“Sure, sure.” He dismissed her. “You jus’ tell us when the plan is on.”
“I will,” Fale said, moving to stand. Her back still hurt terribly, it was stiff and painful from her shoulders to her hips and she winced as she felt the scabs stick to the rough wool of her tunic. She took her bowl with her, not knowing what else to do with it.
Fale walked rigidly over to Minova. “Can I talk to ya?” she asked.
Minova acted like she didn’t hear her.
“Minova, I really need ta ask ya somethin’,” Fale tried to talk the way she thought Taran would speak after listening to the other boys. The girls laughed, as Minova took a bite of her stew and chewed. Fale walked over to her and painfully bent to Minova’s ear. “Minova, it’s Fale.”
Minova’s eyes grew round and she swung her head around to look Taran in the face. Fale nodded grimly.
“If you must, Taran,” she said loudly. The girls laughed again. Minova grabbed Taran’s sleeve and pulled Fale out of the circle of the cooking fires. She whispered, “Taran said you have the key to free us. Have you come to free us?”
“It’s more complicated than that, Minova." She watched the thirteen-year old’s face fall. Fale tried to explain, “The key goes to a machine and I haven’t found it yet.”
Minova asked, “Is it here?”
“I don’t know where it is,” Fale said. “Right now, I’m looking for someone. Have you noticed any new slaves?”
“There are so many of us,” she said sadly. “Surely someone would notice, though.”
“I need you to look for a man. His name is Nelson. He is big, tall, he has dark hair with gray at the temples, and dark blue eyes.”
“Maybe he isn’t here?” Minova asked.
“He’s here somewhere,” Fale said. “And I have to find him.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s my, my…he raised me.”
“Did the wizard take him?” Minova asked.
“Yes,” Fale thought about Nelson and her heart beat furiously in her chest. She missed him so much. She was so afraid she wouldn’t find him. He had to be with the slaves, he had to be.
Minova’s eyes were wide. “What if he’s-"
A machine? It was Fale’s greatest fear.
“I don’t know, Minova,” Fale said. “Is everyone in the castle a machine?”
“We don’t know,” Minova said. “There are those who tell of the horrors in the dungeon. Slaves go down beneath and become… experiments. Most never return and, if they do, they’re never the same… The grave diggers won’t even speak about what they’ve seen.”
“That’s horrifying.”
“My brother and his stupid friends want to sneak in and find out,” she said.
“The boy said you weren’t speaking to Taran, because they snuck in,” Fale said.
“They planned to. Tonight,” Minova said. “But if you’re here, then they won’t be able to catch the guard shift." She smiled. “He’s going to be so mad at you.”
“But you’re happy.” Fale noticed.
“I’d rather keep my brother alive.”
“Then I’m not sorry.”
Minova nodded and said, “I like you.”
“I can’t keep him from going on another night, though. If he must go, maybe he can look for the machine while he’s there, and my friend,” Fale said.
“I’ll tell him,” Minova promised.
“Thank you.”
People began to pass them and Minova said, “Supper is almost over. You should eat that.”
“I can’t,” Fale said.
Minova took it and shoveled Taran’s helping into her mouth, like she hadn’t eaten in a month. She made little “mmm” sounds as she scooped and chewed. They’re starving. Fale’s heart clenched tightly.
“Just stay long enough for the guard to change and I’ll send you back. They should be switching any time now,” Minova waved her spoon around.
“Okay,” Fale smiled conspiratorially at her. They’d keep Taran alive another day.
She helped Minova take care of their supper dishes, then on the way to their hut, Minova looked into Fale’s eyes and said, “Go away.”
Fale came back to herself to hear Lisle explaining the current map of Alloy City. They were both leaned over the coffee table and a paper map of the city.
“Lisle,” Fale said. “It’s me. I’m back.”
“Oh,” he said. “How’s Garrith?”
“They’re going to bed.”
“Really?" He processed this news.
“Yeah. I told Minova to keep a lookout for Nelson.”
“I guess you messed up some pretty big plans of Taran’s,” Lisle said.
“Yes, I kept him from sneaking into the castle and getting himself killed,” Fale said.
“Sounds like Taran. He seems to be the type of person who would act first and think second.”
“They may have Nelson in the castle, Lisle. It may not be a bad idea for Taran to look, but I couldn’t tell his little sister.”
“So, they haven’t seen him?” Lisle asked.
“No.”
“Did she say anything else?”
“She asked me if the machine to free the people was in Garrith.”
“I hadn’t thought of it.” Lisle said.
“It couldn’t be. Gasten would need it here to get there in the first place,” Fale explained. “Could there be two?”
“I don’t think so. Effailya made the original machine,” Lisle said.
“How do you know?”
“Remember all the info we’re taking to Izzy and Keron?”
“Oh yeah,” her shoulders drooped in disappointment.
“Hey, don’t worry, we’ll solve it. What do I know? Izzy and Keron might have a better idea.”
She looked at him skeptically. Lisle was the smartest person she knew. “They’re probably wondering where we are,” Fale said.
“Should we go?” Lisle asked.
“Yeah,” Fale said, wondering if she’d taken too long with Lisle.
Lisle told Fale about his conversation with Taran as they walked to Izzy’s. It had been fairly boring to her, mostly about the current state of Algea and Alloy City in particular. Taran had asked a lot of questions about magic and government. Fale had never made a correlation between the two, but magic wasn’t encouraged, and hadn’t been used in public during her lifetime. She wondered if there were days when using magic was as common as eating or sleeping. Lisle continued to talk about current legislature.
As they neared Izzy’s, Fale tuned out the conversation, thinking about Minova’s hopeful face when she asked about the key. Fale hated disappointing people and she felt like it’s all she was doing lately. She hoped Keron wouldn’t be upset by how long she’d been gone.
Izzy came to the door with a daiquiri and Keron lounged on her couch, reclining with a cold drink in his hand. “Hi honey,” he said happily.
“What have you two been up to?” Fale asked.
“Talking,” Izzy said.
“Drinking,” Keron added.
“Great,” Lisle was sarcastic as he walked over to them.
“What are you talking about?” Fale asked, coming in to sit next to Keron, who put his arm on the couch behind her.
“You, of course,” Izzy volunteered gaily.
“I really hope not,” Fale’s brows pushed together.
“I learned a lot about you today.” Keron laid a hand on her shoulder and attempted to gaze in her eyes.
“Help me, Lisle,” Fale said in despair.
“I brought papers on Effailya,” Lisle changed the subject.
“Oh goody,” Izzy replied. “Whadda they say?”
Lisle laid out his folder on the table, spreading out several pages. “Some of these say the same thing,” Lisle began. “And some of it we already know.”
“Ready, set, go.” Izzy laughed.
“Should we do this another time?” Fale asked.
“No,” Ke
ron sat up straight. “We’re good. Right, Iz?”
“Right.” Izzy sank back into her chair.
Lisle began again. “We already know about Effailya being a princess in Alloy City and spurning Gryndoll’s advances. The city was called Sorche back then. The people divided and Gryndoll somehow sent Effailya and her people to Garrith’s dimension. We don’t know how he did it, and that’s where our story stops. But here’s what I found buried in the records: Effailya is the one who made the machine in the first place and only she could run it. After she was banished to Garrith with her subjects, she was coronated as queen when her ailing father died. She lived a long life in Garrith. But on her deathbed, she used the last of her gifts to hide her machine from Gryndoll and send her spirit to a new life in her original dimension. Here. She had been saving all her power for this last event. She came back to Alloy City and lived her life in a new body, found the key and has been waiting ever since for the right time to liberate her people. She appears to come back every eighty to ninety years to continue her search for the right time. First as Vivyan, then Corrine, and next as a child that they tried to murder in her mother’s womb. But you lived. So, they changed the plan, but the new plan wasn’t in the records. I’m sure it’s classified information.”
Lisle looked around. “Everybody got it?”
“So where is the machine?” Izzy asked. “Fale, Lisle said she hid it. Maybe your subconscious has an idea.”
“I’m still figuring out who I am. I can only guess at this point, and I think Gasten has to have it,” Fale said in a hollow voice, like a machine giving instructions.
“I hope they mention something about it at the council meeting tomorrow night,” Lisle said.
“So, we should meet in two days again, then?” Keron asked.
“It’s probably the next time I’ll have anything to share,” Lisle said.
“I lived a whole life in Garrith? Do I have children? The wizards have been tracking who I am? They know my names? I come back every eighty to ninety years? Is that my lifespan? They were the ones who tried to kill my mother and me? I guess I knew as much, but why? To keep me from becoming Effailya?”
“Yes?” said Izzy.
“Fale? That’s a lot of questions.” Lisle looked intently at Fale’s pale face. Her hands were twisting in her lap.
“You’re losing it, sweetheart.” Keron put his drink down and held Fale to his chest.
“I’m not ready for this. I’m only Fale. Not the queen." As Fale’s pulse quickened, her tangible presence in the world diminished. Her body grew transparent to the eyes of her friends until the only trace left of the lovely young woman was the sound of her voice. “I don’t want to be Vivyan or Corrine. I had a hard-enough time agreeing to be Effailya."
“Invisibility,” Lisle whispered in incredulous wonder.
“I must be really drunk,” Izzy said, “or I’m freaking out, because Fale’s disappearing.”
Keron looked down to see his arms wrapped around what looked like empty space; she was completely gone. “Damn. Not again,” he shook her lightly. “Fale. Come back. Don’t hide, it won’t make it go away." They waited several minutes. “Lisle, tell her what to do," Keron said.
“Fale, can you hear me?” Lisle asked.
“I’m here,” she said quietly.
“Make a blue flame,” Lisle said. “Remember before, when we talked about the colors?”
“What’s blue?” Keron asked.
“Trust, depend, commit,” Lisle said.
A blue flame popped up in the air over Keron’s lap. He resisted the urge to push it away. “Good,” Lisle said to Fale. “Make it green.” To Keron he said, “Green is peace, refreshing, tranquility.”
The flame turned green and Fale sighed. As it burned, she began to reappear. She concentrated on the flame and forgot her problem. It was a temporary solution, at best, but successful.
“Anyone object to me taking my wife home now?” Keron asked.
Izzy said, “Of course not.”
Lisle looked at his hands folded in his lap and shook his head. Keron grasped Fale’s hand and led her all the way home.
Fale held Keron’s hand and made flames with the other as they walked through the marsh, being careful not to catch anything on fire. She was almost feeling perky by the time they reached the house. “Do you want to train with me?” she asked him.
Surprised by her change in mood, he answered, “Sure, but I don’t know what you do.”
“I’ll teach you some things for a change.” She grinned mischievously letting go of all her worry. She couldn’t afford to be devastated by her circumstances. She needed to be strong and carefree. Keron boomed with laughter at her wiggling eyebrow. “You have to change into looser clothes,” she said.
“Not a problem,” he assured.
They reached their house and put on workout clothes again. “We need to do laundry tomorrow,” he said.
“Agreed,” Fale said. “Can we do it here? We can’t risk carrying all our clothes through the city to the laundromat. We are really pushing it already.”
“I’ll have to see if we have any detergent in the kitchen first.”
“I can check while you change,” she said.
“As long as you hurry back.”
She smiled. “I will."
Fale found a big box of soap flakes under the kitchen sink and a bottle of fabric softener with a bag of clothes pins. She hadn’t looked around the outside of the house for a clothesline, but there must be one somewhere.
In the bedroom, Keron was pulling a t-shirt over his stomach when Fale walked in.
Wow.
“We’re set to wash here,” she said.
“Good.”
“I’m going to change,” she pulled her clothes out of her duffel. She could almost hear Izzy in her head laughing at her for living out of a duffel bag, but Fale never knew when she might have to run.
“Okay.” He grinned, crossing his chest with his arms. It dawned on her, he planned to stand where he was, and her face flamed.
“Fine,” she changed as slowly as possible, but refused to look at him until she was finished. She walked out of the room and looked over her shoulder at him. “Coming?” she asked, enjoying the pained look on his face.
Serves him right.
Keron followed her into the living room where Fale taught him jabs and kicks from her training center. The jabs were similar to what he already did when fighting, so he taught her how to uppercut. They showed each other differing styles of defense and offense, going at one another slowly. They circled each other intertwining arms and legs in dangerous revolutions.
She was proud to show him her fighting skill and wanted to tell him all about her culture. The Takanori warriors of Algea were a testament to the peace that reigned. Takanori had nothing to do with law enforcement. They were the unification compulsion. If the state of the country broke down, or there was fighting between cities, that’s when Takanori warriors from all over were called to action. Takanori taught each other about their culture; how to fight when necessary and win. Keron also liked to win. She was impressed by how quickly he learned and adapted. She soaked in the moves he taught her. A lot of their motions were similar and Fale felt a kinship with Keron as a warrior.
The sun set on their game, and they realized they were sparring in the dark. Keron spun Fale into his arms and kissed her open mouth. “Should we eat?” she asked.
“We should shower,” he kissed her again. She smiled against his lips and let him pull her into the bathroom.
Fale had never experienced such a tender touch as Keron’s mechanical hand on her back in the hot water, his kiss deepening. They let the water run cold before getting out. Clean and dry, they were putting on pajamas before finding something to eat. “Do you want me to wear my red nightgown?” Fale questioned.
“Do you want to eat or not?” he asked.
She laughed at him. “Lavender, it is.”
They made a quiche fro
m egg substitutes and a baking mix with spinach and imitation cheese. It was easy enough to make, and they did dishes while it baked, so cleanup would be quick. “Does the magic calm you?” Keron asked.
“I guess it’s an outlet,” Fale said. “I used to get the same feeling from my meditation. The TacTrac teaches you to be a master of yourself and to be centered. I guess the magic is helping me do that. Maybe because it is coming from my center.”
“Makes sense,”
“Lisle and I need to practice it, though,” she lamented.
“Lisle’s pretty smart about stuff,” he grudgingly agreed.
“I guess he is.” Fale wondered if she should tell Keron about her conversation with Lisle this morning. She would want to know if Izzy had professed love to Keron. But he was so jealous… Fale decided not to ruin a good night. She would tell him another time.
“We’ll make sure you have time to practice tomorrow, then,” Keron said.
“Sure,” Fale said. “I’ll need it.”
After they were full, Fale rose from the table. “Why don’t you let me take care of things tonight?” she asked.
“I can do it.”
“I know you can,” she said. “You always do. You take such good care of me. Let me take care of you for a change.”
Keron sat back. “What will I do?”
“What do you want to do?” she asked. “Do you have any hobbies I don’t know about? What do you do when you’re on your own?”
“I used to play my guitar,” Keron said.
Fale was surprised. “Where is it?”
“In my apartment,” he answered. At her look of amazement, he added, “I didn’t fight all the time.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I would have gotten it for you,” she said.
“It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not,” Fale despaired. “I have my weapons. You should have what you need, too.”
“It’s not your fault, Fale. How would we have gotten away that night with a guitar and not been noticed?” He spread his hands, pleading with her to understand.
“But-“She couldn’t help but blame herself. His world had been turned upside down by her visions, and now he was doing without, all for her.
“Can I read your books?”
The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1) Page 22