What Little Worlds

Sixteen

The rest of the dinner passed by much faster. Amelie really liked all the Elves from Prost. They joked around like they had known each other forever. And in terms of her lifetime, they probably had.

She learned that the black guy's name was Damien and he was almost two hundred years old. He was the oldest of the group, and they all considered themselves to still be young adults.

It eventually came out that she had been struggling to learn magic with Adrien and the responding chorus of offers to help turned her red with joy.

The group finally meandered out of the bar around midnight. Amelie knew they could have stayed longer, and wondered if they all had day jobs to report to in the morning like she had.

Damien grabbed Amelie's arm and she held back to walk with him.

"I'm heading into Prost for a few days," he said. He held open the door for her and the cold Boston air startled her awake. "Is it okay with you if I explain your situation to a Guardian whom I trust? I will only tell him our suspicions of your heritage." He looked down at her expectantly.

Let the government know that there was an unknown Elf in their territory? She was really unsure whether that was the smartest move. In human politics, usually alerting the government of unanswered questions lead them to start snooping around for answers. She wasn't sure if she was ready for a foreign government to poke its nose in her life, bring her in for questioning, possibly do the same to her human family. What if they harmed her dad in some way? He had no idea what she was. He couldn't possibly.

"I always find that coming clean with the truth as soon as possible is the best method," Damien said, seeing her torn expression.

She bit her lip. Could she trust this government she knew nothing about?

Just then she felt a hand on her back and looked up to find Adrien standing beside her, sturdy and strong.

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked politely, his face void of the friendly emotions.

Damien shuffled on his feet, feeling Adrien's confrontational vibe. "We were discussing whether I should mention Amelie's situation to one of the Guardians when I go to Prost tomorrow."

"No," Adrien replied and started pulling Amelie away.

"Technically it's my job to report this, Adrien. You know that," Damien replied.

"You promised that she would stay hidden if she were here. That we would protect her," said Adrien. "She's not ready. Couldn't you see how uncomfortable she was. The answer is no."

"But Adrien" said Cassie. The rest of the group had gone silent, clearly having overheard the conversation. "She is okay. We know she must be Elven, she has felt your magic!" She looked at Amelie, "don't you want to know about your past? Where you come from? Who your family is? What if they are looking for you?"

She could have another family?

"The answer is no. What if there is a security leak and another Realm finds out about her before they figure out who she is? What if Taeneth found out? You know I trust Prost another Realm could harm her. Harm her family." Adrien put his arm around Amelie's shoulder and pulled her tightly into his side.

Amelie was overwhelmed with the thought of this decision, she had barely been able to follow along with the conversation, let alone form an opinion to voice. She did not even know the names of all the Realms, how could she determine what their governments were like. What they valued as societies. She was glad Adrien was there to help her determine the best course of action, even if he had not asked her opinion first.