The Last Princess

Chapter 50

When I woke up, it was dawn.

A few rebels were walking around near the tents. Probably the rebels who were living in that camp, before Ivy attacked us.

Maple was sleeping peacefully beside me, though she had been tossing and turning fitfully in the night, murmuring something frantically. I suspected she hadn't been entirely honest with me as to everything that had happened to her after I left. Just as I hadn't.

A few pallets away were Aiden and Arden as well, near their parents and Meadow, who were still asleep. I looked forward to seeing their reaction when they found out Arden was already here. But now they were asleep.

I stood up, looking around. I recognized a few rebels from my old camp. Luckily everyone had made it through, though with a few injuries. Grove had told me last night. I felt very relieved that no one had died, for their lives would be on my conscience.

Which reminded me that I had to ask Birch how Ivy had been able to find me so quickly. Perhaps that was how she had found Aiden and I in the Forest too. But when he woke up. Best to let him sleep.

A few hours later, after I had washed myself and changed (courtesy of a very pretty elf maiden, named Fawn Eilah,   who I liked instantly), Birch and Grove woke up. "ARDEN!" Grove screamed, waking up half the elves.

Arden, who was already half-awake, bolted up straight, and sighed with relief realizing it was just his mother. "Hey, mom." Grove and Birch rushed in and squeezed him in a huge bear hug. I could see him choking. "Can't...breathe." He gasped. They finally let go, letting him breathe deeply.

"When did you come back?" Birch demanded. "Just last night." Arden said. Maple was also awake by then, and she got up and joined me. "Nice having a family." She whispered in my ear. I looked at her. I'd almost forgotten that Maple was also an orphan. Her parents had died two years ago. In an accident.

Her hand found mine and we held each other, so similar but so different at the same time.

Finally Birch realized we were there and turned to Maple. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, my dear. Birch Poplar, at your service." Maple smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Maple Elm." "I know." Birch said. "Birch, how did Ivy find us?" I interrupted. I couldn't wait. That question had been preying on my mind for too long. "Yeah, even I want to hear this." Arden said, coming over.

He sighed and looked down. "Elvina, I've been thinking about this on our way, and there are only two possible conclusions. One: There is a traitor. Given how unlikely that is, seeing as she would have attacked long ago if that was the case, I'm forced to conclude it was Possibility Two."

"What?" I asked, though I feared the answer.

"You."

My heart dropped into my stomach.

"Ivy could have touched you with her dirt, and left a trace on you. One which she could track. This is difficult, but your mother is powerful."

I couldn't breathe. It really had been my fault. I'd endangered all those elves, who'd taken me in. Maple squeezed my hand, reminding me that it was okay. "Is there any way to remove the trace?" She asked, her voice a little unsteady.

"Only one."

Birch looked at me intently. "What's that?" I asked, willing to do anything. "You have to be able to do our kind of magic. Once you can use any part of the Forest, excluding the ground, the trace will be wiped away."

I sighed with relief. That was how Ivy hadn't found us after we'd escaped the first time. I'd used the water, wiping the trace away.

"You've done that?" Arden asked, reading my expression.

I nodded. "I used water."

Birch's shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank Nalvia. Congratulations, Elvina, by the way." "Thank you." I grinned.

"What'd I miss?" 

We all turned to see Aiden sitting up, blinking groggily at us.