Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (14 page)

Rhys' smile was reassuring.
"We do not pledge ourselves blindly, Elfreda."

I fluttered. "Wait, you do
know me?"

"We... found
out."

"Found out?"

Rider spoke. "While we are
faithful to the wolves, we do not offer our lives without
certainty. It was a small matter of research."

My head spun. "What do you
know?"

"We know of you, Elfreda.
We know of your family."

"My family?"

They nodded.

"My mother?" I nearly
whispered.

"And the
others."

The others.
"Fannie?"

"Yes."

The expression on their
faces was so disdainful I had to ask. "What about
Fannie?"

Rhys answered. "She had
been difficult since birth, we are told, a concern from day one.
Though her mother tried to care for her, she was a constant
disturbance and grew to a troublesome child. Rumors flourished that
the lord would give up his plan for union with a light one. But
upon the birth of the second child, their father merely exacerbated
the problem with Francine, showing undoubted preference for Eliza.
After a series of regrettable events and a show of your mother's
superior power, Francine was passed over for the line, her sister
chosen as secondary. Certainly this enflamed her wrath and after a
time, she began to detach from even their mother, Vita."

I was speechless, numb, at
the easy flow of words describing the horror, though a similar
version I had read gradually in my mother's diary.

"Her mother's death was
pivotal, though, and it is thought that she meant to resurface,
return as a proper lord's daughter. And it seems likely given that
upon finding her sister's plan to destroy him, she went to their
father, exposing the entire plot. At first he did not trust in
Francine, but when confronted with Eliza's journal detailing the
plan, he'd no choice but to see it as truth. However, he did not do
as she'd expected. Instead of being horrified with his successor's
plan to destroy him, he was overjoyed at her power, a matchless
power said to be described in her writings. Francine was confounded
as he quickly began to form his own plan, which ultimately skipped
over his only remaining daughter. She became incensed. She'd not
the power to destroy him and his guard alone, no more than her
sister did. But Francine knew Eliza would not accept her now, would
not have joined her in his defeat, for she'd warned him. He'd be
expecting Eliza, was aware of her entire design. Francine could
only think of one other option. Grand Council."

Though I knew I was still
breathing, could hear the pound of my heart, I was aware of no
other feeling but the crushing pressure on my chest. My thoughts
ran wild. I'd never even considered why council had been there. I
had merely read that my mother had decided to destroy her father. I
knew they were circling her from my own memories, knew that they'd
been trying to stop her. I'd never realized
he
wasn't there in those visions.
Asher.

I don't know how long I sat
so before I saw Chevelle's face, awash with fury. He tried to
compose himself as my eyes met his. He approached us and I could
see the unspoken warning directed at Rhys and Rider. I wondered if
that was the reason they were so often separate from the group, not
because they were better watchers, but because they would tell me
whatever I'd ask. I was fearful for them, but also afraid I had
lost their openness, that they would tell me no more. My thought
must have been obvious, because when they stood in tandem to excuse
themselves, they bowed toward me. "We are here but to serve you,
Elfreda." I attempted a smile.

I realized then that Grey
and Anvil had grown quiet. And that I'd consumed far too much wine.
I swayed and then laid my head on the table without another glance
at them.

Chevelle was silent as he
lifted me in his arms and carried me to my bed. He laid me down,
brushed the hair from my face, and then walked wordlessly from the
room.

There was no way to be
certain whether it was the wine or the stories, but my dreams were
fierce. The fire that surrounded my mother flamed hotter, felt as
if it were scorching my skin as I watched her burn. I could see
shapes in the flickers, a blaze of deep red curling amongst the
orange and amber tongues, and I made out Ruby, the fire fairy,
dancing in the hideous glow. The flames seemed endlessly in the
background of the other images, the screaming, broken bodies as
Fannie razed the village, the faces of each council member that she
had butchered, the blood spilling from the mouth of the panther as
she reaped a terrible revenge, her eyes finding mine, knowing. They
were there as I saw Junnie, a smoldering luminosity in the
background, not reaching her as she ran, her council colors flowing
in the tassels that waved behind her. She wore an unfamiliar dark
cloak and I felt she was hiding something, some threatening
mystery. They crackled and popped, hostile and foreboding until,
suddenly, they were gone and I was standing in darkness. A faint
light showed me the face of Rune then, as he focused on the body
before him, the one who writhed in pain and abruptly became rigid
when the torment redoubled. I stood, helplessly watching, waiting
for what I knew was coming, though never quite fast enough.
Finally, I heard the crack but, instead of what I had expected,
instead of seeing the strike hit Rune, grace him with an eternal
scar, the lightning flashed bright, a painful brilliance that
illuminated Chevelle in a way that was not just clear, but lucid.
At that moment, I saw him more clearly than I could ever remember
seeing him. And I knew that he was Rune's son.

Though drenched in sweat
and aching everywhere, I woke with an unexpected calmness. That
was, until I realized I was not alone. Chevelle was balanced on the
edge of my bed, trying to wake me or watching me sleep, I wasn't
sure. But I jerked at the surprise of seeing him, doubled by the
shock of the dream, and then I was speechless.

He observed me silently for
a moment and then, when he thought I'd gotten my bearings, he
handed me a drink from the side table. I accepted it gratefully, my
hands still trembling.

"You should take better
care of yourself," he admonished gently.

He had no way of knowing
the actual cause of my distress, though I couldn't be positive the
wine wasn't partially to blame, but I wasn't about to tell him, now
entirely aware of the reason behind his strong reaction to my other
dream, when I'd mentioned his father's name to Anvil. I remembered
the color drain from his face and I suddenly became paranoid he'd
somehow know that I knew, which resulted in a flush, trailed
immediately by Chevelle standing and swiftly walking from the room,
informing me on the way out (without looking back) that I was to
meet Ruby in the practice rooms.

Ugh
.

I sluggishly crawled out of
bed, splashed my face, and attempted to get dressed. I
was
suffering from the
preceding night's festivities, but, in truth, that wasn't entirely
why I dragged my feet. I wasn't exactly in a hurry to see Ruby, now
that Anvil had filled me in on my prior issue with fairies, which
was apparently causing Ruby problems of her own. I'd been sheltered
from the public so they wouldn't recognize my bonds were still in
place, for my protection, so I hadn't realized she wasn't free to
move about as the others until she'd taken a separate route to the
castle. I wasn't sure how to deal with that, though it wasn't
altogether my fault, considering they'd kept so much from me, for
my protection, and I was missing the majority of my memories. Like
Rune... and Chevelle.

I tried not to let the
dream take over my thoughts. Concentrating on lost memories made my
spinning head throb and my ears ring. But I couldn't help it, I
kept returning to it. Something about it bothered me more than it
should. And it wasn't merely the agony that I'd repeatedly watched
him endure. It was something else, something forgotten.

It felt like it was right
there, alongside the anguish of seeing him tormented, the knowledge
of his father, the gratitude toward Anvil for his intervention. A
significant truth, just out of reach. But it was adding to my
headache so I brushed it off, counting stones in the corridor on my
way to the practice rooms.

Which, to my surprise, I
found right away. I was certain it was because I'd wanted to avoid
Ruby, who stood front and center, impatiently waiting for
me.

She saw my state and shook
her head, clicking in disapproval. "Can't you at least
try
?"

I ran my fingers through my
hair in an attempt to smooth it. She wasn't impressed. The way she
was looking at me, like it was time for a renovation, actually made
me eager for practice. "Ready to get started?" I asked.

She smirked. "Chevelle
asked me to step it up this morning."

Oh crap.

"Prepare yourself,
Elfreda."

Before I had a chance to do
anything other than cringe, the room lit up in a circle of flames
so massive, I could not breathe. I struggled for air, wincing as
the heat assailed my skin, my eyes. I had no notion of even where
Ruby stood as she taunted me. "React, Frey. Counter."

I had nothing, no ideas, no
answer to the fire. The circle flared and closed in, advancing at
an alarming rate, and still, I stood helpless. And then the flames
disappeared completely, as if they'd never been.

"Seriously?" Ruby scorned.
"What is with you, Frey?"

I was considering telling
her when we heard Grey approach, coming in through the far door. We
turned to greet him when, just as he entered, a large,
golden-furred mountain lion leaped from the pillars behind him,
nearly landing on his back before it was tossed aside by
magic.

"Damn it, Frey," he
complained.

Out of the corner of my eye
I saw Ruby fight a smile as I apologized. "Right, I'll send them
away. Sorry."

"Come to watch practice?"
Ruby asked him.

"I hear it's going to be a
good one," he teased.

"Not so far." Ruby directed
an accusing glance my way.

I groaned.

"What happened? I thought
you'd been doing well. Heard you'd even bested Red."

Ruby shot him a fierce
glare.

"I don't know about that,"
I said. "I just can't think of-" My sentence was cut off midway,
I'd even forgotten I was speaking when the memory came back. I'd
been watching Ruby, the affectionately foul glare she directed at
Grey, or maybe it was just being here, in the practice rooms, but I
remembered. And it had been in the diary, I was nearly
positive.

They were both staring at
me, waiting on a revelation when I turned from the room. "I have to
go lie down. I'll come back later."

I ran straight to my room
and dug through my pack until I found it, hands trembling as I
skimmed through the pages for the entry. My fingers ran over my
mother's script, the words I had recalled, the words that supported
the memory that was calling to me.

Father is already
discussing arranged marriages, even mentioning Rune’s son, of all
people.

A flush seemingly ran from
the weathered page, up my arms as it flooded my neck, my cheeks,
overwhelming the thud in my chest, asking too much. I heard someone
behind me and barely recognized the realization that I'd forgotten
to close the door in my haste as I threw the book aside and turned,
expecting Ruby.

But it wasn't Ruby. The
heat drained from my face, leaving it colorless, taking my breath,
drying my throat, incapacitating me as I watched Chevelle, staring
at the diary on the floor beside me, knowing that he'd seen me,
he'd seen what I'd read, he knew that I knew.

He was motionless for an
eternity before his eyes made their way to mine. I waited,
speechless, unsure if I should prevent his explanation, part of me
certain I didn't want to know more. But as he opened his mouth to
speak, I could almost feel the whole memory returning, teasing, as
if it would come back if he would only name it.

He closed his eyes as
footsteps approached and the act felt like an apology.

I was unable to look away
but regained my breath just before Ruby entered behind him. He took
one deep breath before he opened his eyes and turned to her, giving
no explanation, consequently implying he was waiting on
hers.

She uncharacteristically
faltered before answering. "I was just checking on Frey." She was
clearly confused, knowing I'd only moments ago run from the
practice rooms.

It was silent as we waited
for his response, my mind running through a thousand scenarios that
started with him commanding her to go, allowing us to be alone; him
leaving without another word, without another look at me; him
turning on me, furious; or the room bursting into flames as Ruby
had demonstrated earlier, which, oddly enough, seemed like the
least painful option.

But none of the visions I'd
had prepared me for his quiet words as he faced me and asked, "How
are you, Freya?"