We continued until I became
winded, then Chevelle lowered his blade, smiling with approval. I
heard our audience commenting on the show and glanced around to see
it was evening already, the sun was setting.
How long had we sparred?
I could feel
the ache in my arms now. The sword hung limp at my side.
Ruby took it from my hand, “We’ll get you
fitted with a sheath.”
I stood there, facing Chevelle, breathless
but grinning. He was smiling appreciatively. I realized we were
still being watched and sheepishly turned from him to join the
group as they prepared a fire for dinner. The evening was filled
with stories and laughter. I noticed Chevelle's eyes on me often.
He seemed in better spirits and I wondered again about his morning
guest.
Rhys and Rider approached and most of the
group went over to meet them. Steed moved to sit beside me. “Very
nice today, Frey,” he observed. I smiled. “You seem to be a
natural.” I snorted.
Across the fire I noticed Grey leaning over
to speak in Ruby’s ear. Steed saw me scrutinize them. “Are they…
together?” I asked. I was confident in Grey's affection, but they
didn’t act like a traditional pair.
He sighed quietly as we watched them,
“No.”
There seemed to be more to his answer. “But,
well, he…” I wasn’t sure how to phrase it.
“
Yes.” Steed glanced back at
me when he spoke. “But you can’t always have the one you want,
Frey.” His voice was soft, yearning. I could never tell if he was
teasing.
“
I heard once you could die
from grief.”
He smiled at my subject change. “It’s true.
I’ve seen it myself.”
“
Tell me about
it.”
“
No, too sad.” He was
thoughtful for a moment. “I worried… about my father.” His eyes
returned to me as he confessed. “After my mother died. Sometimes
I’m grateful for the fire witch’s seduction. He was grieving so
hard…” His face relaxed out of its usual cocky smile as he brought
back the memory. “Her enchantments numbed him. Then, when he woke
from them, the tragedy gave him purpose.” He smiled a little as he
looked away. “The irony is her tragedy gave root to the
idea–”
“
Frey.” All of a sudden
Chevelle was standing almost between us. I gaped up at him, the
trance of Steed’s words broken.
“
Huh?”
“
Time to go.” He was angry.
I didn’t know what I had done but I stood obediently. He pulled me
away from Steed, who had replaced his miserable expression to smile
gingerly for me.
“
I’ll take her,” Ruby
offered.
“
No. I’ll do it myself.” He
was
really
angry.
“
We’ll both go,” she pushed,
forcing a polite tone. The rest of the group was quiet, watching
us. Ruby eyed Steed as we turned and headed toward the
house.
As soon as we were out of earshot, though I
was still being dragged by the arm, I asked Chevelle, “Did
something happen with the twins?”
Ruby laughed. We both stared at her. “Twins,”
she scoffed.
“
Right, well, you know what
I mean.” I was embarrassed.
Chevelle softened a little, “No. Everything
is fine.”
Ruby chimed in, “It
is
fine,” and I was knew
it was intended for him. He relaxed his grip on my arm and slowed
our pace as he directed an almost imperceptible nod at Ruby. I
relaxed, too.
It is fine
.
He stayed in the front room that night,
watching through the small windows. When I closed my eyes, I could
see the glint of swords, making patterns as they crossed
repeatedly. I could hear Ruby humming a sad tune from her room as I
fell into a peaceful sleep.
Low voices woke me. Chevelle and Ruby were in
the front room, they may have been arguing. I rubbed my tired arms
as I rose and joined them.
“
What’s up?” I could tell by
their exchange they
had
been in conflict.
Ruby smiled at me. “Just planning… for the
trip.”
“
Trip?”
“
Yes, you know, to the
peak.” She was scheming.
“
Oh.” I’d let them work it
out. “I’m going to take a bath.” I headed for her room.
As I closed the door, I
heard Ruby. “It’s
time
to tell her.” I didn’t hear a response. I was soaking in hot
water, my eyes closed, not even considering getting out when Ruby
knocked on the door.
“
What, Ruby?”
She giggled. “How did you
know it was me?”
No one else is that
annoying
. “Can I come in?”
“
No.”
The water streamed from the
tub and out the back window.
Ugh
. “Fine, I’m getting dressed.” I
dried off and put on clothes from a pile I had assumed was for me,
too large for Ruby’s petite frame.
I opened the door and knew
right away I would regret whatever they were about to tell me. Ruby
commanded me to sit. Chevelle straightened and cleared his throat,
“Frey, we need to talk with you about something.”
Oh great
. I waited. He
proceeded carefully. “You know you are bound.”
“
Yes,” I agreed, even though
I wasn’t clear how I was partially bound. I could use some magic, I
had lost some memories.
No, that wasn’t
true, was it?
I couldn’t really remember
anything from before the village. Anything but the
dreams.
“
And I’m sure you want to be
unbound?”
Why was that a
question?
“
Of course.”
He nodded as if he were going down a
checklist. “We know council has bound you.” I waited for the next
bullet point. “And we know they must be the one or ones to unbind
you.” I was starting to realize the seriousness of this
conversation. “They are, obviously… unwilling.” I took a deep
breath. “I know some… about the binding. I’ve… studied it.”
He had stopped here. “Okay.” I didn’t know
what he was getting at.
“
The problem is… meddling
with the bindings, meddling with your
mind
is… well, it’s
dangerous
.”
And there it was.
“
Dangerous,” I
repeated.
They let me consider that
for a moment. They were being careful with me, didn't want to upset
me. I tried to ease them…
no big deal, just
dangerous mind meddling
. “So we go back to
the village and…”
And what?
They glanced at each other
before they looked back to me. “Not High Council, Freya.
Grand
Council.”
Oh, right. The ones that
were trying to capture me. The ones that wanted to
burn
me
. Their cautious demeanor made more sense now. I nodded,
understanding. The council had sent trackers.
The pair Chevelle had choked and released. And the other. The
broken, limp corpse in the clearing by the ridge. We had killed
him. And they were worried about my stupid binding?
The circling cloaks from my dreams were back,
filling my head. My thoughts were twisting, getting out of control.
They’d be hunting us all down now. They would kill us. That was why
I needed training.
To protect
myself
. Because they intended to kill me,
not capture. They intended to kill us all. And without magic, bound
as I was, I didn’t stand a chance.
The anxiety must have shown; Ruby looked
uncomfortable. I saw her shift her jaw.
“
No.” I held my hand up to
her. “No more dust.” I stood. “Let’s just get back. Back to
training.” They didn’t argue, though they were plainly
concerned.
We went to the ridge with the others but we
didn’t train. Ruby and Chevelle were avoiding me, I was fairly
certain. I waited on them through the morning and then, finally,
around midday I gave up on them and relaxed back onto the ground,
staring up at the sky. It was warm, the sun was shining brightly. I
watched as a bird flew high overhead. It was gliding, slowly.
As I shielded my eyes with a
hand to better see, I noticed the ink on my wrist and smiled. I
suddenly knew the soaring creature above was a hawk. I closed my
eyes and relaxed my arm at my side, imagining flying. I breathed
deep and conjured the image it would see, looking down on us. The
picture was sharp, even at the distance, but the colors weren’t as
clear, and the outlying shapes not as defined. I laughed at myself
for adding that detail to my daydream, imagining a bird
seeing
differently.
My vision sailed over us, past the ridge,
south. I imagined seeing the twins, perched in two trees, watching.
They wore bows on their backs. The dogs were mostly concealed but
on the ground, vigilant. One glanced up at me… at the bird. I saw
someone approaching, robe and tassels blowing in the cool breeze.
The second wolf looked forward, he saw it, too, and abruptly
pointed, calling out.
As I realized the howl was
in my ears, not in my imagination, I jolted upright. The field was
in motion, rushing in response to the warning. In seconds, they
were set again, the same protective positions they had taken the
last time.
The last time a
tracker
had found
us.
It was all I could do to
steady myself as he was brought forward, he was the
same
one from my vision.
He knelt, not under his own power, and then he was frozen there
before us. Chevelle mumbled something and my ears began to ring, it
was a few seconds before recognition came.
“
Stop!”
My voice was seething fury. All eyes turned to me but I glared
directly at Chevelle. “Stop.”
He understood and my ears
ceased ringing, my hearing cleared. I stepped forward, the rage
still fuming. It had dawned on me that he'd been the cause of my
hearing issues before, and I knew he was the one holding the
tracker there. He bound him from magic for questioning. He had
studied it, said he
knew
something about it.
I approached the kneeling tracker, daring
anyone to stop me. “Tell me what you know about binding.”
He didn’t answer, his jaw
tight in resistance. I had placed the sword in my newly acquired
sheath this morning, during my boredom. I pulled it out, enjoying
the
ssshk
sound of
the steel as it passed. The tracker smirked, defiant. He wasn’t
afraid of a sword. The other didn’t crack at broken bones, didn’t
give even before death. I’d need something dreadful, a new
tactic.
I noticed a tiny snake sunning on a nearby
rock and smiled. I slipped the tip of the sword down to the
tracker’s leg, just above where his knee met the ground, and sliced
his trousers up to the thigh to reveal his leg. I drew the snake to
us with magic and grabbed it with my left hand, the sword in my
right. The prisoner watched me, almost smug.
It was a tiny snake, no thicker than my
pinkie, but it would do. I took the sword and slid the tip across
the skin above his knee, making a small incision. His faced changed
then, a mixture of puzzlement and uncertainty. I smiled at him
wordlessly in response. I left the sword tip there and placed the
snake on the handle, letting it slide down the blade toward my
mark. I closed my eyes to relax, settle into the snake as I had the
bird.
My knees buckled as I
released too much. I backed off, giving myself just enough to
control it. As it entered the wound, I heard the tracker gasp and
my smile stretched wickedly. I wormed my way up his leg, intent on
getting the information I needed.
They were
getting closer. They had found us a third time now. They would kill
us
. I wanted to free my mind, free my
bonds.
They would not take
me
.
His screams broke as the serpent reached his
thigh. I opened my eyes. The body of the snake made a defined lump,
curving long and thin under the skin of his leg. His face was
twisted in agony and fear. He cracked. Chevelle released his hand
long enough to scribble a few words of a spell, not allowing him to
speak or cast magic.
He slumped after his surrender, confident the
worst was over. I reached the sword tip back to his leg and made
another incision to release the snake. I heard a low voice. “Kill
him.”
I didn’t know who it had
been intended for but I still held the sword in my hand.
The sword I was supposed to slice someone’s head
off with
. This was likely my only chance
for practice. I knew I’d not more than a moment before their magic
broke him. I didn’t hesitate, I just pulled my arm up and swung
hard, backhand. The blade cut clean and his head rolled backward,
hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
I looked away.
“
He didn’t mean you, Frey.”
Steed’s voice was low, wary.
I turned, trying to avoid the bloody vision
in my peripheral. The group was gawking at me, surprised, at the
least. I looked at Chevelle, the trackers words in his hand. “Okay…
let’s try it.”
He was staring at me, disbelief more than
evident as he shot back his answer. “No, Frey.”
Ruby spoke up. “It could be
a trick. He’ll need to try it on someone else first.”
Someone else? Who else was bound?
She could see I was prepared to argue. “It isn’t
safe.”