But my eyes cut instead straight to the open gaze of the Elf King. The side of his lip lifted in an almost smile as if what he saw brought him wonder, but as soon as he caught my gaze, his expression soured.
I shook my head, clearing the image of that almost smile. Was he mocking me? I glanced back at the king, but he had already turned his elk and rode down the wide road ahead.
Down the steep twisting cliffs, past rolling hills of farmland not too different from human lands, rose a large city jutting out from among a forest. Alabaster spires stretched to the sky in pure white arches and angles. Clouds burst with rainbow prisms of every color. Orange and red rusty-colored trees linedthe streets. The roots of the large trees stretched into the white cobblestones, forming various bridges and walkways. If I’d been an artist, I would want to paint the way the sun shone on the alabaster walls of the buildings, pure white and shining with a crystal quality.
Lila squeezed my hand. “I wonder how long it will be until I am his wife.”
My stomach dropped as I followed her gaze. The Elf King. He peered on ahead, leading the procession at a slower rate now that we were in the land of the elves. His long white hair shimmered in the gilded daylight, gold filtering around the edges like pulled cotton.
“What do you think will happen, Lila?” I asked. “There have been many maidens before. Where are they now? I think you would be wise to guard your heart.”
Lila dismissed my worries with a wave of her fine hand. “I will win his heart and his hand, Noelle. He won’t know what hit him.”
I rolled my eyes, but allowed a smile. “Then you are the hunter and he the prey?”
Lila raised her chin. “He will be hopelessly in love with me by Christmas.”
Jacob snorted and Lila whacked him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. “He will be in love by Christmas, just you wait and see.”
Christmas. My heart sank. My first Christmas away, and the elves didn’t even observe the holiday. Perhaps Lila, Jacob, and I could celebrate together. But what if I was separated from them? What if we were never to see each other again?
We passed by farms and fields as we craned our necks to spot any elves along the way. The first of the fair folk we spied were young. They stood hand in hand with a motherly female withlilac hair that stretched down her back in a straight silhouette, eyes of the deepest purple.
The three of them bowed to the Elf King who led our march, then waved at the passing carriage. The elflings craned their necks as they vied for a look at us homely humans. I slumped back into my seat, my nose and eyes burning.
The elf children’s wide curiosity reminded me of Daisy. I was not ready to think of her yet. Not ready to feel of the loss that gnawed at me from the inside. I just needed to make it through the sunset. Just this sunset. That was all I could do. Take it day by day.
We made our way through the fields into the city itself, but for as many elves as I saw, the young were quite rare.
The elves bowed and curtsied to the king with a fervor, a real love, then they turned inquisitive glances into the carriage. We were as much a curiosity to them as they were to us. The elves, dressed in beautiful reds, golds, and ochres, waved to us from the streets. Their hair shone with the violets and blues of a gemstone, pinks and oranges of the brightest sunset, greens of the forest, and bone white. Their skin was of every hue seen in the mortal realm, but glowed with an iridescent quality.
They gave us a warm welcome, one filled with not just inquisitiveness, but an expectation I didn’t understand. They cheered and thanked their king. Fresh apples and caramel corn balls coated in a vellum paper were tossed into our carriage by the eager fair folk.
Two younglings reached through the open carriage window and placed a garland of auburn flowers over both Lila’s and my shoulders in welcome. Again, I saw my sister’s wild curiosity in their awed gazes. I swallowed down the sorrow that would completely undo me if I let it.
I continued to scan the crowds, taking in the fine elves, before I realized what I’d been on the lookout for all along.Where were the humans who’d been brought to Ravensong for the past one hundred years? I thought I’d spotted one or two among the crowd, but the only way to tell between a human and elf from this distance was glowing skin, brilliant hair colors and long, elegant ears.
“This is happening, Elle!” Lila beamed. “They are actually welcoming us home!”
Home. Lila already felt at home among the elves, with her beautiful complexion and soft disposition. She’d been prepared to leave her family. Happy to leave them. But me? I still had both feet firmly planted in the world of the humans.
I was never going to call this place home.
The castle loomed ahead of us, bright white and surrounded by puffs of auburn trees, thrumming with an ancient power. More white and beautiful than anything I’d ever beheld. I hated it. The beauty, the finery, all a deception.
What was my life going to look like from now on?
I had only one comfort. If I got to bake for the elves for the rest of my life, my hands in flour coated with butter and buttermilk, then perhaps I could bear it. I let the idea of a modestly furnished kitchen fill my mind.
“Ravensong is your home now. You will need to soften your heart. Make peace with the elves.”Mother’s words rang through me.
Lila’s smile could light up any darkness. She accepted the flowers, treats, and cheers with a radiant glow. Jacob just sat, mouth slightly agape. He nodded to the people, but flushed uncomfortably. He was the eldest son of seven and had rarely gotten any attention back home. He was quiet and methodical and didn’t blab on like so many of the men in the village. This attention did not look comfortable on him.
The Elf King, by contrast, rode through the crowd as if we were nothing more than lifeless rocks. He kept his head up andhands on his reigns, not deigning a single glance at his people even as blossoms flew past him in bursts of red and orange.
Insufferably proud male. I addedprideto the list of his terrible qualities, right underdeceptiveandstole me away from my family.
5
