XXXII

Talvi sat in the dungeon, wondering how he could find Elanor before leaving this court. 

How unfortunate! After all, now I have my name and am the monarch of winter again. If I take the throne, I will have all my powers. But first, I need to get out of here and take Elanor with me.

Talvi's hands were bound with special shackles: only another elf could open them. There were no guards nearby, so they left him and went to patrol the ball. Talvi tried various magical tricks, but he knew he couldn't open the shackles without help. Lara, ironically, couldn't open them either.

Where is she? Violet said she'd offer her a job, but I doubt anything could keep her here. 

At that moment, he heard the sound of paws, and a white rat scurried through the narrow doorway. The rat immediately transformed into a large white dog, and Talvi rejoiced. 

After all these years, luck is on my side today! 

Little did he know that he would soon regret his early celebration. Lumi thrashed his tail and whined. Talvi pointed to the shackles. 

"You must help me undo them, my dear friend. Hurry!"

Lumi transformed into a massive white stallion and began striking the wall, where shackles were attached on a chain with his hind hooves. With a crack and a shower of sparks, he finally managed to break them loose. Talvi cried with joy and patted Lumi on the withers. That's when he saw Lara's message, held by Lumi in between his teeth.  

Lumi turned back into a dog, and the Samoyed wagged his tail expectantly, while Talvi was reading the letter. His face darkened like a gathering storm.

I should go and find her right this second. No, they might yet overpower and seize me. I can't risk Lara. There is no other way but to go and sit on the throne first. Violet won't be able to stop me then, and I won't even need an army. 

He hated this plan with every fiber of his being. Talvi had to physically will his body to flee from the dungeons because all his instincts were screaming for him not to leave Lara here. 

As soon as he was outside the castle, Lumi turned into a stallion again, and Talvi rode him away to the Autumn Court, tears running down his cheeks. 

***

At Hazel's cottage, the three of them sat and played a game of charade, because while Talvi got back his name, he had yet to sit on the throne to actually have a claim against Aeden. Talvi was waving his hands, pacing around, rocking in his chair, and even lying on the floor sulking, while he explained his plan to Mira and Hazel. The two of them wrapped the whole kitchen in one of Mira's nets against eavesdropping when Talvi appeared on their doorstep, sobbing, and sat him on a chair with a glass of cider. 

"What if I go and try buying her out? We have quite sufficient gold to make the offer," said Hazel

"Hazel, you will never be able to compare in wealth with those who built their economy on slavery," refused Talvi. "After all of this is finished, I will deal with this abomination, but today we plan on how I will gather forces for a sturm."

"We could try getting you into the Winter Palace sneakily, so that there is no need for a sturm," offered Mira.

"I like the sound of it, it's worth considering. Any ideas?"

"Let's start with the obvious. Autumn border?" began Mira.

"If I move there from the winter border alone, I will encounter those awful bats that the witches set up on the river shore. The water is also nasty and cold when you use that door," shivered Talvi with displeasure, and Mira would roll her eyes at that, if he could see through the feathers. 

"What about the Crimson Woods? Sure, you would have to travel all the seasonal courts back in order, but at least this way you avoid the only other way, through the Unseelie territory. And I strongly advise you against it," suggested Hazel.

"It would indeed take less time to get to the Crimson Woods than to advance with an army, but I will lose time and probably my mind, trying to make it through that forsaken thick of the forest. It is absolutely impassable on horseback. This has been a big advantage; if not for that forest, Seelies would have tried to attack us a long time ago. We would be caught between a rock and a hard place."

"Come on, my friends, let's make a map of all the faery doors we know then," urged the tailor.

Mira stood up and brought a big map from the library, while Talvi and Hazel removed mugs and plates from the table and laid them in the middle. 

"Alright, you lads go for it, I will be consulting from the sidelines," she joked, hinting that map marking might not be the best-suited job for a blind person.

"The lads" went for it and spent hours looking for the loopholes and faery doors from memory to aid Talvi in his travel. Talvi was using multicolored crayons, one of the souvenirs Lara got from the enchanted pocket during his recovery at the cottage. Any reminder of her struck his heart with a flash of pain.

It was well into the morning of the next day when the map was filled with all sorts of symbols and outlined side to side that they admitted defeat. 

"There is no safe way around it. The sisters flooded the lands with monsters, and the only safe zones are the freed outposts," announced Talvi, crushed. 

Mira placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to comfort him.

"It was probably never meant to happen any other way. You have to raise your army and take the palace by force."

"This will take so long. I can't leave Lara in the Seelie Court for so long..." sighed Talvi. 

Lara, please, wait for me.