Wraithwood Botanist

Ferna Rin was a redhead with her hair in a bun, wearing a leather suit with lapels. It was strange yet equal parts professional and functional, and spoke to her integrity as she addressed the Drokai council.

"Wraithwood Village is in the early establishment phase," she said, "meaning that everything we do is a reasonable requirement for daily living. From animal husbandry and crops to the utilization of trees and Diktyo water, everything we are doing is simply for the people currently living here. Therefore, we are not expanding or considering accommodations for future residents, aside from the families of those who demonstrate their usefulness and loyalty—a measure necessary to keep high retention rates and build loyalty to the forest."

Confused mumbles spread through the Drokai at the mention of families. Expansion was not discussed, but the reason was almost necessary.

"This building period will give us two years to hold dialogues on the impending war, share information, and negotiate trade and cooperation between our people," she continued. "Our plans will be fast to establish Wraithwood, but slow to approach the colonization of Areswood or the creation of an army. The Wraiths aim to become guardians, which means we seek to work with the Drokai, Vraxle, and River Guardian in all decisions to come."

Nethralis turned to me. "You've found yourself a silver tongue siren."

"We're lucky she has a soul pact," I said.

Nethralis smiled and looked around. "I'll open up the floor."

"Lady Rin, how will you ensure that your idea of 'reasonable requirement of daily living' meets our standards?"

My throat bulged and I wanted to snap at the bearded asshole who asked that question, but Ferna didn't even flinch.

"We propose to build a council, ideally immediately, to assuage concerns of our practices," she said. "I believe we'll find that our ways of living are generally the same, and that the areas we disagree upon can be overcome with consistent partnership and dialogue."

This shut the man up. He even gave a satisfied nod.

Thank God for diplomacy, I thought.

The Drokai continued to ask loaded questions, but Ferna didn't bite. She was cut from stone. By the end of her discussion, the Drokai agreed with everything she said. From farming to husbandry, we had unlimited resources.

Trigan followed, taking the floor to explain his duties, outline our resources, and report the projects the villagers were working on. It was equally impressive.

And all of that was a bit disheartening.

I sat at my kitchen table with Ferna and Trigan after the event, sighing and groaning.

"What's wrong?" Ferna asked.

"It's nothing," I said. "It's just… I almost died dealing with these people, and then you walked in and they started singing."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Trigan said seriously. "You've achieved something people haven't done in tens of millennia."

"I don't think that's what's bothering her," Ferna said. She chuckled and put her hand on mine. "Mira. I've been doing this for almost two centuries. It's natural I'm better at this than you."

"Two centuries?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "You haven't looked?"

"No… it makes me feel like a stalker. So I just trusted Trigan would hire the best."

Trigan laughed and then rubbed his ear. "I appreciate the confidence, but you probably should research your people. You are still the head leader."

"I know…" I collapsed on my arm.

Ferna smiled gently. "What's really bothering you?"

"It's just… I don't know. I feel like the stronger I get, the less patience I have. And recently, I've been, like, strangling dragons. You guys are just reminding me that that isn't normal."

"Nah, that's normal for your age." Trigan stood. "Can I make some tea?"

"Please," I said.

He made tea and slid a cup toward my hand. "Mira. You may not be conventionally tactful, but whatever you're doing is working. And as much as you're beating yourself up for subjugating the dragons, I'd wager that was a turning point in these negotiations."

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Ferna accepted a cup of tea. "Agreed. If you hadn't done that, we wouldn't have so much cooperation."

"So… I should just continue doing that?" I asked.

Trigan and Ferna laughed.

"I think you've misunderstood," Ferna said. "It wasn't diplomacy so much as it is that you've proven yourself a capable guardian. If you hadn't done that, the Drokai wouldn't've been so receptive. Respect is hard earned, but once you get it, it eases things up."

"You just can't treat it like success," Trigan said. "Once you have respect, diplomacy becomes possible. But now you have it, you need diplomacy—and that's what we're here for. We have different roles, but we couldn't accomplish things without each other."

"Thanks for making me feel better," I said. I looked up and saw them both smiling gently. "What?"

Ferna pursed her lips to prevent flashing a bright smile. "It's just… after centuries of working with ruthless adults, it's interesting to work with someone growing up. It's almost… fun."

I looked at her. She looked forty. I groaned and lay back down. "I guess I'm just a kid to you guys. Well… I guess it doesn't matter. I just know I appreciate you guys… a lot."

"It's our pleasure," Trigan said. "Let us take care of it. Now, spend time with your family. Your brother's working hard and trying to be tough, but he already misses you."

"It's been a day!" I cried.

"That's how families are," Ferna said.

"Okay…" I stood hesitantly. "I'm going."

—----

Nightlife in Wraithwood was the best in those days, and the reason was simple—group eating. There were three times a day when everyone got over their differences and ate together. And we had one rule—no work at the table. It was about three hours of music from our musician, Tia, and some dancing and gossiping about dumb things that happened that day.

That night was no different, aside from the pixies. There was already a line, and the cooks had large cauldrons of beast stew that were seasoned by the twenty-pound bags of spices they brought. The food smelled delicious and the lurvine paced back and forth as one of the chefs prepared their steaks.

A chef finished a massive steak and tried to hand it off to Kael, but Kline blinked into existence and snatched it out of the air, disappearing into the forest as the lurvines gave chase. The crowd laughed until they saw me.

Then the area became silent.

I blushed. "Do you guys have to do this every night? I'm like… an awkward twenty-six-year-old cat lady. The fact that I fight dragons doesn't really change that.".

A chorus of awkward chuckles and a bit of laughter rang out. Then Trigan lifted his teacup like a wine glass and said, "To the awkward cat lady!" and everyone cheered.

He's so good at this… I thought.

I tried to slink away to a corner, but Ferna boxed me in with Felio.

I looked at Felio. "Traitor."

She giggled and hugged me. "Come on. Let's see Tyler."

She dragged me to Tyler, who didn't even notice me. He was chatting with the musician, Tia, a brunette beauty who looked my age, but I checked her age.

"Name: Tia Helka

Age: 68

Desires: Pursue music, get away from arranged relationships."

"Give 'er some space," I said to Tyler. "She's beautiful, but she sees you as a child."

He looked between us. "How old—"

"Never ask a woman her age," Kyro said drunkenly, fluttering onto my shoulder. "You'd think they'd stop caring after their first millennia, but trust me—they never do."

Tyler turned back to Tia, who flashed him a smile and pinched his cheeks. "Thanks for making an old woman feel young." He blushed and watched in wonder as she walked back to her musician platform.

"You're not getting anything this cycle," I said. "Everyone here's probably as old as mom, married, widowed, or like Tia, who came here to avoid relationships."

He frowned.

"You're such a man." I pinched his cheeks, too, and he slapped away my hand. Then he smiled gently.

"You enjoying yourself?" I asked.

"I am," he said. "After all that stress and training, it feels nice to come here where there's no responsibilities. It's like… if something bad happens, there's nothing I can do about it. Literally nothing. So you just kinda accept it. I haven't had this little anxiety… ever. I just wish…" He looked toward Tia and back. "There were pretty girls my age."

"Such a man," I repeated. "But when you come back, there'll be someone your age, I'm sure. Maybe four. That way, three can see you for who you are and reject you, but you'll still have one to spare."

"Mira!" he cried.

I laughed, and then he laughed. Then he calmed down and said, "Hey Mira?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Can I… do something? Like… a task? I think it's cool that you're doing cool things and I want to do cool things, too."

I smirked and looked at the table. "How about… I put you in charge of the guards?"

His eyes opened wide as the Mississippi. "Seriously?"

"Yep," I said. "As long as you do everything Malo says."

His shoulders slumped. "So no."

"What? I pawned all my work on people that are better than me, and now I'm getting all the credit. Isn't that what you just called cool?"

He thought about it, and then his face twitched noncommittally.

"But here's the cool thing," I said. "Since we're technically in charge, they're going to come to us for all the cool decisions, and we're going to learn how to lead them. That way when it's really time for us to be cool, we'll be ready. Cool?"

He smiled slightly. "Actually… yeah."

"Cool?" I asked.

"Cool." He smiled. "Love you, Sis."

"Love you, too, kid." I ruffled his hair.

"I hate that you treat me like a kid," he said. "I'm nineteen."

"Did you say something?" I stood up and gave him a wink, and walked off.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bath."

"But you didn't eat?"

"Some things are way more important than food."

Ten minutes later, I was lying in steaming water with a pleasant smile. It was peaceful until Nethralis said, "Can I join you?"

"Can royalty bathe with humans?" I asked dryly.

"I can bathe with whoever I damn well please," she said. "I'm way too damn old to care what others think."

I grinned. "You're quite crude when your dress's off."

"That's because I can breathe." Nethralis sighed as she entered the water. Then she closed her tiny eyes and said, "I hate to talk to you during your time of relaxation, but there's something only Kyro and I know about, and I don't want the elders to hear." She snapped her fingers, and a privacy barrier formed around us. Then she sighed and said, "In a few minutes," as she slouched in the water.

"You can't do that," I complained.

"Ah, it's nothing bad, so just relax." I tried and it helped. Before long, I was slouching in the water and breathing steadily. That's when Nethralis laid in on me.

"Lake Nyralith. There's some things you need to know."