“You’re talking about how we’re lost in a forest in the middle of the night, surrounded by bloodthirsty animals, with only a tiny knife and your sharp wit between us.”
“You didn’t have to put it quite like that, but yes, we’re lost in the woods. Do you have any idea where we’re headed? How do you know we’re not already close to the border of Wulia?” Hugo asked.
Everand shrugged. “Well, first, we haven’t traveled nearly that far yet. I would say we’d still be at least another twenty or thirty miles from the border even if we were headed in that direction, but I don’t think we have been.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“And second, I have a secret way to get us moving toward Buckleford.” Everand stopped and reached out to take Hugo’s hand, pulling him close.
“Kissing isn’t much of a secret,” Hugo teased even as the butterflies took a victory lap around his stomach.
“Clearly I’m not the only scoundrel if you have nothing but kissing in mind.”
“Kissing and being lost,” Hugo corrected.
“Yes, kissing and being lost.” Everand squeezed his hand, and his expression became serious. “But joking aside, I need you to promise never to breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“Of course. You can trust me.”
Everand stared into Hugo’s eyes, and a slow smile spread across his face. “Yes, I think I really can.”
Hugo felt those words touch deep in his soul. Was there anyone Everand could trust completely in his life? Probably too few. Everyone had to want something from him, whether it was riches, power, or just standing within his halo of prestige. Being trusted by him felt like an enormous honor, and a heavy weight. Hugo didn’t want to ever do anything that would call that trust into question.
Still holding his hand, Everand led him over to a break in the trees where the moonlight could shine on them. He pulled Hugo down to squat on the ground beside him. “When I was about nine or ten, I had a horrible habit of sneaking out of the palace and running through the woods.”
“Not a fan of your lessons?” Hugo teased.
“Not one bit. One day, while I was out wandering through the woods, not caring at all about my history lesson, I stumbled across a boy in interesting green clothes who had fallen into a shallow hole and hit his head on a rock. I climbed in and shook him, but he wouldn’t wake up. Afraid that some animal would come along and eat him, I draped him across my back, climbed out of the hole, and took him to the palace. At the very least, I thought my father would go a little easier on me because I’d helped a boy instead of doing my lessons.”
“Very practical of you.”
Everand grinned at Hugo. “Sassy.” Hugo’s heart squeezed as it looked like Everand might kiss him again, but he continued his story while tugging up the left sleeve of his uniform. “It turns out I wasn’t the only prince running from his lessons. The boy I’d rescued was Prince Lorien of the Elvan High Court. Considering how infrequently elves have children, they were over the moon that their young prince had been rescued and tended to. As a thank-you, the king of the elves promised my father three things. One, so long as the humans abided by the peace between our people, elves would never attack a human. Second, whenever I went into the woods, I would be safe from any and all fairy folk. And third,” he paused and held up a wooden tube smaller than his pinky that dangled from a leather bracelet. “If I ever found myself lost in the woods, I would need only call and someone would lead me home.”
Hugo remained trapped in silent shock. Everand had met an elf. Saved his life, even. There were plenty of legends surrounding the fairy folk and Branem forests, but he didn’t know anyone who’d seen them. He’d always thought they were a silly tale that people told.
He watched breathlessly as Everand lifted the tiny whistle to his lips and blew. A light trilling noise danced and cavorted through the woods, sounding like the song of a tiny bird as it flew between the trees. They waited nearly a full minute before Everand blew the whistle again.
Just as Hugo was wondering if the prince was playing a joke on him, a tiny white wisp poked out from behind a tree on the other side of the meadow. Hugo blinked rapidly. Was he really seeing this?
The wisp danced and twirled through the air toward Everand. As it drew closer, Hugo tried to back up but only landed on his ass.
Everand chuckled and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. It’s a will-o’-the-wisp.”
“I-I see that. Is it safe?”
When it was close enough to see clearly, Hugo discovered it was still nothing more than a white ball of glowing mist. There were no eyes, no substantial form. Everand lifted his free hand with his fingers spread, and the little wisp turned an intense shade of lavender as it seemed to thread itself playfully through his fingers. Hugo could imagine it was like a cat rubbing its sinuous body against a person’s legs.
After greeting Everand, it darted closer to Hugo, hovering right in front of his face, before returning to its bright-white shade and flitting back over to Everand.
“It’s okay. This is my very good friend, Hugo. He’s very kind. Protect him like you protect me.”
The wisp peeked around Everand at Hugo, and Hugo tried to smile reassuringly, or at least tried to look utterly harmless. It must have worked, because the wisp shifted to lavender.
“We need you to lead us to the nearest human village.”
The fae creature zipped away from them, dancing through the air as if it were the happiest thing in all the world.
“I think it wants us to follow it,” Hugo murmured.
