Calinna stood in silent fear as her father bore into her with his eyes. Her morning had started peacefully enough, but she had been avoiding him for almost a week now. She knew this was coming and she hopelessly wished to be anywhere but here…

“Enough games, Calinna. I am no fool, you have been dodging me. You will tell me what you saw.” her father, Chief Calsen, said.

But therein lied the problem, she couldn’t tell him. Nor could she tell him that either. She and Oralyn had made a contract with Felix to not say what they saw or what he told them.

So she stood, silent and fearing his wrath to come. Her only source of strength was her sketchbook, which she desperately hugged in her arms.

Her father approached and stood over her. “Tell me, Calinna.”

Silence, only now she began to tremble.

Long ago, she had learned to never defy her father. Yet, here she was, doing exactly that. It caused a tremendous amount of anguish for her. But the contract was powerful, she was too weak to break it.

In a flash, a hand flew at her face. She flinched, expecting a slap but it stopped just short of touching her. Instead, her father gently placed his hand against her.

Calinna’s soul shivered from the touch.

“Look at me.” His words were cold and demanding.

She slowly brought her gaze up and met his eyes, there was a fury raging in them. Afraid from what would come next, she opened her mouth. But her words failed her, getting caught in her throat.

A moment passed before his expression turned to one of realization. “They placed a contract upon you.” It was said as a statement and not as a question.

Still, she could not tell him.

“I see.” The rage in his eyes worsened but it was no longer directed at her. And for an instant, she felt relief.

But as he let go of her face, his gaze fell upon her sketchbook. Calinna’s heart raced, her hands began to sweat. Suddenly, she was well aware of the book’s weight.

“You took your little sketchbook with you, didn’t you?” he asked with a smile.

“F-father…” the word almost croaked out of her throat.

“Hand it to me,” he said, reaching out with his hand.

“Father… P-please!” Her breath quickened, her heart pounded within her chest.

Chief Calsen’s face hardened. “Calinna, my daughter. Hand. Me. The. Book.”

She took a step away from him, pressing it even tighter against her chest. “No–”

The word barely escaped her lips before he lunged for it, grabbing hold of the book. “Let go.”

But she shook her head, no. “Father! Please! I need it–”

“NO!” he yelled. “I need it,” he added with a hiss and pulled hard.

Calinna immediately fought back, trying hard to keep her sketchbook within her grasp. But she was no match for her father.

With another, more forceful yank, the book broke free of her hands. She fell backwards, landing hard on the ground. All she felt, though, was the tears beginning to well up.

Her father didn’t even bother to spare another glance at her as he whipped around, victorious. Already, he was flipping through the pages.

Now properly crying, Calinna wanted nothing more than to escape. And so she did.

Quickly picking herself up off the ground, she ran…

She ran hard.

She ran fast.

She ran wild, but not without direction.

Calinna ran to the one person, to the one elf who could help her. To the one elf who had already helped her. She ran for Gillador.

But, as luck would have it, it was not him she ran into.

As distraught as she was, Calinna wasn’t paying much attention. She made it into the main camp and rounded a few tents. However, it was then that she cut the corner of one and smacked face first into someone.

Two yelps could be heard as two women went to the ground. Calinna blinked and made to stand once again. All the while trying to mutter an apology.

But, as she got up, the other woman called out her name. “Calinna?”

It was Oralyn and her expression changed from anger to concern.

“I’m sorry!” Calinna shouted and turned, but a hand appeared on her shoulder. Unlike her father’s touch, Oralyn’s was warm and comforting.

“Wait! What’s going on? What happened?”

She froze, in her mind she still wanted to reach Gil. But now that she had been confronted by another friend, all her emotions began to spill out.

Whipping around, she practically fell onto Oralyn, embracing her in a hug. Her tears streamed down her face and onto the other woman’s clothes.

Stunned, it took Oralyn a moment before she returned the embrace. “Tell me, what happened?” she asked again after several seconds.

“He took it,” Calinna said, her voice muffled. “He took it away from me!”

“Who…? Who took what–” Oralyn stopped, presumably figuring something out. “Who took your sketchbook?”

Calinna tightened her grip around her friend, burying her face deep into Oralyn’s chest.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“My father!”

----------------------------------------

Oralyn’s week had been difficult to say the least. It started with her anger for Felix choosing Eri’s plan over hers. But, it quickly spiraled downwards.

The news she and Calinna received while in the hatchery shook her to her very core. An invasion was coming, one that would threaten the entire island. While she didn’t let it show, the thought scared her.

But a strong leader doesn’t show fear, only strength. The words, even now, felt hollow. Yet, she knew becoming queen would mean having to face and deal with threats like this.

But we don’t really know war, do we? Our ancestors did, but that was centuries ago. How would we fight? And with what soldiers? It was those thoughts that constantly echoed in her mind.

What she wanted for her people was a return to glory. What she strove for, in her tribe, was unity and greatness. But what reality was telling her was that it would be all for naught.

The Sages were gathered, somewhere, and putting together a plan. The dragons are keeping their ever watchful eyes on the shores. The barrier is holding. That is what she told herself in a bid to boost her confidence.

Yet, Aluin took Felix’s visions seriously enough to gather the Sages. Does he believe the dragons and the barrier won’t be enough? Even Felix and Eri are gone, looking for this… Sanctuary.

It did not inspire confidence. She understood the need for secrecy, but once they returned, Eri, Calinna, and her would tell everyone the truth. The hope being that having a shelter like the one Felix described would keep panic to a minimum.

However, her thoughts were interrupted as someone crashed into her…

***

Oralyn stood there with Calinna crying in her arms, fury overtaking every other emotion. While it was true she had made to distance herself from the other woman, she was not cruel or stupid. There was more to this story, and she knew how much Calinna loved that sketchbook.

To have the one thing that brought her joy taken from her… And by her father no less! The thought made her sneer, breaking what little was left of her mask.

“Where is he?” she asked calmly, too calmly.

“What?” Calinna stammered, looking up at her for the first time. Her tears were slowing down.

“I said, where is he?”

Calinna’s eyes widened before she shook her head. “No…”

“Why not? Do you not want your book back?” She already knew the answer.

“I…do, but–”

“Then tell me where he is, I will get it back for you.”

“Oralyn, please…don’t.” Calinna begged, still snuffling.

But Oralyn narrowed her eyes. “Again, why not?”

“B-because! It’s not your concern…”

That caused her to raise an eyebrow. “It’s not? Then where were you heading?”

There was a pause before Calinna responded. “I was… I was heading for Gil’s.”

Oralyn studied her, considering the meaning behind that admission. She’s looking for comfort… “Fine,” she pulled herself out from Calinna’s embrace, much to the woman’s surprise. But she wasn’t done.

Reaching a hand out, Oralyn grabbed Calinna’s. “Come on, let’s go find Gil then.” She didn’t wait for a response and immediately began to pull the other woman along.

At first, Calinna resisted but soon she resigned herself to her fate. “Okay…”

The two of them continued through the camp, going past many curious eyes who tracked and followed them. Whispers could be heard, no doubt gossip was starting to spread. They hadn’t exactly been quiet and there were plenty of people around.

But Oralyn ignored them all, only tossing warning glares to any who threatened to get in their way. She had a destination, she had a mission. She was not going to be stopped.

And that destination? It was the site of the soon-to-be dormitory. Ground had already been broken and even now the area was being cleared and leveled.

Its location, however, was up near the edge of the clearing, where part of the camp had once been set up. Those people had moved, but there remained one challenge.

Sky trees.

Effectively, the clearing needed to be expanded to better fit the dormitory. The final structure would be truly massive. At least, it would be massive for the elves. This would be the first time that any of them would have seen something like this.

While the trees were a problem, the elves knew how to cut them down. A smaller issue was presenting itself, though. What to do with all the wood and lumber? Some of it would be used in the construction but a lot of it would otherwise go to waste.

However, none of that was on Oralyn’s mind as she came upon the site. No, she instead scanned the area for the one responsible for the actual construction.

Her eyes found him off in one corner, holding a rather large sheet of paper. Several others hovered over the man, muttering incomprehensibly to themselves.

With her anger now having calmed down slightly, she put on her emotional mask and gave Calinna a slight tug. Then, she guided them over to Gillador.

The old man must have heard them approach because he lowered the sheet of paper and gave them a nod. He said something to the others near him and they quickly dispersed as they crossed the remaining distance.

“Good morning, ladies–” He narrowed his eyes at the sight of Calinna. “What happened?” he asked seriously.

Oralyn glanced over to Calinna but found her hiding behind her back. She let out a sigh and decided to do the talking. “It’s about Chief Calsen. He took Calinna’s book–”

“Bastard,” Gil spat out. He leaned to the side to get a better look at Calinna, his expression softening as he did so. “Would ya like to come with me back to my tent? I can get ya some tea and you can tell me everything– If you want to, that is.”

Poor Calinna edged out from behind Oralyn before giving him a shy nod. “I would… I would like that.”

“Good, then just give me a moment…” He brought his attention back to Oralyn, his expression now hard and furious. “Would ya mind keeping things in check around here? This has everything ya will need.” He handed out the large paper sheet to her.

I guess I don’t have much of a choice… This is my day, and my duty. “Yes,” she said, accepting the sheet. “We are still working on the trees, correct?”

“Indeed, but the first ones should be coming down soon–”

As if on cue, someone up high yelled. “LOOK OUT BELOW!”

A moment later, a large section of one of the sky tree’s came crashing down. Thankfully, everyone was aware of what was happening and there was no panic or confusion. In fact, there were cheers as people set upon the pile.

Gil cleared his throat. “As I was saying, the first one should be coming down soon. Once they do, we can start to level in that direction.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem then,” she said, hoping that her mask hid her wariness. She had never personally seen one of the big trees come down, but watching the process in action was both exciting as it was terrifying.

“Good. Anyway, if ya need anything I’ll be at my camp.” He gestured toward Calinna. “Come, let’s get out of here.”

Oralyn forgot she was still holding on to Calinna and let go. She watched with a frown as the two walked off. Is this really what I want?

The thought was momentarily disrupted as the crews working on the trees began shouting once more. This time, a larger area was cleared of people as onlookers watched with rapt attention.

The rest of the tree was suddenly brought down, landing with a thunderous, deafening crash. A sound that was eerily similar to what she felt about the pillars of willpower holding her up.

Can I do this? The new thought was insidious, but she was reminded once again of the future to come. War, death… Destruction. Can I handle that? Can I be strong, even as everyone around me dies?

She had already pushed Calinna away, that much was clear. She thought she would do anything to become queen. But Felix’s revelation had shaken her.

No! I can do this! I have to do this! I will do this! She brought a hand up, balling it into a fist as if to reassure herself.

Yet, her arm trembled.