When Elisheva awoke, she almost didn't recognize where she was before remembering the night's events. She had been sitting with her head and arms on the velvet covered table to the near left of the room.
Tink was fast asleep with his back to a crate, Leeli had rested her head on his right shoulder, breathing soundly. Janner was by the door but he too was waking up. Nia had her father's head in her lap, while Podo slept. However his breathing was shallow and watery.
"Is it over…?" Janner groaned half, asleep.
"I don't know." answered Nia morosely.
"Nia, your father, is he…?" Elisheva didn't dare say it.
Nia responded. "Not yet, but soon."
Just then the room began to shake. This alarmed the children – Leeli and Tink awakened with yelps.
"Aw man, now what?" Elisheva wailed.
The wall broke apart to reveal… Nugget. The large dog barked once, his tail wagging at the sight of them.
Peet slid down right behind him. "No more sneaky Fangs!"
"You're alive!" Janner beamed.
"And you…" Peet smiled. "All safe!"
"Not all of us." Nia said sadly.
Peet approached, bringing out a flask and let out a few drops fall onto Podo's injuries.
"What is that?"
"Water from the first well." Peet answered reverently.
"What's the first well?" Janner inquired.
"It's the lifeblood of Aerwiar…" Nia replied. "The first well in the world, lost for ages…how?"
"Will it work?" Leeli asked.
"Give him more!" Tink said.
Peet shook his head. "No. Already used too much of it on Nugget! Don't need a giant Podo walkin' around!"
Nia explained, "Yes. The old tales say that the water was poured into the mouth of the well by the Maker himself. It courses under the ground and is the lifeblood of Aerwiar. Without it, the trees would never blossom and the grass would never grow. All life would wear thin until it finally faded. The Maker gave us the well as a gift, and for long ages it was guarded and used to heal and to restore."
"It was lost?" Tink said.
"Yes. It was lost. Long ago. Long before Anniera even had a name." Nia regarded Peet. "Until now."
Peet was sniffling, great tears once again filling his tired eyes. "Years ago, before I came here, I found it." Peet shuddered at some terrible memory. "I found the First Well, and I brought some of the water here. When I saw little Dugget nying—Nugget dying—I got some from my castle and gave him a drop to drink." Peet flashed a grin at Leeli through his tears. "And it worked."
Finally, Podo groaned. He sat up and tried to stretch, "Ah, what I wouldn't give for a pot of Flabbit stew."
The children all went to hug their grandfather. Nia hugged her father. "The sun is still up and we're all still here."
Elisheva nods, they all made it through the night.
"Aye, but my sailor's nose smells a storm clamberin' up." Podo said. "We gotta make for Dugtown before the Fangs regroup."
"But Papa, that's two days on foot!" Nia protests. "The children need food and rest, Elisheva's arm has to be treated."
Elisheva's left arm was hurt with angry scars to go with it. A memory of when Slarb clawed at her.
"How big a storm?" Elisheva questioned. "Hurricane?
"A thunderstorm can be just as perilous." Podo replied. "There's nowhere else to go in between."
Leeli became a little sheepish. "Uh, there is…"
Once they were all outside, astride Nugget, she beamed like sunlight. The sky, however, was beginning to cloud, and in the cast over the Dark Sea of Darkness, a black storm gathered.
The tall grass of the plain rippled like water, and near its amber shore lay countless bodies of horned hounds. The beasts were scattered across the field and around Anklejelly Manor in clusters, most of them beside telltale piles of Fang armor, from which the lizards' white, dusty remains were blowing away in the steady cast wind.
Near the forest were six dead toothy cows as big as Nugget, and around them was a dense cluster of Fang armor and weaponry. A mighty battle had been fought while they'd slumbered in the belly of the manor. Now only flies buzzed around the corpses as the sun beat higher and stronger.
Podo sent Elisheva, Janner and Tink back down to the weapon room several times for swords, shields, and bows with healthy supplies of arrows. After rummaging through the piles of weapons, they settled on the swords they had used the night before. With a last look at Oskar's secret armory, they pulled the iron door shut and rattled the handle to be sure it was securely locked.
"Right, then," Podo said. "We've a long way to go to the Ice Prairies. And it won't be long before someone finds out about what happened here tonight. We'll have all manner of beast after us, looking for the Jewels of Anniera and the Key, to be sure."
Even with an ocean of Fangs in pursuit, they had somehow, stayed alive and whole.
But this all brought up all manner of questions. Why did Oskar hide the weapons here? And how did he come by them? Elisheva recalled Oskar had spent many years since the war traveling about Skree, gathering books and curiosities. But weapons? Had he actually been searching for the Jewels of Anniera? Could that be what Podo was carrying in the bundle on his shoulder? And why was he well, so mean to Peet the Sock Man?
And the biggest question of all: Why would the Igibys have something that Gnag the Nameless would so relentlessly want to find?
Several hours later, the group headed for Peet's castle.
"Here we are." Peer had stopped in front of the biggest oak tree in sight. The oak protruded from the line of the forest and spread its thick, sagging arms above and around them, like a mother hen protecting her young.
"Rugget will be safe here," Peet said as he swung himself into the lower branches and reached out to help Nia up. Far above them, barely visible through the leaves, was one of Peet's rope-and-plank bridges, dangling between the trees.
"Up we go," he said, still not looking at Podo. He pulled up everyone except for the old man, nor did he offer to help, but turned from Podo and threaded his way up through the branches to the bridge. Podo passed the bundle up to Janner and scrambled much less gracefully into the tree.
The sky had grown dark, and the rope bridges began to rock in the winds of a burgeoning storm. Peet, Podo, Elisheva, and the Igibys hurried along the bridges as the storm unleashed its stinging rain, and they were soaked through as they climbed up through the trapdoor and gratefully entered Peet's castle.
And that night, while Nugget napped out under the trees, the group recovered. Podo had been sitting outside in a grump, until Leeli convinced him to come in and eat the flabbit stew she made. Though Peet made doubly sure to avoid eye contact with Podo.
Then so long as they were stuck together for the time being, and because they all faced dangerous situations together, Elisheva decided to keep her word and explain herself.
"Okay, confession time from me just like I promised. The thing is I did run away just not from my home, it was from a labor camp." Elisheva said with a somber sigh. "Well, you see… my family was taken from our home. My father and little brother were taken away from me by the Fangs."
"No way!" Tink gaped at her.
"What happened?" asked Nia.
By then all eyes were on her. Elisheva explained, "The thing is: we used to live in New York City, a very long way from here…"
She told them everything about her school problems, how things changed after her mother died and her father became ill. How she worked to help her father and take care of her younger brother Zev. And how she was the one who discovered the portal leading to Aerwiar, took a job as courier then an accident where she was accused, how the Fangs stole her and her family out of their world to Aerwiar, before sealing the portal until further notice, their forced separation. Elisheva's escape.
The Igibys listened in stunned silence as Elisheva recounted her story. They had known that she had been through a lot, but they had no idea just how much she had suffered. Peet stared at Elisheva, looking frankly, almost a little like a lost kid trying to read a map.
"I can't believe you've been through all of that," Janner said, his voice filled with compassion.
"I'm so sorry," Nia added, tears welling up in her eyes.
Elisheva shrugged. "It's not your fault. And I'm not looking for pity. I just wanted you all to know why the Fangs are after me. And when Gnorm was interrogating me, they keep mentioning some crazy story about me knowing how to work that portal. Supposedly why they call me the Key."
"Well, they're not getting answers out of you," Podo growled, his fists clenched.
Elisheva smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Podo. I'm glad you're on my side."
"Of course we're on your side," Tink said, grinning. "We're a team, remember?"
Elisheva felt a warm glow of affection for her new friends. She knew that they had been through a lot together already, but she also knew that their journey was far from over. They still had to find a way to stop the Fangs and reunite Elisheva with her family.
And finally Janner asked the same question on his siblings' minds and Elisheva's alike.
"Mama, do you really have them? The Jewels of Anniera, where are they?" The older boy set his empty bowl on the floor beside him.
Elisheva was also curious, wondering what the big deal was. Nia and Podo looked at one another, then at Peet. Tink and Leeli barely breathed, as eager as Janner to know the truth. Nia nodded at Podo and laid a hand on Peet's socked forearm as Podo retrieved his bundle from the door. The old pirate had a twinkle in his eye again, and crackling anticipation moved about like invisible sparks among the children.
Podo paused, savoring the moment, then he said with bushy eyebrows raised, "The question isn't WHERE are the jewels of Anniera, but WHAT are they." His statement hung in the air for a moment.
"The Jewels of Anniera," Nia said as she rummaged through the bundles she'd retrieved from the cottage, "have been sought by Gnag the Nameless since the Great War reached on the shores of the Shining Isle and overcame it. Gnag destroyed all that was good and beautiful in that place...except for the jewels. And he has sought them ever since.
"Why does he want them so much?" Leeli asked.
Nia replied. "He believes that the Jewels hold a hidden power. His hunt for the jewels is what's led him to Skree. If he didn't believe they had come here, I don't think he would have bothered crossing the Dark Sea of Darkness at all."
"But why do you have the jewels?" Tink questioned. "We're not even from Anniera!"
"Not all of us." Podo pointed out with a smile.
"No, dear," Nia said. "Your grandpa is from Glipwood. But I was born in the Green Hollows, far across the Dark Sea, where he met your grandmother. When I married your father, we all made our home in Anniera, that's where you were born. When the war came and your father died, we fled to Glipwood to protect the Jewels."
"How'd you manage to hide them for so long?" Elisheva wondered.
Nia smiled at her. "They were in plain sight."
There was something odd about the way the three adults watched them, smiling.
"So the Jewels are sought by Gnag the Nameless psycho because of some hidden power, but why would he want to know about the portal?" Elisheva began to speculate. "My world is… I'll just say it: very technologically advanced in so many ways, and the government there is pretty paranoid. I doubt he'll want to risk losing resources so quickly."
"No, but seeing as you are lost in this as both our friend and…" Nia hesitated. "The Key."
"Okay, time out for a sec." Elisheva did the time out gesture. "I keep hearing the title Key and stuff, but… what does a lost kingdom and it's treasure have to do with me?"
"More than you know lass." Podo said gravely.
Janner was a little confused for a moment. "Then… where are they?"
"I told you lad, that's the wrong question." Podo said.
"Fine, what are the Jewels of Anniera?"
The question hung in the air like smoke or like motes of dust caught in a bright beam of light. The three adults sat and stared at the three children. The children stared back at the adults. Elisheva was just as confused, why all the mystery?
"What? Are they some sort of magical talismans that grant unlimited wishes or superpowers?" Elisheva asked with a shrug.
Nia actually giggled, Podo was shaking his head and smiling as if the teenager had told a silly joke.
Peet the Sock Man cleared his throat and leaned forward. His big eyes bore less of their sorrow, and he smiled into the Igiby children's faces—first Janner's, then Tink's, then Leeli's, and then Janner's again. "You," he said. "You are."
No one spoke. None of the children even breathed. Their hearts thrummed with the truth of what had been spoken. The air around Peet's words would have shimmered if it were possible to see such a thing, and the children knew it to be true. Elisheva looked bewildered. "Say what?"
Janner swallowed hard. "What...what do you mean?"
"Your father—" Nia said slowly, tears choking her sentence and brimming in her eyes. "Your father was the High King of the Shining Isle. I was the queen," Nia said. "You three," she let out a long, tearful sigh, "are all that is left of the great kingdom."
"The Jewels of Anniera," Peet whispered, and he bowed so low his forehead touched the floor. Podo, to their amazement, did the same.
The children were amazed, and Elisheva was stunned. What? The weight of the revelation was too much for her, and she fainted from a mixture of shock and fatigue.
"I don't think she was ready." Peet remarked.
The others nodded in agreement, and Leeli rushed to get some water to revive Elisheva. After a few moments and gentle dabbing at her forehead, the teen girl's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around in confusion.
"How many fingers am I holding up, lass?" Podo asked her.
"Two, unless it's the old hand symbol for peace." Elisheva said groggily.
"You fainted," Janner explained. "Are you feeling alright?"
Elisheva sat up slowly, her head spinning. "I...I don't know," she admitted. "That was a lot to take in. This is big. Like, bigger than big."
"I know," Nia said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But we had to tell you. You also deserved to know the truth now that its clear the Fangs intend to recapture you."
Elisheva nodded, still feeling overwhelmed. "I just...I don't know what this means," she said. "I mean, I'm not even a princess or anything. I'm just a girl from New York City trying to save her family."
"No, Elisheva," Nia said, looking at her with a solemn expression. "You are much more than that. I know not what became of your family, nor how you came to be here. Just know you are not alone in your struggles."
"Thanks, but I got to know: what's this whole thing about me being called "the Key?"" Elisheva had to know.
Peet piped up, titling his head curiously. "Did you touch the Royal seal – the one that looks like a dragon?"
"Uh, yeah…?" Elisheva nodded hesitantly. The marking she saw on the willow tree when she first walked into Aerwiar looked just like a dragon spreading it's wings.
Podo and Nia looked at each other cautiously.
Then Nia took a deep breath before speaking. "Elisheva, the Key is a visitor from another world who discovers the Royal seal of Anniera. According to the old stories, when someone with a heart of gold touches the seal for the very first time, they are imbued with the ability to open and/or close portals to other worlds at will."
The children's jaws dropped and they all looked at Elisheva in astonishment.
Elisheva's eyes widened in bewilderment. "Wait, so that's why the Fangs were after me? Their boss wants to use me to open portals?"
Nia nodded. "That's why they referred to you as the Key. We suspect Gnag must wish to use your abilities for his own gain."
Elisheva looked down at her hands, still trying to process the information. "Opening portals at will…how does that even work? And… how do I have to choose between my world and this one?"
Nia placed a reassuring hand on Elisheva's shoulder. "Eventually, you will be presented with a choice. You can either remain in your own world or leave it behind by choosing to stay in Aerwiar."
Elisheva's mind was racing with questions. "But what about my family? Can they come with me?"
Nia's expression turned somber. "I can't tell you that. The Key must make that choice on their own. It is a great responsibility and a difficult decision to make."
Elisheva nodded, still overwhelmed by the weight of everything. "I understand. Thank you for explaining this to me."
Nia smiled kindly at her. "Of course, dear. You are not alone in this."
Elisheva looked at them all in disbelief, unsure of what to say. She had never seen herself as anything special, but now she was being told that she may have been given the power to open and close portals to other worlds at will.
"I...I don't know if I can do it," she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You don't have to do it alone," Podo said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "We'll be with you every step of the way, right to the bitter end."
Elisheva looked at each of them in turn, feeling a sense of gratitude and determination growing within her. She didn't know what the future held, but she knew that she had a purpose now, and that she would do whatever it took to fulfill it. But her father and brother's safety will come first.
Janner then sat up straight with wonder. "So then this means…I am the High King?"
"No lad. That's not how it works in Anniera." Podo elaborated in amusement.
Nia explained, "In Anniera, the kingship passes over the eldest son. For as long as there had been rulers there, the second born wears the crown."
Being the firstborn, Janner is the Throne Warden the protector of the King, a great honor.
"So I'm the High King? Me?" Tink was puzzled at first, but he was soon grinning and teasing his brother.
"There were many timed Esben wished he were the Throne warden instead of the High King." Nia said to Janner.
"Well I bet his older brother…" Janner grumbled at first, then figured out something. That Artham P. Wingfeather was the true name of Peet.
"Peet is our uncle?!" Leeli asked, beaming.
"Yes, Lady Leeli." Peet bowed gallantly.
Elisheva said with a surprised laugh. "This is unexpected- in a good way."
"Peet fought bravely at your father's side so the Jewels would never fall into Fangs hands. Without his sacrifice, Gnag would've captured our whole family."
"But what happened to his arms?" Janner asked.
"That's something I've been wanting to ask him myself," Nia said, turning to Peet.
But Peet shook his head violently. He scooted back against the wall of the tree house and fixed them all with such a look of terror that Elisheva sat up straight. Poor Peet took in rapid, shallow gulps of air and was covered with sweat.
"Back up!" Podo said to the children. They scrambled to the wall of the tree house, and Podo put himself between them and Peet.
Elisheva got to her feet steadily. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Everyone stop. I think he's going to have a panic attack. He needs to calm down."
Nia laid a hand on Podo's arm and stepped slowly over to the Sock Man. "Shh," she whispered to him. "Artham. Artham, it's me, Nia. You're safe." Her voice seemed to have a calming effect even on the wind outside, and the rain fell slower.
Elisheva watched as Nia whispered calming words to Peet, her heart aching at the sight of the broken and terrified man. Perhaps there was something she could do to help.
"May I try something?" she asked softly.
Nia looked at her, uncertain. "What do you mean?"
Elisheva couldn't believe she was actually saying this. "I mean, maybe I can sing to him. It might calm him down." She hoped.
Podo scoffed. "Sing to him? You think that's going to help?"
Elisheva ignored him and turned back to Peet. She took a step forward, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's okay," she said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just wanna to help."
Peet looked up at her, his heterochromic eyes wide with fear. But there was something else there too, a flicker of recognition. Elisheva took another step forward and began to sing softly, a gentle vocalization of the Little mermaid's trademark melody.
"Ah-ah-ah…Ah-ah-ahh…"
At first, Peet tensed up, but as Elisheva continued to sing the melody, his breathing slowed and his body relaxed. He closed his eyes, and for the first time, Elisheva saw a hint of peace on his face.
Nia watched in amazement as the young woman's singing soothed Peet's troubled mind. She'd never heard this tune, but it was hauntingly beautiful. "Keep going," she whispered.
Janner, Tink, and Leeli looked on in amazement as Elisheva's voice filled the room. They had heard Elisheva sing before in the basement, however, this particular melody had a soul-stirring effect and it was clear that Peet was responding to her singing. His breathing slowed, and his body relaxed as Elisheva's voice washed over him.
Podo watched with a mixture of disbelief and wonder. He had never heard any musical refrain like this before, and it was clear that this newcomer had a gift.
Elisheva continued to sing, her voice rising and falling in a soothing melody. As she sang, she could feel the tension in the room start to melt away, replaced with a sense of calm and peace.
It was like a balm for Peet's soul, he seemed to forget his fear and his pain. When she finished, there was a moment of silence in the room. Peet opened his eyes and looked at her, a look of gratitude and wonder on his face. He reached out and touched her cheek, his fingers gentle and trembling.
"Thank you," he whispered.
Elisheva smiled at him, her heart swelling with joy. "You're welcome," she said softly. And for the first time since they had met him, she saw a glimpse of the man Peet used to be, a man of great courage and kindness, a Throne Warden of Anniera.
She had never felt so alive, so fulfilled, as she did in that moment. And as she looked around at her new friends, she knew that this was just the beginning of their journey together.
"Elisheva, that was beautiful. I never heard anything like that before." Leeli gaped.
Elisheva flushed a bit. "Oh, it's a melody from my mother's favorite story: The Little mermaid."
Peet had calmed down considerably, but he looked tired.
"Poor guy." Elisheva said softly, "Whatever he went through musta been intense."
Nia's eyes shone with sadness. "You should have seen him in Anniera, when he was Throne Warden," she said quietly. "His hair was as black as midnight, and he was in the eye of every maiden of the kingdom. He wrote the most beautiful poetry. He wrote high tales and silly poems and read them to you, Janner and Tink, when you lay in your cribs at night. Your father used to say that there wasn't a better man in the kingdom than his brother Artham."
Podo sat down with a huff, shaking his head. "He's dangerous, Nia."
"He would die before he would hurt these children, Papa."
"But… what happened to him?" Elisheva asked, she regarded Peet with gentle pity.
"We don't know," Nia said. "When Gnag and his army attacked Anniera, they drove us into Castle Rysen, at Dorminey, in the center of the kingdom. That was where we made our home." Nia stared at the rain streaming down the tree house window glass. "The Fangs, trolls, and other foul beasts that we'd never before seen had breached the wall—Leeli, you had just been born. Janner, you were three. Tink, you were two. Your father told Peet to take us and go. There was an ancient escape route, a secret way that led to the River Rysen and then to the Dark Sea. But your father wouldn't leave. He said that he would fight as long as he could, and then he would meet us at the river."
"Your father," Podo said, "insisted that we go. He said there was something in the palace that he had to get. Something he had to keep out of Gnag's hands."
"See, children," Nia explained, "it was in Peet's blood and bones to protect his brother. It's the very breath of a Throne Warden."
Janner and Tink glanced at one another awkwardly, then Nia continued. "But your father ordered him to see us safe to the river. Peet didn't know what to do. He loved us all and wanted to help us, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his brother behind. The monsters were in the palace, and they were looking for us. Artham—Peet—left your father—but only in order to help us." Nia stroked Peet's face. "It may have been the hardest thing he's ever done. She was silent a moment, the only sound the pattering of rain against the windows. She was silent a moment, the only sound the pattering of rain against the windows. "He swore to return once we were safe," she said, lost in memory. "Peet fought through the Fangs and led us to the secret exit where your grand-father was to meet us with a boat. I held you, Leeli. Janner, you were old enough to hold my hand and keep up. Tink, my mother carried you."
Podo looked away.
"Our grandmother?" Leeli was suddenly wide-eyed. "She knew us?"
"Aye," said Podo, his voice thick with sorrow. "And she'd know you now if it wasn't fer that uncle of yours." Podo spat.
"Papa, enough!"
Podo wiped a tear from his face.
"We got to the riverbank before your grandfather," Nia continued. "Fangs and trolls came out of nowhere and attacked us. Peet was the finest swordsman in the kingdom, but even he couldn't fight back that many." She paused to push down the lump in her throat. "Mama—your grand-mother—was killed."
"But how could you blame Peet for that?" Janner said. "You just said that there were too many Fangs."
Podo glowered at Peet, his eyebrows quivering, and an uncomfortable silence followed. Elisheva was a little awkward, as though she were imposing but it would seem they wanted her to hear this too.
"What happened to her was no one's fault," Nia said firmly. "That's all that needs to be said."
Podo sputtered a protest, but the look in Nia's eye silenced him. She turned to Leeli and placed a hand on her cheek. "Peet held them off as best he could while we boarded, but—one of the Fangs grabbed you, dear." She took Leeli's hand. "He tried to tear you from my arms, and..."
"My leg," Leeli breathed.
"I'm sorry," Nia whispered. She covered her eyes and struggled to keep her composure.
Elisheva winced sympathetically, now knowing why Leeli was disabled.
Leeli scooted over to her mother. "It's okay, Mama," Leeli said. "I have Nugget now."
Nia took a deep breath and hugged Leeli tight. "We made our way down the river," Nia said after a moment. "Peet ran back through the Fangs and into the palace to find your father, even as it burned. The last I saw of Anniera was fire and death. We sailed the river for hours to the estuary at the Dark Sea and saw nothing but towering flames on either side of the river."
"I, couldn't see anything," Podo said, staring out at the storm. "I was sailing on a black river between walls of fire. We rode the River Rysen all the way to the Dark Sea. Gnag had sacked every village we passed, and I saw things I'll never forget, though the Maker knows I've tried to." He was silent a moment. "When we got to the sea, we asked the Maker to guide us, to protect the Jewels of Anniera, and I tell you, he did. He sent up a mighty storm that nearly tore that little ship to pieces. The waves were high mountains, and sea critters like I'd never seen churned up from the deep and watched us pass with eyes as big as a house. I've never been so afraid, and I tell ye I felt like the Maker had cursed us sure. But when the storm cleared, I saw we were better off than before—we were in the Phoob Islands. just north and cast of hem, on the other side of Fingap Falls. We had crossed the Dark Sea in five days. That's something I've never told anybody for worry that they'd think I was crazy. And besides, we were in a little skiff with naught but one sail. It's impossible, I tell ye." Podo spread his hands. "But here we are." He looked at his grandchildren intently. "Your grandmother's name was Wendolyn Igiby," he said. "You took on the Igiby name when we came here and left the name of Wingfeather behind."
"So how did Peet find us?" Janner asked.
Nia looked puzzled. "We still don't know. About five years after we settled here, we saw him in town. We barely recognized him, and when we did we were frightened. We were sure that somehow he would lead Gnag to us. For all we knew, Gnag had turned him into one of his own. Podo told him to keep away from you, from us. And he would, for a while. Then he'd be back in town, carrying on and making a spectacle of himself for some reason. I can't explain it." Nia continued, shaking her head. "Before last night I didn't understand why he wore the socks. I thought the old Artham was lost forever. But he's in there." She stroked his wild hair. "'Whatever happened to you," she whispered to Peet, "I'm glad you've got it in your head to protect my children the same way you would have protected Esben." Nia looked up at Janner. "And I tell you, you should rest easy knowing that a Throne Warden of Anniera is keeping watch."
Peet whimpered in his sleep. Elisheva watched him with tender mercy, what he went through was heavy. She can't imagine having a full scale invasion of your home, family threatened by horrible creature sent by a nutcase then having to leave it all behind to survive.
"That reminds me, your father prepared gifts for you in the weeks before he died," Nia said softly, a touch of nostalgia in her voice. She reached for a bundle and handed it to Janner. "Janner, this is yours."
Janner unwrapped the package and revealed an old leather-bound book. His eyes widened with awe.
"A priceless treasure," Nia explained, her voice filled with reverence. "One of the first books ever written. It is said to hold wisdom for those who are wise enough to seek it."
Janner took the book gingerly, feeling its weight and the history it carried. He held it close to his chest, the anticipation of the knowledge within it filling his thoughts.
Nia turned to Tink, her eyes sparkling with affection. "And for you, High King Kalmar, your father's sketchbook." She handed Tink a second bundle. "Within these pages lie his drawings of our home, the land he loved so deeply. He wanted you to have a connection with our people and their stories."
Tink's face lit up with sheer delight as he received the gift. He carefully unwrapped it, his fingers tracing the sketches and lines that his father had left behind. The connection to his heritage became even more tangible.
Nia then turned to Leeli, her voice filled with pride. "And for you, Leeli, this belonged to your great-grandmother Madia, the Queen of Anniera. It has been passed down through generations, even longer than we knew." She presented Leeli with a silver whistleharp. "Melodies played on this harp are said to possess the power to protect Anniera."
Leeli held the whistleharp in her hands, admiring its intricate design. Confusion crossed her face as she spoke, "But it didn't stop the Fangs."
Nia gently placed a hand on Leeli's shoulder. "We had no Song Maiden to play it."
"Song maiden?" Leeli questioned.
"Yes, you're the Song Maiden of the Shining Isle."
"Aye, and let the Fangs beware," Podo added with a determined look.
Peet had assured them that he had learned how to live safely among the creatures of Glipwood Forest, and the Fangs wouldn't be coming near the forest for a long time once they saw the remains of the battle at Anklejelly Manor.
As Janner reads the First Book, Nia approaches him and tells him that he reminds her of Esben. Janner responds by saying that Esben was king while he is just a Throne Warden. Nia explains to Janner that being a Throne Warden is a sacred call and that Janner is a Wingfeather. She then hands Janner a letter, saying it is one last gift from Esben.
Janner unfolds the letter which read: "Dearest Janner, you've royal blood in your veins, no matter what your name or place in this world. The Maker made you Throne Warden to your little brother, and I wouldn't wish anyone but you to keep him safe. There are rumours of war. Should Anniera fall, should I fall, remember your homeland. Ancient secrets lie beneath these stones and cities. We mustn't let them fall to evil. One day when you're alone, unsure, doubting yourself, you'll need these words. Remember this: You are Annieran. Your father is a king. You are his son. This is your land, and nothing can change that. Nothing. Know when you read this that your father loves you like no other. Your papa."
As the rain continued, Elisheva sang a soft lullaby, "Always with You" by Kathryn S. Hill.
"When the rain falls lift up your eyes, There's a rainbow just standing by..." Elisheva's gentle voice sang, "And the colors will light up the sky, Bringing hope to your heart. Guide your way through the dark..."
The gentle melody wrapped around Tink and Leeli, soothing them into sleep. Podo had drifted off while sitting up, then Peet awoke to crawl up onto a makeshift bunk and curled up to sleep.
Janner finished reading the letter given to him from his father, than picked a sleeping spot to doze off.
Next, Elisheva found her place in a simple corner, whispering her nightly prayers before settling down. She exchanged a warm "good night" with Nia, who gently doused the lamps. Tonight Elisheva hoped to dream of her family, praying for their safety and well-being.
None of them knew of the very same traitor, Zouzab, leaping from trees, grinning deviously when he heard the notes of Elisheva's voice flow. But it was not yet time to make his move.
To be continued…
Author's note: And that was what happened to Elisheva, we'll see how she spent the remaining Summer with our heroes in Peet's treehouse, the next chapter will be focusing on what's become of her father and little brother.
