Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5)

by P. S. Power

  "Sorry?" Heather slowly started to take out her PC, which got a chuckle in response.

  "Miss Farris. She's a better person than I am. Not that I love admitting it, but that's why I won't take my life back from her, even if I could get away with it. I wronged her, no matter why that took place, but it goes beyond that. In the one year that she's been in this world, she'd done so much more than I ever would have. I can't take my body away from her, not because of guilt, but due to the idea that doing so will make me less important. So we share. I'll help her as I can, and grouse about her poor makeup skills, and woeful fashion sense, as I sit back and marvel over everything else she does. So, no, you don't have to worry about me doing that. I know that she can't trust it, not yet, but it's the truth."

  That didn't fit totally however, did it? Gwen was, in the end, just her. A broken and small woman that wasn't worth enough for anyone to spend time with, much less to be given all she had. Right now, as she sat there, she was no more than an evil and ugly demon, stealing the girl's world from her.

  Kate kept talking, but changed up, to speak to her. It made her sound well and truly crazy.

  "That's not true though, Gwen! You feel like you aren't important, but every movement you've taken through this world is better than what I would have done. I helped a madwoman nearly destroy everything, and you helped fix it. If someone had called to tell me that three children had been taken in a distant city, I would have yawned and asked if they wanted to come to my next party. You... You brought the might of the Kingdom to bear, and saved two of them. I can barely sit here with Miss Westmorland and not sneer, thinking her beneath me. Even as I know that she's as good a person as I've ever met. Gwen Farris however has worked, at great personal cost, to free her kind. Because it's the correct thing to do. Even here, in this world, we don't keep slaves. Except we did, for decades, and only one person has spoken out against it." It was shocking, but the girl stood up, then almost dropped them back into place on the soft sofa, giving control of the body back instantly.

  "Think about it Gwen. I know that you're right. That you're good and doing what should be done. I could do it too, but the fact is, I won't. If I have my body all the time, then I'd go back to what I was, almost instantly. I..." There was a low and frustrated growl. "I can't explain it better than that. Not that it matters. If I take over, your friends will execute me. Even if I ran off, they'd find me. Unless I could figure out passage to a different land and some way to purchase protection. If you think of a way to do that, please enlighten me, by the way. I just want you both to know that I'm not even trying to do that. Yes, I want to be allowed to do things at times. I get bored. Sorry Miss Farris, but you aren't the most interesting of people all the time. All that running for instance. Your conversational skills are lacking as well, and the humor value in you has faded over time. What you are, however, is good. That's all. I have no more to say on the matter."

  Then the other woman in her head went silent, letting her have control again.

  Gwen slapped her own face, just a bit, trying to make sure she was in control again. She was.

  "Well. I can't buy any of that, can you? Saint Gwen, come to save us all?" At the end she added a little sound effect, a mwaaa, sound, that she was trying to use to show how good and holy she was.

  The Westmorland smiled at it.

  "What's a saint?"

  "Um... A good and holy person. It's a Christian thing... Never mind."

  "Ah. Well, I can purchase it, in that case. The hard part isn't in believing that you're a worthy person, just that Katherine Vernor would think that's a good enough reason to leave you in control. Then again, she wasn't wrong, about any of it. If she tries to take over, we'll know, and end her life. She can't run, or hide, inside the Western Kingdom, and even if we would allow it, she still isn't wrong. It would be hard to live up to your example. Removing you from the picture would harm the whole world, removing a resource that we simply wouldn't have, otherwise." There was no sense that she meant herself in that one however. Heather didn't worry about living up to any ideal, except what she was trained to.

  Which was because all the Westmorlands were freaking humble. Gwen kind of was, too, but that was down to her low self-esteem, so wasn't as good as what they did. Everything about her played through that part of her in the end. It was a constant thing that never truly lifted. Heather had been efficiently trained to be that way, since she was a tiny child. For the Westmorlands it was about leaving them open to do the best job possible. She was just that crummy.

  "Um, yeah. Well, keep an eye out anyway? Kate, right or wrong, can always just change her mind. I don't think I can stop her either. On the other hand, that may end up being a good thing. Or could, if she can be taught to be a good person."

  There was a face then, the pretty visage of her buddy twisting as she tried to work it all out.

  "Um, what? I don't see your meaning."

  "Think about it. If I go off the rails, and try to destroy the world, she can stop me. She can't rift, thank god, or kill at a distance, but I can. I figured it out in this last bit of training, even though it wasn't the full protocols yet. If I lose it, it might be that she'll have to protect the planet." Not that she was planning on it, but Gwen was far from perfect. Pretending she might not mess up could cost a lot of people now.

  They both just sat for a few minutes, in silence. Heather didn't tell her she was wrong, since the idea that Gwen was walking around able to take out the world would have been considered back at Central. That they didn't have a full time contingent of guards on her...

  Well, she could see that one. It was probably why there was a plot involved now. If a certain person were able to destroy whole lands with a few thoughts, and could teletransport, as well as fly, letting her feel trapped wouldn't help anything. She would just leave. Putting her in a cell wasn't a real option anymore, either. Killing her might be, but what she was doing was part of a plan, which while risky, was also potentially a good thing for a lot of people.

  So here she was, basically unstoppable, except by Kat Vernor.

  'I do like being called Kat better than Kate. If I get a choice. Just so you know that, Gwenie.'

  She nodded, but didn't speak on the topic. Instead she just looked at Heather and tried to smile. It wasn't really working for some reason.

  "So, what should we do now? I'm at loose ends. I need to get a hobby or two. Needlepoint, or... Sex. That's a thing people do in the middle of the day, right?"

  Heather laughed, but didn't blush, which was probably telling about how different the Westmorlands all were.

  "Or, and this is just me talking here, but you could contact your fiancé? I know that it may be tempting to avoid him, given the events of the day, and the topics brought up, but I find that keeping information from people seldom helps."

  There was truth in that.

  "Great point. I'll see if that's a thing. He might be too busy. It's around dinner time in Aubrey right now. A little early, so I should hurry."

  Gwen stood there for a bit, already on her feet, left that way by Kate. Kat. It was true that she didn't really want to go and put all of this out there for anyone else. Even if it wasn't her problem. Keeping that in mind she went to tell on herself. Christophe would love it, no doubt.

  Heather didn't follow her, exactly. It was a bit of a walk to the Telestator room, and she found that one in use, by Beth, so Gwen waved and scurried off to the communications set up that Robert normally used for business. He was out of the house still for the day, having a business office where he ran things from when in town.

  It was a nice space, with a lot of wood, brown leather and a soft scent of tobacco. Gwen couldn't get behind smoking as a hobby for herself, knowing it was a killer, but it didn't smell bad to her. Warm and rich, the residue nearly tickling her nose.

  In the corner of the room was the Telestator she wanted. The array was on a table, and held five lead colored globes, each the size of a large grapefruit, sitting o
n a polished wooden dowel. She understood what she was looking at now, more or less. Having read up on magic eventually covered a few of the things she saw day to day. The balls were each different radiatives. They each held part of the magical programming needed to control the device and let her speak across the land.

  Magic, but it was basically a really big, and hard to move, cell phone. No towers though which was handy, but they still used switchboards to patch things through to different places. Touching the center sphere, her right hand on it firmly, she used her other to press the small white button that was on the polished table top in a small box. It happened with very little force. That always threw her off a little bit. It was too easy. Like the thing should fall in on itself under its own weight, and be triggered all the time.

  After a few seconds, a voice spoke, seeming to come out of the air in front of her. For once it was male, which had her staring at the air, like it had wronged her, being so shocking.

  "Telestator Operator, how may I connect you?" The man sounded youthful, but not like a child. Probably in his late teens. Definitely a dude however.

  Gwen didn't care, since the idea that only women could turn a dial or two was so silly it wasn't worth mentioning.

  "Hello! I need to connect with Aubrey one-one-two please? For Christophe Aubrey. This is Gwen Farris."

  There was a pause, and instead of telling her that she couldn't be herself, which had happened three times now, or asking if she had a right to call a Duke, which had happened nearly every time she called her fiancé, the man just made the connection for her. Like a real professional or something.

  "Please hold, ma'am. Connecting now."

  It took a while for anyone to come and see what she wanted. When it happened it was the new secretary, who unfortunately enough was a man.

  The last person to hold that position had been a woman, had fallen in love with Christophe and kind of gone insane. It had gotten people killed. In the end Gwen had ended the issue, killing the woman herself. Helping her to commit suicide.

  That was what everyone thought it was at least. More to the point, Gwen was certain that the king and Chris both knew the truth, or suspected it, if nothing else, but neither had mentioned the idea to her. They probably wouldn't, even if they knew it had taken place that way for a fact.

  The trouble was that Gwen would have shared Chris with her, if she'd just wanted to have sex with him. Even if Laura had wanted to be his lover, with all that meant, it would have been all right. Spend the holidays alone, or even have his children.

  This new guy though, was going to be a bigger problem, if he fell in love with the Duke. Apparently people in the Western Kingdom weren't that open minded. The funny part was that she, prude or not, kind of was. To her that actually sounded kind of hot. If in an abstract manner.

  Gwen didn't mention the idea, since it was mainly her being weird, or would seem that way to a stranger on the phone.

  "Miss Farris? I'm afraid the Duke isn't here right now. I believe he's... Otherwise engaged at the moment?" There was a sound to the man's voice, that Gwen wasn't totally certain of. It carried meaning, but she couldn't tell what was being hinted at. Something different, at any rate.

  Shrugging, she just waited for a bit. The man would either tell her all about it, or not.

  Nothing came, so she nodded. That meant it was secret. From her.

  If she were a jealous person she'd have assumed that meant Chris was off having sex. That, or plotting to break up with her. The fact was, she didn't care about the first one, since one of them knowing about that kind of thing would make the honeymoon go a lot more smoothly.

  The second one, well, it was coming, she didn't doubt. No matter what, the alien woman from the alternate Earth wasn't good marriage material. If Duke Aubrey ever noticed that, she didn't doubt that her being dumped would take about as long as having this new secretary draft a letter.

  Before she could do more than ask the guy to pass a message for her, and break the line by pulling her right hand away, Katherine took over.

  "You need to think, before you go on about things like that. Even in your own mind. Why would you even dream that Christophe would do that to you? Oh, take a lover, certainly. He should do that, since you won't want to be bothered with all of that, all the time, but we're a catch, for someone like him." The words popped out of her mouth, sounding a bit snooty.

  Kat was great at that one.

  Talking to herself, insane or not, was the order of the day it seemed. She wasn't going to let the voice in her head get away with dissing Chris, however. It was way too early in their relationship for that kind of thing. It was bad enough when other people hinted that he wasn't good enough for her.

  "His kind? What do you mean by that? I wasn't aware that he was that easily tucked into a group." She was ready to fight, since it was kind of her thing, but the voice answered with a slight chuckle.

  "You know... A noble? You may not have noticed it Gwen, but you rather saved the world. Everyone knows about it, too. Do you truly think that Christophe Aubrey is the only man of value that would be interested in us? You, but still, it's my body. Even if you have kept me too thin. I've heard that I'm decently pretty, you know. So a heroine, good looking, wealthy. You could be a bit pickier, and not be out of turn."

  It was true, if not very humble to hear about.

  Gwen didn't pick a fight though, even if it wasn't lost on her that the other girl was trying to suggest that Chris was broken, due to once having stuttered, and having low magical ability. It was kind of like he was black, back home. In the nineteen-fifties. Along with everyone being a good Klan member. That was something very different here.

  She could have married any man she wanted, and no one would have blinked, as long as he could produce enough energy.

  That her fiancé couldn't was considered the single most shocking thing about their getting married, in this warped place. Even the idea that Gwen was a mentality from a different reality, trapped in a girl's body wasn't as big of an issue.

  In her mind, back home, that part would have been the deal breaker. Come to that, she didn't doubt that the whole thing would have been a good bit different, if it came down to it. She'd have to hide who and what she was, if she didn't want to be committed to an asylum. On the good side, that would have only made a difference if anyone believed it, which they wouldn't have.

  "Yeah, well, he's a good guy." If her words were a bit sullen, she couldn't care. He was a nice guy, and was the only person she'd ever met willing to date her, as far as she knew.

  There was no answer then, but Gwen decided not to care too much as far as that went. Hopefully Kate didn't hate him or anything, but if she did, tough. Gwen had never even had a boyfriend before, and the idea was kind of thrilling. If the other girl did anything to mess this up she'd...

  That was a problem.

  If the other girl wanted to screw her over, then she was going to be fucked, and that was about all that would happen. Gwen could do a lot in the world, but only if Katherine let her do it. Honestly, now that she had a better sense of things, she knew that she couldn't even kill herself.

  She'd tried that one, and had failed.

  Walking back into the house proper, Gwen just sighed a lot and didn't say anything. Her life was what it was. She could either accept that, and do what she could to fix things, or she could stand back and watch it all take place, but those were the only choices she was likely to get. Then, no one ever had a lot more going for them than that. The thought left her feeling a tiny bit better, if not any more in control of the world.

  Thankfully things started to heat up a bit for her after that.

  Beth came to find her, meeting up in the hallway outside the sitting room that Gwen had moved toward. Heather might still be in there, after all, which at least would let her sit with another person. Bethany moved in and hugged her with one arm.

  "Things have altered a bit. There are some things... I can't go into all of them, but A
dam has a mission for us, if you feel up to it? A murder case in the Southern Sector. A man died, stabbed through the throat, and was found in a locked room." Her slightly long faced friend grinned at her, nervously, as if waiting for her to get the other part of it.

  Gwen did, instantly. It was a bit meta, but the fact was, Adam gave all the cases that didn't have magic involved directly to them. Like that was their thing. She was from a world where other means would have been used to do anything, so if there was a question that way, she really would have been the one on tap.

  Still, she was hit, almost instantly, by the idea that this was a trick. That the murder, while real, wasn't what she was going to be told. A thing set up to get her out of the way, for some reason. She tapped the right side of her head. It felt like someone was actively pushing on her skull at the moment, even if the whole thing was perfectly clear to her.

  Beth got it, her eyes going wide, but Gwen shook her head and spoke anyway.

  "Um... He was killed by a person that left after doing it, from a trap door, or sliding panel? Or who used a string to turn the lock, but doubled it over so that it could be pulled free under the door? It wasn't just done with magic, or you wouldn't be smiling like that. I'd still test for that first. Which it already has been, no doubt." It was the first thing anyone would have done, there.

  The Detective gave her a knowing look. One that was a bit more intense than she would have expected.

  "It was. Consev searched for physical factors as well. It was a clever trick with string, they think, as you mentioned. That isn't why you're being asked to go, however."

  "Oh? Then why? To get me out of the way?"

  "Not you, though it is rather a good idea. No, the man murdered was Baron Mathews."

  Gwen could see that one being a problem for her. She'd had the man beheaded after all. Right in front of her. She'd bundled him up and helped to drop him in to the ocean, too.

  "The new one?" Being hopeful was a good thing, but her pal shook her head, smiling like an insane woman.