89 I’m a nice spirit? Probably

Sir Gareld and the prince's eyes were wide with shock at the apparent anger in my statement. "I am sorry for my impertinence. Please forgive me," Sir Gareld said lowering his head as far as he could while on horseback. It was quite an impressive site. He was clearly a much better rider than I was.

The prince also bowed deeply. "We meant you no harm. This slight was due to our ignorance. Communication with the great forest is limited and much of your ways are a mystery to us."

I was right, they were very effective at letting me vent my stress. I felt oddly satisfied to see the prince and his man bow to me in an apology that was not needed. Maybe I was not the nicest spirit out there, I realized. But this was not going to hurt anyone, so was it really a bad thing? Even with my internal debate, I was not regretting my choice and I fought the smile that was attempting to spread over my face. "See that you remember that these are my woods and the elves are my guests in the future."

"We will," they both said resolutely.

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I had given up fighting the smile but both their heads were down so I did my best to keep up my little game. "I will forgive your error of ignorance this time. But be certain that I will not be so lenient next time. I will hold responsibility upon you and your…." I really could not go on and started laughing. I simply couldn't stop. I sensed Sir Gerald and the prince's confusion, but all the stress of the recent seasons came out in gales of laughter.They simply looked so absurd trying to bow to me on horseback! "Do I really look so scary that you have to cower before me?" I said as they straightened up. Sir Gareld looked flustered, and the prince seemed slightly embarrassed. "Is me wearing the skin of a tree too intimidating? Do I need to appear as a lady before you again?" I finished with a small smirk.

"I would not mind that," the prince said clearly before he had time to think about what he was saying. Sir Gareld slapped the prince on the back of the head while I nearly stumbled in another fit of laughter.

After I managed to calm down I lowered my head to them. "I want to apologize for leading you on like that. But this feels slightly insincere since I greatly enjoyed it and can not promise that I will not do it again if the opportunity arises." I took another breath to help myself relax and continued in a more serious voice. "However, what I said was true. The Elves are moving at my request. My woods have been attacked."

"Who would do such a thing, attacking a forest? How do you even attack a forest?" the prince asked in confusion.

"I can assure you that this attack was not authorized by the Dukedom. You will have our support in figuring out who attacked you," Sir Gareld said.

"I am already aware of who it was that attacked me."

"What kingdom would do such a thing?" Austen (I'm pretty sure that was his name) looked to Sir Gareld for an answer.

"It wasn't a kingdom, it was a single person," I corrected.

"What could one person possibly do against a forest?" Sir Gareld muttered.

The prince must have heard him, because he asked me, "Then what concern has you so stressed?"

"He ran away before I could catch him," I said sorrowfully.

"Isn't your problem solved then?" The prince asked, still confused.

I thought about just answering their questions as they were stated, but this would only lead to more questions. I was getting tired of the back and forth. "I will explain from the beginning. It started a few years ago. Something was wrong with my woods. The eastern part was getting sick. Last spring my dear deer friend, the animal spirit in my woods, went to investigate for me. When the fall came and she had not reported back to me I decided to head out on my own to look for her.

"After investigating with the help of the elves, I learned that she was abducted by a magician named Maximus the Powerful. He was also the one that was poisoning my woods. Unfortunately he noticed that I was coming and ran away. I have been following the leads I have found, but they are a dead end." The men rode in silence for a few minutes thinking about what I had said.

"So you are searching for someone dear to you who was stolen away. If you have not found this Maximus the Powerful, why are you returning to your home?" the prince asked.

"I received a message that something was wrong in my woods and have returned to sort things out."

After I finished talking we continued on in silence for some time. The prince was in quiet conversation with Sir Gareld. I did my best not to listen to their conversation. I am not sure if it was out of politeness or that I was still slightly frustrated at having to be accompanied again. But for all my intent of not listening to them, humans really were loud. To help give them some privacy and to relieve my boredom from walking, I decided to practice a little. I tried to count the horses through their foot falls on the grassy swath in the center of the road.

After the prince and Sir Gareld finished talking there was a brief moment of silence before the prince said, "We will help you however we can in this matter."

"Your highness, are you sure it is wise to promise her that before we reach the forest and confirm what she has told us?" Sir Gareld said. He seemed to be in a bit of a shock at the abruptness of the prince's pledge of support.

"We have seen more than enough evidence to know that she really is a fey as she states. I do not see how helping her would do any harm to our relationship with the elves," the prince responded confidently.

"She has already tricked you once and practically promised that she would do it again. She may be scheming something. What if she is trying to throw the elves out of the woods?" Sir Gareld offered. I guess I might not have been a good idea for me to joke with them that much. After all, I was still working on my public image.

"You, my good Sir, have spent too many years beleaguered with court intrigue to trust anyone," the prince said in a playful tone.

"And you are far too trusting. That is why his majesty has entrusted me to be your aid," Sir Gareld said, sounding slightly fed up.

"I can lay one worry to rest," I said interrupting their conversation. "I am not planning on kicking the elves out of my woods any time soon. They are the only real thing keeping you humans from cutting down all the trees in my forest." This did not seem to entirely convince Sir Gareld so I added, "I appreciate your offer of help, but I do not know the full extent of the crisis in my woods so I will not at this time ask for your help. All I ask is that if you learn anything about the location of Maximus, please tell the elves. That is really the biggest service you can offer me." I felt that this was a good middle ground allowing the prince to save face while not asking for anything that would lead to a greater conflict of interest.

"We will be sure to let you know if we learn anything," the prince said with a smile. He seemed slightly like those young men I had seen in the past trying to impress a girl. I could only say he would have to work a lot harder if he was after me. But knowing that relations with humans actually were possible, it felt surprisingly satisfying to be longed for.