Felix sighed, getting a laugh out of Nym and Jessip.
“I see that I need to get you on the dance floor again.” Felix straightened and rapped his knuckles against his thighs. “Right, my mission after we find the Stone has been set. Once I have you in my arms again, you’ll be changing your tune.” He grinned so cockily that I laughed anew.
Nym guffawed. “That might be wishful thinking, Fee. Dancing with you doesn’t make females want to marry you. Otherwise, you’d already be married a dozen times over.”
Felix smacked his friend in the chest. “That’s only because Prim hasn’t been properly courted by me yet. But I plan to do that too after our next dance.”
Nym smirked, and Jessip rolled her eyes.
Still smiling, I asked, “Did you all find a safe place to rest last night?”
Jessip sighed dramatically. “If you can count sleeping in a tree, well away from the Wood’s floor, a safe place, then yes, I suppose we did.”
I winced. “Oh no, what happened?”
Nym made a horrified sound. “A larpanoon came prowling around in the wee hours of the morning. Luckily, we got up the tree in time, but then none of us could leave the tree to retrieve our carpet and get out of there because the larpanoon keptcircling the tree’s base, but thankfully, it finally left at sunrise. We didn’t get much rest, though.”
“Oranyrest,” Felix corrected.
My chest tightened. “That sounds close.”
“It was.” Jessip ran a hand over her braided hair. “Count me out of ever traveling to this region of the continent again.” She cocked her head. “What about you? Did anything exciting happen to you since we parted?”
“Do six shifter males accosting Kole and I on the road count?”
Jessip’s eyes grew as round as the sun. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.”
Felix sidled closer to me on their carpet. “Do tell.”
I quickly summed up our encounter with the six fae but left out the gory details of the males’ deaths and instead said that Kole took care of them, without elaborating.
Nym shuddered. “That sounds even worse than the larpanoon. So when will Kole be back?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I’m assuming sometime today.”
“You should definitely travel with us until then.” Jessip eyed the snowy Wood ahead of us. “This area of the continent gives me the creeps, especially if you’re a lone female on the road.”
“What she said,” Felix added. “As my future wife, I consider it my duty to protect you.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop my smile. “Thank you. I would love to join you all.”
“It’s settled then.” Jessip surveyed the road again, her nose scrunching up. “I can tell you that once we find the Stone, we’re out of here.”
Her comment reminded me that despite their friendliness, we were still in direct competition with one another, but I didn’t want to think about that just yet. It was possible that the Stone had landed so deeply within Silventine Wood that it would take a few more days to find it. We could still enjoy each other’s company for a while.
But regardless, hearing about their larpanoon experience and remembering the six males Kole and I had encountered were reminders of the challenges I would be facing if Ididn’tfind the Stone soon.
It was just one more thing I needed to consider.
The morning passedin a flurry of cold wind, desolate roads, and chipper communication with my three Faewood friends.
Since most other fae left hunting the Stone had been fooled by the direction of its tail, where we traveled was nearly deserted.
After passing the last village before Silventine Wood, I began to wonder if Kole would be back before I reached the ominous forest.
I hadn’t heard from him, he hadn’t mistphased back, and no dillemsill ever appeared.
