Celestria Gemheart's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

Celestria left the stone ring with the rite copied and a colder problem in her chest. She needed eyes on both royal lines, soon. Her own face would not do. Step into either court's path now and the whispers would start before sundown. She walked back through the wood and found Elara already waiting, gloves folded, a small ledger tucked under one arm. Celestria did not have to explain. Elara only said, "I will go. You will not be seen near them." It was not a question. Elara built her cover before dawn. She set a wooden bench at the edge of the common path and stacked open books beside it, pages weighted with stones. Anyone passing saw a quiet scribe taking notes on woodland records. No one looked twice at a girl with ink on her fingers. For the wider watch, Celestria placed two hired pairs of eyes at an old mossy tower with narrow windows, one at the north slit, one at the south. Neither knew the other was there. Each reported only what they saw. Celestria alone would lay the two reports side by side. At dusk Elara walked to a small carved shrine deep in the trees and left her folded notes on the inner bench. Celestria came an hour later, alone, and read them by the last light. Both lines were moving sooner than expected. The fairy side was already counting blades. She closed the ledger and pressed her palm flat against the carved wood. The scouting had worked. She had not been seen. But the clock she had counted on was shorter now, and the next step could not wait for a calmer week.