Trylle.
“I wanted to let you know that I didn’t tell Matt about
Loki.” Willa lowered her voice as she carefully put pieces of cake on small
paper plates. “He would just worry.”
“Thank you,” I said, and looked back over at Matt, laughing
at the ridiculous miming Tove was doing. “I suppose I’ll have to tell him
eventually.”
“You think Loki will be around for a while?” Willa asked.
She’d gotten some frosting on her finger, and she licked it off, then grimaced.
“Yeah, I think he will be,” I nodded.
“Well, don’t worry about it now,” she said quickly. “This is
your last day to be a kid!”
I tried to push all of my fears and concerns I had about the
kingdom, and Loki, from my mind. And eventually, when I let myself, I had a
really good time with my friends.
3. Scars
My dreams were filled with bad winter storms. Snow
blowing so hard I couldn’t see anything. Wind so cold I froze to the bone. But
I had to keep going. I had to get through the storms.
Duncan woke me up a little after nine the morning. Usually,
I got up at six or seven to get ready for the day, depending on what time my
first meetings were. Since it was my birthday, I’d slept in a bit, and it felt
nice but strange.
He wouldn’t have woken me at all, except Elora requested to
eat breakfast with me today since it was my birthday. I didn’t mind being woken up, though.
Sleeping in that late made me feel surprisingly lazy.
I didn’t even really know what I would do with the day. It’d
been so long since I had a full day that was free of plans. Either I was
working on things for the kingdom, helping Aurora with the wedding plans, or spending
time with Willa and Matt.
I met Elora in her bedroom for breakfast, which was usually
where I saw her. She’d been in decline for a while, but even before Christmas,
she’d been on bed rest. Aurora had tried healing her a few times, but she was
only staving off the inevitable.
On my way to Elora’s chambers in the South Wing, I walked
past the room Loki was staying in. His bedroom door was closed, and Thomas
stood guard outside. He nodded once as I walked by, so I assumed everything was
still going alright.
Elora’s bedroom was massive. The double doors into her room
were floor to ceiling, so they were nearly two stories high. The room itself
could easily fit two of my bedrooms in it, and my room was quite large. Making
the room look even larger was a full wall of windows, although she kept the
shades drawn most of the time, preferring the dim light of a bedside lamp.
To fill the space, she had several armoires, a writing desk,
the largest bed I’d ever seen, and a sitting area complete with a couch, two
chairs, and a coffee table. Today, she’d had a small dining table with two
chairs set up near the window. It was all laid out with fruit, yogurt, and
oatmeal – my favorite things.
The last few times I’d visited with her, Elora had been in
bed, but she sat at the table today. Her long hair had once been jet black, but
it was now silver-white. Her dark eyes were clouded with cataracts, and her
porcelain skin had wrinkled. She was still elegant and beautiful, and I imagine
she always would be, but she’d aged so much.
She was pouring herself tea when I came in, her silk
dressing gown flowing behind her.
“Would you like some tea, Wendy?” Elora asked without
looking up at me. She’d only recently begun calling me Wendy. For a long time she
refused to call me anything but Princess, but our relationship had been
changing.
“Yes, please,” I said, sitting across from her at the table.
“What kind is it?”
“Blackberry.” She filled the small
teacup in front of me, then set the teapot on the
table. “I hope you’re hungry this morning. I had the chef whip us up a feast.”
“I’m quite hungry, thank you,” I said, and my stomach
rumbled as proof.
“Go ahead.” Elora gestured to the spread. “Take what you’d
like.”
“Aren’t you