“Well, I know you aren’t human.” Merci said as she pointed to their ears.

“Huh, what did the King say we can’t tell her?” The unmanned man asked Nikalus.

“Mostly about them, I believe.” Nikalus responded.

“Alrighty, Merci we are elves.”

Merci blinked. “Elves?”

“Yes, Elves. We come from another plane of existence that contains many Fey creatures. There are many types of elven folk, those like us are classified as High Elves, just like the King. Amongst us there are those who are centered to a certain….what’s the word I am looking for…” Nikalus trailed off as he lost his train of thought amongst the struggle to figure out the word he was looking for.

“Nikalus, I believe you mean environment. There are Arctic Elves, Woodland Elves, Desert Elves, Mountain Elves…. Well, I could continue on with the list but I think you get the point. High Elves like ourselves, come from ancient bloodlines that extend for centuries. Most Elven races extend from the ancestry of a High Elven folk mixed with a Fey Spirit that aided the creation of the type Elven race‒ whereas, we are pure and never bred outside of our lineage.”

Merci blinked, I can’t believe this!

“Believe them Merci. What they say is true.” The voice inside my head said.

Merci shook her head. “Elves exist. What are you going to tell me, Unicorns exist too?”

He smiled at her. “Well, yes. There are light and dark Unicorns. Light Unicorns exist to aid in the development and protection of the forests. The dark Unicorns are more savage as they destroy what we believe to be good.”

Merci just stared at him. He was a man she didn’t even know his name and yet here he was spitting out information that didn’t seem real. She knew the voice in her head told her to believe in them, but Unicorns, Elves, and Fey Spirits in another world or dimension? How could it be believable?

“I think I broke her.” He said to Nikalus who was trying to hold in a laugh as he saw how perplexed Merci seemed to be. How shell-shocked, Merci appeared to be.

“Well, Octavius, perhaps we should put out the fire and let her rest.”

Octavius…. The other man’s name is Octavius. Merci told herself as she repeated the name until she remembered it.

“Guys‒” Merci said, causing both men to look at her, “Can I go to bed now?”

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“Well of course. We have a tent prepared already.” Octavius said pointing towards a decent sized tent that was put together fifty feet away from the fire. “Don’t worry, love, we will be good outside.” Octavius said, “There is a change of clothes for you in there as well.”

“I have clothes.” Merci said as she motioned towards her backpack.

“The King didn’t know if you would have remembered to bring your items or not. So, we prepared anything and everything you may need. Go take a look. And if you need anything, we will be right out here.” Octavius said with a smile.

“Thanks.” Merci said and stumbled her way to the tent. Thankfully, the fire provided enough light for her to see her way to the tent as the only other light outside was the moonlight and stars above them.

The inside of the tent was simple and consisted of three sleeping bags. Merci figured they had been using the tent at some point for themselves but gave it up for her.

Merci crawled over to the bag he told her about and pulled out a few items. They looked more expensive than she was used to. Upon further examining what she could of the clothing, Merci noted that these clothes were well crafted and soft fabrics.

High-end clothing. Not for me. Merci thought to herself as she shoved them back in her bag and pulled out one of her own night outfits and changed into it.

Once she was changed, Merci found the sleeping bag that appeared to be unslept and curled up on it. Upon resetting on the softness of the sleeping bag she soon began to feel her eyelids drift.

“Sleep well my dear, I will be there soon.”

Merci hoped that sleep would come, however, the overwhelming knowledge, excitement, and nerves became too much to bear, causing sleep to be pretty much impossible. Even more so when after just four hours Merci heard the two handsome looking men whisper just outside the tent.

“What do you think the King will think?” Octavius whispered.

“You mean what does the King think? They are bonded, remember?” Nikalus said.

“I just hope he is prepared for disappointment. That girl is not Elara.” Octavius said.

Rude. I don’t even know who this Elara is but saying he’d be disappointed….

“Oh she is Elara. I saw her right after she was reincarnated. That is her alright. But the lack of memory concerns me.” Nikalus said.

Reincarnated?!? “Wh-” Merci quickly put her hand over her mouth to stop herself. She could feel her breathing quicken as she waited impatiently to see if Octavius and Nikalus heard her.

“Did you-” Nikalus began, “never mind.”

Merci sighed in relief as they appeared to not hear her.

“Perhaps those Darkwoods did something when they drained her magic. The King said he has been slowly teaching her everything again but she is only able to cast third level spells.” Octavius said. “And that is a damned shame, she was a hella good archdruid.”

Well, at least that was a complement.

“And now look, she has no memory, little powers, and she isn’t even Elven.” Nikalus said.

“Hey!” Merci plopped her hand over her mouth fair too late. Merci felt her heart race once more as she soon heard heavy footsteps approach the tent, then soon, the zipper began to unzip.

“I thought I heard you.” Nikalus said with a smile. “I thought humans needed eight hours of sleep?"

“It’s hard to sleep with you two chatting.” Merci said, crossing her arms.

“Fair enough, well, if you are awake come sit with us.” Nikalus gestured to the burning coals in the fire pit.