The women froze, stunned like birds caught in a sudden gust. They knew Medith never loosed an arrow without a target; if she’d decided, every angle was already weighed.
Calm acceptance settled over her like evening light. “I knew this day would come, just not this fast... He’s in a hurry, like a storm forced ashore, though I don’t know why.” Her gaze stayed placid, her face relaxed, as if she’d seen through everything.
She paused, voice cool with reason. “This is a trump card. Once it’s played, I get led by the leash. Retreat? Impossible. With the Wind Sprite’s long ties to the Eastern Nation, refusal isn’t an option—worse, it would show we’ve already seen through the truth.”
“Advance? Also no. The Eastern Nation is a battlefield without smoke; one misstep and you’re ground to dust. You won’t even have time to dodge—why ram into it?”
“He’s as troublesome as I expected, thorns beneath silk.”
Faces tightened, color draining like dusk. As Medith said, they were trapped. Go, and peril stalks every step; don’t go, and the Elf Clan might face extinction. After all, Paris dares kill his own kin.
Milia and Nora stayed unhurried, smiles warm as lamplight. They watched Medith. “But you already have a counter, don’t you?”
Medith’s beauty bloomed. “You figured it out again? Think it through. His invite into the palace is a chance. I can slip in, read the currents, confirm if the whole court sits in his palm.”
“And our assault on the Southern Kingdom blazes bright. If something erupts in the Eastern Nation, the world isn’t blind. Paris doesn’t own heaven and earth just yet.”
“But... he can raise tsunamis... and that Starshaker Hipo—if they repeat the trick, then—”
“Then I’ll break the tsunami, and split sky from stone.” Medith cut Sais short. The women blinked, then smiled, relief soft as rain. In another’s mouth that’s bravado; in Medith’s, it’s fact.
“This road bristles with danger. I go alone. That’s an order—no objections.” Her tone allowed no cracks. Mouths fell open, then shut, hammered flat by that steady, unyielding gaze.
Deep night.
“Medith... you really... decided to do this?” Sais wrapped her slender waist, leaned to her smooth back. Her eyes flowed like water, full of reluctance and worry.
Medith laced their fingers, ten to ten, warmth pressed at her spine. Love pulsed through their joined hands, and her smile eased. “Ah... this is... one of a husband’s burdens to carry...”
“What I want to protect is our daily life. If bees and butterflies can circle the Elf Clan, if I can watch you all joke and play, then everything I pay is worth it.”
“I truly don’t want... to lose anyone anymore... I really don’t...”
Her shoulders began to tremble; a faint sob threaded the dark. Sais drew her head down to her chest. She lifted Medith’s small hand, big-sister gentle. “You’ve done enough. Look...”
She saw the X-shaped scar carved by her own hand. Memory surged; Melia’s face rose in her mind. The dam broke, and Medith cried out.
“Hush... hush... We never really know the ending, do we? I trust you; trust me too. I’ll stay with you to the sky’s far edge—until your wish, your Xier, until all your wishes come true.”
“Sa...is...”
“Medith...”
“Mwah...”
