Fey 02 - Changeling (69 page)

"How come they won't let me see Gift?"

"I don't know," Adrian said. "Did you block something Gift sent you?"

Coulter shook his head.
 
His grip had tightened on Adrian.
 
Gift and Coulter were the only two children of their age in Shadowlands.
 
A few other children had been born in the last year or so, but they were much too young to interest three and five year old boys.
 
Forbidding Coulter to see Gift was like forbidding him to eat.
 
Coulter only had two friends: Gift and Adrian.
 
And of the two, Gift was the one he relied on the most.

"Member the other day when I left here?" Coulter asked.

Coulter had left the cabin at full tilt run.
 
Adrian had asked him where he was going, but Coulter hadn't answered.
 
Adrian figured that Coulter was going to do boy things, and never questioned beyond that.

"Yes," Adrian said.

"Gift got really sick.
 
The Shaman and the Domestics were gone.
 
So I helped him."

"You —?"
 

Adrian stopped himself.
 
This conversation had become surreal, but he didn't want to sound disbelieving.
 
Coulter was hard enough to talk to without doubting his every word.

"How?" Adrian asked.

"He was still Bound to his mother.
 
She was dying.
 
I cut the Link."

So simple.
 
Fey terms.
 
Magic terms that spoke of concepts that Adrian only dimly understood.
 
He thought about what Coulter said for a moment.
 
Cut the Link.
 
With Jewel.

Gift's mother.

No wonder Rugar took credit for the boy.
 

"How did you cut the Link?" Adrian asked.

"I Linked him to me," Coulter said as if that were the most simple concept in the world.

"And that saved him?"

"Everybody's Linked," Coulter said. "Some Links are better than others.
 
You got a strong one that goes out the Circle Door."

All Adrian's Links went out the Circle Door.
 
He had none inside.
 
Except for Coulter and Mend.
 
Much as he hated to admit it, he too had two friends in Shadowlands.
 
A five-year-old frightened boy, and a Fey woman.

"And one to you," Adrian said softly.

"Yeah," Coulter said.

They were silent again.
 
The silence was comfortable.
 
And Adrian found he liked the feel of the boy's body against his.
 
It had been a long time since he had shared an affectionate touch with anyone.
 
He missed it.
 
He missed his own child.
 
But Luke was not a child any longer.
 
He was a man full grown.

The flames were burning blue.
 
Soon he would have to add another log or the fire would go out.
 
Adrian didn't move.
 
He couldn't lose the warmth.
 
And he wanted a chance to think.

Coulter was Islander, but raised among the Fey.
 
He had never left the protection of Shadowlands, never seen the green grass or the blue sky. Since he was a baby barely old enough to walk, every person he touched, everything he did had a Fey focus.
 
The only Islander he knew was Adrian, and Adrian had sought out that Link, not Coulter.
 
Adrian wasn't even certain Coulter knew he was different.

But he was.

And perhaps the difference came from being raised in Shadowlands, breathing the Fey's magic air, thinking in the Fey's guttural language.
 
Perhaps magic wasn't innate as the Fey insisted.
 
Perhaps it was learned, just like mannerisms, language, and food preferences.

"I don't want to stay away from Gift," Coulter said quietly.

"I don't think you should," Adrian said.

"They said I have to until Touched was done with me."

Adrian had to work to keep his body relaxed after that statement.
 
No one cared about this boy, no one except him.
 
No one thought about what it would be like to have his best friend taken away.
 
No one thought about how a boy would react to experiments.

Experiments had killed Ort.

"You have a Link to Gift, don't you?" Adrian said.
 
"They can't take that away, can they?"

"If they do, he might die," Coulter said.

Maybe Adrian shouldn't worry about Coulter.
 
In some ways, Coulter was far ahead of him.

"What does Touched plan to do with you?"

"See how far my powers extend."

The words had to be Touched's.
 
Coulter had never spoken in concepts like 'extend' before.

"Can you just tell him?" Adrian asked.

Coulter didn't move.
 
For a moment, Adrian wondered if the boy had heard.
 
But he had to.
 
He had his ear pressed against Adrian's chest.

"I think he knows," Coulter said.
 

Adrian frowned.
 
Sometimes the Fey were as alien to him as fish.
 
"If he knows, then why the test?"

"Because he's afraid," Coulter said.
 
"Really afraid.
 
Once he saw what I could do.
 
He and Rugar said that what I can do, it changes everything."

Adrian closed his eyes.
 
Of course Rugar would see it that way.
 
He saw his own daughter as a way to achieve his own ends.
 
He had somehow brought his grandchild here.
 
And now he had turned his attention to a child he hadn't thought worthy of such attention.
 
Coulter.

And the truth was, it did change everything.
 
If Islanders had the ability to learn as Coulter did, the Fey weren't as all powerful as they believed.

"What can you do?" Adrian asked.

Coulter frowned.
 
"I never thought about it," he said.
 
"I just do."

Adrian nodded.
 
He didn't want to push Coulter, but he needed to know.
 
This could be important to both of them.
 
It could be important for the Isle itself.

"What do you do?" Adrian asked.

Coulter shrugged.
 
"Like the Link.
 
I didn't think about it.
 
I just did it."

"Did Gift call to you?
 
Is that how you knew to do it?"

Coulter shook his head.
 
"I knew I had to see him.
 
And I didn't question it.
 
I just went."

Adrian took a deep breath.
 
Something fluttered in his stomach — a kind of excitement, a bit of hope.
 
He ignored those feelings.
 
He would have time to sort those out later.

"Was that the first time that's happened to you?"

Coulter shook his head.
 
"I've always been able to do things.
 
You know that."

Actually, Adrian hadn't known that.
 
Coulter had been a very private child.
 
Interesting that he assumed Adrian would know what he had been doing.
 
Perhaps their connection was closer than Adrian thought.

"Explain this to me," Adrian said.
 
"Rugar called it a power?
 
What kind of power?"

Coulter raised himself on his elbows.
 
He squinted at Adrian.
 
"Why do you want to know?"

Adrian gazed back at him levelly.
 
He could lie, he supposed, and just say he was interested.
 
Or he could tell a partial truth, that he was concerned for Coulter.
 
Or he could be completely honest.
 
"Islanders don't usually have powers, Coulter," Adrian said.
 
"We are non-magical beings."

"You're saying I'm Fey?" He had hope in his voice.
 
Adrian winced.

"No."
 
Adrian had to quash that idea quickly.
 
"I'm saying that you may have taught us something about the Fey.
 
Magic might be a learned thing.
 
All Islanders might be able to learn it."

"So I'm not Fey?"

"No.
 
You're too old and too Islander to be Fey.
 
But you could be as good as the Fey.
 
Maybe even better."

The hope had left Coulter's eyes.
 
It had shocked Adrian more than anything in this conversation.
 
The boy wanted to be Fey?
 
It made sense, he supposed.
 
Coulter couldn't remember life outside of Shadowlands.
 
All he had ever known was that he was not Fey.
 
He didn't really understand his own heritage.

"How can I be better?" he whispered.

"Rugar didn't know what you were," Adrian said.
 
"He brought in Touched, a Warder who should have been able to tell too.
 
They wanted to know how far your powers extend.
 
Boy, if they could tell what kind of magic you had, they would have known.
 
They wouldn't have had to check."

Coulter nodded.
 
He looked thoughtful.
 
The adult expression was back on his face.
 
Adrian studied the boy, finally understanding.
 
The adult attitudes Coulter adopted were a cover, a way to pretend he didn't care.
 
He was more mature than the average five-year-old and smarter, too, but he was still a child.

A child who was trying to make sense of a world that didn't care for him.

Adrian heard the unspoken questions.
 
Will they like me better if I have magic?
 
Will I become one of them if I can act like them?
 
Will they value me?
 

Adrian suspected the answer to all those questions was no.

But he wasn't about to tell Coulter.
 
Not now.

"How far do your powers extend?" Adrian asked.

"I don't know," Coulter said.

Perhaps the question was wrong.
 
"What kinds of things can you do?"

"I don't think about it," Coulter said.
 
His tone was guarded.

"Then how do you know when you can do something?"

"I just do it."

Adrian propped himself up so that his eyes were level with Coulter's.
 
"Coulter, trust me for a moment.
 
I want to help you and I can't without understanding what's happening here.
 
It's new to me too.
 
How do you do these things?"