Snow snorted derision. “With what army?”
“With the people of the kingdom. They will answer your call to arms,” Roderick continued.
Elator and Yirrie both glanced between Roderick and Snow.
Elator said, “So, it’s true then. You are the heir to the throne of the Mystic Vale?”
Snow remained silent in her defiance. Roderick leaned forward.
“Tell them, Snow.”
She pinned him with a heated glare as he sat back in the chair, taking the steaming cup of tea and sipping. A smug sense of triumph shifted through him. He was getting to her, at last, and forcing her to tell them the truth. Her truth.
“Yes, Snow. Tell us,” Elator urged.
She inhaled a deep breath, exhaled it. Then she began the tale once again about her banishment.
“She told me I was nothing more than a nuisance and I wasn’t wanted there. I ran away. I made my way through the villages southward to the forest.”
She paused, remembering that day as clearly as though it were yesterday. She dragged her lower lip through her teeth.
“I found my way into the forest. It wasn’t long after that you and Yirrie found me.” She unfolded her arms and reached both hands out to them. One to Elator and one to Yirrie. They each clasped her offered hand. “But that doesn’t mean I have to leave here. I’m happy here with you and the other elves.”
Elator’s face softened. “Snow, I think we all know what a falsehood that is. You say you’re happy here, yet you leave the village to go into the forest every chance you get.”
He wasn’t wrong and she hated that he knew it. She released both their hands and sat back into the chair once again.
“I don’t mean to,” she said at last. “It’s just that the forest calls to me and I must answer.”
“What does that mean?” Up until now, Yirrie had been silent as she listened to them.
“It means I draw strength from nature,” Snow said. “It means without it, I grow weak.”
“It’s why I removed the board from her window,” Elator said.
“You—”
“We will discuss later,” he said, cutting off his wife.
Snow almost smiled at that. “What Roderick has told you is true. I am the heir to the throne. I am the rightful ruler of the Mystic Vale.”
“Why have you never told us this?” Elator asked. He didn’t hide the disappointment on his face.
Seeing that sent a dagger right to Snow’s heart. Heat pounded through her cheeks. She shook her head. “At the time, I was a child. I was afraid if you knew my true identity, you wouldn’t like me anymore. Or you would send me back to her.”
“Oh, Snow.” Yirrie pressed her shaking fingertips to her lips. Tears danced in her eyes once again. “It didn’t matter to us who you were. Only that you were here with us and safe.”
“You could have told us the truth,” Elator said. “And we would have protected you no matter what.”
“But you can’t protect me. Seraphina found me here in the village.”
“And she will again,” Roderick said. “That’s why you have to leave.”
Frustration edged through her. “But I have no army and the elves won’t fight for me if Tasnia has anything to say about it.” Snow was aware of how the Elder felt about her.
“You don’t know until you ask,” Elator said.
Snow shook her head. “We all know she and the others want me gone. That I don’t belong here. And besides, the elves have no interest in affairs outside the forestorthis village.”
