had just grabbed from the tray, so I did. It took less than five seconds for my entire face to turn crimson, eyes wide and lips purple.
Damaris couldn’t hold it anymore and started laughing hysterically, his shrieks echoing through the woods, where other keepers constantly emerged from. Vikram started laughing too, while I choked and spat as much as my mouth allowed from the fire that had inundated my mouth with a vile taste.
The Queen peered at us, petrified, while the King turned towards his sons, perplexed, wearing a serious expression that demanded an immediate explanation.
“We made a special cake for our brother,” Damaris offered innocently.
“With capsicum chinense,” Vikram added, laughing so much that he had to grab his belly. Father looked shocked for a split second, then started laughing alongside his boys, while Mother offered me another peach-filled cake to take away the burning taste from my mouth, while scolding her two oldest.
“You two, I can’t believe it! Making fun of your brother on his first return home!” she disputed.
“It’s the last chance we get, Mother!” Damaris argued. “After this, he will be too busy chasing females,” he defended himself while pulling my still coughing self by the shoulder and patting me affectionately on the back. Vikram followed and we proceeded to walk towards the town square, guiding me through the gathering crowd.
After taking care of some of the administrative duties, where the King made a speech to welcome all the keepers who had travelled back home for the first time and asked them to report any incidents to one of the members of the guard in charge, displaying me to the population yet again and mentioning my assignment location, just to make sure everyone knew that I was caring for the Evigt Forest, we headed back to the palace to have a late family dinner.
The table lay arranged as per usual, with the King and Queen occupying their places at each end, with Vikram and me on one side and Damaris and Takara on the other. It was a cosy and familiar setting, during these family dinners we could forget about all titles and duties and become a family, casually dining and celebrating the return of the youngest son.
I asked about events in the past few days and the queen gladly talked me through the changes in the gardens, the new species some of the masters worked on and the preparations for my marking ceremony which was only three months away. In turn, Damaris told me about the situation in the guard and how they prepared a different assembly, while Takara remained quiet and only raised her shoulders, all the confirmation I needed that there had been no advancements with the creation of a nephew.
The King ate and listened, adding some information from time to time and asking only specific questions that affected his dealings with the other fae in high positions. When Vikram’s turn came, a wild grin possessed my brother’s face. “Four earthlings, a waterling and two women,” to which the Queen scoffed and threw her napkin into her son’s soup, splashing liquid all over his shirt.
I chuckled, along with the rest of the table, then adopted a more serious posture.
“There is something to report with regards to the realm protection,” I added gravely and all the family quieted, facing me in wait for more details. I looked at the King, then at my brother and added: “Fear Gorta is back.” The King bashed his knife into his plate, creating a sharp ring, while Vikram growled in disgust.
“Where?” was all the King said.
“In the district. In the cave,” I carefully added, trying not to create more urgency than I needed to. “The very first morning.”
Father stood abruptly and pushed his chair back with a thump, making Takara sitting next to him skid with a fright.
“It was in your home?” he roared and started walking across the room, taking big, angry steps. I maintained my calm and replied, “It adopted the figure of a male, tall, dark hair and eyes, sharp features. It calls itself Rhylan Gordon, apparently he took the name in Macedonia.”
Vikram shifted towards me, any fraction of a smile long disappeared from his lips. “Do you need guards?”
“No,” I quickly added, “there is no need, I wounded him with the opal sword and he disappeared, for the time being.”
“What was it doing there? What sort of business does Fear Gorta have in Catalina’s burial place?” the King enquired bitterly.
I raised my shoulders. “He tortured a human, a woman living in the forest. He wanted to use her as a blood sacrifice on my first day.”
“This is outrageous!” the furious King exclaimed, this time supporting his balance on Mother’s chair, who was looking at each of us, stunned.
“What is the state of the woman?” Vikram asked.
“She is fine, did not bleed, only a few bruises and a scare. I monitored her for a few days to make sure she was alright,” I announced while the thought of Anwen made my stomach twist and pulse accelerate. I hadn’t just ‘monitored’ her, I had touched her, held her and found any excuse to spend more time with her. And kissed her.
“I had to make myself visible a few times,” I looked down at my plate, then threw a quick gaze towards the Queen, awaiting her reaction. She waved it off and relief ran through every muscle of my tense self.
“We’ll deal with that later,” she disregarded and I caught another breath. The Queen was the one who commanded over the magic of the realm, whatever and however it was used and she had the supreme authority to impart judgement over any offences made, whenever they were not located in one of the fae territories. She could have very well asked for one of my arms to be cut off just because I had revealed myself to a human, but she was too concerned with the presence of the Fear Gorta to care about what seemed, in comparison, a minor incident.
After convincing the King and my brother that Rhylan had not returned in the following days of my stay and the event was dismissed as an isolated incident, we continued to dine and eat more of the seed cakes, though none of us truly relaxed.
A few glasses of wine, some tense jokes and we prepared to retire for the night, not before the Queen made sure that I had all things necessary at the cave and asked me to make a list of whatever food and equipment I needed restocked. She kissed all three of her sons and grabbed the King’s arm to accompany him into their chambers. Vikram lingered a while longer, then excused himself, wanting to speak to his men and ask for reports of Fear Gorta sightings in other districts. He bid his farewell and offered some battle advice, then went over the protocol of sounding the alarm in the district and made a joke about the spice cake coming down, then disappeared from the dining room.
“Other than that, how are things?” Damaris asked when just the three of us were left in the room. Takara chuckled and placed one of her hands comfortably on her husband’s shoulder. The familiarity of that single gesture was enviable, I had always admired the relationship between the two.
“What my insensitive husband means to ask,” she intervened as she affectionately flicked Damaris’ cheek, causing him to giggle, “is that we heard many young eligible females talking about how they plan to come greet you on your return.”
