Adalene stormed off, making her way to the small mountain on their island. She bit back the tears, trying desperately to not cry until she made it to her new favorite spot.
She climbed the mountain easily, and when she made it to the small plateau, she looked once more at the beauty of it all. There was a waterfall that flowed into a small stream that ran all the way down the mountain, and a variety of flowers were blooming around the grass.
Adalene sat down, looking out across the island. She could see a lot from up here, including where The Bowen was docked. Helen was taking care of her horse, Midnight. He was a beautiful black stallion, one which had saved Helen’s life.
As Adalene sat there, she felt the emotions become too much and hugged her knees, burying her face in her hands. What was wrong with her? Had the mortality finally set in and her emotions were too much? Was this what puberty felt like? An endless cycle of emotions that changed within minutes?
She felt lost.
Without her mother, Adalene had been devastated. But her courts and the council helped her most of the time, guiding her to become a great queen. She had been the youngest elfe to become queen, and that made the council take advantage of her, thinking that just because she was young she couldn’t make decisions on her own.
When the council had made their final decision before she left, she had tripled most of their lives. Surely at that point, she would’ve had enough experience to make her own decisions? Of course not.
Adalene angrily wiped the tears from her face, cursing under her breath.
What was wrong with her? She felt as though all the loss and despair she’d been hiding for so long was finally coming out in a furious tornado. What could she do to stop it?
She really was sorry for Alice. She hadn’t meant for her outburst, but she felt that she had to say something after centuries of silence. Everything had come out in a rush, not in the way that Adalene had wanted. She never liked talking to people about her past, knowing that nobody could understand what it was like to watch as people died around you, while you could not die yourself. The pain of it all was so overwhelming sometimes, Adalene wished she could just be with them in the afterlife, even if her time had not come yet.
It was like Adalene had lived at least three lifetimes, never-ending in the sweet promise of death.
Adalene flexed her fingers, feeling the joints ache. This was exactly the same thing that had happened to her mother after she had passed the crown down to Adalene, a slow and agonizing descent to death. Of course, now Adalene was mortal, so she couldn’t just throw herself into bad situations. She prayed that her body would hold up until she had helped these children enough, and until she had told them what she feared may happen in the coming months.
Time was running out, and it was already a week or so into July.
A few months seemed like a long time, but they still had to cross the Waters of Abdomes, over the Attalaian mountains, and through the entire country of Dueglestein without getting caught.
And at the rate they were going, it almost seemed impossible.
Adalene shook her head, letting a few more tears fall. The amount of stress and anxiety she felt right now was overwhelming, and she wished it would end.
“What are you doing up here?”
Adalene looked up, seeing Ruby. She cursed in her mind, not wanting to see her.
“This is my mountain, you know,” she smiled, the same smile she saw in Peter. Her eyes were a dark brown, though, making her expression seem darker.
Adalene was still suspicious of Ruby since all of Peter’s life had been without her but once they reach this island she just shows up. And how would she know she was Peter’s sister if they hadn’t seen each other in years? And she seemed unaffected by the fact that Peter was avoiding her, not having spoken with her in a few days.
But Ruby didn’t seem to help their situation. She was constantly disappearing, always in someplace you wouldn’t expect. Adalene didn’t like her.
When Adalene didn’t respond, Ruby joked. “What’s the matter? Can’t speak?” she laughed a little, her hand on the handle of her sword at her side. “I know elves speak elfish, so maybe you can’t understand me?”
“It’s pronounced elfes, zank you.” Adalene said the same thing she’d said to Alice.
“Oh, so you can understand me!” Ruby laughed, “I knew you were smarter than that.”
“I can speak more languages zan you’ll ever know,” Adalene said softly, challenging Ruby.
Ruby surprised Adalene, she said in Dueglesteinish, “Oh really, like Dueglesteinish?”
Adalene’s eyebrows raised, surprised. She said in Dueglesteinish, “How did-”
“Or Hilgarian?” Ruby taunted, once again in Hilgarian.
Adalene was determined to one-up Ruby, so she said in the Ancient Tongue, “You will never know this one, though.”
Ruby’s eyebrows creased, obviously confused. “I’m sorry, I don’t know that one.”
Adalene smiled, satisfied. “So you see? You are no better zan me.”
Ruby drew her sword in anger. “You may have bested me with languages, but I bet you have no experience with a sword.”
“Vy are you doing zis?” Adalene asked, exasperated, “Vat is ze point of zis?”
Ruby sighed. “I want to know why you’re so interested in my brother.”
This time, Adalene was prepared. “You have not seen him in years, and yet you are ze one who is vorried about him? Vy does it matter to you who is or isn’t interested in your brother?”
Ruby sighed. “Because I feel responsible!” she shouted, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, “He told me what happened to our parents, and I feel responsible for their deaths! I feel responsible to look after him, protecting him. That’s what older sisters are for, right?”
Adalene nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. She thought about her lost sisters, whom she could not protect.
“Yes, zat is vat older sisters are for.”
Ruby nodded. “So you know why I’m doing this! I have to know that the girl who will be with him is able to protect him just as much as he can protect himself.”
Adalene shook her head. “No,” she said, starting to walk away, “You should trust zat ze girl who vill be with him is just as capable of protecting zemselves as your brother is. You should trust zat he vill be just as capable of protecting himself as his voman.”
Adalene walked away, ignoring Ruby’s surprised replies as she made her way back down the mountain.
…
Adalene was silent all throughout the dinner that night, while the others laughed and joked. They were so happy, so pure, so oblivious to the impending doom that would happen in the next few months if they didn’t make it to Dueglestein.
If they didn’t make progress soon, things could end badly.
The next morning, Adalene woke up and immediately knew something was wrong.
Getting out of her bed on The Bowen, Adalene went above deck and looked over the horizon. 215Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqNOpoiVO5
At first, she saw nothing. Grabbing the spyglass from the ship’s store of navigational supplies, she zoomed in on the horizon and saw it.
Adalene cursed under her breath.
“Zey're here! Zey’re here! Zey’ve found us!” she shouted, waking up the others.
The five children gathered around Adalene, each taking turns looking through the spyglass and to the horizon.
“So…what does it mean?” Peter asked, putting the spyglass down.
Adalene sighed, cursing another elfeish curse under her breath. “Ze elfes have come."
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