After Simon's departure, I cleansed my skin in the lake, stripping it bare of his unique scent. I should not have touched him—shouldn't have gone near him. Having a friend had me acting recklessly. Pathetically, I craved closeness and desired intimacy more than what was common among elves. My father would question how I'd spent my day, and I would have to lie.
I was okay with that.
I didn't regret how I'd spent my day with a clumsy human who picked up rocks and compared them to my eyes.
Today had been worth it.
The grief of my brother's passing remained carved in the tunnels of my heart. Existing without Elion debilitated me. To sleep, I got drunk on wine berries and coaxed myself into having dreams that didn't involve him and what we'd been to each other. My brother had meant everything and more to me. He'd been the center of the universe, and I the lonely star pulled in by his righteous gravity.
Without the beacon I admired, I sank deep into the wilted flowerbed of my soul, ensnaring myself in thorns, misery, and sorrow.
I would sacrifice my royal status, magic, and life to have Elion beside me again. Just one more time.
I would have saved him if I had noticed sooner that my brother was sick. I wanted to believe that. However, even if I had been capable, my brother was stubborn and did well to conceal his pain to not worry me.
I wandered through the forest, across old logs and past tangled flower bushes. Reminiscing about my day delighted me. My face was mildly sore from the few smiles I'd believed I'd never show again. After Elion's passing, the future dimmed to nothing more than accepting a throne I didn't desire in a handful of decades. Even thoughts of exploring, my most heartfelt passion, appeared dull. I had decades of training and lectures ahead of me. My life would have suffered misery and loneliness.
It was miraculous to have encountered a human, even if it'd been a mistake. If my liking to him was selfish and self-preserving, I didn't care. Because I felt fulfilled knowing I had someone to look forward to seeing, someone who would come back to me. That was what mattered.
Would Simon return tomorrow?
Ahead was one of the many glittering gates in this forest that led to my home in the archway of two thick trees. This gate led to the outskirts of the castle grounds while the others delivered elves to areas across the Meadow Province.
A tall figure came from behind the left tree. Taegen. A milky white ponytail fell down his chest while his dove-colored collar bones bared the element of the chilly night. The first three buttons of his velvet tunic were mischievously undone. Then, his emerald eyes sparkled at me.
I paused and straightened nervously. "Taegen." My nose was hyper-aware of Simon's lingering scent on me and the forgotten chocolate in my pocket. If I noticed it, my beloved Taegen certainly did.
Taegen crossed his arms and regarded me gently. "If you do not want to get caught breaking the rules, perhaps you should follow them." On the collar of his dark cape was a small tulip embroidery Elion had sewn for him. Because of that, Taegen wore it often. Tonight, he removed it and covered my shoulders.
I didn't question him, for Taegen never acted without reason.
Resting against the tree, he sighed. "Your father has called you for a lecture." His full lips straightened with distaste for the king. "Behave tonight. He was in a foul mood earlier."
My father would expect a report on the development of my magic and teachings. Self-consciously, I wondered if I appeared disheveled enough for him not to inquire how I spent my day. Exploring the world with a human wasn't what my father envisioned any successor of his doing.
While I was in thought, Taegen studied me. His nose twitched, and then my anxiety grew. Even Taegen's cloak, with his fresh and floral scent stitched into the fabric, would not be enough to mask Simon's smell. I would have to bathe again. And burn my clothes.
Taegen lifted the hood over my head. It was big, nearly covering the upper halves of my eyes.
"You always put me in questionable predicaments, lovely." He was obligated to tell my father I interacted with a human, but he wouldn't, was what his words meant. And although his deep voice took its usual tender inflection, I recognized Taegen's warning and the trouble I could be putting him in.
Taegen brushed my cheek and smiled warmly. "How about I stay with you?"
"My father will hate that," I answered, although I felt a little relieved. My father could be terrifying when he wanted to be.
"The king has a distaste for all things." Taegen's placid expression hardened with his voice. He searched my eyes. "I want you to be happy, but please, be smart, Ruith. In this time of grieving, I want to trust that you'll make sensible decisions."
The incoming cool wind felt painless as I thought of Simon. Embarrassed to have been caught with him, I bowed my head in acknowledgment. Taegen then took beside me, and my head only reached his chin.
Together, we passed through the gate, well accustomed to the gold light that dusted our bodies. As we walked on the other side, the wind blew generously through the short grass and flowers. Wearily, I leaned against my guardian's arm and relied on his comfort until we reached the stone steps of the castle. The massive, white structure was on a hill, and below it bustled communities of houses, markets, and shops that extended for miles. The whole nation was illuminated with tangerine flames and light magic.
I was distracted, wondering if this was how cities were presented in the human world.
Taegen patted my head, and we ascended the steps. Across sage green carpets inside the castle, we strolled, and down gold-decorated halls, we turned. The servants greeted me with smiles and dutiful bows. I returned the gesture, wishing I was still young enough to have Taegen address them in my stead. I disliked having authority over others, so interactions with my servants were gratuitous but awkward.
We arrived outside the king's office, and the two guards, clothed in pastel-colored tunics and white pants, parted the doors for us. I straightened my posture. Entering the ominous room had my palms sweating. My father sat behind a tall desk, distracted by the piles of work stacked against the wood. Taegen remained unconcerned as he rebelliously accompanied me. The rules imposed that he bowed and left me to speak with my father privately. I was grateful that Taegen never left me alone with him. Although my father never seemed to punish him, I worried constantly that his boldness would one day earn him trouble.
My father's black curls bounced when he finally looked up from his documents. His skin was brown like mine, but his almond eyes were permanently narrow, as if he were skeptical of everything he encountered.
"What is that you're wearing?" he asked me.
"It was chilly in the human world, Your Majesty. I thought it dutiful to sacrifice my cape for His Highness." Taegen's words were threaded with forced politeness. His fierce gaze looked like it could manifest the strength to strangle my father.
I had never known why Taegen disliked my father so generously. Their relationship had always been like this.
My father ignored Taegen and addressed me instead. "It covers your royal attire. Remove it," he instructed plainly.
"You may leave it on if you're cold. I do not mind, Your Highness," Taegen combatted.
Irritation festered in my father's dark eyes, so I gave Taegen a grateful but withering look. I removed the cape and folded it across his extended arm.
"Was there something you needed to discuss with me, father?" I asked to keep topics changing.
My father ignored me and flitted his gaze to the floor. Understanding, I kneeled. Taegen's following scoff was nearly audible enough to earn him punishment, but he followed suit. Now that I'd taken my position beneath the king, my father mentioned again the leader's conference that would occur this upcoming January.
Ophinem's four province leaders joined under one province for discussion every other year. Three kings and a lone queen. It had always been Elion's responsibility to accompany my father and learn what was expected of a leader, but since his passing, I was left to fulfill the role. I would have to swallow the many concerns the four provinces harbored and how the leaders wished to proceed with their animosity against humans.
"Fewer of our scouts have been returning home. The same has occurred in the Northern and Southern provinces. What do you suppose happened to them, Ruith?" my father asked.
I gave a careful answer. "I won't assume anything happened to them. Maybe a handful were distracted in the human world and encouraged by their delight to stay longer." The human world was lovely, from what I had seen of it, I wished to add.
My father chuckled without humor. The vibrating sound was blatantly mocking. "Of course, you would believe that. You are but a boy still. But you're wrong. Humans are killing our own and nailing them with iron bars to trees. A statement that they aren't afraid to roam the forests. They may believe we'll relinquish our territory on earth if enough of our own are slaughtered."
"Humans…did that?" My throat dried, and having heard such an atrocity, I clenched my fists.
"Why are you surprised, son? I know you haven't forgotten why we seized part of the human world."
"I haven't."
I was knowledgeable about the war between humans and elves. The humans were at fault, for they were the ones who had raided the elven world upon discovery, and fearing the unknown, they'd slaughtered our people. For three hundred years, terror caged the hearts of every elf. But that was centuries ago, and I had only experienced the fear through the words of my history teacher. The slaughtering, the terror, and the war were nothing more than tales to me.
"Just…it astounds me that a living thing could be so brutal to another."
Considering my answer, my father said, "Humans are wicked. It's in their nature and in their blood. Evil is innate, even to their newborns. No one on that side is innocent."
I couldn't believe that so readily. Not when I'd met a human that had been kind to me.