Legend of the White Witch {#Wattys2016}

Chapter 6

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Alec doesn't allow us to build a fire until long past nightfall. It could alert nearby danger of our presence, he warns. There are monsters here.

We spend the day shivering underneath inadequate blankets. He paces continuously, declining most of the food Celeste summons from the earth. I only manage to nibble on an apple, but the others have hearty appetites. I give my leftovers to the baby griffin, who I've decided I like much better than the other that is scheduled to kill me in seven days.

Warren stays out of sight for the most part, lurking somewhere beyond the line of trees surrounding us. He occasionally appears for food, disappearing once again when he receives it. I ask Celeste why he can't grow it on his own, and she explains to me that only the sulvel have the power to command the growth of plants.

"He's pulchra just like my mother is," she tells me. "We can control the weather to an extent and use the wind to our advantage. I'm half and half, but I have the power and wings of a sulvel."

I nod, picking at the half-eaten apple in my lap. I can only guess at what her father looks like, but I picture him with brown hair like the rest of Trävore. Celeste's golden hair is a mystery to me; she must be the only blonde in all of the forest fairies.

Normally, I'd be overcome with curiosity and ask questions until Celeste wants to feed me to the queen's griffin herself. But nothing about this situation is normal.

All I seem to be able to do is wonder where my grandpa is and if he's okay.

A crushing weight settles on my heart, pulling me into secluded silence. Instead of politely asking Celeste to stop endlessly chattering, I slide away from her to an empty corner of the "tent" and cover myself in a blanket, turning on my side away from my companions. She's quiet after that.

Sometime before sundown, Peter decides that he needs a break from the depressing attitude of the camp and storms off into the darkening forest alone, proclaiming his need for a meal of cooked rabbit. No one says anything but Alec, who mumbles something rude under his breath. The sulvel disapprove of killing animals, and Peter is an avid hunter. But I sense that Peter's eating habits aren't the only reason he and Alec dislike each other.