COF Special: The Season of Wishes

Six

Xanthy's teeth dug against the flesh of her thumb, her thoughts roiling as much as the wind blew colder outside. The noisy chatter around the tavern didn't help calm her nerves. Six days have gone by and there's still no sign of him. Where in Umazure was he? Was there something going on?

Her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead. He didn't act strange when Xanthy mentioned to him about her opening the ceremony. He didn't say anything about the festivities whenever it was brought up in conversations two weeks before the new year. It's not because he's reminded of something during the holidays, was it?

Some childhood trauma, perhaps? Xanthy could understand if it was so. Maybe he needed time to process things over and to heal. She might not get everything he felt and had been feeling, she might not carry the same weight he had been, but she could go with this kind of reasoning. Sure. She'd go with that.

Curiosity picked at the edge of her mind. Perhaps, it was something June wasn't ready to tell her. Yeah. That's...she could take that. Just...how she wished he could have told her something about it, even made up a half-meant lie. Not this...silence.

Or perhaps he found another woman and Xanthy couldn't fault that of him either. She hasn't exactly been the most present girl around. A curse flitted out of her lips as she shook her head. What was she doing? She shouldn't be thinking of things like that. June told her to trust him way, way back and he has proven his words to some degree. Perhaps—

"Umazure to Xanthy. Are you there?" a deep voice knocked the vase that was Xanthy's thoughts. She flinched, hearing the metaphorical vase shatter inside her skull. Well, there they go. "Seravel asked you something."

Xanthy blinked and forced her gaze to settle into the fire sprite heir's familiar form. When did he even get here? How long was she spaced out? "Oh," she smiled as she offered her hand towards him to shake. "How have you been?"

Instead of shaking her hand, Seravel ducked his head and took it with enough reverence to fit a Queen. Oh wait. She was one.

"I asked the same question, Your Highness," Seravel dropped back into his seat, his face matching Xanthy's smile. "It seems like your mind is somewhere...important."

Xanthy snorted. She waved a hand in front of her face. "No, no!" she rolled her eyes. "I was just thinking about what Cyrdel and Ariden told me about their ah..."

"Construction project," Ariden said from the seat beside Seravel. The earth sprite heir tapped his friend's chest with the back of his hand with a wink. "Top secret. We were just getting the High Queen's approval to get it started."

"It's to lessen the crime rate in Avalora," Cyrdel tipped his head back and downed the contents of his glass with one gulp. By the gods, when did this once-reserved prince get to be a drunkard? Cyrdel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "You know, Akaron has been through some...questionable stuff as of late."

Ariden glanced at the Alkaran prince and nodded. "I figured since my connection to the Cutlasses was already discovered, I might use my influence in Avalora to work with the light this time," he jerked his chin at Xanthy. "So...top secret construction project it is."

"That's amazing, indeed," Seravel patted his friend in the back and turned back to Xanthy. "And you approve of this?"

Xanthy rolled her eyes. "What can I tell you? I'm not High Queen for long," she said. "These guys can sign their own edict when they take the Council seat with me."

The butt of a glass settled against the table. Cyrdel popped a piece of nut, skin and all, into his mouth. "You really are pushing through with that, huh?" he mussed his amber hair which has grown past its cropped style to a disheveled mop atop his head. "Tell me in advance so I can prepare for it. The shop might need new hires."