Page 387 of Kingdoms of Night

The forest thickened as they trudged onward. The melon-hued light of dawn passed through wide branches of flickering leaves and illuminated silver dew drops on the ferns and thick mosses lining the path. The scents of sea salt and freshly blooming flowers danced through the breeze. Isa’s fear faded in the face of such beauty.

Nico stumbled and Isa lifted him, trying to carry him. But he gently pushed away and attempted to begin walking again. “I’m too big for you to carry. I’ll be all right.”

The elven leader glanced backward at them, his eyes narrowing. He cut a look at the fellow beside him.

The second elf turned and squatted. He touched his shoulder. “You may ride on my back if you wish, youngling.”

Rhianne moved toward Nico. “I can take him.”

“Thank you.” Isa much preferred Rhianne holding Nico than these violent strangers.

“I’m all right.” Nico jogged a few steps, catching up with the leader. “Stop coddling me.”

Isa blew out a breath and prayed the goddesses would watch over him. “As you wish,” she said tightly.

The leader looked down at Nico and nodded once as if approving. Nico glared back. Isa longed to snatch him back to keep him away from these elves, but she shook her head, smiling ruefully. She couldn’t help but be proud of him for that courageous glare.

They walked for ages, the sun rising fully and casting a glowing light onto the tree seeds floating through the air. The path opened up to show a village of wooden homes, larger than some on High Street in Nid de Lapin or in Khem. Each appeared to be grown from the very trees nearby. At the end of the main thoroughfare, a ring of trees—each one as wide as ten men—towered over the village’s outskirts.

The elves brought them toward a line of elven warriors guarding an individual seated on a chair made of twisted branches that reached high.

The fellow on the—well, she supposed it was a throne of sorts—looked up from a large leaf he’d been studying. In his fair hair he wore a crown of vines threaded with scarlet leaves.

“I thought I sensed new souls on our land.” Lines stretched from the sides of his eyes, showing age, but he stood quickly and was certainly not too old to be a physical threat, not to mention his impressive array of warriors. “How did you manage to break through our wards?”

“You are the dryad elves.” Nico leapt forward, his mistrust for them fading in his obvious excitement.

“Please forgive his youthful exuberance, Your … Majesty,” Isa said, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. She had no idea what to call a dryad elf king.

Isa held her breath as Rhianne shifted, her hand going where her wand had been on her belt. Werian growled, a barely audible sound that raised the hairs on Isa’s neck. Nico bowed his head and clamped his lips shut.

A bit too late, Nico.

Could she throw herself on Nico if this king of sorts decided to punish his outburst? She apologized again.

The king raised his silver eyebrows. “You dare to make requests after invading my land without any invitation?”

“I … wouldn’t you do so if your kin were threatened?”

The warriors eyed their king as he walked a circle around them.

The king’s head whipped around. “We are not the same, human. Do not suppose you can bridge the distance between our cultures.”

An elven man with tousled dark hair and fierce, deep brown eyes stared at Isa as he walked into the village.

Lightning struck Isa’s chest and she inhaled sharply.

It was him.

The one from the beach.

So many of his kind had fair hair and light eyes. He did resemble them in his slender but muscled form and his pointed ears, but something about him, besides his hair color, seemed … different.

He flexed his hands as he walked forward. The end of every finger ended not in a nail but in a dark and sharpened point. Alarm shot through her. His ears weren’t simply pointed elven flesh but were sharp and brown like his fingertips, like his ears turned into branches as they tapered and disappeared into his messy hair.

As he approached the king, who watched him warily, the roots of the large trees shifted just slightly—so subtly that she wasn’t certain she’d even seen it happen. A column of the morning sun broke through the canopy and touched his forearm. His skin glowed a soft green before fading into its original shade once more.

What is he?

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