Heirs of the Gods

Ch 11: The destruction wrought under the holy name of justice

Most of September went by in a haze of eternal sunshine and lavender. Ella spent her days picking apples for pies with Fraz and Gidden, picnicking by cool ponds with Briar, as they laid under weeping willows on beds of emeralds green, braiding daisies into chains and sluggishly chatting. It had been a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of autumn colours, cicadas, poppies, rolling hills and gentle breezes.

Late afternoon was setting in, as Ella laid on her back in the grass, savouring the warmth of the sunshine filtering through the canopy of lemon tree leaves and the cool breeze ruffling her pale hair. It had been getting progressively cooler the last couple of days, seeing as it was nearing the end of September, so she enjoyed what was surely the last bouts of sunshine before autumn fully began to set in. Briar had explained that with his powers, King Fraser was able to imbue the lands of Cereas with his magic, so they had year-round crops but still went through seasonal changes.

She flipped on her stomach and angled her head to face Gidden, who sat cross-legged on the grass, staring at a few papers and a wrinkly map, absentmindedly chewing on a long blade of grass. They'd come out to the lemon orchards with Briar, who had gone inside for a coat. Gidden had joined them eventually, revising papers and halfheartedly quipping in with comments to her and Briar's conversation.

She twirled a dandelion between her fingers, watching Gidden scribble annotation with a quill, considering how to word her questions. "Gidden... can--"

"Great Mother, yes, just ask. You're going to do it anyway." Ella leaned over and tugged on his hair making him wince and chuckle.

"What does Great Mother mean? You all say that," she said contemplatively, wondering not for the first time if it was similar to the way they said 'Fates' in Rhothomir.

"I was just thinking, Briar was telling me about how these lands are able to produce year-round crops, despite the weather changes," she said, signalling the vivid green, untouched by the crisp autumn setting in. "What I mean to say, I wanted to ask about these... powers. The way you keep these lands growing all year round, the way you can grow plants from the ground or Briar can speak with animals. What do the other kingdoms do?"

She knew there were other High Elves and other Kingdoms. Ronan, as he'd told her a few days earlier, was half Nixie half-Elf. His mother hailed from a nixie tribe in a water-based Kingdom, hence his teal-coloured skin, and his slightly webbed ears.

"I really hope you're not just asking for this information to use it for some highly illegal plan again," he said, observing her as if he were assessing whether this was genuine curiosity or part of an elaborate ruse.

"That was one time!"

"I have a feeling you're constantly doing things you shouldn't." As Ella wasn't sure she could argue, she said nothing.

He motioned her closer and pointed out the map he had in front of him and flipped it over. The rear side showed another distribution of land, different from the one he'd been looking at before, Cereas and the border. This side of the map was far greater, a large expanse of lands and formations.

"Faerie is made up of many kingdoms," he said, gesturing at the map. "I know Rhotomir is one large kingdom, but here, every territory is ruled by different monarchs. Each land has different rules, although we do all abide by a few protocols and treaties co-signed over the centuries, as well as taking care of the border. We commerce with each other and faeries are allowed to roam as they please, obviously."

Ella sat upright and leaned over Gidden's shoulder to observe the map, her chin grazing his shoulder slightly. It was a lopsided pentagon separated into five territories, leaving a dense forest space in the middle, untouched by any markings.