Page 114 of Aryn

Elowen’s words come haltingly as she searches for the right ones in English. “You… know my brother?”

“We do,” Aryn agrees softly.

Cameron sniffles, tucking himself under Ronan’s arm. “He is our family.”

“We did not… understand. When he…” She shakes her head and continues in Elyrian.

Aryn translates for the rest of us. “She says they searched for him for many years and always wondered what happened to him.”

Her eyes grow misty as she reaches out and takes Aryn’s hand in both of hers. “He was… always…” She says something else that makes Ronan chuckle softly.

“Curious,” he supplies for her.

She nods. “He was curious. Always exploring. Finding caves and rivers. Brave. Too brave. I feared…” Again, she slips into Elyrian, the words flowing more easily in her mother tongue.

Aryn’s voice is soft as he translates, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. “She thanks us for taking care of him. She says she prayed every night that someone kind found him. These are her children,” he continues, waving his hand at the other curious faces surrounding Elowen. “His nieces and nephews. This one”—he gestures at the smallest in the back—“is named Nyxar, as an homage to her brother.”

Cameron’s eyes are already wet as he cuddles further into Ronan, and despite not knowing Nyx well, my throat tightens, too. “The house we stayed at that first night?” I ask. “That belonged to his family, correct?”

“It did,” Ronan agrees with a heavy sigh. “Many years ago, the Viskari moved south. The Drüinae are peaceful people, and they tried to coexist. The weather grew colder and food became scarce. Their family was enslaved, essentially. Forced to hand over their food and give up their home.”

Aryn’s eyes widen as he slowly shakes his head. “My father… he was sent to rescue a Drüinae family...”

When Elowen doesn’t understand, he repeats himself in their language. “Brave,” she agrees, staring up at him with wide, mournful eyes.

Aryn kneels in front of her, speaking so softly it nearly cracks my chest in half. I don’t have to understand the words to know what he’s saying. A few tears slip down her mossy green cheeks before she throws herself into his arms. Aryn holds her gently, closing his eyes as a single tear escapes his own.

If I wasn’t already gone for him, this moment would’ve done it.

Everyone dries their eyes, and Elowen gathers herself with a few deep breaths. “Come,” she says to us with a wave of her hand, though her voice is shaky. “I show.”

She guides us through the greenhouses, showing us row after row of carefully tended plants. With Aryn and Ronan’s help, she explains how they use their magic to boost growth in the arid mountain soil. The younger Drüinae trail behind us, shy but smiling.

Lillith wipes her eyes. “Nyx would love this place.”

Cameron nods, voice thick. “He’d be geeking out right now, running between the plants and telling us their names.”

Aryn stays close to Nyx’s sister, listening patiently as she speaks. At one point, she stops in front of a cluster of vibrant blue ferns—the same kind we saw on the trail—and touches the leaves with a sad smile.

“He loved these,” Aryn translates. “She says he used to bring her bouquets of them when they were small.”

Elowen looks between the rest of us, eyes hopeful. “Nyx… he is happy?”

No one mentions the hard life Nyx led, or anything that was done to him. It’s in the past, and there’s no good in sharing his pain just to cause hers.

Ronan’s voice cracks as he answers for us. “He is. He has a good life. People who love him and protect him. He’s safe.”

She nods, pressing a hand to her heart, and the quiet emotion in the greenhouse becomes almost overwhelming. For a long moment, no one speaks, then Nyx’s sister smiles through her tears and gestures deeper into the greenhouse.

“Come,” she says in her soft, accented English. “I show you his favorite flowers, then we eat.”

Cato

After we tour the greenhouses and the outdoor gardens, we’re led down the hill into one of the village’s community kitchens. We talk and share stories as the Drüinae prepare our food, and soon an entire feast is spread out before us.

Vegetarian dishes cover the long table. I’m not usually one to shy away from meat, but the food is so good, I don’t even miss it. A large bowl of roasted root vegetables sits beside a basket of fresh breads studded with seeds, and there are platters of vibrant greens and berries, creamy cheeses, and individual bowls of spiced mushroom stew.

Every time one of us empties our plate, Elowen is there with a refill. The longer we sit, the easier the conversation comes. Ronan and Aryn translate when needed, and the younger Drüinae listen intently to our stories from the human world. They’re especially interested in Nyx’s garden, and ask loads of questions about the differences in our plants.