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Hope wasn't sure for how long she wandered, or how far, but eventually, she stepped into a grove with a peaceful pond shimmering under the light of lanterns in the trees nearby. She stopped, wiping fresh tears from her eyes, finally calming down from her burst of emotion. She hadn't meant to explode, but frustration had got the better of her, and she perched herself on a gnarled branch that arched over the water, the peace calming her jangled nerves.
She knew the others were right. Getting the two babies back would be near impossible without a solid plan, and the council would simply remove the children, or execute them outright, rather than have them freed by their parents. And Queen Tanila's realm was already on the verge of being invaded by the Pandorans, if what Chika and Eldon said was true. The haunted city would do for a majority of the invaders, and the guardians in the lake would finish off the rest. But that still left the infants' fate in the balance, and Hope sighed.
"Hello."
Her heart in her mouth, she turned, but instead of the creepy girl she'd seen in the deserted city, she saw a child dressed in purest white, her long golden hair done up in an elabourate ponytail, white flowers entwined in the long locks. Hope quickly revised her assessment; this wasn't a child, but a woman, albeit no taller than the little girl. And then her eyes widened; this was the little girl she'd seen!
The woman smiled. "I apologise for the fright I gave you," she said. "But it is my duty to screen all who first arrive in the city. I am the first line of defence, and given the current situation, all my power will be needed to halt the invaders in their tracks."
Hope relaxed. "You're forgiven," she told the woman. "You did scare the life out of me, though. How do you manage to be so, well, creepy when you're definitely not?"
"I will tell you all," the woman promised. "But first, I think a cup of tea and some cake will calm you down. I can sense your troubles are still plaguing you."
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Hope said, as she hopped down and took the woman's proffered hand.
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The woman - who was in fact a pixie named Jorel - made Hope feel right at home, despite the fact Hope did feel a little oversized in the small cottage. In the end, she had to sit on the floor, which Jorel didn't mind in the slightest, and after an hour spent talking over tea and some very delightful cake, Hope felt a lot better. "I shouldn't have stormed off like that," she admitted. "But I just don't know what to do. I know we can't go in there hammer and tongs, but I can't just sit around doing nothing while two innocent babies are subjected to God only knows what sort of torment the Pandoran council has in store for them."
"I understand your frustrations," Jorel told her. "But your friends are right. The safety of the two babies is paramount, and as you say, you cannot go in there like a bull in heat. It will only cause you to fall back into the Pandorans' hands, or it will have the equally unpleasant outcome of your daughter and Emily's son being either removed or killed."
Hope sighed, but she was no longer as frustrated as she'd been when she'd left the meeting with Queen Tanila. "What is there to do, then?" she asked.
"For now, there is nothing you can do," Jorel said, firmly but compassionately. "I can feel the desire to do something burn in you like a fire, and I know better than anyone how much it galls to have to sit and smother that fire. But letting it blaze out will cause more harm. For now, you and your friends will have to abide here. The three of you are criminals in the Pandorans' eyes; Chika and Eldon stand to be executed, and you will be imprisoned, watched night and day, and forced to breed more so-called 'gifted' children."
"No thank you," Hope said crossly. She sighed again. "But you're right. And we've already got war on the doorstep as it is-- What's wrong?" she demanded, as Jorel's eyes turned black. But she already knew what had happened, and she forced herself to put her empty teacup on the floor before she accidentally smashed it. Time seemed to stop, until, after what felt like an eternity, Jorel's eyes returned to their cornflower blue colour, and her face was sheet white.
"A man called Arjun approaches," she said, her voice strained. "He comes with a man called Jaiden, and they are beyond angry."
Hope rose, the blood draining from her face. "I have to get back," she said urgently.
Jorel nodded. "I cannot escort you back to the queen," she said, "but you have only to retrace your steps. You will not get lost, but you must not tarry. I have to invoke powers that will strip the soul from your body if you linger too long, and I would not bring injury to a friend."
Hope needed no further urging; after a quick goodbye, she left the treehouse and hit the ground running. She couldn't remember exactly which way she'd come to reach Jorel's house in the first place, but she did remember some of the landmarks she'd passed by, all on her left. She just had to pass those same landmarks on her right, and she'd be back in the palace gardens. But even as she started her hasty journey back, a horrible sense of doom eclipsed her thoughts, and she knew without being told that Jaiden would easily be able to counter anything Jorel would throw at him and Arjun. She could only pray the guardians in the cavern would make short work of the two invaders before they could spread the word of how to reach the elven city. If even the guardians failed ... she shut that thought off. There'd be time enough to dwell on that when she was back with her friends.
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