I felt my stomach twist. I'd known those that coupled were together for centuries, but I'd never considered that it wasn't by choice.
She saw the distress on my face and mistook it. "I guess you must have lost the memory of those lessons as well," she said. She patted my hand. "Your Vita was a victim of that bond."
And Vita had died of grief.
Ruby considered. "Though, her bond was weightier. Union with a lord and all." And then she unexpectedly perked up and smiled. "Not to worry, plenty of time to decide."
I thought for an instant I might be sick.
But then Grey appeared in the doorway from nowhere and gave a slight nod to Ruby before he disappeared just as quickly. She grasped my arm and pulled me out of the trance to face her.
"Now, Frey," she demanded, "let's go."
Her tone spoke of the seriousness of the situation so I followed her direction as she jumped up to throw shoes at me and pull my cloak from the wardrobe. My pack was over her shoulder when she grabbed my wrist and pulled me from the room to running behind her. We hurried down the corridors to a hidden entrance and as soon as we stepped outside, I could see that the others were mounted, waiting on us, each in their own dark cloaks.
When Rhys and Rider saw us, they kicked up their horses and sped from the group to ride the lead with the wolves. I found Chevelle and he acknowledged me with his eyes but his face was severe. Ruby was throwing me on my horse and as soon as I'd mounted, all of the horses were moving, Chevelle to my right, Ruby the left. Anvil was slightly ahead and I could hear the hooves of Steed and Grey's horses following closely behind.
We rode hard without interruption across the craggy rocks and away from the safety of the castle walls. The group was silent and alert. I was terrified.
Chevelle stayed near me as we rode and when we finally did stop, he stepped from his horse and in one fluid movement, pulled me from my own and to standing beside him. His face was hard and I didn't ask the questions that were swimming through my mind, I was sure I didn't want the answers anyway.
I'd thought we were taking a break but when I realized that Steed was directing the horses back the way we had just come, my optimism sank. Chevelle led me to the cover of a few small, bushy trees and gave me one slight nod before Ruby stepped beside me and took his place. I watched him walk to where Anvil and the others stood, the wolves pacing restlessly around them. I could not hear a word of their discussion.
"What's going on, Ruby?" I whispered.
She responded in kind. "We had received word of Brahn but the delay in our departure will mean some searching. They will split on short excursions to hunt without losing the group, while keeping you center." My stomach tightened.
"Won't they need the horses?" I asked, as quiet as I could manage.
She shook her head. "From here, we keep on foot for speed and stealth."
I bit down hard as we sat, silently watching two sets of two rotate on searches while the remaining three remained near me. The center.
Occasionally, the core of the group would move as well, allowing new territory to be scanned, and after a while with no encounters or signs or anything to speak of, my muscles began to relax and I settled in to a long, uncomfortable resignation.
Once the rotation worked out for Chevelle to be with me, Ruby and Grey nearby but watching outward, I leaned into him, finally calm enough to rest. As we sat on the cool stone, my back against the side of his chest, his arm partially around me but still in readiness, the tightness that had remained in my chest released and I almost dozed off as my mind wandered idly.
I felt the familiar sensation of a bird and I fell easily into it, pleased to find it was a hawk. I soared lazily across the sky, the current so mild it barely ruffled a feather. It was so peaceful, so relaxing, to be with the hawk in my mind while my body was safe with Chevelle. I was considering how my tension had eased in relation to his proximity when the hawk spotted movement on the ground. It started to turn but I urged it to stay, focus more clearly on what we were seeing.
Chevelle's hand covered my mouth when I gasped. My eyes flew open and we were standing, his palm still pressed hard against my lips, his other arm wrapped tightly around my waist from behind as Ruby and Grey rushed toward us. I was panting through my nose and Ruby gave Chevelle a hard glare until he released me.
He spun me around, his eyes commanding an answer.
I tried to steady my breathing as the words rushed from me in the softest voice I could muster. "Fannie. She was running. I didn't know at first, didn't understand. But I saw him, behind her. He was after her."
"Where?" he demanded.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on remembering where I'd been so leisurely flying. They waited the second it took to gather the information with forced patience but when my eyes opened and I gave them the best directions I could, they were in motion before I took another breath. The others appeared from nowhere as we headed toward Fannie and her pursuer.
Chevelle's grip on me was still tight as we ran but he was too fast, I couldn't keep up with him. Steed saw me struggle and came to my other side, grasping my free arm, and they ran in tandem, my feet pulling from the ground to skip steps as I struggled between them. When I started to recognize the area I'd seen from above, one of the wolves called from ahead of us. They did not slow but Chevelle released my arm and moved forward, even faster than what had been beyond my full speed.
Steed kept his hold and Rhys fell in to Chevelle's place as the others flew past us. I could see them approach a structure of sorts and, suddenly, the field ignited into flame.
I stopped running. Steed and Rhys did not and my feet began to drag, catching among the rocks and dirt. My legs regained consciousness and responded a moment later, but neither seemed to notice. They were focused solely on the battle we were approaching with frightening speed.
I could see Ruby now, among the flames. She was burning several large elves, two of which I recognized from my nameless memories. Grey was fighting near her, seeming to flick in and out of vision with his swift movements. I searched for Chevelle and found him alongside Anvil, both fighting for entrance to the structure. It had all happened so fast, I'd not had time to even consider fear. When we reached the group, their opposition had been reduced to unresponsive piles scattering the ground.
Chevelle looked back to me and then his eyes scanned to find each of the others before he visibly braced himself and walked with Anvil through the door, his sword drawn in readiness.
Chapter Thirteen
The End as a Whole
We didn't hesitate as we followed them in, but I froze as I saw the scene inside. The one-room structure was entirely open space inside, filled with large, angry elves. Asher's guard. Steed and Rhys still had hold of me and the others were lined up in front of us, Chevelle and Anvil with their backs directly to me, Rider and Grey angled slightly to the sides, and Ruby, pacing impatiently to one side. I watched her for a moment as she transferred from one leg to the other, never moving far from her spot. Her whip was loose at her side, her hand wrapped tightly around the base, as she swayed like a snake. Her eyes were flicking anxiously to each of the faces in the room, and then, repeatedly, to the floor. I followed her gaze and found that a body had already been downed. It was Fannie.
My legs seemed to thaw and crumple beneath me but Steed pulled me up to him, securing an arm around my waist as Rhys released his hold and readied his staff. I stared at her lifeless form on the floor, unable to comprehend what had happened to her. I was trembling as I looked up at Steed's face, but he was not watching me. His eyes were intent, directed to the center of the room with such heat that I couldn't help but follow. My legs gave again when I saw it was Asher, but Steed was strong and he kept me from collapsing.
I wasn't sure how long we had been standing there, but I didn't think anyone had spoken or moved since our entrance, aside from Ruby's agitated rocking. I tore my eyes from Asher and scanned the room again, purposefully avoiding Fannie on the
floor, and the pieces started to fall together. We were outnumbered. Both sides were waiting for the first move. I involuntarily began to size up each of them, wishing I could remember their strengths, and found Brahn. Brahn, who'd been chasing Fannie. My eyes shot to her body again, her corpse, and back to him. He was smug, his sneer an ugly kind of smile.
Before I knew what was happening, I was stepping forward. Steed, caught off guard, struggled to stop me but I was determined, and I was the first to speak.
"You," I growled directly to the beast, who seemed for a fraction of a second as shocked as the rest of the room. He did not respond verbally, but quickly recovered and straightened his shoulders to stand proud. He might have been twice my size.
I could feel Chevelle and Steed as they tried to pull me back, force me behind them, but I stood fast. I saw the symbol of the guard on his chest and wanted to burn him. "You killed Fannie?" I demanded, not recognizing my own voice.
He did not answer and my hand came up to punish him. The others moved quickly to stop me, my own guard protecting me from my ignorance. I couldn't feel ashamed.
Asher's barking laugh caught everyone's attention. He seemed to find the incident very amusing. I glared at him and his hand tightened on his staff. "You forget your place, Elfreda."
I was speaking before I realized my intention. "She was your daughter."
He shook his head calmly. "No longer. She had turned against me." It was a warning. A clear, sincere warning.
Chevelle's voice was low in my ear as he pulled me back once more to plead, "No, Freya."
Asher's gaze flicked to Chevelle then. "Ah, still whispering in her ear, Vattier." He spoke with such distaste I couldn't stop myself from looking back to see Chevelle's response. It was cold and hostile.
"She will learn," Asher continued and I noticed something behind him, a movement of his cloak. I glanced down to see that it was not his own, but a second cloak of the same material, a small figure huddled on the floor behind him. With horror, I recognized what it was by the feel of its mind.
My face met Asher's in a moment of disgust and loathing and he suddenly smiled as if he had just received the greatest of pleasures. "So it is true," he whispered.
And the wind was knocked out of me at my own stupidity. How long I had spent fearing his knowledge and I had just given him my last secret, without a scrap of resistance.
I felt all eyes in the room on me as Asher watched my features rearrange with open delight. He must have been eager to share with them his new awareness, because he stepped slightly to the side to allow a partial view of the woman behind him. There was an intake of breath as they all registered what I had already seen. Human. And then, part of them looked back at me appraisingly, now understanding the exchange.
"You'll not have her," Chevelle warned, unexpectedly stirring the entire room back to readiness.
Asher laughed again. "You'll not stop me."
He raised his staff a fraction of an inch and the whole room ceased movement. Everyone.
I had no idea what he was doing, but I couldn't take my eyes off the human behind him. Her eyes were on me, too, wide and terrified, and I saw that they were nearly the same soft brown as her hair, which could be seen beneath the large hood of her cloak. Her skin was pale and she was unquestionably weary but there was something else, something that didn't seem right, I just couldn't place exactly what. Humans were so odd, but this one seemed... wrong.
I felt Asher's eyes on me and I glanced up to see that he was still smiling as the room remained motionless, and it was as if, for once, the world was working at the same pace as my mind. I was trying to understand what was happening around me, how this would turn out, what I should do, if I would scream when they burned me - and then my eyes were back on the human. The woman. She was clutching her stomach, holding herself protectively, the mass beneath her cloak. She was swollen with child.
Flames flew from my hands before I could stop them, my eyes bored into Asher's, focused on my strike, and he remained smiling a confident, unpleasant smile.
The fire I'd thrown at him might have been the strongest I'd ever produced, but it fell short. He had barely twitched to deflect it and I could already feel the drain it had caused me. The anger waned and I suddenly understood the graveness of the situation. I understood everything as it fell together perfectly, horribly, absolutely.
I knew why Fannie's body lay on the ground before us. She'd been the animal that had mutilated the bodies of the human and the elf they had named Deimos. He'd been Asher's guard and he'd been minding the human. A broodmare, just as the unfortunate woman who was now cowering behind Asher was. Her eyes were still on me, beseeching, as I bathed in the knowledge. Asher had killed his own daughter for slaughtering his children, his half-bred offspring that she'd thought a perversion. I couldn't place my feelings for Fannie now. She’d had a cruel life and, though she'd been instrumental in my mother's death, I couldn't say it was her fault. She'd tried then to prevent the horror she knew was coming, and this time, she'd stood alone against her father to end what all of us abhorred. Now she was gone, at his hand.
And I knew that he'd planned it, the slaughter of council by my guard. He'd wanted it not merely because they intended to stop him, he'd had another agenda, and now I understood. I could see him there at the battle, the spellcaster whispering chants at the edge of notice until Junnie pursued him. I recognized why Ruby had owned a book on magic, remembered how she had spoke of stealing one's power by taking their life, releasing their energy to use as your own. All of this in his quest for power.
But that wasn't all, and I knew that, too. I recalled Grey's words and it sickened me further, that they had all known. They had known there would only be one outcome, they had known that every move they made would bring us all here, to this one moment, that I would never be released without meeting this eventuality. Merely one more to release my bonds. It was Asher. He was the final remaining captor of my mind, and he had no intention of freeing me.
Maybe it was the anticipation of battle that had sharpened my mind, maybe it was Asher's presence, maybe I'd been so blind to it all along because I didn't want to face it, but it was all there now. I felt defeated, not just at the information or the ties that held a share of my magic and mind, but because we were defeated. My guard stood frozen because they, too, knew that they could not defeat Asher. He was too powerful for any of us, possibly too powerful for all of us, and his guard stood before him.
I glanced at each of them again. Separately they could be overcome. Their confidence came not from an assurance that they could top any of us, but that they didn't need to. As illustrated by the brief encounter outside, my guard was not easily conquered. If not for Asher, they would overwhelm this impressive group nearly as quickly. But there was Asher, and he watched me as I considered, knowing he had me, knowing I'd find no way out.
He'd take me in, use me to regain his rule. He would succeed. Many of the council were already dead, and he would finish it. I could feel the memories tugging at me and I knew he would be a cruel leader. He would exploit my ability, continue to make new offspring in hopes of gaining a more unique power. He would slowly steal those that were dear to me. Chevelle. Ruby. All of them.
He was quicker and more powerful than any of us. A move against him would be instant death, I knew that. We all did. And yet my guard stood with me, as if there were a chance. It was so sad. Did they have so much faith in me? What was I but a pawn in Asher's game, what could I do but-
I stopped cold. I felt the smile crawl from one side of my lips to the other. I had the pleasure of seeing confusion cross Asher's face before I closed my eyes and sank, deep and swiftly into the mind of the small, brown-eyed girl at his feet. He had protected himself from us, but not from her. Not from the piteous human. Her hand sped neatly to the sheath at his waist and in one shrewd move plunged the dagger into his heart.
The woman's scream threw me back to my own mind and my eyes flicked open in time to see cha
os. I was standing in the middle of a war, staring at Asher's body, which had landed in the trembling, bloodied hands of the fragile woman. She stared at him, her mouth still open but silent. I gazed into his eyes and knew that he was proud. Somehow, he was in awe of me, that I had defeated him. He'd been foolish to forget the human, he'd thought her insignificant, and he hadn't protected himself from her. He smiled at me and then his mouth moved in a silent chant.
As the life slipped from his body, I felt sudden, intense pain in my own. It became excruciating and I nearly lost the capacity to breathe, but it crested and then I felt the icy heat of power rush through me. It wasn't solely my energy coursing through me. I could feel Asher, the strength of his line, the depth of his magic, the power that allowed his rule. I was overwhelmed, a torrent of violence and pleasure swept through me, almost knocking me from my feet. A deluge of memories, thoughts, and emotions followed, flowing together and joining with the agony and bliss.
And then the storm was over. I had my mind back. And, though the conflict remained, it was not the painful tumult it had been, it was two sets of ideas, as if I were merely undecided. I looked around, disoriented.
I saw bodies strewn on the ground around me. Actually, not around me. There was a circle of clear floor where I stood, it seemed to be the only area not destroyed. The downed bodies were my guard. No, Asher's guard. The blank, dead stare of Eris stared back at me from the ground as blood leaked slowly from the corner of his mouth. I had liked Eris. A few feet beside him, in what might be two separate pieces, was Domnal. Three of the bodies were burned beyond identification. Near the back wall, I saw Cleve, his form intact but lifeless nonetheless. I wondered if Dunn was among them, and Aren.
And then I saw Anvil, kneeling in what I feared was injury. It was not. He was saluting me silently. I found a smile for him. I continued scanning the room and bristled for a moment when I saw a fairy, but it was Ruby. My Ruby. She seemed to be smoldering, I nearly shook my head in disbelief but resisted. Rhys and Rider watched me from behind her, their robes in tatters, and I nodded my respect. Sitting proud in front of them were my old friends, Finn and Keaton. I smiled at their knowing eyes, trimmed in a beautiful silver fur. And there was the handsome Steed, clearly staggered as he stared back at me. I gave him a quick wink before I searched for who else had been left standing. Grey. Yes, he was undamaged. And beside me, though a few paces back, I found Chevelle's eyes scrutinizing me.
Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight Page 16