Shayn watched as the king absorbed the situation. Should he try to explain, or wait for realization? He'd just asked a question, but the way his eyes unfocused slightly indicated it might be rhetorical.
"Your Majesty, may I present Gwen, of the Fae, and Jarnsaxa and Hugi of the giants… sort of."
Jarnsaxa looked at him with mild amusement before returning a serious gaze to the men in the room. At her request, Shayn had stopped referring to her as Queen of the Giants, dropping all honorifics. It made a sad sort of sense–with only her son under her authority, she could hardly call herself a queen, and as to the other part…
"I'm afraid I don't understand." Roland said after a moment, his eyes flickering to Gwen and back to the now-human-sized giants.
"You have had much on your mind of late," Gwen put in. "It is expected that this would confuse you."
The king sighed. "Everyone, please do take a seat. I can tell this will take a while to explain to me."
"Gwen, if you would do the honors, I think it will be easier and faster." Simone smiled.
Shayn had not yet grown used to having his thoughts read and answered by the fae, but Simone had gotten quickly used to the invasive sensation. It seemed unnatural to him, but he wasn't in charge of things, was he?
Gwen shot him an amused glance, and he ducked his head. He should be better at controlling his thoughts around the otherworldly woman.
She turned back to Roland and began speaking. Her sentences were disjointed, obviously answering different questions as he thought them, but doing so completely enough that everyone in the room would understand her meaning easily enough.
"I came to this world a few days ago through an open portal. No, I am the only Fae who has come into your world. Yes, I'm aware of the Beast and his activities in the South. No, I cannot monitor it all by myself without being able to communicate with the other Fae."
The people in the room stared back and forth between the Fae and Roland as if they were watching a ball bounce back and forth between them. The king's subtle expression changes were the main indicator of his thoughts as he mentally peppered the Fae with new questions.
She smiled kindly.
"No, I didn't do this to the giants. They found the way themselves. I will let them explain that part, as it does involve a measure of pain." Gwen's eyes moved to Jarnsaxa, who stepped forward.
"I understand you must be very confused by our appearance." She began.
"In more ways than one," Roland replied seriously. "The message I received was that four giants had come. Are they…" he paused, and Shayn resisted the urge to grimace.
"Did Riley not tell you yet?" He interrupted, looking at his elder brother.
"I literally got here a few minutes ago. I haven't exactly had time for the full report yet, and didn't send a messenger bird because of Beast's size and ability to command loyalty. I had no idea if a bird would be subject to its… persuasion." Riley shook his head.
"What do you know of this?" Roland turned on the General.
"When I encountered Beast, the giants, along with Shayn and Simone, were there. I hadn't had the chance to tell you all that yet. I think I heard most of it; even when whispering, the giants are rather loud…" Riley paused, and looked Roland in the eyes. "Two of the giants joined Beast, and two ran off in the other direction. I sent Shayn and Simone after… well, these two. But they were still giants last time I saw them."
Roland took a deep breath and turned back to Jarnsaxa. "Your husband, and Fjorna, the other giant, they serve Beast?"
The former-queen's face fell. "The deepest betrayal I have ever felt. It broke me. My pride in myself was worthless, my reign over, and all that I had worked for…" She sighed. "You know the legend of the giants' origin? Your librarian told me of it."
"Giants were humans once, that thought much of themselves, and they were grown to the size of their pride," The Treasurer spoke from the side of the room.
"With my pride broken, I turned to the Sorcerer for guidance, and aid. Giving up that part of myself… I became as you see me now. Seeing my transformation, my son gave up his own pride and vowed his life to the Sorcerer as well. We are now as you see us." Jarnsaxa finished.
Silence held for a moment as everyone in the room absorbed the information. Simone glanced at Shayn, and he held her gaze for a moment. The days of traveling together with the transformed giants and the mind-reading Fae had made him avoid her. Though Gwen had sped the journey along considerably—combined with Judah's sprinting–it was still a long time to get home. Riley had beaten them only by minutes despite his head start and swift horses.
Shayn wondered if he had taken any breaks or simply changed horses to keep riding night and day to get home faster.
"I am sorry for your loss. We are undergoing similar struggles amongst our people," Roland said, and something in his voice made the younger man tense.
"Who?" He blurted out.
"Shayn, know your place," Riley rebuked his younger brother.
"It's all right, General," The king said formally. "I might as well tell you both now. Messengers arrived a few days ago proclaiming Beast to be some kind of savior to the masses. Claimed he could purify the water, provide ample food, heal the sick, the lame, and the blind… Many left, enthralled by these promises."
"Including…?" Riley asked as a foreboding gripped Shayn's heart.
"Kyler left the first day." Roland hung his head. "And we don't have the resources to drag the deserters back to Klain and convince them to stay."
"WHAT?" Shayn burst out. "How could he leave? Who was with him? Why didn't they hold him back? It's not like he can fight them off easily!"
A gentle hand on his arm made him rein in his anger. This was a wildly inappropriate way to talk to his king.
"Did you come across any of them on your way back?" Roland ignored Shayn and turned hopefully to Riley.
"Some travelers, but I suspected nothing amiss at the time. I thought perhaps you were branching out sending more farmers to till new lands. Looking back, they did seem to avoid interacting with us in any way, but that didn't bother me as I was in a hurry to get back…" The General's jaw tensed.
"I have to go get him," Shayn whispered. "Before he gets there. I can bring him back."
"No," Riley glared. "I will not send one brother into danger for the sake of another."
"You can't stop me," The younger man glared into his elder brother's eyes. "We both failed him against an enemy once before, and I will not let it happen again."
"Neither of us were to blame for what happened," Riley's eyes narrowed. "Misplaced blame on yourself will only lead you to make deadly mistakes."
"Gwen, could you help us break the enchantment on the people and bring everyone home?" Roland interrupted. "Also, we need help feeding… well, the whole world, actually."
All eyes swung towards the Fae, for a moment daring to hope she might solve all their problems.
"Each person makes their own choices," She said carefully. "I cannot interfere with that. As to the enchantment, I explained before how it is the darkness in one's own soul that Beast controls. Eradicating that darkness by shedding light on it is the only way to prevent having your mind taken captive."
"But Kyler seems like one of the brightest, kindest people I've ever met," Simone said from beside Shayn.
"Humans often wear masks to hide what they think is ugliest within them," Gwen shook her head sadly.
"So what do we do? How can we get our people back?" Roland's voice held an edge of desperation.
"I cannot help with this," The Fae's eyes dropped. "Alone, here, without my kindred, I can be only a messenger, and little more. Even at that, I was delayed by the forces at work in the worlds. I fought through several portals to come to this world via one naturally large enough, though there were those who did not want me to succeed."
"The Void? This Beast and its followers? Something… worse?" The king's voice was steady, but Shayn noticed the corners of his eyes tighten with the stress of even asking the question.
Gwen paused, looking at Roland, and perhaps listening to his scattered thoughts before she spoke again.
"There are many forces in the worlds, but you have correctly discerned there is one entity coalescing the others to the cause of Darkness. It will be a battle you cannot fight, nor win, under your own power."