Ethelwynne stuffed the braid into her bag, put the scissors away and slipped out of the store. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window’s dark glass. She supposed she looked boy-like—at least, in the night. Hopefully, the perception would last long enough for her to get safely out of the city. But where could she go? She couldn’t lead the elves to her home, and going home wouldn’t get her parents back, anyway.

The king. If she wanted to live and see her parents again, she needed to tell the elven king his brother had stolen the key to the realms to overthrow him. She just had to make it over the mountains. Ethelwynne glanced up at the towers looming above her. With a bit of luck, she could sneak onto a skyship. As she walked down the alley towards the ships, Ethelwynne pulled the braid out of her bag and undid it. Tearfully, she scattered stray strands on the ground for the rats to use in their nests.