“Hey Franky, what’s up with Sebby? Leo’s sad his friend’s not playing with him lately.” Luka asked as they walked through the forest.

Franky, for his part, tried not to groan. “Sebby’s looking for a mate and is being a butthole about it.”

The answer was what Luka was expecting, but not the second part. “What do you mean?”

“He goes out at odd times during the day, he disappears at night, he won’t talk to me like he used to, and he snaps at me! Me!?”

Annie scoffed. “Sounds like my kids when they were teenagers.”

Franky paused. “Really?”

She went on to explain coming of age from the perspective of a parent—essentially what Franky was to Sebby. Luckily for Luka, Eve, and Vale, the conversation ceased when they reached their destination.

Judge Ben was waiting for them when they returned to the inside of the park. Ben, like most of the adults of Emberwood Village, was an old soul. He loved gardening and always had a wise word, even for an orc. He stood a foot taller than Luka, and flabby, bulked muscles hid below his green skin. He wore tiny glasses and always carried a pocket watch.

He was, in Luka’s opinion, one of the nicest individuals in the village. He had to be—if not for himself, but to counter his wife’s blunt personality.

“Ah, there you are,” Ben said, pushing off from a driftwood bench. They were back in Stormcorsair Harbor, all the way in the rear near the Whirlpool Tavern. “How’d it go?”

“Good,” Luka replied, nodding toward his daughter. “Check that out.”

Annie held up the grove keychain, giving it a gentle shake. The trees inside swayed with the motion, the jerky force lessened as it passed through each spatial fold.

“What… is it?” Ben asked. Outwardly, the keychain was a blob of space about two fingers in length. It bent the air around it, giving it a defined dark edge. Inside were trees, bushes, and dirt, each living their life to the fullest. Except the shattered one. That one was dead.

“A grove of trees,” Annie said, purposefully attempting to sound casual. “My magic’s cool like that.”

Luka gave her a patronizing look. “Our tests went well. Annie’s more than capable of doing the heavy lifting for the park’s future expansion.”

“Foundationally,” she quickly added. “You’ll be the one actually expanding the park.”

“Right. Now all we must do is finalize what the areas will look like, what we want inside them, and countless other things.”

Ben chuckled. “Talk to my wife. She was going over your latest proposal.”

Luka found himself sucking in a nervous breath. Tram always loved and supported his ideas… but some ideas she loved better. The issue was gauging which ideas were the most loved ones. And who better to bridge the gap of Tram’s idiosyncrasies than her husband.

“What’d she say?” he asked.

Ben hesitated for a moment—not a good sign—before reaching out and patting him on the shoulder—also not a good sign. Then he said, “She was almost giddy. I think you’ve found a winner.”

It took Luka a moment to catch up. “Really?” he asked, more than suspiciously.

“Well—no. But I liked the last proposal and Tram deferred to me. I was the giddy one, and since she was acting through me, she was the giddy one. Does that make sense?”

Franky, who was a few steps away arguing with Vale about who owed who a mug of beer, overheard Ben’s statement. And, unable to not say something about the situation, said, “The only time I’ve seen Tram giddy was when she blackmailed Arlo into giving up his boss and subsequently finding out it was Barns.”

Everyone but Annie and Vale turned contemplative. Arlo was a grunt in the Crew, a now defunct street gang out of the local major city of Sneerhome. Ran by a former Emberwood villager, Batty “Double B” Barns attempted to steal secrets from the park’s after-hours meeting only to be discovered, hunted down, and hired by Mayor Tram. The Crew soon became the park’s security.

“Right…” Luka said slowly, “well, I’ll talk to her. In the meantime, do you know what it means for the Elven Consort to be heading toward the park? Vale won’t tell us unless we buy her beer, and I don’t want to fuel a habit of her only helping us when we buy her things.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Hey!” Vale snapped. Everyone ignored her in favor of Ben’s face.

As Luka talked, the elderly orc’s jaw opened wider and wider, mimicking his eyes. “Elven Consort, you say?” The question came out quick and dry-mouthed. “W-w-why would she be coming here?”

Luka frowned at the man. “Is this a big deal? Franky and Eve didn’t know much about her.”

From the side, Eve leaned in and said, “Uh, not true. You just didn’t ask.”

He blinked lamely at her. “Then I ask you the same question.”

Eve crossed her arms, an answer not coming to her. “Fine. You’re right.” She looked at the judge. “Ben?”

Ben removed a folded handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his forehead. “Um. Well. Uh. We, we need to, uh, prepare the park. Clean it, um. And be ready for her arrival.”

Vale huffed and said, “She’s already here.” Then she turned to Luka. “See? No habit forming! I gave that information free of charge!”

“The Elven Consort is already here?” Luka asked.

“Did I misspeak?”

“Guess not…”

Ben coughed. “I-I’m going to go find Tram. She’ll know what to do.”

Annie stopped him. “Should we figure out where the consort is first?”

Luka shook his head. “Wait. Before we do anything, what significance does the elven consort hold? Is she like a queen or something?”

That, Eve could answer. “The Elven Consort is the oldest mortal humanoid alive, though she’s been alive longer than some immortals. She ‘consorts’ with the World Tree, meaning she’s the medium between the world and us people. And—”

Luka held up his hand. “I think you misspoke. You said ‘the World Tree’ and then just the word ‘world.’”

“Right. I said it correctly.”

He hesitated. “Then the World Tree is the world itself?”

Eve gave a weak shrug. “Yeah, I guess.”

Vale sighed loudly. “I really should be charging for information, but I won’t. A world tree is a planet’s magical life force given physical form. So, in essence, yes. The World Tree is this world.”

“Okay… and what does the consort do?”

“Looks for places to grow another tree.”

“Oh.” A beat passed. “Is she looking at World Walker Park as a potential location?”

Vale lamely raised her arm—answer enough.

“Great!” Annie said through gritted teeth. “We’ve got a tree-queen coming by the park to check us out and I just exploded a tree!”

Luka patted her back softly. “It’ll be okay. I’m sure—” a voice in the distance cut him off.

“Luka!”

Everyone turned, finding little Ren and Nicole running over hand in hand. Ren was a future orcish chef, a kid who annoyed guests and World Walkers alike until they handed over family recipes for the restaurant he’d eventually open. Nicole was a dryad who loved to draw and play with dolls. She was also, somehow, the only one who could stomach Ren every waking hour of the day.

“Hey!” Luka snapped, whisper yelling at the pair. “What did we tell you two about yelling in the park?”

Ren vigorously shook his head. “No time to read me the riot act, Luka! The queen is coming!”

Nicole lightly bopped him on the head. “Not the queen, a princess! A real-life princess is coming to the park!”

“You mean the elven consort?” he asked.

The little dryad pursed her mossy lips. “No. The crier said, ‘Princess of the Kingdom of Embers!’ I’m sure!”

Annie asked, “Crier?”

“Someone who brings news,” Vale helpfully said before adding, “I think that answer deserves a mug as well.”

Rounding the corner of the harbor, a lanky orc rushed toward the group. Wearing the park’s security uniform—a simple leather set of armor that read “SECURITY” on the back—Batty “Double B” Barns was impossible to miss. The crowds moved out of his way, an enchanted electrifying baton on his hip for when the troublemakers got aggressive.

“Luka!” Barns huffed when he got to the group. “We have trouble! A message just came—”

“About the princess and/or the elven consort?” Luka asked, interrupting.

The security leader shook his head. “No—my former boss is coming! We’ve got to prepare!”

Annie scratched her head. “Um, what?”

Barns unfurled a tiny scroll from his pocket. “One of my contacts in the City of Embers sent this by carrier bird. My crew belonged to a larger set of gangs, which was owned by a singular boss. That man is headed to the park to see why me and my guys stopped working for him.”

Luka massaged his temples. “Okay, so—we’ve got three VIPs on the way—well two, because the consort is already here somewhere—and we’ve done no preparation at all for them? Great. Okay. Here’s what we need to do. Ben, find Tram. Ren and Nicole, you two go around the park and tell every villager and park employee about the VIPs. Eve, Franky, you two find your aunt—I’m going to need help.”

There were only two people left, Vale and Annie. Vale smiled brightly waiting for orders, her hands clasped behind her back, swaying slightly. And as much as Luka wished to send her back to the gate, ready to greet people, he couldn’t. It wasn’t because he didn’t want her to greet the VIPs when they arrived, but because she was oddly good at certain things—like finding people. Or stealing. Or lying. Or generally not being a moral person.

Still, she was incredibly loyal to him and the park.

“Vale. Find the consort and then come get me.”

She gave him a mock salute and rushed off. Despite the gods sealing her magic, the shadows seemed to invite her in. She disappeared into the crowd.

“What about me, Dad?” Annie asked.

Luka had to think. She could do a lot of things. In a way, she was his right hand. Unfortunately, right now, he needed her for something else.

“You up for some more magic?” he asked.

Her smile was almost predatory. “Always.”

“Good. I need you to clear an area for me. We’ve got to build a five-star hotel before nightfall.”