by A E M
“What happened?” He asked.
“He started shaking and then died shortly after. It was only minutes ago.” She answered.
“I’m not surprised.” He said as he knelt by the creature. “I shot another outside and he did the same. Their master doesn’t want them captured alive.” He stood and walked over to her. “I think they are gone now. There was a loud sound like a clap of thunder outside, and then silence.”
“I thought I heard something big.” Charlotte said.
“How’s your foot?” Vincent asked as he sat down in front of her.
“The pain isn’t as intense.” She said.
“I gave you some pain relief. We still need to get you a healer.” He opened his hands in his lap. “Lie down. Let me look at your foot first.”
“Be careful.” She warned him.
“I’ll try not to hurt you.” He replied.
“No, you be careful of you.” She fumed. “You two don’t listen to a word I say. You’re going to get burned.”
“David and I know the risks.” He said simply. “Stop fighting us.”
“Not likely to happen anytime soon.” She said, half to herself. She placed her foot in his hands.
“Quit holding your breath.” He scolded. “I do have gloves on.”
He pulled off the shoe the fairies had made. “You’re swelling already.” He said as he pulled another bandage out of a pouch.
“Got some crutches in there?”
“I would if I were a medic.” He said as he finished wrapping her foot.
“Alright, how’s your side?” He pressed her right side gently. The breathlessness returned and she coughed and shifted to get away from his touch.
“Okay.” He said. “Hey, I know it hurts. I’m still sore from yesterday.”
She flinched as he ran his fingers down her arm. “Ah, you’ve got glass embedded in your skin. We better get you somewhere where there’s enough light to get it out.”
“Great, let’s do that quickly, please.” She said.
He helped her to stand. “I wish we were still with your hobs, but the dwarves will have a healer, or I can send for Sebastian if you’d rather him attend you.”
“Sebastian.”
He stood up and held his hand out. “Let’s get out of this cave. You can lean on me.” They walked out of the cave slowly, careful to keep an eye out on their surroundings.
“It’s too quiet.” Charlotte murmured.
They moved through the trees until they came to a clearing. There was a fire in the middle of the field, and faun bodies lay scattered in pieces all around. She couldn’t contain the tears that flooded her eyes. Not one animal made noise. Not one needle from a tree fluttered. The grass was stained red. Even the trunks of some of the trees were red. Only the sound of the fire crackling remained. Charlotte looked up into the chilled night air to see something she had never seen before.
Even the moon and stars bled that night.
7
The Girl and her Walls
Once upon a time there was a fallen princess who left the safety of her childhood tower.
She built another tower in her mind.
It was creaky and unstable, yet higher and thicker and stronger she built it.
There was a carpenter watching.
He made plans to help her take down her tower and build something beautiful in its place.
But he couldn’t do it without her help.
A dozen galloping horses with riders broke through the tree line. Three of the women slid gracefully off their horses and approached Charlotte and Vincent. The first woman wore her black hair in a short cut that framed her white skin and played nicely with her dark red lipstick. She was curvy and short and wore a dress that formed a “V” over tights with thigh-high boots. The woman to her right was dark skinned under a pink head of hair. She was curvy like the other women, and her height fell somewhere between the other two women. She was wearing a full dress of white. The third woman was only a little shorter than Charlotte, with soft brown skin spread across a curvy frame. Her long hair danced around her shoulders in braids adorned with leather and gems and feathers. She was wearing faded jeans, boots, a black t-shirt and a white jacket. All of the women had blood splattered across their clothing and skin. The nine women who remained on the horses were all shades of black and brown and white. Most of them wore braids, and they all were short and curvy and wild with color.
“Welcome, Charlotte and Vincent. I am Kaitlind.” The first woman said. “This is Robina and Lilybet. We are most pleased to meet you both, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I assume your premature arrival is related to the creatures who attacked this morning.”
Vincent spoke up before Charlotte had the chance. He had meant to cover Dwarvish customs before they left, but he would have to do it as they went instead. He had watched her behavior with Alcott and Barnabas at the castle. She was used to being in charge, and she was used to seeing magani on vacation. She knew very little of how to act when in their home environments.
He bowed. “Thank you, Kaitlind and Lilybet and Robina for your welcome. We apologize for our early arrival. The same creatures we found here attacked Charlotte’s home. Given the circumstances, I felt it best to remove her from the situation. Unfortunately, it seems the attack was much larger than we thought.”
“Tell me, Vincent,” Kaitlind said. “Did you feel the attack was in general?”
“I was housing many fauns.” Charlotte interjected. “My courtyard looks much like this clearing.”
Vincent shot a warning look at Charlotte, but she didn’t even glance his way. As soon as possible, he also needed to sit her down and teach her protocol for masters and apprentices.
Kaitlind nodded at Vincent after a small frown of disapproval flashed across her lips. “We naturally have many fauns in our territory. Our home was not attacked, but our security patrol heard the screaming and we set out to find out what was happening. We were able to kill several, but they were very difficult prey.”
“We knocked a couple out,” Vincent added. “They died shortly after due to an unknown cause.”
“We saw the same thing from the prisoners we tried to capture.” Robina said.
“We should go now. I believe they are gone, and we need to send word to the other dens of what has happened here and find out how widespread this attack was.” Kaitlind said. “Are you injured? We are not far from an entryway here. You are welcome to ride with us.”
“Charlotte is injured, and she has had some pain relief. She will need the assistance of her doctor soon.” Vincent said.
“Lilybet, you ride with me.” Kaitlind said as she pulled her horse to Vincent. “Do you ride?” She asked.
“Yes.” Vincent answered. He turned to Charlotte and held his hand out. “Let’s go.” She looked between the horse and him. Did she ride? Surely she did. “I’ll help you up.” He added. “I don’t think you’ll manage it otherwise.”
“I can do it if you’ll boost me with your hands.” That spark in her eyes was there again.
“If you insist.” He said and moved to the front shoulder of the horse. Charlotte was unsteady, but she did manage. He got on behind her. It had been a while since he had ridden without a saddle, but the memories came back quickly, and they were soon caught up with the others. He kept them back a little from the pack so they could talk. His arms were around her arms to hold the reins. She had tensed when he reached for the reins, and that tension remained.
Vincent shifted slightly. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. They were supposed to have woken up, had breakfast, and then sat down and set down the rules and expectations. Instead, here they were sharing a horseback ride in the dead of night. Her back was straight and her arms shook slightly. He thought back to the dance they had shared last night. He wanted to kick himself. What had he been thinking? Something had taken over, he had run his mouth, and she had been a ball of nerves ever since. Or was he a ball of nerves? He had
never felt the full weight of a bond before. He was having trouble sorting his emotions from hers. He cleared his throat. “For all my teasing last night, I don’t bite and I don’t invade another guy’s territory.”
“I’m not territory.” She snapped. “And it’s not that. I couldn’t care less about a little teasing. I have no need to look for anything other than what I have with Beau.”
Good. No harm done. “Then what is it?” He insisted.
“The last time I did this, I burned an elf’s back.” She confided.
He let his breath out slowly. Both he and David were a little afraid of being burned, but they had a pact. She needed people in her life who weren’t afraid of her, and who wouldn’t let her do whatever she liked. “Just relax.” He said. “I’m not worried about getting burned.”
“Of course you’re not.” She mumbled. She took a sharp breath and sat up straighter, inching her arms away from his.
“Am I hurting you?” He asked calmly.
“No.” She answered. “Not physically anyway.” She added.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
She shook her head. She had fixed her hair into one long braid, but half of it had fallen out. More strands were came loose each time she shook her head at him, which was quite frequent. “I just got used to keeping people away from me and here you and my brother saunter into my life with no regards to my feelings or my space.”
He passed the reins into his right hand and patted her good arm with his free hand. “Protégé, you need to understand that what David and I do we do out of concern for you. You cannot live your life hiding in a cage.” He let his hand find hers and squeezed it. She pulled her hand away, but he caught it again. This time he held tight. “You can’t live without touch. If that means I have to wear gloves for several years while I train you, then so be it.”
“Beau can touch me.” She said.
“Ah, so there’s why you are marrying him.” He teased.
She yanked her hand out of his and elbowed him in the ribs.
“Ow.” Wrong words. Again. He pushed her arm back up to her side. She had touched him without thought again, but this time out of anger.
“How dare you. I’m marrying him because I love him. We practically grew up together. He was there when I transformed, and over time he was able to touch me.”
He rubbed his side. “Okay, I went too far, but so did you. You got me right where I broke my ribs yesterday.”
“I know.” She said. “You should stop prying. And touching. And invading my space.”
Vincent shook his own head at her. He would get through to her one way or the other. He put his arm back around her and grabbed the other rein again. She didn’t fuss at him, and he didn’t push. He kept still and relaxed, letting the silence between them calm the air.
“I’m sorry I elbowed you.” She said several minutes later. “And I didn’t mean what I said last night.” He held his breath as she put her hand on his, lifted it back up, and then placed it down again. She might fight it, but she was aching for contact.
“Which thing?” He asked as he tucked her hand in between both of his.
“The thing about not dancing with you at my wedding. Of course I’ll invite you. I was cross with you yesterday.”
“You are cross with me today.” He interrupted. “You just don’t want me to show up with the world’s most hideous sweater.”
She laughed, and he was glad to hear it. She tugged her hand and he let it slip out of his. She scooted back and swung her right leg over to the other side so she was sitting aside the horse. He steadied her and met her eyes as she turned to look at him. “Maven, I do want to learn, and I do appreciate that you are going to teach me.”
He sighed quietly with relief. He wasn’t sure how long it was going to take her to feel comfortable calling him Maven. It wasn’t master, but it would still hold weight; he hoped it would be a good compromise. He adjusted the reins so he could rest his hands under the arm that was bandaged to her chest. “I know you do, Protégé.” He took a deep breath and gathered his courage. “What concerns me is that you are building up a tough exterior one brick at a time even now as we speak. My job is mold you into a weaver, and I can’t mold a wall of bricks.”
She looked away. “I have to have my walls. I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
“You don’t want to hurt anybody, or you don’t want to be hurt by anybody?” He asked. “Or both?”
“Are you like this all the time?”
He raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “Me? Are you like this all the time?”
She pressed a finger into his chest. “You didn’t speak two words when I first met you. Then bang! Now you not only speak, but you completely unearth my heart and lay it bleeding in front of me. Over and over again.”
He stared at her quietly. It was his job to undue, and then reconstruct her. She searched his eyes, but he didn’t know what she was looking for. He laid his hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off and turned her face away from him. He hadn’t known how frustrating this was going to be. In the back of his mind he thought that it would be easier because she was an adult. He had had visions of explaining things to her. She would nod and try and have success. She would learn quickly and listen respectively. Filthy, lying daydreams.
“It’s going to be a long apprenticeship.” She mumbled when he didn’t speak.
“Long, yes.” He said quietly. “Hard? That depends on your wall you’re building there.”
She turned to glare, but lost her balance and started to slide down the left side of the horse. He caught her and pulled her back up. She yelped and gasped. He reached forward and swung her right leg back over the horse and settled her firmly in front of him. “Stay put.” He said. He expected her to object, but she was too busy holding the arm that wasn’t bandaged to her body across her ribs. He ignored the first couple of sniffles she tried to cover up, but a few minutes later he wrapped his left arm under hers to apply a little more pressure to her ribs.
“Does that help?” He asked.
She nodded.
The rest of the trip was silent between them. He still needed to talk to her about other things, but those things needed to wait until she was out of pain. Making the transition between an adult who is in charge of everything to an apprentice who was in charge of very little was going to be hard enough for her. He and David had talked until late in the night about it. In fact, he hadn’t been asleep long when the first screams had started. He wanted to kick himself for not going back to her room to sleep on the floor. He had been slow to rise, and she had beaten him to the door. If only he had made it first to warn her, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it now. She was impulsive. He added it to his mental list of what she needed to work on.
The ground below them made his stomach turn. Every now and then it was stained red and he would look away when he saw a hoof or an arm or another piece of faun. He felt Charlotte shiver, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or the surroundings. “How are you doing?” He asked. “Are the pain meds still working?”
“It’s horrible.” She answered as she looked down at the latest blood spill they were passing.
“You can close your eyes.” He said.
She shook her head at him. “I’ve seen battle before not so long ago. Sometimes I can still see it when I close my eyes.”
“Your hair is falling out of your braid.” The words escaped his lips a split second before his brain kicked himself. He had meant to calm her worries, not blurt out the first thing that came to his mind.
“You’re inspirational, Vincent.” She spit out.
“Protégé.” He said sternly. “We need to talk about how things need to work between us.”
“Ah, yes.” She said. “Thanks for the advice about my hair, Maven. Better?”
He was saved from response as they approached a crumbling old homestead. Lilybet jumped onto the ground and nodded toward the house with a swish of her hair and the fe
athers throughout. “This way, please. The others will take the horse to the stables.”
Vincent got off the horse and then reached up to Charlotte. He helped her into the house where Lilybet was kneeling on the floor and sliding a large metal piece aside. She whispered and suddenly flames sparked in the hole, revealing a staircase into the earth. “Come.” She smiled. “It’s a mite dusty, but it will do the job. I will go last to secure the cover.”
Vincent looked down the hole at the staircase. “Do you want to put your arm over my shoulder?” He asked Charlotte.
She shook her head at him. “Thanks for the gallant idea, but there’s a banister.”
Vincent held his tongue. Again. He descended slowly after her, pausing each time Charlotte did to look at the drawings that were etched in the stone. She ran her fingers over each one, lost in thought and time. There was a close-up of a flower with a bee inside it. Another was an empty field under a cloudy sky. The entire first landing’s wall was a picture of the mountains.
“Lilybet, your staircases are gorgeous. Whatever does your home look like?” Charlotte asked. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Lilybet smiled. “It is a true wonder.”
“No wonder Alcott and Barnabas smile the way they do when they speak of home.” Charlotte traced her fingers over the lines of the mountains. She turned to look at him. “Vincent, have you ever seen anything like this? Have you been to the dwarves’ home before?”
“Yes. The Rockies.” He answered without correcting her slip up with his name. “It was magnificent.” He smiled at Lilybet. “What detail and care your people have given to the least likely of places.”
“We are delighted at your delight, thank you.” She said.
“Are you part of the Maguard?” Charlotte asked of Lilybet as they turned to the next set of stairs.
Lilybet laughed. “Thank you, but no.” She looked over at Vincent, and they shared a smile.
“What am I missing?” Charlotte asked them.