Tales of the Feisty Druid Omnibus (Books 1-7): (The Arcadian Druid, The Undying Illusionist, The Frozen Wasteland, The Deceiver, The Lost, The Damned, Into The Maelstrom)

by Candy Crum

  Talia almost sighed in relief, though she didn’t get that Amelia distrusted Arryn from her behavior. She might have doubts, but she seemed more annoyed than distrustful. Talia wondered how accurate the mystic’s words were.

  Instead of dwelling on it, she took the small victory. "That is great news. I don't need Amelia to completely trust me; I just need her to trust Arryn less. As long as I look better than her, things will be okay."

  Scarlett giggled. "Oh, things are about to go a hell of a lot better than just okay. While I was in there, I killed two birds with one stone. I nosed around in Elon’s head, and I found our victim. His name is James, and he is a mutual friend of Arryn and Elon's son, Gregory. James’ father was the one who delivered the orders to the Hunters to take out her parents.

  “Unfortunately for poor James, he's actually a good kid. Seems to do well in school, people like him, supports the Boulevard students, that kind of thing. Turns out he didn't much care for Daddy or his politics. But… That's not going to do much for him when Arryn gets a hold of him."

  "This is fucking fantastic," Talia said, a little more excitement growing. "We're going to kill him in the same way as the others. Drain him dry and leave the knife. Not only do we want to make use of the blood, but we want to make sure that Arryn looks undeniably guilty for this one, putting doubt in their heads about the others. After all, she was the one who told them Amos was killed somewhere else when no one else had figured that out."

  Scarlett nodded. "Exactly. So, here's the plan: we take James, kill him and drain the blood, and then we need to dump the body somewhere. Kind of like usual; hidden, but not too much. I'll use my magic to convince the group that his death was necessary because Arryn is planning to use her magic to do something crazy. It won’t take much. They are already wrapped around your fingers. We just want to make sure they don’t have a moment of doubt."

  Talia continued walking down the street, looking around every so often make sure no one noticed them. "Good. I'll hide the knife in the lockbox that's in her desk. She doesn't use it, but it was there from the last teacher."

  "We can even use the vines that are outside your office to bind him with. If we do that, it will be an obvious sign of nature magic. Once they find the body and start pointing fingers, I'll work my magic on a few of the students. All I have to do is convince them that they saw Arryn put something in her desk before class. Convince a couple others that Arryn's up to no good. Those nobles are pathetic. News like that will spread like wildfire. Soon, Amelia will have no other choice but to arrest her on suspicion. Even if she doesn't believe it, she’ll still do it."

  Talia nodded. "Yes, she will, because she's losing control. With the remnant attacks and bodies piling up, people are losing their faith in her. She will arrest Arryn for no other reason than to make people happy, to make them feel more comfortable and safe. Then, all we have to do is seal her fate. Do something huge that will prove Arryn is the evil the city has been fighting all along."

  Scarlett laughed. "I assume you are referring to Doyle. I heard that bit, and I sensed your shock. I know that he was the one who had brought you the news of your father, so it would be quite disturbing to hear he had been found and had warned Amelia that someone was in town. We just need to make damn sure that person is Arryn."

  There was silence as Talia looked at the sky for a few moments. Finally, she said, "Only a few hours, then we get to work. Oh, and by the way, I think I know the perfect place to hide the body."

  Scarlett had waited all day for this. It was finally time for her to really put her talents to use, and she couldn't be happier. Not only were her mystical powers strong, but manipulation and planning were also powerful talents of hers, even without using magic.

  As she walked around the living room of Arryn's childhood home, looking at the entire life that had been abandoned in a single night, she smiled to herself as she thought how perfect the plan had been.

  At first, Talia had wanted to hide the body in Arryn's old house, but Scarlett was quick to intervene.

  Had they placed the body there, it would have been too obvious. It would've looked like a setup. So instead, they decided to kill James there, bleeding him out while only spilling a bit that looked accidental before taking his body somewhere else and dumping it.

  The best part had been that anyone who looked out the window that night would have seen Arryn walking toward that side of town.

  Scarlett had used her powers of illusion along with her mental magic to make herself look like Arryn as she'd walked beside James. They had been in the same Academy, but they hadn't actually run into each other recently, so James had been very happy to accompany her.

  Scarlett couldn’t help but think how warm and fuzzy Arryn would have been made to feel by how much James had missed her and thought of her in her absence. Now, as she looked at his body, his head hanging over the edge of the couch as he bled out into the last jar he would be able to fill, she felt even more pride in her plan.

  Once the jar was full, she placed it in a bag along with the rest and slung it over her shoulder. Then, she reached out with her mind to Talia, letting her know that it had been done, and it was safe to teleport in and take the body elsewhere.

  Within moments a loud crack sounded in the room as Talia's magic exploded, bringing her with it.

  "I would recommend hiding him in the corner of the park by the wall. We used the park the last time. Let’s stick with the theme here," Scarlett suggested.

  Talia nodded. "Things are really moving forward now. I can’t believe it. Finally, I'm on my way to getting the revenge I’ve needed for so long."

  "Don't get too excited yet," Scarlett warned. "Arryn has been waiting for revenge for a decade. She has a lot to lose, too. She won’t go down easily; we certainly have the upper hand. Just don't get too cocky. That's when people fail."

  Talia's movements were calm and fluid as she slowly and threateningly moved across the living room, her eyes never leaving Scarlett's. "I don't need you to remind me of that. Remember, I'm the one who usually keeps you in control."

  Scarlett decided not to respond, knowing it would do no good. Besides, Talia had no idea what she was in for, and Scarlett didn't care to elaborate. Pride goeth before the fall.

  Talia reached down and grasped James' lifeless hand before her eyes turned black and a cloud of magic exploded around her again, both of them disappearing from the room.

  19

  The next morning, Arryn had only barely finished breakfast when Celine came bursting through the door, screaming for Arryn. She quickly dropped her plate in the sink and ran into the living room.

  "What's wrong?" Arryn asked, her eyes wide with concern.

  Celine was nearly doubled over, her chest heaving as she quickly took breath after breath. After a few moments, she swallowed hard and finally found her voice.

  "You know that I check the house every day. Well… I used to. After you came back, I haven’t had much need to go back as often. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in to make sure that no one is messing with it," Celine started.

  Arryn nodded. "Okay, calm down a bit. Did something happen?"

  Celine took another deep breath before continuing. "About a week and a half ago, maybe longer, maybe shorter, I don't really remember, I went to check on the house and the furniture looked like it had been sat on. The sheet had been rumpled up a bit, though it was still in place, and the dust had been wiped off a couple of things. Not like someone had cleaned them, but more like their hand had touched the surface briefly and wiped it away."

  Arryn shrugged. "Well, I'm not exactly surprised. It is an abandoned house, and there are still some homeless people around the city who refuse to live in the noble houses. Maybe someone put their pride aside and squatted in my old house. There might be people in some of those other houses, too."

  Celine shook her head. "I thought of that, too, but then I checked the other houses. None of them have been tampered with, only yours. But that
's not why I came running in here. Like I said, that happened a week or two ago, and I just dismissed it. I figured if that was all the damage they did—and nothing important was missing—then it wasn’t that big of a deal."

  Arryn's brows furrowed with worry. "This doesn't sound good." Her voice sounded almost hopeless. She knew that look of fear and worry on Celine's face. It was the look people gave her when they had very bad news for her.

  "I went to check today, and the living room was covered in blood. Well, maybe not covered, but the far end of the couch is soaked, and there are a few puddles on the floor. Arryn, it's still wet." Celine's expression was both concerned terrified, and Arryn couldn't blame her.

  "We have to go to Amelia," Arryn urged.

  "Like hell you do," Cathillian snarled, stepping into the room. She wasn't even aware that he was awake yet. "Whatever happened, happened in your old house. Don't you find that a little suspicious?"

  Arryn laughed. "Are you serious? Of course, I find it suspicious! I would like to think that someone cleaned an animal while using my couch as a table and cooked it in the fireplace directly across from it, but I think we all know that's not what happened. Too many people have gone missing. If we sit around, it's only going to make me look guiltier. I have to confront this head-on. Amelia has to know."

  Cathillian sighed, running his fingers through his long hair but stopping to clutch the sides of his head. "You’ve given me a headache. But fine, let's go see Amelia."

  As the group made their way across the city toward Amelia's house, they passed several men who were heading to their house to meet before traveling outside the city for early-morning training.

  Cathillian stopped long enough to tell them to begin practice, but he would be late. He instructed them to tell Samuel that he needed to speak with Amelia right away, but Samuel was to continue training as usual.

  Other than that, no one said anything. Only the sounds of Echo calling out every so often as she played in the sky accompanied them on their journey across town.

  When Amelia opened the door just before six, she wiped her eyes and brushed her hair back with her fingers. It was obvious that she'd just climbed out of bed. Arryn felt badly for waking her so early, but she needed to talk to her now.

  After having invited everyone inside, Amelia took a seat on the couch, and Arryn, Celine, and Cathillian explained what had happened.

  Arryn had no idea what to expect from the Chancellor, because her eyes and her expression revealed nothing. She looked completely disconnected and exhausted. With everything she'd had to deal with since coming into her position, Arryn couldn't begin to fathom what hearing something like this would mean to her.

  After several awkward, silent moments, Amelia finally took a deep breath and let it out. "There is blood in Arryn's childhood home, it looks consistent with murder, and you are coming to me because you think this screams setup.

  With only slight hesitation, Arryn nodded. "I'm coming to you with this because if Celine is right, someone else has been taken. Worse than that, they've been killed. I'm coming to you because I need you to know that I didn’t do this. I did not do this, and I will do whatever it takes to help you find who did, though I have a damn good place to start."

  Amelia laughed as she leaned back into the couch and covered her face with her hands, but it sounded exasperated and almost maniacal. She pulled her hands away and looked Arryn in the eyes.

  "I don't know what's going on in this damned city, and it's pissing me off."

  Arryn sighed as she took a step forward. "What does your gut tell you? I'm not going to stress you out more by trying to convince you of anything. Just ask yourself… What is your gut telling you?"

  Amelia stood, pacing back and forth for a moment as she chewed on her lower lip. She stopped and turned to face Arryn once again. "For days now, Talia has been off. Something is going on with her, and I have the worst feeling. But then I think about how much she's done for the city, and I can't help but wonder if I'm wrong. Then I think, Adrien had a lot of people fooled, too. Even me. So, maybe she had me fooled, too."

  "At the risk of sounding pushy," Arryn told her. "I'm going to take the stress off you. I have never doubted my own instincts. You may have had bad judgment in the past, but you've been through hell and back since. You've learned a lot. If your gut is telling you that Talia isn't who she says she is, then go with it. Your instincts are telling you Talia's bad. Get off your ass and prove it."

  A brief smile crossed Amelia's face and she looked at Arryn. "Is that what you've been doing? Getting off your ass and proving it?"

  Arryn's brows rose as she nodded. "Uh, yeah. Why do you think that I'm pretty sure that it was Talia who did this? I pissed her off the other day. I tried telling you about it before, but you were too busy with the remnant attack. Sorry… attacks. She actually said the words, 'let the games begin,' so I'm pretty sure she's trying to set me up. She needs me to be the villain before she can get rid of me. Otherwise I'm the poor, pathetic orphan who fled the city for her life only to come back post-Adrienocalypse and start over."

  Amelia stared at the floor for a few moments before nodding. "You realize that I have to investigate this murder, right?"

  Arryn nodded. "Yep."

  "And you realize that if the evidence says that it was you, or if it looks like it was you, I'm going to have no choice but to arrest you until I can find proof that it wasn’t, right?" Amelia asked.

  Once again, Arryn nodded. "Yep."

  Amelia sighed. "I'm going to trust you. I have since you came to the city, and you've given me no reason not to. But if you're right and this is her, then I can promise you she's done a good job of setting you up. The city will be convinced that it was you, because I can promise that she's going to work her magic turning everyone against you. Especially if she has a mystic on her side."

  "You can't let the city lose faith in you, Chancellor. If the evidence points to me and word spreads, you have to arrest me. If the city loses faith in you, Talia gets what she wants. She can take the city. As long as a strong leader is in place, Talia can't win. That's the game she's been playing this whole time by gaining everyone's trust. She wants to win by default, not by force. That's why she's setting all these little things up. If it all points to me, she will believe she's won."

  For the first time, Cathillian spoke. "Arryn's right. If she continues to go free even after all of the evidence points to her, the people will turn against you, then Talia can rise up and say she will do something about it. Or it could be much worse. If Talia believed that you were on Arryn’s side completely, she could lose her patience and change tactics entirely. She's used subtlety up to this point, even though there have been deaths. We have no idea how big a group she has, so if she is challenged too harshly—Arryn, that means you—then she could decide to use extreme violence. She could start another war."

  Amelia clapped her hands together. "Good, then it’s settled. I'm going to do as I promised Talia and have the Hunters investigate Arryn, and I'm going to get the Guard together while we search the city for a body. Arryn, stay in the open. Do everything normally. Train this morning, go to the Academy; don't change anything. I'm almost positive I know how this is going to go, so more than likely, you can expect us within the next day or two."

  Arryn nodded, a smile on her face. "Great. I look forward to it. By then, I should have my evidence, or I'll have a plan to get it. In the words of Talia, ‘let the games begin.’"

  The first day after Arryn's meeting with Amelia went fine. Training proceeded as usual, the students were as attentive and curious as they normally were, and there were no visits from Amelia or any guards.

  Celine assured Arryn that no news was good news, but Arryn wasn't so sure; it was driving her crazy not knowing what was going on. She wasn't a sit-around-and-wait kind of person. She liked to know exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

  The second day, however, Arryn realized just how right Celine had been.

/>   Only half the students showed up to her class, and those who did were whispering and commenting to one another. When no one dared to look her in the eye, she realized there was much more going on than just distracted students.

  Arryn had finally had enough, so she decided to do what she did best: confront the situation head-on.

  "So…" Arryn began, pausing briefly as she walked around to sit on the front of her desk as she did often, "tell me. What happened to the other half of the class? And why are you all so distracted? Usually I can't get you to shut up about battle magic, battle strategy in fighting, the Dark Forest, and whatever else pops into your head, but today you haven't said a single word to me. I find that strange."

  The students nervously looked at one another before facing forward, but finally a new girl in the back stood. Her name was Maddie, and she had blue eyes and blonde curls that stretched down her back. She was noble, judging by her dress.

  "Since no one else here has any guts, I'll be the one to say it. You seem nice, and you've always been very straightforward with us, so I don't exactly believe the things that are being said. Unfortunately, many of our fellow students do. There was another body found, this time in what will be the Boulevard park, and everyone thinks it was you."

  Arryn nodded, her eyes never leaving Maddie's. "I see. Let me ask all of you this… Why exactly are these things being said? What proves that I did it or even gives you an idea that I did it? More than that, why would I go out of my way to train you guys how to heal yourselves, give you details on battle strategy, and encourage all of you to take care of yourselves, and train some of the Guard every morning before I come into this classroom, if I wanted to kill someone? Doesn't that sound strange to you?"

  None of the class answered, though they whispered to one another. Maddie was right; they were all cowards. They were willing to say things behind her back, but not her face.