The Gable Forest

Claire found it harder than expected to bid Akkar goodbye. She rubbed his nose, fed him an apple, rubbed his nose some more, cooed at him, told him what a good boy he'd been. He snorted at the last part, humoring her need to baby him. Then he plodded over to the food trough set out from the Sprites at the outpost.

She and Taylynn returned their winter weather gear, glad to be back under the shelter of the trees, even if they were sparse this close to the edge. The magic worked all the way to the edge-most tree, where the heavy drifts of snow stopped and green grass appeared. Fright remained out of sight in the sky. Taylynn had given him instructions to fly a little farther east along the tree line where she would meet him shortly.

"Remember," Taylynn said, adjusting Claire's braid and fussing over her, "your search for the Tree will depend on your desire to find it."

Taylynn had already walked her through much of this. "What if it doesn't think I'm ready?"

"My answer is still the same. You are ready. Now, I will see you in Esterpine. Do not leave the forest until you and I have had another chance to talk."

She frowned. "Why would I—?

"Promise me, Claire."

"All...all right. I promise I will wait." She had no intention of running off just yet anyway. She didn't even have the staff. But something in the way Taylynn said it left her wondering what her visit with the Tree might bring. She was beyond ready to return to Talon.

It was with a sigh of resignation that she bid goodbye to Taylynn. They parted ways shortly after entering the denser part of the forest. She went south, following a path the forest set for her, while Taylynn went east. As instructed, she kept her desires at the forefront of her mind. "When you are ready," she whispered to the Tree, to the forest air, "I am here."

The hours in the forest stretched on. She wasn't empty-handed. She'd taken a small pack with provisions from the outpost. It wasn't as if she were on a magic quest anymore—not at this point.

As the hours wore on, she thought back over everything. It was no small feat, her Ordeal. Ordeal with a capital O, because it had been significant and she had grown a great deal through it. Changed a great deal. Not only was she hardened, there were fresh marks to show for both her fight against Kane and waking Fright. She hadn't removed her clothes, hadn't wanted to look at them just yet. But she was certain the markings she'd earned would be noticeable.

For the first time in days, she allowed herself to think—to really think—of what Queen Jade had done. Being back in the forest, being away from Taylynn brought the queen's betrayal to the forefront. To her, Sprites had always been pure beings, faultless, beautiful, ethereal...good. Jade had proven something to her. Something crucial. Even the most seemingly innocent could be evil. And yet, Jade's intentions had been awful but understandable.

A frown materialized on her face. Once she was Talon's queen, what lengths would she go to to save her kingdom? What would she do if the Drengr were threatened and she had few options left? Her fists clenched at the thought of such desperation. But the answer came just as easily. She squared her shoulders. Never—she would never knowingly betray an innocent for the sake of saving her people. It wasn't just the cost of life, it was the weight that would bear down upon her conscience. How could she live with herself? How did Jade expect to live with herself after hading Claire over to someone like Kane?

In a way, it was an act of war. Even if Jade didn't know Claire was Dragonwall's future queen, she was under Talon's protection. Kane was Enemy Number One. Jade had handed her over knowing full well what Kane was and how he would use her, hurt her, possibly even kill her. She'd known.

Claire was forced to confront the thing she'd been avoiding. How was she to handle this treason? What was she to do?

The first option seemed easiest. It had crossed her mind plenty while Kane stood there torturning her, subjecting her to pain so great she'd wanted to die. It was during those moments her thoughts turned dark. Killing Jade for her betrayal, making her suffer, it felt satisfying while she screamed and sobbed.

But could she? Could she knowingly take a life? Even when that person was guilty beyond doubt? Even if what they'd done was terrible?

She thought back to those first few weeks in Kastali Dun, when she'd given Talon two names. Two names that brought two deaths. Two names that belonged to traitors. Those deaths—she'd felt responsible for them. While she hadn't been the executioner swinging the axe, while she hadn't made their choices for them, she had brought about their justice.

Could she do it again? Moreover, could she be the one to mete out that justice? Could she be judge and executioner? Something told her that if she was the one to demand Jade's death, she ought to be the one to swing the sword. But...

Perhaps there was another way.

"There is always another way."

The stray thought brought her to a staggering halt. The forest had changed around her and she'd barely noticed. A vast awareness pressed in on her, sending chills down her spine. It was near. She took a few steps forward and pushed through vines that blocked the dirt path she'd been following. The pool she remembered from the drink of enlightenment materialized before her, framed in a roomy clearing. Opposite it, giant roots snaked into the ground at the base of a massive tree. Her head fell back to take it in. From it's branches hung beautiful star-shaped leaves and ripe round golden fruit.

"The fruit of life," it told her, reading the question in her mind. "For all those who wish to travel beyond. For the weary."

Final death. She remembered the shepherd ferrying a Sprite soul through the forest. The desire to taste the fruit's flesh immediately evaporated. She swallowed, looking around. Blinking. The sight before her didn't disappear.

"So you have found me at last. Very few who do not wish to pass from this life ever do."

"Only the Sprite's rightful queens, right?" she voiced aloud.

"Yes."

"But I do not wish to be queen here."

"That is not a decision you are in a position to make. Not yet. But you will be, very soon."

Chills raced down her spine. "Queen Jade?" she couldn't help but ask as she gazed at the massive trunk before her.

"Yes. She has become a...problem. When Isabella betrayed me—"

"Isabella betrayed you?" The disbelief was evident in her voice. She knew Isabella had been disgraced, exiled from the forest, from her people. But she always thought it was because of her choice to become Eymar's mate and forsake her crown.

There was a long hesitation. She bit her bottom lip, second guessing her question. More patiently, the Tree said, "Yes. Isabella went against my will in a most destructive way."

"How? Creating the Drengr?"

"No. That was a task I charged her with. It became apparent that the Drengr would bring balance to a race that was created from twisted magic. No, Isabella took the magical knowledge I gave her then twisted it to ensure their extinction." Claire's lips formed into an oh. "Yes, you can imagine my anger. My...disappointment."

"But...without the Drengr, without the dragons, wouldn't the world go back to the way it was before the Asarlaí?" It was an innocent question. After all, awakening the dragons was what sent the world spiraling out of balance in the first place.

"Yes, but at the cost of many innocent lives. To bring a race to extinction is to eliminate all those potential bright lights that might have existed in the future. Going backwards is never the best path forwards. We learn to adapt."

"That's...you're right. I would never want Dragonwall to travel backwards."

"No, you certainly wouldn't. I believe you have all manner of forward-thinking ideas that will send this world racing towards a better future." She fidgeted, caught off guard by the Tree's uncanny way of knowing her thoughts and desires. "I know you, Claire, as I know all creatures and beings in all worlds. My roots are in every universe, in every stretch of every kingdom. But I am known by different names and different things in each of them. Here, I am simply the King Tree."

"But, you are neither male nor female," she blurted. "Why do they call you a King?"

A chuckle sounded in her mind. She blinked. "Lady Claire, we have pressing matters to address. We might talk for days, years, time immeasurable...if I allowed it. There are two things which must be discussed here and now. The first is the matter of Queen Jade. The second is this—"

A flash of light caught her attention. There, at the base of the roots, was a quarterstaff covered in markings. Her breath caught in her throat. She stood rooted in place, almost afraid to touch it, afraid it was trick, that it wasn't real.

"Yes, I have had it all along. I took it from Isabella when she failed to be the queen I once thought her to be. I have kept it safe for you."

She took a step forward and stopped. "Does this mean, if...if I take it, that I must become the Sprite's next queen?"

"Is that what you want it to mean?"

She hesitated, even though she knew what she wanted. But...what if she said no? What if the Tree was testing her? What if in saying no, it would retract the staff and she wouldn't get it to use against Kane. And then, she realized that in thinking about all of these things, the Tree was probably reading her every thought.

She slammed on the breaks—forced her mind to go blank.

A chuckle rang through her thoughts anyway, reverberating around the clearing, mixing with the sounds of the babbling water that departed from the spring. Water that would feed and nourish the forest. "I will grant you time to think about your future. The staff is yours regardless of what you decide. It belonged to Isabella and her foremothers. It was never a precursor to ruling, it just so happened that her formoterhers were rulers. Queen Jade's mother ruled successfully, even Queen Jade did...for a time. But nothing is forever, and a person must recognize when they have become unfit. Greed can be blinding."

Claire nodded and stepped forward, closing her hand around the staff. It was cool to the touch, but the second her flesh came into contact with it, the markings ignited like blue-green fire, spreading down its lengths. The wind whirled around her, sending forest debris into a whirlpool, tangling in her hair.

The Tree's laugher rang out over the roar. "It has bonded to you, Lady Claire. Use it well, and with honor."

The wind died down. She found herself nodding, unable to take her eyes from it. Until her thoughts drifted back to what she still needed to do. "What about Queen Jade?" she asked.

There was a long, long hesitation. "I tried telling her many times that the time had come for her to find me, to partake of my fruit. But each time she set out to search for me, it was never with that intention. So I was forced to hide myself from her."

"Then...it is her time to die? What if she won't come to you? What if she will never chose to eat the fruit?"

"That path is lost to her. Only those deserving may dwell for an eternity within my forest. No, Jade must well and truly die."

"She won't willingly die on her own. But...what about Isabella? Did you kill her?"

"I banished her from the forest forever."

Hope sparked in Claire's chest. "Then, can't we do the same with Jade?"

"You may. I will leave the decision up to you. Kill her, banish her. She is no longer welcome here. She betrayed what it is to be a Sprite. She is the reason my forest is sick, the reason for the blight. She must go or die."

"And when she does, everything will heal?"

"Everything will heal." She heard the longing then, in the Tree's voice. It was the first true emotion she'd discerned beyond amusement. The Tree's desire to heal its forest ran deep.

Claire squared her shoulders, nodded. The staff hung heavy in her hand at her side. Regardless of what she decided, death or banishment, Jade wouldn't go quietly. She knew what the King Tree expected of her. This was her responsibility. She was to be judge and executioner, just as she'd feared.

"You know what happens when she leaves, when you dethrone her?"

A lump formed in her throat. But all she could do was nod.

"Good. Then go, Lady Claire. But do not go forever. You will need my council many more times before the end. I expect you to find me again. Until then, the staff will guide you."

"I...I will," was all she could manage. Then she turned and left the clearing. A single blink later, and it was no longer at her back, as if it had never existed in the first place. But the staff was a warm, humming presence in her hand, the only evidence that there were forces in this world beyond her comprehension.

***

As she walked, she thought over what she would say. She must have run through the words a thousand, thousand times before she happened upon Pelwyn's cottage. An entire day had passed before it materialized. She was glad her path took her to Pelwyn first and not straight into the city. As desperate as she was for Koldis, to see his face and feel his safe arms wrapped around her, she couldn't yet bear to tell him what had happened.

Moreover, she probably wouldn't have time to tell him anything before confronting Jade. Knowing that the inevitable was so close left her body clenched with anxiety. So it was with quiet relief that she found Pelwyn kneeling over the beds of his flowers. He did not turn to acknowledge her when she approached.

"You return to me changed, Elam."

"Tahalya, edah dea ana fanahs, Kenya." Changed, and yet the same, Teacher.

Pelwyn continued to work without turning, so she took a calming breath and simply stood there waiting, watching, patient. How long until Pelwyn decided to find the Tree? How long until he felt his debt was paid? Would it be when she pronounced her training complete and left him? Would he have any further reason to linger?

Years into the future, when she came back to visit the forest, would he be gone? That thought sent a pang of sadness through her, piercing her chest. Of everyone she'd met here, he was her favorite. So different was he to the others, except perhaps Feowen. They both seemed the type to go against the grain.

At last, Pelwyn turned. His eyes darted to the staff in her hand before landing on her face. "You are more patient than you used to be."

She snorted. "I suppose I am. Or perhaps I've simply grown fond of you, old man."

The corners of his mouth twitched. "There is not much more I can teach you, Elam." He hesitated, his eyes darting back to the staff. "And it looks as though the Tree knows this too."

"There will always be something to learn, Kenya, especially from you."

"But I can no longer be your teacher." He brushed his hands on his pants and stood.

Her stomach dropped. "You...you will go to find the Tree then?"

"Not yet. But you will be leaving soon. I can feel it, sense it in the breeze like whispers on the currents of change. Your time here is almost at an end." He hesitated. "Your gaze carries far more weight than it did when you left last week."

"It is heavier because of what I must do," she said. It came out as a whisper.

Pelwyn nodded, as if he understood what awaited her in Esterpine, but he didn't mention the matter. Instead, he said, "These months together have given me new life, Elam. Renewed purpose. I shall not depart yet. Not until I am certain the Tree has no more need of me. But our training...there is nothing more I can teach you that you cannot teach yourself. Before you leave, come and see me. I have a gift for you."

Her throat was dry as she swallowed. But she nodded all the same, not allowing a single tear to well up in her eyes, even though the sadness threatening to overwhelm her wanted to break free. "I will," she promised before departing.

As the first glass houses of Esterpine materialized, she knew then that the time had come. Knew what she had to do. Knew who she had to confront. Squaring her shoulders, she walked into the city.  

⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️

Hello Bookdragons! 

Happy Friday. I hope you had a good week. I loved this chapter, didn't you? I loved watching Claire wrestle with indecision over Jade's betrayal. The King Tree appears while she is, almost as a way to signal that her mere consideration of such a heavy matter made her worthy enough to be in its presence. Even though we know it's so much more than that.

Next week's chapter (I'm sure you can assume what it will be about) is titled "Confronting Jade" and I'm looking forward to posting it. 

Okay, next up, I thought I'd send out some post cards. Sometimes a nice quote and a little pick me up is the perfect way to bring a smile. This is something new I'd like to do every so often for my readers here on Wattpad. I can't do an unlimited amount, obviously. So I thought i'd start with ten. 

I will do this on a first come first served basis. The first ten readers who would like to receive a hand written post card greeting from me in the mail may email me at "authormelissamitchell[at]gmail.com" 

I can't put the "at" sign since it will trigger wattpad tagging. Simply send me an EMAIL (I won't do it based on comments here), and if you are one of the first ten, I will let you know and get your mailing info from you. Don't worry if you're not among the first ten. I'll do this every so often so there will be more chances.

EDIT: I have reached the allotted 10 requests. If you didn't get in, don't worry, there will be more opportunities in the future! 

I hope you have a great weekend and a great week!

-Mel