Queen of the Sylphs by L. J. McDonald Read Free Book Online

repeated.
    Gabralina appeared, pushing through the door and against his back until he got out of the way and she could pass with an armful of blankets. Sala found herself backed into a corner, feeling more claustrophobic than ever.
    “Hi, Wat,” Gabralina said, beaming at him before putting the blankets on the table and turning to Sala. “Have you two introduced yourselves?”
    “We were about to,” Sala said.
    Wat glanced between his master and Sala, and he put his arms around Gabralina, staring at Sala as he did. “This is Gabralina,” he said, pronouncing her name slowly and carefully.
    Sala smiled as her blonde friend giggled. “I’ll remember that,” she said. Glancing at Gabralina she asked, “He’s a sweetheart. I have a few things to bring in. Can you tell him to obey me so I can ask him to bring them in? Some of them are heavy.”
    Gabralina shrugged. “Sure. Wat, obey Sala, okay?”
    “Okay,” he said.
    “Are all battle sylphs like this?” Sala asked. He was staring up at the ceiling for no reason she could determine.
    “Oh, no,” Gabralina said, leaning back against him. Her battler forgot whatever had drawn him to the ceiling and started to nibble on her neck. “Wat is unique.”
    Sala was somewhat glad to hear that.

Chapter Four
    When the main settlement of Sylph Valley was first created, a lot of thought went into how it should be laid out. Buildings were planned that wouldn’t be needed for years, as well as an underground maze of apartments and storage areas that the town could retreat to in case of severe weather or attack. Every building that existed was thanks to the sylphs, from the huge warehouses to the single homes and cottages. Even the henhouses had been made by sylphs, shaped from the earth and rock itself.
    At the same time the sylphs built the rest, they made the land fertile again and brought in water for drinking and sanitation. Along with the buildings, they’d also put in greenery. Where earth sylphs were passionate about building, shaping rock as though it were merely clay, water sylphs were fascinated by things green and growing. Often with the help of masters who’d drawn them through the gate by being just as passionate about gardening, these sylphs helped restore life to the Shale Plains. In the town center, they took that passion further by creating elaborate gardens.
    Today, Solie didn’t see the elaborate, always-changing glory of the park, a pet project of three particular water sylphs and their masters, so beautiful that already it was being spoken of in other kingdoms and people were starting to travel to the Valley just to see it. Not caring about the explosion of endless colors or the rich scent of healthy earth, she sat on a wide stone bench, her head resting on Heyou’s shoulder. She watched a trio of small children play on an expanse of green grass, screaming and yelling. A young woman with a little baby sat on a bench directly across the grass from them, discreetly nursing her child. Back in the hamlet where Solie was born, everyone would have been disgusted with the woman for feeding her baby publically, but if anyone so much as looked at her funny in this place, Heyou would react. So would any of the other half-dozen battlers spread throughout the garden.
    Solie glanced around. They didn’t know for sure if they caught all the assassins yet, no matter how much she trusted her reading of the first. She hadn’t been able to take being locked inside and guarded anymore, but now that she was outside and guarded, she couldn’t stop herself from staring at the young mother and wished she hadn’t bothered.
    Heyou’s emotions spiked toward true alarm. “Why are you crying?” he asked.
    Solie put a hand to her cheek, surprised to find it wet. She stared for a moment at her hand, her head still resting on his shoulder. The fabric of his blue coat was scratchy under her skin.
    “It doesn’t matter,” she said at last.
    Confusion washed through him,