“Oh Lottie, this is amazing stuff, this is,” Armond said after his first spoonful. “Let’s see. I guess I’ll begin at the beginning. The sea travel to the mainland was normal,” he said with the nonchalance of someone who grew up on and around the ocean. “From there, we were taken by an elven coach to the city.”
“Pulled by steeds?” Mitt Rolly asked.
“Aye, four great black ones. It was the city’s own coach too.”
“Did ya share it with anyone of import?” Bailey Fost asked.
“No, we didn’t share it at all. We were the only riders,” her father said. Had he puffed up and bragged it was sent just for him and Nira, the town’s feathers would have surely been ruffled, Nira knew. Instead, they all just gaped as he went on without additional comment.
“It took most of the day to get to the city, but we arrived just at dusk. From there, it was like I said. We were taken to the lord and lady, made our bargain, and were then shown to where we would be staying.”
“Did ya have to rent rooms?” a voice Nira couldn’t identify called out.
“No, they put us up in a set of rooms not far from his lordship’s suite. Anyway, from there, it was basically drawing designs, running them by the lord and lady, and making furniture. I had a decent workshop to use and Nira helped me when I needed an extra set of hands, as did many of you when I sent instructions. But it was pretty straightforward. We cooked our own meals, but we ate out a bit too.”
Nira couldn’t help a slight snort, which made her father grin. “Okay, maybe we ate out more than a bit. But that was mostly it—at least for me,” he said with a sly look her way.
Feeling a slight flush on cheeks but calmer than before (maybe due to the simmering anger she felt toward the couple she refused to look at), she swallowed her mouthful of soup and took up the tale.
“As Father said, the lord and lady were not around much of the time. They spend most of their time on Old Earth.”
“How can they do that, and why do they?” Bett Sounder asked. Nira was very used to Lottie and Bett and the other senior women of the village so she hardly blushed at all, despite their formidable natures.
“Lord Declan can open portals as he wills and as to the why of it, well, they don’t feel welcome, don’t want to fight with the Queens all the time, and are busy on Earth preparing for a war,” she said.
She had their undivided attention. “Ah, did you say war?” Lentin asked.
“Old Earth has come to the attention of the Others,” Armond said quietly.
The silence lasted for three whole spoonfuls of soup.
“They don’t have anyone like the Queens,” Kuldennie said.
“Nira?” her father prompted.
“The Old Earth has Lord Declan and a group of people he says are just as skilled and dangerous as he is, plus something called Omega.”
“It’s a machine, dear,” her father said. “Old Earth has machines in place of magic, and this Omega machine is something that apparently even the Queens of Summer and Winter are wary of.”
“Well, it sounds as if we won’t have a Realm Holder for long,” Mitt Rolly said.
“And I would take that bet and raise ya,” her father said. “You’ve not met this lad, Mitt. I’d caution you to wait till you do before jumping to your conclusions.”
“Well I’ll never be meeting him then so it’s not even a thing for me to consider,” Mitt answered.
“I’ll take that bet,” her father said with a slight smile.
“He’s coming here?” Len asked, a hitch in his voice.
“Aye, I would say he is. Not sure when but as I’ve been saying all along – he loves witchwood,” Armond said.
“But what more could he want it for?” Dorian asked.
“Well now we didn’t make it to that part of the story yet,” Armond said with a wink at his daughter.
She cleared her throat again, although she’d stopped flushing at this point. “He enchants it.”
“He what?” old Kenny asked.
“He enchants all the witchwood. Every piece of furniture that papa made has already been spelled,” Nira said. She could see the questions forming on their faces, so she just pushed ahead. “I asked Lady Stacia about it. She said he’s a witch. They are always preparing things for what may come. There’s an old saying to never attack a witch in their home. He’s making this home ready if and when the Queens come again.”
“What kind of spells?” Lottie asked.
“The original chair papa made will come alive and attack an intruder just like Mr. Marley’s hunting hounds will attack a hog,” she said, nodding toward the old hunter who rarely said two words.
“But what’s he going to do here, if he’s got a whole apartment of hound furniture?” Bett asked.
“He wants raw wood to take back to Old Earth,” her father said. “Says our witchwood is saturated in power. He can make weapons with it against the Others.”
“He turns witchwood into weapons?” Kuldennie asked. “Why don’t the Queens do that?”
“He says they mostly just use it for something he called a battery,” Nira said. “To store their power. But he does a whole lot more with it, plus humans like us don’t mind touching it. The Queens and their people do not like it.”
“When is he coming?” Lentin asked, his round face pale.
“Not for some time,” her dad said. “He and his lady have gone back to their own world. But probably before summer’s out. Like I said, we have nothing
