The departure happened faster than I expected. Queen Elara decided the delegation would be small; just herself, Marina, and me. No guards or entourage or anything like that.
When her daughters found out, their protests came immediately.
Tamar stepped forward first, arms crossed, as her silver-gray eyes flashed with fierce trepidation. "Mother, you can't possibly go alone. The borders are restless at this times."
Heka nodded agreeably beside her, her spear in hand. "We'll accompany you. It would be safer."
"Yeah, what if those Horned Ones are already on the move?" Martha added her voice, her red locks springing with indignation.
Even Lulu looked worried, clutching her staff. "Please, mother, at least take some of us."
But Elara turned slowly, and the air in the royal platform seemed to thicken. A subtle aura rippled from her; raw power, weighty and unyielding, like the pressure before a storm.
Her silver-gray eyes narrowed just enough to remind everyone who she was.
"Do you truly believe your queen is… weak?" she asked, voice calm but edged with something almost steel-like.
The daughters instantly shrank back as one; Tamar's defiance withered, Heka immediately lowered her gaze, Martha muttered an apology and looked away. Lulu bit her lip, her grip on her staff increasing.
Subsequently, Elara's expression softened almost immediately. She caressed Tamar's cheek briefly. "You all should stay and guard the Spire. That is your duty."
We left within the hour.
The creature waiting on the uppermost platform was breathtaking: a massive griffin-like beast with the body of a snow leopard, wings of rainbow-like silver feathers spanning wider than any treehouse, and eyes like polished amber.
Its name was Auralis, Marina told me, one of the few remaining sky-runners bound to the royal line. It lowered its great head as we approached, nuzzling my hand with surprising gentleness, warm breath ruffling my hair.
A low, comfortable rumble vibrated through its chest.
"Oh? It likes you," Elara said, a note of genuine surprise in her voice. "Auralis is typically picky. Good job."
Marina mounted first, settling into the forward saddle with practiced ease.
Elara climbed behind her, then reached down for me. I took her hand and swung up into the wide rear saddle.
The moment I settled, Elara shifted closer, her body pressing lightly against my back, one arm sliding around my waist to stabilize me.
The contact was casual but kind of intimate; her warmth escaping through the thin fabric of her traveling robe, her breath brushing my neck.
"Hold on to me," she murmured, lips close to my ear.
Then Auralis launched with a powerful beat of wings. The platform fell away beneath us, wind rushing past as we rose above the canopy.
Verdant Spire shrank to a patchwork of green platforms and radiant vines nestled among ancient trees. Then the forest itself spread out… Like an endless sea of emerald waves under the late afternoon sun.
The flight was just pure wonder.
I really am in another world, huh?
We soared high enough that clouds drifted below us like soft islands. Sunlight caught on Auralis's feathers, turning them into something resembling fluid silver.
Far below us, rivers glinted like threads of molten gold, and distant mountains rose in hazy purple ridges.
The air was cool and clean up here, carrying some faint scent of pine in open sky. Every beat of those massive wings sent a gentle rhythm through our bodies, rocking us together in the saddle.
Elara's arm stayed around my waist the entire time, her hand resting lightly on my stomach.
And occasionally her thumb sketched small, absent circles; just enough to feel intentional.
She leaned into me more than strictly necessary for balance, her cheek brushing my shoulder now and then like a needy cat. Sometimes giggling on her own and calling my name. So cute.
The authoritative queen I knew from the Spire had softened into something adorable, almost playful, like a woman enjoying a quiet moment with someone special.
Quite a new side to her. It's interesting to see.
After a while, she spoke, her voice low over the wind. "Sara has seemed different lately. Somewhat distracted. Though, one could also say happier, yet… thoughtful. Have you noticed, Benjamin Mark?"
Sara, huh?
I thought of her confession after that bath, her threatening jealousy and subsequent resolution.
"She's been good," I said carefully. "More open, maybe. You know, she's helped me more than anyone. I'm really grateful for her also giving me a roof over my head."
"Hehe!" Elara's laugh was soft and cute, as she snuggled her face against my back. "That sounds like my girl."
Damn. This part of her isn't so bad at all… Wait, did she just say something fascinating?
I twisted slightly to look at her. "Your… girl?"
Yuri?
She met my eyes, and her expression went casual and affectionate.
"Sara is my third daughter. She's over fifteen hundred years old now; far, far older than Tamar and the others, who haven't yet completed five centuries. They don't know, of course. I kept it quiet long ago."
Wow…
The revelation settled in slowly.
I mean, Sara—Elara's daughter?
Older sister to Tamar, Heka, Martha, Lulu. It explains the discreet authority she carried sometimes, and that depth in her eyes.
And hey, 1,500 years isn't a joke!
"But…" I asked, "Why keep it a secret?"
Elara's arm tightened briefly around me.
"Sara was always… different. From birth, you see, she seemed to be searching for something she couldn't quite name. she was so restless. She mated only once, epochs ago—a dwarven mage who came to deliver a message. Soon after that, she chose the quiet life of a scout, away from the palace. I believe she was waiting for a change she couldn't yet see."
Her voice softened further. "Then YOU arrived, Benjamin Mark. I've never seen her light up the way she does around you. Thank you for bringing that to her soul."
Heat began to rise in my cheeks. "No, no—she's the one who brought light to me. From the first day I met her."
Elara's hand pressed warmer against my stomach, a gentle squeeze. "If you say so."
It really felt like we were a lovey-dovey couple or something. Not bad, though.
And hey, is it weird that I think sex in the air might be a brilliant idea?
*
The conversation drifted, going easy and light.
But then her tone unexpectedly turned teasing. "I was surprised to see that you bonded with Lotus already. Truly astonished."
I yelped, nearly losing my grip on the saddle. "How did you—?"
She laughed, amused and genuine, as her body shook against mine.
"A woman knows these things. And besides, you verified it just now."
Tsk. I was tricked.
"Also, Lotus herself proved it correct with a bizarre expression one morning. Two millennia since she last shared herself with anyone. You have a gift for reaching the unreachable."
I groaned, face burning. "I just wanted to help out, that's all. Was it that obvious?"
"Only to those who know the woman in question." Elara's voice turned thoughtful. "I am forty-two hundred years old, and the second oldest Amazon in the Spire. Lotus is five thousand five hundred and ninety, exactly. She has carried more than most of us combined."
This is insane. The numbers really sank in.
Elara, over four thousand. Sara, fifteen hundred. Lotus, ancient beyond imagining. And here I was—a thirty-five years old reborn soul, and technically not even a month old, flying through the sky with a queen who felt ageless and timeless against my back.
I seriously am in another world, right?
We talked and laughed as the sun lowered, and the wind cool on our faces. Auralis banked gently, riding thermals with effortless grace.
Soon, below us, the landscape changed. The endless forest gave way to rolling hills, then cultivated fields and winding roads.
In the distance, the medieval human kingdom of Gihon came into view: stone walls glinting in the setting sun, towers rising around a grand central castle, banners fluttering in the breeze.
The Neutral Glades lay just beyond us, a sacred expanse of ancient oaks preserved as meeting ground for all races.
Elara's arm tightened around me again, her chin resting lightly on my shoulder with a grin.
Was she a high-schooler in love, or a 4,200-year-old powerful queen? I couldn't know.
"We'll land soon," she said softly. "Rest while you can. The summit will surely be pressuring and nerve-wracking."
Just thinking of it made me tired already; so I leaned back into her frame, watching the kingdom grow closer together.
The paradise had felt unending, but the world beyond Verdant Spire was surfacing. But whatever waited in the Glades, we would face it together.
Ahhhh, I want to go home to Sara already… I have a bad feeling about this summit...