World Tree Leaf set aside, Tadel sat for a long time in the cottage of vines and flowers, just as Annan had spent the night sitting beneath the tree.
Footsteps outside the door startled her awake. It was a High Elf elder.
"There's something you need to know, Tadel." The wrinkles on the elder's face twitched, her expression cold with vindication. "The human you support has joined forces with the Dark Elves."
Tadel had already heard about it and spoken with Annan, so she wasn't surprised. "Iris Breeze told you too?"
"Breeze? No. Our people who returned from the outside world did." The elder held a clipped piece of newspaper.
If the copy Iris Breeze had given her hadn't still been in her possession, Tadel would have thought the elder had picked it up.
"I asked Annan. He's using this to test the Dark Elves."
Tadel had meant to explain the situation, but when she spoke, she found herself covering for Annan instead.
"Tadel, you trust that human far too much." Deep disappointment showed in the elder's eyes. "Humans cannot be trusted. Their integrity is as fleeting as their lives. They are fickle, change their minds from one day to the next, and are never satisfied. No agreement with them lasts. Negotiate with one generation, and the next will overturn everything."
"Any pact with humans is a waste of our energy."
Tadel lowered her eyes slightly. "You're right. But just as betrayers can arise among us, there are humans who keep their promises."
She remembered something Annan had said and repeated it.
"I've met the vilest elves, and I've met the noblest elves."
"But that human's actions have already proved he isn't noble. Tadel, he's deceived you..."
"No. I know what I'm doing." Tadel looked north, as though she could