Shadows in the Trees: Book 1

Chapter 56

Freya pushed through the dispersing crowd, struggling to get to her father. They pushed back, rushing off to their tasks with vigor and purpose. They didn't seem to care that their leader had claimed her as his daughter, or that she had been marked by Leto, whatever that was supposed to mean. Someone slammed into her a little too hard to be an accident. She thought she heard 'halfling' spat under their breath, but when she turned to look, they had already disappeared into the throng. 

She broke through to the other side of the chaos. She saw her father walking away from it all, towards the fields instead of towards the village. 

"Hadrian!" she called. He didn't turn. "Hadrian!" 

She picked up her pace. She knew he could hear her, and she wasn't going to let him walk away from her again. 

"Father!" 

Finally, he stopped. She approached him cautiously, as though he were a wild animal she had come across. He faced her.

His face was haggard, as though he hadn't slept. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair was tangled. Her heart broke. She remembered what she had been like just after her mother died. Even now, she couldn't remember how she had pulled herself out of it, how she had gone on without her.

She decided to be honest. "I don't know what to say." 

He looked away, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "Nor do I." He swallowed. "Soren always knew what to say." 

Freya smiled as memories of her mother that she had buried came flooding back. Tears trickled down her cheeks. 

"She did," she finally choked out. "She was so sure of herself. And so brave, too. I always wanted to be more like that." 

"Me too," he whispered. 

They stood in silence, each lost in their own memories. Freya pictured her mother standing between them, laughing at their awkwardness. She had forgotten what her laugh sounded like, but she remembered it was beautiful. 

"This threat," he said finally. "What do you know of it?" 

His question jarred her from her reverie, and she remembered why she was here. Why they had to leave. 

She told him everything of their journey as quickly as she could. Hadrian hardly reacted except to sit down on a nearby log when she first mentioned the Sylph. By the time she had finished, he was rubbing his jaw and staring listlessly at a point near her feet. 

"Sylph," he said finally. "We have hidden from them since the creation of the forest. And now Leto wants us to help the Sylph and the Humans. There is no way for this to end well." 

Freya sighed. "It certainly won't be easy. But Roltandre threatens everything." She frowned. "Who knows, maybe this will bring peace, allow the Fae and the Sylph to return." 

Hadrian laughed derisively. "It will not be that simple." He met her eyes. "So this Sylph, she can bring back the dead?" 

Freya nodded. A charged silence hung between them.

"I know what you're thinking," she said quietly. "I have thought about it too." 

He hung his head sheepishly. "It is difficult not to imagine the possibilities." 

"If you did it, you would owe Roltandre forever, and she could always threaten to take her away. You would be her prisoner." 

"I know," he sighed. "She never would have wanted that." 

"No, she wouldn't have." 

He stood. "Then we trust Leto." He studied her. "You know, I always thought Leto had chosen me. I am a bit jealous that she came to you so . . . clearly."