SIR NOHX slipped through the trees as if he were invisible. The sun trinkled in through the leaves, enveloping him and the surrounding woods in the buttery glow of autumn. The air was too warm for him, the breeze lacking the bitter cold tendrils of the Winter Court.

Against his will, the thought that Andorra would like it here slipped into his mind. It would be chilly enough for her to wrap herself up in a light jacket, but warm enough that she would leave the scarf at home. She would blink up at him and smile, recalling that this was the type of weather her human parents would enjoy about their new home, as soon as the calendar turned to autumn. She would insist she was warm enough while holding his hand, but she would wear gloves, just in case the chill of his skin became too much.

The thought of her here with him went up in smoke. He shook his head to clear it of her, wishing for once that she didn't haunt him. His hand balled up into a fist angrily, as if that would be enough to expel her from his mind. From his memories.

The woods themselves were quiet, peaceful. He knew though that the Autumn Court was not the safe haven that it appeared to be. The Woodland Forest was dangerous, even for the Snow Clan Leader.

He moved from tree to tree, slipping in between them, keeping his eyes and wits ready for the moment that the cottage he sought out would appear. He let his body guide the way, knowing that he needed to trust himself in order to find the person he needed. Of course, this was not supposed to be on the docket for the day; Prince Puck was expecting him in the Winter Court Office in approximately four hours from now, and Nohx knew he would be late.

Late wasn't like him. He was punctual to a point, so much that Prince Puck had begun to scowl when Nohx appeared on time and ready. The last apprentice that Prince Puck had was nothing like the snow fae that had appeared out of nowhere. Prince Puck had not wanted to train and help Nohx lead his own clan, but there was no choice. Puck was stuck with him.

And Nohx felt the same towards the Winter Court Prince. He was a domineering man with anger issues and dark laced power that existed beyond his shadows. He was strong; one of the strongest Court Leaders to exist in Anltihamy, and yet Nohx didn't trust him. He was scheming; all fae royalty was the exact same.

The sun seemed to disappear as Nohx crouched in a shady spot of the woods, his ears trained to be alert. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew something was off. Someone was following him, or perhaps stalking.

He felt the frost of his powers rush through his veins as he listened. His body was ready to pounce, his breath non-existent as he waited.

"It should be here somewhere," came an aggravated voice. There weren't any sounds of footsteps, but the voice seemed to ring out through the space as if the stranger had yelled. Nohx felt the hairs on his neck stand on end as he found the person who had been following him.

"You're such a worry-wart. How did you manage to also lose Sir Nohx in the process?" The voice was one of the most obnoxious sounds Nohx had ever heard in his life, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance at the fact that it was Prince Puck's daughter who had been following him.

But, it was the other person that caught his eye. Prince Anders stood beside her, his arms crossed over his chest. Nohx almost let out a gruff laugh; the person who was trying to kill Andorra was nothing more than a boy. And while Nohx had glamoured himself to look more like a high schooler, there was nothing boy about him. Not like Anders.

If only Andorra had been more aware of her own age. She wasn't a child, like she believed. Like everyone around treated her to be. If those in charge actually treated her like the young adult she was, then maybe she would be making progress.

But, that wasn't for Nohx to think about. Wasn't for him to get angry over, either. How the Royal Court trained the future Queen was their own decision, and Nohx had nothing to do with it, no matter how irritating it made him feel.

"Shut it, Aihfie. What's your deal with him anyway? He's a pretend Clan Leader."

Nohx rolled his eyes at that comment. Pretend Clan Leader my ass, he scoffed. Nohx would love to show Anders what a pretend Clan Leader could actually do, but Nohx wasn't stupid. It would take half of a thought and a flick of the wrist for Anders to be nothing but an ice sculpture, but now wasn't the time. Not with Prince Puck's daughter there with him.

"Sir Nohx isn't a pretend Clan Leader, Anders. Just because his clan was a banished one doesn't make him less powerful. Besides, he's stronger than my dad. Imagine what that power will look like in a few years. Anyone would want to be on the good side of that power."

It wasn't his ego that seemed to inflate at that comment. But the knowledge that he could possibly be stronger than Prince Puck did make his chest tight. Not once had he wanted this life, but perhaps being stronger than the Winter Court Prince would have its advantages.

"How on earth could he be stronger than Prince Puck? No offense Aihfie, but your father is like, the strongest Court Leaders. That loser Nohx is like a child."

"You're just pissy that his wyvern picked the Princess. Sir Nohx isn't a child. It was my own father who told me that Sir Nohx was stronger. And trust me, it wasn't in a bragging sort of way. My father is pissed. He figures training Sir Nohx is his best bet of controlling him."

Anders snorted. "His wyvern made a mistake. And so did Coach. The Princess is the last person that should be playing Cadmus."

"You're jealous." Aihfie laughed loudly. "Wow. Relax. The Princess is a baby who is going absolutely nowhere. Don't worry about her. Anders, Anlithamy picked you. Who cares what Cornomus thinks."

Nohx felt the familiar feel of protective anger coat his tongue. He longed to tell Prince Puck's daughter exactly who she was talking about, but he held back. She would get herself in her own trouble, and that would be enough.

"Aren't you supposed to be guarding her anyway?" Anders' voice was gruff. "It was a mistake bringing you along. Now we're lost in the woods, and Sir Nohx is nowhere to be found. It'll be such a pain getting back to school."

"Oh, shut it Anders. Callum is with her. And you're not so great at tracking yourself. Or following through with plans. That assassination attempt is why I'm bound to her in the first place. Or should I call it a botched attempt, since it didn't even happen? You're pathetic."

Nohx knew it had been Anders. He had known all along. But hearing it spoken out in the open like that, completely unhidden, made his blood boil. He hated having this reaction to a Princess he was not supposed to care for. He gritted his teeth, dug his fingers into his palms, and controlled the urge to kill the both of them on the spot. It would be so, so easy to do.

But, Prince Puck would figure out who killed his daughter. And Anlithamy would go to war once they figured out who killed their little Princeling.

"I'm pathetic? Give me a break, Aihfie. What happened to wanting to serve on my Royal Counsel once I'm King? Are you showing your true nature before that happens? Would be so easy to make sure your father loses his position as Prince of the Winter Court, too."

Nohx watched as Aihfie flinched. "The King doesn't choose who is Prince of the Courts. You and I both know that."

"The last ones didn't, that's true. Doesn't mean I can't be the first to do so. Did you know that humans have these rulers called dictators? After researching about our human Princess, I did some research on them. They don't have a royal counsel. They make all the decisions, all of the time, without counsel. No one tells them what to do. No one votes them in. I think it's time we overthrow this outdated way of finding the leaders in this world, and once I'm King, I will be the only one in charge. Including the Courts."

Nohx was about done with listening to the Princeling's ideas of how he would rule Anlithamy. And what Nohx didn't have the care to say was that Anlithamy already was a dictatorship, in all of the ways that mattered. There was no choice in leadership, not really. Not compared to what the humans already had.

Now knowing it was Anders and Aihfie that trailed him, Nohx didn't think they could catch him, even if they heard him stomping through the woods. Not even if he let them catch up. Two children did not make a good kidnapping-and-killing team.

Nohx, as silent as a ghost, continued to move through the trees. As much as he wanted to keep hearing what they had to say about Andorra, he knew he needed to find Sivelle. He'd come all the way to the Woodland Forest to do so, and now he had to meet with Prince Puck in 3.5 hours. Time was counting down, and he wasn't any closer to figuring out what was going on with Andorra.

The temperature in the woods began to drop, colder and colder, and Nohx couldn't tell if it was because of his own emotions, or if it was the forest. He didn't have to figure it out either as a clearing appeared, sudden and abrupt. There was no happening upon it; the clearing found him.

There, in the middle, was a small cottage. Short in height, it was one floor with stone walls and a thatched roof. Smoke was billowing out from the chimney in the back, and a small stone path began right where he stood against the line of trees, looking into the clearing.

This had to be Sivelle's cottage. Nohx made his way through the clearing, following the stones, letting his senses take over. He didn't feel danger, or that anyone was following him. He felt at ease... almost too at ease.

As he approached the door, he wondered how he should control the situation. Seville was known to be a hard being to find, and an even harder being to get information from. She was tricky, and spoke in strange ways that could be confusing and hard to decode.

But, she had reached out to him. She had allowed him to find her cottage.

Before he could knock on the door, it swung open, and in the doorway stood a woman, standing eye to eye with Nohx despite his own height. Her forehead was marked with an upside down triangle, and two horns shot up from her head. Her hair was long, thick, and glittered like stars. She wore a ring on every finger, but the two rings on her middle fingers had large gems.

"Come in, Nohx. It has been a long time."

Nohx wasn't sure what she meant by that. A long time since he had written her, a long time since she had responded? He didn't spend too much time thinking of it as he entered the cottage, listening for the door to shut behind him. The cottage was spacious, cozy, and not at all what he had expected from perhaps the oldest being in Anlithamy.

Sivelle dropped down on one of her couches, smiling up at Nohx. Her smile promises secrets and answers, almost like a lover's smile, if Nohx hadn't known better. He took a chair across from her, his back straight, his senses alert still. This could be a trap, and he was not armed.

"You are here because of what the truth pond has shown you, correct?" Sivelle waved her hand in the air, and a stack of cards landed in them immediately. Almost absentmindedly, she shuffled the cards in midair, not laying a finger to them as they mixed in the air above her palm.

"I am here to figure out what the Princess had been searching for that night."

Sivelle tilted her head. "That is not an answer I can give. That is an answer still in the works. That is an answer that is unfolding in front of us, and if we are not careful, it will unfold unpleasantly."

Something cramped in Nohx's stomach. It was true then, that Andorra had been looking for ways to bring war to Anlithamy. He didn't want to believe that a naive girl like the Princess would do such a thing. No, that wasn't it. What he didn't want to believe was that his childhood best friend would stab him and their people in the back that way. He didn't want to believe that the Andorra he rescued from Kyle already knew of her lineage, and had been lying to the two of them.

Was Andorra capable of pretending to be the weak little Princess while she took down his entire world? The place he had always dreamed of living?

"What then of your letter? You said I was to become King."

Sivelle smiled, but it turned from friendly to cunning in a moment. "Ah, but you don't care about that, do you, my precious Nohx. Being a leader has never called to you. Being a Clan Leader is the absolute last thing you wanted. You are asking something else."

Nohx felt control slipping. There was so much he wanted to know, so much he needed to know, and she was right: being King wasn't one of them.

"I will answer for you, since you are hesitant to ask. What you dream about is the truth. What you think, but are afraid to voice, is true. You need to trust yourself, my little dreamer boy. What happened to the little boy I used to know?"

Dreamer boy. He hadn't heard those words in a very long time. When he shut his eyes, he could picture his mother saying those words to him late at night, as she watched the stars with him. You're my little dreamer boy, Nohx, You will never be like your father.

He was like his father. Too much like his father.

"I killed him." Another truth. Nohx had worked hard to bury that version of himself, so deep that he would never resurface. How could he be the clan leader and the dreamer boy? Both versions could not exist.

Sivelle's desk spit out one, two, three cards immediately. They landed on the table in front of Nohx, telling him a story. The Tower card, the Two of Wands card, and the Emperor card stared back at him.

"Do you know what this means?" Sivelle stayed lounged on her couch, but her voice was demanding. Nohx knew nothing of card readings. This was out of his element and range, and even the pictures that stared back at him made little sense.

"It means abrupt change is about to happen. Sudden, unexpected change. And there is a journey you need to recognize and take before you become the stable person you wish to be. You have long term plans that you will not admit to me or to yourself, and you need to. You need to start planning because change is happening, whether you want it to or not."

Nohx felt a cold shiver race down his spine, like a lick of winter. The deck spit out another card, and the Six of Swords landed on the table. "Ah. You need to let go of what is holding you back before you can make the journey towards your future. You need to leave behind the past that is weighing you down. Something unexpected will happen that will rock your metaphorical boat, and you need a plan on how to move forward."

"Okay, but you know what the unexpected event is, don't you?"

Sivelle's eyes flashed white. "I know what it is, yes. For your own good, I cannot share what it is. If you know, my little dreamer boy, you will make the wrong choices. Not knowing is better for you. Not knowing means you will make the right choice."

Nohx stood up suddenly, angrily. "Are you serious?"

The air in the cottage went stale, and then flared with heat. Nohx felt it press against him, and he knew that had been a mistake. Not trusting her was a mistake.

Sivelle let the deck of cards fall as she stood. Her eyes were still white, her face slack, her body rigid. "I will not mislead you boy, but you make enemies with your words. You know this. Trust yourself that you will not need the answers to future events to help determine your path."

It felt contradictory. It was contradictory. How could Nohx prepare if he did not know? He sat back down, if only to placate the Prophet. "You are right. I apologize." He made his voice smooth, made himself become prey and not predator. Fighting one of the oldest beings in Anlithamy would not keep him alive.

Sivelle's eyes blinked back into this realm. "You are not foolish. You are my favorite royal, Nohx. Your human heart makes you this way. Your fae heart however will ruin you if you let it do so. Take advantage of the fact that you grew up outside of Anlithamy. It is your human heart that will save Anlithamy when the time comes."

Nohx didn't know how to respond. No one had ever commented on his human heart, not like they had for Andorra. He had believed that his heart was fae due to his upbringing, but Sivelle was right; compared to the rest of Anlithamy, he was of human persuasion.

"And the Princess?"

"She was born on the Festival of Stars."

Nohx's brain turned that information over and over, not quite sure what it meant. He opened his mouth to admit this, but Sivelle held up her hand. "This information will help you when the time comes, my little dreamer. The answers will come when they must."

Nohx didn't know what else to ask. Sivelle talked in riddles, and non-answers, and it was driving him mad. He prepared to stand, to say goodbye, when there was a knock on the door. It was forceful, almost angry in nature.

"Ah, my next guest. I think you will want to stay for this, Nohx." Sivelle stood, her hand sweeping up her deck of cards in one fluid motion. She swept towards the door, and when she answered it, Nohx expected to see Anders and Aihfie.

What he didn't expect was to see a girl with chin length pink hair who stood like she had been there before, chin up, not a trace of fear in her eyes. "We need to talk."

"Ah, Roseria, nice to see you. Welcome in. We have a guest, so let's not scare him away, shall we? I believe he will be a great asset to you."

The pink haired girl looked to Nohx with a blank stare, her eyebrow raised in a question. "Sir Nohx. An interesting asset indeed."