“Well now. Silver said Iphinica had picked up a wanderer. But this is a surprise.”

  The voice preceded the dull thud of its owner jumping from the low hanging branch they had been perched on and onto the ground. A female elf, dressed in the brown and red leathers of a scout. Her shaved head bore tattoos in clear shapes of vines and leaves, the white ink of them a sharp contrast to dark skin made deeper from a life lived outside. She grinned as her eyes met Alnyx’s, who smiled in return.

  “Cousin. Good to see you as well. It is not a bad time for my visit, I hope?”

  “The Grove always welcomes her saplings home.” She answered as if by wrote, the two clasping forearms in greeting. “Are you planning to winter with us as well? The Wyrd Warden believes we are not far from the snows coming.”

  “No, not so long. A fortnight at the longest.” Several months with his extended family was nearly enough to cause his flight or fight instincts to kick in. “I will help with whatever preparations are still needed. I wouldn’t want to burden your mother for giving me a roof while I am here.”

  “And will we have to pay for the privilege of your assistance as they do in the cities, Child of the Wind?”

  “Elder Saseshan.” Iphinica was the first to turn around. “I was just escorting Alnyx here. I’ll be going now.”

  The look she gave Alnyx was apologetic, but only just. He couldn’t blame her: the filly was never one for unscheduled politicking or pleasantness. And the presence of an Elder almost always meant both. Iphinica embraced Alnyx briefly before turning and going back the way they had walked up. He waited until her form disappeared behind a tree to turn back around.

  “Of course not, Elder.” he only briefly met the milky-blue eyes, which saw nothing but still pierced into him. “We provide for one another. I bring gifts.”

  The extra furs from clearing out a few bears that went to close to the mortal settlement were easier to present than the bracers still tucked safely under them. Alnyx did not preset them to the Elder, but to the guard that had been standing silently to one side, who took them without having to be told to.

  “And what is it you expect us to provide to you? After you bring no word for-”

  “Elder.” His cousin scolded as gently as they could manage. “He has only just arrived again. Let us get a meal in him a night’s rest before we pry into the state of the world.”

  The ancient, white-haired, glass-eyed elf scoffed, but waved their hand in a clear dismissal. Alnyx and the scout didn’t need to be told twice, both bowing at a ninety degree angle with their palm flat against their breast bone as was proper before scurrying away. Towards the winding staircase that the scout had ignored on their way down.

  “You’re more than welcome to stay in my home.” the offer was a statement, not a question. “Dhocut left us to join the New Growth about six moons ago. He wedded a girl from there, so the bed has been empty.”

  “Married?” Alnyx frowned, a brief pang of guilt. “I didn’t know.”

  “You are harder to get a hold of than your parents, Cousin.” she pointed out, shaking her head. “It was a union of convenience, not adoration. They needed a Hunter, and he needed a wife. According to his mother at any rate.”

  “Some things never change.” There was a sorrow that tinged the shared little laugh. “Thank you. Fish and I will be glad to stay with you. And we will try to not cause too much trouble.”

  The home was nestled high in the branches, next to if not connected to those of other members of the family. All the older homes of the First families were built in the same way: communal, with some limited private spaces. Usually just for adults: children belonged to the Roots until they were of age. Given the time of day, the rooms were all nearly empty since all the able bodied Rawanali were out working or doing chores.

  “On the left up there. The second door.” The scout pointed and then patted him on the shoulder. “Rest. We will wake you for the evening meal. If I’m not back on patrol soon they’ll send someone to find me.”

  Alnyx was happy to follow the direction. His bag hit the ground just inside the door after he closed it, sword belt and boots both following with dull thuds. The room itself was sparse since its inhabitant left: little more than a bed, desk, and wash basin. But the blankets were woven by the hands of the family matriarch. The fur rug was a trophy of a hunt decades old. Even the desk and dresser were carved by hand from the very wood of the trees they were in.

  A bone-deep weariness settled as he fell onto the bed, nose pressed to the pillows as he inhaled soap, sap, and something floral. He didn’t even kick Fish back out of the bed when he felt the dirty beast’s warmth against his back and side.

  He couldn’t recall the last time he fell asleep so quickly.

  * * *

  Alnyx did manage to wake himself up before he had to be woken, but he didn’t leave the bed right away, enjoying just how soft the pillow was, and how comforting the quilted blanket. He could hear the clattering and laughter from what he assumed was the kitchen not far from the room that he had been given. The bed-shares he usually stayed in meant he was accustomed to sleeping with noise around, but this wasn’t noise. This was the sound of a community, of a family. He couldn’t help but smile as well when he heard peals of laughter and the pattering of young feet across the wood. He sat himself up, looking around the room for Fish, not surprised when he found him absent of the room. There were far too many people who could beg for food scraps from out there. Or scratches behind the ear. He couldn’t fault him looking for more pleasant company than they usually were afforded.

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  “Ah good, you’re up.” The cousin who had led him here stuck h er head in the door frame. “Supper should be ready shortly if you’re up for dealing with others. Fresh off the hunt. I changed the water in the wash basin for you too. Come down when you’re ready.”

  He yawned in response which got him a chuckle before she walked back down the hall. He considered for a moment just staying in the room, sneaking out for food later from the cold box when they had all gone to bed. But, they were giving him a place to stay and they didn’t have to. It was the least that he could do.

  Alnyx was sure they wouldn’t mind a bit of dust from the road hanging on to his clothes, so he didn’t bother changing into the fresh things he had brought along yet. He did take the time to go to the basin and get some of the worst of the dirt from his face. He swished a cupped palm full of the water into his mouth before it was too grimy to rinse the sleep from it, and took a few moments glancing at himself in the polished silver of the mirror to make himself presentable. Or at least tame his hair from where it was sticking up in places thanks to the pillow.

  “There he is. Worried we’d have to call for a healer if you stayed in that bed much longer.”

  “Could hear you snoring from up the road! How you haven’t been ransacked by bandits before is beyond me. Sleeping like the dead makes for the dead.”

  There were too many names for him to keep straight; he’d given up on trying two or three prolonged visits ago. At least, this was the case for the cousins that were close enough to his age to be his contemporaries. They moved houses, married and separated, widowed and rejoined, all too quickly for him to keep proper track. Besides, he was hardly more than a name and a story from the elders to most of them.

  “It isn’t often I have the comfort of a proper bed.” He took the empty chair that had been left for him at the table, running his fingers through Fish’s dense fur when he plopped down at his side. “Had to take advantage, since I’ll be put to work come dawn.”

  “Nonsense, you’re our guest. We can spare you a few hours after the sun rises.” The aunt that was the head of the house here was at his side, loading up his plate with vegetables from the garden and elk meat still steaming it was so fresh from the fire. “It is good to see you, Wanderer. Eat first. Then you can tell us of your journey from the south.”

  Ancestors bless the woman for her understanding. And for her words making sure all the others also turned their attention from him to their plates, at least for the moment. As he sank his teeth into the tender flesh, he couldn’t keep himself from letting out the content sigh. His adventures brought him to far flung places, with exotic fare and folk. But there were few things as perfect as a simply dressed elk and greens that were still wet from the dirt rinsed from them.

  Once he cleared his plate, and hie belly quieted its grumblings, he was more than willing to give them the story of the hunt in the Kingswood. It was more interesting than clearing out troublesome beasts from the meager farmlands the humans had. He kept to the most important details; the way it fought, and how it had been slain. They didn’t need to know the acid veins of the horned Scholar. Or the way he had fussed over the wounds that had left only minimal scars. It would only bring more questions, and this was more than he had spoken at one time in moons as it was.

  “A corruption of the ley lines, and fracturing?” One of the uncles frowned, leaning back his chair onto two legs and twisting his fingers in his goatee. “So far from a true source. The last nomad messenger, half a cycle ago, brought rumors of such from further west. We have seen no such thing here.”

  Alnyx grunted, pausing to take a sip of the warm tea, sweetened with honey that had been given to him. “I hadn’t planned to bring it to the Elders. Far enough away, I assumed they would be….Uninterested.”

  Half the old bastards care for nothing further than their arm could reach. He took another, longer, sip to keep himself from saying as much.

  “If it is related to the rumors brought before them, they may need to hear it. They’ll be expecting you tomorrow. It may not hurt to mention it.”

  “Expecting me?” Alnyx had hoped to have more time before sitting before the council of elders. At least more than a day.

  “Elder Saseshan wasn’t quiet about seeing you and the centaur when you made your way in.” One of the cousins partially covered their mouth when they chewed, to feign politeness. “The whole of the Grove likely knows by now. Working or not, someone will be here at sunrise looking for you I’ll bet.”

  Alnyx wrinkled his nose, and the warm cup couldn’t hide that or the sigh he couldn’t keep back. He could respect the Elders, sure. Had been trained to do so even when he was part of the nomad pack with his mother and father. It did not equal a desire to bow his head blindly. He wouldn’t be able to turn away a summons from them without consequences, even if he was was tired. They growled and grit their teeth about his being out in the world as it was, even if it was by the word of-

  “I will deal with that, no need to worry Sapling.” his aunt clapped her thin hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “You are my sister’s son, and so you are mine. And I can only imagine how annoyed with me she would be if I let them call upon you while you still have the scent of the Road on your skin.”

  “Thank you.” Alnyx meant it sincerely. “You said there was a messenger half a cycle ago. Have you….Seen my mother or father recently? I had thought maybe with the season shift….”

  “You know how they are, Sapling.” She shook her head. “The Windriders never stick around long enough to get more than a rod or two in before they’re gone again.”

  “How long ago do you think was the last time? That you heard from them directly.”

  “Eight, maybe nine moons ago.” she gave his shoulder another squeeze. “We would know if there was something worth knowing. And would send word to you. You are always welcome here even without them.”

  “Thank you.” a little less sincere, but he smiled for her sake and finished the mug of warm tea.

  It was impossible to escape an evening of drinks on the balconies that were shared between the neighboring families among the boughs of the great trees. They were cordial, most of them curious more than anything. And while it was wonderful to watch Fish run and play with other Watchers, weaving between legs and under tables, he could feel his patience for civility waning.

  He managed to politely excuse himself from the matriarch of one of the families, who had been trying to insist it was her duty to help him find a match at the Circle where the priestesses saw who should belong to whom, back against the door as he slipped into his family’s home once more. One of the cousins who had stayed behind to make sure the young ones were properly tucked into their beds caught him and couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Let me guess. Once of the mothers trying to get you to meet and marry her progeny?”

  “That obvious?”

  “I know the look of someone who has had the displeasure of being cornered by Hethi. She’s been trying to get her youngest tied off to anything with a pulse because she can’t stand having to keep minding them.” He shook his head, motioning for Alnyx to enter properly. “If she asks after you, I”ll tell her you’re tired from your journey. Permitting you join us for a hunt if you can get out of that meeting tomorrow morning.”

  “Gladly. Thank you cousin.”

  Perhaps Alnyx should have felt a little bit of shame, that all it took was one over-eager matriarch to send him running with his tail between his legs quicker than any contract he’d taken in months. But when he went back to the bedroom, seeing a low burning fire keeping it warm and a rough-spun jerkin clearly for sleeping left for him, he couldn’t feel anything but a contentment tucked tightly behind his breastbone. If pushy parents and judgmental Elders were the price to pay for respite, he would suffer happily.