Chapter 20

**THANK** Nalvia for Aiden.

He regained his composure in a fraction of a second and quickly replied, “Oh, sorry, we left it in the Forest. Come on, Princess, let’s go get it.” He quickly pulled me

around, back into the trees.

“Where do we get food from?” I asked, my voice sharp.

“Watch and learn,” he said, irritation edging his voice before he closed his eyes, head tipping up to the sky.

From above, small, hard objects began falling onto the ground. I blinked as one hit my head. “Ow!” I cried. He was obviously doing it, because none of them were even touching them.

I covered my head with my hands to avoid getting hit, but they kept falling on my arms, and as I looked down, I realized that the small objects were, in fact, nuts. I picked one up.

It brought back memories of Aiden and I eating together after the camp was attacked. He had brought me similar nuts and berries. I let go of it as a particularly large one hit my head. “Aiden!” I yelled.

I swear I saw him smirk.

Closing my eyes, I focused on the nuts falling from above. I felt a tug in my head, and they stopped hitting me. I pushed them a bit, to land on a particular location—

“Ow!” I opened my eyes to see Aiden glaring at me, all the nuts now falling on his head and then bouncing off onto the ground. They all fell on his head first, every single one of them, so I supposed I was a bit deserving of the glare he was giving me.

But really, he had started it.

He pushed a hand up, and the nuts stopped falling suddenly. He glared harder. “Really?”

I shrugged. “You did it first, you know.” He closed his eyes and all the nuts gathered into a huge mound in front of him. It was quite large.

“Now what?” I asked, head still aching from the hits I’d taken.

He rolled his eyes. “Now we take this back to camp.” The mound levitated, gathering in front of him. I tried to not look as impressed as I really was.

We ended up back in front of Grove, who’s stare was now even more suspicious. “That took too much time.”

Aiden responded quickly. “We left it deep in there, Mom.” Grove shook her head with mock amusement.

“You kids.” She let us go, hitting the back of Aiden’s head playfully and going to the camp kitchen while Aiden and I rejoined Maple and Arden, who were entertaining Meadow along with Fawn.

“And that’s how the brave soldier defeated the vicious dragon!” Fawn finished, just as we came.

“And then what happened?” Meadow interrupted, looking adorable in a light pink dress, her blond hair tied back in a braid.

“And then they lived happily ever after, the end.” Aiden said as we sat down.

“Hey!” Meadow said indignantly, hitting her brother’s arm.

“Ooh, that hurt, Meadow.” Aiden said, rubbing his arm where she had hit him, pretending to be hurt.

Meadow pouted playfully and turned back to Fawn. “So, then what happened?”

Fawn shrugged. “Well, then the soldier was given a huge reward by the King and got to marry the Princess. And, like Aiden said, they lived happily ever after.”

Meadow clapped. “I want to go on an adventure like that, Fawn!”

“Oh, you do, do you?” Fawn grinned at the excited girl. “Okay, well then, let’s go!” She picked up Meadow, and twirling her around once, set her back down. Holding her hand, they raced off, Fawn narrating another imagined tale to Meadow.

Aiden grinned. I could see in his face plain adoration for his sister. It was one of those rare moments where I saw past the sarcastic rebel and found the soft boy hidden inside.

“Have you met any of met any of the new soldiers?” Maple asked.

Soldiers had begun trickling into the camp, in twos and threes. The rebels had made sure there was no trace on them. They were few, but every elf was needed.

I shook my head. “No. I don’t really know any of them personally, you know.”

“They never talked to you?” Arden asked. I raised an eyebrow at him and shook my head. As if Ivy would allow any soldier to talk to me.

“They’re good…but we’re outnumbered.” Aiden said, looking frustrated again. “We’ll never have more soldiers than her.”

“We’ll make it—” Maple began, stopping when someone bumped into her.

“Oh! Sorry—oh, hello, Miss Elm!”

We all looked up in surprise at the tall figure who had just bumped into Maple. He was wearing the regular silver of a palace guard, and for a moment my heart leaped into my throat.

Then Maple’s eyes brightened. “Pecan!”

His dark eyes twinkled as he gave her a flirty smile. “Hey, Maple.”

Did I detect a blush? She arched an eyebrow and turned back to us. “This is Pecan Ainsley, a guard at the palace. Pecan, this is Arden, Aiden, and—Elvina.”

His eyes widened, and he bowed so deeply I involuntarily took a step back. “Princess.”

I glanced at my companions. Maple shrugged and smiled at me, Aiden was nearly shaking with laughter, offering me no help, and Arden was looking surprised and almost amused.

“Thank you,” I said, staring at him. He was the only one who’d ever bowed to me.

He straightened, flashing me a white-toothed smile. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“The honor is mine,” I replied, the words coming out automatically, though it wasn’t necessary for me to be so polite to common guards.

Just then, another soldier called his name, waving. Pecan looked at us. “Goodbye, Princess. Maple.” He walked off.

“Let’s go train,” Aiden said. I gave him a harsh nod. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said about my father.

“Maple and I will catch up in a moment,” I said. The boys nodded and walked away. Maple and I stood face-to-face. “What was going on between you and the guard?” I asked.

Perhaps I was being too intrusive, but I had to know. Had she had time for a romantic relationship with everything else going on—

Maple’s cheeks flamed. “It’s nothing like that! Pecan is…he and I, we were close friends. He told me he wanted to start something with me, but I said no. I couldn’t do that, not with you and…mother.”

I nodded slowly, relieved.

Maple chewed on her bottom lip, glancing at me once. “Elvina, I…” She trailed off, but I knew she was going to apologize again. I took her hand, gently.

“Maple, I forgive you. I did a long time ago.” Her eyes brightened. “But I can’t trust you again. I’m sorry.”

If that made me a bad elf, I had no excuse. But I couldn’t bring myself to trust Maple, not yet.

She nodded slowly. “I understand. But maybe, El, this time we could start over. You were my best friend, I don’t want that to change.”

“This time with no secrets?” I asked.

She gave me a firm nod. “No secrets.”

We walked together to the boys and started training.

***

“The Queen is coming!”

The four of us looked up. My heart nearly stopped as the elf ran away, his sword swinging in his hand. We exchanged glances and ran after him to see the camp in chaos.

The non-fighters were being herded away, while anyone who could use a weapon was getting ready. Grove and Birch ran up to us, Grove’s face tear-streaked.

“Fawn and Meadow. They’re gone!”

“What?” Aiden cried.

“Fawn and…Meadow?” Arden said, looking stunned.

They’d gone away somewhere…were they in the camp, or had they ventured into the Forest?

How was this happening? How had Ivy found us again—was it my fault?

Both parents’ faces turned even more despairing as they turned towards the front. “Where…” Grove’s voice trailed off as shapes emerged from the nearby Forest.

Ivy’s soldiers weren’t coming. They were already here.