Tristan kept silent as they traveled, spinning his essence crucible in both directions to slowly build up his essence capacity. He watched Shandra’s every movement along with Felicity to make sure that the woman did not do anything untoward or underhanded.

  Shandra glanced back at him a few times, but seeing his steely gaze, returned her eyes to the front and held tight to the saddle horn.

  The two traveled for several hours until they came upon a village. A small place off the side of the road, with several pens and barns. Tristan saw a handful of goatherders who were moving flocks about, but as it was mid-day, they were out in the lowlands grazing. Tristan stopped to grab a few tufts of goat wool he saw in a handful of places near rocks that comprised the fences for the pens. I can always bury these, he thought, and use my mastery over the Fey Realm to make trees or bushes that produce wool.

  The day progressed onward, and Shandra turned to him. “I am beginning to get hungry.”

  Tristan glanced up at Felicity atop his head, “Clearcool elixir, please.” She handed him one from the storage dimension, and he drank it down. “Thank you. Now, one for our guest.”

  Felicity scowled but flew over to the woman, shoving the clay bottle into her hands before flying back to Tristan. “I don’t like her stupid face,” Felicity muttered.

  Shandra looked at Tristan, “What’s this?”

  “Just drink it,” he replied. “It will fully fill your stomach and sate any need for water for the whole day.”

  She ripped off the leaf and drank it down, licking her lips before making a satisfied noise. “Mmm. That is tasty.”

  “How far to the next town?” Tristan asked her.

  “We should make it by nightfall,” she replied. “A place called The Crossroads.”

  “Generic name,” Tristan muttered to no-one in particular. “We have one of those in Bhant,” he added.

  Felicity tapped his head, “It’s probably where we would head east, given the directions we got.”

  “That’s right,” Shandra replied. “The eastern road out of the crossroads eventually curves south and leads you to Jewel’s Point.” She looked back at the two, “If you go west you will head towards the Sapphire Bastion. Go south and you reach a vast gorge that splits the land in twain – hence why you have to travel east to go around it.”

  We can check the validity of her directions in town, Tristan thought. He leaned down to Onyx, “Think you and Midnight can go a bit faster and get us there before nightfall?”

  The horse whinnied, neighed, and huffed – which Midnight seemed to respond to – as both horses picked up pace.

  A few hours passed and as the sun was touching the horizon they were met with the sight of buildings on the horizon. “The Crossroads,” Shandra stated. “It’s a nice enough town.”

  Felicity leaned down to Tristan, whispered, “Going invisible!” and then vanished from sight to all save those of Elf blood. She scrabbled down the back of his armor, wiggled around until she was along his front, and then popped her head out of the gorget.

  Tristan nodded as the horses slowed a bit. Some people were along the road with them at this point, heading into the town. “Let me guess, heading in to enjoy the tavern?”

  “Yes,” Shandra replied. “They are going to drink, make merry, and swap stories. Plus, a few shops in the town center are open here in the evening for people who work outdoors all day and don’t have time to do their own cooking, weaving, and the like.” She grinned, “A proper place to stay the night.”

  “Good,” Felicity said with disgust. “Then we can get rid of you.”

  Shandra looked back and batted her eyelashes, “Come now, I’m not all that bad.”

  “All Fallthorn want their way and are sneaky.”

  Shandra shook her head, “Not me.”

  “Bullshit,” both Tristan and Felicity said in tandem. Tristan kept speaking, “You wanted what you wanted in the place we traveled to. Once I ensure you are safe in an inn, I will gift you some coin, and then we part ways.”

  Shandra frowned but nodded, “Fine.” She let the frown fade, “You are kind for being willing to give me funds before parting.”

  Tristan ignored the comment about his generosity and focused on observing the crowd. Ah, right. I need to Disguise Form. “Felicity, mind tying my hair back in a knot?”

  “Nope! On it!” she scrabbled around and he felt her moving about with his hair, pulling it taught into a topknot.

  Tristan pushed the essence he had been churning through his body and recycling into his amulet, and willed his appearance to shift to that of a Human from the kingdom of Bhant; tanned skin, black hair, and brown eyes. The change seemed to catch Shandra off guard.

  “How’d you do that.”

  “A spell,” Tristan replied.

  “But you didn’t speak! No spell gesture!”

  He tapped his armor, “Trade secret. Use the money to barter passage with traders to the coast, get a ship, and travel to Yustat. I heard that the island-nation has the most prestigious essence-weaver school.”

  Shandra nodded, “The Citadel of Essence. I’ve heard of it. Getting there won’t be cheap.”

  Tristan rode up alongside her and pulled out his coin pouch, handing it to her. “One-hundred-forty-eight gold, ten electrum, eighty silver. Take it.” She did so, and as they arrived in the town proper, he guided Onyx to a sign for an inn, and Midnight followed. “Now, dismount.”

  Shandra did so. “You are kind, Tristan. I am sorry for my rash behavior and actions.” She held up her hand, “At least this will serve as a reminder.”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Tristan frowned, “Here we part ways. I wipe my hands of you, and my conscience is clear.” He leaned down to Onyx, “Out of town, to the east.” He looked back to Midnight, “Follow.”

  Shandra vanished inside the door of the inn, and Tristan rode off, leaving the town and pushing Onyx to a gallop as they raced across the packed dirt roads and headed to the east. Only after a good thirty minutes of full-speed travel did he divert the mounts to the side of the road, push essence into his ring, and transport the group to the Fey Realm.

  They reappeared, and he handed the horses off to the fairy dragon attendants. Felicity got off his head and transformed into her elfanoid form. “You were nicer than I would have been.”

  Tristan pinched his nose and closed his eyes as he sighed. “Yes, I’m too kind. But, like I told her, my conscience is clear. Mother would not have wanted me to leave someone unaided if it was within my power to help them. And grandfather would do the same thing in my place…I think.”

  He was interrupted as the half-breed Broxtar jeweler came over, bowed, and then pulled out a wooden plate with several items on it. “Lord Tristan, a word.”

  “Right. You were…Beatrice, if I recall correctly?”

  “Yes, m’lord.” She gestured to the items. “I have begun working with the Goldwood and sapphires. The gems were pre-cut from the bush, and so making settings for them was rapid. The regular gold was easy to work with; barely needing much heat at all. That does mean it could deform more easily. The white gold leaves were able to be stacked and forged together into workable bars.”

  Felicity picked up one of the ear cuffs that was made. A simple white gold loop with one end broken off and a tiny rivet to let it open and close that was topped with a sapphire. “Quite pretty,” she said.

  Tristan smiled, “Looks good on you.” He turned away as she blushed, and he grabbed one of the wrist bands, holding it up close to inspect. He saw the texture and was a little taken aback. “It looks like wood grain.”

  “It does have that appearance, my lord.”

  Tristan nodded and put the wrist band down. “I ask you to make more. We will never take enough to hurt the tree, or the bush, but I would like you to craft items I can take to market. Tell me, based on your experience, what sells the most?”

  “Well m’lord, that would be rings for the fancy nobles, followed by amulets if selling to essence-weavers, and then for the richer traders and the like, they would want necklaces, ear cuffs, and wrist bands or bangles.”

  Tristan smiled, “Well, you should first give the fruits of your labor to yourself and those you wish to gift them to. But, in the next few days, I would like you to forge some items specifically for the markets. With and without sapphires, as I believe that makes them far more expensive normally.”

  “That would be accurate, m’lord.”

  Tristan gestured to the side, “Excellent work. Oh, before you go, are any of your number weavers or tailors?”

  “I can ask.”

  “Good. Because we have Strandvine which is amazing for thread, but I also plan on making a bush for wool.”

  She looked at him confused, then glanced to the bush full of sapphires, and shrugged with a smile on her face. “I will ask around. Pardon me, if you will.”

  “Of course.” As Beatrice left, he turned to Felicity, “Notify The Matriarch that if we do have a weaver or tailor amongst our new visitors, I want them to be given access to the top boughs for cra- no, scratch that. Instead, I want all the crafting stations moved down here.” He gestured to the area in front of the Queen’s Wood. “We will make this area akin to a marketplace, where I can take any goods to and from the Fey Realm with ease, and bring back raw resources.”

  She crossed her arms, “That sounds like a lot of work.”

  “But you don’t have to do it. Your siblings can.”

  That put a devilish grin on Felicity’s face, and she shifted into her fairy dragon shape; altering her antlers slightly so that the new ear cuff stayed firmly affixed. “Right!”

  Tristan began moving about the open area, marking out where he wanted each crafting station set up. Ideally, he thought, we have a place for every trade to practice their craft. Then, we can slowly fill out the Realm with craftspeople of all types. And I can grow the raw resources they need. Speaking of- he moved over to the edge of the clearing and found a small, newly-sprouted bush. Slowly excavating the roots and wiping off some of the dirt, he returned to where he wanted the tailoring area to be, and dug a small hole.

  Grabbing the wool from the cloak’s inside pocket, he placed it in the middle of the roots before planting the tree. He spun his crucible in both directions, feeling the raw power of the realm surge through him, and spoke in Elvish. “K?sken sinua herranasi taipumaan tahtooni. Haluan, ett? t?m? kasvi on t?ynn? ainetta sen juurilla. Antakaa sen kasvaa normaalisti, mutta ottaa samalla vastaan aineen ominaisuudet. Anna sen sitten kasvaa.” (I command you, as your lord, to bend to my will. I want this plant to be infused with the substance at its roots. Let it grow as it normally would, while taking on the properties of the substance beneath. Then, let it grow).

  The bush took root and began to grow, the flowers not quite budding this time, but instead bursting outward like stalks of corn with tufts of wool that stuck out. “And just like that,” he muttered, “We have a textile industry.”

  He looked up as fairy dragons began flying down with the various crafting benches, and he directed them to different parts of the areas he had marked off. Eventually, he thought, I can have the different plants for raw resources near each station. For now, just the tailoring one. He made sure the jeweler’s workbench was over near the Goldwood and sapphire bushes. We should also transplant some Adamantine Wood trees near the new forging area, he thought. Directing some fairy dragons to do just that, he began to see his vision take root – quite literally.

  Night grew onward, and by the time Tristan was satisfied there were starberry bushes and barrels of clearcool next to the cooking station – along with all the cooking supplies and spices he had bought, taken out of their containers, and planted at the roots of bushes before asserting his will over the Fey Realm. Now, they had a practically unlimited supply of the various spices and herbs growing from the soil of his domain.

  Similar feats had been performed for all manner of items that both the half-breed Broxtar had brought and willingly donated to the effort, or had been gathered from the naturally occurring plants from around the Fey Realm. Felicity flew over and switched to her elfanoid form as she walked up to Tristan, “Wow, impressive for a few hours.”

  “It blends nature and industrialism,” Tristan remarked. “If this Realm is going to be open to more people, then I want to ensure that we have supplies of all types, can make anything we set our minds to, and have room to expand.” He walked over to the tree that he had used a gifted, steel dagger from one of the new residents to plant at the base of the roots. The trunk was the same color as the hardened metal, and as he rapped his knuckles, it panged like solid steel. “I can grow us…anything. The Fey Realm is amazing.”

  Felicity nodded, “It sure is. As long as you don’t bring too many Elves here it should be good to keep using as you see fit.”

  Tristan looked at her, “Let me guess, each one of these trees, bushes, and the like uses up essence from the Realm’s limited supply?”

  “Yup!” she walked over to the tree and rapped her knuckles on it. “Think of it like you have a bucket of water, and you’re taking little sewing thimble sized scoops out of that bucket with each of these fascinating new growths.” She looked at him, “Mom told me that. Each Elf is like a thimble all on their own.”

  “What would I be?” Tristan asked.

  “A drinking cup,” she said as she held her hands up to a pint-sized glass worth of distance. “About that big.”

  Huh. Just me being here is taking quite a bit of essence from the Realm. “How much would the other Elf bloodlines take out?”

  “Less,” she said. “Mom would know more. But she’s busy on patrol.”

  Tristan nodded, “Well, I’m tired and we did good work today. Time to go get some sleep.” As he began to turn to walk to the tree, he was surprised when Felicity grabbed his hand and walked alongside him.

  “Thank you for not bringing that bitch of a Fallthorn along with you for the journey.”

  “Why would I?” Tristan asked. “She would have been a pain in the ass – constantly begging to go into the Queen’s Wood, I bet. At least now she has money to get to where she needs to go, an essence crucible to improve and build upon, and she is in a safe place. Not to mention, she cannot mention the Fey Realm at all thanks to your mother’s enchantment spell.”

  Felicity squeezed his hand, “Admit it, you had a little bit of a thought about how I would feel about it lingering in the back of your mind.”

  Tristan smiled and squeezed back, “Yeah, I did.”