The bright, gleaming stone of the Spring Court palace stood proudly in the middle of the perfectly manicured grounds. As the red-haired tiny princess of the Court played in the ornately carved fountain next to the palace bailey, Daenora kept an eye on her. As captain of the guard, she took her duties seriously, but it was nice to spend some time with the princess and unwind.

A green-skinned tiefling of the Autumn Realm, Daenora stood at ease. She had gotten used to the increased warmth of Spring compared to Autumn, and she felt at peace as the pleasant wind gently tugged at her shoulder-length auburn hair. She thought about her home, and her time in the human plane with fondness as an errant splash brought her back to the present.

“I got you!” the princess squealed in elvish. She had gone from dipping her hands in the fountain to being inside of it, the water up to her waist. The tiefling assessed the situation quickly, knowing that while the princess was not supposed to be in the fountain, it would be very difficult to pull her out; the little elf moved surprisingly fast.

“NOOO!” Daenora cried dramatically, making a show of the dark, wet spot on her tunic. “Not the…water…”

She collapsed to the ground with a croaky death rattle, throwing in a few coughs for good measure, before going completely still. The princess climbed out of the fountain and ran over, her wet feet making tiny slapping sounds on the warm cobblestones.

“Auntie…” the little girl chided, her green eyes narrowing as her hands went to her hips. “It’s just water. You’re not dead.”

Daenora opened an eye. “Yes I am. Princess water is deadly to me. I just never told you. The only way to save me is with the medicine in my pouch,” she said weakly, before she closed her eye again.

The princess looked back to the fountain, then to the clearly dead Daenora’s face, then to the pouch tied to her auntie’s belt. As she leaned over to grab the pouch, Daenora sprang up and grabbed her in a hug, the princess’ wet dress soaking her own clothes.

“Unhand me!” she giggled while struggling, useless against the warrior’s defined muscles. Daenora swung her over her shoulder as she started walking towards the kitchens, which lead to the bath upstairs.

“A princess must look presentable at all times,” the tiefling said flatly. So it’s time for a bath, then a clean dress before dinner.”

“I don’t want a b…dinner?” the little elf asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes..

“Nothing you would like,” Daenora teased. “Just some meat pies with fresh berries for dessert. I’ll tell the cooks to make you some mushrooms instead.”

The princess made a face. Daenora couldn’t see it, but knew how much she hated them. The little girl loved to forage, but always left mushrooms behind.

“Captain Daenora,” a stern voice came from behind. The tiefling turned, and greeted with the sight of the King and Queen of the fae Spring Court. Her demeanor immediately changed as soon as she saw them; they looked worried.

“A word, please,” the king continued, a hand combing nervously through his short blond hair. “The nanny will take care of Princess Eilidh for the time being. We have items to discuss.”

King Arche, a tall, slender elf with a serious demeanor, didn’t look any less regal in his three-piece white suit and red dress shirt than he did in full Court regalia. Sporting a short beard, his blue eyes burned with intensity as they flicked to the princess, then to Daenora, settling on her.

Daenora nodded, then held her right hand out briefly to one of her guardsmen, who sharply flicked her sword and scabbard into the hand with a thud. The claymore’s silver buckles shone in the afternoon sun for a brief moment, before Daenora clasped the scabbard to her belt. The king wordlessly spun around, leading the queen towards the royal quarters as Daenora followed closely behind.

“This seems pretty serious, sire,” the tiefling mused flatly.

The king grunted, biting his lip as his head tilted slightly, inconspicuously looking to the right, then left. Princess Eilidh waved the three goodbye as her nanny scooped her up and headed towards the kitchens.

“Dorian is back again,” he informed Daenora, his voice dripping with contempt. “I felt him, or I guess it would be one of his men, open a doorway to this realm just moments ago.”

Daenora grimaced, not bothering to hide her feelings for the man. She jogged ahead of the king and queen, opening the door to the royal quarters for them as they stepped inside. The king removed his jacket, resting it carefully on a peg emitting from the stone wall near the door.

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The entryway to the royal quarters was a small room, and while it was ornately decorated with spring-themed tapestries, it was clean and cozy. The royal couple much rather preferred discussing important matters here than in the main hall, which was drafty and uncomfortable. Daenora waited for the king and queen to sit in their chairs before taking one herself. She had become like family to them in her years of service, and would have chastised her for standing during a meeting.

“So the Deceiver is back,” Daenora began, taking point in the discussion, her tone like someone who had just discovered a spider in her shoe. She believed the king, of course, but couldn’t sense the intrusion herself since she wasn’t magically aligned to the Spring Realm.

The king nodded, looking at the queen.

“He is,” the queen answered. Her nimble fingers, usually busy with knitting, were nervously playing with her red hair, a gift she had passed on to her daughter. “Although thanks to Eilidh toying with the magic ley lines, they popped into the realm several miles away. It’ll take him some time to get here.”

Daenora spread out both hands in a gesture of confusion. “So…what’s the problem? I always thought it was some kind of meeting, nothing more.”

The king glanced at his wife, who sheepishly looked at the table, then up at Daenora.

“He hasn’t just been coming for meetings,” she admitted. “Dorian has been coming for years, leaving large, golden objects here for safekeeping. He told us that once he had gathered enough, it would give us the power to attain and keep peace in the fae realm. All he asked in return once he collected them was to live in peace here.”

“Golden…” Daenora began. “He’s been hoarding Destined Objects here?” she asked, incredulously. Her lips parted slightly in disbelief.

“Those items are powerful in the human realm, but their magic is unreliable at best here. When I was stuck in that realm, a family took me in and explained it to me. He must be…” she pondered out loud.

“Wait. Why are you just now suspicious of his actions?” Daenora asked, her eyebrow raised at the queen.

“We don’t know much about the human realm,” the queen admitted. “And we had to keep the gold a secret, so we wouldn’t be attacked by other courts. So we’ve been sending out emissaries to scour the fae wilds, to find something that would tell us what they would do.”

“And…?” Daenora wanted the queen to continue, but knew the answer.

“Nothing!” she replied. “How could these…things help us if no one knows what they are? They look old, but there are no legends or stories about them. No one can connect to them with magic. We’re at a loss. At least…we were.”

“Go on,” the tiefling prodded.

“After a while, we finally started receiving reports that humans used gold to make what is called ‘Destined Objects’, to power their ‘Gifts’, but that still didn’t tell us much. Then a human one of our people interrogated said that they are always very small, so these ‘Gifted’ could carry them around. When asked about large and ancient ones, he had no idea.”

Daenora grunted.

The king closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before speaking. “We were foolish to trust a human, and now we have what are potentially dangerous items sitting in our vault. He comes and goes as he pleases, and even if what you say is true, that these objects provide an unpredictable level of power, we still don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“My king and queen,” Daenora began. “This is why I wanted to be kept aware of things that could concern your safety, but we’ll move past that for now. The human you received information from was telling the truth; I haven’t heard of Destined Objects being any larger than maybe a large goblet or candlestick, and those were rare. There are too many variables with this man, and if we anger him, he could do some serious damage.”

“We brought you into this because we need your expertise,” the queen said, a note of desperation in her normally regal and tempered voice. “We’re not sure how to proceed.”

Daenora crossed her arms, sitting rigidly in her wooden chair, her eyes darting back and forth as she thought intensely. The royal couple, still looking very worried, joined hands and waited for an answer.

“We have to tread carefully,” Daenora said in a quick, serious way. “We don’t know how much influence Dorian has in the human world, and what he can do. I’ve never heard of him, but it’s been at least fifteen years since I stepped foot there. I’m willing to go with him…for now…to gather intelligence and report back.”

The queen’s bright eyes opened wide, then narrowed. “This man is very secretive; why would he let you go with him?”

The tiefling pondered again, before being interrupted by the king snapping a finger in her direction.

“We could play along,” he said, finally showing a sense of hope in his voice. “We’ll say that as an act of good faith, we’ll send you with him to procure the next Object. If he doesn’t wish for you to come, say that you’ve always wanted to visit the human realm. I’ll back you up, and tell him that I would consider this an important and valuable favor.”

“Arche, you are so wise,” the queen chimed in, her voice dropping into relief.

“I’m only wise because I have you, Enras,” The king replied, taking her hand and patting it gently.

“That could work,” Daenora thought aloud. “I doubt he could resist doing something that would gain him favor in the Court.”

“Will it be too dangerous for you?” Arche asked, worry creeping back into his voice as he turned away from his wife.

Daenora shook her head. “I’ll be okay. I know some human customs so it shouldn’t be too bad, and I’ll take Coraline with me, she can sniff out trouble before it gets too close.”

The queen nodded, amused. The thought of the giant hound scaring humans as she walked near them almost made her chuckle.

The three continued to discuss their plans in the royal chamber, plotting for any contingencies. Miles away, Dorian, Cahn, Hjerim and Bat began their trip into the magical and chaotic forest of the Spring fae wild.