“It's easy to forget when our wings are enchanted,” a female mocker said sympathetically as she chased her son past me. The child had given a shriek of delight upon seeing the Twilight Forest and had immediately made a beeline for the trees.
“Well, I guess, you'll be escorting them from the ground,” I said to the cat-sidhe boys. “But, like I said, some twilight knights are already on their way to meet you.”
“It's not a problem, Princess Seren,” Searc smiled at me as he swept a golden blonde lock out of his pear-green eyes. “The horses are well rested, they can keep up with the raven mockers.”
“I just don't know how I feel about leaving my people with only a few boys to guide them,” Rayetayah looked over the stable lads.
“The road leads straight to Twilight Castle,” Searc shrugged. “It's not like we'll have to do a lot of guiding. Plus, they'll be able to see the castle from the air. We'll have more chance of getting lost than they will.”
“I don't know how reassuring that is,” Rayetayah frowned at Searc.
“The twilight knights will be meeting them shortly,” I offered. “And it's not like twilight fey need protection in the Twilight Kingdom. Especially when the mockers can fly. They'll be fine.”
“Alright,” Rayetayah sighed.
“But why don't they just go and stay in Criarachan, with the other raven mockers?” Searc asked simply.
“Criarachan?” I blinked.
“It's the raven mocker village here in Twilight,” Rayetayah explained and then faced Searc. “There has been some criminal charges laid upon us in the Human Realm and we must be under watchful eyes to be exonerated.”
“Ah,” Searc nodded. “And the mockers living here are not under suspicion?”
I groaned, facing yet another aspect I hadn't considered.
“Perhaps, once we meet up with the knights, they should escort them to Criarachan and simply stay there to watch over them,” Searc suggested.
“No, my father already expects them and I don't want to put the village out,” I sighed. “Take them to court and tell the knights to see my father for instruction. I'll return to HR and scry him to discuss this.”
“Yes, Princess,” Searc nodded and went to help the other stable boys take down the tent and pack up camp.
“You didn't expect this to be such a huge production, did you?” Rayetayah chuckled as we stepped to the side and watched our people stream through the rath door.
“No, I didn't,” I admitted. “You've got to be the largest group of twilight fey I've met.”
“There are quite a lot of cat-sidhe too,” Rayetayah nodded towards Searc. “It's just that they're not pack animals, so they wander about a lot. You don't see them all together at once.”
“Hmm,” I thought about it. “What about the bargests?”
“Well, I haven't been back to Fairy for awhile but the last time I was here, there wasn't a whole lot of them,” he cocked his head in thought. “Though they are a pack animal and I know they have a village too. I've never been there myself. Bargests can be temperamental fairies and it's best to give them their space.”
“Why doesn't that surprise me?” I laughed and then suddenly sobered.
“What is it?”
“Can I call you Raye?” I diverted his question.
“Yes, I think I'm okay with that,” he narrowed his eyes on me. “If you tell me what chased the laughter from your eyes so quickly.”
“It's just hard for me sometimes,” I shook my head. “I shouldn't complain. Here I am; this new royal fairy with an incredible magic and the Goddess backing me up.”
“But?” He prompted.
“But sometimes I feel like an outsider,” I shrugged. “I've spent my whole life studying the fey and I thought I knew them, when actually there was an entire kingdom I didn't know about. And it just so happened to bemykingdom.”
“And now you must learn about your own people,” Raye nodded. “You're our Princess but even I, a fairy who hasn't been home in years, knows more about your fairies than you do.”
“Yes, exactly,” I nodded. “I've been studying hard ever since I first got here but it still isn't enough.”
