Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (17 page)

He smiled. "You
are one dangerous charge, Freya." I flushed again. "But I am glad
your instincts have returned," he reassured me. "Are
you
well?"

I nodded and he
raised a brow questioningly. "Yes, it's just...
so much
."

"I understand,"
he said.

I dropped my head
to my hands for scarcely a moment before the door opened, I looked
up to see Steed come in.

"Inner chamber,"
he directed Grey.

Grey stood and
bowed slightly to me before swiftly leaving.

Steed took his
place in the chair beside me. "Elfreda."

I tried to smile
at him but couldn't pull it off.

"It's all right,
Frey," he said.

"It's not," I
blurted out before I could compose myself. "Everything is wrong,
and different, and so...
ugh
." His expression was
sympathetic and I found myself babbling, "I mean, all of a sudden
I'm a
lord
and I have all these people after me and I hate
fairies and attacked Anvil and secrets are everywhere in my dreams
and the one person who I can't even speak to without falling apart
is supposed to be my betrothed-" The flow cut off as my hand came
up to cover my offending mouth, but it was too late, the words were
out.

Steed didn't seem
shocked, he was merely watching me calmly.

I sat frozen for
a few moments before I finally asked, "You knew?"

I didn't specify
what, it was plain by my reaction that I was referring to the
arranged marriage. He simply replied, "It was common knowledge
among the kingdom."

I felt the
surprise on my face, sure he'd shown far too much interest in me
for having
known
.

He caught my
response and leaned forward as he explained in a low voice, "You
denied him, Freya."

I felt a tingle
run up my spine and sat slack-jawed as the blood drained from my
face. My stomach turned when it all came together fully. Steed
reached up and placed a hand on my shoulder to steady
me.

I bit down hard
against the swirl and forced myself to stay with him. When I
thought I had myself under control enough, I allowed a short
question. "
Why
?" My voice was shaky and, as soon as I'd asked, I
wasn't sure I even wanted the answer.

Steed held his
hand out to the side, palm up, and shrugged loosely. "I don't know.
I wasn't around then." He grinned with only one side of his mouth
and added, "I fancy that he wasn't handsome enough for
you."

I ignored his
sarcasm and, suddenly, I wanted nothing more than a subject change.
"Where
were
you?" I asked.

He forced a
smile. "I don't know exactly
when
it took place, but I
recall hearing about it upon my return." I hadn't realized my eyes
had narrowed until I heard his quiet laugh. "You always have been
the best gossip, Elfreda." I'd forgotten my first question when he
finally answered it. "I was with Grey, I believe."

"Grey?" I asked,
completely sidetracked again.

"Yes." He smiled,
more genuine this time. "I have known Grey for longer than I care
to admit. And he has been smitten with Red for nearly as
long."

I felt my eyes
widen and he chuckled. "It must be so strange for you," he
said.

I didn't want to
think about it. "Where were you and Grey?"

"With my father,"
he answered, a fondness of the memory plain in his tone. "Grey had
shown some interest in the horse trade then."

"He doesn't
anymore?" I asked.

"Not since he's
found Ruby." He sighed. "He was lost at his first look into her
deep emerald eyes." He peered into mine as he spoke and I couldn't
be sure whether he was taunting me. "So rare," he almost
purred.

"Are they?" I
asked without meaning to. I'd never seen another besides Ruby's but
I'd just assumed I couldn't remember seeing others. No one in the
village had my now dark, jeweled eyes but they hadn't had dark hair
either, everything about them seemed to shine brightly. But I
thought the color could have been common here.

"I've never seen
another pair," he said plainly, "aside from her... and you." And
then, as an afterthought, he added, "But I'd never met your
mother."

I nodded
automatically before I'd examined what he'd said. And then I
realized what we'd all had in common.
Half-breeds
. All the elves
I'd seen here had brown or black eyes and dark hair. It made me
wonder how Fannie had changed but then I remembered my mother's
description of her in the diary, her light features. I was
unintentionally thinking out loud when I said, "So, when they bound
me, they matched me to Fannie."

"Horrible
decision if you ask me," Steed said. I glanced up at him,
surprised, and he smiled. "I'm sure I much prefer you raven than
hen."

I flushed but
quickly recovered. "Steed, the next time Junnie is here, please
help me see her. She's all I have." His face changed and he looked
as if he wanted to say something. "Well, except for you guys, of
course," I amended, worried I'd hurt his feelings.

He began to speak
but the door opened and we both turned to see who was
entering.

"Don’t trust me
alone with her, then?" Steed teased when he saw it was
Ruby.

"You should know
by now," she joked back, but her humor was only
half-hearted.

She pulled up a
chair to join us but merely stood beside it. "How do you feel,
Frey?"

"Super," I lied.
She glared at me. "Did you find Storm?" I asked flatly.

She hesitated for
a moment and then shrugged, deciding it was my own fault if I lost
it again, I was sure. "Yes."

"Ruby." I looked
her straight in the eye. "Why was she watching us?"

"Maybe she was
wondering why you haven't brushed your hair in days," she replied
sarcastically.

I jerked back
self-consciously, as if Ruby could have somehow read my thoughts
from earlier with Steed. And then I realized. "She was watching me
with Steed, too. Before, when we talked, and we
trained."

Ruby's mouth
became a mean grimace and I was pretty sure she cursed under her
breath but her face was smooth again as she looked to Steed.
"Anything of consequence?"

Steed shook his
head but I didn't agree, everything we'd talked about was
significant. My memory loss, my issue with fairies, Anvil, the
hawk, and Chevelle. I swallowed hard, forgetting momentarily about
my mental argument. And then I was back, because what I'd discussed
with Chevelle was far worse than my conversation with Steed. "Ruby,
why was she watching me?" When she didn't answer, I realized the
more important issue. "Who is she reporting to?"

She sighed,
expecting me to faint when she replied, "Asher."

Asher
. And we'd been
speaking of Junnie, her issues with council, my concealment in the
village, combined with what she'd heard earlier. "Ruby, is Junnie
in danger?" I asked.

She smiled. "No,
Freya, be assured she is not."

"But Asher knows
she's protecting me," I argued.

"How would he
know that?" she chided.

"Because Chevelle
and I were-" and then I stopped, because I knew what she'd meant.
They had found Storm. I suddenly understood her comment to Steed
earlier, she'd been asking if
I
had learned anything of
consequence, not Storm. Storm was no longer an issue.

When I heard a
clamor in the corridor outside, my gaze nervously found Ruby, but
she just stood there as if she didn't hear it. "Ruby," I
said.

"They are simply
taking care of a little problem, Frey."

And then I heard
a thick, solid thump that resembled the one I'd heard earlier, when
Grey had hit the block wall, and I knew it was a body. I
automatically started to get up but Ruby put a hand on my shoulder
and pushed me back down. "I promise you, they do not need your
help."

"The servants?" I
asked.

"Only the ones
that warrant it," she answered dryly.

"Maybe I should
lie back down," I admitted.

Steed laughed as
he helped me up and, along with Ruby, led me to my own
room.

I was asleep
quickly and, though Ruby had stayed there to watch me, awake again
nearly as fast. I'd been dreaming of Fannie again, destruction and
murder, when her dark, dangerous, cat eyes stared into mine as
blood dripped from her muzzle. The instant I woke, I impulsively
found the remaining mountain lions I'd left in the castle and
snapped their necks where they stood. I was breathing heavily and
Ruby questioned me.

"No, I'm fine," I
said, "just a dream."

"Then sleep,
Freya."

"Ruby," I asked,
"what's going to happen to Fannie?"

"I can't say,
she's got her share of tails." She giggled and then amended,
"Pursuers."

"What will Junnie
do?" I asked.

"Junnie is hard
to estimate, though I suppose she's got Fannie on the top of her
list."

"Why?" I said
automatically, sure it couldn't be merely in protection of
me.

Ruby considered
whether to tell me. "Well, I guess you're already in bed," she
muttered before continuing in a more audible tone. "For taking out
council."

"I don't think
your pass-out humor is funny," I snapped. And then I examined what
she'd said. "But why would she care
? Chevelle said that she didn't agree with council's
ideas."

"She doesn't
agree with them,
on
certain
points
," she stressed.
"Chiefly, that they manipulated events to control the rise of the
north. But that doesn't mean she'd see them slain."

Of course, that
made sense, but, at the same time, it didn't. "I saw her fighting
against them, before we got to the castle."

"Only those that
attacked you, some for their own reasons, not council's desire."
She moved closer. "I can see you're not grasping the full scope
here, Frey. Junnie's
entire
family is on that
council."

I gasped. How
could I have been so oblivious? I'd known, even before I'd left the
village, that her family had received the calling. "And Fannie's
killing them."

"Yes," Ruby
answered, "and it is only worse that Junnie is responsible for
saving her from your mother's fate, protecting her those years in
the village, though Fannie considers it punishment, entrapment, and
hungers for revenge."

Her reply had the
tone of her fairy tales and I was confident, once again, that there
was truth in all of them. I remembered what Steed had said, that
Junnie had merely stopped on her way to warn us. "So, is that what
Junnie's doing here, searching for Fannie?"

"Not
exclusively," Ruby said. "She has many arrows in her
quiver."

I recalled the
battle again and couldn't help but ask, "Why is she after Asher?"
Ruby looked momentarily stunned so I clarified, "If she doesn't
agree with council about suppressing the north's rule, I
mean."

I heard her
release a breath. "That is an entirely different issue. Junnie is
fine with leaving you in charge."

"But not
Asher?"

"But not
Asher."

I waited for more
but was forced to speak the obvious follow up. "So,
why?"

"Freya, there is
much you do not know. Sleep now, tomorrow will turn up
soon."

I wanted to argue
with her, but I was exhausted. And she'd given me plenty to think
about already. My thoughts were swimming in the eddy of my mind
but, before long, they slowed, as if the water had thickened and
then gelled, and I was in a deep sleep.

My limbs felt
heavy as I dreamt, each step seemingly a monumental undertaking. I
walked forever through the corridors and from the castle, never
certain where I should be, until, finally, I recognized the stones,
the distinctive marker on the path, and turned to find the
passageway. It was dark and cold inside; it felt abandoned,
forsaken. I heard the cry of a prey bird but could not see the sky,
merely blackness. The bird called again, screeching this time, and
it seemed to pierce my ears. I tried to find it with my mind to
silence it, but instead found something foreign. Pain seared my
mind and the shriek became metallic and unbearable. I drew my hands
to my temples, pressing uselessly against them, and suddenly I
wasn't alone. I could feel a presence, hear my name.

"Frey!" Ruby
commanded.

My eyes twitched
open as a shudder tore through me. A dream. Ruby pulled my fists
from my head and ordered me to calm down.

When I'd finally
relaxed, she asked what was wrong.

"Just a dream," I
answered.