Page 17 of Crownless Heirs

Titan turned to Sorcha and bowed slightly. “I think you’ll make the perfect queen for our people, Sorcha. If the day comes where we’re on the battlefield together, I know I can take pride in dying beside another warrior.” He turned and walked away, leaping through the trees on his way north.

“Already winning over the kingdom, I see,” Maelan said, turning to face her. Still a bit taken aback by Titan’s statement, she replied, “I ran into him, literally.”

“Well,” Maelan mused, “would you like to see how the pulleys work?”

He then turned and headed towards an alcove in the hollow of a tree she hadn’t noticed before. Sorcha followed. Upon entering, she found herself encased in metal, like an elegant, intricately woven cage. Above them, Maelan pulled a metal string. It rang like a bell, and the floor began to rise.

“What’s happening?” Sorcha exclaimed, moving to hold on to Maelan.

She wrapped her hands around his arms and clung tightly as they ascended.

Maelan explained, “It’s a system we created to help the elderly and others get around and transport goods. We’re in a giant basket, pulled up by a rope attached to a large wheel—the same way you raise and lower a drawbridge in your world.”

That made sense to Sorcha, so she eased her grip on Maelan as they emerged from the darkness of the tree’s hollow into the very treetops. Maelan pulled Sorcha forward. The two men ahead waved and greeted him with wide smiles before returning to the wheel in front of them.

“Do they do that all day? Just stand there and wait?” Sorcha asked curiously.

Maelan replied, “No, not at all. When pulled, the rope rings a series of bells to notify those around that someone needs the pulley. So, everyone helps, and it varies whose turn it is to pull.

Maelan was walking toward a small, brightly painted yellow building, adorned with little purple and green painted flowers. He stopped and looked back at Sorcha, holding out his hand. “Come on, I’m starving. You must be too.”

Inside, the cozy building buzzed with conversation. Bowls of steaming soup and fragrant teas, alongside delicate pastries, sat neatly arranged on a counter. A pixie, her tiny wings a blur like a hummingbird’s, zipped past.

“Afternoon!” her small voice chirped as she darted by, a pastry stuffed with lemony yellow curd in hand. Sorcha watched as Maelan approached the counter, picked up a pastry, and took a bite. “Oh, Lily, your hazelnut and acorn buns are especially good today.”

Maelan then offered the pastry to Sorcha, saying, “You must try this. The filling is like a sweet paste inside.” Sorcha bit into it without hesitation, the nutty sweetness exploding on her tongue.

“By the gods, is all the food this good here?” she exclaimed as the little pixie landed on the counter.

“Aren’t you the sweetest?” Lily said, pushing up her sleeves.

She had rosy cheeks and golden curls framing her heart-shaped face. Maelan reached for another pastry, but the pixie playfully swatted his hand.

“Excuse me, king or not, you still owe me for your last tab.” She said, hands on her hips.

Maelan chuckled and pulled coins from his pocket. “My apologies, Lily, I didn’t mean to skip out on payment. May I please have some lunch with my bride now?”

Lily’s face lit up. “Oh my goodness, where are my manners? Of course, Please, have a seat.”

She guided them to an elegant table by an open window. As they sat, another pixie brought over cups and chai. She had striking teal eyes and long, wavy black hair that cascaded down her back. As she poured, Cait arrived with plates of steamed fish, potatoes, and vegetables. Another wave of pixies brought soup, bread, and more pastries.

“This is too much,” Sorcha announced.

“It’s just to welcome you,” Maelan responded, “to celebrate.”

“I don’t need all this, though.”

Maelan was already dissecting his fish. “Firelight, eat.”

He took a piece of fish and fed her. It was earthy with a bit of spice and cooked to perfection, like everything else she’d experienced here. He held out another piece, and she happily took it from him.

Throughout the entire meal, Maelan took it upon himself to keep offering food to her, refilling her drinks, all the while eating little himself. He insisted that he loved doing it.

“I’ve seen your idea of food, Sorcha. Trust me when I say you need some proper food.”

Sorcha looked offended for a second before agreeing.

After they had eaten their fill, Maelan left coins for Lily and then led Sorcha down a series of spiraling staircases beneath the building.