"Kaida, we need to hide. Quickly," Firion whispered, his voice low and taut.
He knew exactly who these intruders were. He steadied his breathing and forced his mind to work.
There is no doubt in my mind. It is the Lustrodos army. But why now? It has been months since they nearly killed me. Did they come to confirm my death?
Kaida's heart hammered against her ribs, but through the fear, her mother's voice surfaced like a warm hand on her shoulder.
My daughter, the woods are our realm. When you feel unsafe, ask the trees to protect you, and they will. We are loved by the forest. Never forget that.
She swallowed hard and looked around. Her eyes landed on an old oak, its trunk thick and gnarled with age, moss creeping up its bark like a green cloak. At its base was a hollow, half-hidden behind a curtain of ivy.
"Quickly, Firion!" she whispered. "This tree will protect us. Trust me!"
He nodded without hesitation. Together they crawled inside the hollow, the scent of damp earth and old wood wrapping around them, and prayed it would shield them from the eyes of the approaching soldiers.
But Firion had another worry. Elves had powerful hearing, and if their hearts beat too loudly, they could give themselves away.
He could hear Kaida's heart racing like a frightened rabbit's. He felt the fear pouring off her. Gently, he pulled her against his chest and held her tight.
Pressed against him, she felt the warmth of his embrace and the slow, steady thrum of his heartbeat. Little by little, her own heart followed its rhythm, and she felt safe.
She closed her eyes and offered a silent prayer. Please, spirits of the wood, keep us hidden.
Neither of them dared to speak. Firion's long ears twitched and swiveled, catching every sound the forest carried. If there was one thing forest elves had over their cousins, it was hearing far sharper than any other.
Three soldiers, perhaps more. About twenty meters away. Soon, voices drifted through the trees.
"Oi! Where's this cheeky little girl Magnus sent us to fetch? And is she even going to come willingly? We've been out here for hours!" a man complained.
Another voice joined in. "She's a blue horn deva with red hair, right? Never seen one with red hair before. But the good duke said he'd pay us handsomely if we brought her back. She must be a real looker!"
Magnus… They cannot mean Archduke Magnus? He is one of the candidates next in line to be Emperor of Aldenburg! Firion was stunned. Why would a royal duke want Kaida?
A surge of rage boiled up inside him. Kaida felt it at once. She placed a hand on his cheek, and her gentle blue gaze met his in the dim light of the hollow. It was enough to bring him back to his senses. He had to stay calm.
Then a woman's voice chimed in. "I don't get it. Why don't we just tell everyone in Aldenburg that demons don't actually exist? Why do we have to lie to everyone? Even most of the army doesn't know!"
"Because then every lonely, pathetic male elf would demand a deva wife and never look twice at a female elf like you again!" the man snapped. "And there aren't enough deva women to go around! Besides, the highborn would have our heads if we said a word!"
The deeper-voiced elf added, "Only the highborn nobles are allowed deva wives. They say devas have the purest bloodlines for bearing children with strong fae lineage. Who would've thought those horned folk had purer fae blood than our self-absorbed nobles?"
Firion's eyes widened.
Everything he had theorized was true. The upper ranks of Aldenburg knew the truth about devas.
"Those heretics in Eurelca have known it for eons," the other man went on, "but they never wanted to share their secrets with us. Not until a spy finally found out. After that, all it took was a little diplomacy with Mycean."
"But Mycean only allows so many deva women to be taken," the woman said. "I heard one of those blue horn wenches even ran away from her betrothed. We think she was this red-haired girl's mother. Their holy priestess, Amara. They say she was a woman of incomparable beauty."
Amara… Firion committed the name to memory. So that is the name of Kaida's mother.
Hurried footsteps crunched through the undergrowth. Another soldier was approaching, gasping for air.
"HEY! This is real bad! Look what I found lying around the girl's home!"
"That's a piece of Lustrodos armor! What's it doing at the girl's home?" the woman asked.
"Remember what happened a while back?" said the deeper-voiced elf. "That moron Adan wanted to marry that whore Isa, so he supposedly had her old lover killed. What if he survived and found the girl before we did?"
"Shit, this is bad! What if they've already run off? Magnus is going to be furious if someone stole his prize! Should we search the area?" the fourth soldier suggested.
"I don't know about you three, but I'm not hanging around these woods. They say they're haunted. Stay too long and you turn up dead within a day," the deeper voice said. "Besides, Magnus won't be angry with us. It's that lowly baron whose head is going to roll."
"He's right," the woman agreed. "This is Adan's fault. He may be highborn, but no true noble would kill over a harlot like Isa, who even sleeps with humans."
"Magnus will probably send a search party to tear this place apart," said the fourth soldier. "If the girl or that forest elf are still here, we'll need a lot more people. This forest is massive!"
"Let's head out," said the other man. "I'm starting to feel sick from this place anyway. And you saw those giant wolves. Four of us won't be enough."
The footsteps began to fade, but Firion's ears caught a few last scraps of conversation.
"Ahhh, I really wanted that reward. And I really wanted to see this deva. I bet she's easy on the eyes. They say bedding one is like lying with a goddess!" one of the men groaned.
A sharp smack echoed through the trees.
"Oh, shut up!" the woman snapped. "You make it sound like deva wenches are more chaste than us! There are still virtuous elf women, like me!"
Laughter rolled through the forest and slowly faded into silence. Still, Firion and Kaida did not move. They would wait until they were certain it was safe.
Hours passed. The light filtering through the ivy shifted from gold to amber. At last, Firion swept his ears in every direction and listened closely. Nothing but birdsong and the rustle of leaves.
"Kaida, I believe it is safe now," he cooed.
She rubbed her eyes. Somewhere along the way, curled against his chest, she had fallen asleep. Slowly, stiffly, they crawled out of the hollow.
The red-haired maiden laid her palm against the oak's rough bark and bowed her head. "Thank you for protecting us."
A faint breeze stirred the branches above, almost as though the old tree had answered.
She and Firion exchanged a glance, then crept back toward their home. They both knew it without saying it: they had to leave tonight. The forest was no longer safe.
"We must decide what to take with us. I will tell you my plan," Firion said. "I also overheard some rather interesting things, Kaida. Including something about your mother…"
"My mother?" Her eyes went wide.
Inside the home, Firion and Kaida moved quickly, gathering everything they could carry for what might be a long and harsh journey.
This place was no longer safe. Those knights would return with a larger search party, and Firion had no power to stand against a noble of Magnus's rank.
Fleeing feels cowardly. But I will not risk putting Kaida in harm's way. And I will be damned before I let them take her from me. All I want is to build a life with her. His thoughts burned with resolve.
The forest lay between Junai and Aldenburg. Heading south toward Eurelca seemed simplest, but Firion remembered a Lustrodos military outpost standing squarely in their path. Instead, he proposed they travel west through Junai. He did not know how the white fang devas would receive them, but the odds were still better than in Aldenburg.
Crossing borders will put more distance between us and Lustrodos. That alone will limit their reach.
The army had tried to kill him once. Now that he had taken the intended bride of a royal, they would want him dead more than ever.
As he folded blankets into a sack, he decided it was time to tell Kaida what he had heard.
"Kaida, aside from what you have told me, did you ever know your mother's name? Or where she came from?"
She shook her head. Her mother had only ever spoken of the world in vague, gentle terms, and almost never of the past. Whenever Kaida tried to ask, she would feel fear and anger rise from her mother's heart like heat from a stove. Eventually, she learned not to press, out of respect for her mother's peace.
"One of the soldiers mentioned the name Amara," Firion said softly. "A priestess who escaped an arranged marriage. She may have been promised to an Aldenburg noble. I believe that was your mother, Kaida."
He told her the rest: the marriages quietly traded between Mycean and Aldenburg, and how those soldiers had come to "take" Kaida as a bride for a powerful man.
A fear she had never known shot down Kaida's spine. She began to shiver. The thought that someone would want to seize her against her will was something she had never once imagined.
Mother… I know you only wanted to keep me safe. But you hid such dangers from me. I am lucky I met Firion, who protects me now. But what if those people had found me first? She looked at her husband, her lip trembling.
Then the tears came. The fear, the sudden need to leave everything behind, and now strangers who wished to tear her away from Firion. It was all too much.
"Kaida? Are you scared?" The large elf crossed the room and gently drew her into his chest. She was shaking. He could feel how overwhelmed she was.
She cleared her throat. "I am scared. I know we wanted to leave, but for it to happen so suddenly, right when we've realized we love each other, and now there are people hunting us…"
Her last words were swallowed by a deep kiss. Her tears stopped, and she returned his embrace.
He eased her down onto the floor, wrapping his massive arms around her whilst her slender, pale arms circled his neck. Their kiss deepened, his longer tongue curling around hers and exploring every corner of her mouth.
His tongue is just like the rest of him… Her mischievous thought made her cheeks burn.
When he finally pulled away, she drew a few shaky breaths, and he held her close once more.
"I know, Kaida. This is frightening for both of us. But I will not let anyone take you from me. This journey may seem overwhelming, but we will make it. I promise."
His words lit a flame of courage in her heart. She wiped her tears away.
He was right. However overwhelming it seemed, as long as they had each other, they could pull through and build a new life together.
Before long, most of their essentials were packed. They would leave soon.
"I'm almost done with our rations, Firion," Kaida said. "It's a good thing I always keep plenty of dried fruits and nuts for the winter. And I have a bag of potato starch and millet flour too."
She tucked away the seeds from her garden as well, wrapped carefully in cloth. She could always grow a new one.
Firion took charge of the heavier things: the cookware, the clothes, the blankets.
Then he handed her a hooded cloak. "Put this on. I found it under some old blankets. It will help hide your horns."
It was her mother's old mantle. Kaida pressed the soft fabric to her nose. It still carried Amara's scent, faint and familiar, like lavender and warm bread.
Mother…
Then she remembered one more thing. "Firion, the tome! Let's take it with us!"
"Ah! I almost forgot. It may prove useful on our journey," he said, pulling it down from the shelf.
Thankfully, the knights had not noticed it. He could not say why, but he knew this book was special, far too precious to leave behind.
They crept out of the house and scanned the darkness. The night was pitch black, the moon hidden behind thick clouds. Guided by Kaida's knowledge of the forest, they would head north around a secluded cliff, the most hidden part of the woods. From there, they should eventually reach the plains of Junai.
One last time, they turned to look at the humble little home that had given them so many warm memories, Kaida most of all. The fire had burned down to embers, and the windows were dark.
Then they turned and walked away.
They would never be able to return.