Chapter 2

• Firo walked into the sitting area between his quarters and Princess Aireese’s. He wasn’t overly fond of his room’s location and being at her beck and call, but his past needed erasing, and this was the task given to him to do that. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a fondness for her. He did. She wasn’t the person most thought her to be. She was nothing like the rest of her royal family, at least when no one was looking. He just wished, often, that he could pursue other things, and being twenty feet from a princess didn’t allow for that. It did make him feel better that currently, no one had the privilege of free choice. The realms were in chaos, and there was next to no ‘free’ time in the near future for anyone above the rank of servant.
• He heard the door open. Taking off his jacket, he tossed it on a chair. Something inside him was urging him to tell her the truth, but now was not the time.
• “I thought for a minute you were going to ignore me.”
• She had used her magic to call him to her, something she didn’t often do, but he still despised when she did it. He turned and smiled at her. “As if I could, Princess.”
• Aireese cringed. “Princess?” She sat on the chair beside his jacket. “Did you have a bad day? You don’t call me princess when no one is around.”
• “I was in Interealm.” He sat across from her. “There was a rainbow.”
• She dropped her head forward and stayed that way for a moment. “Do you know who?”
• “No. I was going to have a nice stiff drink of your bootleg Interealm booze and then go make some inquiries.” Rainbows might be beautiful magic to the humans, but to his kind, it was the saddest symbol for his people.
• She leaned over and rested her cheek against the back of the chair. She looked at him and then turned her head and sniffed his jacket. “You were in a forest?”
• Firo sighed. “I was.” She was going to prod him for answers again.
• Turning slowly, she studied him. “You were there again.”
• “She was there again.”
• Aireese got up and went over to the cupboard where they hid her illegal alcohol. It was fine to drink wines made here in FaTerra, but outside libations were prohibited. “You know I don’t care what you do with your time, but you can’t keep following some lostling into the woods a few times a year.”
• “Once a year.”
• She turned around and waved the empty glass at him. “Fine, once a year…”
• “She’s not a lostling.” It was what their kind called all the homeless humans.
• She turned around with two glasses in her hand and came toward him. “She’s not?” Her mouth slowly turned into a smile. “Then what is she?”
• Firo reached and took the glass out of her hand and downed the entire contents at once. Closing his eyes, he reveled in the way it burned all the way to the pit of his stomach. Opening them, he looked at her. “She’s a halfling—” Her eyes widened. “And I think she’s intended for me.” It was a small lie. He knew she was intended for him and had known since she was newly born.
• “Really?” She whispered it and dropped down to sit beside him. “You know I’m not against them…”
• “I know.” He stood up. “It’s more complicated than that.” Going over, he set the cup down and closed the cupboard up. It was more than complicated. That word was inadequate, but he knew no other that came close. For him to tell the truth would change everything, and he didn’t know what would become of him on the other side of any confessions. “I’ll go find Astrella and see if she knows which of ours just died over in Interealm.”
• She stood up. Her playfulness was gone. “Come find me when you’re done. I have several fathers from Solrelm to visit.”
• He stopped halfway to the door. “How are they doing?”
• “Some better than others.” She took a small sip. “Mystral is over with one now. I told her I’d come back and help.” She pushed her long, light hair back from her face. “When done there, we need to go see if we can track down any information about Belford.”
• For what felt like an eon, every spare second was spent looking for Belford, Satine, or Florine. All common names in FaTerra. He nodded. “I’ll come to lend a hand when I get back from Astrella’s.”
• Airesse clasped her hands in front of her. “I really hope it’s no one we know.”
• He bowed his head. He hoped the same but knew they probably did. They had both lived a long time and knew most of all their kind, so hope was just a word that led to disappointment.