Kol shrugged, squeezing one of his shoulders like he just remembered that it hurt. “I don’t think the cailleach would have really dropped me off a cliff, but now the elucidai owe it.” His gaze shifted to his mother, blue eyes as steely and annoyed as when he and Piper had first met.
“It is of no more trouble than anything else, my son. I am glad for the opportunity to open communication with this region’s guardian, and I will take care of this favor.” Eyv didn’t seem upset, but Kol didnotappear to be buying it.
“You mean your father will take care of the favor.”
“Yourgrandfather,” she corrected with the slightest inflection, “will indeed be granting the cailleach the favor, but he will do it because I ask. Details will not be necessary nor will they be offered.”
“He’s going to know it’s because of me,” Kol groused as the waitress hustled up to their table. Before anyone could ask for anything different, he ordered strawberry milkshakes and chili fries for all three of them, cutting off all of the waitress’s pleasantries and practically shooing her away.
“A little worried about interacting with the locals, huh?” Piper nudged him with her elbow.
He mumbled an apology and stared down at his lap. “She only ever has to deal with humans because of me, so I try to make it easier…”
Piper waited, but when it was apparent he had no more to say, she smiled back at Eyv. “So, how did you meet Kol’s dad?”
The half-elf growled, “Son of a—”
“Oh, that is awonderfultale of circumstance and affection andforvyl aerstyd.” Eyv’s eyes caught the neon lights’ reflection, sparkling as she leaned in ever so slightly.
Her strange language was beautiful but incomprehensible, and Piper looked to Kol for a translation. He shook his head, so she stumbled through the question on her own, making him groan again. “What is that for-val-er-stid thing?”
“Theforvyl aerstydis an elven tradition rooted in organic compulsion. For the elucidai tribe from which I hale, it begins in our four hundred and forty-fourth season in which we are encouraged to explore the world and its many material indulgences.”
Piper sheepishly looked at Kol once more.
He waved a hand. “When they turn one hundred and eleven they just…go nuts.”
“Other elven tribes have their own traditions,” Eyv went on. “Some of our kin are of a sylvidai tribe who spend nearly their entire lives in this state.”
Kol blew out a breath. “And it doesnotmake them very good record keepers.”
“We cannot fault them, it can be a difficult time,” said Eyv, and she chuckled lightly. “Kolariel has, I believe, just concluded his ownforvyl aerstyd.”
Kol’s eyes went wide, and he shook his head. “No, I didn’t have one, er—it’s at least not the same for me.” He carefully met Piper’s intense gaze and then sighed. “The human equivalent is, like, going to college and, you know,experimentingin your early twenties.”
“Twenty,” Eyv said with a dreamy sigh. “Human aging is a wonder. An elf that is twenty seasons or twenty years is still so very young, yet Kolariel has been of age for quite some time.”
Piper tried to stifle her grin. “Kolariel,” she repeated slowly, savoring the name on her tongue and being sure to pronounce it just as she’d heard it. “I like that.”
“We’re not talking about me,” he mumbled.
“Yes, of course, we were discussing Kolariel’s father and theforvyl aerstydwhich brought us together.” Eyv hummed, lips twitching almost imperceptibly. “A harsh winter had just come to a close, I had grown weary of hallucinogens and mating with the same elven troop,”—at this Kol gagged—“and I longed for something more exotic,”—and Kol gagged again—“so I endeavored to journey southward until I arrived in the realm ofCahn Kun.”
Piper scooted to the edge of the booth seat at the mention of a mystical, far-off land. “Ooo, is that like the North Pole? Does it have dragons and castles and fairies?”
“She just means Cancun,” Kol grumbled.
Piper broke into laughter. “Like, for spring break?”
“Indeed it was during the vernal equinox.” Eyv’s face brightened with an excitement that wouldn’t have been noticeable on another. “Which also happened to correlate with my first ever truly fertile season.”
Kol dropped his head to the table. “Oh, gods.”
Eyv was terribly good at ignoring her son. “Elves are only meant to become fertile once or twice in their lifetimes with quite a bit more warning, but the enchantments ofCahn Kunwere so great that I was completely unaware, believing instead I was bewitched simply by the warmth of the sun and the rhythmic ebb and flow of the coast. It was there, of course, that I met the most handsome, charming, virile human I have ever laid eyes upon.”
“Aww, that’s your dad.” Piper nudged Kol’s shoulder, but he remained with his head firmly on the table.
“Ah, no, that was Kol’s father’s brother, but he introduced me to Samuel who was, in true human form, quite the passionate being. I could not resist Samuel, and apparently neither could my womb.”
