He gives me a grunt of acknowledgment before angling between me and Odessa. “I need to speak to you, love.”
Odessa glances around him at me. “I’ll be just a moment.”
They walk away, pausing under the archway. The others begin talking amongst themselves, and I glance at the two newcomers. Luna is studying her nails while Elowen is studying me.
“Um, hi, Elowen, right?” I ask her.
She cocks her head to the side, the motion predatory, but her gaze is distant. “Helena, is it?”
Every time I hear my full name, I think of Shakespeare. Helena, fromA Midsummer Night’s Dream, with her lovesick plight and low self-esteem, is not a character I ever want to feel aligned with.
“It’s just Lena.”
I have to work to think past the memories of my parents. Luckily, she seems lost in her own world and doesn’t even notice my struggle. Elowen smiles faintly, her eyes still unfocused.
“Unusual that your name, Hel-len-a,”she pronounces eachsyllable, “sounds like Hella, the queen of Helheim, and one of our enemies. Have you come to destroy us all?”
My smile is forced as I grit my teeth. “Unusual,yes,but Helena means light in Greek.”
Elowen flinches at my response, her eyes sharpening into focus. “I see,” she replies, her voice a shade softer.
Mathilda’s laughter breaks through our conversation, and Tane smiles fondly at her; they must be mates. When I turn back to speak more with Elowen, she’s slipped away and is speaking quietly to Evander and Mina, leaving me alone with Luna. I open my mouth to address her, but she sighs, still looking at her nails, and walks away.
Mathilda notices me awkwardly standing outside the group and makes an effort to draw me in. “Did you do a lot of training in the human realm?”
“Uh, not really. My Dad gave me a training sword when I was a child, but I lived under the assumption this place only existed in fairytales,” I reply, and my answer silences everyone as they gawk at me.
Images of the wooden sword he gifted me for Yule flit through my mind. I spent hours outside with him, teaching me how to stand, parry, lunge, and strike correctly. It always seemed unconventional at the time, but standing here now, it all makes sense. He was preparing me for this.For them.
Pity reflects in Mathilda’s eyes, and she responds, “If you ever want to train, we,” she gestures to the group, “would love to have you.”
“That’s very kind of you, but I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”
I need to get home.
Footsteps crunch against the dirt as Odessa and Julius rejoin the group.
“It might be a while.” Odessa grimaces. “Julius was just speaking with the councilors, and they say the only way tomanifest your powers is to learn our ways. With you here, magic should begin to restore, hopefully, and the pathways between realms should open.”
“How long will that take?” My voice rises alongside my panic.
“Well,” Julius smirks, “it took a while for magic to fade, so it will probably take some time,Helena.”
“Lena,” I want to shout at him. My frustration is growing. I cannot stay here for a long time. I have to get back. Gran needs me.
Elowen places a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I can feel your magic,” she whispers, her eyes glassy again. “It’s an ancient magic.” Her face scrunches up before she slowly lets go of me.
Odessa glances sidelong at Julius before looking back at me. “Elowen has the gift of sight. But it’s been erratic as of late.” She links her arm through mine and steers me away from the group. “Come, let’s eat, and we can talk more.”
The rest of the group goes back to training while Odessa and I walk arm in arm to the terrace, Julius following a step behind.
The hair on the back of my neck is standing on end, and I catch myself frequently checking behind me as we walk back to the Great Hall. His face remains passive each time, either staring directly ahead or scanning the surrounding area.
My necklace presses against my chest, feeling like ice against my skin, even with the sun beating down on us as it sets.
Back in the Great Hall, we meander to the dining hall for dinner. Odessa seats us at the high table, the only table that runs horizontally at the front of the dining hall. The rest of the tables run vertically. She gestures to the chair on her right, the top rail of the chair intricately carved with ravens, identical to the chair she sits in.
The rest of our table is also surrounded by beautifully carved chairs featuring different animals, wolves, swans, elk, and a fox.Julius takes the fox chair on her other side and drums his fingers against the sturdy wooden table top.
