Jak shook her head, beginning to grow frustrated. She had heard this one all too often as well. “Not at all. In the case of the Shadow Fae, they had contact with a Holy Relic that changed them. In the case of the Bright Fae, their whole village suddenly turned into Fae with no warning.”
The Queen nodded. “Yes, we’ve heard reports of two varieties of Fae at the battle. I’m told you led them?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Why? You’re not even of age yet. What did they see in you?”
Jak opened her mouth but didn’t know exactly what to say. She really wished she didn’t have to keep her relation to the Fae a secret. “I’m not sure, my lady. I was in the right place at the right time.”
That seemed to satisfy the queen. “And this Holy Relic you speak of, what was it?”
“It was an original copy of the Annals of Adam.” Jak thought she saw the Royal Priest shift out of the corner of her vision.
The queen raised an eyebrow. “Indeed! Well, then why didn’t you bring it with you? Such a find would be the best news we’ve heard in a long time.”
“It wasn’t my place to take it. It is sacred to them, having been the reason for their transformation and all.”
“Hmm, and have you any notion of how it performed such an unprecedented feat? Did the Fae do something to anger it perhaps, try to damage or manipulate it in some way?”
“No, my lady. As I heard it, it merely changed them when they drew near. And they aren’t the only ones. Their numbers have increased as travelers came too close and turned them into Shadow Fae as well. Though not all turn into Fae.”
The queen tapped her fingers together. “We shall have to put up a notice not to stray into those mountains if this transformation occurs as you say. Now I understand why you didn’t bring us the book. You’re sure it’s the source of this magic?”
“Of that, I am very certain, my lady,” Jak responded. She was beginning to grow more comfortable now. They just wanted to know about the Fae. Completely understandable. “I felt the power surrounding it myself. I can’t exactly describe the sensation, but there was power there. And I got a chance to read some of it. Certain passages are different.”
“Mmm? Like what?”
“Well, it’s still somewhat vague. But it seemed to prophecy about the Fae themselves, and more than two varieties. There were more mentioned, and it talks about how they will all unite with humans into a great civilization.”
This time she definitely saw the Priest shift uncomfortably. Was this not exciting news for him?
“I see,” The queen lips flattened to a straight line. “Very well, girl. We have but one more matter to discuss with you. I will let my General take the lead on this one.” She sounded colder now, and Jak felt the comfort she had begun to feel drain away.
General Wilva took a step forward. “You are familiar with Sergeant Naem?”
Oh dear, Jak thought. “Eh, yes. He and I became friends while on the journey.”
“And the two of you, together with Major Skellig, conducted a mutiny against our own Colonel Kuldain, is that correct?”
Jak almost stammered as she tried to give a quick response. “He was a demon, uh, sir. We don’t know how, but he had some sort of shapeshifting ability. In the end, he attacked all of us, and I... I was forced to kill him.”
There was no way to sugar coat that last part. She had killed a Watcher Colonel, and they only had her word and that of the other Watchers who were present.
“We knew of this,” Wilva said.
Jak glanced at the queen, who said nothing but merely watched Jak closely over her laced fingers.
“Am I to be punished?” Jak finally worked up the courage to ask.
Wilva regarded her for a few heartbeats. “No.” She said at last, to Jak’s immediate relief. “We’ve heard enough reports to substantiate what you said. If Kuldain was a demon, then he deserved what he got. As Watchers, it is our duty to seek out demons and magic abusers and eliminate them. You did only as you were charged. But that is not what we wanted to discuss.”
Jak swallowed. If that wasn’t the main issue, she had an idea of what was.
“I have come to learn that Sergeant Naem has received more than one stable brand. When I confronted him about this, he revealed that you gave them to him. To save his life.”
All three of them were staring at Jak now, with calculated intensity. Jak understood. No one had ever produced a second stable brand, let alone a third. She had hoped to keep this quiet, but this was the queen she was talking to and a Watcher general. If anyone knew about the goings on in the kingdom, it was them.
“Yes. I did brand Naem with Toughness and Healing, in addition to his original brand of Grace.”
“How did you do this?” The queen asked.
There was a stillness to her voice that worried Jak. She would have to tread carefully. A wrong answer would not help her.
“I did it with the help of a Bright Fae. They have an ability that I don’t fully understand, to reveal the truth to themselves and to others. Naem was dying, and I was ready to use any method to save him. I thought, maybe, if the Fae was telling the truth, that maybe he could show me how to save Naem. And he did. It just wasn’t what any of us were expecting.”
“You realize that what you did has been attempted many times with no success?” This time it was the Royal Priest who spoke.
“I do. What I did was impossible.”
“Have you replicated it since?”
Jak shook her head. “I can’t even produce a single stable brand yet. Knowledge was given to me at that moment, but I lost it once the Fae stopped opening my eyes to the truth.”
“Convenient,” said the Priest.
Jak said nothing in response.
“You will speak of this to no one.” The queen’s tone held no room for question. “Until we understand what went on, you will never reveal what happened that day. Furthermore, you will keep what you know of the Fae peculiarities to yourself.”
Peculiarities? But the Fae were good, and it was important that others know that. Jak almost opened her mouth to protest, but the fire in the queen’s eyes shut her up.
“You will continue your studies at the college and learn what you can about Branding and about what happened that night with the young Sergeant. We will investigate the matter ourselves as well and will summon you again when we feel ready.”
“Y... yes, my lady.” She supposed that was okay.
The Watcher General shifted on her feet. “And as you are technically still a Watcher, you will make your reports directly to me. I will expect you to visit the Watcher compound at least once a week. I’m told the Sergeant oversaw training you in combat. He is skilled so you may continue your training with him.”
“I don’t know how much free time I will have from my studies.”
“We are not asking, girl.” The queen’s voice was still stern.
What had happened to the sweet motherly tone she used earlier?
“You are a Watcher, so you will report to the Watchers. Consider it a command from your queen.”
“Yes, my lady.” Jak did not like this at all, but she couldn’t see any way out of it for now. She needed time to think.
“Very well. That will be all. The Lord Chamberlain will arrange for your passage back to the college.” The queen dismissed her with a wave of the hand.
As she turned, Jak caught one last look of the Royal Priest’s face. The smile there did nothing to soothe her mood. Something was wrong here, but Jak could not figure out what.
She paced to the end of the hall, suddenly conscious of how loud her feet were on the stone floor. The doors opened with an enormous creek as she approached. How had they known she was coming? But that question quickly died as she saw who was on the other side of the big oak doors.
Naem stood there, almost as unrecognizable as Jak herself. He wore a laced doublet that extended all the way up to his neck, where a giant circle of lace created a ha
lo around his face. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt, but upon seeing her, his face broke into a smile.
“Jak!” he said in a hushed tone. “I didn’t expect to see you here, and in a dress. You don’t look half bad!”
He glanced down at her ornate garments. Jak felt an unexpected feeling as she was torn between discomfort at wearing her dress, and pleasure that Naem seemed to like it.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him, pushing her other thoughts out of her head. The oak doors were still open, which meant they only had a moment.
“I was summoned by Watcher High Command. General Wilva found out about my brands.” Naem’s face grew solemn. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to say, so I told them the truth. The queen wants a report now.”
Jak nodded. “It’s okay, they already talked to me about it. And it would have come out eventually.”
The Lord Chamberlain appeared behind Naem. “What are you waiting for get in there!”
Jak took a step to one side to let Naem in. But as he strode to pass her, she grabbed his arm. He paused, turning to look at her.
“Be careful,” she whispered. “There’s something not right here.”
Naem gave the smallest nod to indicate he understood. Then he left her grasp and proceeded into the throne room. The oak doors boomed as they closed behind him.
“Now girl, I will arrange an escort for you,” the Lord Chamberlain snapped his fingers, and two serving girls appeared as if out of nowhere.
Jak recognized them as two of the girls who had helped her bathe earlier. It took far less time for Jak to be extracted from her lavish clothes than it had to get in them. While she undressed one of the girls brought her old travel clothes. They had been washed and scented since Jak parted with them, and she could swear they felt far softer as she pulled them on. She almost felt it was worth an audience with the queen if she got such treatment every time. Almost.
The carriage trip also seemed to take less time, though this was more likely because Jak was lost in thought, rather than scared for her life. She had gone into the throne room with a preconception of what the queen would be like. Now, her assumptions stood on shaky ground. She wasn’t exactly sure what made her uneasy. Perhaps it was the fact that the queen frequently referred to the Fae as peculiarities, rather than real people. It reminded her of the way Kuldain had thought of them as nothing but demons. Of course, Kuldain had been a demon himself, so his arguments against the Fae had likely been an act.
But she also felt uncomfortable knowing that the queen and her confidants knew of her miraculous branding ability, even if she didn't know how to replicate what she did to Naem. She had hoped to blend in at Skyecliff, to bury herself in her studies. The college had been her dream since she was very young, and now she felt uneasy living here.
She heard the horse hooves clatter as they slowed to a halt in front of the college. The door opened, and Jak stepped outside. She took a step forward, then another. For some reason, the college seemed more imposing than before, especially now that she could see it in full daylight. The carriage driver tipped his hat to her, then rode away towards the palace.
She was alone. Only random citizens walking to and fro on the street saw her there, a few curious to see who had stepped out of a royal carriage. But most averted their eyes and continued their merry way.
Jak didn’t know why she felt apprehensive to enter the college again, but she squared her shoulders and marched inside.
As soon as her eyes adjusted to the lower light inside, she saw Gabriel taking great steps towards her from the opposite end of the circular hall. Good, he was still here!
“What did you say?” He asked as he neared. “Tell me exactly what they asked you word for word.”
Jak almost stepped back. His face was furious, though his voice remained relatively calm. “Um... it’s about what you’d expect.”
And she told him everything that had just happened, about their conversations of the Fae and Kuldain, including the discussion of Naem and his extra brands. Gabriel listened with quiet intensity until she finished.
“And you’re sure that was everything? They asked you no further questions?”
Jak shook her head. “Should I not have gone?”
Gabriel sighed and relaxed a bit. “No, one refuses a summons by the queen if they want to live. But I wish Semwei had warned me you were leaving. I would have given you some advice. She wanted me to get my rest. But I suppose there’s nothing we can do about it now that it’s done, and I’d say you did a good job answering their questions, though perhaps a bit more honest than I would have been.”
“Why don’t you trust the queen?” Jak asked, genuinely curious. Perhaps Gabriel could explain why Jak felt so uneasy.
“It’s not the queen I distrust, but more her advisors. Wilva isn’t all bad if just a little hot-headed and rash. But that other one, the Royal Priest with no name, he worries me. I assume Semwei made you promise to go to church?” Jak nodded, and Gabriel continued. “Well then, you’ll probably see the problems when you listen to him preach. He has some radical ideas and is unfortunately persuasive in his techniques.”
Jak remembered something then. “Weren’t you supposed to go see something along the coast?”
Gabriel licked his lips. “I was, but once I learned that you were gone, I had to wait and make sure everything was okay. There’s something unique about you, Jak, and while I don’t plan to give you any special treatment while here at the college, I think you have a great destiny ahead of you.”
“I don’t want to be special.”
Gabriel smiled. “Those that do rarely deserve it. But give it time. All you need to do is focus on your studies for now. Let me handle the queen and her politics. If she ever summons you again, I want you to make sure that I hear of it. Even if you have to make her wait. We must send a message that you are not at her beckon call.”
Jak nodded, glad to have Gabriel around.
Gabriel clapped his hands together. “Well, now that you’re here, I must be going. I’m afraid you’ve already missed breakfast and morning chores, which I’m sure Semwei will not appreciate, even if it was to meet with the queen. Go report to her and she’ll tell you what to do next.
“Okay, I... hope you have a safe trip.” Jak couldn’t think of anything else to say.
She was not pleased that Gabriel had to leave. And she was beginning to feel her exhaustion returning as the early morning, combined with a late night and her recovery from their travels, took its toll on her body. Well, at least she smelled good now.
Gabriel took his leave, and Jak eventually found Semwei, who gave her some chores cleaning in the kitchen to make up for her tardiness. Unfortunately, it meant Jak missed her first round of classes for the day, but at the same time, Jak enjoyed the menial labor. It was the closest thing to normal that she had done in weeks.
4
The next day was High Morning, the day most people in Skyecliff went to church in the huge cathedral adjacent to the palace. Driven by her promise to Semwei, Jak rose with the other girls in her dormitory to make their way there.
Jak still hadn’t formally met any of the other students at the college. A few gave her a glance as they prepped for church, but seemed more concerned with talking to each other, leaving Jak out of their conversations. Jak didn’t mind this. She liked to listen in, rather than participate. This was how she learned most of the students liked going to church, not because of what was taught there, but because it was the only morning when they didn’t have to perform chores.
Jak didn’t really understand this. Sure, her knees were a bit sore from scrubbing the kitchen floor, but it had been relaxing work, helping Jak forget about everything else that had happened on her visit to the queen.
As they dressed in their school uniforms, something Jak had just received the day before, Jak thought she heard someone mention the queen. She turned to see several girls glancing in her direction, which they immediately stopped
doing the moment she caught them staring. Great! They must have heard that she was summoned to see the queen on her first day in Skyecliff. If no one had talked to her before, they weren’t going to now. Jak liked to remain aloof and not have to worry about others, but this was different. Who liked being the odd one out?
Grimacing, Jak focused her efforts on preparing herself for church, already convinced that she wasn’t going to like the experience. Perhaps she could find a quiet corner in the back and slip out when no one was looking.
No carriage met her this time. Instead, she walked with the other girls and boys, led by Semwei, to the church. There were about fifty of them all together, probably most of the occupants of the school. Jak kept her face low the whole time, avoiding the awkward glances people kept sending her. Even the boys seemed to have heard about her by now. Did word really travel that fast?
As they approached the church, Jak noticed two men standing at the doors. Each gave a single glance to the group of approaching students, then nodded at Semwei, who waved at the others to follow her inside. Jak frowned. Did they have to have permission to enter? Were those men there to stop people from coming in? That didn’t exactly seem like any of the churches Jak had heard about. The Holy Relics and their blessings were for all people.
But Jak’s thoughts quickly faded as they entered the church itself. She stared around in awe. The building was the most beautiful and ornate building she had ever seen. Even more so than the palace. Huge stone columns rose to meet the gilded ceiling. Each column bore glass mosaics that wrapped around and rose to the very top. Huge stained-glass windows rose on all sides, letting light in and painting the ground with multiple colors. Jak didn’t recognize any of the events depicted in the glass, but they were beautiful as well.
She was glad she had the college uniform because she had no idea what else she would wear to a place like this. Everyone assembled wore something fancy and perfectly clean. She didn’t see anyone who didn’t obviously have money, unless it was her group of students. But even they had clean clothes, enough that they fit the tone of the room somewhat. Still, Jak had seen hundreds of people in the city already, and most of them looked like they couldn’t afford what the patrons here were wearing. Perhaps there were other churches that they went to?
Growing Ripples: An Epic YA Fantasy Adventure (Roots of Creation Book 2) Page 3