"There you are.” Belenus’s voice betrayed his anxiety. "Cherish just received information from the Motherhood. She's meeting us in the council tent shortly." This time I understood the significance of his uncle's prolonged touch to his arm. "Hopefully we'll begin planning our journey.” Belenus touched my elbow lightly, without looking at me, and I knew now not to pull away from him.

"Come with me. I need both of you there," he said.

"Of course," I answered, though I felt a bit awkward. I wouldn't have anything to contribute to the planning, so I didn't understand why he would need me there. Still, I wasn't going to say no. "Let's go," I said.

 Faolán released my hand as he moved to Belenus' right, and I tried to pay attention to how the other citizens around us were interacting so I didn't have to say to Belenus, "Hey, I understand why you grab my hand or arm all the time. Sorry I was rude."

As we walked, I noticed that Faolán was indeed correct. People here, human and elf alike, seemed to be touching when in pairs or small groups. If they weren't holding hands, then pinkies were joined or arms were looped together. Reminding myself that Belenus had already agreed to be more casual with me, I looped my arm through his. He looked over at me as if surprised, but he reached across to squeeze my hand on his sleeve briefly before speaking to Faolán.

"If we get the answer we need today, I'd like to be ready to go at first light," he said, and I did my best to listen as I continued to contemplate how I really felt about the possibility of leaving camp so soon. There wasn't long to think because Belenus spoke to me.

"Grace, you haven't been down to see if you bond with any of the horses yet, have you?" 

"Um, no," I said, unable to decide if he sounded curious, disappointed, or concerned. "I didn't know I was supposed to. Sorry, I would have-"

"No, you weren't supposed to. I just thought since you'd been exploring you might have ended up down there," he said in an obvious attempt to reassure me. Hopefully my relief wasn't that obvious. "If we are leaving in the morning, I'll take you myself this evening."

"Sounds good to me," I said. I didn't know how else to respond. It was obvious Belenus was trying to find something to fill the silence as we walked, so I decided to take the moment to casually drop what I had learned.

"Before we do, I want to apologize if I made you feel confused by asking you to be casual but also avoiding all your physical contact," I said simply. "Faolán explained the reason. Where I'm from, constant platonic touches aren't exactly a common thing. It caught me off guard."

"I wasn't confused. I just assumed your hesitancy to telepathy extended to your emotions," Belenus replied. "I should have asked directly. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. I think this situation is a bit out of everyone's experience," I said. I hadn't realized how much it had bothered me until I said the words out loud. Clearing the air definitely made me feel more confident in their desire to be my friend and not just my hosts or my protectors, at least for the time being. "It'll take some getting used to, but I think I'll get the hang of it," I said.

The thought of sharing emotions freely intimidated me, but I also saw that it could be an opportunity to overcome my anxiety that they didn't want to really be around me. I had a feeling that it was going to be a struggle to make a decision on the subject. Luckily I didn't have to dwell on it because we had reached the council tent.

Cherish and Steren were at the council table, along with Caoimhe, Elowen, and General Sayer. Cherish was wiping down a mirror with a dark cloth, and Steren was rolling up some crystals into a leather pouch. As we stepped in, everyone paused, and Belenus approached the head of the table with a determined look.

"What did we learn?" he asked as Cherish passed her wife the mirror.

"Not much, but enough to get us started," Cherish said with a heavy sigh.

I took my previously occupied place in Faolán's seat slightly behind Belenus' right side. Instead of planting himself in a corner like last time, Faolán stood behind me. I jerked when his palm rested on my shoulder but relaxed when I didn't feel the breezy sensation of him initiating empathic contact, which I had decided to call it until I was told otherwise.

Cherish was seated in what had been Steren's seat previously, and her wife looked like she was already prepared to leave. It was then that I realized the table beneath the mirror and crystal pouch was covered in maps. There was a bright, glowing, lavender light pulsing slowly from a spot near General Sayer's elbow.

Cherish said, "The Order confirmed that the dragon who stole the priestess is still alive. The last time they approached the dragon, about seventy years ago, he still had the piece of the Sickle, which we now know is called the Dewdrop."

"And you cast a locator spell?" Belenus queried with a gestured at the light. "For the dragon or the artifact?"

"Both; it seems the dragon settled into the Silverstar Mountains shortly after to begin its hoard," Cherish replied, and I wanted to move closer to the table to see where the light was indicating. However, I didn't want to interrupt. 

She continued on, "I cast a blue marker for the dragon and red for the Dewdrop, and it shows them joined."

"Have we confirmed what kind of dragon we are dealing with? I don't want to take anyone up the mountains if we have a brooding mother," Belenus said. The thought of dealing with a mother dragon protecting a hoard and eggs made me shiver. I'd read enough stories to know that I definitely wouldn't make it home if that was the case.

"Definitely a male," Steren confirmed. "He's known in these surrounding villages as the Anthologist." I was amused to see I was not the only person in the tent that looked extremely confused by such a benign title.

"Apparently he has a passion for stories. As payment for him not hunting in the surrounding areas, the villagers send a group to his hold every third full moon to tell him stories," Steren said. My hesitation at coming face-to-face with a dragon had been somewhat lessened, not entirely. We had something in common.

A dragon version of myself doesn't seem too horrifying.

"So we must meet with the locals to find the way up to his hold. Dragons tend to nest where people can't easily access, even with magic," Faolán said. It was the first time I'd heard him speak up without prompting in a council meeting. "A byproduct of knight mages hunting them before the Sealing."

"But dragon hunting is forbidden without a direct edict from the Throne, and that's only granted if the Council of Dragons agrees that the dragon in question is uncontrollable," Belenus interjected.

"We should be able to ascend directly to him without much difficulty," Belenus said.

I snapped my head toward Faolán, expecting a rebuttal, but the elf just shrugged before reaching up to brush some stray hair from the shaved side of his head back to the other. In doing so, he caught my eye and gave me a look that almost resembled a professor silently judging a student with his TA. I gave a quiet cough of amusement and looked away back at Belenus.

"Either way, the Silverstar Mountains are a week's ride from here, and this particular area is another three days into them." Caoimhe spoke, and like always, I was confused as to how she was Faolán's sister. They had very different demeanors. He was so warm and friendly, but in every encounter I'd had with her, she had been nothing but what I knew as stereotypical elvish; distant, collected, and polite to a fault. I wasn't even sure how far apart they were in age, as I hadn't asked anyone how old they were except for Belenus.

"If you leave tomorrow, as discussed, you should be able to make it there and back before false spring begins," she said.

"Agreed." Elowen’s sweet voice contrasted Caoimhe's professional tone. "I have already spoken with the camp provisioners, and they are awaiting orders to pack your saddlebags as soon as you need." Her hand came to rest on Belenus' shoulder, and I realized that he looked ready to go at that moment. I was nearly as eager myself, simply because it was the beginning of an actual quest.

"We are just waiting on the locksmith to finish the lockbox for the Dewdrop. It should be finished before sunrise," Cherish said.

"Why do we need a lockbox?" Belenus asked, rushing to his feet. The determination on his face was clear. One thing I was beginning to learn about the young man, the not-prince-but-still-prince leader of this growing rebellion, was that all of his calm, collected, approachable bearing crumbled at the instant any progress toward his sister's liberation was mentioned. I envied Bellatrix the amount of fraternal devotion and love she was on the receiving end of.

I would never warrant something like that.

"Because it is the largest diamond ever to come within Aranthem's borders," Cherish informed him, shaking her head at his impatience.

"It's four times the size of the diamond in your own hilt," she scoffed. I almost choked on my spit at the image. I'd seen Belenus' main sword, and the diamond there was the size of a golf ball.

"It's supposed to have enough stored energy to destroy the entire Brightwood. Carrying it unprotected is what drew the Anthologist to kidnap the priestess in the first place," she said.

"Very well, we will wait for the lockbox to be finished and leave immediately when it is," Belenus said. I pried my fingers off the arm of my chair while I tried to decipher if the meeting was adjourned. My answer came when Belenus rounded the table and extended his hand to me.

"Come on, we have to go find you a horse to bond with," Belenus said. I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. "You could ride any without bonding, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if the one you were paired with was there by choice and not by command from Cadeyrn."

"Right, lead the way," I said. He paused, as if letting the others leave the tent before us. Once we were alone, he turned to me. The silence around us and how close we were made me feel a bit uncertain.

"Before we leave on this journey," he said. "We may run into full elves when we arrive at Lakeledge, the town where we will reach the dragon, and I'm worried we may have a repeat of your introduction to Faolán." I was confused, until I remembered how much trouble he'd gotten into from Cherish.

"You mean, I may get thralled again?" I asked. Then I added, "Nobody else in camp has affected me."

"Because the only pure elves in camp are Faolán and Caoihme," he countered. "And they know to rein it in around you."

"So what are we going to do?" I asked. I didn't want to blow my cover or end up in a trance by anyone again.

"I would like your consent to place a spell around your mind to guard you from elvish thrall," Belenus said. "It could have been done while you were unconscious those first few days, but we didn't want to do that to you without your permission."

"I appreciate that," I said. It was refreshing and touching that they respected my personal space or boundaries so much. Spell work fascinated me, but it also made me cautious. Everyone here could use it, except me.

"Do I have your consent?" he asked and held up another crystal charm identical to the one at my neck.

"Absolutely," I said. I turned so he could unfasten my necklace, place the new charm on it, and return it to my neck. It was done so quickly that I didn't even feel the translation spell tap into my natural energy. Then, he pulled me back around by my shoulders to face him.

"Just relax," he said. I nodded and closed my eyes. His fingers brushed my temples, and I hoped there wouldn't be any blood kiss for this one. I didn't often get to watch him or Faolán use magic, but it was a unique experience each time.

"Create a barrier to shield this mind from the thrall of the elvish blood," Belenus said. "Draw the energy from this stone when the spell is activated." Magic was less flowery when I understood the language, but it still mesmerized me. A film-like sensation settled over my mind and then dried. "There, now we don't have to worry about you getting whammied again," he said. I snorted at his correct use of my vernacular, but it sounded odd in his lilting accent. “If you lose this stone, the spell will simply dissipate. It won’t draw from you like that translation spell will.”

"Okay, don’t lose the stone or my brain won’t be shielded. Got it" I said and took his hand again. "Off to bond with a horse now?"

"Off to bond with a horse," he said and led me out of the tent.