Frey (21 page)

“
And if it doesn’t work?”
She didn’t answer. I nodded. I remembered the story of her father
then, how he’d been released after the fairy’s death.

I faced Chevelle. “If the council member who
bound me dies, then will I be released?”

He plainly regretted what he'd divulged that
morning. “Yes.”

“
Then we kill them.”
And if we don’t know which ones?
“We kill them all.” I glanced around the clearing.
They were all watching me with changed expressions. They
were
revering
me
and I realized how they had looked at me before, since we had
met... uncertain.

Anvil was smiling.

A movement at the tree line caught everyone’s
attention. It was Chevelle’s guest, Asher. He stood in the shadows,
staff in hand. He inclined his head once toward Chevelle and
turned, a long braid of hair whipping behind him as he disappeared
into the brush. The group seemed relieved, happy even.

Anvil thumped his right hand, balled into a
fist, on the left side of his chest. It was directed at me. Grey
followed, repeating the action and adding a single nod. Ruby
clasped her hands and bounced twice with excitement. A tandem wolf
howl sounded in the distance.

Chapter Thirteen

Dear Diary

The headless corpse was
disposed of and the group was bustling around the clearing. I slid
my sword carefully back in its sheath…
Ruby
had been right, that thing really was sharp
. I hadn’t understood the flourish of activity until Ruby
grabbed my arm to conduct me. “Come on, we have to get
packed.”

She dragged me along as she
rushed back to her house, excited. She was throwing things around
her room, sorting and gathering. I didn’t really have anything to
assemble. I had the one pack I’d acquired months ago, nothing in it
but that stupid white dress and the pouch…
the pouch
. I hurried from the room,
explaining to Ruby I would be getting ready for the
trip.

“
I already put your pack in
the front room for Chevelle.”

“
Oh, well, I’ll just check
it. Thanks.” I found the pack with some of Chevelle’s things. As I
started to open it, I knocked one of his bags over and went to pick
it up. The flap was loose and a piece of fabric hung out. I thought
I recognized it. I glanced over my shoulder to be sure Ruby wasn’t
watching and then opened it to find it was the fabric that had
covered the package she handed to Chevelle our first day
here.
The package he traded
my
stone
for
. I pulled the material back and found a
leather-bound book. I was afraid Ruby would catch me so I slid the
book into my bag and went to my room, closing the door behind
me.

I’d already been in trouble
for stealing one book but this was technically mine, it was swapped
for
my
ruby. But I
was careful anyway. I pretended to lie down and placed the book
where I could quickly cover it with a pillow if I were caught. I
removed the fabric and ran my fingers over the dark leather on the
cover, tracing a scripted V etched there.
Vattier?
I opened the book to find the
first pages had been torn from the bindings and then flipped
through it, seeing several sections were damaged, some torn, some
by water. I sighed. Wasn’t that the way of things? I went back to
the beginning and started reading.

Today was the solstice celebration for the
fairies. They are such idiots. They got all hopped up on dust and
raided the castle. We had to kill like six of them before they
sobered up enough to reason with. Then dad killed two more just for
fun. He said he had to prove a point but I could tell he enjoyed
it.

I straightened a little and
blinked, uncertain I had actually read what I thought I'd
read.
What
is
this?
I
shook my head and continued.

My stupid sister was mad because he didn’t
let her help. She started to throw a tantrum and he stiffened her
tongue. It was stuck like that for hours. I laughed so hard I kept
having to wipe the tears from my eyes. She tried to yell at me and
it came out like “Thut uhp! Thop iht!” which made me laugh harder
and she got so mad she screamed and busted a bunch of glass.

I kept reading, enthralled.
It seemed to be a journal, written by a girl, but I had no idea
who.
Chevelle’s family?
Why would he have a girl’s
diary
? It was filled with pointless
stories as far as I could tell but after a few pages the writing
matured and it seemed to jump several years. I wished it was
dated.

I tire so easily of the formalities here. The
only thing I have to look forward to are the few breaks I get to go
out on my own, into the pines. Father has increased my work periods
to every other day. Combined with my other duties, I am stationed
in the castle almost all week. The magic practice exhausts me or I
would sneak out at night, the way I enjoyed as a child. It doesn’t
seem fair, my sister is practically ignored. Father clearly prefers
me but sometimes I wonder if that is really better. She wanders
idly around the castle, no practice, no duties, no formal
gatherings.

Magic practice, castles, who
was this girl?
I read the entries for
hours. Ruby must have thought I was actually sleeping. I had no
idea what in this journal could be of interest to Chevelle unless
he knew the woman, and that kept me reading. It continued on, her
father’s strict schedule, their distaste for her sister, and then
the entries got more detailed, more frequent.

Mother has been too ill lately for guests, I
have not been able to see her. The tedium of my duties is getting
to me and Father has been relentless with my studies, pushing me
harder and harder to strengthen my control. My sister has been
exploring the mountains, I see her bring in all sorts of
interesting finds but she refuses to tell me where she got them. I
wish there were a way to sneak out. I would follow her or force her
to show me but Father is keeping a close eye on me, making certain
I stick to a strict schedule. This morning he brought in a detailed
list for Rune, giving him direction through a series of tasks. He’s
supposed to grade me on them, see which I excel most at so they can
pick a specific field to concentrate on. I don’t know how extensive
it was but I saw wind, water, growth, transfer, fire, and foresight
written as it passed between them. We had already done months of
fire. Pass it through water, see how large a flame I can create,
see how hot I can go, test me on this, test me on that. And now he
asks Rune to test me in the impossible, to see the future. He
expects too much. Merely because I am different. My sister is
different, too. But she never has to practice. He doesn’t expect
her to stay in the castle, not even when we have guests. No doubt
he prefers her not be seen then, embarrassed by her light hair and
features. Ugh, it’s so infuriating. I wish I were as strong as he
hoped. I could do what I wanted then.

I attempted slipping in to see Mother this
morning but the doors were protected. Father found me trying to
break though and sent me directly to Rune for practice. At least I
got out of my duties in the throne room. We started with water. I
was so exhausted I had to sleep through most of the afternoon
before they brought me back to work again in the evening. Every
muscle in my body throbs. I think I hate Rune.

A servant brought a letter to my room this
morning. It was from my father, informing me I was to prepare for a
banquet. I put on my formal attire and wondered what sort of tricks
he’d want me to perform for our guests. How would he display my
talents this time? I understand he needs to show strength in his
position but it seems as if he’s being a bit obvious, check out my
freak. I’m confident I’ll be too tired for anything but sleep
tonight or I’d try sneaking out when he was occupied with visitors.
Maybe he’ll give me a break from training tomorrow.

Father hasn’t left his room this morning, no
one has seen him since the conclusion of the festivities. My sister
has sealed herself in her room. No one will tell me what has
occurred.

Late last night, a servant brought a note
from my father. It was four words long… Your mother has passed. I
am still in my room. I guess I am waiting. I don’t know what will
happen.

I heard a noise in the front room and slid
the book under my pillow, dropped my head, and pretended to sleep.
I'd been so absorbed in the book I had no idea how long I’d been
reading. There was a light rap on my door.

I tried to sound sleepy. “Yes?”

“
Frey, I’m on my way to the
ridge. We will be leaving in the morning.” Ruby’s words confused
me, I must have read through the night.

“
Okay.”

“
Steed is here, you can stay
with him or go with me.”

“
I’ll stay.” I listened to
her footsteps recede. When I was sure she was gone I slipped the
book into my pack and hid it inside the material of the white gown.
We would be leaving tomorrow, traveling to the peak. I laughed to
myself, no matter how many times I said it, I had no clue what it
meant. But now there was an urgency, no matter if it held safety,
no matter if it held my family secrets, it held my escape from the
bonds. It held my only chance.

I hadn't slept, and I knew
would have to sneak a nap in at some point, but I had priorities.
It might be my last opportunity for a real bath.
And lovely soaps
.

I sat with Steed for a while after I’d
bathed. He was reclined on the bench, his feet propped up on the
table. He didn’t seem as excited as Ruby had been about our coming
trip so I asked him about it.

“
I’m just riding the wind,
Frey.”

“
Oh, so you don’t know where
we’re going either?”

He laughed. “No, I know where we are going.
It's only that I don’t know where we'll end up.”

“
What do you mean?” He
didn’t answer. But I didn’t know what was going to happen either. I
thought of the tracker and realized what a good distraction the
book had been. “Steed?”

“
Frey?”

I smiled at his response but quickly returned
to graveness. “How will we get to council? I mean, how do we find
them?”

He wasn’t smiling anymore either. “Well,
there’s a good chance they’ll be looking for us.”

Of course, and they would
all come together. It was clear we were too strong for one or two,
they would need to attack as a group.
Or
pick us off one by one
. I wondered how
large their force was.

“
Frey?”

“
Steed?” It wasn’t as funny
this time.

“
How did you do
it?”

I raised my brow, unsure what he was
asking.

“
The snake,” he
clarified.

“
Oh. I… I don’t
know.”

“
Was it transfer magic, did
you simply push it there?”

That wasn’t what I’d meant.
I didn’t know how I’d controlled it, but it wasn’t from the
outside.
Should I tell him?

“
How else?” I asked,
innocently.

He nodded. “Some of the others, well, they
seem to think you encouraged the snake to go under its own power.
Silly, I know.” He was watching my response.

I tried sidetracking him. “Ruby says no one
can control animals.”

“
You’ve been talking to Ruby
about it?”

Oops
. “Well, Ruby just talks.”

“
Mm-hm.”

“
So, some of the others...
who, exactly?”

He smirked, I'd given too much away. “You
couldn’t tell by the way they looked at you in the clearing?”

I
had
noticed. Anvil, Grey. It brought
back a memory. “Who was the old guy with the stick?”

“
Staff.”

“
Staff.” I
waited.

“
Shouldn’t you be preparing
for the trip?”

“
Shouldn’t you?” I
countered.

“
I
am babysitting.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

I was tired. I settled back into my seat.
“Steed, tell me about breeding horses.”

He sighed. “How much detail do you want?” I
giggled.

He smiled as he started into the subject,
explaining what he’d been taught about breeding techniques and
dominant traits when he was young. His father had imparted to him
all he had learned in his lifetime and all their ancestors had
passed down before. They bred the animals methodically, striving to
combine certain traits, bring them together in a single horse. With
each generation, they strengthened the line, even bringing in new
breeds from other lands to add to the list of desired attributes.
Smoother gait, better endurance, stronger health, longer life.

I faded off somewhere during the part about
bloodlines.

I woke late in the evening when Ruby switched
places with Steed. She had brought some meat back with her and we
supped together before I headed off to bed. Ruby didn’t question
why I would be sleeping again so soon, but she was busy being
excited about her upcoming trip.