ANDORRA WAS staring. It was hard not to, when she felt as though her eyes were playing tricks on her. Roseria? She had not expected to find Roseria in the Dryads territory. The recipe burned in her pocket, and she prayed that Roseria would not realize what was so close to her.

Andorra wanted to put her hand in her pocket, just to make sure the recipe was safe, but she couldn't do anything that may raise suspicion. Instead, she focused her eyes around the throne room, taking in the sight of branches weaving together to create the walls. They grew up to the ceiling, and string lights were draped across them, softening the room. It was large enough to host dozens of guests, but what drew her eye the most was the leader.

Fraseri stood from his throne, bending at the waist to bow to her. She could see that his crown was woven into the silky strands of his orange hair. His skin was dark, but not the texture of bark, like the dryads that had brought her there. She saw that he wore a tunic made from autumnal leaves. When he stepped down from the throne, Andorra noted that he was only slightly taller than the others, barely coming up to her rib cage.

Despite his child-like height, his face was worn and weathered. Andorra was almost afraid to know how old he was.

"My Queen. What brings you here?" His tone was pleasant enough, but Andorra didn't quite feel trusting. "Pyatt, there are some new developments. Roseria is here." She felt her heart begin to quicken, but the smile on her face remained calm, in control.

"I was on my way to visit an old friend when I stumbled upon some of your people. They insisted I stop by. This place is magnificent." Andorra let her eyes wander around the room for a second time, noting the leaves and flowers tucked in between branches. Vines dangled, close enough for her to reach and touch.

"Well, it is an honor! And you picked a wonderful time to visit. It's the week of reaping!"

Andorra did not know what that meant. A spike of fear found its way into her chest, but she tried to shake it off. Reaping couldn't be a bad thing. Win was a reaper fae, afterall. Her smile stayed in place. "I'd love to learn more about this week of reaping. If you have the time to divulge."

Andorra had given up any real hope of seeing the Rumplewren after this. She wouldn't have enough daylight to do so, and it made more sense to come back with Nohx in tow.

Which begged the question: Where was he?

"Surely you learn better by seeing, my Queen. Come, we were just getting ready for the viewing. There's quite a crop this year." Fraseri turned back to Roseria, who stood by the throne, unmoving. When Fraseri looked back at her, she offered him a sweet smile.

The kind of smile she had given Andorra that first day they met.

"Come, Roseria. You are no stranger, but I am sure you will find delight in it."

The three of them left the throne room through a different tunnel. Andorra let Roseria enter before her, keenly aware of what the pink haired fae was capable of. Andorra wanted nothing more than to grasp onto Roseria and bring her back to the castle, but she had to get through whatever this was first.

"I'm quite shocked to see you here," Roseria purred into the darkness of the tunnel. "I'm sure you're feeling similarly about seeing me."

Andorra didn't bother replying. Now that they were in the dark, she felt around in her pocket, gripping the recipe safely in the palm of her hand. She didn't trust Roseria not to pickpocket her, even if she didn't realize what Andorra held in her possession.

"You're going to love this little show," Roseria continued. "It's quite barbaric for your human ways."

Andorra stiffened. Barbaric? A million thoughts raced across her mind as they stepped through another doorway, this time to the outside. A deck of sorts was carved into the bark, and the three of them stepped onto it. Andorra took in the sights of the Woodland Forest around her, hearing the sound of growth rustling in the breeze. She watched as Fraseri started towards what looked like a makeshift ladder, and then Andorra realized his intentions.

They were going to climb up the side of the tree. Heights never really bothered her, but something about being high up with no railing made her stomach plummet. She craned her neck, watching as the ladder grew smaller and smaller, until she couldn't see how high it went. And when Roseria grinned at her, a wicked gleam in her eyes, Andorra had the sudden thought that Roseria planned on pushing Andorra to her death.

You can do this, Andorra told herself. You flew on the back of Viir for weeks during Cadmus. With Anders trying to murder you.

With that inner pep talk, Andorra climbed up the side of the tree, her hands suddenly feeling sweaty as she gripped the wooden rungs. Three Dryads climbed beneath her, probably to keep her moving. Above her, Roseria had no issue keeping up with Fraseri, creating distance between them.

Andorra refused to look around herself as she climbed. She faced forward, her eyes tracking the rungs, her body moving like a machine. Sometimes she would look up, trying to gauge how many more rungs they had to climb, but she refused to look down.

By the time she had been climbing steadily for ten minutes, vertigo started to claim her. A dizzy spell caused her to halt her movements for a moment, her fingers white knuckling the wood as she forced her vision to even out.

"Coming, my Queen?" Roseria taunted from above.

Andorra felt the nudge from underneath her. A dryad, silently telling her to continue moving. "I can't. Just... give me a moment. I'm feeling a little bit dizzy." Her voice was a whisper, intended for the dryads only. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Don't look to the side. Just at your hands. Sometimes, I even close my eyes when it gets to be too much," the soft voice of a dryad said from under her. It had a slightly female lilt, and Andorra wanted to look down to thank her.

Instead, Andorra kept her eyes closed. "Thank you."

She took a steadying breath. Counted to ten. Then, she opened her eyes and reached for the next rung.

"You're welcome. I'm Niyive. Not all of us want the Deathwringer to find you. There are plenty who support you, like me. Just know, you have friends in the trees."

Andorra really wanted to thank her, eye to eye, but she refused to look down. She continued climbing, forcing herself to continue on, even when she felt the fear of free falling sitting heavy in her gut.

"That means a lot to me. Seriously."

By the time Andorra reached the top platform, she felt the world spinning around her in a dizzying kaleidoscope. She wanted to sit down with her head between her knees, but Roseria was watching her far too closely for Andorra to display any sign of weakness.

"I saw you stop down there. What, is this too much for you to handle, your Highness?"

Andorra shrugged. "Just admiring the view."

"Well, come take a look at this view!" Fraseri crowed. He was standing on the other side of the large platform that wrapped around the entire tree. Andorra was delighted to find railings, but when she joined Fraseri, her stomach dropped.

She was beginning to see what the week of reaping meant.

Dozens upon dozens of fae hung upside down by vines. They were too far away for Andorra to reach out and touch them, but close enough that Andorra could see their expressions plainly. Some were unconsciously hanging, but most were awake and twisting against the vines, starting to shout at Fraseri.

"You bastard!" One screamed out. "Let me go immediately!"

The laugh that left Fraseri's lips made shivers run down Andorra's spine. This felt evil. This felt sinister.

"Your wish is my command." Fraseri lifted his hand, manipulating the vine completely. Andorra watched in horror as the vine bent to Fraseri's will, unraveling from the fae's ankle. There was a moment of sick silence as the fae realized what was about to happen, but before he could beg for his life, he was plummeting towards the ground.

Andorra couldn't watch. Hearing the way his high pitched scream cut off as he hit the ground was enough.

"I'm sure you're wondering what is happening here," Fraseri offered to Andorra. His smile stretched across his face in barely concealed excitement. "This is what we call the week of the reaping!"

"You capture and kill fae?" Andorra's mouth felt dry. Could she save them all? Should she save them all? What was supposed to be her role as Queen? Did she damn all of these fae to their deaths because of a dryad holiday, or did she put Fraseri in his place as his Queen?

She felt sick. She wasn't sure what jurisdiction she even had over him.

"Ah ah ah, not just fae. Fae who have acted unjustly towards the wood! These fae have endangered our lives! These fae have wreaked havoc on all of us! This is finally our time for revenge."

Andorra took in their faces. They looked terrified. Mostly angry. This wasn't right, and she knew it.

"So, this is your form of punishment? You collect them all year long until this week?"

"Precisely! See, I knew you'd see it our way. Roseria wasn't convinced you would be okay with this. She kept prattling on about your human heart."

Andorra took a step back. Her mind ran over her options. Cut the vines, and they fell to their death. Fight Fraseri, and he could tie her up there himself.

"She even thought you'd be upset about your friend we captured. I told her that there was no way you would care about a Winter Fae being hung to his death, but she was rather convinced-"

Andorra whipped her eyes around, her heart slamming against her ribcage at his words. There was no way, no way, that Nohx was here. It wasn't possible to her that Fraseri could catch him. But there, in the back left, hung a familiar looking man.

"Friend?" She hoped her voice didn't betray her. She couldn't see his face, as he was hung in a way that offered his back to her. But his dark hair, and his pale skin, and the way he hung in absolute silence told her what she needed to know.

"Yes. The Snow Clan Leader. We found him traipsing through the woods earlier this morning. Roseria told us it would be a shame to let him run free. She thought he could convince you to see our way."

Had she thought the dryads weren't violent? Or scary? She was changing her mind rapidly on that one. Andorra wanted to call out to him foolishly, but she didn't. She looked over at Fraseri, an eyebrow raised.

"I think killing him would piss off Prince Puck, don't you think?"

"Prince Puck would not come to bother us." Fraseri shrugged off the comment a little too quickly. "He has other things to attend to."

"Oh," Andorra continued. "So you aren't aware of Puck's desire to groom Sir Nohx into the next Winter Prince? Pretty sure Puck would come bother you over that."

Fraseri looked at Roseria for a single second, but it was enough for Andorra to realize that this hit home. Time and time again, Prince Puck's name did the talking for him. His reputation as a terrifying ruler did all of the dirty work.

"Pyatt, Fraseri has Nohx. As in, he plans on killing Nohx. I need your backup."

"I'm looping your way now."

"Wait on my signal. I need to play this carefully."

"So, how does this work? You just drop them to their deaths? You watch to see how long they can hang upside down for?" Her tone of voice hopefully conveyed boredom. But on the inside, Andorra was panicked.

She wasn't going to lose Nohx. Not like this.

"I'm glad you asked! No, they'll join our arena! The goal of the game is to stay alive for the entirety of the week. If you can stay alive without falling or being killed, you are given a second chance at life. The only catch is that you are never allowed back in the wood."

"This is a game? For your enjoyment? Why not just kill them immediately if they're endangering the wood?"

Fraseri looked disgusted. "That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?"

"Does the rest of Anlithamy know about this?"

"Why do you think people don't come into the Woodland Forest? They fear us as much as they fear getting lost forever. The Prophet and the Rumplewren wish to be left alone, and we grant them that wish by ruining the chance of survival for wanderers."

Andorra felt stunned into silence.

She was in charge, wasn't she? She made the rules in Anlithamy now.

"So, what did some of them do? What's an example of their bad doing? Cutting down a tree?" Andorra needed to buy time. Not only for herself, but for the fae hanging. She weighed her options carefully. She could have Fraseri locked away. It would be easy, considering her ability to force him back to the Royal Court through the inbetween. But did he have a second in command? Would the next person in charge kill the fae in the meantime?

Did she bargain for Nohx's life and leave the rest to die?

Fraseri's tone was confident. "Some cut down the trees, some hunt us, some trespass. If they endanger us, we capture them."

Something tickled in the back of her mind. Fraseri had been nervous she wouldn't agree to this. He had taken Nohx as collateral damage, just in case. Which meant one thing: This couldn't have been okay when her parents were in charge, and he was worried Andorra would put an end to their fun.

An idea formed in her mind. She would have to wait for Fraseri to start his challenge. The risk of him dropping Nohx was far too strong still.

"When do you start? It may be worth my time to see who the victor is. I may want them to join the Royal Guard after this." She tried to keep her tone bored, and her face impassive. Even when she could feel the burn of Roseria's gaze, she tried to hold up the mask.

Fraseri clapped his hands in childlike glee. "Tomorrow! See Roseria, I knew our Queen would see our way. We have no need for traitors in Anlithamy."

If only he knew what a traitor Roseria was, Andorra thought to herself. She didn't spare another glance towards Nohx as they moved back towards the ladder. She would get him out safely, but only if no one suspected just how freaked she actually was.