The elves had spoken.

I was a bit surprised that the elves had been the first to speak and to agree to my rather broad terms. The gnomes made hand signs and Olga said, “The gnomes accept.”

Borrowind nodded his approval, though I sensed he didn’t actually have to approve or disapprove anything. He would be equally happy to hibernate or to fix the problems the different creatures and beings faced.

I smiled at Borrowind and nodded.

One by one, the other representatives of the creatures all nodded in agreement or vocalized their support, which left just the faeries who’d left and not yet returned.

I started to wonder if they were going to return. Not that a majority needed their vote, but it was always nice for me in the future having a unanimous and unambiguous vote in my favor. A part of me, one I wasn’t aware of in case you needed to know, was a little concerned, not much, that the faeries still hadn’t returned. A quick pop-off to the queen, if that’s what they needed, and back could take some time, but this long seemed strange and I wondered if something had happened. I had no idea what, just something. You understand.

When I was about to give up, having allowed the forest council to move on in explaining what they thought was going on, there was noise in the woods in the direction the faeries had flown and then I could hear the heralding sounds of small trumpets and then there was a procession of flowing faeries all flying into the clearing and toward Borrowin. Near the end was a carriage drawn by what looked to me like small horses with wings and behind that a group of faeries carrying something far too large from their small sizes.

“Presenting the Queen of the Faerie, her majesty Maeve,” Moment sang out and I found myself drawn to Moment and then Maeve and, I kid you not, for the first time in my existence I curtsied and dropped my gaze in front of someone, anyone.

Maeve wasn’t just a queen, she was the queen of all the faeries everywhere and chances were, if she was trapped in this forest like so many others, there were legions outside that would be doing everything they could to either save her or confirm her death.

Having Mortal in the forest wasn’t as peculiar as one might think. Maeve often sent her daughters off to rule in her stead. Mortal, though young, was clearly being taught how to lead and be a leader. Maeve just was a leader.

“Your highness,” I said. There was respect in my tone.

“I speak for the faeries,” Moment said, and all eyes turned from Maeve to Moment and then back to Maeve.

“The queen accepts Flora Rose and her demands and promises no faerie will assist in her capture or punishment forevermore.”

Again, all eyes were on Maeve who gave a slight nod and then she motioned with one hand and the carriage she was in turned and left and the faeries with the oversized item moved forward.

“The queen has ordered the return of your satchel,” Moment said. “And while she wishes the situation that led to your exile in a faerie circle were different, she chooses not to apologize for those actions or to change or have changed what led to the faerie agreeing to participate. By faerie law and the word of the queen, we will not disclose the names of any involved, but still promise and vow never to interfere again.”

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My satchel.

I don’t know if in the short time I’d been separated from my satchel I’d decided it was gone forever or if I was waiting for something else to change so I could mourn it, a satchel is a very personal thing, but seeing the satchel made something inside of me jump. What made me smile, though, was when it was handed over to me I could see that the faeries had kept it in pristine condition. They’d cleaned it, conditioned the leather, fixed some of the threads that I knew were coming loose (there are just some things you know so well when something changes you know). There was even a touch of gold woven into the thread and fabric that I was going to have to study later. For now, though, I swung it over my head and across my body and could sense even more of my essence returning to me.

There was now a new sense of urgency. First if Maeve was involved that meant something big had happened. Which may seem weird. Maeve isn’t very tall. Shorter than an apple, if you want to compare it to something. Though other than her hair and eyes, there is no other blue anywhere on her. Which I think is great. Trolls and Sasquatch have a lot of blue, but not faeries and especially not Maeve.

Moment watched me for a moment, I’m absolutely certain there was a visible change in me when I’d gotten my satchel and now I was resisting the urge to dig in and make sure everything inside was as it should be. There were parts of the bag that needed to be verified. I’ll leave it at that.

When she thought I’d had enough time, Moment cleared her throat and motioned for Bal to come forward. In her arms was a wrapped sword, sword shapes are so hard to hide, and as she got closer she removed the silk wrappings, the fabric flowing over her forearms.

I started to reach for the sword and Moment stopped me. She looked at Borrowind and waited for him to nod and then looked at me. “This sword has been designed specifically for the purpose of destroying the monster in the woods,” she said. “Once you take it, the sword will bind with you and you with it.”

I started to open my mouth to mention my specific nature, but Moment continued talking, “We know about who and what you are. That doesn’t matter. The sword will become part of you. However, there is a small window of opportunity that can be used to destroy the monster.”

“Okay.”

“You have to do it when he first comes out of his structure. Otherwise, the sword may injure the monster, but it won’t kill it and you will never have another opportunity. We will all be trapped in here forever.”

I nodded, not really understanding, but knowing enough that while the sword was probably magical – since it could bind with me – and may have been forged by dwarves, the council was entrusting me with something they felt had limited utility.

“It has to be done quickly and the moment he comes out of his tent,” I said.

“If only that was a tent,” Borrowind said, shifting to walk over to me. “That is something else entirely. We have yet to figure out what.”

“Do I need to destroy that as well?” I asked.

Borrowind looked at Moment who looked to Bal who, in turn, looked to Olga who turned to the gnomes and waited for them to finish their hand signals.

“They say there isn’t a specific reason to destroy it. The structure is a problem, but not as much without the monster,” Olga said.

I nodded and then listened as Moment and Borrowind continued to explain what was needed from me in terms of Ethan. They called him a monster and maybe he was, but I didn’t know how well that term (or golem or simulacrum) fitted Ethan, but I also knew something was wrong or different about him and to that end I was willing to do whatever was needed.

After far too much conversation and then well-wishes and goodbyes, I followed Olga and Wander back into the woods, the presence of so many creatures suddenly gone as we hurried through the underbrush and along different trails back to the camp. I was, at this point, ready to dig into my satchel to make sure things were as I left them. There are aspects to magic and magical things that are person specific, but with Maeve involved and since she is almost as much of an unknown in the world as almost anyone else, there was no guarantee she hadn’t ordered the faeries to try and disrupt my magic and force their way into my things.

Olga and Wander left me a good distance away from the camp, well before we got close to the barrier that surrounded the camp. I waved them goodbye and then checked the sky to see how close to false dawn I was and from there to the actual dawn. Part of me considered just storming into Ethan’s tent and taking care of him now, but Moment had been very specific about when to use the sword and now was not that time.