Until they got into the cabin itself and she realized that she had her own bathroom, complete with a tub that filled and drained via magic, the water always at the perfect temperature.
It was weird. She’d never had a tub before, but she couldn’t deny her curiosity. She’d always made do with sponging clean, taking a dip in an ice-cold barrel of rainwater, or bathing in the streams. That’d been part of the reason she’d chosen this spot, after all. They’d also given her a workroom, with a decree from the lord himself for her to keep as many of the collected materials she needed to use for whatever experiments she wanted, a written pledge with his seal she could use to back up those claims, meaning that also wasn’t a trick to indebt her by making her repay the cost of any skimmed materials.
Maybe they all really were good fey.
Tobias grinned as she finished reading the pledge, his hands on his hips. “Just think, Braveheart. Anything you want to make, you’ve now got your workroom for.”
She rolled her eyes, because she wasn’t going to have the time for such frivolities.
“You could, though,” said Tobias teasingly, having seemingly gotten quite good at reading her. “This could be your forever home.”
That earned him another glare from her.
The two fey left midafternoon as she finished familiarizing herself with the space, Telos keying her essence into the entry of every building before announcing with all due decorum that they were now her property to do with as she wished, and to contact him if she needed repairs.
Another freely gifted pledge from these gods damned fey, giving her genuine ownership over the entire clearing.
She still had no idea what an archmagis was doing in the backwoods like this, but his enchantments were straightforward, if a little cookie cutter, so it was unlikely he was duping her, either. Particularly with how he stared after Tobias. Telos might not care for her, but he cared for Tobias who had sworn on the name of her own goddess that his intentions were pure kindness, so for better or worse the man would be unlikely to intentionally fuck her over.
She left that evening to go gathering in the woods, hunting feybeasts between gathering bramble that would make good tinder once dried and keeping an eye out for trees felled by the spring storms. She had a device she’d made for Lexer, the old lumberjack of the village, when his body started to struggle to keep up with the physical demands of the job. It required silver feystones to function, which she could get from the nearby breezebirds.
That night, she washed up in the stream, exhausted from the day and too tired to try and figure out how to take a proper bath. She’d try tomorrow. As it was, the mattress and bed were so decadently soft and supple that she had trouble falling asleep, having never had such comforts before. But once she was asleep, she slept like the dead.
Meaning she overslept for the first time in… well, decades, really.
Disoriented from the change to her environment and the sheer size of the cabin, she also took longer to get ready, finally dressed hours later than normal, when she heard a commotion outside her front door. Careful and silent, she grabbed her supplies and opened the door to see Tobias had returned—with five others. Two guards, and three trainees.
Including Jul.
Tobias brightened immediately as Jul glared at him, his arms crossed. “Braveheart! Good morning!”
She scowled. Damnit. She should have known the cabin came with strings attached.
“Did you sleep well?”
She shut the door behind her, her hands on her bow and the strap of her quiver as she eyed them all suspiciously.
Tobias grinned and slapped Jul on the back. “Don’t worry, Braveheart! These’re your trainees! Here to learn the trade and help curb the population of beasts.”
Her eyes warily moved across every expectant face. None of them looked malicious, but she didn’t trust any one of them, particularly with the pinched expression on Jul’s face, like he’d just swallowed a bug he didn’t like. Still, she nodded, not in the position to argue anymore when she owed Tobias for the house, anyway.
“They’re all ready to listen, Braveheart. As am I, actually. I’m pretty excited.”
She gave him a dry look. Was the man ever not excited for something?
Rubbing his hands together, his expression eager, he said, “So, where do we start?”
Shifting, she unstrung her bow. She knew two of the trainees at least would have steps so loud they’d scare off any game at this time of year. Instead, she stowed the bow away, trotted down the steps and to the edge of the clearing, turning when she realized they weren’t immediately following her.
Tobias had a curiously confused face. “We’re going into the forest already? No prep? No teaching them how to walk right or about the feybeasts?”
She gave the rest of them another wary once over and Tobias waved his hand dismissively. “They’ve all agreed to treat you as their teacher, Braveheart. You can be as mean as you want.”
Jul’s eyebrow twitched.
Sensing the tension, she switched from wary to deference in an instant. Shifting from foot to foot, she dropped her gaze and lowered her head respectfully. “I will show you the traps and how to maintain them, and you may be on your way.”
Jul sputtered. “That’s it? Just the traps?”
She kept her eyes low as she intoned, “There is little else I can teach a fey of your caliber, Guard Jul.”
There was a shift, and she glanced up to see all of them, including Tobias, glaring with their arms crossed at Jul. The fire fata was seething, his breath coming out in puffs as his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. Their eyes met, and with a flash of fear she dropped hers back down, waiting.
Jul was more powerful than any of the other fey there. None of them could truly stop him even if they wanted to.
A full second passed. Then, suddenly, the tension drained from Jul, and he fell to his knees, his eyes down in deference. “I… would be honored if you would teach me fully.”
Disturbed by this change in his behavior, she glanced at Tobias who was looking rather smug about the situation. Slowly, she straightened, ready to bow again at the slightest provocation, her wary eyes narrowed on Jul. Then one of the others, the rabbit shifter trainee she’d since learned was named Vox, dropped to his knees as well. Then the pixie trainee, and both of the guards.
Her temper flared and she snapped, “Stop being ridiculous.”
Jul glared at the ground but refused to look up, keeping his eyes down. “I was wrong and judgmental to have never asked what your specialties or capabilities were. You’re talented for a greenling, and I wish to learn what I did wrong.”
You’re pretty for a greenling, my pet.
The echoes of that voice sounded in Squirt’s mind. Fury lit her veins and blinded her to anything else as she impulsively stomped over to him. Poking him in the chest, he finally raised his eyes to hers as she seethed, speaking through clenched teeth. “That, right there, that’s the same bullshit mistake you made with me. For a greenling. Like I’m some kind of freak of nature. How many greenlings have you ever spoken to, huh? You’re a condescending jackass through and through.”
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His face reddened in anger as he bit his tongue. “I was trying to be nice—”
“You’re charismatic for a fire fata. You’re good with your magic for a fire fata. You’re pretty for a fire fata. Can you see what a backhanded compliment it is, or should I keep going?”
Aghast and angry, he said, “I didn’t mean it like that—”
“Of course you fucking didn’t. You people never fucking do. I’m talented, not for a greenling, but because I wiped the damn floor with you and every other trainee. Last I checked, I was the only greenling there, so I’d say I’m pretty damn talented for a guard and not because I’m a lowmag pixie who was never blessed one gods damned day in her life.”
With that, she whirled around and stomped off into the forest, leaving them to the clearing, running from those gods damned words and memories of who spoke them.
That night, she camped out at the jewelbird’s nest so she could circle the entire forest before she made her way back to the clearing with her house the next evening.
To her fury, Jul still kneeled exactly as she’d left him.
The others had made camp in the clearing, annoying her further, but not as much as the despondent, downcast expression on the fire fata’s face.
Tobias beamed as soon as he caught sight of her. “Braveheart! Welcome back! I have a gift for you straight from his lordship.”
She gave him a wary look but trotted closer, anyway. His hands were on his hips, inordinately pleased with himself. Dramatically, he reached into a bag by the campfire they were using to cook and pulled out a roll of cloth. “Tada!”
Frowning, she took the bundle, recognizing the chameleon cat’s fur. It had been shaped and made into a cloak sized perfectly for her.
Another gods damned gift.
She scowled up at Tobias, only he had the big, expectant puppy eyes, waiting on tenterhooks for her reaction. Her expression flattened as she murmured, “It is a nice gift,” refusing to reward unrequested gifts with a gods damned magic boon.
Clearly unperturbed, he beamed at her. “How’d the gathering go?” Rubbing his hands together eagerly, he said, “I figured you could explain the different materials to those gathered here and show them how you use them.”
It was an olive branch if she’d ever seen one, and something in her relaxed at the acknowledgement that he truly wasn’t going to punish her for speaking her gods damned mind and then running away for almost two days. Based on the auras around the group, none of them were. Her eyes drifted over to the fire fata, noting his clothes looked oddly dirty and wrinkled.
“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s been there since you left him yesterday.”
She snapped, “That’s fucking stupid, why—”
Tobias’s smile softened, “He asked to be here. I wasn’t going to bring him, but he insisted. Said he wanted to learn from the best.”
Biting her tongue, she glared up at Tobias.
He shrugged. “The others, too. They aren’t just here to learn how to maintain the traps, they’re here to learn how to hunt and track, too. The problem is too big to handle on your own, after all, right? Wouldn’t it be easier with others helping?”
She scowled and clenched her fists on the cloak in her hands. “… fine. I’ll teach them.”
Jul jumped up, saying, “Truly—" before he fell down with a groan. “Fuck, my legs.”
After a moment of hesitation, she trotted over, cursing and muttering, “Idiot,” as she did. She stopped and dropped to her knees by his legs, setting aside the cloak and hissing out, “You can’t just move after sitting so long.” Then began to knead his calf.
He hissed out, “Fuck! That hurts.”
She snapped, “Of course it fucking hurts, idiot. Gods. What the hell were you thinking, sitting like that for so long?”
He winced. “I… was showing sincerity?”
“Sincerity means nothing if you kill yourself doing it.” Her tone remained angry and sharp as she massaged his leg with her hands. He hissed and groaned in pain, and she muttered a curse while pulling out her water skin. “You’re dehydrated, which is making it worse. Lesson one is to take care of your damn body.” She tugged up the leg of his trousers and removed his boots, muttering curses as she worked to bring circulation back to his legs and feet. “Stupid. So fucking stupid. You didn’t have to stay kneeling the whole time I was gone.”
He hissed and groaned in pain, “I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.”
She deliberately pinched his flesh painfully, and he yelped. “Idiot. What if I’d be gone a week? Were you planning on losing your damn legs just to prove a point?”
Petulantly, he muttered, “Well… yeah.”
She turned her glare on him as he glanced over his shoulder at her. He winced at the unbridled fury in her eyes, though her hands never stopped massaging his legs.
Shifting her glare down to his leg, she continued in a quieter, though not softer, voice. “Idiot. I don’t have any supplies on hand for this. You’d be burdening us all for the sake of your dumbass pride. How the hell are you supposed to learn if you can’t even stand right? And drink the fucking water, already!”
He obeyed immediately, though his lips were still pressed in a pout.
Tobias sauntered over to squat on the fata’s other side, grinning at her. “Do I get to tell his lordship about this?”
She glared. “Shut your stupid mouth and help, damnit.”
Annoyingly, Tobias was as immune to her glares as ever as he copied her movements, adding in extra strength with a malicious gleam in his eyes. She pretended not to notice.
Vox, the rabbit shifter, came and sat on his knees by Tobias, watching. “How do you know what to do about this?”
She kept her hands moving as she answered. “There will be times as the seasons get later and the beasts get larger that the traps won’t be as effective. You’ll need to lure the beasts in, remain hidden until they’re within range. Sometimes it takes hours. Hours of sitting still in the cold and wet and miserable, while keeping your body on the edge of being able to jump into action. Only idiots stay so still they lose circulation in their legs.” She pointed to his toes. “See how pale they are? They aren’t lacking in warmth, they are lacking in blood. Without blood, your limbs lose sensation. It hurts now because the blood is returning, reawakening the nerves that had been damaged. If it weren’t for his healing ability, he might face permanent damage from his stupidity.”
Vox nodded seriously. “How do I help?”
Her eyes flickered up to him in assessment. Annoyed at his sincerity, she muttered, “Start kneading the big muscles. The goal is to bring the blood back into the limbs that lost it. They’re cramping now, which will hinder the flow. He needs to be better hydrated to prevent cramping.”
She stiffened when the purple haired pixie with lavender eyes settled next to her, watching her hands and taking over her movements, his hands kneading the groaning fire fata.
One of the guards came over, kneeling opposite her—a púca, by the looks of her. “How do we prevent the cramps in the first place?”
Wary now that they were all coming over and seeking her advice, she lost focus on the task. The purple-haired pixie gently shouldered her out of the way as the last guard took up a seat by Jul’s feet, rotating his ankles and digging his knuckles into the tender flesh.
She scowled but accepted their takeover. “… there are exercises that you do, constant shifting of your weight and long, slow stretches. Positioning matters. Dehydration is your worst nightmare, as all the exercises in the world won’t prevent a cramp if your muscles don’t have enough water in them.”
The pixie next to her asked quietly, “How do you know when you’re done?”
She huffed, sitting back and crossing her arms with a scowl. “When it stops being painful and his muscles relax, and the color returns to his toes.”
The guard at his feet chuckled, his voice low and deep, his skin the dark black of a summer fey. “Out of curiosity, how do you move so silently? I was originally assigned with you on the first trainee hunt, and I swear I forgot you were there.”
“Because you’re like most fey and rely on magic sense. In that, fey and feybeasts are similar. You sense the magic running through everything. I’ve got so little that I barely register on your senses, and they automatically dismiss me.”
He shook his head. “It’s not just that. Even the way you step is silent.”
She gave him a hard stare. “… gee, it’s like I’ve lived my entire life trying to avoid being noticed.”
Jul hissed. “I… get the… titled fey, but… didn’t your… village… treat you well?”
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she let her gaze drift away from the group huddled around the idiot groaning in front of her, a wave of homesickness for a place that only ever tolerated her. “… for their part, they did well enough.”
He gave her a confused look.
She stared at him, unmoved, her eyes hardening. “Arrogant jackass. Believe it or not, weaklings like me are born everywhere.”
He blinked dumbly. “You… weren’t born here?”
She wanted to be angry. Instead, she was just tired. She inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly out her nose before she responded quietly, “No.”
Deciding that was more than enough backstory, she stood and moved to sit in front of Jul’s head so everyone could see her, then started pulling out the components she’d gathered today, laying them out on the ground and giving them all a challenging stare. “Let’s get started. Collecting pieces of a feybeast is brutal work—the creature must be alive while you rip it apart. Kill whatever sympathies you have for it. Now. Let’s start with the scales here.”
Decoded by Lord Everwinter using the Dex’at cipher:
Dear Lord Everwinter,
It heartens me to hear recruitment went well, and that there was indeed talent among the people to be cultivated. Hopefully, one will make a future Titled Everwinter, and I’ll be able to bring you back to the Capital. Tensions continue to mount in the face of my brother’s death. We still have not found his murderer.
De’daxia to the south has claimed neutrality, but I can sense the vultures circling. Should Skye Kingdom, at any point, attack and earn a victory, I fear the worst. As it is, this winter will be brutal to the people.
It is with that in mind that I admit curiosity to the little pixie you have mentioned. I am having Zoln investigate further. If you are right, I fear the corruption reaches deeper than even we suspected. To know such talent slipped through our fingers is a travesty. I ask that when my mate arrives to see if she would be willing to part with schematics for these traps of hers. I will take any advantage that I can get.
I have responded to all of the attached complaints about her station. Should they need to direct their ire, I advise you to play to their arrogance and point them towards the impending war at our borders. Otherwise, you know the solution.
Be well,
Queen Annabelle