“There are two important distinctions to our lifestyle as Trylle that separate us from the humans,” Elora continued. “We want to live a quiet life communing with the earth and ourselves. We work to strengthen our abilities and use them to better this life, to protect ourselves and the things around us.
We devote our entire lives to this cause. Förening exists only to preserve and enhance the Trylle way of life.
“The other distinction is how we maintain this lifestyle, although it isn’t that different really.” She looked thoughtfully out the window. “Human children have their boarding schools, but they prepare them for a life of servitude. That’s not what we want. We want a life of complete and total freedom. That is why we have changelings.
“Changelings are a practice that date back hundreds, maybe thousands of years.” Elora looked at me gravely, and I gulped back the growing nausea in my belly. “Originally, we were more forest dwellers, less … industrialized than you see now. Our children would be prone to starvation and medical problems, as well as our lack of a serious educational system. So, we’d leave our babies in place of human children so they would have the benefits that only their childhood could offer, then when they were old enough, they would come back to us.
“That practice evolved because we began to evolve. Changelings were healthier, more educated, and wealthier than the Trylle counterparts that stayed behind,” Elora elaborated. “Eventually, every child born was a changeling. Now we could easily match the healthcare and education of the human population, but to what ends? In order to maintain that level, we’d have to leave the solace of the compound and spend our lives doing menial jobs. The changeling is essential to our way of life.
“We leave our children with the most sophisticated, wealthiest human families, without them being celebrity. Everyone would notice if when the JoliePitt children turned eighteen, they suddenly vanished,” Elora looked disgusted at the thought of them. “So we go just below that. The changelings live a childhood that is the best this world has to offer, and then return with a hefty inheritance from their host families that infuse our society with cash. That, of course, isn’t the only goal, but it is a large part of how we can live like this. The money you obtain from your host family will be how you will be able to live the rest of your life.”
“Wait. I’m sorry. I know I’m not supposed to interrupt, but…” I licked my lips and shook my head. “I just had to clarify a few points.”
“By all means,” Elora said, but venom dripped from her voice.
“I’m a princess?” I pointed unsurely at myself. It sounded stupid and immature just saying it aloud. “And when I was baby, you gave me to strangers to raise so I could have a good education, a good childhood, and I would bring money back. Is that right?”
“Yes.” Elora raised an eyebrow, daring me to question it.
I wanted to yell so badly I was shaking. But I was still afraid of her.
She looked like she could snap me in half with her mind, so I just twisted my thumb ring and nodded confirmation with her. According to her, I was the last of her legacy, and she had dumped me off on a crazy woman that tried to murder me, just because Elora never wanted to work and needed cash.
“Shall I continue?” Elora asked, and she didn’t even try to mask the condescending tone in her voice. I nodded meekly. “I don’t even remember what I was saying.” She waved her hand in irritation. “If you have any other questions, I suppose you can ask them now.”
“Just… um... where’s my father?” I asked timidly.
“Oh.” Elora looked away from me and stared out the window. “Dead.
I’m sorry. It happened shortly after you were born.”
Finn had promised me a different life where I belonged, but really, it seemed to be the exact same life with different trappings. My mother here seemed almost as cold and crazy as my fake mom, and either life, my dad was dead.
“Also, I don’t have any money.” I shifted uneasily.
“Of course you don’t,” Elora thought I was being ridiculous. “You probably won’t have access to your trust fund until your twenty-one or so, but with persuasion, you can change that. Finn tells me you’re very advanced with that, so I’m sure you can easily lower it to eighteen and get at it then. Maybe even add more to it.”
“What?” I shook my head. “No. I don’t even know if I have a trust fund.”
“I specifically chose the Everly’s because of their wealth.” Elora looked incredulous. “There is money set up for you. There has to be.”
“Yeah, I know you chose them for their money, because it certainly wasn’t for their mental health.” I lowered my eyes, realizing I had been smart with her, but quickly plowed through it. “My dad killed himself when I was five, so none of his insurance paid out. My mom never worked a day in her life, and she’s been in a mental institution for the past eleven years, which has eaten a lot of her funds. Not only that, we’ve moved around a lot and wasted tons of money on moving and houses and tuition. We’re not poor by any means, but I don’t think we’re anywhere near the kind of rich you think we are.”
“Stop saying ‘we.’ They’re not part of you,” Elora snapped and sat up.
“What are you talking about? The Everly’s were one of the wealthiest families in the country! You couldn’t have bled them completely dry!”
“I don’t know how much money we - they - have, but we don’t… er…
I didn’t live like they were that rich. My brother drives a Prius!” I was almost shouting in frustration. “And you said the money isn’t the important thing, but that sure seems to be what you’re hung up on. If you weren’t listening, I had a terrible childhood! My father, well the man I thought was my father, killed himself! And then, six months later, my fake mother tried to kill me!”
Elora had been more shaken about my confession that my family wasn’t loaded than she had about Kim trying to kill me. She sat very still for a moment, then took a deep breath.
“Oh. So she was one of those.” That was all Elora had to say about that.
“What do you mean by that?” I pressed, and by now, I was livid. The casual, callous air that she had about my death. She hadn’t cared at all if they tried to kill me, except that it would’ve upset her plans to get my inheritance.
“One of those?”
“Oh, well.” Elora shook her head as if she hadn’t meant to say that.
“Every now and again, a mother knows. Sometimes they hurt the child or kill them.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You knew there was a chance that she might kill me?” I snapped and stood up. “You knew that I could die but you just left me?
Unmonitored? I know you didn’t follow me because Finn kept telling me how hard I was to find. You didn’t care what happened to me at all!”
“Don’t be so melodramatic,” Elora rolled her eyes. “This is the way we live. It’s a very small risk, and it rarely happens. And you lived. No harm done.”
“No harm done?” I pulled up my shirt, showing her the scar that stretched across my belly. “I was six-years-old and I had sixty stitches. You call that no harm done?”
“You’re being disgusting.” Elora stood up and waved me off. “You’ve had a long travel, and I’m sure this is all very confusing. You have much to take in, and you’re not in your best light right now. I think it would best if you got some rest, and we can speak later.”
I wanted to protest, but I knew it would be a moot point. As soon as I had started getting upset, she had stopped really listening to me. I let my shirt fall back down on my belly and Elora glided over to the window. She clasped her hands in front of her and stared out the window. She never said a single word, but a minute later, Finn appeared in the doorway.
“You need something, Elora?” Finn did a small bow to her back, but she probably had ways of seeing him even when she wasn’t looking.
“Wendy is tired. Set her up in her room,” Elora commanded diffidently. “See that she has everythin
g she needs.”
“Of course.” Finn picked up my bag off the floor and looked at me.
His dark eyes felt comforting, and even though I knew this was just his job, I felt relieved knowing he was there.
He left hastily, probably at Elora’s behest, and I hurried after him. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, trying to steady my nerves. Everything felt too shocking and too upsetting to really understand. I was reeling from everything, and I couldn’t make sense of how I really fit into it. Elora was right, though. I probably did need rest, and maybe if I slept on it, everything would seem better somehow. But I doubted it.
Finn led me up a winding staircase and down another elaborate hall. At then end, he opened a heavy wooden door, revealing what I assumed was my room. It was massive, with high vaulted ceilings, and one entirely windowed wall that made it seem even larger. A massive four post bed sat in the center, and everything was rather modernly furnished. A laptop, flat screen, gaming systems, iPod, and every other gadget I could possibly want. Finn sat my bag on the bed and opened the closet door, which was already stocked full with clothing. He opened another door and flicked on the light, showing my own private bathroom that more closely resembled a spa.
“How do you know where everything is?” I asked. He seemed to know this house very well, and thinking about Finn helped calm me some.
“I stay here from time to time,” Finn replied nonchalantly.
“What? Why?” I felt a terrible pang of jealousy, terrified that he was somehow involved with Elora in a perverse fashion. He did seem to revere here more than I thought he should.
“Protection. Your mother is a very powerful woman, but she’s not allpowerful,” Finn explained vaguely. “Since I’m tracker, I can get tuned into her.
I can sense danger and aid her if it’s required.”
“Is it required?” At that moment, I didn’t particularly care if a band of raging marauders tried to do her in, but if there were frequent attacks on her
“castle,” I thought I should know.
“No. Not since I’ve been here,” Finn said. “I’ll be staying on awhile to help you get acclimated. Everybody knows this isn’t a perfect system. Rhys’s room is down the hall. My room, along with Elora’s, is on the other wing.”
I definitely felt better knowing he would be around. I didn’t think I could handle it all if I was left alone in this house with that woman. While clearly stunning and powerful, there wasn’t any warmth to her. I hadn’t realized that I even wanted that until now. After all the years of rejecting Maggie and even Matt’s attempts at bonding, I hadn’t known how much I craved it.
“So…did you do this?” I gestured to my high tech room.
“No. Rhys decorated it.” Finn didn’t look that interested in any of the expensive gear I had laying about, so that made sense. “The clothes were all Willa, I believe. You’ll meet her later on.”
“Rhys isn’t my brother?” I asked again. I couldn’t figure out how he fit into all of this. We had only met briefly, but he had seemed nice and normal.
“No. He’s mänsklig,” Finn answered, as if I would understand.
“What does that mean?” I furrowed my brow at him.
“It means he’s not your brother,” Finn replied glibly and made a step towards the door. “Is there anything you need before I go?”
I was disappointed by his abrupt decision to go, especially when I felt so isolated and confused, but I had no reason to keep him. Still hugging myself tightly, I shook my head and sat back on the bed. Finn nodded and headed to the door. Instead of leaving, he paused and looked back at me.
“Are you going to be alright with all of this?” Finn asked, looking at me very seriously.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “This wasn’t all what I had expected.” I had no idea what I thought this would be like, but it wasn’t this at all. It was far grander and far worse than anything I had envisioned. “I just… I feel like I’m in the Princess Diaries, if Julie Andrews had been a thief.”
“Mmm,” Finn murmured knowingly and walked back over towards me. He sat on the bed next to me and crossed his arms over his chest. “I know the way life is a hard concept for some.”
“They’re grifters, Finn.” I swallowed hard. “That’s all they are. I’m just a means to swindling money out of rich people. Jokes on her, though. My family’s not that rich.”
“I can assure you that you are much more than that to her, much more,” Finn told me, looking at me intently. “Elora is a complicated woman, and showing emotion doesn’t come easy for her. But she is a good woman.
Regardless of whether your have money or not, you will have a place here.
Always. And in the end, it’s up to you if you even want to bring any money.”
“Yeah?” I looked at him hopefully.
“Yes,” he promised with small smile. “But right now, you look exhausted. Get some sleep. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”
Finn helped me get settled into my room. My closet was massive and over-stocked, but he knew exactly where my pajamas were at. He taught me how to close the blinds for my windows, which were run by remote control. He practically tucked me into bed, and I was very tempted to ask him to stay with me, but I knew what his answer would be. Besides that, he’d gotten even less sleep than I had and needed to get to his own bed and rest.
Once he left, I pulled the covers tightly to me and tried not to let this all get to me. I was starting to think that Matt and Maggie might have been the only people that loved me for me, and now I was supposed to steal from them.
Even if it wasn’t really stealing. I knew they would freely give me anything I asked for, and that hurt worse. More than that, I was starting to think that maybe the only thing I really wanted was to be back at home with them.
11
In new places, I usually slept horribly, but the last few days had been so draining, that I slept surprisingly soundly. In fact, I was so out that I barely even heard the knocking at my door. It started out meek and timid, but it got louder until I couldn’t ignore it. Groggily, I stumbled out of bed and nearly tripped over the furniture on my way to the door. It was dark in my room and I was unfamiliar with my surroundings.
I opened my bedroom door, preparing to eviscerate whoever had disturbed me from my slumber. Then I saw Rhys, looking unfairly attractive, standing in my doorway. He was grinning broadly and his blue eyes were dancing. When he realized I’d been sleeping, he looked mildly apologetic, but it didn’t really put a damper on his mood.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Rhys apologized insincerely. “I just wanted to see how you were doing, how you liked it here.”
“I don’t know,” I yawned and crossed my arms over my chest. My hair had to be terrible mess, and I probably looked like hell, so I hid as much of my body as I could behind the door. “It’s too soon to tell yet. I’ve mostly been sleeping.”
“You like the stuff?” Rhys asked, undeterred by my apparent tiredness.
“I picked out everything that I liked, which I know sounds kind of vain. I asked for some input from Rhiannon, because she’s a girl, but it’s still so hard to pick out stuff for someone you’ve never met.”
“No, it all looks really good. You did a good job.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned again. “But I need to shower or something. I just woke up.”
“Oh right,” Rhys nodded. “I understand. My room is right there.” He pointed his thumb at a door almost directly across from mine. “So if you need anything… I’m right here.” He looked kind of embarrassed. “Sorry. I just got done with school, and I didn’t have a chance to talk to you this morning. But… yeah. I’ll leave you be.”
“Wait. You just got done with school?” I furrowed my brow, trying to understand. “Does that mean you’re a tracker?”
“No.” It was his turn to look confused. “I’m mänks.” When he saw the perplexed look on my face, he corrected himself. “Sorry. It’s just short for mänsklig.”<
br />
“What the hell does that mean?” I demanded, growing exasperated.
“They’ll explain it to you later,” Rhys shrugged. “Anyway, I should let you wake up. If I’m not in my room, I’ll be downstairs, getting some food.”
“Thanks,” I nodded.
Rhys turned and walked down the hall, whistling a song I didn’t recognize. I shut my door, wishing I could understand this all better. I had halfexpected to fall asleep and wake up from all of this. None of this could be really happening. It didn’t make sense. I was a Trylle Princess to a grifter empire, and I had a mänsklig living across the hall from me, whatever the hell that meant.
I felt slightly better after my nap, and I hoped that a shower would improve things even more. Feeling the hot water pound on my skin somehow had an adverse effect. It gave me time to think. I lived in this amazing stunning house with these cold, indifferent people, and the price of admission was stealing from the only people that cared about me. Sure, Finn was here, but he had made it perfectly clear that his only interest in me was business. Why should I stay here?
Part of the reason I had decided to come here in the first place was so I could give Matt a better life. Without me, it would undoubtedly be easier. But the way I had left, he was probably going mad with worry. He wouldn’t sleep for a week. I couldn’t just leave him like that, not without an explanation. And maybe, I couldn’t leave him at all.
I went through my closet, looking for something to wear. Most of the clothes seemed too fancy for me. Not that I had grown up wearing rags or anything. In fact, if my mother… er, Kim hadn’t gone crazy and left, these would be exactly the kind of clothes I’d be expected to wear now. All high class fashion pieces. Eventually, I managed to dig up a simple skirt and shirt that would resemble something I’d actually wear.
I was starving, so I decided that I should try and find the kitchen. The floors were cold tile under my feet, and strangely, I had yet so see any rugs or carpet in the entire house. Admittedly, I had never been fond of the feel carpet on my feet, or really the feel of anything on them. When I thought back to my closet, as large and full as it had been, there hadn’t been any shoes. It must be a Trylle thing, and that thought was oddly comforting. I was part of something.
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