Silence descended between them. Tasnia remained in the door, standing rigid, her eyes hard and unforgiving. Yirrie twisted the towel in her hands. Elator dropped his hand from her shoulder and gave Snow his full attention. But when he spoke, he spoke to Tasnia.
“Bring him here, Tasnia.”
“No!” Yirrie said on a gasp. She wrapped her hand around his upper arm. “You cannot—”
“Yes, Yirrie. We have much to discuss with him and Snow.”
“Very well,” Tasnia said without emotion and was off before Yirrie could protest again.
Snow went back to sweeping, trying to occupy her hands and her mind and not think about Roderick or how furious she was with him for coming to the village when she told him to return home. Now, things were altered between her, Yirrie, and Elator. The air had shifted around them.
She should have known something was wrong when she felt the shift in energy. She wondered, then, if that was when Roderick broke the magical barrier and entered the village. He was a stranger, after all, and the Elders would immediately sense a stranger within the borders of their village. Most of the elves were reclusive by nature.
Moments later, Tasnia returned with Roderick following her. She paused at the doorway and made a hand motion for him to enter. Snow caught his eye but did her best to act normal. She replaced the broom in the nearby closet. Yirrie bustled into the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil. Elator greeted Roderick with a broad smile, though Snow was aware it was forced.
“I leave him with you, then,” Tasnia said. She closed the door behind her with a snap.
Roderick stood ramrod straight, glancing between the three of them. Snow busied herself at the table, cleaning up the remains of breakfast Elator left behind.
“Snow?” Elator asked. “Are you going to introduce us to your friend?”
She dropped the dishes in the sink and turned to him, her gaze on Elator. Her fury was so great, she refused to look at Roderick. “He’s not my friend.”
At least not yet. At the moment, he was her sworn enemy by coming into the village.
“My name is Roderick,” he said. “I’m a master blacksmith from the village of Bridgefort in the Feywood Kingdom. I’ve come with a gift for the princess—”
“Donotcall me that,” she snapped, her voice hard with a hint of warning.
But Roderick was impervious to the heated glare she pinned on him. “Is that not what you are? Princess and heir to the throne of the Mystic Vale?”
Her hands trembled with rage as she clenched them into tight, white-knuckled fists. Her nails dug into her palms, a physical manifestation of the boiling anger consuming her.
Elator and Yirrie both gaped at her. It was Elator who spoke, his tone even and quiet.
“You are the heir apparent?”
“I am nothing!” Snow slashed a hand through the air in her fury.
Roderick stepped toward her. “You are not nothing. The people in the villages of the Mystic Vale love you and want you to be their queen.”
“Oh, what do you care?” she snapped. “Why do you even have an interest in the Mystic Vale when you are from the Feywood?”
“Snow!” Yirrie said her name on a gasp. “Whatever else he is, Mr. Roderick is our guest.”
Just then the tea kettle whistled. She bustled to the stove as Snow continued to glower at him.
“Forgive us. We have been inhospitable,” Elator said then. He waved to one of the dining chairs. “Please, sit and enjoy a cup of tea and some apple bread my wife made.”
Watching Roderick take his seat at the table, Snow concealed her anger. She wanted to shout at Elator for allowing him a seat at their table. With a confident demeanor, he swung his long leg over the chair and lowered himself down, all while maintaining eye contact with her. Yirrie brought over the kettle, four cups, and sliced bread on a tray. She placed it in the middle of the table and took her seat as Elator sat across from her.
They all glanced her way, but Snow refused to move.
“Snow, please sit,” Elator said.
She wanted to refuse. Everything inside her told her to remain where she stood. But when she looked at Elator, saw the expectant look on his face, she forced her feet to move. She lowered herself into the chair opposite Roderick. Yirrie poured tea, handing him a cup.
“Now,” Elator said, “perhaps you begin at the beginning. What brings you here to our village?”
