Walking into the dining hall, Felix let out a sigh at the familiar sight. A long table stretched in the middle of the room, lifted just high enough off the ground to make eating off it comfortable while sitting on the floor.

  The ground was covered in a fine grass dotted with glowing little white, blue, purple, and pink wildflowers that made it look a little like the starry sky above. Around the edges of the hall, living wood formed large arches with the same barriers Uncle Valenther had in his office, though modified to provide some privacy should people visiting the garden peer inside. Vines crept along the arches, with leaves that were deep purple along the edges and a brighter purple core.

  All that only served as an accent to the main attraction. The roof was left completely open with only a barrier to keep out the weather. On a clear night like this one, Felix could see the Scattered Stars at a distance with the Feywild’s famous auroras providing light from overhead.

  Felix could just make out a smaller merchant fleet’s lights coming into port. He couldn’t see the port through the sky window, but the occasional port traffic, or villagers taking their ships out to enjoy the aurora, drifted overhead.

  Approaching the table, Felix noted that most people hadn’t joined just yet. The gardener, Gaelin, and his apprentice had taken their regular seats, as well as a couple of maids. Taking his seat, close enough to both Gaelin and Uncle Valenther’s regular spot to have a conversation with either, Felix quickly greeted everyone at the table.

  “It’s good to see you again, Felix. Did Mistress Eirlys call you back to help with the stellar daturas?”

  Felix shook his head.

  “No, I’m passing through for my own reasons, though I’m happy to take a look while I’m here. Uncle told me you were having some trouble.”

  Gaelin nodded, while his apprentice paid close attention at his side.

  “I told Mistress that we couldn’t grow them. Light from the Scattered Stars is too sparse out here to let them thrive. Apparently, someone in the club managed to cultivate a pond of moon lotuses. Now everyone is trying to grow their own celestial flowers.”

  Felix suddenly felt that the hall deserved more of his attention as he very inconspicuously started admiring the room. Gaelin didn’t miss the change in his demeanor, nearly jumping out of his seat.

  “You! It was you!”

  Felix coughed awkwardly.

  “Ah, well. They had a pretty extensive private library. I needed to give them something special if I wanted to stay long enough to get through it.”

  Gaelin slumped back onto the ground and waved him off.

  “No, no. I should have guessed it was you. If I’d known, I’d have asked the Mistress to call for your help sooner. It would have saved me a few months of bashing my head against the problem. How’d you do it?”

  Before Felix could explain, head maid Gweyr arrived, tailed by a very chastened-looking Menium and Vaelis. Felix abruptly choked back the start of his sentence as he had to fight back laughter. Menium, freshly combed, was tugging awkwardly at a sparkling bow tie, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.

  When he noticed Felix, whose face had gone beet-red as he fought to hold in his laughter, he nearly ran out of the hall, only to shoot a glance at Gweyr and sink even further into himself.

  After that, the room quickly filled as more people arrived, with Aunt Eirlys entering shortly after Uncle Valenther. Apart from a few polite greetings upon their arrival, their presence did nothing to dampen the lively mood. Uncle Valenther’s presence instead added to it.

  Soon after their arrival, the kitchen staff brought in the night’s dishes, introducing them as they placed them on the table before they sat down to join the meal. Arrangements of edible flowers, various salads, fruits, and lightly cooked vegetable dishes. All tied together in delightful flavour combinations.

  Felix had long grown used to the elven diet. Most meals were vegetarian, and rarely did anyone bother cooking. It was hard to adapt to at first, though it made sense that they would want to preserve as much life and plant mana as they could.

  That didn’t mean it was hard to find meat and other animal products. Most elves viewed it as an indulgence and rather unhealthy, meaning you could find it even in towns with a light Traveller presence. In towns like Ilmaréth, the entertainment district even had street stalls and restaurants that specifically served it.

  Still, Felix had grown accustomed to the elven diet. The plant mana didn’t do anything for him, but it just so happened that the same things that held plant mana were also better at holding life mana. Since food was one of the easiest ways for him to increase his life mana reserves, he’d long since taken to their diet.

  The rest of dinner was uneventful. Felix promised to help Gaelin the next morning with the stellar daturas and shared stories of his travels. Menium and Vaelis tried to fight over a bowl of berries, ignoring the ten identical bowls until Gweyr stepped in. Uncle Valenther shared the latest tales and misadventures from the guild. Aunt Eirlys gossiped about members of her gardening club while keeping conspicuously mum about her work.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  All in all, it felt like Felix had been gone for a week instead of a couple of years. When he eventually retired to his room after a long evening of catching up, he did so with a smile. Meinum elected to stay the night with Vaelis, and Felix wasn’t about to stop him.

  Settling into a chair at his desk, he finally had time to respond to all his letters. He carefully arranged his letters in the letter tray, sorting them by sender in the order they were sent. He tidied up the stack of paper already on the desk, lit the candle, and pulled out the quill, inkstone, and inkstick from the drawer.

  The process of preparing his ink was always meditative to him. There was something about it that made reading his letters feel more intimate. Like the people who wrote him weren’t a world away.

  Pulling out a bottle from the desk, he uncorked it and carefully dripped some water onto the inkstone. Before he started, he lifted the stone and tilted it to spread the water across it, making sure every part of it was saturated before he began.

  With the stone ready, he started gently grinding the inkstick, letting the low noise calm his mind. The ink slowly thickened as he moved the stick in little circles. When he was happy with the consistency, he tapped the stick on the side of the stone, releasing a little pulse of mana that instantly dried the inkstick, saving him the effort of cleaning it.

  Putting it away, he pulled out a penknife and, with practiced ease, cut a new tip for his quill. It wasn’t strictly necessary, but there was nothing quite like writing with fresh ink and a newly cut quill.

  With his implements ready, he took the letter opener and cut the first seal. It was one of a few letters from Henry, this one asked about Felix’s Travels and told him about a few new details he’d discovered about mind mana.

  Since they left the Crossroad, the two had made a point of sending each other whatever information they could find about their affinities. Most of the time, it was short tidbits. The rarity of mind mana and the stigma around divine mana meant that every bit of information they could find helped though.

  Felix quickly read through all his mail and started writing a response. He didn’t learn anything new this time, but it still took him a while to respond. Henry had a lot of questions for him, and thanks to his Inner World, he knew the answers to almost all of them. Even knowing the answers it took him a while to pen his response. By the time he finished, he needed two envelopes to hold the pages.

  After stuffing his letters in, he closed the envelopes and took the candle he had lit earlier, then dripped wax onto the lip of the envelope. Taking his identity token, he pressed it to his forehead and thought of Henry’s contact before pressing it to the wax.

  The moment it touched the wax, it warped, forming a perfect round seal that held his initials. With that, he could send the letter through the Explorer’s guild, and they would know where to send it.

  With Henry done, he continued going through the rest of the letters, one by one, responding to everyone who sent him mail.

  Instructor Grendel was still teaching at the Crossroad, having signed up to teach for another ten years. While many people volunteered due to the Crossroad’s ability to help on their own paths. Instructor Grendel just loved teaching. He’d still take breaks from the Crossroad to make sure he was still advancing, but if he ever became strong enough to hold a Guardian position, Felix had little doubt he’d jump at the opportunity.

  Agrona finished out her decade two years after Felix left. She’d returned to her family in the Stonehold, though Felix wasn’t really sure what she was doing there. It seemed like she was doing something new in every letter she sent him. Even in the letters she’d sent him since the last time he’d checked his mail, she’d run a food stall, worked at an orphanage, and gone out to hunt for ingredients twice.

  Her letters were filled with questions about ingredients, plants, elven recipes, and Felix’s well-being. Her compulsion to make sure Felix didn’t overwork himself continued even in her letters, with the last few threatening to come find him in the Feywild if he didn’t respond and assure her he’d slept recently.

  Just reading her letter, Felix started feeling guilty. He decided he’d try to fit in a nap after he finished responding to his mail. He could spare an hour for sleep, so he could tell her he’d slept without being a liar.

  Alvara hadn’t sent much mail. She used to ask for updates much more often before she came back to the Feywild a couple of years ago. He’d seen her a few times since she’d returned, and her last letter just told him that she’d be venturing deeper into the Feywild for a little while, so she wouldn’t be staying in touch. Knowing how elves treated time a ‘little while’ might well be a few years, so Felix just wrote back asking her to be safe and telling her that he’d be setting out again after spending a few days in Ilmaréth.

  His parents sent a few letters complaining that the scattered stars had rotated their shipping lanes away from the Feywilds, making it harder for them to visit. For a while, they’d actually visited him quite frequently, though by the sounds of it, they’d need to go through multiple portals to reach him without the journey taking several months. Even then, it would be a while before a portal got close enough for them to visit again.

  He wrote back, assuring them that he was safe and telling them not to worry about visiting anytime soon. He’d be setting out on a new journey, and he wouldn’t want them to show up only to find him gone.

  Damien and Claire didn’t write much, both having sent only one letter since the last time he’d checked. Damien had the habit of getting so caught up in his own work that he lost touch, and even when he did, his letters were often just a few hastily scribbled paragraphs complaining about people stopping him from performing his latest experiment.

  Claire wrote a carefully considered letter, though she mostly asked about him while forgetting to talk about what she’s been up to. Her letter casually mentioned that she’d stopped being a magic knight, and she’d left the military. Then she started to ask about him. Felix was so shocked, he decided to stop reading other people’s mail and go straight to Grandma’s.

  He knew she kept a closer eye on the rest of the family, so he hoped her letters would include something about Claire.

  As soon as he cut the seal on her first letter, he noticed something wrong. The letter opener wouldn’t cut the wax. Frowning at the envelope, Felix picked it up and inspected it more closely.

  Grandma had done something with the seal. Using the knife, he picked apart the wax to find a small, smooth black coin embedded in the wax. As soon as he touched it, the coin burst into flames.

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