In the Land of Fae ♔ (gxg)

20. the journey

Abitha, now the honorary figurehead of both earth and air until they had enough time to delegate someone else for air, was making sure all the children were kept safe.

"No lighting any fire," she repeated herself for the fifth time as she took count of all the children and elderly that were bunched up in one of the larger cottages that was used for assemblies and such. The Earthlings were sitting on the top of a table in the main room of the cottage.

"But it's daytime," Cashel immediately snarked, his red hair ruffled messily.

"Do you see how dark it is out there?" Terra exclaimed. "We haven't seen the sun in days. Not since. . ." she trailed, remembering that anxious night when Eira attacked them and killed Aerwyn.

"She's right," Abitha agreed, a kink of her light brown hair springing over her forehead. She had not worn the usual pink daisies in her hair, instead opting for green leaves tucked behind her ear.

She looked around the room for someone to delegate to take charge in case anything happened. She firstly considered one of the elderlies, but realized they were too senile and immobile to do much good if something were to happen. She glanced over to Ilmari who was sitting sulkily in the corner, glaring out the window. She did not think he was stable enough to take charge yet, given the immense loss he just experienced.

Turning back to the Earthlings, her eyes landed on the quieter of the older triplets, Dion, who was sitting silently beside Cashel, his lucid green eyes staring at the floor thoughtfully. The black shirt he wore brought out the darkness in his curly hair. The triplets were the eldest teens next to Ilmari, after all, and Dion was remarkably the most mature out of them.

"Dion," Abitha quipped, capturing the attention of the boy immediately. "As of now, you are in charge of the inside of this cottage."

"Him?!" Cashel exclaimed, looking at his brother with a look of shock. "Why, he wouldn't know what to do if something were to happen. Maybe throw a book at an intruder."

"I think the most important thing is that he has the attention span to even notice something happening in the first place," Abitha countered, shutting down the teenager boy and causing Terra to chuckle.

"We'll follow your lead, Dion," Flora, who sat beside Terra, remarked. Her twin, Fauna, nodded eagerly beside her.

Dion gave a ghost of a smile at them and looked to Abitha, nodded. "I will do the best I can."

Abitha smiled warmly and placed a hand in his hair, ruffling it. "I know you will, lad."

Dion laughed, and then Cashel resumed picking on his brother as Terra picked on Cashel. Abitha focused on something else that was capturing her thoughts—the sulking Ilmari in the corner. Turning, she approached the boy carefully.

"Are you alright, Ilmari?"

His walnut skin complimented his light grey eyes as he turned to look up at her. "Peachy," he remarked. "I get to sit in here with all these children, doing absolutely nothing to revenge my father who died at the hands of that bitch."

Abitha slapped his shoulder. "I'll have you avenging a bar of soap if you keep using that language."

Ilmari rolled his eyes and stood up, tucking his hands into his pockets and pacing the corner of the room. "Just let me come with you guys, Abitha. I can be of great help—you know how powerful I am for my age."

"It is not about being powerful enough," Abitha gently told him, placing her hand on his shoulder in a much gentler way. "You are the next generation, Ilmari. There is no doubt you will take your father's place as figurehead."