Dusk of the Realm

14

The news was spreading all throughout the Realm that day. From the trees to the rivers, from the clouds to the hills, a feeling of great urgency was moving through the air.

"It's the general and his Wolves. Stay back, stay back, let them pass," a tree nymph said to his children, pushing them back towards their home. The instant he said it, the children began murmuring loud enough for their neighbor to hear.

"The general and his Wolves are moving swiftly! Something is happening, tell everyone!" the neighbor cried, and sure enough, the creatures of the forest all began to stir, and it did not take long before the water nymphs had heard as well, and whispered the rumor to the lapping of Lake Muiress' waters, as if Muiress herself would rise at the news.

And in the meantime, Tarin Wulf - general of the armies of the Realm of the Fae, master assassin of the crown, and warrior out of legend and fable told around dinner tables and campfires and sick beds to emphasize the power of the home of Fae - was running through Lymeryth Forest after a tree nymph faster than an arrow, moving as though to stop would be certain death. His master group of warriors were at his heels; Birches, the general's right-hand man, followed by Dallin, Ambrose, and the witch-like twins. The six Fae were there and gone so quickly that anybody in their way would have been flattened, and the Wolves certainly did not seem in the mood to stop and check on any nymphs' well-beings.

"Do you think he's chasing that nymph?" came a voice from the forest, after the entourage had gone by. Nevertheless, the voice was hesitant and soft, as if worried that one of the Wolves would come back to slit her throat just for speaking.

There was a snort, then a snide retort: "You really think that if the general wanted him, he would still be running? Nobody stands a chance against that man; especially these days, without anything to temper him."

A short silence, then: "We need the princess back, don't we?"

A flock of birds departed the canopy of a tree as one, embarking on a journey together that might take days, weeks, months, or years, but that would do nothing to bring separation to their ranks. The speakers watched them go for a minute or two, lost in their thoughts. Then, the second nymph finally came up with a response, but addressed his words to the sky as if they were a prayer.

"For more reasons than one, yes. I hope for the sake of us all that he finds her soon."

                   _______________

They had reached Equinox at dusk - a fitting time, seeing as that was the royal family name. Dusk. It was as if the sky was preparing to welcome the princess home as well.

Except that she was not here yet. Tarin was pacing back and forth through the field, and by now he had worn a path through the tall stalks of wheat. His Wolves - as Fae throughout the Realm had come to calling his elites - were all staring at him, he knew, though they all pretended to be attending to individual tasks whenever he glanced their way. Mostly he would gaze at the expanse of land before him and wonder what part of the shadows his princess would materialize from. He still could not believe that she had really been found, that she was really coming back today. Of course he had never allowed himself to lose faith in her return, but it was entirely different, knowing...

Arivil had tried to linger, but Tarin sent him back to Azure to be rewarded by the queen - whom, Tarin knew, would do no such thing until Serena was indeed back in the castle. Tarin was not interested in having anyone other than those that he trusted and who were entirely loyal to him behind him when retrieving Serena; he did not need just one tree nymph feeling more important than the rest, or spreading false rumors about anything at all. He wanted his princess to feel as comfortable as possible upon her return, which would be hard enough even without a stranger in the midst - a stranger to Tarin, that was; somebody that he did not know enough about to adequately, in his mind, protect Serena from. 'Adequately,' because Tarin's definition of protecting the princess was more complex than anybody else's definition of anything would ever be. And he would never again take any sort of risk with her without knowing exactly how events would unfold.