"You looked like a piece of cow droppings," Rayla greeted as she approached Soren sitting all by himself under an old tree. The darkness of his eye bags was prominent against his pale, unshaven face.
"I was so busy reviewing my notes to notice the time," the Crownguard responded, sipping his fourth cup of hot brown morning potion. "Going somewhere?"
"I was planning to invite you for a short spar before I head out to the main square, but it seems that you're not in your top shape."
"Psh, what are you talking about?" he slammed his empty steel cup on the stone bench then stood up. "I may have a lack of sleep, but not a lack of strength. Besides, I need a good warm-up to start my day right."
"Yeah, right." she deadpanned, not buying his words.
"So, are we going to use wooden swords or our real weapons?"
"If you insist," the elf walked towards a pile of wooden swords used for training recruits, then thrust one to Soren's direction who fumbled to catch it.
"Don't blame me if I end up owning your ass in less than three minutes," she said, noting the blond's stiff posture as he prepared his stance.
He scoffed at her taunts. "Don't you dare run to Callum and cry if I made you eat your own words."
"We'll see about that."
It was fairly an early morning so there were no royal guards present in the courtyard to witness their sparring session. Most of them have just retired from their night shifts, while those who were about to fill their place in the morning were probably with their team leaders for their daily briefings.
True to Rayla's words, she beat him within two minutes.
"Get some sleep, Soren." The elf extended her arm to her defeated opponent who was sprawling to the ground, only to withdraw it when he brushed her off.
"I can't. I still haven't found the answer that we've been looking for," he muttered while remaining unmoved from his spot, his clear blue eyes were fixated to the cloudy skies. "The longer we delay this, the riskier it will be for Ez. And I can't allow that to happen."
"Have you tried looking from a different angle?"
"Different angle?"
She slid on the ground with crossed legs, her wooden sword placed on her lap. "Maybe the royal household staff are innocent."
"You said it was an inside job last night."
"I did, but that doesn't mean someone has to be a kitchen boy, a rookie soldier, or a cleaning maid to know the ins and outs of the castle," she explained. "Anyone who can enter the castle without being scrutinized by the guards can be our suspect."
Soren scrunched his face at the idea. "You mean they're one of the guests?"
"Probably a guest," she said. "Or a politician."
This made the Crownguard sit bolt up straight, his mouth gaped like a fish out of the pond as he gave her an incredulous look. "W-What?!"
"They know the ins and outs of the castle," the elf jeered. "And they know the King's schedule way better than any of the castle staff."
Her companion shifted his gaze towards the wing that connects to the throne room. "And Callum…?"
"He knows, and is fully aware of the consequences."
Soren looked at her with a jerked brow. "And you're okay with it?"
"No," she muttered bitterly with downcast eyes, her knuckles turned white as she gripped her wooden sword tightly. "I don't like leaving him alone in a pit of danger, or him doing stuff he hated the most with a bunch of wolves ready to maim him at any opportunity given."
Rayla loosens her grip with a sigh. "But then my presence will only give these wolves some ammunition against him, and as Ez pointed out last night, they will see it as a 'preferential treatment' once they learned about the culprit's race. And I...I don't want to become his liability."
Soren whistled. "Am I hearing this correctly? Rayla, the unstoppable Moonshadow Crownguard assassin, is actually stoppable?"
"Shut up," she elbowed him lightly when he snorted. "I'm unstoppable if I want to, but I have to trust Callum to save his own ass or I will kill him myself if he won't."
"You two have a weird relationship."
"Our relationship has always been weird since the beginning."
"True," the blond wrinkled his nose as if cringing at the thought. "You're supposed to kill him, but you ended up being mushy with him."
"Hey, I'm not mushy with him," she lied then stood up, patting the dirt that clung to her trousers. "But seriously, Soren. Get some sleep. You might run over to a wall and end up bruising not only your ego if you continue this."
"I'm the head of the Crownguard, remember? I can't afford to be lazy."
"But as the head of the Crownguard, you're supposed to be a role model to your subordinates by showing them not to be a self-sacrificing idiot at the job."
He flashed her a narrow look. "Since when did you learn how to give that advice?"
A big grin was plastered on her face as she replied, "You'll know the answer once you got yourself an insufferable boyfriend."
.
.
.
Two years have passed since the elves began to migrate to Katolis and it still warmed Rayla's heart to witness how two cultures who once thought were impossible to coexist, were now adapting to each other's differences. Like the family-owned Katolian tea shop that she passed by was using Moonshadow wares to serve their patrons or a food cart manned by a Skywing selling elven sweets to human children.
And as she walked around the downtown, the elf couldn't help herself but feel proud of Ezran's accomplishments as a child ruler and how he turned Katolis into one of the most progressive kingdoms in the continent.
"Lady Rayla?" a familiar voice caught her attention, "My Ladyship, is that you?"
"Anita?"
A ginger-haired woman around her age squealed as she jogged towards the elf with a bundle in tow. "My Lady! I'm so glad to see you again!"
"I'm so glad to see you too," she flustered when Anita curtseyed to her. "And you're not supposed to call me a 'Lady', or even bow to me in public."
"I'm sorry. Just a force of habit," the woman gave her a bashful smile. "So, are you here for the Harvest Festival? Or is it because of the King?"
Wow, word spreads really fast, Rayla thought, "It's both actually. Our itinerary was a bit early than expected."
"Our - oh yeah, of course, you're with Prince Callum. You two are inseparable," the elf chuckled dryly at the woman's tease. "How's King Ezran, by the way?"
"He's fine. Still chipper as usual," Rayla answered in a casual tone as she tried not to reveal too much information, especially about Callum's regency. She didn't want to spill the beans until tomorrow's announcement.
A gurgling sound coming from Anita's bundle caught the elf's attention. "And who's this cute little wee bairn?"
"This is Farrin, my Lady," the woman said, revealing a swaddled copper-skinned baby with four fingers and a pair of small horns jutted on his thin auburn hair. "His father hired me as his temporary nurse until his mum returned from a business trip. They own a steel supply store here in Katolis, you see, and his father can't look after him while he runs the shop. Plus, the pungent smell of the iron and the constant noises from the metalworks are not suitable environments for babies."
"That sounds reasonable. And I'm sure the pay is better than your previous employer."
"Sunfires pay way generously than Katolian nobles!" Anita exclaimed with glee, only to freeze a bit to check if her voice startled the baby. Luckily it wasn't. With a tempered voice, she went on. "They offer food and lodgings without deducting my salary. Plus Sunfire babies are less temperamental than my younger siblings."
The baby cooed when his nurse poked his nose, then yawned cutely as he succumbed back to sleep.
"I'm so glad to hear that," Rayla smiled as she patted her shoulder. "Since you're here, can you tell me where Sarabi's new place is? Her previous landlord told me that she relocated somewhere here but I don't know which street."
"You mean Sarabi's Bakeshop?" the Moonshadow elf nodded at her inquiry. "It's in Bushroom street. You can get there faster if you enter that alley over there, then turn right after two blocks. Once you pass the Theatre House, you go straight to the left and you'll see the Bushroom street sign. You'll never miss Sarabi's due to the long lines outside her shop."
"This early?"
"My Lady, some people would camp outside her bakeshop overnight so they won't miss her Butternut pie."
"How about her Moonberry jelly tarts?"
"Those are also magnificent," the woman swooned with a sigh. "Honestly, all of her pastries are so damn good. And she sold them at a very affordable price, that's why everyone loves her."
"I better leave now then. I promised someone a box of her jelly tarts, and I don't want to return to the castle empty-handed."
"Don't forget to try her Sunbutter cookies!" Anita added, waving her hand in the distance as the elf jogged towards the alley.
.
.
.
Rayla has never seen so many people - humans and elves alike - lining in front of a shop just to buy pastries. Some of them were not in Katolian garments, which prompted her that they were tourists.
Sarabi's is a small two-story shop located in a very remote street. A large sign "No dine-ins. Take-outs only" was plastered on the glass window facing the road so bypassers can read it easily from a distance.
She knew Sarabi personally - she was one of the Sunfire soldiers under Janai's command who defended the Storm Spire years ago - and with her diplomat position, she can skip the line and secure her jelly tarts without any hassle. But Rayla decided not to pull her ranks and fall in line as any regular person would do.
Besides, the other reason why she went outside the castle was to gather some information, albeit small, that would clue them to their culprit.
And a huge gathering like in Sarabi's was a perfect place to start.
Rayla was glad she brought her Moonshadow hoodie with her to conceal her identity. And with the lack of Katolian or Dragonguard emblems on her clothes, she can easily blend in the crowd like a regular Moonshadow elf.
A man from Evenere who was standing behind her struck a conversation with a male Tidebound elf about rivers and oceans, a topic that made Rayla anxious, so she tried to avert her attention to the people in front of her instead. Politics were being chattered as usual, which bored her immediately, as well as sob stories about romantic relationships.
Her ears twitched when someone mentioned Everleigh's name.
She tried to focus her attention to the two women standing three steps away from her. They weren't loud or cared if someone was listening to their conversations.
"Did you know that Everleigh's daughter is in town right now?"
"You mean Susanna?"
"No, his youngest daughter. Nathalia."
"His missing daughter? He found her?"
"Apparently, yes. A friend of mine knows one of the family cooks and said that Nathalia arrived in the manor three months ago. And that she was different."
"Different? How?"
"Well, she doesn't want to eat normal food or she will vomit everything. She also speaks some weird language, and sometimes she would lock herself in her room and will go out if it's night time."
"Maybe that's the effect of being spirited away?"
"But nothing has changed in her physically - not that anyone has seen her personally after her disappearance."
"Then maybe her soul was the one that has been taken. Or maybe her body was still shrouded with magic, that's why no one can see the changes."
"That might be the reason why some physicians were visiting the manor. Probably to check her condition."
"I don't think they can do anything. They should have brought her to a mage or someone who deals with magic."
"Do you think it's wise to bring someone who got spirited away to the elves?"
"Do they have any choices? You can't find anyone who practices Dark Magic here in Katolis, plus Prince Callum is in Xadia right now."
"Erm, excuse me," Rayla interrupted after she apologized to the man behind her for cutting the line. "I'm sorry but I couldn't help myself but listen to your discussions. May I know what you mean by 'spirited away'?"
The two women looked at each other before one of them gave her a scornful glare, "Who the hell are you?"
The elf adjusted her hood so the two could see her face, then shushed them when they were about to gasp her name, "Please don't make a commotion. I only want your help."
"But My La - "
"Shh, I beg you," she hissed, making the two nod in haste. "So, care to tell me about this spirited away stuff?"
They looked at each other again, probably doing some mental debate of who will do the explanation, until one of them took a deep sigh, muttering "This is awkward."
"We can try not to be awkward."
"But My La - Ma'am," the other woman corrected herself then gulped audibly at Rayla's warning glare. "It's ah, uh...the term might be offensive to you."
"Offensive?" the elf jerked her brow in confusion. "How can it be offensive to me if you're using that term to someone else?"
"The implication might be offensive to you, as an elf," her companion replied meekly.
"Ladies," Rayla sighed. "Humans and Elves have insulting words for each other. Whatever the meaning behind those words will have a similar word to Elves. Why don't we trade information instead - you tell me what spirited away is and I will tell you our equivalent."
"Uhm, okay," the woman eyed her companion for a bit before she answered, "Spirited away is our term when a human got kidnapped by the elves."
"Crossing."
"What?"
"Crossing is our term when an elf got kidnapped by the humans," Rayla explained. "We call these kidnappers as Crossers because they cross the borders."
"Oh…"
"So, are you both offended with Crossing?" she asked the two who gave her a head shake. "That's good. Because I'm not even offended with Spirited Away."
"Really?" one of the women broke a deep sigh when the elf nodded. "And here we are working ourselves up about something trivial."
"Trivial indeed," Rayla said coolly, "But not to the fact that someone has been taken by the elves."
"It's a rumor actually, My - Ma'am, that Everleigh's daughter was kidnapped by the elves three years ago."
"What made you think that she was kidnapped by the elves?"
"Nathalia went to the Breach the day before she disappeared," the companion told her. "Nobody knows the reason behind why she took that trip. Some believed that she crossed the border all by herself, but the border patrols found no clues that she left to Xadia. All of her belongings, including her money, were left untouched in her cabin. She just vanished without a trace."
"There were rumors that her father asked for the High Mage Viren's help but got rejected," the other woman interjected. "Telling him that his daughter probably eloped with someone."
"But Nathalia never had any lovers at that time. In fact, his father was planning to marry her to Prince Callum."
Rayla choked on her spit.
"And she's five years older than him!" the woman guffawed. "Funny, right?"
"It would be funnier if he tried to marry her to King Ezran," her companion snickered. "Poor Nathalia. She can never marry anyone out of love."
"Maybe if King Ezran will pass a law that anyone can marry their plants."
"Oh yeah, she wanted to become a royal herbalist, right?"
"Interesting," the elf tapped the bottom of her chin with her finger. "And you said that they found her three months ago?"
"Yeah, but my friend's friend believed that they found her way earlier than that. Her family probably hid her somewhere first before they brought her back in the manor for better care."
I wonder if Ez knows about Everleigh's daughter, Rayla thought.
The three were so engrossed with the conversation to notice that they were almost near the bakeshop's counter.
Rayla turned down the women's offer to take their lines, then went back to her original slot as she brushed off some heated glares darted towards her direction.