Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5)

by P. S. Power

  That sounded about right to her. It might even explain why Kat had been tucked away in an asylum. To hide her from assassins or whatever, and to keep their resource safe. Just telling her that would have been enough though. They could have given her a telesar to listen to, some playing cards and skipped the chains, and she would have stayed put. Not Gwen, who would have left anyway, but Kate wouldn't have let her up for air if what was being done was just about protecting her. If that hadn't happened, then they'd still be over in Europa, with Gwen not even knowing anything had happened in the slightest.

  With her sitting in the dark black void of Kate's mind, screaming.

  It left her feeling so powerless that she teared up. A wave of despair came over her then, pounding at her in waves of hopelessness. There was no way she could fight against being taken over, it seemed. One of the only things that had kept her together, for her entire life, was the idea that no matter how weak and small she'd been on the outside, she was a giant in other ways.

  She had a big heart, and a mind that let her fight, even when the flesh was too weak for it in reality.

  Now she was trapped, and as far as she could tell, there was nothing she could do to stop Katherine from having control whenever she wanted. Worse, she didn't know that she should.

  Oh, there was no way they could let Katherine Vernor get away again. That Beth had, the first time, was nearly criminal, as well as a bit baffling, to tell the truth. Gwen could take her buddy in a fight, sure, but there was no way the the little heiress should have been able to. Running away wasn't a fight though, and the girl had pointed out that being in great shape had really helped with that.

  She rubbed at her moist eyes, but no one seemed to see anything. They didn't do their looking away thing, which was so constant that even if the men hated her they would have done it, so as to not notice her crying, she didn't doubt.

  To get through the moment, she tried to look at her ankle. It was pretty well broken. The skin was intact, but the whole thing was at a forty degree angle compared to where it should have been. A nice blue and black bruise was coming into play already, a ring around the whole thing, and it was swollen to nearly twice the size it should have been.

  She hadn't noticed the fact before too much, but her body was a lot more slender than it had been. Months of twice daily pudding didn't seem to have fattened her up much. Then, it had been more like a tasteless and bland gruel, which probably meant low in calories. They hadn't given her a lot either. Enough to keep the worst of hunger at bay, but no more than that.

  Her thigh on that side was dangerously skinny however. Anorexic girl thin.

  Most of the muscle that she'd gotten used to seeing had faded, and it was smooth, and only slightly larger at the biggest point than her knee. Glancing at her arm she noticed that her elbow was bigger than her upper arm, now. That pretty much showed that she hadn't been living the high life, if nothing else. Even before Kate had let her wake up.

  The tea came along with some slightly stale cookies, which were probably store bought, given that they had a little logo stamped on the top. Hendrix. They were basically Oreos, however, and not too bad. In fact, they were amazing, after her months of having nothing but bland to compare them with.

  No one spoke to her for the longest time, though Winslow fussed over her a little, bringing her a small knitted blanket for her shoulders that was done in a tasteful tan. Then he helped her put her foot up on a low stool, and tucked pillows along under and around it, so it wouldn't slip.

  Three of the guards just stood there however, seeming edgy. Like a certain woman was about to jump up and start kung-fuing their behinds. It wasn't going to happen though.

  What was, she didn't have a clue.

  So she sipped at the tea, which had cherry juice in it, she realized. Winslow's doing, she didn't doubt. He was a big proponent of juicing, for health and training reasons. It was warm, but not hot, and slightly tart on her tongue. The cup was smooth and felt nice under her hand, but heavy. That was because she was so weak, since it was just a cup. It took both hands to keep it in place, but she didn't spill any.

  Hours passed, before someone finally came for her. When it happened, it wasn't one person, but ten. All Westmorlands, and none of them smiling.

  "Gwen?" It was Bethany, who'd come through the front door with the others, her face tense and drawn. She looked thinner than she had the last time they'd been together as well.

  "Hey! I hear that things aren't going too well? Heather? Will you ask the questions here? Beth you can go into your telepathic state and check me out, right?" She was just asking, but her friend went still, and focused instantly, doing just that, as the other people in blue all crowded in around her.

  She nearly didn't recognize Peter. He was a giant now. Not at a level that was unheard of, but he was at least six feet tall. Trim and decently good looking, too. When he caught her looking, he nodded at her.

  "Miss Farris. Good to have you back. Would it be all right if I worked on your leg there?" He was very polite sounding. Too much so, considering they were friends. They had been anyway, once upon a time.

  It was just so hard to wrap her head around now. Three freaking years were just gone, in a blink and a line of screams. Worse it could happen again, at any moment.

  "That would be great. Things haven't been going too well for me for a bit, either. I guess I should tell the whole thing from my perspective? It isn't that long of a tale, that way. Then we can get Kate out here and make her confess and then... I guess kill me? We can't let this happen again." There was a tightening of a few faces, but Adam who looked older now than he had before, and he hadn't been young before, being steel haired and wrinkled, nodded.

  "That seems like a good plan. All the way around. I doubt we'll be allowed that much common sense in the matter however, since you're involved, Miss Farris. Heather, you were invited to do the questioning? That's rare, but a sensible enough plan. We normally have to encourage people to answer our questions, rather than it being volunteered."

  Heather went a little wide eyed, as she stared.

  "Right. Beth, if you'd go into your B state?" She waited, watching Bethany, instead of her, even though it was clear the blonde woman was already in the right state, having gone when Gwen suggested it to her. A lot of the others were doing their best not to make eye contact. She understood the basic idea there.

  Gwen was, if only by proxy, a traitor.

  Probably the worst one in the history of this entire world. That Katherine Vernor had been the one to actually do the crime wouldn't make an impression on most people.

  The Special Service woman that was this world's version of her nodded a few times, and moved forward, standing next to her, if about three feet away.

  "Gwen Farris, are you in control at this moment?"

  "Yep. It's me."

  "Very well. Please tell us what happened over the last three years and two months, in your own words. Be as complete as possible."

  Like she'd promised, it did not take long. She started at the last thing she remembered, which was the sexy puppet show, and Katherine trying to get with Bethany in a squicky fashion, then waking up chained to a bed in a different land, and being told the story she had. Beth was brought out as soon as the full escape to the house there was described, since they didn't really need to hear about how she felt now.

  "She's telling the truth. All of it. She did miss that I let Katherine kiss me first, to see what she was up to, or how she hit me after I scolded her for it, but other than that, the story tracks what we know. Gwen didn't leave anything out. She's as innocent as we all suspected the whole time."

  Gwen winked.

  "Yay, I'm innocent of being the world's biggest douche bag! Unfortunately, I look just like her."

  Heather and Adam both pulled back, along with Derrick Westmorland, to talk about something then. Peter had been working on her leg for several minutes, but when she looked down at it, she was more than a little amazed. He was p
ulling back already, but the pain and swelling were gone, and the thing had apparently been set without her noticing it happening. That took skill. True, she'd been distracted, but still, it was impressive.

  He winked at her, charmingly.

  "Try not to kick anyone for a while? You'll need a splint for it, if that's allowed? It's still broken, more or less. I kind of glued it in place, but you'll need to do the rest of the healing on your own, so don't walk on it for about six to eight weeks, if you have a choice in the matter." His warm hand was placed on her leg, and the boy, who was only fifteen or so, if her math was right, looked into her eyes. "You need to eat more for a while, too. If you aren't going to just be put to death, like you said. Mr. Winslow, would you be so good as to see to that part?"

  It was probably a point. There was no need to waste food on her if she was going to be executed the next day. There was a war on, and if there wasn't rationing yet, there eventually would be.

  Beth moved to her, and gave her a warm, and close, hug. She let it happen, but took a big breath as soon as the other woman pulled back. She'd held it for a long time though.

  "So, shall we do the next part? You'll want to take notes for it, I bet. Kat, get your scrawny ass out here, and tell these people everything. If you don't I'll make them beat us until you do it." It wasn't an idle threat, though it would probably kill them if it happened, even with a decent field healer right there.

  Peter was that now, she was willing to bet. Her leg had been thrashed, and now it looked like the other one, even if she did keep it on the stool. Just in case it became important later, she didn't want to go jogging on it and make it worse right then. Of course, she probably couldn't stand on her own, at the moment, so it might not be a real point.

  Her own mouth started to work then, holding a slightly British accent.

  "I'll talk. I understood that I'd have to, for a long time. The very first thing that I'd like to point out is that Gwen Farris is totally innocent in this. I locked her away completely, so she had no part in it. Blaming her, or allowing her to be harmed for it would be evil. It was all my doing, and no other had part in it. Except for the Europans, but I mean of the people you can get to now."

  Gwen rolled her eyes, which got the move returned by Heather. The other woman was the one who explained.

  "Brilliant. If we kill you for your crimes, of which there are what, a half dozen that you should be executed for by now, we can only do it by also murdering an innocent woman. If we lock you away in a tower, the same holds. We can only punish you by doing the same to Gwen. A hero, who is owed a great debt by most of the world."

  There was a slow smile then, and a nod.

  "It was always my plan. A net to catch me, if I fell too far. Worse for you, she's honestly a good and kind person. A true hero. Will you allow her to be punished for what I did?"

  Heather grimaced, and Beth cried, real tears making streaks in her makeup. That wasn't fun to see.

  Gwen spoke up then, a bit pissed.

  "Tell us what you did. Derrick, if you'd stand by to hit her?"

  Her own voice laughed, even as the fit looking man came to stand next to her on the left hand side.

  "Not needed. I'll confess it all." Then, without much prompting, she did just that.

  It took hours. Her side of things was a much better story too. Interesting at times, with a lot of specific names and locations that needed to be written down.

  Finally, as she doubled back over parts of it, the other girl summarized it all for them.

  "I was rather in a situation where I couldn't win, wasn't I? If I'd stayed here, my life would be stolen away by Gwen, and you others, insisting she have it. When Bethany tricked me like she did, just to scold me, I knew that I had to flee if I was to ever be allowed a life. So I did. Once I was there, I had to give them all I could, to earn the reward I was promised. A good and safe life. If they hadn't betrayed me so awfully, I'd be there still, probably trying to find out how to give them ever more. Eventually they would have realized that the true prize wasn't me at all, but rather Gwen. If any of you understood what she really was, you'd make certain she didn't die in this. She can be so much more than I ever could."

  Heather patted Beth on the shoulder then. Comforting her.

  "Back to A state, please, Bethany."

  That got the blonde woman in blue to sag a little. The wrinkles around her eyes deepened, as she looked away. She was too young for crow's feet, being only about thirty, but they were there, driven into her face.

  "It's all true. Even her belief that Gwen is a good and worthwhile person. The level of conflicted feeling inside her is... Impressive. She clings to life, so puts Gwen forward as a shield, but knows that she isn't worth keeping alive on her own."

  The others all stood there for a bit, until Winslow cleared his throat. Butler or not, he was ex-military and it showed even more at the moment than it had before she'd been gone.

  "Very well. Miss Farris, do we have your parole?"

  "Um, what?" To her knowledge she hadn't been convicted just yet, unless it had happened in absentia. Even if that was the case, she really had to doubt that parole was in the works for her, not while Kate was able to take charge so completely, at will. Plus, she was almost certain that convicted people were sent to a parole board, who decided to let them free or not. If they let you decide for yourself here, then no one would ever be in prison, so it couldn't be that simple.

  Bethany explained the concept to her.

  "He means, are you going to try and escape? Katherine won't be allowed to, but if you don't help her do it she'd have to do that as a regular person might. You can leave, not being a prisoner, and I doubt anyone here could stop you. Even null radiatives won't work to hold you now, it seems." She glanced at Adam, her leader.

  The man made a face that held something close to fear, and then agreed with that idea.

  "Indeed. Nothing we do will hold you, short of death. Worse, I don't think we have a right to keep you. We can't let you go, but we can't stop you under our own laws. So, I think Mr. Winslow wishes to enlist you onto our side. Will you stay here? I can't promise that action won't lead to your death, even if that would be wrong, and ultimately illegal. We'll need to contact King Ferdinand on this, as soon as we may. I... Honestly, I don't know what to do about this."

  Before Gwen could answer, her own mouth moved.

  "That won't be needed, though I'm sure you will have her word not to escape. You also have mine. I promise I won't leave this residence, unless given leave by you, or the king."

  Adam didn't seem to trust Traitor McShiftypants for some reason and it showed on his face.

  Gwen took control and made herself give a weak smile.

  "I won't either. I'll stay here. I can't really make Katherine do anything. I really thought I could, but... I can promise I won't help her get away."

  The man nodded then.

  "Good enough. If we have both of your words on the matter, then perhaps you should take to your bed? I'm sure that you'll need rest and recuperation after your latest adventure."

  Gwen snorted, and let herself go slightly wide eyed.

  "You mean the one where I was chained up and couldn't move for months? That grand adventure? My bedsores have sores on them, Adam. I've barely talked to anyone in years. Even after I was let out of Kate's skull prison, everyone over there spoke in Mongolian, so I couldn't understand them. I know that you all have things to do, but..."

  There was a stiff look from the guy, which she expected to be backed up with a reminder that she was a prisoner, possibly with a slap to keep her in her place, but he just seemed miserable about it all when he spoke.

  "I can see that. I just don't know what to do, Gwen. You didn't do anything wrong, as far as we can tell. This has been proven, under some of the best telepathic questioning available. Perhaps some entertainment? It's nearly mid-night however, and we really must go and see to our duties... I'd stay and talk, if I could. Duty..."

 
That was all important, and probably doubly so at the moment, given the mess she'd let Katherine make of things.

  "I understand. I could use a bit of food, then? It would be nice if I could stay sitting up, if that's not a problem? Maybe someone could help me stretch?" She glanced at Winslow, who nodded back, being cool that way.

  The problem was that the last time Gwen had been around this many people, all of them loaders on an airship, if someone had suggested a man help her move her body around, someone else would have been at least suggesting they lynch him. Politely maybe, but it would have happened. Here, in this moment, no one seemed to care in the slightest.

  It was both good, since Winslow wouldn't do anything wrong with her, and a sudden change that left her feeling even more out of balance about the whole thing. It was like no one considered her a real person anymore. Maybe because she wasn't.

  Bethany gave her a sad look, and then smiled.

  "It's good to have you back, even if this is less than perfect in execution. I could stay, and-"

  She was cut off, by Derrick, the head of the Special Service.

  "Except that you have duties to see to as well, Bethany. We can't have the Queen's guard down a body just so you can babysit Gwen. Worse, we can't even free her up to work the detail at the moment, given everything. Even though we could use another female for it. Not that I'm certain I'd want to subject either of them to the other. There might be blood, if that happens." He seemed amused by that one, which was odd, given that he was clearly teasing about the queen.

  Plus, there was a queen now.

  She looked at him, trying not to seem like an idiot.

  "I clearly have some things to catch up on. I missed the wedding, too. That's no doubt all kinds of rude of me."

  Peter at least grinned, warming up to her a bit now that she'd been cleared, it looked like.

  "Oh, yes. It was nicely put together, as you would imagine. You should send something now though. The queen is all right, I hear told. She's a bit, um, delicate, in her sensibilities however."