The council library was overwhelming. It
housed copies of all the books in the village library as well as
hundreds more that were too delicate or important for public use.
And if you believed Fannie’s theories, they held secret documents
here as well, things they didn’t want commonly known.
It was empty apart from me but I found a
shelf to hide behind, just in case, as I laid out the documents on
the floor and worked to decipher the letters and numbers. I noticed
each of the pages included the letters C and A. I examined the
shelves in front of me. The sections seemed to be arranged by
groups and each shelf divided by categories within that group, so I
walked the library searching for a section marked for either of
those characters. I was about to give up, they didn’t seem to be on
any wall, when I noticed some encased shelves in the center of the
room. I checked the small section, found it was C, and had no
problem locating shelf A.
I was thinking how easy it
had been as I slid my fingers across the books on that shelf. I
felt a tingle as I crossed a thin section of pages bound together.
I slid them out just as I became aware of some sort of commotion...
that sounded like it was getting closer. No, not a tingle
indicating what I was looking for, it was a
protection
spell. I ran.
As I shot through the rooms, all I could
think of was not getting caught. I shoved the pages under my shirt
before I made it through the last door. The village was crowded
with dancing elves, oblivious to my horror. The protection spell
must have only alerted council. I ran from town and pushed through
the brush at the edge of the village, taking the shortest direction
out of the boundaries. I kept running until I became winded and
then hastily searched for some kind of shelter. I burrowed deep in
a briar patch and struggled to catch my breath. I wrenched the wad
of papers from under my shirt, buried them in the soil beside me,
and then waited silently for my punishment.
No one was coming. I was
naïve to think they would chase me like hounds on a fox, they had
magic, they were
High Council,
for Elvin’s sake. I stayed in the patch for most
of the day, cowering despite myself, but as the sun lowered in the
sky, I crawled out on my belly and started the long walk toward
home.
It was late by the time I reached the tree
and I was tired enough I didn’t care much about being caught. I
didn’t even know if they knew who broke the seal, if they knew I
was guilty. But I was still quiet as I entered the house, then my
room, and slid into bed.
The next morning I slipped out early to call
on Junnie. When I reached her door, it was cracked open again. I
pushed it aside and scanned the front room – no Junnie. I walked
through to check the back, still nothing. Junnie was always
extraordinarily clean and organized so I couldn’t tell if she’d
even been home. I wandered back to the front door and was surprised
by a tall figure there. The elaborate robe and tassels of a
decorated council member blocked my way and the fear returned
instantaneously.
“
Elfreda.”
I cautiously dipped my head in respect.
“
Juniper Fountain has
received the calling.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “... wha…” I
started to ask him to repeat the statement, but I had heard clear
enough. I went for the more important questions. “When?”
He grimaced at my disrespectful manner. “Not
long.”
Not long? Not long ago? Not
long from now?
Ugh
.
Keep pushing. “Where?”
His mouth tightened. “That is council
business, Elfreda. That is Juniper Fountain’s path, not your own.”
He stepped aside and rolled his hand to encourage me out. “Make
your way.”
I pushed past him
feverishly. I started toward town but quickly recalled the previous
day at the library and turned, heading toward home, until I
remembered my run in with Fannie.
I had
nowhere to go
. A pain throbbed deep in my
chest as I ran for the clearing where I'd spent the day with
Chevelle.
He was there, waiting for me. The pain in my
chest dulled a little. Or maybe it was only overwhelmed by a new
pressure. I crossed to him slowly. Junnie was all I'd had since I
came here and now she was gone. I wanted nothing more of Fannie.
What would I do? By the time I reached him, I knew what I wanted. I
wanted to retrieve my mother’s things from the vault. I would leave
this wretched place behind.
I made my stance more formal to match his. “I
want to learn transfer magic.”
His mouth tightened and he turned his head,
as if a half shake of no.
“
You taught me
fire.”
“
For
protection,
Freya.”
“
Please,” I begged. He
hesitated. I didn’t know how to convince him. Was it too soon for
me to learn? I knew there was an order to the spells, knew you must
earn the knowledge. If you went too fast or out of sequence you
could endanger yourself.
“
There is no hurry,” he
tried to persuade me.
“
There is,” I insisted, “I
am
running
.” I
didn’t know why I chose that word, I wasn’t bound here. Leaving
would have sufficed but it felt like running, felt like escape. And
I knew I was trapped, someone would stop me.
Yes, I was running
.
I swung my head to locate a
noise at the edge of the clearing behind me. Long robes… two
council members. Chevelle grabbed my shoulders as he spoke in a low
voice. “Home, Freya.
Run
.” I didn’t hesitate, I sprinted straight home without looking
back.
The house seemed empty but I didn’t check, I
went directly to my room and closed the door behind me. The single
flame still flickered above my bedside table. As I walked closer, I
noticed a package on my bed. I spun my hand and lit the room to
better see. It was a large ivory box tied with tweed. I slipped the
small note from under the knot.
Dearest Elfreda,
I must away without saying goodbye. I am sure
you cannot understand but please trust in me. Don this immediately.
–J.
I tugged at the tie and the
string fell away. I took a deep breath as I opened the lid. It
seemed like I couldn’t quite catch my breath anymore. I reached
inside and drew out a long white gown.
A
dress?
I couldn't fathom her reasoning, but I knew
Junnie must have gone through much to get me this package and I
would do as she'd asked. Numbly, I stared at her words while I
unfastened my shirt and removed my sash. The pouch I had rescued
from the vault fell to the bed. How had I forgotten? I kicked off
my shoes and pulled my top and pants off before sliding the gown
over my head and straightening the length with my hands. I laced
the corset tight at my waist and adjusted the plunging neckline as
I stepped into my best shoes.
I retrieved the velvet pouch from the bed to
examine the contents, but before I loosened the binding I heard a
crash behind me; three council guards had busted open my door. I
slipped the pouch under the long bell sleeve of the dress as they
crossed the room and grabbed my arms.
Chapter Five
Trials
I stood in the center of a council chamber I
had never seen before. The walls were lined with vast libraries of
the earliest books and between each shelf were ornate mirrors and
ancient decorations. Overhead was a great vaulted ceiling,
embellished by various paintings and carvings. Across the empty
space before me was an elaborate table that seated six leaders of
High Council. The guards who had brought me here had released my
arms and stood a few feet back on either side. Left of one were
council members and as I glanced right, Chevelle walked in and
stood at attention, facing the council table. I heard others enter
behind us, presumably witnesses, and I wondered if Junnie was among
them.
“
Elfreda Georgiana Suzetta
Glaforia stands before High Council...” The formal tone severed my
rambling thoughts and brought me back to a frightening reality.
What would they do to me? How bad could the punishment be for
sneaking into a library?
And stealing a
book
. Maybe it wasn’t even about that,
maybe Fannie had told them I broke into the vault. But they were my
family’s things too, it couldn’t be that bad.
She could lie
. Maybe it was about
something else, maybe something else.
Maybe
a dead bird
.
A guard approached me. I had
been rambling again, lost in my own thoughts. What had they said?
The council leaders were each focused on my chest, the pendant
there, lying flat against my skin in the V of the low cut gown and
I abruptly realized they had ordered the guard to remove it. Why
would they want my mother’s pendant? He stood, facing me, and
raised both hands to take the leather chain over my head as I
stared on insensibly. I felt his touch linger and automatically
glanced down, surprised to see he had a firm grip on the necklace
but wasn’t lifting it,
couldn’t
lift it. I looked to the council leaders as the
guard turned toward the table and decidedly stepped away from
me.
“
The crystal will not be
removed,” he said, and though he spoke only to them, it set in
motion behind us a wave of murmurs that filled the room and
reverberated up the high ceiling.
A council leader silenced the witnesses and
then trained on me. “Who instructed you in fusion?”
I didn’t have an answer, I’d never heard of
fusion. I didn’t know what to do. I looked toward Chevelle out of
desperation. Maybe he had an answer, maybe he could help me. He was
watching me, surprise clear on his face. Whatever I'd been accused
of, he hadn’t expected it.
The council leaders mistook the exchange as
an answer. “Chevelle Vattier, you have led this fusion?”
His head whipped back toward the council
table and he shot out a forceful, “No.”
They focused once more on me, “I ask again,
Elfreda, who taught you the magic to seal yourself to the
crystal?”
I was at a loss. I stood, helpless, as
Chevelle spoke up. “Elfreda.” He’d used my given name, I hoped
simply because we were in a formal setting and not because of
whatever horrible thing I had been accused of. He was pleading now.
“Where did you learn how to fuse the pendant with your blood?”
Fuse the pendant with my blood? What was he
talking about? I heard someone behind me. “… how did she know to
keep it from being removed?” And someone else. “… who even left it
with her?”
It came together then, the feeling I’d had
when I woke and placed it around my neck, the part of the dream I
shook off as I stood before the basin washing up, cleaning the
blood from my hands, from the pendant. I wanted to explain, tell of
what I’d seen in the dream, but it was foggy and I was too slow to
pull it into thought.
I was too late; they had already passed
judgment on me. Harsh judgment. The deep voice boomed with
finality. “… convicted of practicing dark magic…”
I reached out my hand to plead for mercy, to
beg to be given a chance to explain, and he began to list my
lineage for the records. I was flooded with fury at the injustice
as I heard my mother’s name and my outstretched hand became a fist.
The speaker’s voice cut off. He grabbed his throat as the other
council leaders rushed to him. His choking face stared directly at
me, unquestionably an accusation, and I realized I was cutting off
his windpipe, as if it were there in my outstretched fist. I
released my grip.
He was surrounded now, and
the room was filled with a roar of commotion and terror. My ears
rang sharply, I had to look away from it all. When I turned, I
caught my reflection in one of the larger mirrors, but it wasn’t
me. No, it must be me but… unrecognizable.
Not unrecognizable
. My hair was dark
and windblown, the bell sleeve of the long white gown hung from my
still outstretched arm and the pendant against my chest seemed to
be glowing. I ran.
As I ran from the chamber, I
couldn't tell if anyone had even noticed, they all appeared to be
staring at the speaker but, regardless, I concentrated furiously on
not being followed.
Do not catch me, do not
find me, do not follow, do not find me, let me go, let me be
safe
, I was almost chanting in my thoughts.
Out the building, out of the village, running as fast as I could, I
kept thinking it over and over and over. I didn’t know where I
would go, I just wanted away.
I found myself heading in
the same direction I had the day before. But no, hiding in a briar
patch wouldn’t work this time. Where
was
I going? I remembered my prior
conclusion, they would find me if they wanted, it would be easy
enough to find an elf with no magic and no clue. I stopped running.
I tried to go back through what had just happened but it was too
painful. I was so confused, so tired. I decided when they found me,
I would surrender. I could see no other option.
No one came. I wasn’t going
back but apparently they weren’t coming for me either. I didn’t
know what to do with myself. I had nothing outside of home, outside
of the village. I didn’t even know where to go, didn’t know where I
was really, just another clearing outside of the only town I’d ever
known, or ever
remembered
knowing. I decided to find the briar patch. It
wasn’t far, I found it easily and crawled into the narrow path I’d
made the last time. I hadn’t realized what a tight fit it was
then.
This stupid dress isn’t
helping
. I settled in and reached over to
brush the loose dirt off the papers I had buried.