The Last Princess

Chapter 32

Meadow wasn't happy.

The poor thing was trying quite hard to not cry, but at the thought of her beloved brother leaving, she couldn't quite manage it. Grove looked sad, but accepting. I supposed she was used to Birch going on missions, though letting her son go was an entirely different thing.

"Elvina, dear!" she cried, catching sight of me. Aiden whirled around too, and shot me an angry look before looking away. Meadow's watery eyes snapped to me. "Ellie, is Ardie going to go?" "I think so, Meadow." I nodded sadly. "Now, Meadow. Your brother's going to be fine. He's going on an important mission. And when he comes back, you want to congratulate him for succeeding, don't you?" Grove said, bending down to talk to her daughter.

Meadow nodded and wiped her eyes. "Ardie will come back!" she said, determination shining bright. "That's the spirit." Grove said.

Despite this, we weren't exactly filled with cheerfulness, so lunch was a quiet thing. All of us were waiting for Birch to come back and give us some news.

Aiden holed himself up in his room, Grove put Meadow to sleep, while I tried to move a leaf outside. It kept me distracted.

It also made me frustrated.

Because no matter what I had told Birch, there was a glimmer of hope in me, hope that I'd be able to do something. After half an hour, I gave up. I sat on the ground and prayed that Arden would be all right.

I was distracted by Grove crying out from inside the house, "Birch!" I jumped up and ran inside. Birch was there, looking grim.

Arden wasn't with him.

He saw me and nodded. "Elvina. I need you to come with me."

"Why?" Aiden said, making me jump. I hadn't even realized he was there. He peeled himself from the wall. "Why does she need to go?"

"We need information about the castle. Places Arden can go knowing it's safe."

"I'll go." I said immediately, wanting to help. "Come on, quickly." Birch said. I shot a nervous glance back at Grove, who nodded reassuringly, and joined Birch.

We walked outside in silence. We were approaching the larger tents when Birch spoke. "Don't worry. All you have to do is tell them how the castle is made and then you can go. The Leaders might seem a bit intimidating, but they're good people. Just tell them everything."

We had reached a very large tent.

Birch took a deep breath, and pushed open the flap.