It did not take long for a member of Sheil’s household to take the floating letter. The manor was a similar hexagonal shape as most of the other Elven buildings, though, a little taller and a lot wider. The ground beneath it sloped away from the forest, causing its first floor to be half buried on one side. On the western side a raised deck wrapped around three of the walls, with an entrance to the second floor in the center. The sun had dipped behind the trees, casting everything but the top of the Elven home into shadows, where the trio of Wisp Seekers hid as Anna hovered the letter up to that door. Moments after the letter arrived, an Elf stepped out, examining the letter. Then he took it and went inside.

  “Now what?” Peter asked.

  “Now we go and wait a few kilometers north of town until noon tomorrow,” Andrew replied.

  “What if they send someone to look for us? Like guards?” Anna asked.

  Andrew paused. The thought hadn’t occurred to him. Worry bubbled up inside him. He took a breath, trying to remember what Halcyon’s influence was like. He thought the calm would help him think. As he did, an idea came to him, and he relaxed.

  “We told them to meet us by the forest,” Andrew said. “But we don’t have to wait in that meeting spot. There’s a hill another two kilometers or so north east of there, away from the forest. Jarnvaror can see them from that distance, right?”

  “Easily,” Peter said.

  Andrew nodded. “Then we rest there, and keep watch for them till noon.”

  The others nodded. They returned to Jarnvaror, who seemed quite glad they hadn’t gotten themselves into trouble again, then moved to the point Andrew had described.

  They spent the morning in silence. Peter helped Jarnvaror keep watch on the area they were planning to meet. Very early in the morning, the dragon did see a troupe of Elven soldiers patrolling the location. But they didn’t stay long. “Should we take that to mean they won’t listen to us?” Anna asked.

  Andrew shook his head. “Too soon to say. Maybe they just wanted to see if they could find us first, or see if we were setting traps.”

  “We wouldn’t do that,” Peter said.

  “They don’t know that,” Andrew said. “Either way, we should wait, like we planned. If they don’t show up before noon, I’ll start working on another letter.”

  “And if that doesn’t work?” Peter asked.

  “We’ll think of something else.”

  About half an hour before noon, the dragon said he spotted another group of Elves heading to the meeting place. “How many?” Andrew asked, through his brother.

  The dragon replied with a snort, which Peter translated as, “Six. Fewer than earlier.” He frowned. “We didn’t tell them not to bring guards, did we?”

  “No,” Andrew said. “It felt too much like a threat. But maybe we should have.”

  “I think it was right not to,” Anna said.

  “It could still make thigs harder,” Andrew said. “Maybe they’re less interested in talking and more in arresting us again.”

  The dragon growled as Peter translated that. “Don’t worry,” Peter told the dragon. “You can handle six.”

  “As long as they aren’t all mages,” Andrew said. Peter did not translate that.

  Once the party of Elves reached the meeting place, the trio mounted up to go and meet them. Peter told Jarnvaror to be gentle, and land to the south of them by about five or ten body lengths.

  “The south?” Andrew asked over the wind. “Why there?”

  “Seems like a good spot,” Peter replied,

  Andrew blinked. As Peter had given the instructions, the move had clicked into place as good tactics. It put them between the Elves and their town, cutting off their retreat if they were either spooked by the dragon or if they were aiming for an arrest. It was a silent way of asserting the Wisp Seekers power, but because of the distance Peter had suggested, it was much less threatening. Andrew wondered if his brother had seen all that instinctively or if it was simpler than that.

  As they landed, the group of Elves looked nervous. Four were obviously household guards, clothed in smooth polished armor and each carrying long spears and short bows. Between these four were an Elven man and woman. The woman was tall and slender, with flowing red hair. If it wasn’t for that hair, Andrew might have thought this was Sheil herself, with how similar her face was. Even now, he thought it might be her sister, rather than her mother. But the way the blond Elf next to her held her, though, told Andrew that these were Sheil’s parents.

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  “You do have a dragon,” muttered the man. He was the same height as his wife. Andrew had never seen an Elf with a beard before. Then he caught sight of the man’s ears, poking through his hair. They were much shorter than the other Elves, and not as sharp. A Half Elf then. He must Sheil’s link to the royal family.

  Andrew stopped while there was still a few meters separating them. He bowed in greeting and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And thank you for coming out here and accommodating our… unfortunate circumstances.”

  “What’s wrong with our daughter,” the woman said. “Have you done anything to her?”

  Andrew blinked, taken aback. Peter answered before he could, though. “No, but she’s done a lot to us. Broke my legs, for a start, and sold a lot of Wisps to pirates or bandits that we had to track down.”

  “Aren’t you the criminals?” Sheil’s father asked. “You kidnapped the king and queen.”

  “We protected them,” Andrew said, jumping back in. “There was a coup de tat by Chancelor Daniel.” The pair gasped, and Andrew went on. “We helped the king and queen escape his assassins. It seems like now he’s trying to start a war, and we don’t know why. But your daughter seemed like she was close to him. We were hoping you could tell us why.”

  “A coup?” Sheil’s father asked, blanching. “Sallowain told us she was involved with some uncouth characters. But a coup? And Daniel? He’s involved as well?”

  Andrew nodded. He described their first encounter with Sheil, along with their general purpose as Wisp Seekers. He had Anna describe how, in Borac, she’d discovered the Wisps’ ability share one person’s emotions with another, and how she’d been able to discover the collaboration between Daniel and Sheil because of it.

  “That power is imprecise, though,” Andrew said. He gestured behind him to Jarnvaror. “The Wisps could tell us, for example, how nervous you are right now. But it wouldn’t tell us whether it’s the news or our friend who’s causing it.. We have to figure that out based off of what you say or when the feeling appears. As for Daniel and your Daughter, we only know that the two of them are very angry about something and very determined. We assume it’s the same thing. The reason why Daniel launched his coup and why he’s framed the other nations for the attack in Borac. Do you know what it is.”

  “It doesn’t seem like something Sheil would do, though,” the Elven woman said. “She’s always had a strong sense of justice. She can’t stand when people do things that are evil. I can’t see her working with such a group.”

  “What if she saw it as the only way to deal with a worse evil?” Anna asked. The others turned to her. “She seemed to have something against the royal family. Would she work with bandits if it meant bringing them down?”

  “No,” Sheil’s mother answered, though Andrew didn’t think she sounded all that confident. “No, she must be being coerced.”

  “Or you lot are lying to us,” said her husband, his face darkening. “How do we know we can trust anything you say?”

  “I’m not sure if there’s anything we can say,” Andrew said. “We’ve been honest, and as peaceful as we can be.” A thought occurred to him, and he glanced back at Anna for a moment. “If you’re willing,” he began, speaking both to her and to Sheil’s parents, “the Wisps may be able to convince you where we cannot.”

  Anna nodded. She stepped forward and took off her bracelet.

  “You’re going to cast a spell on us?” Sheil’s father asked, aghast.

  “No,” his wife said. “There’s no enchantment on those gems. I sense power from one, but its… unusual. Is that an opal?”

  Anna nodded. “The opal is where the Wisps live. The other is the gem I use for magic. There won’t be any spell on you. Just touch the opal, and the Wisps will be able to share our feelings with you. They could do it without touching if they came out, but that could become more confusing.”

  “Fascinating,” Sheil’s mother murmured, taking the opal. She looked at Anna first. “I think they really are being honest, dear. Our daughter really is in trouble.”

  “Causing trouble more like,” Peter muttered, low enough only Andrew could hear him. Sheil’s mother turned to him though.

  “That was snark, wasn’t it?” she asked. She looked more amazed than reproachful. “And you were annoyed by it,” she added, looking at Andrew. She handed the bracelet to her husband, who looked at each of them in turn again, frowning. Then, reluctantly, he handed the bracelet back to Anna.

  “Is there anything you can tell us?” Andrew asked again. “Any reason she might dislike the royal family or the capitol?”

  The pair exchanged one more glance. Then, Sheil’s father sighed. “I don’t know. It must have something to do with the Merigolds.”

  The name struck a cord with Andrew, but he couldn’t place it. He glanced at Anna and Peter. Anna seemed to be in the same boat he was. Peter’s expression was blank.

  “More cousins of ours,” Sheil’s father said. “An offshoot of the royal family, too distantly related to have a high place in line for succession. Their holdings are south of the capital. Sheil was always close with them. She stopped sending us letters after visiting them some time ago on one of her trips studying under different mages.”

  Andrew nodded, recognizing the name of the noble family. He wondered if Daniel was one of them. Was this as simple as a power grab by relatives of the royals? He wasn’t sure, but at least now, they had a direction.”

  “Thank you,” Andrew said. “This has been very helpful.”

  “You’re not planning to fight with our daughter are you?” Sheil’s mother asked with a concerned look back at the dragon.

  “I don’t know,” Andrew said. “We don’t want to fight at all. Hopefully, after talking to the Merigolds, we’ll be able to solve this without any fighting.” He doubted it. But, looking at the pair before him, he found he really did hope they wouldn’t have to fight Sheil again, if only for their sake.