The Lonely Ones

Chapter Fifty: Wren's Winter Storm

Wren wakes before Artemis, otherwise he may not be able to leave. Either because he'll lose the will power to leave Artemis' warm embrace or Artemis will try to play the hero by tagging along, which wouldn't end well. Wren presses a brief kiss to Artemis' temple, then heads out. He finds Dust in the green house.

"Am I meant to babysit your pets again today?" Dust asks from where he's seating among the flowers, back pressed to a tree with a book in his lap. He lazily flis to the next page without raising his gaze. "If so, I do expect payment for my labor."

"Do tell how any of this is labor."

"I'm resisting the urge to feed them to my plants, which is very taxing, and I must keep myself prepared for any who may want to do them harm. Such as the rather violent one upstairs."

Wren almost forgot about his mother wasting away on the top floor. Dust has a point. Should she discover there are humans at the castle, she'll go for their throats.

Wren huffs. "Fine, what do you want?"

"Double the size of my greenhouse."

He should have figured it'd be about the greenhouse. At least he wasn't asking for something more ridiculous.

"So be it, but if any harm comes to them while I'm gone, the deal is off and I'm destroying the space you have."

Dust flips to another page. "And where are you going, exactly? Your human plaything will want to know, I'm sure."

Cold air seeps into the warmth of the greenhouse. Frost licks the leaves of the plants. Dust smirks when Wren growls, "Do not call him that."

"This is more serious than expected." Dust snaps the book shut. "You've gotten yourself into the worst trouble yet."

Rather than reply, seeing as Dust clearly already suspects Wren's true feelings for Artemis, he pivots on his heel and repeats, "If they're harmed, the deal is off."

Then he exits the greenhouse to journey through the Winterlands and the Grim Woods until he reaches a wall of gnarled trees. The limbs and roots twist together to form an expansive wall, their orange, red, and brown leaves creating a splash of vibrant color along the tops of the deep brown trees. When he steps in front of it, the trees groan and move, making way for him to pass into the Autumn Lands where Aurelia, Solana, and Cypress wait.

Aurelia's castle rests along a waterfall, walls interwoven with branches and fallen leaves. They crunch under Wren's boots. In the throne room, Aurelia sits atop spiraled vines that fit perfectly against her stature. Solana and Cypress stand waiting and even grinning.

"Wren, are you ready to begin?" Aurelia asks.

"Depends on if you've managed to scrounge up the forces you claimed you could get," he replies. Aurelia paid him a little visit after the High King nearly killed him. She assisted him out of Thorn Hill only to inform him outside that she was amassing a force to take into the Ashen Plains.

Aurelia scowls as if his response disgusted her. Perhaps it did because Aurelia always did what she said she would.

"Of course. Now it's your turn to get to work." She rises from her throne to strut past her siblings. All of them follow through the winding halls until they reach an overlook. Aurelia's lands have always been closest to the sea. Wren heard as a child that it was once a land of winter, belonging to a previous sibling of season. Aurelia wanted it though and when her sibling wouldn't agree, she killed them and it took it.

The four of them stand atop the overlook peering out at sea. Then Wren notices a peculiar marking on the rock surface. There's ice within the cracks, as if it has stained a section of the mountainside. It certainly isn't from him. He can't overpower Aurelia in her own lands.