Chapter Text
“Well?” Bronte demanded impatiently, “What did you read?” Emery shook his head. Bewildered irritation rolled off him in waves, brows furrowed and lips pursed in concentration.
“Nothing on my end,” Kenric said quietly. His voice was intense, thoughtful. Terik straightened, turning to Kenric as he waited for the other Councillor to elaborate. “I- I can’t explain it. I’d known humans had advanced much in technology but…” he swallowed, rubbing a hand down his face. “Is it possible to build mental walls using technology? Is that even possible?”
“Even if it was possible — which it isn’t, not without materials native to the Lost Cities — it couldn’t have been that. One of the reporters was a disguised Regent, remember?” Zarina said, gaining the attention of everyone else. “He’s a Technopath. When I asked for his report, he said he couldn’t sense any unusual tech that wasn’t already in our line of vision.”
“They could’ve made tech that’s immune to such senses,” Oralie suggested. Bronte scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“How? Technopathy was discovered after their betrayal. Even if that weren’t true, humans haven’t had any exposure to elven abilities for thousands of years so even if they did manage something like that, they wouldn’t have any way to test it,”
“This isn’t helping us,” Noland snapped, turning their attention to him. “If we’re going to find out whether they caused the attack, it’d be better if we try something else. We could cause an accident and get some of their guards sent home. We’ll stick spyware to their persons and find information from there.”
“We don’t know how advanced their tech is,” Emery argued, “If we do that and get caught, they might declare war.”
“Then let them,” Ramira said, exasperated. “We handled them just fine when our technology was a fraction of what it is now and without any alliances with any other species. We’ll handle the war again this time with minimal casualties and be done with it.”
“ You weren’t around when the war happened, Ramira,” Bronte snapped, standing up abruptly and pointing a finger at her. “ I was. I remember what the war was like and it wasn’t nearly as quick and clean as you seem to think. Millions of deaths occurred on both sides. We lost over a third of our population. Countless cities were reduced to rubble, families separated and forced away from their homes and placed in concentration camps scattered throughout the Earth. Many were dead by the end of the war. We were lucky if we found a possession of theirs, let alone their bodies. It is merely myth that we defeated them so easily, a lie cooked up using elven nationalism and pure arrogance.”
The temperature of the room seemed to drop. Bronte didn’t talk about the war often, if at all. He’d been harshly opposed to even bringing the royal family here in the first place. Kenric opened his mouth, probably to calm the room but Bronte hadn’t finished.
“Humans, they seem pathetic to all of you with their lack of abilities or strength but I’d slit my own throat before going to war with them again,” he concluded, glaring heatedly at Ramira. She swallowed, raising her chin defiantly. Emery rolled his eyes, sighing.
“Understandable as that is, Bronte,” Emery said, “If they did cause the attack, we’d have to declare war anyway.” Bronte scowled, turning away from the group to get some fresh air on the balcony. Kenric rubbed his hands down his face.
“We can’t go to war with them,” Oralie insisted, her face pale. “I’ve seen the death count from the war between the humans and elves last time. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“We’re far more advanced now,” Ramira insisted, “We can handle them.”
“Arrogance will be your downfall, Ramira,” Emery scoffed, shaking his head. Ramira glared at him. “Fintan was like that too; thought he could harness the sun and stars themselves. He ended up killing dozens of innocents, and the bastard still ended up surviving what should’ve been his death.”
“This isn’t the time, Emery,” Terik interjected when some of the other Councillors looked like they wanted to argue, faces contorted in anger. Emery didn’t look fazed, not even the slightest bit guilty.
“Don’t even talk, Terik,” Velia snapped. Terik narrowed his eyes warningly. “You weren’t even alive when Fintan summoned the Everblaze, let alone when he was a Councillor. Stop trying to get in the middle of this.”
“In the middle of what?” Terik said coldly, a sneer twisting on his normally kind features. “This? What is
this?
Fintan killed dozens of people, and you lot still defend him because you can’t get over the fact that your friend was an arrogant fool who deserves every bit of the exile he has.” Velia stood up abruptly. Terik didn’t even blink, merely raising an eyebrow in challenge when Velia’s hand curled into a fist, the whisper of harsh winds filling the room as she summoned them.
“Will you two quit it?” Noland snapped, gripping Terik’s shoulder before he could move forward. Zarina placed a hand on Velia’s arm, a warning look on her face. “You’re acting like squabbling children. It’s not the time for this.” Velia scowled darkly, shrugging off Zarina’s shoulder and stalking off. Terik rolled his eyes, giving Zarina and Noland an apologetic smile. Zarina softened, smiling back. Noland hid a snort behind his hand. Emery rolled his eyes. Ever the charmer, Terik was.
“We’re getting sidetracked,” Emery said calmly, ignoring the tense silence of the room. “I understand that everyone’s a bit emotional after the attack in Atlantis but we won’t get anything done if we keep fighting.” Terik straightened, rolling his shoulders with a clench of his jaw. There was a very hard look in his eyes.
“If they did this,” Terik said, his voice dark with rage, filling the silence. “I don’t care how disastrous a war with the humans could end. I won’t take an attack like this lying down.” Emery nodded, agreeing though he looked reluctant.
“I’m not sure how I feel about putting more lives on the line for another war with the humans,” Kenric said uneasily. His body was stiff, face tense with apprehension. “Bronte makes a good point about the casualties from the last war. If not for it, our population would be more than triple what it actually is. Now, with both our kingdoms far more advanced, it could be that tenfold.”
The air of the room was tense and hostile. Ramira and Terik were still stiff with tightly coiled rage. Emery’s face was passive and emotionless as ever but even he couldn’t hide it all for his fist had begun to shake from how much he was clenching it. Oralie had the reports from the attack in her hands, face unreadable as she scanned the words over and over again. Bronte and Velia still hadn’t returned.
With a tired sigh, Kenric got up. The attention of the other Councillors dragged towards him. “I’ll be heading to bed. There’s no sense arguing over this any longer until we figure out whether they’re really at fault. We can reconvene in the morning.” With barely another glance, Kenric swept out of the room with swirling thoughts. Heavy emotion stirred in his chest, heart beating wildly and breath starting with every one he took.
The friendships between the Council — though they’d never been great — had worsened severely since the attack occurred. Some of the Councillors were convinced the ogres had done it. Others thought it was the humans. There were even suggestions it was the faeries or the mers despite the fact that neither species hasn’t interacted with any other species that aren’t bordering their own countries.
Despite that, Kenric couldn’t blame anyone for such accusations. It’s been decades since any elf has died. There’s been no plagues that elven medicine couldn’t solve, no border disputes, tensions between kingdoms — though they still exist — have not caused any problems for the elves in nearly a century.
Kenric sighed. Needless to say, they were a bit rusty when it came to war.
Sophie stared up at the ceiling. Her body was stiff and tense, thoughts swirling in paranoia. She felt like she was being watched, invisible eyes glowering at her in the darkness. Nearly fifteen minutes had passed since she and her family had all gone to bed, and Sophie still couldn’t fall asleep.
She wanted to practice her powers, use up some of her pent-up energy. Everytime she got up to do so, the feeling of being watched increased and went back to her bed.
With every second that passed, the more impatient Sophie became. Scowling, she jumped out of bed and decided to grab a midnight snack. Or — Sophie checked the clock next to her bed — 2:41 am snack.
Sophie quietly padded her way into the little kitchen they’d been given and grabbed a banana from the bowl on the small island. Fiddling with it for a second, she unpeeled it and ripped off the top, taking a bite. Sophie turned, opening the fridge and squinting her eyes at the bright light. There were small bottles of water lined across one side of the fridge. Sophie grabbed one, opened it and took a couple large gulps.
Glancing around, she looked for any cameras or surveillance and pulled the banana from the peel with her telekinesis, throwing it in the trash and pulling down with her fingers. The banana split itself into slices easily, as if she’d cut the banana with four little knives. Sophie curled her index finger towards her and popped the banana slices into her mouth, one by one.
Sophie let out a blissful sigh, the little relief with the use of her powers a little chip off the large pent-up energy inside her. A headache pounded at the back of her head, just barely receding a bit when she used her powers.
It was tempting to keep using them but Sophie didn’t want to risk it more than she already had. With a tired sigh, Sophie grabbed her water, wiped off her hands, and padded back to her room to try and go back to bed.
The next morning, they had breakfast delivered in their room. Sophie’s father had been stiff as a board with the realization that there had been someone — an elf — in their room. Sophie hadn’t been much better. It wasn’t exactly what she’d call comforting to know that the elves had free reign to enter their room as they pleased. Dread curled in her stomach whenever she thought more about it; if they could enter into her kingdom, her home.
The Summit would begin tomorrow afternoon. Today was the day the rest of the kingdom leaders would be coming. Only Sophie’s parents had to go to meet the other rulers. Sophie and Amy were both allowed to mingle though Sophie intended to just stay in their room until tomorrow when they’d be required to come along for the Summit.
Unfortunately, Amy wanted to go exploring, and she wanted Sophie to come with her.
“For the last time, Amy, I said no!” Sophie shouted, exasperated. Her parents had left about ten minutes ago, stating they’d be back by late evening. Sophie’s father gave her a look, as if pleading with her to take his place. He’d never liked stuffy meetings with local politicians, let alone rulers of completely different countries that they’d never interacted with in their lifetime. Sophie had forced a grin, forced a crinkle at her eyes and pretended that she was convinced they were being watched. She didn’t know how, but if their tech could make spy tech the size of bumblebees then, for all they knew, the banana peel she’d thrown away last night had secretly been bugged.
The moment she woke up that morning and really thought about the use of her powers the night before, the more dread pooled in her stomach. She hadn’t told her parents yet, paranoia chasing at the thought whenever it arose. She didn’t want to risk it; even if her parents’ ire would be exponential the moment they found out.
Later, Sophie was in the room, rubbing at the temples as Amy begged her to come with her.
“I don’t want to go alone!” Amy whined, tugging at Sophie’s sleeve. Sophie glared at her, wondering if Amy had even thought about whether they were being watched or not. Sophie didn’t really expect that she did. She was never good at reading the room.
“I don’t care,” Sophie rolled her eyes, jerking Amy’s hand off her sleeve with a scowl. Amy scowled back grumpily.
“If you do,” Amy said, “I won’t tell mom and dad you were using your powers last n—”
“Shh!” hissed Sophie, eyes wide and heart beating at her rib cage. “How did you know?” Amy shrugged, oblivious to Sophie’s panic.
“I went out to get a snack and saw you using them,” Amy said, “If you come with me exploring then I won’t tell mom and dad you were using them.” Amy grinned, smugness strong and glaring on her face. Sophie scowled, dragging herself up and gesturing to the door. Amy cheered and left her room, Sophie following after her. She grabbed her phone on the way out, glancing back into the room one last time before following Amy out the door.
Sophie regretted it the moment she did.
The entire building was bustling with people — elves — that whispered and stared as they passed. Even Amy noticed, her excitement dimming slightly with all the stares she and Sophie received. Amy had slowed her pace, clutching at Sophie’s elbow almost instinctively. She didn’t mind, body tense and ready for anything. Sophie didn’t know what ‘anything’ would be but she’d rather not find out.
“Why don’t we check out that garden the Council showed us during the tour?” Sophie whispered, pulling Amy’s attention away from the elves around them. She lit up like a Christmas tree, nodding hurriedly and dragging Sophie along to where she’d remembered it being. Sophie let her, glad that Amy’s mind was off the people that were staring at them.
They reached the garden quickly, elves all around them clearing whenever they reached. They got many stares; some disdainful, others full of awe and wonder. Either way, Sophie hated them. She hated the stares too.
The garden shimmered like diamonds, blooming flowers of all kinds spread throughout the wide expanse. There were people-ish beings there. They spoke the same language as her and Amy. Their skin looked like bark, and they were all shorter than her. Some reached Amy’s height but Amy was tiny. They looked like trees with faces and limbs.
“Um… hello,” Sophie greeted awkwardly to the tiny… tree being that stared up at her with wide eyes and parted lips, awe obvious on her face. The tree-being startled at Sophie’s voice, squeaked, and scurried off. Sophie blinked. Okay, then.
“She’s just curious,” a voice said from behind her. Sophie spun around, staring up at a tall man with bright teal eyes and a friendly smile. Sophie took a step back so she didn’t have to crane her neck to look at him. He was really, really tall. He gestured to them, scattered throughout the large garden, and asked, “Do you know what they are?”
Sophie stood stiff and silent. Glancing around to check for Amy, she saw her giggling at a colorful butterfly that landed on her head. Sophie turned back to the man, eyed him warily and shook her head. He smiled.
“They’re gnomes, one of the species Lumenaria recognizes as part of the Intelligent Races,” he explained. A memory itched in the back of her head from when one of her tutors had taught her about what they knew about the Intelligent Races. They were numerous species across the world that were recognized as intelligent. When this happened, they were legally allowed to form their own country. Of the Intelligent Races, Sophie knew of the elves, trolls, ogres, fae, gnomes, goblins, mers, and the humans. She didn’t know of any others; if there were any others.
Silently, Sophie nodded. She thought the man would leave after that. He didn’t. Instead, his bright eyes roved over the beautiful plants, landing on a butterfly with wings that looked like they were made of thin slices of diamond that sat on the leaf of a frost white leaf. Sophie didn’t recognize most of the species around her, let alone any of the plants.
He stuck out a hand with a finger curled and the butterfly fluttered up, landing on it as if used to such behavior. “These are adamas butterflies,” he said. Diamond, Sophie translated instinctively. It was Latin; a dead language that humans no longer used. Why would the elves be using it when it was a language native to humanity? “They were discovered by humans thousands of years ago in Asia,” the man explained, answering Sophie’s silent question. “Their wings can grow diamonds so they were nearly hunted into extinction by the fae who reside in that continent. Humans took the last remaining few from the continent illegally to keep them from going extinct and created a sanctuary designed to mimic their original habitat. After so many years, they’ve evolved to be able to live in habitats like this one. Adamas butterflies have powerful protections to keep them from being hunted that were developed by Lumenarian scientists about a century ago, when hunting them became banned.”
Sophie listened raptly. She didn’t know much about before humanity’s isolation; when humans lived among the other Intelligent Races as one of their own. She didn’t even know why he was telling her any of this.
“You are King Maven’s daughter, correct?” said the man suddenly. Sophie looked up, wary once again and nodded slowly. The man smiled. “I am Alden Vacker, Head Emissary to the Council and Lord of Eternalia, the capitol of Lumenaria.” Sophie blinked, realization hitting her.
“Vacker? As in- as in Fallon Vacker ?” Sophie said incredulously. Alden smiled, a crinkle of amusement showing at the corners of his eyes.
“I’m one of his descendants,” Alden confirmed, browsing around again. His eyes landed on a creature with a long body like a furry snake. It opened its mouth, a high-pitched chirp leaving its mouth. Alden slipped a hand right in front of it. It slithered onto his hand, raising its head and making another high-pitched chirping sound.
Sophie nodded stiffly. Fallon Vacker was the only elf Sophie knew a substantial amount about. Even then, the only reason for that was because she and her family needed to study his ability. He had an interesting story but there were so many versions that she wasn’t sure which was the real one.
“Sophie!” Amy’s voice sounded from behind her. She turned, waving a quick goodbye to Alden and hurrying off to meet with her sister. Amy was frowning, her brows furrowed anxiously. “Who are you talking to?”
“Oh, this is—” Sophie turned to introduce Amy to him but Alden was already gone. Sophie looked around the garden in bewilderment but where Alden had gone, Sophie couldn’t see him. “Huh,” she muttered.
“Well?” Amy frowned. “I can’t see who you were talking to. Were you talking to one of the little people? They’re called gnomes, you know. They told me!” Sophie blinked, glancing at Amy but she remained oblivious as ever.
“No one, Amy,” Sophie muttered, “Let’s go back to the room, alright?” Amy shrugged, following after Sophie.
“Dad? What are you doing?” Alvar peeked his head into Alden’s office. Alden was focused intently on the screen in front of him, swiping and zooming in on whatever it was he was looking at. Alden startled, looking up at Alvar and erasing whatever he was looking at from the screen.
“Just checking over something for the Council, Alvar,” Alden answered, sitting up and gesturing for Alvar to sit down across from him. “I didn’t know you were home. How’s Regent work?” Alden leaned back, eyes landing on the bottles of alcoholic beverages in the fridge to his right. He reached out a hand, flicking his fingers and opening the fridge with telekinesis. With expert control, he poured himself a glass, glancing at Alvar to see if he’d like one.
Alvar nodded, murmuring a small thanks when Alden handed it to him. Alvar leaned back in the cushioned seat, eyes darting from place to place. He didn’t get to come inside his father’s office when he was a kid, and now that he was out of school he didn’t come back often enough to have an excuse to.
Alden’s office was modest but classy and sleek. It was a mainly white office with gold accents. Behind Alden’s desk was a wall-length window of sparkling glass. There was a large, white peacock ornament bedazzled with jewels from all over the globe that had been gifted to Alden by the Council about seven years ago after he’d returned from a dangerous mission that saved the Lost Cities’ interests in another continent. It was, by far, the most glorious and eye-catching thing in the room other than the large portrait that hung on one of the walls of the room.
It was a portrait of Alden, Della, Alvar, Fitz, and Biana that had been painted of them a year before that. They did one every Talvast. It had been Fitz’s turn to choose where they’d go for their vacation that year, and Fitz had chosen the Lihu islands where their winters were like the summers and springs of Alvar’s home, Everglen. Biana had been disheartened because she always liked the cooler places they traveled to. Fitz, on the other hand, loved the warm temperatures and sunny beaches they went to so they’ve always had to alternate every year.
“Alvar?” he startled, turning back to his father. One of Alden’s eyebrows were raised expectantly, a humorous tilt to his lips with his head cocked to the side. “Are you alright?” Alvar nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Fine,” Alvar shrugged. “I was just- you got to meet the foreign leaders, right?” Alden nodded slowly, motioning for Alvar to continue. “So… did you meet the human royal family?” he asked tentatively. Alden’s eyebrows raised. Alvar, to his credit, didn’t so much as cringe.
“They came earlier than the other leaders, but I did meet one of the princesses –– Sophera Elizabeth, I believe her name is,” Alden explained. He took a sip of his drink, swirling it around lazily in the glass. “Why? Are you curious?” Alden teased, a playful smile on his face. Alvar scowled at him as Alden chuckled.
“I saw the photo of one of the princesses — the one you talked to, I think — assaulting a reporter,” Alvar said. Alden sighed.
“That’s a horrid exaggeration,” Alden replied, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “The reporters completely swarmed the family. Despite the numerous warnings issued by the Council, they damn near suffocated them.”
“That makes sense,” Alvar said, snickering. “They’d always been a bit like vultures, those reporters. Did you get to talk to her at all though?”
I didn’t talk to her much. She was, oddly enough, aware of Fallon though,” Alden said. Alvar blinked, looking up with a curious frown.
“I thought he didn’t start getting involved until after the war ended,” Alvar said in confusion. Alden nodded, confirming it. “He only got involved because of the declining economy, right? So why would she know about Fallon when he hadn’t even been a part of the war effort, let alone a well-known figure back then?”
“I don’t know,” Alden said with a sigh. He let out a breathy chuckle, perhaps out of bewilderment at the entire ordeal. “The adamas butterflies - you remember them, don’t you? — are one of the more positive things the humans were famous for doing back before their kingdom’s isolation. It’s rather curious she knew about Fallon but didn’t even seem to know those butterflies existed. I could’ve sworn the humans had taken some with them after they lost the war.”
Alvar cocked his head to the side, considering it. “Maybe the butterflies didn’t survive in their country,” he reasoned. Alden hummed, eyes thoughtful.
“Perhaps,” Alden said but he had that look in his eyes; faraway and focused on something completely different. Alvar sighed. He wouldn’t be able to get anything out of his dad when he was like this. He’d try to talk to him again at dinner tonight.
“I’ll talk to you later, dad,” Alvar said. Alden murmured a goodbye, getting up from his desk and going to stare out the window of his office. A moonlark swooped down, its pearly feathers shimmering elegantly in the sunlight. Alvar still didn’t know why he’d brought them here in the first place.
Alden watched the princess — Sophie, her sister had called her — cut the banana without so much as touching it over and over again. Councillor Oralie had brought the footage to him after looking it over herself. They had surveillance in the kitchen, living room, and foyer of their rooms, having kept the bathrooms and bedrooms clean of anything. Alden had been hesitant to watch the footage, not wanting to breach the privacy of the royal family but after Councillor Oralie’s insistence he caved.
The footage showed one of the princesses using what appeared to be telekinesis rather expertly, as if she’d been trained. At first, he’d thought she was kidnapped and had been looking through footage of elves with her appearance but he hadn’t found any. He made the connection of her knowing about Fallon — who’d discovered telekinesis in the first place — because of this.
Alden sighed. Nothing was adding up. Was she or was she not an elf? As far as he knew, humans were scientifically capable of having abilities. It was something unique to only elves. The closest another species has come to having the same thing is with the fae but even then, it’s not close to the same thing.
Alden didn’t think she was in any kind of danger with her family. They probably knew of her powers. He’d need to inform Councillor Oralie of his theory. Had she told the rest of the Council about this? She’d told him that the footage she gave him was the only copy other than the one she had so perhaps she wanted to keep it hidden for now.
Alden sighed, staring out at the moonlarks outside. A part of him wondered whether Project Moonlark — whatever it had been — was involved with the princess.
Alden looked down at his Imparter which had started ringing. He frowned. Why was Quinlin calling him right now? Alden swiped across the screen, and Quinlin’s face popped up. His face was contorted in stress, eyes wide. Alden straightened, worry rising.
“Quinlin? What’s wrong?” asked Alden worriedly.
“You need to come here now,” Quinlin whispered, his voice barely audible through the Imparter. “I found something on Project Moonlark.”