Elara Silverleaf's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

The wood was gone by dusk, and so was Elara's calm. The villagers had trusted her at last. But trust cut both ways. Now every one of them knew an elf had paid in diamonds. That night she saw the shape by her window. A man crouched near the wall, still, watching her door. When she opened it, he slipped into the dark. She could not sleep. She could not leave the shop alone. Her pouch of gems held her whole future, and someone meant to take it. "You keep looking at the window," Sophia said. The girl sat at the tea counter, chin on her hands. She had not gone to sleep either. "Someone's out there. I saw him too." "Go to bed, Sophia." "You always say that." Sophia did not move. "You hide things. That's why I had to find Father myself." She said it flat, no anger, just fact. It landed harder than a shout. Elara sat down across from her daughter. For once she did not change the subject. "You're right. I hid too much. I won't hide this. Someone wants what I carry. I don't know how to stop him alone." A knock came at the door. Both of them went still. Elara opened it a crack. Prince Charming stood there, a lantern in one hand. Behind him, two men carried something heavy between them, wrapped in cloth. "Heard a man's been circling your shop," he said. He glanced past her at Sophia and his face softened, just for a breath. "Word travels. Which is kind of the problem." The men set their load down and pulled off the cloth. A metal safe stood there, tall as Sophia, its trim etched with fine curling lines that caught the lantern light. "You can't watch the door every night," Charming said. "Nobody can. So you stop giving them a reason to come." He crouched and turned the dial. "Put the gems inside. Anyone breaks in, they find a locked box they can't carry and can't open. Not worth the rope." Elara ran her hand over the cold metal. She thought of the pouch under her pillow, the sleepless nights, the shape at the glass. Then she opened the pouch and poured the gems in. One by one they clinked against the floor of the safe. She swung the door shut and spun the dial. "He'll come back," she said. "Let him." Charming stood. "He'll leave with nothing." Sophia had come to lean against her mother's arm. Elara did not push her away. "You did this together," the girl said, looking between them. "We did," Elara said. That night the lurker returned. Elara watched from the window, calm now. He tried the door, found it firm, and saw the safe through the glass. He stared a long moment. Then he walked away and did not come back.