2407 Tull 26, Velpa

Feris Medomon was the type of fairy one would forget after a few seconds of meeting him. Jona stared at him from across the round table they now sat at, forcing his mind to memorize the man's features. With his pale skin, high cheekbones, bearded face, and dark brown hair, Feris looked just about a dozen nature fairy Jona had seen in his lifetime. That made the man both familiar and a stranger.

"Do we request the presence of the Natura with this...um, festival?" someone said beside Jona. He turned to a woman who was tapping a graphite stick against her clipboard. Was her name...Neran? Something like that. "What do you think, Feris?"

Jona turned to the fairy who scratched his bushy beard in thought. "If the funds allow it, why not?" he flicked his gaze towards Jona. "I mean, this is already sponsored by the palace. I think we will have enough for a platoon or two."

Neran nodded, her curly yellow green hair bouncing against her head. "Got it," she said. "It seems like your reputation precedes you, sir. You've got a good eye."

Feris shrugged. "It's just experience," he said. "Do we have plans for the venue? How about the Regal palace in Komery? If we are going to honor the survival of an animal species, I'm sure the Grand Regals wouldn't mind loaning us a throne hall or two."

He turned to Jona with an expectant gaze. "How many guests are we aiming for?"

Jona blinked. He hadn't thought about it all the way through. Feris, and therefore, his only lead, was sitting across him and that's all that mattered. That's not how a Grand Royal should act but what choice did he have? He couldn't exactly tell them the entire festival was something he made up.

"Oh, about eighty or so," Jona blurted before he had a chance to regret anything he said. "It's a small event."

Feris raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He jerked his chin at Neran and the woman religiously wrote it down. "We won't need that much funds, then," he pursed his lips and looked somewhere behind Jona, into the open windows overviewing the waterfalls. "I'll handle Master Dema while I'm at it. Do you have anything more to add, Your Grace?"

Jona cleared his throat. "No," he said. "Can we adjourn this meeting?"

"Certainly," Feris straightened from his seat and began pacing towards the room's exit. He waved his hand over the branches and they parted for him. Neran followed suit. "I'll handle everything from here on out, Your Grace. You must have other duties waiting for you."

"Wait," Jona extended his arm. "I need to talk to you, Feris. If that's not too much of a bother."

An apprehensive look passed across Feris' face. After a few beats, the man sighed, clasped his hands together, and turned away from the gaping exit. "What is it, Your Grace?" he said.

Jona waved his hand towards the door, exerting his magic over it. The branches crackled and churned as they re-sealed the opening. Neran had already slipped outside along with a couple of other workers she was training under her as soon as it became clear their presence wasn't needed anymore.

Jona turned to the fairy who still stood a few steps away from him. He gestured to the seat Feris had previously occupied. "Please, sit," he said. "I just want to ask you something."

Feris sank into the chair which gave a characteristic creak and folded his arms over his chest. It wasn't something you would display to a royal but Jona didn't care about any of that. "Is it about the Grand Queen?" he asked.

Jona's breath hitched. "You—how did you know?" He massaged his neck to ease his constricting throat. "Does the Grand Monarch know? Did you tell him I've been looking into it?"

"Hold your dagrinis, Your Grace. I didn't tell the Grand Monarch anything," Feris drew his hair away from his forehead with a nondescript swipe. "I knew because it's been a while since I was summoned out of the blue for a festival that didn't exist two days ago. Why was I being summoned? Who was doing it? What do I know that they might want to know? I was forbidden to step foot in this castle unless it's for a festival. It didn't take long for me to figure that out."

Well, at least he's smart. Jona had to give the man that. "So, you do know something," he said. "About the Grand Queen's death."

"I cannot lie, Your Grace, but before you think you can use that to your advantage, please know I can simply refuse to answer a question," he said. "I can omit details and you wouldn't even know it."

Jona matched Feris' stance with his arms crossed over his chest. "Fine," he said. "Tell me everything you remember during the day the Grand Queen died."

"It was a cloudy day and I was working on coordinating some sort of investiture for the newest Council members," Feris recounted. "I remember thinking it would rain so I took all the roofed pathways because I didn't want to be soaked. Then, I saw the Grand Queen hurrying the opposite way as me. Her face was stern and when I greeted her, she didn't appear to notice me. She looked to be in a hurry so I didn't bother her any longer."

Feris frowned. "The next time I saw her was when she was already clearing the throne hall and going out into the bridge. No one was with me by then but she strode past me just as I was exiting the premise. If I knew what she was planning that day, I might have turned back and stopped her. But I didn't. So I watched her go into the bridge and he—"

He paused, his eyes widening as if he felt like he said too much. Jona narrowed his eyes. He? So there was indeed someone with her that day. "Why did you stop?" he said aloud.

Feris opened his mouth and closed it again. He heaved a sigh, his shoulders lumping with the effort. "I'm sorry, Your Grace," he said. "I-I made a misstep."

An inexplicable rage shot towards Jona's arm and he slammed a hand against the table. "Spit it out," he hissed, shooting up his seat and drawing closer to Feris who flinched and found his boots interesting. "As the Grand Royal, I order you."

Feris closed his eyes and shook his head. No matter how subtle, Jona noticed it. He was ordered to do this, to deny anything that would imply the Grand Queen's death was more than just an "accident" as everyone claimed it to be. Jona was close to the answer now. He could feel it.

"Who was she with that day?" Jona repreated. "Who took her out of the palace?"

With a remorseful look, Feris met Jona's eyes. "Eldan Rovalen," the man said. "From the espionage division."

Jona's world spun. He edged away from Feris and fell back against his seat. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. A single name rang in and out of his head. Eldan Rovalen. From the espionage division.

"You may go," Jona waved his hand in the air. If Feris saw or heard it, if he ducked out of the room as quickly as he entered, it all faded into background noise in Jona's senses. His gaze bored into a random spot in the walls, his magic flaring into the surface. Eldan Rovalen. So, this was what the spy was hiding. Was...was the Grand Monarch in on this? Was that why none of these witnesses talked?

I can't wait to help the others find her.

Eldan's words, which Jona overheard not too long ago, flashed in his mind. Her...

Did he mean the Grand Queen? It could only be the only explanation. Eldan led the Queen out of the palace and he returned alone. It's either he killed her himself or he was somehow responsible for her death.

You have a duty to the palace, to your people. The Grand Monarch clearly said that. He was protecting Eldan from something. He didn't want to let the spy go because of what Eldan knew. And the spy knew a lot, from what Jona could tell from how he strutted around the palace like he owned it. The rest of the espionage division did act like that, now that Jona was thinking about it.

No more.

Eldan was up to something and the Grand Monarch could either be in or out of it. The spy's plans involved getting rid of the Grand Queen. That's why he led her out of the palace that day. Jona had to find him.

It didn't take long. Using his connection to the network of plants around the palace, he pinpointed Eldan's location just as the spy was walking towards another briefing with the Grand Monarch. Another chance for him to scheme his way with Jona's father. Jona must stop it at all costs.

He spotted the spy striding past a grove with bright red flowers of the rosularia. His familiar, a krou named Sahili, was nowhere to be found. Jona called on his magic and leashed the plants into alerting him should the krou appear anywhere near them.

"I know you're there, Your Grace," Eldan stopped in his tracks but never turned to face Jona. "I can sense your magic flaring from notches away. Tell me," he raised an arm and the branches slowly creeping from the walls in front of Eldan retreated back from where they came from. Jona's eyes widened. Impossible. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Jona didn't realize it but he stepped back. Eldan has a familiar. He was an elika keiju. So...how in Wikone's name was he able to bend the branches to his will? It's no wonder the Grand Monarch didn't want to let go of him. But it didn't matter. Jona didn't come here to chat about their synnavaimis. He came here because he had to find the truth.

Instead, Jona cleared his throat to get rid of the growing lump in it. "I would expose our plans for a coup if you start lying now," he said. "Why were you with the Grand Queen the day she died? Why was everyone saying it was an accident? You...killed her, didn't you? And the Grand Monarch knew it all this time and...protected you?"

Eldan whipped towards him then. "What?" he gave a short, confused laugh. "I didn't kill her. Yes, I was with her the day she died because she asked me to help her with something. And yes, the Grand Monarch feared the people would blame me for it, that's why he had been cautious with the people who could talk. I'm not the villain here, Your Grace."

Yeah, that's exactly what villains say. "What did she need your help with?" Jona asked. As much as he hated his tone being close to begging instead of the smugness of having the upper hand, he didn't have a choice. "Why didn't she approach the Grand Monarch instead?"

"She needed to confirm something in Gandirk," Eldan answered. "So I went with her to Ardgate. That's all I know. I wasn't even allowed to climb the mountain where the Living Throne was located. I didn't see her come down."

Gandirk? Ardgate? The Living Throne? What in Pidmena's breeches was Eldan talking about?

"Whatever it was you're planning, Your Grace," Eldan said, his tone carrying a hint of a threat. "Please stop before you hurt yourself."

Jona scoffed. "I could say the same thing about you, spy," he said.

Before Eldan could respond, Jona turned away and fled the scene before his anger could spill over the rim of his soul and push him to do something he would regret in the long time to come. Eldan Rovalen. Jona would find all his secrets, even if it's the last thing he'd do.