by Bonnie Lamer
I know where we are as soon as Ellu’s house comes into sight in the distance. We are approaching it from behind, skirting the village. Magic begins to pour into me as I think about the revenge I am going to work out on Ellu when we reach him. I am so focused on this, I practically run into the Breena when she abruptly turns right.
Xandra is as surprised as I am. “Where are we going?” she asks, looking at the large house and wondering why we are no longer walking towards it.
“You will see when we get there,” Breena whispers. “The trees have ears.”
Unease forms within me. Is Breena leading us into a trap? I turn in a circle, looking for shadows moving through the trees. All I can see is darkness. We continue to follow Breena, but Xandra has drawn magic as well now. The same thoughts of ambush must be in her mind, too.
After another few minutes, we come to what appears to be an old tool shed. It is in great disrepair. I half expect it to fall down under the weight of our stares. I am shocked when Breena swings its door wide open and gestures for us to go in ahead of her.
Xandra balks at that. “I’d feel better if you lead the way.”
With a pointed look, Breena walks into the building, letting the door slam closed behind her. I step forward and open the door for Xandra and then follow her inside. Breena disappears into a room at the back of the building. The door for it fell off its hinges long ago. There are no windows in the little room, so it is bathed in darkness. Breena is barely visible in the middle of the room, tugging at something on the floor. After a couple of seconds, a trap door swings up and open. After another pointed look, Breena disappears from view.
Xandra and I move forward and we find a ladder leading down into another room. The rungs on the ladder are too far apart for Xandra. Her legs will not reach between them. I raise a brow when she looks at me with a ‘what should we do’ look in her eyes. Since I have no idea why we are here, I am not much help. A raised brow and a slight shrug is all I can offer her. With a resigned face, Xandra moves to the hole where Breena can now be seen holding a small candle. Swinging her legs down, Xandra holds out her hands to me. I grab them and then dangle her over the ladder. It takes a moment for her to get purchase on the first rung. When she does, she lets go of my hands and reaches out for the side of the ladder. She then uses the rung to lower herself to the next one down. She continues this process until she reaches the bottom one. I am right behind her, hoping she does not fall.
Xandra squeals when Breena plucks her off the last wrung. I jump down on my own. We are now in a smaller room that is empty except for the ladder. There is a door on the far wall. Breena pulls a key from her bra, causing me to avert my eyes as she rummages for it, and then uses it to unlock the door. She swings it open, revealing a long, underground tunnel. Why does she have a key to an underground tunnel in the Daityas’ village?
“Where does this lead?” Xandra asks.
Breena hesitates, debating how to answer the question. Finally, she says, “I am…was…close to Ellu.” She looks down at her feet as she says this.
Xandra tilts her head and raises her eyebrows. “How close?”
The flush on Breena’s face answers that question. “Closer than you two,” she says quietly.
Xandra’s eyes flash at Breena’s hypocrisy. She treated us with disdain for our behavior when she was hiding an affair. Seeing that Xandra is about to blow, I put a hand on her shoulder and shake my head. Turning to Breena, I ask, “Why did you use the past tense?”
It takes her another long moment to answer. “He has changed,” she says, lifting her head to look at us. “His behavior is erratic, and his judgment poor, as of late. It has been difficult to be around him.”
There is more to this than she has yet to say. “How long has it been since you were with him?” I ask.
Breena is clearly uncomfortable, but she says, “We have not seen each other for two moons.”
“Why?” Xandra asks.
Breena looks her in the eye. “That is not your business.” There’s a finality in her voice that says she is not going to say anything more about it. “You only need to know that I still care about him enough to try to prevent this war.”
There are more important things to discuss than Breena’s sex life. “Where does this lead, exactly?” I ask, pointing down the long tunnel.
“To the cellar of Ellu’s home.”
I do not like this. This plan is lacking important details. “What are we expected to do when we get there?” I ask.
“That will be up to you,” Breena says. “I must get back before my absence is noticed.” I believe our absence will be more noticeable than hers. Regardless, Breena climbs back up the ladder and then closes the trap door above us. To her, it is a done deal that we will follow the tunnel. I wish I had her confidence in this plan. To me, it seems foolish at best, deadly at worst.
The tunnel is long it and it takes a good ten minutes before we reach the door on the other side. To our surprise, the door is not locked. It pushes open easily. Moving ahead of Xandra, I peer around it. We have come to a cellar full of random old pieces of furniture that will never be used again, except by mice. Seeing no Giants, I gesture for Xandra to follow me.
To our right are stairs leading up to the house. Xandra suggests teleporting to the top instead of trying to scale them. I shake my head. By the thick coating of grime, it is obvious no one has used them in quite some time. I am afraid some of the stairs are rotted through. If we climb, we can test each one before stepping on it. Xandra does not need another broken leg.
When we reach the top, I am happy to find this door unlocked as well. Ellu should be concerned about the safety risks, but it certainly helps us out. Opening the door slowly, I peer around. Again, not a Giant in sight so I gesture for Xandra to follow me into a short hall. To our right is the kitchen and several voices flow out into the hall. To the left is another hallway, perpendicular to this one. Only quiet resonates from that direction. The choice is obvious. We go left and see where it leads.
One end of the new hallway looks like it leads out to a foyer, the other way is long and lined with doors. The second door down on the left, loud voices are carrying out into the hallway. We move a little closer to hear what is being said.
“Ellu, we are on the brink of war. Do you not care?” a frustrated and strained male voice says.
“What are you talking about, what war?” we hear Ellu reply. There is genuine confusion in his voice.
“The war that the Devas are about to wage because they think you are responsible for the kidnapping of the Princess. We discussed this just an hour ago.”
“What is all this foolishness about a Princess? You know as well as I do that the Queen is barren.” Xandra looks up at me with raised brows. I nod, indicating that is true.
“Ellu, snap out of it! You have been walking this house as if in a cloud of dreams. I have already explained to you that the King does indeed have a daughter. She is the bastard child of a Witch.”
Xandra bristles at this. I have to grab her shoulders and pull her back against me to keep her from barging into the room, magic flying. “Stop,” I whisper in her ear.
A noise from behind us has me pulling her into a dark room with an unlocked door across the hall. Several Giants come from the direction of the foyer. They disappear at the far end of the hall. A moment later, the door we had been eavesdropping through opens and a Giant steps out. From the stomping of his feet and the slamming of the door, he is not happy. Peeking through the keyhole, Xandra signals to me when the coast is clear.
Opening the door, we walk quietly across the hall and open the door to where we will find Ellu. I am glad to find him alone, his back to the door and staring out the window. He still has on the striped pajamas and robe he wore when Dagda and I saw him last. This room is clearly his office, but the half inch of dust on the desk implies he has not used it in quite some time.
“I told you to leave,” Ellu says, turning around. His eyes open
wide when he sees us instead of the Giant he expected. “Who are you and how did you get in here?”
I open my mouth to remind him we have already met, when Xandra says, “I’m Xandra and this is Kallen.”
Ellu slams the glass he has in his hand on the small end table next to him. The glass shatters, but he does not seem to notice. He stalks across the room and looms over us with his thirteen foot frame. “Again, who are you and how did you get in here?” he growls.
Refusing to react to his menacing stance, Xandra says, “I’m the person all the Devas Giants and the King think you kidnapped and tried to kill.”
To say he’s shocked is putting it mildly. Ellu blanches and I become concerned that he will have a heart attack any minute. “Then it is true, the King does have a daughter.”
“Well, yeah. I’m pretty sure people have been telling you that for a few days now.”
Ellu puts a hand to his head and stumbles a bit. I pull Xandra back a few feet. I do not want Ellu crushing us if he falls. “Are you okay?” Xandra asks. I am amazed she is so calm when confronted with her kidnapper.
Ellu waves the hand that is not holding his head in our general direction. “I am fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Xandra informs him. “You look like you’re going to fall down.”
“Perhaps I should sit down,” he says. He walks to one of the dusty chairs and sits on it. A little dust storm is created when his body hits the seat, causing him to sneeze. Finally looking at us again, he asks, “Have you come to declare war as my advisors have warned?”
I am tempted to put the old Giant out of his misery right now. If Xandra was not with me, I probably would have. Reading my mind, Xandra is quick to say, “Actually, I’m here to try to prevent it.”
Ellu raises one brow in disbelief. “Why would you do that?”
Xandra shrugs. “I’m a pacifist, I guess.” I cannot help but snort. She does not have a passive bone in her body. Xandra hits me with a sour glance.
Ellu rises unsteadily to his feet. “Ah, the delusions of youth. Peace and pacifism do not go hand in hand. It is the threat of war that brings peace, just as war brings sorrow and pain.”
Xandra rolls her eyes. “Can we skip the philosophy lesson? I came to ask why you’re sending your Giants out to attack the Devas.”
The old Giant looks puzzled. “You are not the first to claim I have done such things. Yet, I do not remember doing so.” He puts his hand to his head again. “In fact, I do not remember much that has happened these past months. Your father came yesterday, and it was as if he woke me from a year’s slumber. It has been a full day, and I have still not been able to shed the exhaustion that overcame me so long ago.” He puts his hand on the back of the chair he was sitting on to steady himself as he almost stumbles again.
“Why aren’t you mad that we’re here?” Xandra asks. A brief look at me and she can tell that I am mad we are here. She turns back to Ellu.
He chuckles but there is no humor in it. “I have no doubt that you expect a sinister response, but all I can say to you is, I am pleased to be in the presence of the King’s daughter. I have no ill feelings towards you, and like the King, you are welcome in my home whenever you please.” Xandra’s brow wrinkles in confusion. She is starting to buy it.
I, on the other hand, am having a hard time believing that Ellu is somehow an innocent bystander in all of this. “You say those words, yet you send your Giants to kill those of the Devas, picking them off one by one in ambushes, instead of facing them in a fair fight. How do you reconcile that with the image you are trying to set forth at this moment?” I ask him.
Instead of answering, Ellu falls to the floor. He is suddenly sprawled out on the carpet and unconscious. Drool pools on one side of his mouth. I feel Xandra reach out to him with magic, probably preparing to heal him. I want to tell her not to bother, but this has me wondering if there is some truth to Ellu’s confusion. Giants do not faint.
Pulling her magic back, Xandra turns to me. “He’s under someone’s spell. He’s full of magic, and I think it’s black.”
Part of me still wants to take Xandra’s kidnapping out on him, despite the building evidence that he may not have been involved. “It could be a spell he requested from an errant Fairy that has gone awry.”
She narrows her eyes. “And what would the point be. So he can pass out during important conversations?”
I sigh. “Xandra, I understand that you do not agree with this war. That does not mean that it should not happen.”
She puts her hands on her hips. “I thought Sheehogue Fairies were supposed to be anti-war.”
She is throwing my own words back at me. “I may be Sheehogue, but that does not mean that I will stand idly by when threats are made on your life.”
“I know, but Kallen, look at him.” She gestures to Ellu’s unconscious form. “Does he look like he’s in any condition to mastermind a plot to kill me? The man can hardly stand up straight when he’s conscious. And I tasted that spell. I don’t think it’s one that anyone would ask to have put on them.”
A thought strikes me. “Unless he did not know what it would really do.”
Xandra picks up on my line of thinking. “You think someone tricked him into agreeing to a spell that would hurt him?”
I run my fingers through my hair. I hate having to admit defeat. “History is filled with such situations.”
“But who, do you think. And why?”
I give her a half smile. “I am only now conceding to the possibility. You cannot expect me to have the answers.”
Ellu twitches a little, bringing our attention back to him. “Should we do something with him?” Xandra asks.
I shrug. “He seems fine where he is. Having him remain unconscious may help us determine who would want him to act so erratically, to the point of inciting war.”
A female voice in the hallway makes us forget about Ellu. “She is here. She is with Ellu.”
“Excellent,” a male voice says as the doorknob turns. I move to Xandra’s side, ready for attack. Though, when another Ellu walks through the door, I have difficulty maintaining a blank face.
“Ah, you have joined the party, finally,” the new Ellu says. He is wearing black dress pants and a gray sweater. Glancing at the other Ellu on the floor, he purses his lips. “Nasty business that you had to find out about this.”
“Who are you?” I demand.
New Ellu’s lips turn up into a pleasant smile as he looks down and gestures from his chest to his feet. “It seems obvious who I am.”
“Okay, then who is he?” Xandra asks, pointing to the floor.
New Ellu shrugs. “A cog in the wheel.”
Frustrated with his vague answers, Xandra says, “Just spit it out, will you? You’re getting really annoying.” There is a threat in her eyes proving my point about her pacifism.
His eyes tighten. “Spending time with you does not get better with frequency.”
Xandra ignores the insult. “You act like you’ve spent time with me before.”
A wicked smile forms on his lips and I want nothing more than to hit him. It is sheer force of will that I remain by Xandra’s side. “Oh, but I have,” New Ellu says. “Simply not in this form. I do take back my earlier statement. Spending time in bed with you was certainly enjoyable.”
My magic hits him so hard and fast, he cannot shield himself. He hits the wall hard enough to shatter some of the stones. He slumps in a heap to the floor. “Xandra, we need to go,” I say, grabbing her hand.
“But the party has just begun,” a voice behind us says. It is the one who calls her Rhamba.
“Sorry, we didn’t RSVP and we don’t want to be rude,” Xandra says.
Rhamba laughs. “Oh, you are amusing. What a wonderful pet you will make.”
Xandra and I are both taken aback by her words. “So, I take it everyone in this house is insane?” Xandra says.
“No, dear. We are perfectly sane. We are also more powerful than yo
u, as I demonstrated earlier.”
“You took us by surprise, is all,” I growl.
Rhamba rolls her eyes. “Tilattoma, take care of that.”
As fast as my magic flew at the Ellu clone, Tilattoma’s magic hits me. I feel myself falling into a sleep-like trance and I have lost control of my body. I have no idea why I am still upright. As if through a fog, I hear Xandra ask, “What are you doing to him?”
“Nothing that will permanently damage him,” Rhamba assures her.
Xandra’s voice is pure steel when she says, “Tell her to stop or I’ll make her stop.”
Pealing laughter follows. “Xandra, we are demi-gods. You are born of Witches and Fairies. You are not a threat to us.” They left out the fact that she has Angel blood. Do they not know? I find my mind becoming too foggy to ponder that any further.