought you out here tonight because I thought it would help."

How kind of him to think of her when all Yirrie wanted was to keep her locked up inside the house.

"Thank you," she said on a whisper. "It does help."

Even though she wasn't in the forest itself, being in the night with the full moon overhead seemed to help recharge her. She was grateful for the time and for Elator.

She also understood he brought her out here to talk to her about meeting the stranger, something Ardan should have kept to himself. He promised not to tell anyone and yet he'd told Elator.

The stranger with the blue-green eyes was on her mind a lot lately. In fact, she hadn't stopped thinking about him since the moment she met him. When he rode away, she wondered what it would be like to call out to him and beg him to take her with him. Would he have refused or agreed?

Ardan was right. There was some kind of connection between them that surfaced almost the moment they came face to face. She suspected it was because they were both elementals. That alone seemed to connect them to each other. It didn't mean they were destined to fall in love, though.

Did it?

It was silly to think about, so she shoved the thoughts away.

Elator tossed away the stick with the burned marshmallow and then rose, stretching his arms over his head.

"Well, I think I'll leave you here to enjoy the peace and the fire."

She glanced up at him. "What about—"

"Don't worry about anything." He granted her a smile. "Good night, Snow."

"Good night."

She watched him return to the house, the door closing softly behind him. Elator was right. It was difficult for her to remain within the confines of the village, when the forest beckoned. She rose from the chair and gave a glance back at the closed door of the house.

Her heart rammed hard in her chest. She knew she was going to do it before she took her first step. Gathering her dressing gown in her hands, she hurried toward the forest.

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