by Bonnie Lamer
“Yes, several times,” I retort.
“You have nothing else to report? The smallest detail may be important,” Isla pushes.
Kallen and I look at each other, hoping to see a clue in the other’s eyes. All I see is the brilliant green I love. I do not find any clues.
“What was the Merpeople’s plan?” Dagda asks. “You said there was no declaration of war?”
I shake my head. “No, they only asked me to come because they wanted to know what you would say. They didn’t think I’d actually show up. They wanted to know if you would support me or extradite me back to their realm to be tried for murder.” And then they would kill me. I don’t add this but it’s implied whenever the death of a ruler occurs. The person who killed her or him is convicted and put to death. I’m pretty sure this is a universal rite.
“They were surprised when Xandra came willingly,” Kallen confirms.
There is something none of us has dared to say yet. No one has said it because if it is said aloud, there is no taking it back. We will be forced to face the truth of it. Despite my arguments to the contrary, I will be forced to face the idea that something inside me is making me commit murder without my conscious mind knowing. I said I would handle this situation without cowardice, so here goes. “I believe I may have a doppelgänger out there.” After all, every single Fairy has black hair and green eyes. How many variations could there be before they start repeating? “But looking like me would not give this person my powers. If I am the only Witch Fairy ever born, why can this doppelgänger do everything I can do? Is there another Witch Fairy out there we don’t know about?”
It takes a long time for someone to respond. Dagda will not meet my eyes and Alita has no idea what I’m talking about. Kallen has already made me angry speaking of the most likely probability, so he is keeping his mouth tightly closed. Isla is the one to finally break the uncomfortable silence. “We do not know.” Exactly the answer I expected.
The silence descends on us again. It becomes stifling as we wait for Tabitha and Raziel to arrive.
Chapter 4
The door flies open and a chubby, older Fairy comes barreling in. “What is the meaning of dragging me all the way here? I was in the middle of pulling weeds that are choking my herbs.”
“Your herbs will have to fend for themselves for the moment,” Dagda says dryly. “Right now, it is more important to determine if Xandra has once again been infested with the souls of others.” Infested? He makes me sound like a pile of dung infested with beetles. Maybe I’m being too sensitive.
Tabitha’s eyes swing to me and she takes a moment to absorb the meaning of Dagda’s words. Glancing around the room, she now senses the harbingers of doom hiding in the corners. Without another word, she walks to me and puts her hands on my cheeks. It is several long minutes before she drops her hands back to her sides.
“The only soul within you is your own,” she says. She expected this to be good news, so she is surprised at the lack of sighs of relief. “What is going on?”
Isla gives her a synopsis of the situation. When she finishes, Tabitha lets out a low whistle. Turning to me, she says, “Perhaps I should try again.”
I am now 0 for 5 with people believing I’m innocent. “Go ahead,” I say, sounding as weary as I suddenly feel.
Raziel, who slipped in after Tabitha, is being conspicuously quiet near the door. When my eyes turn to him, he says, “Xandra, I am happy to see you are well.”
“Raziel, what’s going on?” I ask.
Raziel spends a moment weighing what he will say and what he won’t. Finally, he blurts out, “Your future has become…uncertain.”
“What does that mean?” Kallen demands.
Again, Raziel weighs his words. “It is as if your destiny has…splintered.”
“Splintered?” I squeak. “How can a destiny splinter?”
“I would like to know that myself,” Dagda says.
“We all want to know,” Kallen adds.
“I am leery to say more. I am already treading the boundary of free will.” Which means if he says more, he runs the risk of Tabbris taking his wings when he returns to the Angels. Tabbris takes her job of maintaining free will very seriously.
“There must be something more you can tell us,” Tabitha implores.
Almost against his will, Raziel says, “Your future now has two paths. I do not know which one is true, nor why it has changed.”
“Do I suddenly have a split personality or something?” I ask. Please, please say no.
Raziel’s face is pained. “Xandra, I cannot tell you more.” He adds, “Even if I knew what this all means, I would not be able to tell you.” For someone who’s supposed to know everything, he seems to be in the dark a lot when it comes to me.
“You do not know what this means?” Dagda asks, trying to determine if Raziel really doesn’t know what’s going on, or if he is simply not telling us all he knows.
“When did you first notice her destiny change?” Kallen asks.
Embarrassed, he says, “Several days ago. Shortly before you left for the Merpeople realm.”
My heart crumbles in my chest. My destiny split right around the time the Merpeople Queen was killed. “I did it, didn’t I?” I say more to myself than anyone else in the room. I would look around me for denials, but I know they aren’t on anyone’s lips.
A loud rapping on the door snaps us out of our uncomfortable silence. “Not now!” Dagda rumbles.
“Sire, I have urgent news from the Dragon realm.” Sindri’s voice is desperate. “I believe it may be relevant to your discussion.”
Considering me with a distinctly accusatory eye, Dagda says, “Come.”
Sindri opens the door looking as nervous as ever. His eyes flit to me for half a second and then back to the King. “We received this.” He puts a piece of paper on Dagda’s desk, his eyes flitting to me again.
No father should say the words Dagda is saying in front of me at the moment. A good father wouldn’t even think them. “What does it say?” I ask when he takes a breath between oaths.
His eyes are flaming when he looks up. I think my eyebrows are singed. “It is a declaration of war.”
As the words fall out of his mouth, I try to un-hear them. I try really hard. At the same time, a feeling is crawling up my spine assuring me I am somehow to blame for this. “Does it say why?”
Dagda sits back in his chair and uses the heel of his palms to rub his eyes. After a moment, he looks at me directly and says, “Because you killed Ormar in her sleep this morning.” Ormar? The nasty old Dragon who was seriously close to death on her own? I didn’t like her, but I never wished her dead. Not literally, anyway.
Noting I am rendered speechless, Kallen says, “How is this possible? Xandra was with me in the Merpeople realm.”
Isla turns to Raziel and reiterates, “There must be more you can tell us. How can Xandra seemingly be in two places at once?”
The helplessness on Raziel’s face scares me. “I do not know.”
“Have they offered terms?” Kallen asks his uncle.
Dagda takes a long time to answer. I know what he’s going to say when he can finally bring himself to say it. “They want Xandra. So, it will be war.”
It was not so very long ago that the Fairy sitting in front of me would not have hesitated to serve my head up in offering. A lot of has changed since then. Now, he is willing to risk his entire realm to save me. But even I know war with the Dragons is suicide. They are large, lumbering, god awful powerful beings and there are few Fairies with the magical strength and skill to fight them.
“I’ll go.” The cacophony of sound following my words is deafening. All of it coming down to me doing so over several dead bodies. I think we have enough of those.
“How do they know it was Xandra,” Isla says, and then amends her words. “I should say, her doppelgänger.” I appreciate the sentiment, even if it was an afterthought.
Dagda swallows the rest of his
scotch in one gulp. “Sindri, please bring the decanter and glasses over here.” To Isla, he holds up his empty glass and says, “I believe you and Tabitha are going need one of these.” He doesn’t give the rest of us the option. I’m almost disappointed.
When Sindri has poured the scotch and handed the glasses to Tabitha and Isla, Dagda explains. “They claim Xandra cut off her head and gave it to the counsel before vanishing through a passageway she created.”
I would definitely remember decapitating a Dragon. “I did not do that.”
Kallen reaches over and grabs my hand. “We will figure this out.”
Tabitha has drained her glass but Isla has not touched her scotch. “When do they want an answer?” she asks.
“Tomorrow,” Dagda says.
I don’t know why we’re still talking about this. “If I don’t go, both realms will be left in tatters.” They know this. It’s evident by the pool of discomfiture now filling the room.
Kallen squeezes my hand so hard I’m afraid I’ll lose a finger. “Not an option,” he growls. His death grip on my hand is only an echo of the force in his words.
My biological father stares at me for a long time. Finally, he says, “We will both go.”
“You are not taking my wife anywhere,” Kallen growls. Dagda raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything.
It’s my turn to stare at Dagda. What is he thinking? It seems like this would be suicide for the both of us. But, if our deaths can stop a war, it’s worth it. Right? I keep trying to tell myself I’m that noble, but my pragmatic brain is telling me I’m not. I definitely don’t believe my biological father is that noble. “What are you thinking?”
He knows I mean more than repeating the words he spoke a moment ago. “I am suggesting we travel to the Dragon realm to present the doppelgänger explanation. I suggest your parents travel with us, as well.”
Completely nonplussed, I ask, “My parents?”
To my surprise, a teeny, tiny smile forms on Kallen’s face. “It may work.”
“What may work?” I ask.
“You cannot rely so heavily on their superstitions,” Isla cautions.
“What superstitions?” I demand, getting angry now at being ignored.
Kallen finally explains. “Dragons are even more superstitious than the Giants. Their greatest fear is having their eternal souls trapped, not able to pass through to the garden of the fire god they worship.”
I’m still confused. “Why would bringing my parents,” who recently returned from their ghostly ‘walkabout’, “scare the Dragons?”
“Your parents will not scare them. It is the fact you are able to tether their souls to you which will scare them,” Kallen says. He’s obviously growing to like this idea.
“I see a flaw in your plan,” I say. “How can I prove I am tethering them to me?” It’s not like I have them on ghost leashes. They are able to come and go as they please. Plus, how can I convince them to go anywhere with Dagda? They’re not exactly on the best terms. They have both spent my entire life hating the Fairy.
“It may be the only way,” Isla says. The lack of confidence in her words is not going to convince me anytime soon.
“Or I could go by myself and keep everyone else safe,” I say. Okay, there is a distinct lack of confidence in my words, too.
“Kallen, have everyone ready to go by four,” Dagda says as if I didn’t say anything. “I understand her parents may be resistant, so make sure they know what’s at stake. Tabitha, considering your relationship with the Goblins, I would like you to accompany us as well. Isla, the realm is yours until I return.” I wonder how Tana will feel about that last part. Or about her husband going on a suicide mission.
As if on cue, the door bangs open and Tana storms in. “Are you insane?” she demands of Dagda.
“Yes,” I mumble under my breath, earning me a nasty look from the King.
“Word travels quickly,” Dagda says dryly, looking over his wife’s shoulder at Sindri.
“Do not chastise him for telling me. I demanded to know why he was hesitant to let me in here,” Tana growls.
“You are always welcome in my office, my dear,” Dagda says with a false calm on his face.
“Do not try to change the subject. You have been given a declaration of war and you are going to their realm? You know what will happen.”
His placid façade is starting to crumble. “Yes, I do. War will be avoided.”
“I want to go by myself,” I interject.
“Which is not an option,” Kallen and Dagda say in perfect unison like they’ve been practicing for this moment.
“I understand Xandra has stood up to the Dragons before. Why is this any different?” Tana asks. “Let her answer the charges against her.” Tana’s warm and fuzzy feelings for me need a little work, but at least she’s on my side about going alone.
“Xandra was not alone when she faced the Dragons.” The amount of ire in Kallen’s words takes Tana by surprise. I think she forgot we’re married.
“My beloved, you know I will not send my daughter off alone,” Dagda says in a soothing voice.
Words tumble out of my mouth before I can catch them. “Since when?” He sends me off alone all the time. “Why is this time different?”
I definitely did not get Dagda’s glower gene. He’s good. He’s not quite as good at speaking through gritted teeth, but he manages. “Your life is in danger and this entire realm is at stake. I believe this to be much different than your other escapades.”
“Escapades?!” My turn to be angry. “My life has been in danger more times than I can count. I didn’t need your help to save myself any of those other times.”
“I believe this conversation has made a turn for the worse,” Isla drawls. To Tana, she says, “Xandra is Princess and will be treated as such. She will not be sent off alone to defend herself and the realm. As King, Dagda would seem weak both to the Dragons and the Fae if he chose to send his daughter to answer a declaration of war instead of going himself.” Tana is not happy with the rebuke, but she doesn’t say whatever evil thoughts are going through her mind.
I need to get out of here before I explode. Standing up, I say to Kallen, “Let’s go talk to my parents.” He stands and weaves his fingers with mine. In a blink, we leave the room filled with angry Fairies and are in Isla’s kitchen.
Chapter 5
“Mom, Dad!” I call, striding from the kitchen. I call for them several more times before I get an answer.
“On the terrace,” Mom calls back. Figures. Dad loves to be outside.
Kallen and I are greeted with smiles. Mom and Dad are watching Zac make sand castles down by the shore. He looks up and waves before going back to his work. “What has the two of you looking so glum?” Mom asks when we don’t return her smile.
I slump down in a chair. “My destiny has splintered, I probably have a split personality and am killing off people in other realms, and I started a war with the Dragons. I’ve had a busy morning.”
Shocked, Mom says, “I would say so.”
“Xandra, what are you talking about?” Dad asks. “How can your destiny splinter?”
“We do not have an answer for that,” Kallen says. “Even Raziel is stumped.”
“Oh good, he finally told you,” a worried voice says from behind me.
I turn to Adriel standing in the doorway. “You knew?!”
A blush touches her cheeks. “Raziel has been beside himself with worry. He needed to talk about it.”
“Wish he would have talked about it with me,” I grumble. “Maybe I wouldn’t be out there killing people.” Dragons aren’t technically people, but I’m not worried about semantics at the moment.
Stepping outside, Adriel says with her typical sensitivity, “Stop being so dramatic. You are not killing people.”
She is the first one to sound as if she believes it. “How do you know?”
“I just do. It is not in your nature.”
I wish I had her co
nfidence. “Thanks, but that may just be wishful thinking on your part.”
Looking at Kallen, she says, “Has she been this whiny since she found out?”
I give Kallen a threatening look. “Xandra has acted appropriately considering the news.” What a wise response. If my life wasn’t going to hell again, I’d give my gorgeous husband a smile.
Adriel rolls her eyes. “I will take that as a yes.”
“You’re not helping,” I drawl.
“Will someone please let us know what is going on?!” Mom exclaims.
I definitely got my impatience gene from her. I tell them about the Merpeople Queen and about the declaration of war from the Dragons. As I speak, Mom’s ghostly pallor becomes even paler. Now for the part she’s really going to love. She may become invisible. “I really need you and Dad to come with us to the Dragon realm. With Dagda.”
Dad goes from blanched to sun burnt in an instant. “You are not serious. I wouldn’t go to the man’s funeral let alone go with him to another realm.”
“As King, it is essential Dagda accompany us,” Kallen says calmly. “But it is your presence which will do the most good.”
Dad wants to rant some more but Mom cuts him off. “What do you mean?” she asks.
Kallen explains the Dragons’ fear of their souls being trapped. His words are getting to Mom, but Dad still isn’t on board. “I would be more than willing to go with Xandra, but I will not go with that man.”
To my surprise, it’s Mom who says, “Jim, get over it. We’re going.”
I snap my slack jaws back together with an audible click. Did she really just say that? Dad is wondering the same thing. “You want to go with him?” Is that a hint of jealously in his voice?