Page 92 of Fae Tithe

Atlas preened from the attention, and the Merman covered Helena’s hand with his own. He ran his gaze over her collection of books and the newspaper.

“Did you go to the village today?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“I did,” Helena admitted, biting her lip. “Before you ask, yes, it was too soon, with my injuries. I was exhausted by the time I got home, and the skin on my legs hurt. My joints are still burning. I had to have a nap when I got back.”

Lance said nothing, but gave her an exasperated look before reaching with his free hand to a slip of material on the table amongst the books. “How did this work for you two?” he asked, picking up the cream-coloured eye patch.

Well! I could still see through it with your left eye. It was wonderful to observe the village, the Dragon enthused.

“He likes it. Atlas says he could still see through it when I was wearing it. Tell the Selkies ‘thank you’, the fabrics they make are amazingly soft and comfortable. I also wore long sleeves and gloves, to hide this.” She waved her black scaled arm. “No one asked, but if they did, I was just planning on telling them I was caught in a fire in Portson,” Helena replied.

“I’ll pass that on to them.” Lance smiled, placing the patch back on the tabletop. He nodded his head down at the newspaper. “Was there anything interesting in there?”

“Surprisingly, yes.” She tapped her claw onto the folded printed sheets. “I read that the three surviving members of the Seelie Court have declared the Tithe Dragon responsible for the assassination of the two Seelie Lords and King. They have upped the bounty on the killer to bring them to justice.” She then removed her hand from the top of the newspaper and tapped her chin. “Oh! This actually surprised me. One of the Seelie Lords that was killed in Declan’s attack was the Seelie Lord of Archipelago. The Seelie Court tried to bring in another Fae Lord to take the title as he had no official heirs, but the court in Portson rejected the new Seelie Lord! Can you believe it?”

“Wait… the Fae Court of Portson rejected a new overseer?” Lance confirmed, a look of bafflement on his face.

“Yes. El knows more about history than me. When I asked her and Atlas, they had never heard of it happening before,” Helena added.

You cannot remove half of the ruling court and not expect things to change, Atlas hummed. She felt a brush of the Dragon’s excitement in her mind.

“Wow.” Lance leant back in the chair and blinked. To Helena, it looked like the carriage wheels in his mind were turning, as though he was processing the impact this may have on Nautilus. “Len… I think we need to talk—”

“About the next right thing?” Helena smiled weakly.

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Me too,” she agreed. “You go first.”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you and El to stay in Seelieland.”

“As much as I don’t want to admit it, neither do I. ” Helena sighed, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I wanted to ask, is there anywhere in your territory we could go?”

“There are at least two options, yes.” Lance cupped his chin.

“Would all of us be able to go? And I mean all, including the animals: Goliath, Biscuit, Bun, and Ash? I don’t think I’ll convince the kids to come otherwise. And would we be able to bring some of our things?”

Lance stroked his growing stubble. “Yes, I can make that work. We have some small trading boats that I can get the Selkies to sail into Portson. We can move the animals and your things bit by bit. It may take a few trips back and forth to wherever we decide to settle, but I can make I happen. Anything for everyone to be safe, and the happiest they could be with the situation.”

Helena dipped her head in agreement. “Let’s not worry the family with it right now. We’ll have El’s birthday first, then we’ll have to all sit down together and discuss it.”

“Oh! That reminds me,” he sung excitedly, reaching over to open one of his bags. He pulled out a long tube of thick paper that was kept in place by a soft ribbon.

“What’s that?” Helena asked.

Pushing his chair back and standing, Lance tugged at the ribbon and unrolled it. His arms spread wide and revealed a beautifully inked map of a collection of small islets and one large island. “It’s a birthday gift for El. This is part of my territory: the Selkie Islets and the Encantado Island. Which, by the way, are two of the options to live on if you did decide to leave Seelieland. I had my court representative for the Encantados commission it from his finest cartographer. Do you think she will like it?” he enthused, his gaze sparking with excitement as he moved from looking down at the map to look at her.

Helena’s face broke into a wide smile, and she felt tears of joy prick her eyes. The map was stunning, a bird’s eye view of a smattering of islets and a single larger island, with Nautilus marked in between the two. The paper was carefully inked in colours and each name of a location was written in Seeliespeak with swirling calligraphy.

One of those could be our new home, she mused.

That is exciting! Atlas exclaimed.

She turned her attention back to Lance. “It’s perfect. She will love it,” Helena gushed.

The High Prince grinned before carefully rolling it back up and securing it with the soft ribbon. “I have a present for you too.” He placed the map on the kitchen tabletop, and then his hands dived into another bag.

Lance removed the pale blue material from the sack, letting it unfurl from his hands. The Merman held it at arm’s length from his body.