The crowd didn't disperse at once. Instead, they lingered, hesitant, as if waiting for something more. Something that never came.
Vell walked to the fountain and sat at its edge, gazing into the shimmering water.
Sonder joined him, her eyes catching her own reflection in the still surface.
A voice interrupted them.
"Excuse me," came the soft tone of a woman. They turned and looked down.
Before them stood a small dragon.
No, not a true dragon. A pseudo-dragon, no larger than a house cat. Three of them, each in a different hue: blue, green, and yellow. The blue one had spoken.
Pseudo-dragons were often familiars to magicians; they were curious and clever when it came to sorcery.
"Greetings," Vell said politely.
"Do you know how the queen came to pass?" asked the blue one.
"I've wondered the same thing with a few other guests, but sadly, nobody knows," Vell replied. "I know as little as anyone else. Why ask me?"
"Oh, are you not an elf?"
"I'm not."
"You resemble one. My apologies. It's hard for me to tell you two-footed folk apart. Elves, humans, dwarves—you share more in common than you admit. And the staff... I assumed you were a spellcasting elf-adjacent person."
Vell laughed softly. "I've been called worse than 'elf-adjacent.' You're right about the staff—I am a spellcaster. But that doesn't grant me secret knowledge of council secrets."
The blue pseudo-dragon cocked her head. "Pity. We've been trying to understand the shape of things."
"Have you come a long way?" Sonder asked.
"From the hidden colleges," said the yellow one, fluttering its wings and landing lightly on the fountain's edge. "We were chosen to represent our conclave. The High Queen visited us once, you know."
It said this proudly, tail twitching.
"She brought scrolls and books," added the green one, her tone crisp. "And a fragment of a meteorite for study."
Vell nodded. "I remember that journey. Centuries ago. Her magisters tried to conceal parts of the library when she considered what to take with her, afraid she'd take dangerous knowledge to those less capable."
"'Knowledge unfit for lesser hands,' they used to say," the green one said with a small burst of flame that shot out of its snout.
"The High Queen cataloged our library in two days," said the blue one, reverently. "Her memory was unmatched. She was the most remarkable elf I ever met."
"And how are things now, in the hidden colleges?" Vell asked. "I've heard many good things, though I've never been."
"Hopefully only good things," the blue one replied.
"The only kind worth repeating," Vell said.
"The colleges are quiet," said the yellow one, tail curling. "Less experimentation now. More caution. The elders worry that chaos might follow the queen's death."
The green one snorted softly. "Silence never saved a kingdom. They should be reaching outward, not retreating."
"Will you speak at the ceremony?" Vell asked.
"We've considered it," the blue one said. "But many don't take us seriously. They'll see it as quaint, even sentimental. We don't want to be dismissed or laughed at."
"Then speak boldly," Vell told her. "If it's true, and it comes from the heart, they'll hear it."
The blue one tapped her claws on the fountain's edge. "We'll consider it."
"And if you do," Sonder added, "we'll be there to listen."