I blushed. “Thank you,” I barely whispered.
“I might have to take you back to the lodge before we enter the festival.”
Before a grin could spread across my face, I turned and walked down the path leading toward the festival entrance. My shoulders felt lighter, my steps easier after just three simple words from Daemon.
I could hear him following behind me, his footsteps nearly silent.
We simply followed the music toward the light.
The Fae guide was waiting for us ten paces away, standing just before the festival grounds. She led us forward, moving with fluid grace.
Then the trees parted.
The clearing stretched before us in a perfect circle, easily two hundred paces across. I stopped, my breath catching.
Lanterns hung from branches at varying heights, hundreds of them, crafted from what looked like solidified starlight rather than glass. They cast no shadows. Instead, their glow pooled like liquid on the ground, creating rivers of soft illumination that wound between clusters of Fae already gathering.
Long tables formed concentric rings throughout the space, their surfaces filled with food and drinks. No vendors called out prices. There wasn’t a single coin in sight.
“This way.” Our guide beckoned us forward.
I moved as if walking through a dream. Everywhere I looked, life bloomed. Children darted between adults, shrieking with laughter as they played games I had never seen before. A group of musicians played tunes I had never heard, yet they felt strangely familiar.
“No one pays for anything,” I said, watching a young couple accept woven bracelets from a vendor who refused even a nod of thanks.
“Payment implies debt,” the guide said. “Here, we give because we have. We receive because we need. The balance maintains itself.”
Daemon’s hand brushed my lower back. He had a knack for grounding me, both in moments of struggle and moments of joy. I glanced at him and found his gaze scanning the crowd out of habit.
“There.” He nodded toward a table near the clearing’s center.
Kael sat with his chair tilted slightly back, Kane beside him, far too big for his seat. Both looked better than when I’d last seen them, no shaking fingers, no blood running down their limbs.
Zephyr reclined on a cushioned bench, still pale but awake, speaking animatedly with a Fae healer who listened with focused attention.
Relief flooded through me so suddenly my knees weakened. I had feared there would be permanent damage from the battle.
“They’re alright.”
“Of course. They’ve been through worse. They’re survivors.” Daemon’s hand settled more firmly against my back. “Like you.”
We approached them side by side.
Kael spotted us first, raising one hand in a lazy greeting.
“Wondered when you’d show. Looks like you two have gotten… better acquainted,” he said with a grin, his eyes settling on Daemon’s hand wrapped around my wrist.
Another flush of heat spread across my face, the only response he received.
Daemon pulled out a chair for me before claiming his own.
“How’s Zephyr?”
“Pestering the healers for their methods.” Kane’s scarred face held a rare hint of amusement. “So, recovered enough to be annoying.”
I sat, hyperaware of the unfamiliar dynamic. I’d never shared a meal with them. Their first impression of me had been a girltrying to take a bite out of their throats. During the journey to Vaelthorne, the only thing on our minds had been survival.
Now, surrounded by laughter and music, watching Daemon’s team trade insults with the ease of long familiarity, I felt like an outsider peering through glass.
