114 Double Trouble (2/2)

\”They're not someone our Trickster Pavilion can take on carelessly,\” Albert admitted. \”Perhaps not even without help from another clan.\”

\”Which is why everyone's so concerned with Garm's allegiance… He's holding his own here in Westmarch without asking the other great generals to help him… It means he's probably already getting assistance from an outside source,\” I finished.

As the meeting went on, the one thing the three of us could agree on was to get out of each other's way. Although Albert and I did promise to exchange information from time to time, Verania begged off and claimed it was every fairy for herself.

\”Luckily, Dean and I aren't full-blooded fairies,\” Albert chuckled.

And with that self-deprecating statement, our meeting was at an end.

With Verania in the lead, the others began to file out of the great hall while Aura, Luca, and I stayed behind. There was another sensitive matter I wanted to discuss, and I preferred no one but the two of them heard it.

I spent the next ten minutes detailing Ty's dreams to them, only stopping to take a sip of elf tea.

Their reactions after I'd finished my story were typical. Luca had gone in panic mode, wondering if Ty had gone crazy from all my stories or if my proximity to him has somehow allowed Ty to tap into something distinctly Fayne in origin. Strangely enough, that latter one made a bit of sense. Perhaps it was my fault my friend was getting nightmares. Aura seemed to think so.

\”The Fayne's energies could somehow be leaking out of you and affecting your friends, but,\” Aura began.

\”But?\” I prompted.

\”Well, it hasn't affected Arah, has it?\” Aura pointed out.

\”Um, that might be because she's been handling whatever it is… that girl is hardcore,\” Luca explained.

I nodded. Compared to Ty, Arah was a tigress.

\”Still, I've never heard of a non-marked human ever receiving prophetic talents,\” Aura reasoned. \”Even you and Luca didn't receive fairy gifts until after you'd arrived here.\”

I sighed. \”You sure there's nothing else?\”

Aura looked away from me. \”I… I don't know. Maybe, but… I'll have to look into it before I can say more,\” Aura said, turning her gaze toward me again. \”What about the elf who was watching your house. Are you sure he wasn't scouting you out?\”

Even with glasses on Mudgard, I was fairly sure of what I saw. I nodded to Aura.

\”If that elf wasn't there for you then perhaps he was there to scout out one of your friends,\” Aura answered worriedly.

It was a very worrying statement. I'd lost Luca to the Fayne. Arah and Ty catching a fairy's interest was my second-worst nightmare scenario.

\”Um,\” Luca interrupted my thoughts by voicing out one of his. \”If anyone's being scouted, wouldn't it be Arah instead of Ty?\”

Aura agreed. \”Arah does seem like the better choice of the two.\”

\”Still doesn't explain why Ty's getting these weird dreams,\” I pointed out. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to defend Ty as a candidate for abduction, but it might be because I didn't like how they automatically thought only Arah was worthy.

At the end of it, the three of us couldn't come to an agreement, although Aura did promise to look into it for me.

\”There might be something in the lore… but I'll have to check first,\” Aura finished in ominous fashion.

The very next night, Albert and his forces were getting ready to depart to their own secret base, and I'd arrived early from Mudgard to see him off.

He and I were standing at the bottom of the tower's steps.

\”Verania's gone?\” I asked.

Albert nodded. \”Yeah… she left during the daytime.\”

\”Honestly, I thought you'd have left with her,\” I said laughing. \”But I'm glad I got to say goodbye.\”

Albert offered me his hand and I shook it only to find that he actually passed me a small packet.

I glanced down at it. \”What—\”

\”—It's just something to help you,\” Albert scratched his cheek with a finger. \”Sorry, I overheard you and your friends talk about premonitions last night, and I remembered something Roger told me about your fairy gift.\”

\”Um, you and Thors discussed my fairy gift?\” I asked, surprised. That was a no-no even between allies. Fairy gifts were our trump cards after all.

\”It's not what you're thinking. He just mentioned that you had good eyesight and I put two and two together based on what I've learned about you since,\” he said, raising both hands in surrender. \”Don't worry… I'll keep it secret that you've actually got a sense gift.\”

I raised the packet he'd given me eye-level.

It was a leaf wrapping elves liked to use for their medicines.

\”That's something to help you see even clearer,\” Albert explained as he turned around and mounted his swifthart.

I glanced up at him. \”How much clearer?\”

He held tightly on his swifthart's reins, and then looked all serious at me, \”I'm not sure, but I've heard this particular medicine can help you sense users have an out-of-body-experience like no other.\”

With that final word, Albert led his soldiers out of the grounds, leaving me with another mystery to discover literally in my hands.