31. Anevae

Just as quickly as the light in the cave vanished, a faint light appeared ahead. The closer we got to the end of the tunnel, the more of the landscape ahead came into focus. At first, all I could see was a sea of different shades of red. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light, and my jaw dropped. Everything was so vibrant. Letting go of Maeyve"s hand, I rushed forward toward the mouth of the cave.

More and more details came into focus; there were a multitude of colors. They were mesmerizing. As Momma described when we were young, the leaves were a rich red, almost the color of ripe tomatoes. None of the leaves were the purple Momma had mentioned they would turn during the autumn-like season of Caellaias. The tree bark matched the color of the mahogany wood used to build my cabin, and the grass was the most luscious green I"d ever seen. Despite not having seen the kingdom for several decades, Momma"s descriptions were so perfect it felt like I had been there before.

Maeyve came up beside me and intertwined our fingers once more. "I know this is all new and different for you, but please stay close to me and be careful. I don"t think I would be able to live with myself if something happened to you. The animals in this area can be unpredictable, sometimes acting without thinking. When you"re ready, we need to go this way," she said softly as she pointed toward the left.

A deep growling came from our right. Maeyve immediately shoved me behind her as she began to crouch and growl in return. My heart started pounding as I searched for the source of the sound. A large black and white fox stood on the other side of Mayeve, just a few yards beyond the mouth of the cave. Something about the animal felt familiar.

Maeyve straightened up and laughed. "No freaking way. Calliope! Is that you?" Maeyve asked as she began approaching the fox. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

The fox whimpered, and its ears flattened as it backed up. Maeyve stopped and got down on her knees. Lowering her head, I could hear her mumble, "I"m sorry, Calli."

The fox ran up, licked Maeyve"s face, and darted further into the woods. Maeyve remained crouched on the ground, but the way her shoulders shook, I could tell she was crying. I walked up, knelt, and hugged her from behind to comfort her.

Rustling drew my attention to where the fox had disappeared. Instead of a fox, I found a woman staring at us. This was Calliope. She was tall and beautiful, resembling Maeyve in many ways. Her hair was the same mass of black curly waves, but hers had streaks of white instead of orange. Her honey-colored doe-eyes were similar to Maeyve"s, and her lips were slightly thinner but still the perfect bow shape. Though they had a similar cute snubby-shaped nose, Calli"s nostrils flared further out.

Slowly, Calli approached Maeyve and knelt beside her. I let go of Maeyve and sat back. They were familiar with each other, and I wanted to give them space. Calli reached out and placed her hand on Maeyve"s shoulder, but Maeyve quickly pulled her into a tight hug. Calli squeezed Maeyve back and nuzzled into the crook of her neck as she began to cry.

"I"ve missed you so much," Maeyve whispered.

"What are you doing here? Everyone thought you were dead. Where have you been?"

Maeyve let go of Calli to look her over. "Not much of our family cared what happened to me in that brothel, so they didn"t need to know that I"m still alive. I"m glad to see you, though." Sniffling, she wiped her nose and looked around. "Are you on guard patrol?"

Calli nodded as she moved to stand. "Unfortunately, I am. Family duty, ya know?"

"Fuck family duty. You"re barely of age! Why the hell would they place you on guard duty all the way out here? And alone at that!" Maeyve grumbled as she stood, turning to me. "Sorry, sweetheart; this is my cousin, Calliope. I"m sure you can see some similarities. The fox shifter genes are very prominent in our family."

Calli laughed. "I"m happy to see you haven"t changed much since the last time I saw you, Maeyve." Gesturing over at me, she asked, "And who is this you have with you? She smells like a royal."

Sighing, Maeyve grabbed my hand and turned back to me, giving me a loving look. "It"s a very long story, Calli. You cannot tell ANYONE, you hear me?" Maeyve glanced back at her cousin and gave her a severe stare. When Calli nodded, Maeyve continued, "Her name is Anevae. She"s Princess Cordilaen"s daughter."

Calli"s eyes grew wide, and she stepped back a couple of paces but stopped. She cleared her throat, took a deep breath, and looked back at me. Giving me a small curtsy, she said, "I"m so sorry, Your Highness. I"m just shocked to hear that Princess Cordilaen had a daughter. She"s been missing for a long time." Her face settled into a scowl. "Wait, who"s your father? Is he a human?!"

Frustration bubbled deep in my gut. What was with all the questions? What did it matter to her?

Maeyve squeezed my hand, which helped ground me as she replied to her cousin"s question, "Her father is Roarc, Lord Amaroc"s second son who went missing around the same time as Princess Cordilaen."

Calli gasped, "Oh. King Casimir isn"t going to like that. The royal family has always been purebred fae."

Irritation stirred again. "What the hell is so wrong with half-breeds?"

Calli glanced at her feet and mumbled, "I personally have nothing against half-breeds, but King Casimir is a firm believer in the idea that power comes from status; purebreds are considered the most powerful beings in his eyes. I don"t completely agree with that idea, but King Casimir ostracized his eldest daughter because she fell in love with a being that was not another purebred fae. When she left, he had high hopes for your mother. After your mother disappeared, he was devastated.

"King Casimir is not of direct royal descent as he married into the family. His father was a High Lord. He is, of course, a purebred fae, but he does not possess the abilities the royals do. When Queen Ahmeira passed away, she took the possibility of there being any more royal children."

"So my mom and aunt are the only direct descendants of the queen that can pass down the royal abilities? Could that be why the king wants me? Is that why he took Eiri, too? Even with us being half-breeds, we can still pass down whatever special powers the royals do, right?" I asked, looking at Maeyve.

"Yes, your mom and aunt were the last ones known to possess the royal abilities. If you have these abilities, it is possible for you to give them to your children. But that would depend greatly on who you had children with and what their bloodline was like."

My concern about meeting my grandfather intensified. Everything was starting to make sense. When he couldn"t get to my mom, he turned to the next best thing: my sister and I. He would never give up in his pursuit of finding his family, especially his daughter. Having Eiri and me made that easier. He could lure my mom to him with her daughters in his possession.

I stood there, stuck in my thoughts, when Calli said, "Maeyve, you need to get out of here before anyone else sees you. My parents are out here patrolling, too. I can arrange for a carriage to take you both to the castle so you can get there quicker and avoid prying eyes, but be careful when you get there. I"ve heard that King Casimir has been quite brutal as of late. He may not take kindly to you accompanying his granddaughter as you, yourself, are a half-breed."

Just then, I had an idea. "If we don"t have to go to the castle on foot, it won"t take us as long to get there, right?" Maeyve nodded, and I continued, "Can we stop to see my other grandfather? Maybe he can help us get my sister back."

Calli burst out laughing as I finished. Confused, I glared at her. She cleared her throat when she caught me glaring and explained, "No offense, but you don"t know Lord Amaroc. He"s a traditional wolf shifter and has quite a temper. My guess is that your father ran away for a multitude of reasons. Sure, King Casimir was angry at Cordilaen, but Roarc was also arranged to be married. Your father is as good as dead to Lord Amaroc, which means he may not take kindly to you either."

My heart sank. I"d grown up thinking I had no grandparents, only to find out that both of my grandfathers seemed to be pompous asses who may not accept me, and at least one of my grandmothers was dead. There really was so much I had to learn about my life that my parents had kept from me.

With everything running through my mind, I didn"t notice Maeyve was talking to me again until she caressed my cheek, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.

She gave me a small smile and asked again, "Are you okay? I know this is a lot for you to deal with."

Tears welled in my eyes as I whispered, "No. I"m trying to process everything I"ve learned and understand more about my family that"s been hidden from me. I"m in a strange place going to meet my grandfather—whom I didn"t know existed until a few days ago—because he had my sister abducted."

"I understand. Everything will be okay." She gave me a light, swift kiss and grasped my hand again to lead me to where Calli had wandered.

Before we left the forest, Calli stopped to let another of the protectors know she"d be headed to Ceraias for the night and would see them later.

Calli said as we began our trek, "This trip is normally a lot faster in my fox form, but… Can you shift, Anevae?"

"I"m not sure yet. I"ve never tried," I said.

"I"m almost certain her mother was giving her suppressants. She doesn"t even have access to her fae magic yet," Maeyve added.

"Hmm. Interesting. I"m sure you"ll be able to. But I apologize in advance; this is going to be a long walk," Calli said.

Shrugging, I said, "I came into Caellaias expecting to have to walk to Castle Rilvara. You"re already saving me from walking all the way there."

"Okay. We also likely won"t reach my home until nightfall, so make sure to stay close to us. The fact that I could smell your royalty means many others will as we go through the cities. The royal family hasn"t made an appearance outside of Eirvanna in centuries," Calli said.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Calli looked at Maeyve before explaining, "Your grandfather wasn"t the first one to think poorly of half-breeds. Many of the prior kings and queens believed that the fae were the superior race –"

"That doesn"t make sense, though. Why would the king employ shifters and vampires to be guards of the castle? Wouldn"t he want all of his guards to be fae?" I asked, confused.

A smirk appeared on Calli"s face as she looked over at me. "I think I"ll rather like you."

From there, we walked in silence. Once we left the woods, Calli took us through a few small towns. The little homes throughout them were simple and battered. But when we arrived in Ceraias, the homes were drastically different.

Even in the lamplight around the city, I could see that Calli"s home was a small two-story house with a beautiful structure made of black bricks. The matching black roof was slanted, similar to the ones in the Earth realm. It was immaculate.

Calli ushered us in and showed us a room we could use for the night. After putting our things down, Calli found us something to eat, then went to find a map to Castle Rilvara. As we ate, Calli and Maeyve spoke about our trip to the castle while I sat quietly, still processing everything. When I was done, I excused myself and got ready for bed; it"d been a long day, and the next day wouldn"t be much better.