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Before he can say anything else, I step in. “What is it you need to tell us?”
Eldrion glances at me, his eyes simmering with displeasure, but he folds his wings back and nods at Garratt to speak.
“We know where he is and what he is doing. We saw him.” Garratt looks over his shoulder and the others nod and mmm in unison.
“Finn?” My heart starts to hammer hard in my chest. “You know where he is?”
Garratt turns his attention to me, sensing that I’m the more receptive out of the pair of us. “We were trying to get somewhere safe. We went to the library.” His eyes dart to Eldrion, who growls deep in his throat. “Finn was there. But he wasn’t him.”
“We know what he is,” I snap. “Tell us what he was doing.”
“I don’t know how to describe it.” Garratt shakes his head. His complexion has paled. He swallows hard and tugs at his collar. He looks at Pria, and she rolls her eyes slightly.
“He has turned the other Shadowkind,” she says. “They came tumbling out of the cave looking just like him. Bigger, badder, huge black wings. Shadows swarming around them.”
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” I ask.
But then, at my side, I hear Kayan’s voice. “I saw it too, Alana.”
I cannot see him, but I can hear him.
“I did as you asked. I tracked Finn, and I saw it too. I felt the darkness in the cave and I waited. I saw what the elves saw, and I saw them running. They are telling the truth.”
“We ran,” the dark-haired elf says, echoing Kayan’s words. She has tucked her arm through Garratt’s. He squeezes her hand. “We ran as fast as we could, and we came here because we wanted to warn you.”
“That is not why you came here,” Eldrion speaks slowly.
“Elodie, be quiet,” Garratt hisses at his female companion.
“It is, of course it is. I mean, yes, we hoped you’d help us. But mainly we wanted you to know what was happening. So you can stop it.”
Eldrion narrows his eyes at her. Garratt looks like he wishes he was anywhere but here. Some leader he turned out to be.
“You have passed on your news. Now you may leave.” Eldrion turns and moves back towards the large oak doors at the front of the castle.
“Leave?” I look from Garratt to Eldrion. “They can’t leave.” I turn back to Garratt. “You can’t leave. We need all the help we can get to fight Finn.” I cast my gaze over the huddle of elves. “Will you fight with us? Help us protect the city from him?”
A hushed murmur spreads through them. No one speaks loud enough to be heard, but it is clear what their answer is.
“Actually, I think Lord Eldrion is right.” Garratt nods and starts to back away. “We should leave. We are no use to you.”
“All right, then if you’re going to leave, you could be our messengers.” I walk to the front of the crowd. “You don’t have to stay in the city. This is a fae matter, not an elvish one. But if you could reach the outer settlements. The Mountainside fae and the Waterweavers, and tell them what is happening, ask them to come to our aid...”
Garratt is shaking his head still. He holds up his hands again. “I’m sorry, no,” he says. “Lord Eldrion got it right. We are no use to you.”
As the elves begin to retreat, Pria steps away from them, lingering in the middle of the courtyard as if she doesn’t know which path to choose. Does she stay and hope it is safer behind Eldrion’s walls? Or leave with the cowardly elves?
They are at the archway when an uncontrollable burst of anger flares in my gut. It rages like an inferno beneath my skin. Unexpected but not unwelcome, because it seems I am the only one who is actually trying to prevent this kingdom from falling to the ash and ruin I have seen in my visions.
“You may not leave!” I shout. My voice echoes off the courtyard walls. Everyone is staring at me. “You may not leave unless you agree to help us.”
There is a quivering pause. But I do not have the gravitas that Eldrion possesses. Someone sniggers at the back of the group.
I bite my lower lip, anger turning to rage in the pit of my stomach.
“Alana, calm down.”
Kayan’s voice, usually calming, feels nothing but patronising. And instead of settling me, it simply enrages me even more.
