The Path to Destiny: Tia's Folly (20 page)

As
the group reached the house, the Falkeries jumped down from their Unicorns and
came to greet her.
 
Tia already knew Faye
and Armond. Carefully studying the others, she vaguely recalled some of their
faces and correctly guessed they were the same council members she herself had
once upon a time stood in front of. After an awkward round of introductions,
one man stepped forward to address her.

“The
message was short but urgent.” He raised an eyebrow at the quiet meadow. “I
cannot imagine why you have summoned us with such haste-”

           
“Get away from my Unicorn!” Armond shouted out of
nowhere. “You would probably kill it with your stupidity!”

           
Spinning around, Tia saw Armond advancing on Najia.

           
“Armond!” Faye admonished, jumping in front of Najia
before Tia had the chance to move. “
Get
away from Najia
!”

           
“I wouldn’t have hurt the Unicorn.” Najia’s large blue
eyes shimmered with unshed tears and added to her crestfallen expression.

           
“Armond is an ass, Najia. Ignore him.” Faye glared at the
offending man for a moment before approaching Najia and giving her a reassuring
hug. “Now, what is all of this urgency about?”

           
Tia watched in silence as Najia pulled out of Faye’s arms
and ran back inside the house. Slowly approaching Armond, Tia didn’t stop until
she was literally nose to nose with angry man.

           
“Let me put this as nicely as I can,” Tia growled in his
face. “If you ever treat
my child
like that again – I promise you – I will destroy everything you hold dear in
this lifetime. You cannot begin to imagine the amount of magic I have at my
disposal right now...
Do you understand me
?”

           
Scoffing at her, Armond walked away from the group in a
huff without another word.

           
“Is he always so pleasant?” Tia asked sarcastically as
she turned back to the group.

           
“He has had a really rough couple of days.” Faye sadly
watched Armond’s retreating back.

           
“I know he is always a little stuffy but this is
ridiculous!” Tia shook her head at his immature behavior.

           
“He became so closed off during the war…” Faye looked
ready to burst into tears. Flexing her jaw she gazed sadly into Tia’s eyes. “He
finally learned to love and trust again…and right now, his heart is broken.
Give him some leeway and let me handle him.”

           
Hours later, they were still discussing – or more like
debating – the plans to move Najia to the Falkerie City. Initially, the council
had asked to leave Tia behind but Faye had stood by Tia’s side and argued on
her behalf. Just when Tia thought there was nothing else to say, Faye had
stepped forward and challenged the council.

           
“You can’t do this
again
!”
Faye had whispered harshly, wiping tears from her eyes. “How many times do you
have to make the
same
mistake before
you realize
this is
wrong
?”

           
“She,” a council member pointed rudely at Tia, “has
allowed Najia’s magic to become too strong too soon.”

           
“Or maybe the Gods did it!” Faye narrowed her eyes,
daring them to deny what they knew was the truth.

           
The tone of the group quickly changed as they backed down
from Faye’s openly hostile glare. Having never seen her like this, Tia was
horribly curious to know what she was making reference to. As Faye turned to
her – and she saw her shuttered eyes – Tia knew she would probably never know.

           
Lost in thought, time seemed to flash by for Tia as she
absently answered the council’s questions. Her heart ached for Najia and more
than anything she wished she could shelter her from the pain and rejection
coming her way.

           
“It’s time.”

           
“Humm- what?” Tia refocused on the group.

           
“Let’s go see who Najia created.” Faye linked her arm in
Tia’s and led the way back to the house. “Wait here,” she commanded softly
after they were inside.

           
Tia hoped this group would remember that Najia was still
only thirteen years old. If they weren’t nice to her – so help her – she would
run so far away no one would ever find them! As she watched her daughter
bravely descend the stairs with Kender on her shoulder, pride filled her heart.

           
That’s my girl
,
Tia thought as she took in Najia’s upturned nose and stubbornly set chin.
Seeing that the group was watching her too, Tia decided to watch them and take
note of their initial reaction.

           
As they noticed the Pixie on Najia’s shoulder, there was
a variety of reactions from the Falkeries present. Armond looked angry, but he
had had the same look since his arrival, so Tia didn’t pay much attention to
him. A couple of the Falkeries she didn’t know had their jaws hanging open in
surprise. But Faye – thank the Gods for Faye – was grinning from ear to ear at
Najia.

           
“So it’s true!” Faye laughed, looking delighted. “Pixies
are no longer extinct, the little rascals!” Faye winked broadly at Kender who
grinned unabashedly back at her.

           
“It made a Pixie, so what?” Armond sneered at Najia. “It
will bring about all of our deaths and all Pixies do is destroy everything they
touch! I don’t know why we keep protecting her instead of letting someone kill
her! Eventually, maybe someone will succeed!”

           
Raised angry voices immediately assaulted Armond’s
remarks while Tia could only stare at him in horror. He knew Najia didn’t know
the whole story yet, she was only a child. Forcing her gaze to Najia’s, Tia
tried desperately to think of something to say.

           
“What does he mean, Mama? Why would anyone want to kill
me?” Najia’s voice quivered uncertainly.

           
An awkward silence stretched for just a few seconds
before Kender burst out laughing.

           
“You actually thought you could keep her from finding out
what she is?” He chuckled gaily. “You are a bunch of fools! No wonder the Gods
sent me to keep the poor child company. Najia, ignore the idiot, you are
invincible. You can’t be killed.”

           
“Invincible?” Najia cocked her head curiously. “What does
that mean?”

           
“It means-,” Kender began but was cut off quickly by Tia.

           
“You cannot be killed,” Tia moved forward to take Najia’s
hands in her own, “And no one knows when or if you will ever die.”

           
“Immortal?! “ Najia burst out. “Only Gods are immortal!”
She looked around in surprise and asked, “Is this a joke?”

           
“Please leave us,” Faye requested kindly of the silent
council members before turning to Armond and rudely saying, “Armond, go home
now! If I ever see you in the vicinity of Najia again, I will petition to have
you demoted to being an apprentice!”

           
Murmuring their agreement, the council slowly took their
leave. Each stopped to see Kender and to touch him, as if needing to reassure
themselves that he was real.
 
Not one
said a word to Armond as they drifted outside to wait.

           
Tia’s attention was diverted back to Armond as she heard
him audibly swallow. He seemed hesitant to leave and was looking at Faye with
an odd look on his face.
 
With a sigh, he
turned to follow the council and fell flat on his face.

           
“HA! HA!” Kender gleefully shouted. “I really don’t like
that one!” he announced to no one in particular.

           
Glaring at Kender, Armond pushed himself into a sitting
position and started unwinding the yarn from around his body and legs. His ears
nearly glowed red with embarrassment and stood out painfully against his pale
skin.

           
Tia felt a slow smile spreading across her face.

           
“How did you do that?” Najia whispered to Kender. “You
never left my shoulder.”

           
“Piss drinking, shit eating Pixies are magic creatures
you little bitch
!” Armond snarled at
Najia. “Know what they do? They go around playing stupid pranks on everyone and
everything. I, for one, was
glad
they
were extinct!”

           
“
That’s it
!”
Tia stepped forward intending to physically eject him from her house but was
beat to it.

           
Faye hauled Armond into a standing position by his arm
and basically dragged him out of the house. Slamming the door in his face, she
turned around and gave Najia a deceptively bright smile.

           
“So, how would you like to come live with me?” She
blurted out. “I promise Armond will not talk to you or bother you ever again.”

           
Tia watched carefully for Najia’s reaction and was
surprised to see she didn’t seem excited. She seemed resigned.

           
“Is my Mama coming?” Najia asked slowly.

           
“Yes.”

           
“Why do we have to go live with you? Can’t you just come
here and live with us?” Najia suddenly seemed very afraid to leave her home.
“We could play in the meadow-.”

           
“When you made Kender, you did an extremely wondrous
thing,” Faye interrupted as gently as she could, trying to comfort Najia with
her words even as she explained the importance of coming to the Falkerie city.
“We knew this power would emerge eventually, but we thought it would be years
before your abilities would grow to be so strong. The problem is that the
stronger you grow, the easier it will be for others to find you. From what we
know, there is one Phoenix whose link with you is stronger than all of the
others. He will have
felt
you when
you created Kender. It is possible that the Phoenix could be on their way here
now
, as we speak.”

           
“If they can’t hurt me, why would that be bad?” Najia
pondered.

           
“The Phoenix aren’t the most forgiving race of people.”
Faye bent over and looked directly into Najia’s eyes. “That means they would
kill every Druid you have ever come into contact with; every Falkerie! Do you
understand why it is imperative that we hide you as soon as possible?”

           
“I understand,” Najia replied solemnly.

           
Smiling again, Faye said, “You will like my home Najia.
Winter never really comes inside the city. It is bright and beautiful all of
the time…there are gardens everywhere for you to practice your magic and your
new home will have a pretty stream nearby.”

           
“Are we going to live in your house?” Najia seemed to be
warming to the idea.

           
“No, sweetie.” Faye’s smile dimmed just a little. “You
will live outside the Falkerie city but you will be close enough that I can
come see you every single day.”

           
“Will there be other kids to play with?” she asked
hopefully.

           
This was the part Tia was dreading. She was going to have
to force Najia to live within sight of a city and – and all of the people that
also live there – without being able to go near them. It was like dangling a
carrot in front of a donkey and refusing to let him have it…it wasn’t fair.

           
“It’s alright. I have Kender now!” Najia suddenly blurted
out intuitively understanding the unspoken sympathy in Faye’s eyes.

           
“And I am not going anywhere!” He declared. “I am your
promised friend
forever
!”

           
Thank the Gods for
that!
Tia was relieved and she immediately reiterated her gratitude to the
Gods for sending Kender as she looked up and clasped her hands together.
At least Najia wouldn’t be completely alone!

***

           
A few weeks later, Tia watched as Najia sat on the porch
of their new house. It was situated just outside of the Falkerie city and it
was one thing to be lonely when they were isolated out in the middle of
nowhere, but it was completely different to live within a stone’s throw of
hundreds of people, and not be able to talk to them! She watched Najia watching
them go about their daily business and - worst of all for her daughter - she
could see and hear the kids playing.