Crowning Glory (In Bloom Book 2)

11: Imperfect Timing

With our dinner conversation over, Lilia decided to go to sleep and suggested we do the same. We had an early start tomorrow.

We would be heading northeast in order to reach the Silver's Owl's fortress at the tip of the continent. Heading out of the Witch Woods, we would pass through small towns spread out through the Verdant Moors and head for the Canyon of Howling Winds. From there, the Crimson Plains and the Dragon's Tail Mountains would be our last set of obstacles.

Had we used magic, we would get there in an instant. I could even summon my broom. Though, we could possibly compromise our position. It was through transportation magic that the previous diplomats had gone missing.

Lilia also mentioned he intended to search for Duke Revan, Princess Meleanor's eyes and ears and would be at her beck and call. Her husband. Malleus' father.

Prior to the soldiers' departure from the castle that morning, Revan was sent as a delegate to the fortress along with a small group of diplomats. According to Lilia, he was the best person for the job.

He promised the Princess he would be right back.

"If he'd just come back safe and sound, we wouldn't need to be doing all this extra work," Lilia complained. "That couple has been overloading me with work since I was a kid."

Lilia emphasized how extensive of a trip it would be, but Silver refused to stand down. The student was also equally determined to have Lilia enroll at Night Raven College, but the General thought of the idea as completely mediocre. Like father, like son.

Baul decided to retire for the night as well, but not without leaving us some lovely threats. I guess it was his own way of saying 'good night.' In the meantime, the other soldiers planned out their shifts for keeping watch while the others slept. We may have taken over the Silver Owls' camp, but they could easily regroup and try to reclaim their turf. There were also wild beasts out in the woods. I had yet to see one, but I wished for that day to never occur.

After we put away all of the dishes and utensils, Silver, Sebek, Grim, and I settled into one of the nearest empty tents. There was more than enough room for the four of us to sleep here. Though, there was something much more pressing we had to discuss.

I reviewed what we already knew, "Lilia is currently 700 years old, but he just said he's 300. So he's dreaming of something that happened 400 years ago. Malleus is 178 years old but he's not supposed to be born for a few more centuries. Yet the egg is here now..."

"The math ain't mathing," Grim rubbed his temples. "This is making my head hurt. I don't' like this at all."

None of us did. There was a discrepancy of 200 years.

Fairies could care less how much time passed between events. Though, it seemed strange for someone like Lilia to mistaken the time of something so important, like the birth of the Crown Prince.

Aside from what Lilia and the imperial soldiers told us, we were all clueless about this time period. Both Silver's and Sebek's families hardly spoke about the past in front of them. I only knew witches aided the fairies in the front lines and behind the scenes. 

As if Grim read my mind, he suggested, "What if we go to the to the Queen's castle? Maybe we could find something to help us there? Genius, am I right?"

"We can't do that," Silver rejected the idea. "A dream is an unstable mental world constructed by someone. If you stray too far from the dream's owner, we could see the darkness again or end up in a worse situation."

"So we gotta stick with Lilia....great."

"Dammit," Sebek muttered. "I was hoping to catch a glimpse of His Eggcellency."