Eletheria, Lex, and Tony headed back at the estate quickly. Tony pushed the horses as fast as he could as they whizzed through the city. As soon as they stopped, Ele took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. The front of the Zephyr estate had lots of people milling about. The driveway was also full of carriages from other houses and people visiting after hearing the news. Ele looked upon the crowd of people in the courtyard and despaired. She would never get out of the house if she tried making her way through there. Today, she felt, was not the day for celebration.

“Tony, can you go around to the back of the house?” Ele asked through the wall of the carriage as she was afraid of poking her head out through a window. The light brown of her hair was a family trait, and everyone there could easily identify her as a Zephyr from a distance.

“I cannot, ma’am. The path there is blocked by other carriages,” Tony faintly replied from the front.

“Ele, go and socialize,” Lex said. When Ele flashed him an almost lethal look, he smiled and continued, “Everyone expects you to be there. If you do not appear, people will know something is up. Tony and I will hunt down some information.” Ele looked towards the people, then back to Lex, then back to the people. She let out a large sigh in defeat.

“Promise me you’ll get me before you rescue him? He won’t know you guys and may not realize you’re friends,” Ele begged and demanded. Lex and Tony quickly said yes, relieving her. “Let me get out here; that way, you guys won’t get caught up in the crowd. Then find Thio before something bad happens.”

Ele jumped out of the carriage. Once she was clear, Tony commanded the horses to move away quickly, and they were gone. Ele took a deep breath and started walking towards the crowd of people. A brief thought appeared in her mind of creating lightning to make a path for her to go through them, but she dismissed it. She was going to have to do this at some point; she might as well get it over with.

Ele started walking towards the entrance of her house, and soon she was noticed. Quickly, she was surrounded by well-wishers and family. Aunts, cousins, uncles, and various family friends descended upon her to wish her well and to inquire about her health. Repeatedly, she had to respond with a “Yes, I am well,” or an “I was frightened but saved by a wonderful man named Acanthio,” along with a “No, this will not keep me on the ground.” The repeated brief conversations buzzed around her as she walked towards the door.

Once Ele could press her way closer to the door, she saw that it was propped open. Various members of the household staff were going in and out, leading people in and taking others out. Everyone seemed to be talking about Ele and her return. Ahead, she saw Dee, and she shouted for her.

“DEE!!” Ele shouted, trying to be heard over the crowd. Dee turned and looked in her direction but did not see her, so Ele shouted again, “DEE!!!” Ele emphasized this with a hand waving while she tried pushing forward. Why were there so many people here, she thought?

“Ele!” Dee shouted, looking for her in the crowd. Ele kept trying to force her way to the door.

“I hear Eletheria has returned,” someone to the left of her said as Ele worked her way through.

“I heard an untouched leaped off the ship to save her,” A big guy said while standing in her way. Ele worked her way around him.

“Supposedly she is going to marry Alexander,” Two people off to the side argued; the other countered with, “No, she is going to marry the sailor who saved her,”

The constant chatter started getting to Ele. Where did people hear all these things? Finally, she got to the door and met up with Dee. She was led into the house, where the great room was cleared of breakfast and set up to host a party. Sitting at the head of the table was her father, and to his right was her mother. Standing to her father’s left was someone she didn’t recognize but seemed familiar. As soon as they noticed her at the entrance, they stopped talking and looked at her.

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“My dear Eletheria! I am so glad you have returned. Did you locate your friend?” Pappa said as he stood up and held his arms wide for her. Ele ran up to him and hugged him. She had seen and spoken to him at breakfast, so she guessed this was a show for the guest. This did not bother her.

“Eletheria, I can see why my son is infatuated with you.” The guest said and bowed. As Ele looked at him more closely, she could see Lex’s thin eyebrows and square jaw in him. The guest was taller than most G’Aeris, a good hand taller than her and her father. Thin but not sickly so. Her memory started working as quickly as it had been a couple of years since she had met;

“Gabriel Spiritus?” Ele greeted her friends father. The smile he gave her was the type of smile you would give to a baby trying to utter its first words. Suddenly Ele felt like she was a kid.

“Correct, Eletheria. Now, if you can excuse me, I have business with your parents,” Gabriel said as he turned back toward Mr. and Ms. Zephyr. Ele didn’t move from her spot next to her father as they stood there for a moment. Gabriel raised an annoyed eyebrow when he saw she wasn’t leaving. He sighed and sat down, then with a wave of his hand, he bade her finish whatever she wanted to do or say to her father.

Ele wanted to tell Pappa about the clues they found about what happened to Thio but did not wish anyone else to know. Gabriel could be part of the group who took him for all she knew. Suddenly, the thought of Lex kidnapping a possible rival suitor entered her mind, and terror rose inside of her. It took a moment for her to rein herself in as she thought about that and could see that Lex would not do such a thing. Suspiciously, though, she eyed Gabriel as she turned her father away from him. Whispering into his ear, she told Pappa.

“We went to the inn. We found evidence Thio was kidnapped. Lex and I were going to shake some trees and see what falls,” Ele informed her father. The concern on his face grew as the words sank in.

“No,” Papa said in a low, deep tone. The seriousness on his face and his answer shocked Ele so much she couldn’t reply. This gave her father a moment to say more. “Many grieved you when it was thought you were lost. We need you to stay and show people you are fine.”

“But, Thio may be…” Ele started to say, her voice rising a little above a whisper. She was certain others had heard some of it, but her father’s reply was loud enough for everyone to hear it.

“Your duty is to your family and to those here now,” Pappa said, then added in a lower tone, “Lex and Antonio will find him, and I will fully support them. You must stay here so your mother and I know you at least are safe.” He ended his last point with a massive hug that made any argument Ele could come up with pointless. When he released her, he also gently turned her towards her mother.

“Now, Ele, come with me as I take cookies to everyone outside,” Ms. Zephyr said as she took her daughter’s hand. As soon as they were out of earshot of Gabriel and Pappa, Ms. Zephyr spoke. “We cannot have you go gallivanting around. We need you here.”

“But Momma!” Ele replied, her voice raising a little. A stern look from her mother quieted her.

“No. Lex is a very capable young man with ability and means. He will find out what happened to your friend.” They pushed through the door to the kitchen where the bustle of people trying to get everything prepared filled the calm of the great hall. “Lex’s father is here because he knows about last night, Ele.”

“Wait, Gabriel knows? Why didn’t we ask him?” Ele started to turn around.

“He had nothing to do with it; you were the one who was asked,” Ms. Zephyr said as she prevented Ele from returning to the great room. Understanding dawned on Ele’s face as she realized what Gabriel was here for and what it meant. The possibility of marrying Lex had seemed like a dream when she was younger, but over the years, she realized Lex wasn’t the person she wanted. At times, his controlled manner scared her. Both of her grandparents were in arranged marriages. Before the revolt, G’Aeris were paired with others of ability in hopes of breeding stronger children. Her parents were not part of an arranged marriage, but Ele knew they were somewhat forced together because there were not a lot of prospective matches.

“I want you to be happy, be it with Lex or with some other G’Aeris man,” Ms. Zephyr said, breaking Ele’s chain of thought. Ele had not realized that she had spaced out a little while pondering the aspect of marriage. “If you cannot find someone, I’m sure there are many who will spend their life trying to make you happy. If only you would give them the chance.” Ms. Zephyr looked into Ele’s eyes with softness and a smile. Ele never saw her mom smile that much; usually, it was a slight curving of the lips, but this looked genuine.

“I know, I just…” Ele struggled to find the words to express herself without worrying about her mother. “I always felt that I would love my future husband like I love the wind. Lex is nice, but he is a slight breeze when I need a gale.”

“Oh, dear child. You will find that the gale requires too much energy to survive. You cannot tame the wind,” Ms. Zephyr told her daughter.

“Cookies?” Germana asked and demanded at the same time. Ele, her mother, and sister busied themselves serving cookies and entertaining guests. Ele was back to answering the same questions over and over for people. Occasionally she was surprised by people asking about possible wedding plans. While she wanted to find out more about these rumors, so many people were seeking her attention that she couldn’t follow up with any of them. Mentally she noted she needed to have a talk with Lex. Occasionally, when Ele was near her mother, she would see her smile a little at the conversation around her. Ele couldn’t hear what bits of conversation her mother was smiling at but thought it was good she was smiling even a little.