"Good morning, Legacy." Coal rubbed the tree's bark.
It took a moment, but finally it said, I guess it's a good morning. Where were you last night?
"I stayed at Grigory's shop. Was anyone looking for me?"
No.
Coal had guessed right. Chalcedony would be too busy to notice he was gone. "Did you miss me, Legacy?" Coal asked, flattered. The tree was probably the only living thing that noticed he wasn't there last night.
It was the first time since you moved in that you were not here to say good night. I had hoped you'd moved permanently.
He was about to tell Legacy that he was trying to move out, but the sound of arguing drew his attention.
"Come here!" Mireya shouted. "Come here and take your bath."
"No," a shrill voice answered. "Leave me alone. I want to go home. I want my mom."
Coal walked towards the commotion. At the top of the stairs, a soaking wet Mireya was chasing Elizabeth in circles. "What's going on?" he asked.
As soon as he spoke, Elizabeth ran down the stairs and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"You come here." Mireya stomped towards them and pulled Elizabeth away, dragging Coal in the process.
"Hey." He held Mireya at arm's length, more to stop from falling over than to protect Elizabeth. "Calm down. What's going on?"
"I was told to give her a bath, but she keeps running away from me." Mireya's voice was filled with frustration.
"I don't want to take a bath. I want to go home."
A few days ago, Elizabeth hardly acknowledged he existed. Now, she clung to him like he was her only hope.
"I thought you liked it here, Lizzy."
"I want to go home. I want my mom!" she screeched.
"Why does she want to go home?" Coal asked Mireya.
"Because she's a child who needs her mother, Coal," she said as if the answer had been obvious. Mireya stepped closer and lowered her voice. "Of course, she wanted to come. That doesn't mean she wants to stay."
"She poisoned me last night." Elizabeth pulled at his arm, interrupting Mireya.
Coal looked from Elizabeth to Mireya. "Is that true?" he asked.
"She had a hard time sleeping last night, so Chalcedony and I had a sleeping potion made for her. Of course, it didn't work. It just made her sick."
This time, it was Mireya who pulled on his arm. "Will you take her for me?"
"But ..." Coal stuttered, trying to think of a polite way to say no.
"Please. I need a break. Just for a few hours?"
"Sure. I'll take her for a little while."
"Thank you. Thank you." Mireya stomped away, leaving wet footprints in her wake.
Elizabeth stuck her tongue out towards Mireya and blew. Mireya returned the loud gesture before she continued out of sight.
"What did you do to her?" Coal asked.
"Nothing. She's just a mean, mean lady." Elizabeth frowned.
"Do you know when Chaley's coming back?" Coal asked. Maybe he could get rid of her sooner rather than later.
"No." Elizabeth pouted. "All she's been doing is working, and everyone else here is soooo mean to me. I don't have any friends, and I want to go home."
He remembered how some of the staff treated him when he'd arrived, and he instantly understood the child's grief. "Fine. Come with me. I'll bring you back to Chaley later."
He was beginning to wish he'd gone directly to the barracks. If Mireya couldn't control Elizabeth, how was he supposed to?
Coal left Legacy through the back entrance. It was late morning and recruits barely older than him were performing drills. They appeared nervous and excited, as Avonnah, Chalcedony's other shadow, shouted orders at them.
The smell of sweat and exhilaration was strong as Coal and Elizabeth walked past the new recruits and towards a group of wrestling fey.
"Why are those ladies fighting?" Elizabeth gripped his hand. He had to concentrate to not step on her.
"They're practicing to become better soldiers," Coal replied absently. He'd spotted Djamel in the cheering crowd surrounding the wrestlers.
"Hey, Djamel!" Coal shouted a few feet from the crowd. The shadow frowned, obviously not wanting to leave the fight. Once he saw Coal with his sword, his sour expression disappeared, and he tore himself away from the rowdy crowd.
"I've been getting my ass kicked without my lady by my side. The replacement you gave me was crap," said Djamel, and he took his sword.
"If the replacement was too good, you wouldn't want your original back."
Djamel shrugged and eyed Elizabeth. "Hello, Elizabeth." The shadow bent to one knee. "You look very elegant when you are not crying. But I can understand all of the fuss. The tiara looks good on you."
Elizabeth blushed and touched her tiara, never moving away from Coal's leg.
"Your charms are wasted on children, you know?" Coal said.
"Yes, but it never hurts to practice." Djamel winked at Elizabeth and stood. "I heard you are going to apprentice full-time with the half-breed."
"Yes." He was painfully used to Djamel and most of the soldiers calling the sword master a half-breed. However, they never called him that to his face.
"Good. I think Madoc was going to have me assassinate you if you stayed much longer."
Coal laughed hesitantly, wondering if Djamel was joking or telling the truth. Djamel took the flawed weapon from the sheath around his waist and gave it to Coal. He stepped back to swing his repaired weapon back and forth. "My lady feels good. Lizzy, do you mind if I use your escort for practice?"
"No," she said, barely above a whisper.
"It has to be quick. I have things to do," Coal said with apprehension, glancing down at the child at his side. Djamel stood with his feet in a slight lunge, sword lifted, eyes fixed on Coal. His expression changed from that of a charmer to a soldier.
Fear took root in Coal's belly. What if this was the opportunity Djamel was looking for? He could kill Coal and claim it was a training accident. Elizabeth tightened her grip on his hand.
"Lizzy," Coal said, "you have to step back so you don't get hurt."
She agreed and walked to the far side of the barracks. Coal took the replacement sword in his hands and mirrored Djamel.
"Don't look so scared, boy. I won't hurt the princess's--"
Coal didn't wait for him to finish. He stepped forward and swung at Djamel's head. Djamel met the high strike and hit Coal's sword away.
"Aye, boy. Give an elf a little warning before you try to behead him."
"How is the sword, Djamel?" Coal refused to let his guard down. "I have a job to do."
Djamel didn't answer. Instead, he stepped towards Coal and swung at the side of Coal's chest. Coal parried. Djamel, the quicker of the two, recovered and aimed his sword swiftly to the other side. By the time Coal realized Djamel's sword was no longer there, it was too late. Something sharp poked him in the abdomen.
It happened so fast, Coal didn't have time to be scared. He'd never fought Djamel, but he was sure his practicing with Grigory and almost defeating Chalcedony yesterday would let him hold his own against Djamel.
He had been wrong.
"You win," Coal admitted, glancing down at his stomach where Djamel had his sword's tip against Coal's stomach. It hadn't broken the skin, but it was uncomfortable. Coal's heart pounded as he observed Djamel. The shadow's eyes were focused, intense, murderous. Perhaps Djamel had not been joking about Madoc's plan to have Coal killed.
Finally, Djamel lowered his sword. "The sword is excellent. But your talents are wasted as a swordsmith, human. You may have the makings of a great soldier instead."
Coal took a deep breath. "You just defeated me in less than five moves."
"Most don't get the chance to complete one move against me," Djamel said before he walked back towards the wrestlers.
A soldier? Me?
Elizabeth pulled at his shirt, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked exp
ectantly, with her dark eyes staring intently at him.
"Chaley hasn't taken you off the grounds, has she?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "She said no one in town is supposed to see me until the party."
He didn't want to go to the party, but he'd told Chalcedony he'd attend. That meant he needed to get his clothes from the tailor. "If you're coming with me, you'll need a disguise. I have a cloak in my room."
"You're too big. I can't fit any of your clothes."
"They're ever-changing clothes. They change to fit whoever wears them."
She gleamed. "Really?"
"Yes, really."
Elizabeth made some indecipherable sounds that Coal could only assume meant she was excited.
A few minutes later, they were on Coal's horse galloping away from Legacy and towards the town. Elizabeth sat in front with Coal's borrowed cloak hiding her face. His ever-changing pants that adjusted themselves to fit whoever wore them hid her short legs, but most wouldn't be fooled. They'd know she was human, but they wouldn't press to see her while she sat on a royal horse.
The cloak covered most of her face, but that didn't stop her from asking an endless string of questions about the fey realm and every single fey they passed. It wasn't until they passed a small elf and its mother that Elizabeth went eerily quiet.
He looked closer and saw tears trailing down her cheeks.
"What's wrong?" he asked, confused.
"I miss my mom." Elizabeth wiped away tears from her cheek.
"I thought you wanted to come and live here."
"I did, but now I'm ready to go home."
Coal remembered the distant, empty look on her mother's face before, and he gripped the reins tighter, his guilt resurfacing with the memory. "I'll talk to Chaley about it. Until then, you have to behave and listen to Mireya."
Elizabeth shrugged and remained silent.
"You have to promise me you'll be nice. She'll be nice to you if you're nice to her."
"Okay," she said softly. "I promise."
Chalcedony's feet dangled a foot above the floor as she sat in a giant chair mediating a meeting between giants and dwarves. The giants got to have the comfortable chairs while she and the dwarves had to climb up onto their chairs like small children.
"Those dwarves are using illegal human technology. There is no reason the metal content of our water should be so high. It tastes as if we are all drinking liquid steel!" Troysten, the giants' ambassador, shouted.
"Eh? We perfected our machinery centuries ago. We don't need human technology. It would only soil our work." The dwarf, Ambassador Eli, stood on his chair while he tried to outshout Troysten.
She'd had Madoc check the dwarves' method, and he hadn't found any human technology. There was no reason for the water to have changed. The giants insisted that the dwarves were behind the poisoning, and they were threatening war. But the dwarves were suffering just as much as the giants.
Mireya motioned to Chalcedony through a small opening in the door, bringing her from her thoughts. Chalcedony stood abruptly, eager for a reason to leave.
"Good fey, I have to go," she said, interrupting their argument. "Will you be at the party tonight?"
Ambassador Troysten scowled. "I have not finished, Princess."
"Ambassador, I searched the dwarves' mines and forges. They have not changed their operation. They are not polluting the waters. We will find out where this metal is coming from. Until then, we can only assume that it is naturally occurring."
"But--" Ambassador Troysten began.
Chalcedony continued. "I will form another group of both giants and dwarves. Natural or not, we will find the answer. So will I see you at the party?" Chalcedony insisted.
Troysten glared intensely at Chalcedony but then nodded. "Fine. I'll see you at the party."
"Excellent," Chalcedony said, with an enthusiasm she didn't feel.
Mireya spoke as soon as Chalcedony left the conference room. "Princess, the guards have spotted Coal and the child. They have returned and are on their way to the stable."
Chalcedony was out of Legacy's entrance just as Coal and Elizabeth exited the stables. "Coal, where have you been?" she called. "You didn't take Lizzy into town, did you? I didn't want anyone to see her until the party."
"Do you want the truth or a lie?" he asked with a mocking grin. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a glare in response.
"I didn't have a choice." He shrugged. "Mireya and Lizzy were arguing like two dragons fighting over a piece of meat. Mireya begged me to take her."
"No one saw me. I was disguised," Elizabeth added and turned a full circle in Coal's cloak.
"Don't worry," Coal said. "She was covered the entire time. No one in town got a good look at her."
He grabbed Chalcedony's arm and pulled her away from Elizabeth and Mireya.
"Coal, what are you doing?" Chalcedony's skin burned where his hand touched her, and heat rose in her cheeks.
"Did you know she wants to go home?" he asked, releasing her arm.
"She's fine. She just had a hard time sleeping last night."
"Mireya said you were giving her sleeping potions that were making her sick."
"They think she's a magic null," Chalcedony admitted. "I had my most powerful magicians try to glamour her but nothing worked." Magic nulls were a myth, or so Chalcedony had thought. Any magic used on them didn't work. Not only could Elizabeth see through glamour, she was immune to it.
"Maybe she should go back home." Coal watched Elizabeth chase after some sprites.
"She'll get used to it here. You did."
He turned from Elizabeth and stared at her. His eyes were unreadable. "I didn't have a mother or father. I didn't have anyone before you. You can't compare her to me."
He had a point, but she'd be damned if she was going to admit it. "She'll get used to it. We just need to give her some time."
"She asked me to take her home."
Chalcedony furrowed her brow. "And what did you tell her?"
"I promised her that if she didn't like it here after a couple of weeks, you and I would take her back."
"Really? You promised her that?"
"Yes."
Chalcedony rolled her eyes. "Fine. If she doesn't adjust soon, we'll take her home. But look at her! She loves it here."
They both watched Elizabeth laugh and giggle while she chased after a couple of sprites. Elizabeth was having too much fun to leave, wasn't she? Coal was overreacting.
Chalcedony studied Coal while he studied the girl. Her thoughts spun. Maybe Lizzy was how she could get him to stay! Elizabeth seemed to like him better than Mireya. If Coal had someone to protect, it would keep him busy. Then, maybe, just maybe, Coal wouldn't leave.
Coal stood at Legacy's entrance and scanned the growing crowd. Chalcedony didn't have parties often, and he felt out of place among Everleaf's elite. He hoped the tailored cobalt-colored suit helped him blend in. Although he preferred to wear his hair in braids, he'd taken them down and was wearing a kinky afro.
Reds, oranges, and violets painted the horizon in thick, vivid streaks. Streamers and lanterns hung from Legacy's canopy, illuminating the section of the lawn reserved for the party.
All of the powerful households and ambassadors were there; even the waif, with both of its halves: one female and one male. They were hardly ever in the same realm together, and they were looking more solid than he'd ever seen them. Maybe having both parts of itself in the same realm helped.
Grigory stood next to one of a few dozen torches hanging from poles around the yard. He was watching the same dancers that had enthralled Coal a few nights ago. They didn't have the number of admirers they'd had at the market, probably because they weren't allowed to use magic on Legacy's grounds.
"I didn't expect to see you here tonight," Coal said to Grigory. The swordsmith was wearing light brown pants with a matching fitted shirt. His hair was combed back, showing his pointed ears. His beard had been shaved. It was t
he first time Coal had seen his mentor looking more like an elf than a dwarf.
"I received an invitation. It would have been rude to turn it down," Grigory said.
"I've never seen you do anything you didn't want to."
"I am the princess's to command. Just like every other member of her guard."
"She commanded you to come?"
"An invitation from the princess is as good as a command. You and Madoc are the only ones with enough clout to refuse her anything."
Hoping to guide the subject away from his perceived privilege, Coal said, "Chaley came to the shop yesterday and used her sword. She said it was beautiful and handled well."
"But?" Grigory asked, cocking his eyebrow over his one remaining eye.
"But she doesn't feel its presence. It handles like any other sword to her. How is it that I feel its soul but she doesn't?"
Grigory straightened. "They may not be compatible. Rejection doesn't happen often, but it isn't unheard of."
"If they've rejected each other, do you think we'll be able to have another sword ready by her coronation?" Coal asked, thinking of all of the work they'd put into forging it.
"It'll be hard, but doable. I'll need to see her with the sword to determine if they've truly rejected each other. What about you? Have you practiced anymore?"
Coal lowered his voice. "You mean practicing that thing that humans can't do and aren't allowed to do even if we could?"
"Yes."
"No," Coal lied. He'd practiced, but nothing happened. "I haven't had time."
Grigory began to speak but stopped mid-sentence.
"Grigory?" Coal asked before he followed Grigory's gaze. Elizabeth stood in the yard beside Chalcedony. Or at least he thought it was Chalcedony. She was wearing a blue dress that shimmered like a star whenever she moved. It was strapless with a gem-encrusted sash at the waist. As striking as the dress was, that was not the reason he stared. The person standing next to Elizabeth was Chalcedony's height and had Chalcedony's thin frame. But her skin was not dark. Instead, it was beige, like caramel-tinted milk.
Coal: Book One of the Everleaf Series Page 7