His brow puckered, unsure of how to respond.
“And she’s coming after me.”
My head was spinning. I sat on the bed trying to absorb the whole thing, striving to hold on. I realized I was rocking back and forth, which probably looked less than sane so I stopped myself, only to start biting my lip moments later.
Eventually, they calmed me down. Rational thought had returned when I was fully awake and the dream had had time to lose some of its potency. Ruby sat beside me, offering me tea and anything else she could think of. It was quiet for a long time.
And then it struck me, they were too quiet. They weren’t shocked at all.
“You knew?”
Ruby didn’t answer. I looked at Chevelle accusingly for what seemed like too many times.
“We could not be certain.”
How? How could they have known? The same as before. “Junnie?”
He replied with a curt and uncomfortable nod.
Junnie. I started to ask why they hadn’t told me but as my mouth opened I remembered the chain of events that followed her visit. How could they have explained anything to me? I’d passed out. And when I’d woke, I’d not even spoken, I’d been obsessed, doing nothing but reading the diary of my dead mother. They thought I was too fragile to include. I closed my mouth.
They might have been right.
I blew out an exasperated breath. So Fannie’s killing council. And then, in an instant, I felt like a complete idiot.
“That’s why I’m remembering.” It seemed so obvious now. All I received was another nod, another confirmation. Just like Ruby had said, as we broke my bonds, we were breaking hers. And now she was breaking mine. And she knew it.
Grey was at the door and Ruby stepped out to speak with him. I watched her leave and then kept my gaze on the doorway. I was alone with Chevelle.
The air was charged, as it almost always was when I was alone with him. Always thick with anger or… I stopped myself, embarrassed again at the thought of how I’d acted the last time he’d been here, in my room. How I had accused him, in such a strange and horrible way, of working for Asher. I couldn’t even think clearly now, there was so much wrong in my head. It was impossible to be rational with so much missing and disconnected. I let myself look at him.
It was a mistake.
He had been watching me, his gaze already trained on my face. I felt a little off balance. And then I wondered if Ruby had drugged me again because, without a conscious command to do so, I found myself moving toward him.
He was sitting near the end of my bed on the stool where Ruby often watched me sleep. I felt how small the room was as I slid down to sit next to him in the dimness. I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to be near him, no matter how wrong it seemed. It was so confusing, like I knew him, like he was part of my life, but at the same time, it was like he was a stranger, mysterious in every way. Forgotten were all those feelings of betrayal that had been so strong as I sat, inches away from him, looking into his eyes.
He was staring back at me, expectant. But all I could see was a memory, a similar situation when his face was filled with something else. Sadness or... disappointment? I couldn’t seem to pull it to mind, couldn’t find the clear, solid memory, and I found myself forgetting my need, overcome with frustration. My hands came up, knotting in my hair as the base of my palms pressed against my temples. I could feel myself rocking back and forth again but I was too overwhelmed to be embarrassed.
And then, suddenly, I was jerked from the bed to standing. At first, my eyes shot to his hand on my wrist, surprised at the tightness of his grip; it was almost painful. But then, when I realized he'd pulled me close to him, our bodies nearly touching, they slowly trailed to his face. But he wasn't looking at me. I opened my mouth to speak and he reached up, placing his fingers on my lips to still them. His head was turned away as he listened intently, and so I concentrated to hear what had his attention. It was distant and slightly muffled, a strange noise, and then the pitch rose and I realized it was animals. And then a clearer sound, the wolves. A warning cry.
I was jerked from the tent so fast I could barely keep my footing. I tumbled forward, losing my last step and I was airborne, pulled off the ground completely as Chevelle carried me. He was running, away from the temple. Panic seized me but I couldn't see behind us. I looked at his face but he was only watching forward, intent on his path. We kept moving but I had to know, what was behind us? After us?
I used the only tactic I could think of, jump to the wolves to see what they were seeing, why they were calling out, warning us. I searched, locating one but, though I could sense where it was, I could not find its mind, could not enter it. Confused, I sensed the second wolf and tried again.
Nothing.
I didn't understand.
"Frey." Chevelle's voice brought me back and I opened my eyes to find his face in front of mine. I realized we had stopped as he looked down at me, still in his arms. "Are you all right?"
I stared back at him. Nothing had happened to me. Had it? I took stock but aside from the frantic beat of my heart and labored breathing, I could find nothing wrong. I nodded to him in reply.
He put me down and I started toward a nearby rock to sit when it hit me, the wolves. I couldn't get to them. Was it council, had they bound me from the animals now?
Chevelle must have seen the dread return to my face as I stepped away because he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to face him. "What is it?"
I couldn't answer. I knew my face had paled.
"Frey." He shook me a little as he waited for a response.
A small squirrel jumped from a limb in my peripheral and I felt it, falling into its mind with ease, satisfied I'd not lost the ability. But just as I started to relax, my vision went black... when its neck snapped. I opened my eyes in time to see its body tumble to the ground.
I was standing with my mouth hanging open in disbelief as I saw Chevelle look back at me, only then realizing he'd been watching the squirrel. He had been distracted at first, worried about my agitation, but the noise had alerted him and he'd focused on the squirrel a breath before it had dropped.
"Did you kill that squirrel?" I sounded outraged in my accusation.
He looked confused. Now I waited for an answer. His expression smoothed and he finally answered in his careful tone, "Frey..."
I was instantly angry. "Tell me now."
He was indignant. "Did you have a personal relationship with that squirrel?"
He'd never spoken to me that way, it threw me off for half a second. And then I was incensed. "Tell me right now."
"Tell you what?"
We were suddenly arguing. "Tell me whatever it is that you're hiding from me. What now, what else?"
He was tight-lipped for several moments but my expression must have finally convinced him. He sighed and began, "We are simply taking every precaution. To protect you."
It infuriated me. "To protect me? How many times do I have to hear that? Oh, it's just to protect you." I wanted to strike him but arrested the perverse thought. "What is it now? What are you doing to protect me now?" I spat.
He just looked at me.
I waited.
"The animals." He was watching me like I'd missed something obvious and my anger flared, until I realized the implication.
The fury rushed out of me in a huff. I was winded, like I'd been punched in the chest. How could I have been so oblivious? They were lining up in my head, the details that I'd so blatantly missed. Some more apparent than others but they were all there. The battle with council, when I'd felt someone else in the mind of the bird, the glaringly obvious fact that there had been practically no animals on our path, Fannie's apparent abilities that I had seen so clearly in my dreams.
Fannie. Suddenly, my head was spinning, joining the images from my dreams with the last few hours, minutes. I was speaking before I was aware of it. "We were running." I felt his hand grip my arm and knew he could hear the change in my voice,
as I had. "Running from Fannie." I'd known she was coming for me. Coming. Something to look forward to, worry about later. Not that she was already here, not now.
I looked into his eyes and I didn't know what he saw on my face but he was abruptly trying to calm me. "Frey, she hasn't gotten near you at all." I felt my features twist at his words. "The wolves are taking care of them."
The wolves. Taking care of them. How many times had she tried? How long had this been going on? I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't process the anger. The humiliation. The irritation. I growled in rage, throwing my fisted hands to my sides, when the sound of shattering stone caught my attention.
And then I realized it had been me. I sighed, ashamed that I'd unintentionally exploded the rock that had been my intended seat moments ago. I loosened my fists, throwing my hands up in surrender.
I started walking back to the temple, or at least in the direction I thought it had been, unwilling to look at Chevelle. I heard his quiet steps behind me as he followed my slow progress. I remembered his words from the time I had been attacked by council, when they'd found me and rebound my magic. He'd said they had known council was close but they were mistaken in thinking council intended a physical attack. They had been prepared for that, and I now knew more than capable of defeat. But they had not been prepared for the binding, not prepared for the direct attack on my mind. He'd assured me that council would not get so close again.
And now they were, what, destroying every animal that came near because Fannie was tracking me too? The wolves were my guard dogs? I was too far gone to laugh. I could see their first demonstration of power, hear their vicious snarl, see their jagged fangs. Ruby's words came back to me now. No, silly, no one can control animals. The wolves attack who they want, protect who they want.
I kept walking, slowly, attempting to process it all, struggling to find a place for it. Twice I spun on Chevelle, ready to fling accusations at him, but each time his expression was such that I could only look at him, my mouth open ready to speak, before I turned and continued on.
Eventually, the hot sun was directly overhead and I knew I'd been walking far too long. I couldn't decide if I'd passed the temple or gone in a completely different direction. I sighed and turned, finding Chevelle standing quietly behind me, exactly where I'd expected him.
He waited.
I took a deep breath. "I don't know where I am."
His face was pained as he took a step toward me. "I know, Frey. We are trying to help you."
I put my hands up in front of me, a "stop" signal, embarrassed and annoyed. "No. I mean I don't know where I am," I said, emphasizing my point by waving my hands toward the surrounding trees.
He almost smiled as he took another step closer. "They will be waiting for us." Before I could respond, he pulled me up, carrying me again, as he spun and stepped into a run toward the temple.
I hadn't even been close.
Chapter Six
Compliant
So, now that I knew I was being hunted down by the remaining members of Grand Council and my crazy Aunt Fannie in various animal forms, it was considerably easier to forgive the seven others who were willing to help me, regardless of their reasons.
It was in that state of mind that I resumed my training with Grey upon returning to the temple. The others were planning again, something about moving since Fannie had likely found us. I wasn't sure what "likely" meant, since the wolves had apparently slaughtered various beasts throughout the morning, but I ignored their discussions, confident that they would not have let me join in even if I preferred.
We found a quiet spot near the center of the temple. The floor was open so I hoped I'd have a better chance to follow Grey's movements as he flitted around trying to lose me. But I was often disappointed. I readied myself, standing motionless, eyes and ears on alert when he stepped in front of me, wearing a temperate smile.
I stiffened, certain he was making fun of me, though I had no idea for what.
"I never thanked you for the assist."
I was lost for a moment before I knew what he was referring to, and then smiled back at him, only to have it cut short as the memory came fully back. The battle with council. I'd missed the majority of it, at first tied to a wall and then overtaken by blackness, but I had fought a little. A bird had flown over and I'd jumped to it, able to see them all below in the fray. Grey had been trapped as I was, vines wrapping him in place, the long thorns piercing his skin, flames surrounding him. I had found his attacker and gave Grey the few precious seconds he needed to escape. The horrid scene filled my mind now and as I looked at it with the fresh knowledge, it had changed slightly. I couldn't help but wonder if they actually had been fighting to protect me.
And then the last little bit of the memory came back, the moments just before the blackness had taken me. Asher, watching from outside the battle. I could see his lips moving swiftly, a quiet flow of incoherent words.
"Frey?"
Grey had been talking to me, though I had no idea what he'd said. I answered anyway. "Yes, of course."
He laughed. And then he was gone.
I shook my head, trying to focus, because I knew I was about to be smacked in the back of the head or have a leg pulled out from under me when he reappeared.
I was wrong. A punch in the gut.
Yet, to my surprise, he was still standing in front of me. He was confused, as was I, and we both looked down to see that I had my hand wrapped tightly around his wrist. He was lightning fast, I'd usually only known he'd attacked because of the actual strike, but somehow I'd grabbed him, almost unthinkingly.
We stood there, staring at the offending hands, unable to relax at first. And then I breathed, a breath I hadn't even realized I'd been holding. Grey flexed his fist open and I finally eased my grip on him.
We didn't speak.
"Frey," Ruby started as she bounced up to us. And then she noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere. "What's going on?"
Grey spoke up, smiling a genuine smile at her without looking me in the eye. "Hey, Red. Just finishing up here." He gingerly reached up to pat me on the back of the shoulder. "The girl's really picking it up. Impressive."
Ruby looked at me, perplexed. I smiled and squeaked out a nervous laugh. She glanced back and forth between us a few times before she shook it off and resumed her original announcement. "We've decided to move on. Frey, I'll get your things together. You can keep practicing until we have everything ready."
She threw one distrustful glance back to Grey, an eyebrow raised inquisitively, before bouncing off in the direction of my tattered hut.
When I turned back to Grey he was watching me. I felt my shoulders come up in shrug.
"Do it again," he commanded and I wondered if I heard a hint of excitement in his voice.
Almost too fast to see, his fist was coming at me again. And then it stopped as my palm came up to meet it automatically.
Grey smiled.
My hand still blocking his, he twisted to take my fingers, leading me by the hand as he walked from the center of the temple. Further from the others.
He spoke in a low voice. "When did your instincts return, Freya?"
I just stared at him. I had no idea what he was talking about.
His smile turned apologetic, but at the same time unrepentant, a face I was sure only Grey could get away with. "Seems the wicked Francine is helping you out more than herself."
I shivered a bit at the mention of Fannie. I had plenty of awful memories of her, mean as she was, but nothing had compared to the simple look she'd given me in her panther form. Just a dream, but the way she looked at me...
The words came out almost as a thought. "What does she want with me?"
He looked incredulous. I couldn't understand why. I was missing something obvious again? She intended to punish me for what I'd done, my imagined part in her binding and imprisonment?
Grey turned to me and placed his hands on my arms. "Frey, you are the leader of the Nort
h."
What did that have to do with anything?
He could see he wasn't getting through. "Do you remember what you read of Fannie in the diary?"
Had everyone read it? I waited.
I could tell he felt as if he were explaining something to a child. "Fannie is in line for the throne, Freya."
I let that sink in.
"After you."
Instead of the shock or pain that should have followed the revelation that my mind took its sweet time getting to, anger flooded through me. "She plans to kill me?"
Grey tried to shush me anxiously. But I couldn't be calmed. That crazy bitch was hunting me down in beast form to kill me? That thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Punish yes, some form of prolonged torture probably, but kill? And then a hysterical laugh escaped. For the throne. Grey glanced nervously toward the others. They’d not want me to know this, my fragile brain couldn’t take it.
"Wait, wait, wait." I tried to push past the anger and hysteria for just long enough to understand. "This doesn't make any sense. It's not in line. Why am I even leader?" In my rush, I forgot that I hadn't spilled my complete knowledge of the situation to anyone. "Why isn't Asher?"
Grey looked back at me, entirely astonished. He started with a stutter and then avoided my direct question by answering in general. "It… it doesn't work that way, Frey. The leader can choose the next in his line but... in a conflict... power is the deciding factor."
I was lost. Again.
He knew it, and he threw another quick look at the others before he continued in a hushed tone. "Fannie is not as powerful as you are, Frey. You would have to be... out of the picture... for her to rule."
"She's stronger than Asher? I'm stronger than Asher?"
"She's counting on council disposing of him." I didn't miss that he'd avoided my part of the Asher question again.
My hands were shaking, I tried to calm myself before the blackness came. Grey waited, uneasy.
"Why am I the leader? If Asher is alive, why would I be ruler?" I looked directly at him. "Am I stronger than Asher?"
Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight Page 7