“Exactly. So claim him. Don’t you see? It makes sense. This prophecy? If Kaelan is the one who will see the Elf King bow to the Crown, then how else would that come about but if he were the Crown’s Prince?”
“Now you want me to vie for the Crown too?”
“A nymph and a Prince can never be.”
“Like an Elf and Pixie can never be?”
“No matter what you choose, Mistress, I am your servant.”
“You are my family, Damion,” she said. “And if you ever wish to be released from my service, I tell you now, you are free. The decision is yours alone.”
Damion straightened his shoulders, gazing down at her for a long moment. “What is your wish, my mistress?”
“Wake the Prince and the nymph. We’re leaving.”
“Can you fight?” Damion asked.
Kaelan scowled at him. “You want to fight me?”
“If I wanted to fight you, you’d be dead,” Damion said as they left behind the high plains and descended again into a forest. The sun tilted past noon. Butterflies and fairies were thick upon the wildflowers, both ignoring the dragging band of travelers.
Sweat ran down Magda’s back and wetted her hair, but she pressed on towards the trees, Hero a furry, sweat-inducing weight on her shoulder.
“Why would I need to fight?” Kaelan said.
“Why?” Damion asked like he hadn’t heard correctly.
“Kaelan was raised as an imp,” Honeysuckle reported. “Imps don’t fight.”
“No, they only drop toads on nymphs’ heads.” Magda smirked back at him over her shoulder.
He glowered at her. He hadn’t spoken to her since they’d set out before dawn.
“Thatwasyou, wasn’t it?” she asked. “Admit it.”
“He’s never dropped a toad on my head,” Honey said. “And he has no reason to fight.”
“He does if he’s a Pixie Prince,” Damion said. “And if the Elf King is hunting him.”
Magda stopped at the edge of the forest. The rest of the group slowed behind her.
“How much farther?” she asked Honey.
Honey twined a golden coil of hair around her finger, seeming to think. Though the rest of them were sweating and grimy, her skin remained powdery-looking. Her flowing gown never caught on a prickle or took up dirt, not even the hem.
“Not far,” Kaelan replied, speaking past her, as if Hero had been the one to ask.
If she had cared, she might’ve asked him why he was giving her the brush-off, but then, she doubted he would understand what that meant. The longer they walked, the darker her mood grew.
“Lead the way then,” she said. “This is your forest, isn’t it, imp?”
Kaelan strode into the woods without comment, Honey close at his heels. Damion frowned at Magda.
“What is wrong with you?” he hissed under his breath.
She tromped down into the gold-leafed trees. Rills of forest toads greeted them as they passed into the damp shadows of the trees. “Can’t I be in a foul mood if I wish?”
“Certainly,” he said, “but it’s not our fault that you have tender feelings for an Elf.” He lofted his brow and then strode ahead.
