2412 Iclis 14, Reshpe

"Explain," Xanthy crossed her arms, leaning back into her chair. Branches creaked underneath her.

Eldan folded his hands on the table. His blue-gray eyes never strayed from Xanthy's face. "What do you want to know?"

Xanthy bit her lip. What did she want to know? It's not like she spent the whole morning of her second day in Dwanzeig thinking about that. Worry and something other than the dinner she ate last night churned in her gut. After a gruelling night with Nyxis trying to haul June off the brink of Pidmena's embrace, Xanthy wasn't in the mood for riddles, especially if it came from the man claiming to be her father.

Eldan had found her after breakfast when all she wanted was to get back to the room to sleep some more. Then, he stuffed her in this isolated room, sat her in a rickety stool made of branches, and spent a whole minute staring at her.

So Xanthy humored the man. It's a good way to keep things off her mind at least for a little while. She narrowed her eyes at this man with light brown hair and a charming smile. "A lot of things, actually," she answered Eldan's question by inclining her head to one side. "Are you really who you say you are?"

Eldan exhaled, leaned forward, lifted his folded hands, and rested his chin on them—all in one smooth motion as if he's been doing it his entire life. The twinkle in his eyes never faded. "Which is?" he smiled, showing off white rows of teeth.

"Come on," Xanthy waved a hand in the air before slapping her forearm still draped over her chest."You know what. That person. That you're my f..."

Her voice frayed in her throat. Why was she struggling to get that word out of her system? Airene's words slammed back into Xanthy's mind. Your father is in Dwanzeig. Xanthy licked her lips. Airene would never lie to her, would she? This was too much of a coincidence if so.

Eldan's smile widened as if sensing Xanthy's thoughts. "Airene told me that my daughter has been looking for me," he perked up. Xanthy's eyes widened. "So I had to come and see for myself that it really is you."

Xanthy pointed at him. "You and Airene..."

"Know each other? Are we keeping in touch? Yes," Eldan finished for her with a nod. He shrugged. "She's a friend."

"So she wasn't lying?"

"Why would she?" Eldan raised an eyebrow.

Xanthy shook her head. "How did you even know I was thinking of Airene?" she gave a skeptical chuckle.

Eldan jerked his chin at her. "Your movements suggest hesitation while your voice and tone suggest doubt," he ran his fingers against the branches on the table as if dusting something off it. "Doubt and hesitation always lead to reevaluation of their recent experiences to find a logical explanation for a present situation they are in. Factor that with the knowledge of people who know my location whom you might have come across and who are trusted enough to recognize your connection to me. The last time I heard of your location was in Cardina. Alkara is not a far trek from that. It's only a matter of guessing after a sufficient amount of evidence that you have, indeed, met Airene."

Xanthy's jaw dropped. Eldan chuckled. "In reality, Airene contacted me after you left Alkara for Peltra and informed me of the detour."

Xanthy blinked. "Did you really get to that conclusion just based on my actions?" she crossed her arms and fought against the amused smile creeping to her lips. "You could have told me that she told you beforehand."

"Work habits, sorry," His grin was a bit sheepish.

"So, you're really my father?" Xanthy met his eyes as a frown crept to her face. "How?"

Eldan knitted his eyebrows. "What do you mean 'how'?"

"Yeah," Xanthy waved her hand in the space between them. "You're a Nature fairy—don't lie to me. I've seen you bend branches to your will—and I'm a brownie. How is that possible?"

Eldan's gaze became distant. "You're right." he sighed. "It shouldn't be possible. Intermarriage between races is supposed to be a crime against nature. But it happened between us."

" 'Us' ?"

"Your mother and I," Eldan's smile was sad for some reason. "Airese was the bravest woman I had ever met. Still is."

Xanthy's chest tightened. Airese. Her mother's name. Her aunt mentioned it to her back in Alkara, right after she told Xanthy that Eldan was in Dwanzeig. Her aunt's warning of not digging deeper into this issue rang in Xanthy's head.

Airese, her mother, was taken by some unknown force. Airene and her friends have been looking for her ever since. "Have you found more information about where she could be?"

Eldan's shoulders slumped. "We're doing everything we can to pinpoint her location without drawing attention to ourselves," he sighed. "We can't be sure that it's Cardovia and we can't rule out Synketros either."

Xanthy cocked her head to one side. "Synketros?" she shook her head. "They're good people. Why would you suspect them? Cardovia is the obvious answer."

"Have you had close encounters with Synketros?" Eldan narrowed his eyes on her. "You seem to know a great deal about this. Sahili never told me that."

Xanthy rolled her shoulders and stretched. "I met one of their generals in Cardina," she groaned as her joints creaked. "A shard fairy named Elred."

Eldan's eyebrows almost reached his hairline. "Anahel's daughter? What is she doing there?"

"You know her?"

"Anahel and Zeral are close friends," Eldan answered. Why did this man know every one? "They're helping me find Airese."

Xanthy tapped a finger against the table as she craned her neck up at the criss-cross of branches forming a dome above her. "Should we even be talking about this here?" She remembered what Jonadrin said to her last night. "There may be unwanted ears listening."

"No matter," Eldan waved his hand dismissively. "Sahili is keeping watch and this room is surrounded with felmisa. Those plants alter the noise from the inside and project a different sound altogether to whoever might be listening outside. It's quite useful in performing interrogations."

Xanthy blinked. She didn't know what bothered her more—the fact that Eldan knew about this plant long enough to be using it as a precautionary measure or the way he said "interrogations" like it's something he does every day.

Eldan chuckled after having read something from her face. "It's not like that," he leaned back to his seat without removing his folded hands on the table.

Xanthy frowned. "Like what?"

"You're looking at me like I'm a murderer."

"Well, you aren't?" Xanthy eyed the walls. What was the fastest way out of this room? She faced Eldan again. "What are the interrogations for, then?"

"Work."

Well, that didn't explain anything. Xanthy dipped her head in Eldan's direction. "Such as?"

"It's not for you to think about," Eldan's hair bounced against his forehead as he moved his head from side to side.

Xanthy pouted. "But you said you'll tell me anything."

Eldan opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. "I..." A light laugh rattled his shoulders. He wagged a finger in the air. "You got me there."

Xanthy returned his smile. "You wanted to talk, after all."

"The Grand Royal forbade me to speak of my employment in the Palace," Eldan said. "It's too dangerous."

Well, that's a bummer. "Whatever," Xanthy swallowed against the curiosity building another question to chuck out of her lips. "Why didn't you visit? Not even once?" she blurted.

Anger directed at no one flashed in Eldan's eyes. "I can't leave Dwanzeig."

"Why?"

"After your mother disappeared, I've been beside myself, trying to find her and raising two girls instead of one," he explained. "I've just retired from my adviser role in Lanteglos—"

"You worked in Lanteglos?" Xanthy's eyes widened. Who cared if she was butting into Eldan's story?

"For a while, yes," Eldan's raised eyebrow implied like he couldn't quite understand Xanthy's excitement about it. "I was an adviser to High Queen January."

Xanthy's hands dropped from the table. Impossible. The portrait she saw in the gallery. That's...that's him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Eldan scratched the side of his face. "Why would I? It's a long time ago."

Xanthy blinked. "It should have been an honor! You served the highest position on the island! They should be building statues in honor of you!"

"Ah, how the ideals make the youth," Eldan chuckled. Then his voice dropped into a serious tone. "It doesn't work that way in the Seelie Court, I'm afraid."

He glared down at the table, his eyes dark and full of something Xanthy couldn't understand. "Right after the High Queen retires, abdicates, or expires, her advisers are treated like jewelries, either to be pawned off or reused again. Most High Queens opt for a complete Court overhaul so..." Eldan paused. "We were nothing after we had served our purpose."

Xanthy bit her lip. What was she supposed to say to that, anyway?

"So, no," Eldan pushed his hair off his forehead. "No one is obligated to build me statues of anything. We never mattered. I never mattered. It's just one aspect of my life that kind of happened."

"How did you even end up there?" Xanthy watched the branches by the ceiling. Why didn't the ones up there need water to be offered to them in basins propped on pedestals?

"It's a story for another time," Eldan smiled. "But I met Airese way before I became an adviser."

Oh, that would be a nice story. Xanthy leaned forward. "How did you meet each other?"

"That is also another story for another time," Eldan's eyebrows met in a sympathetic expression. "I know you're in a hurry to save your friend."

Xanthy's stomach soured. "Oh, yeah..."

Why would Eldan need to remind her of that? Eldan cocked his head to one side, his eyes studying her face. "Why? Are you enjoying your time here?"

Xanthy found herself nodding to Eldan's question. "It flows easily. Somehow."

Eldan smiled like he had just won something at the lottery. Then he drummed his fingers against the table. "To answer your question," he said. Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. What was her question again? "I can't leave Dwanzeig because after I lost your mother, with nothing to go back to but here, I struck a deal with the Grand Monarch for protection in exchange for my service. The Grand Monarch made it that I can't leave this city or else my location will be compromised. The people who took your mother might find me and you would have had no way to find any of us. We don't want that."

Guilt twisted in Xanthy's gut. "Yeah, we don't want that," she whispered. In a louder tone, she said, "No reason to feel angry about it then."

"Are you?"

Xanthy met Eldan's eyes to find them curious. Perplexed, even. "Well, yeah. I mean, who wouldn't?" she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and brushed off any that curtained her shoulders. "You ditch someone for sixteen whole years and you suddenly show up, tie them up, watch them endure a trial involving manderfins, and declare that you're their father?" she shook her head "It wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling."

Eldan nodded. "I'm...sorry."