Reporting
Reporting:2192words
Update Time:2024-11-01 09:40:41
[Rosario]Last night was a new moon so tonight was darker than normal. That meant that we’d be more concealed when I met with Shayle tonight, but I still didn’t like it. I was far from the human town and the fae lands, to make sure no one saw us. The clock on my phone showed that she was ten minutes late. I didn’t like that. Every step of this investigation, I felt like something was off. Some things felt like they were too obvious, but my mother said removing the curse had most likely uncovered things that weren’t obvious to us in the beginning but should have been. She always had an excuse for how we missed this. I knew part of it was because of my father. He kept us focused on fighting against forcing people back into the forest village and we had to do a lot more to keep our neighborhood safe from humans because of his part in the curse. I was still pissed that he disappeared when Talia went after him. She offered the High Council’s assistance with punishing him, since it would be harder for my mother and my siblings. We accepted, of course, and he fled. The sound of footsteps in the woods grew closer. I put on my glamour to make me invisible. If it was someone other than Shayle, I didn’t want to have to deal with questions. “Prince Rosario?” It was Shayle. I removed my glamour and went toward where I heard her. It was barely light enough to see her. At least she wasn’t hard to miss. She was very tall and large, like most troll women. “I’m here, Shayle. You’re late.” “It was hard to get away. It has been getting harder to leave the caverns,” she replied. “They’ve been keeping a closer watch on you?” I asked. “I met the prophet. After the vow, you don’t want to disobey him. It’s painful to do something he wouldn’t approve of. I don’t know how much I can tell you before the pain is unbearable.” “Do we need to pull you out? Is this too much for you to handle?” She scoffed. “I may not be a warrior, but I’m still a troll. And I’m working for my queen and my goddess. A little pain is not going to stop me from my job. Do you want to know? Or do you want to keep acting all ‘princely’?” I bristled at her words but held my tongue. She was right, of course. I was used to being treated with deference and respect, but Shayle was not one to mince words. She was a valuable asset to our cause, and I couldn’t afford to lose her.“Tell me what you learned,” I said, trying to keep the impatience out of my voice.“The prophet is planning something big. He’s been getting more followers, and they’ve been working harder than usual. He included me in the weekly worship of their god. It was weird and I could feel some of my strength leaving me. That was also the first time I saw the vampires.” Shayle replied. Victor hadn’t heard anything from the vampire he had sent into the cult in weeks. There had been a mention of them from a werewolf spy, but little information. Since the fae were allies to the vampires, I knew it was my duty to give him any information I could get. “Tell me about the vampires,” I requested. “They were all very docile. It was weird. They seemed to be the most reverent of all the worshipers. There was something odd, though. A werewolf in his wolf form who was chained up to the throne of the prophet. None of the other shapeshifters were treated in such a degrading way.” I raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Shayle’s report. “A werewolf, you say? Chained up? That’s certainly an interesting development.”Could that be the punishment that the pack’s spy feared? I couldn’t believe that anyone would continue to follow this prophet after seeing him treat a member like that. Shayle nodded. “Yes, it was strange. And the vampires...they seemed almost hypnotized. Like they were in a trance.”I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. “We need to find out what’s going on in that cult. I don’t like the sound of this at all. Did you get a sense of why the wolf was being treated differently?”“Something about causing problems. No one was really straightforward about it. I could have asked the prophet, but I think it’s best if I don’t spend much time around him.” “Why is that?” I asked. Shayle looked at the ground and scratched her head. She didn’t seem to want to talk. I understood if something drastic happened, but I needed to know her reasoning.“He made me vow my loyalty to him and his god. When I’m not near him, I can do what I want and act in my own interest, but when I’m around him, I have no choice but to behave how he wants me to. He asked me questions about people in the fae lands and I had to answer. I couldn’t stop myself,” Shayle replied. This was worse than I had anticipated. The prophet had some sort of mind control over Shayle. If he had this sort of control over her, then goddess only knew what he could get her to do or tell him. He probably had similar control over the other people in his cult. I believed that the goddess was probably protecting Shayle, but I didn’t know how much freewill any of the other people in the cult had. They were probably drawn in by everything else the prophet promised. “You made a vow, so you know his name.”“I know his species, too. And he shouldn’t be alive. His name is Oberon, the high elf.” That name made me freeze. He shouldn’t be alive. He should have died over a hundred years ago. High elves were different from other elves. Most elves had an element they identified with. Dark elves were earth elves. Sylvans were forest and wood elves. Aquatic elves lived in the water, either fresh or salt, it didn’t matter what type. Storm elves communed with the weather, but were at their strongest when there was a storm. Each of the different species were given different elements to rule over. All of us were considered royals, but there was another level that was more powerful than we were. High elves were the children of magic. They were the first mortal elves and were born from magic in just that way. All of the other species of elves ruled over certain areas, but we all reported to a high elf who ruled over a much larger area. They weren’t like us and weren’t really involved in the lives of their people. All they really did was accept money from us and step in if we had issues with another royal in the human realm. They ensured we wouldn’t have wars that would endanger other fae. They were longer lived than the other species of elf. If he was still alive, that meant that he was almost two thousand years old. Most high elves only lived to around fifteen hundred. “Are you sure about that?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Come on, Prince Rosario. I know you’re pretty, but you can’t be that dumb. You’re shocked, so I’ll forgive the dumbass question.” She held out a paper to me. “I wrote down the god’s name. Deities are different from mortal fae. I figured he might know if I spoke it.”I took the paper from her and decided to ignore the insults. She was a troll and that was how trolls were. Plus, it was a rather dumb question. “I’ll take this to my mother and sister. Is there anything else we need to know?” “He asked me about Pyla M’ren, Queen Ivy and her mate, and Carmen Rosen. I didn’t get a sense of why, really. I think Pyla was to help me, but I didn’t know why he wanted to know about the others. I should get back,” Shayle told me. “Go on. I’ll take care of it as soon as possible. I want you to stay safe. We’re going to get you out of there as soon as we can.” “Pyla’s coming of age is soon, isn’t it?” “I think it’s in two days.” She nodded and turned away. Shayle didn’t say anything else as she left. I knew it was hard on her to give up on the man she wanted, but her mate was someone else. I knew the goddess would give Shayle a perfect mate and she would truly be happy. A happiness she never could have had with Forrest. Once I was sure she was gone, I slipped through the woods. I needed to report this to my mother quickly. As a wood elf, travel through wooded areas went more quickly for me than it did for others. Soon, I was arriving in the neighborhood that was called the fae lands. As soon as I was in an area with more light, I pulled out the paper and read the name of the god. My brows knitted together. This was not the name of any god I was ever taught about. Perhaps my mother would know. I headed through the neighborhood toward our home. There were very few people in the neighborhood as I walked. I would wave or nod as I moved through the area. The people of the fae lands were always eager to greet the royal family. It had taken them a while to accept Sean, but seeing him attend so many events with me had helped. When I reached our house, I went inside to find my mom and Sean sitting in the living room. They were having a little snack, but I knew it was to help distract them from worrying about me. Neither one of them wanted me to be the one to meet with Shayle, but I wasn’t going to let more of our people be at risk. I was more than a prince. I was a warrior and I wanted to defend my people. Letting Shayle go back to that cult was hard as hell, but I knew I couldn’t stop her. My mother stood up and Sean looked at me as if I had been gone for more than just a couple hours. I hated and loved seeing how he worried about me. I hated it because I didn’t want to see my mate suffer and I loved it because it was how he loved me.“Did she come, Rio?” my mother asked. “She was late, but she did. Let’s sit and I’ll give you my report.” I sat down with my mother and Sean and handed over the paper with the god’s name. My mother took it and studied it for a moment before looking back at me with a perplexed expression.“This isn’t a name I’m familiar with,” she said, handing the paper back to me. “But I’ll do some research and see what I can find out.”I nodded, feeling a pang of frustration. I had hoped my mother would know something, anything, about this mysterious god that Shayle had mentioned.“Did Shayle say anything else?” Sean asked, his brow furrowed with concern.With a frown, I told them about the prophet’s identity and everything else Shayle reported to me. My mother shook her head when she heard about the werewolf who was chained up in his wolf form. “I’ll make the report to Alpha Trent. It might not be his spy, but we have to take all possible precautions. If it is, then he has to be aware that he may not be getting a report. I’ll need you to type this up and send it to our allies. I’ll call Trent now and prepare him for the information about the wolf. I’ll also contact your sister and have her and her mate get extra guards if they leave the fae lands,” my mother said. “I will do as you say, Queen Maeve. Anything else I can do for you tonight?” I asked. My mother smiled at me. “Only spending time with your mate. He was worried about you all evening. Go get your work finished.” I stood and took Sean’s hand. We bowed to my mother before retreating to our room. Before I could go to the computer to do what my mother said, Sean wrapped his arms around me. I held him and kissed him gently. Sean was a big worrier. “Everything will be alright, babe. I promise. We’re going to fix this just like we fixed the curse.”“When it happens, when we fight them, I’m going with. Promise me that I can fight by your side,” he murmured. “I couldn’t think of anything I would want more than for you to fight next to me in every battle for the rest of our lives. Let me go so I can get my work done, then I’ll make you forget you were ever frightened.”