Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (24 page)

We all went out, heading to the dining hall, the basic plan being to ask Céline if Jared could go check on Tony and to get tokens for our housekeeping brownies.
 
I was just hoping I wouldn’t see Ivar or Dardennes in there.
 
In all the craziness, I had
kinda
blown off Dardennes’ order to work with Gregale today.
 
As if life didn’t suck enough already.

I scanned the room when I entered but didn’t see Céline, but I did see Gregale though, and he didn’t look any happier about working with me as I was about working with him.
 
I debated staying in my room for the day and ignoring Dardennes’ order, but the idea of being alone in that cell all day was even worse than the idea of being with Gregale.

I sat and ate the rest of my breakfast that I had carried from my room and then got up when I saw Gregale get to his feet.
 
“See you later guys.
 
I have to go work with the traitor now.”

Becky gave me a pitying look.
 
“You’ll be fine, Jayne, just try to stay positive.”

I rolled my eyes.
 
“Whatever.
 
Do you mind putting a token on my tray?
 
I think Gregale’s leaving.”

“Sure, no problem.”
 
She shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth.

“Give him a purple one if you can find one.”

Becky nodded, giving me
a thumbs
up.

I dragged my feet as I walked towards the door.

Gregale left the room after glancing over his shoulder to make sure I was following.
 
I stayed about ten feet behind him as he made his way down the corridor off the dining hall.
 
We walked for a long way, much longer than I was used to here.
 
It was impossible for me to get a feel for how big this compound was or even its layout because of all these spelled hallways that seemed to all go in the same direction but couldn’t possibly.

Eventually he stopped at one of the doors, pulling on the iron ring attached to it.
 
I noticed a symbol in the middle of the door; it looked like a figure eight lying on its side – like a really dangerous racetrack where the cars would wreck into each other if they weren’t timing their laps perfectly.
 
I wondered if all the doors had symbols on them.
 
I should probably pay better attention to stuff like that in the future, especially if I wanted to get out of here one day soon.
 
I couldn’t count on the fact that they would agree to my departure, so it’s possible I would have to stage a breakout.
 
I hoped it wouldn’t come to that – it’s not like I felt like a prisoner here – but I never knew anything for sure with these fae.

I stepped out of the hallway and into a clearing.
 
We were still in the forest, but it was definitely a different part of it than I had been in before.
 
If I were to use one word to describe this place I would say: ‘stunning’.
 
The trees were more spread out and there was more sunlight.
 
There were wildflowers mixed in with the heather and grasses at our feet.
 
Butterflies flitted from one flower to the next, staying in place for a few seconds before moving on to another temporary landing pad.
 
Some came and rested on Gregale’s shoulders, which was surprising to me.
 
It seemed to me butterflies should be able to sense the bad vibes of a flaming asshole like him and avoid them like the plague.

Gregale was smiling.
 
He turned his face up to the sun and put his arms out, like he was giving the warm rays a big hug.
 
It was strange to see him that way.
 
He actually looked happy.
 
I couldn’t help but stare.

He stopped and turned his head to look at me.
 
“What are you staring at?”
 
His face went from happy to sour in a split second.

“Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, I think.”

“Who are they?”

“They are actually one person, from a story, who had a split personality – one of them good and one of them evil.”

“And you are saying I am this person?”

“Yes.”

“I do not have a split personality.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“Do you have any idea how irritating you are?”

“Approximately one-half as irritating as you are, if my calculations are correct.”

The elf took a deep, calming breath, once again facing the sun with his eyes closed.
 
“I brought you here because this is the most peaceful place I know.
 
I thought it might help us move past our ... conflicts.”

I looked around, appreciating the thought.
 
“Well, I can see why you would pick this place.
 
It is pretty nice.”

He tilted his head a little towards me and opened one eye, just staring at me.

“What?”

“I’m checking to see if you are being sarcastic.”

I shrugged.
 
“I’m not.
 
It’s a nice place.
 
This is the most sunshine I’ve seen in days.
 
I’m used to sun all the time.”

He stopped his ‘find a happy place’ exercise and turned to look at me face to face.

“Where are you from?”

“The United States.
 
A place called Florida.”

“I know of this place.
 
I have not been there before.
 
You say there is sun there all the time?”

“Yeah, pretty much.
 
Except when it’s raining, which is kind of often, actually.”

Gregale stared off into the distance, like he was thinking about what I said.
 
After a while he said, “I’ve lived in the Green Forest my whole life.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m only two hundred and fifty-eight human years old.”

“Only?”
 
I laughed.
 
He was older than the United States.

“Why is that funny?”

“Because I’m only seventeen years old.”

He smiled.
 
“You are but a newborn in my world.”

“No matter how you figure it, I’m a newborn in your world.
 
I’m a three-day-old fae.”

He put his head down, looking sad.
 
“This is an impossible task.”

“What is?”

“Trying to prepare you.”

“I’m not an idiot, you know.”

He shook his head.
 
“I apologize for my words earlier, calling into question your intelligence.”

“I believe your words were that I’m as stupid as I look.”

His face reddened.
 
“Yes, well, that was a bit much, wasn’t it?”

I laughed.
 
“Yeah, maybe a bit of overkill.
 
You know, Dardennes is right about one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m just uneducated about fae stuff.
 
I’m actually a quick learner when the subject is something that interests me.”

“And does the fae way of life interest you?”

I wasn’t shy about admitting it.
 
“Of course it does.
 
Wouldn’t you be interested if you were in my moccasins?
 
I mean, one day I’m walking down the street an ordinary human, not even knowing the fae species exists, and then all of a sudden I’ve got superpowers that knock people on their asses, my friends can teleport, sense things, suck the life out of things ... it’s pretty friggin’ awesome, actually.
 
Scary and freaky sometimes, but awesome.”

“Yes, I can see now, when you put it that way, how it might be a little overwhelming.”

“You have no idea.”

“So, I suppose since you have a thirst for knowledge, and I happen to have copious amounts of it, we could easily make a day of this project.
 
Or many days.”
 
He looked at me, a bit shy all of a sudden.
 
“Of course, only if you concur.
 
If you do not think it would be worth your while, I am certain there are other places you could be.
 
There are plenty of warrior elves who I would wager would love to match skills against yours.”

“You’re not a warrior elf?”

“Not in the way you mean, probably.
 
I do not fight with my hands generally.
 
I am more of a ‘mind over matter’ elf.”

“Does that mean you move things with your mind?
 
Or you just use your brains figuratively?”

“No, I do not have telekinetic powers.
 
Some fae do obviously, but not the gray elves.
 
No, we are known for our superior intellect.
 
We are most able to help the cause by analyzing intelligence that is gathered and by engaging in psychological warfare schemes.
 
Other fae carry out our plans.”

“Psychological warfare?”
 
Echoes of Finn’s earlier words bounced around in my head.

“Yes.
 
It is a very popular topic these days, which is fun for the gray elves, but overall a bad sign for our times.”

“Yeah, I can see what you mean.
 
Well, whatever, I know that winning wars isn’t all about muscles.
 
Without good leadership, the troops don’t know where to go or what to do.”

The gray elf smiled.
 
“Yes, you are right about that.”

“But then again, without the muscle, all the planning in the world doesn’t do you any good.
 
You need someone to execute the plan.”

The gray elf nodded his head grudgingly.
 
“You are young, changeling, but you are not stupid.”

I laughed.
 
“Uh, thanks.
 
I think.”

“Would you like to spend this morning with me discussing the war?”

“The war?
 
Which war?”

“The war that is coming, of course.
 
Which war did you think I was referring to?”

“I guess I wasn’t even sure that you guys were certain there
was
a war coming.
 
I thought it was all just a guessing game at this point.”

“No.
 
There is no guessing about it.
 
If you want to be technical, the war has already begun.
 
Certainly you realize that, since you have already been a target of our enemy.”

“Yeah.
 
About that.
 
Maybe you can explain why it’s me who keeps getting shot at.”

“Generally speaking, during a war, the most high value and easiest targets are taken out first.”

“So that makes me ... ”

“According to the Dark Fae?
 
High value, easy to kill.”

“I get the easy to kill part, believe me.
 
But high value?
 
No so much.
 
Like you’ve pointed out very clearly, I’m useless.”

Gregale perked up at that, excited to share his knowledge
 
“Useless?
 
No, I never said useless.
 
It would not be correct to call any of the changelings useless.
 
You all have powers and skills that will be useful to the Light Fae against the Dark.
 
The problem is that you do not know how to use most of them.
 
And you in particular do not even know what skills you have – in fact, none of us do.
 
You are a mystery.”

“Seems like you would enjoy mysteries, being the elves of information.”

“Oh, I do, believe me.”

“Okay, if that’s true then tell me why you were plotting to eliminate me and my friends and tell me why you were such a pain in the ass in Dardennnes’ office.”

Gregale shut his eyes and shook his head.
 
“You are talking nonsense.
 
I never made any plans to eliminate you or anyone else.
 
There may have been discussion amongst the gray elves about sending all of you away from the conflict, so eliminating you from our equations here, but not killing you.
 
We do not waste resources like that.
 
And regarding the other item you mentioned, it was entirely reasonable for anyone to react that way upon seeing the possible release of that pixie.”
 
He shuddered at the memory.

“What’s the big deal about the pixie anyway?
 
He’s like, the size of one of those butterflies.
 
Harmless.”

“You really are at a distinct disadvantage not knowing the most basic fae facts.
 
I can see that part of your training has been neglected.
 
This should have been the first thing you learned, before testing your skills.
 
What good is teleporting, for example, if you let a pixie out of a bell jar?
 
It is just ridiculous.”