Sterling’s hand rested gently on Corabelle’s shoulder as he guided her back home.

  The only words spoken were soft warnings of upcoming obstacles

  Corabelle only knew they’d arrived back in camp when she felt stone beneath her shoes and the air cooling as they descended the soft slope into the mine.

  Her compatriots were tested before entry but she, herself, went unacknowledged. At least verbally.

  She could still feel their eyes on her, sense their fear, smell their sweat as it occurred to them that a second monster was now gaining entrance to their home.

  But Ella ignored them, her conversation following the professional routine of entry and she was not questioned.

  Corabelle smelled the drops of blood and heard the door open, but this time, there was no swarm of guards to accompany her.

  Just inside the door, Ella stopped and Sterling squeezed Corabelle's shoulder to halt her.

  “Sterling, please go grab the work managers and other teams,” Ella instructed. “We all need to have a conversation.”

  Sterling’s hand slipped from Corabelle's shoulder, “Yes, Ma’am.”

  His footsteps disappeared echoing down a hall in front of Corabelle.

  Corabelle started as she felt fingers tug her hair as they wrapped around the knot of the blindfold.

  “Apologies,” Ella’s gentle voice came from behind her. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m taking this off so you can talk to them. Properly.”

  As the cloth fell away from Corabelle’s eyes she finally got a good look at the space they were in.

  It was nearly as she expected. Stone walls, carved for utility, sparkling with impure Dewsilver.

  Heatless flames perched atop torches illuminated the entrances to branching hallways presumably leading to the rest of the compound.

  Ella dragged over one of the few worn benches from where it was positioned against a wall, “Please sit. I suspect this will not be a quick meeting and I’m sure you must be tired.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Corabelle sat carefully, resting Zaramir across her lap and the bench.

  Ella looked at Zaramir for a moment before whatever she was about to say was abandoned.

  She turned her attention back to Corabelle, “I’m having you talk to the leaders first. With their help it will be considerably easier to get the citizens and refugees to be more understanding. Though, in the spirit of honesty, they may be the hardest to convince.”

  Her words did not aid the growing apprehension in Corabelle’s chest, though she wasn’t surprised. They had Mages here, soldiers, people who had fought her kind in a near futile attempt to prevent the world becoming what it was now.

  What Ella said was almost certainly true, they would be the hardest to persuade.

  It wasn’t long before the first person arrived.

  She was in old Mage’s clothing, but she didn’t echo with the sound of a powerful Spark. The confusion on her face was quickly replaced with terror as she froze, a single step into the room.

  “Please come in,” Ella said calmly. “You may take a seat if you'd like or stand if that makes you more comfortable.”

  “What is this?” The woman croaked out over a dry throat.

  “We’re having a discussion. That is all. Others will be here soon.” She answered with an understanding smile.

  The woman moved to the side, pressing herself against the wall, but she listened to Ella.

  Others arrived soon after; blacksmiths, masons, miners, men and women with hands stained black and red with dye, mages old and young. There were easily several dozen. In that moment Corabelle realized there were far more people living here than she had thought.

  This wasn’t a small operation, a handful of people scavenging for survival. There was enough power in this room to cause serious damage to the Fae if they really tried. They could kill and Zaramir with little effort. Despite no one speaking, the room was deafening as they stood, staring at her with fearful eyes. They had nothing to fear from her. She couldn’t even hear Zaramir's power over theirs.

  Once the room was well filled Ella spoke, “Thank you for coming here on such short notice. I apologize for interrupting your work, but there’s something vital that must be discussed.”

  “I don’t know why we're even entertaining this,” A rather muscular woman in the same sort of clothing Sterling’s team wore, barked as a silver haze began to pour from her fingertips, a Runebind on her neck glowing brightly. “She’s clearly long gone.”

  Ella took a deliberate step forward between the woman and Corabelle, “I’m not enchanted, Lark. Though I understand your concern. Shale, if you wouldn’t mind proving me honest?” Ella lowered her head as she turned toward a girl, barely into her teens to the muscular woman’s left.

  The girl’s lip quivered as she stepped out of her teammates shadow, extending a shaking hand placing it on the top of Ella’s head.

  The young girl’s eyes took on a gold hue circling her iris like a halo as words of a powerful Divination spell poured from her lips. She was strong, surprisingly strong for her age.

  Once her spell was complete her hand fell away slowly, “Her mind is clear,” her meek voice announced to the waiting room. “And she’s told no lies.”

  The smoke Lark had been producing dissipated even as her eyes remained skeptical.

  Ella stood upright, brushing a rouge strand of hair from her eyes, “Thank you, Shale. So now that you have been assured you are in a trustworthy space, I ask you to keep that attitude for just a little while longer, as difficult as it’s going to be.”