Chương 90: Squirt Returns to Everwinter

Squirt loosed her arrow. It whistled through the air as it flew before slicing off the head of the voidcat that had started hunting some local fey in a nearby village. Voidcats were equivalent to the third evolution of a chameleon leopard, able to shift through shadow as they moved—which was different than swapping between the shadow plane and material plane like Zhadin did—and were notoriously hard to kill since, at the barest sign of danger, they simply warped themselves away.

Particularly in the depths of the Wylds like they were in now. Luckily, she still had shadow whale wolf tail arrows. Listening carefully, she waited until the sounds of the birds and insects returned to the forest, breathing out and stretching her stiff muscles with a groan. The last two hours had been stuck in the tree as the beast slowly meandered around until, finally, it had shifted to the perfect spot. Zhadin stepped through the shadow of a tree, holding out the hefty feystone to her.

She scowled at them, annoyed knowing that while this was a monumental success for her, they were powerful enough to have killed it hours ago. Naturally, they hadn't offered and she hadn't asked, but the point still stood. Still, it had gotten her some time observing the voidcat in its natural environment, including the two times earlier in the morning it had wandered away far enough that she needed to move from her hiding spot to follow.

The one thing she could tout was that she could sneak up on it and they couldn't. Probably. Then again, they had apparently been spying on her for weeks without her noticing. She took the feystone, studying the color in the dim light of the bioluminescent trees. This area of Gloomwood had a type of fungus with a symbiotic relationship with the trees, growing within the cracks of the bark, providing a constant ghostly green glow to the understory and forest floor.

Qzi appeared from where he'd been keeping his distance during her hunt, squatting down with a grin and admiring her face instead of the giant dark feystone in her hand. She scowled harder. She still blushed, though. Damnit all. She could not seriously be considering a redcap— Qzi said, "Ready to return?" Not really, no. But also yes. Annoyed at her internal conflict, she huffed and whistled for Mole. Her small elk steed trotted from where he'd been waiting with Qzi's steed, Prancer, and Pakos, her moon hound.

Once he was close enough, she climbed into Mole's saddle. Today was the day they were finally returning to Everwinter. Or, at least, it was the day they were starting the trek back, as it would take close to a week to actually enter Everwinter's border. Qzi jumped into the saddle to follow after Squirt as she led them to the meeting point. From there, Titled Gloomwood would be teleporting them to the edge of their territory, something that would shave at least four days off the original journey.

According to Zhadin, it had been because their zhan—the non-gendered equivalent to mom or dad—had wanted to maximize their time with their child. Squirt had her suspicions based on the way Titled Gloomwood seemed to find an excuse to speak to her every few days as well. She pretended to not know why. Zhadin hadn't brought up that a shadowfell had scented them on her and concluded they were lovers, so neither had she. Because they weren't. They just slept together. And ate together.

In fact, they practically spent every waking moment together at this point, so even to Squirt's eyes her logic of not trusting them was rather flimsy. Though, truthfully, they had not asked anything of her. Unlike the redcap Qzi, who was quite convinced she would eventually mate him much to her annoyance, Zhadin never brought up any such talk. Never offered themselves officially, never propositioned her, never even announced their intention to court her. They just were. She knew it. They knew it. Everyone knew it.

Meaning that the only defense she had left was her old standby—avoidance. So long as neither of them acknowledged it aloud, it wasn't happening, and she could pretend their interest was on the same platonic level as Tobias. After all, they had never clarified their intentions, simply said their feelings were their own and nothing more. As they moved through the forest, she took a moment to admire it.

She was sure Titled Gloomwood could probably grab her and teleport her from anywhere in the territory—such was their power—and while she had never requested it, she appreciated that instead they set designated meeting points. Despite her reservations, Gloomwood had quickly become Squirt's favorite territory of the three she had visited. For one, no one bothered her.

Except for a few sparce, friendly attempts at conversation by Titled Gloomwood, she had not run into a single attendant, guard, or even farmer to whom she had to play the same song and dance of proving her worth she had been since Lord Everwinter summoned every damn trainee to his keep.

Instead, the titled spoke to her if there was anything they wanted from her, and otherwise, she had been given carte blanche to simply travel, observe, and study for two whole weeks—outside of the occasional ask like tracking down the tricky voidcat. The second reason she was growing to appreciate Gloomwood was simply that the Wylds here were already well-managed. The feybeasts in the area were not overly powerful. There was no need for them to visit the villages as they faced no reported problems.

Zhadin apparently visited their parent every night, so they were not even required to return to civilization to stock up on supplies. Thus, for the last two weeks, the party had split into those who remained in the castle—Jul, Zakam, Cirn, and Anvanil—and the hunters—herself, Qzi, and Zhadin. Even Qzi was less annoying than usual, but that could be because he seemed to have his head in the clouds.

He didn't specifically say that it was because she had fallen asleep in his arms, but he'd been in a bright mood ever since. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Especially since they seemed to repeat that damn experience for him every gods damned night. Another thing for her to not acknowledge. Neither fey seemed interested in pestering or pressuring her. Qzi no longer asked about what mating gifts she wanted. Zhadin had never brought it up at all.

Both seemed to be content to keep things as they were, and that was exactly what she intended to do. Forever, if possible. And what about the Earth King? You intend to keep him at bay as well? asked Pakos with clear amusement. Squirt leveled a glare at the hound, not dignifying it with an answer. She had only agreed to let the pest— Wait, Earth King? Your pest. Earth King. Earth King. What the fuck did that mean? Well, he is the son of Life. He may not have a full dominion himself, but he was born with his title.

You mean the gods damned pest was a gods damned demigod and no one saw fit to inform me of this? Details, details, he responded wryly. For all I know, he might not know it. Demigods rarely do. She glared harder. Why the fuck did he tell her then? Because I am your loyal hound, mother dearest— her eyebrow twitched— and what good am I if not to give you every advantage? This sure as fuck didn't feel like much of an advantage. Come now, mother, surely you knew how powerful he was already?

She shifted her attention back to the forest with a scowl. Yes. She had known it, logically and intellectually, but at a certain point power disparities just became hard to visualize. One didn't need much to squash her like a bug, and he was well beyond that threshold. It wasn't fair. Honestly, it might have been easier if he was a greenling. If he was, it would have solved everything. Everything except… except the Sia-bitch.

If he'd been a greenling, he wouldn't have been able to stand his ground against her, much less… Besides. She'd never admit that she liked his music. Never admit that she had cracked her cabin window to listen in as he sang boisterous tales and cajoled even the most curmudgeonly fey into singing along with him. Singing wasn't something greenlings did. They weren't loud. They didn't draw attention. He did. And instead of being off-putting, it was oddly… compelling.

He was magnetic, enthusiastic about the simplicity of joy rather than the shallow condescension of the Sia-bitch. Even she had been tempted to dance with him. Not because of charms or magic, but because he simply made it seem fun to do. Not that she'd ever admit to any of it. It was easier to pretend her only attraction to him was a pretty face. Pretty faces she could ignore. She sighed. None of this mattered. She still had a week.

Plenty of time to come up with some idea of how to guard herself against the pest and keep him from breaking down any more of her defenses. She had no idea how to keep the pest from breaking down her defenses. It was the last day of summer, and she still had no idea what to even say to the pest.

Their long-distance chat had been so natural for her to just spill the whole story of Riverlands despite not having charmed her—not magically, anyway—that she had left that encounter without asking a single one of her questions. She had no idea what the point of them even courting was besides a bit of fun, but the way he spoke it didn't seem like he wanted meaningless fun anymore than Qzi did. Gods damn men couldn't have the decency to want a casual affair.

No quick fucks for them that they could then walk away from and never speak of again. Nope. She continued to internally wind tighter and tighter in her mild panic as they entered the familiar forest of Everwinter Keep. Mildly familiar, at least. Technically, she had spent barely more time here than she had in any of the other territories. It was just familiar enough to bring her a sense of homecoming, but it was the unfamiliar aspects that drew her eye. Well-worn game trails.

New traps that seemed like her base concepts, only upscaled. And, as they headed down the main road south to the keep, the fields had been expanded into the forest floor itself by removing enough tree branches to provide the required sunlight, creating mushroom mounds, or otherwise farming forest-grown food under the canopy. Unfamiliar faces tilled the fields both in the forest and out, and Squirt found herself shrinking back against Mole as they passed.

Their party was large and impressive enough to earn more than a few curious glances, and plenty of fey stood from their work to watch their procession. It was strange that Zakam, of all the fey in their party, was the first to pick up on her spike of wariness, easily maneuvering his steed until he was between her and the bulk of the fey observers, sandwiching her neatly between himself and Qzi. Jul rode behind her while Cirn rode up at the front with Anvanil.

Normally, Squirt would have protested riding in the middle as it made her the most important member of the party—but this once, she was by far the least interesting member of the group at a glance, particularly with Pakos running around and sniffing everything. Out their sightlines, she simply huddled, drawing her cloak closer around her shoulders even if it left her sweltering in the heat, hoping to avoid notice as long as possible.

They were waved through both the town gate—though it was approaching a city, having expanded at least once more since she had last been here—and then again at the castle gate. Runners must have been sent ahead, because as they stopped in the courtyard to hand their steeds to the hostlers, Kenna waited with a grin. Squirt kept her hood up, sticking to the shadows of the larger, stronger fey around her even with the presence of a friendly face. There were too many new fey here. It was… upsetting, frankly.

It disturbed her to see so many changes in such a short time, and for once Qzi standing just a touch too close was something she found herself grateful for rather than annoyed by. Pakos, the clever boy, was clearly pretending to be Jul's hound. Kenna gave them all a welcoming smile.

"We're glad to see you back. We've had baths drawn up for you in your rooms. Lady Cirn, if you'll follow me, I'll take you to your rooms, granted for the duration of your stay." The lady inclined her head politely to show her gratitude. Kenna's eyes met Squirt's, and she gave a small gesture with her hand and a wink.

"Hunter Qzi, Trainee Hunter Jul, I believe you two can head back to the Hunter's Clearing. I've sent a runner ahead to Tobias, so he knows you're coming." Squirt's skin began to prick from the palpable rage in every tense inch of the redcap. Kenna's eyes narrowed, her own aura pulsing with a flash of force that had Squirt's eyebrows raising appreciatively. She had never seen the beautiful wolf in combat, but the finesse of her aura control was exacting and perfect in a way few powerful fey could boast.

Squirt cast a nervous glance around the courtyard at those present, unwilling to make any more of a scene than this, and lightly tugged on Qzi's tunic, praying he would back down. He deflated so quickly, Squirt jolted a bit. With a deep, melancholic, resigned sigh he said, "As you wish." Kenna fucking smirked triumphantly. Squirt's expression immediately flattened at realizing she'd just been played by a she-wolf who seemed convinced of the redcap's inadequacy.

Annoyed at the way the damn woman was bothering to interfere in her affairs, Squirt huffed, leaving Zakam's shadow—as he turned and started lumbering away without two thoughts to rub together—to stand in Cirn's instead. Then Jul had to ruin it all.

"But my lady, the festival is tonight." Now it was Kenna's turn for her expression to flatten. Jul had started shifting from foot to foot, and he glanced at Cirn not once, but twice, while waiting for a response. Slowly, Kenna shifted, brushing imaginary dirt off the skirt of her dress before saying, "I'm sure if you'll hurry, you'll make it back in plenty of time. It is only mid-afternoon, after all." Squirt scowled at them all. Less dick waving, more moving.

Standing out in the courtyard was giving her the creeps, and they were starting to draw a crowd. Jul finally bowed in acceptance. He turned, collected his horse back from the hostler, mounted, and rode out of the castle walls. Qzi was less than a minute behind, having waited until Squirt glared at him before moving with a despondent sigh. Brat. Pressing her lips together in annoyance, Squirt followed the two women and her hound, switching which one she was hiding behind as they went as necessary.

Once in the residences hall, they dropped Cirn off in a set of guest rooms before Kenna ushered Squirt to the wolves' den.