Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (12 page)

No, she wasn't. And there
was one particular part that I was exceedingly curious about now. I
pushed the blankets off to find my pack but Ruby was faster. She
grinned as she handed it to me and gracefully stood to leave,
knowing what I'd wanted.

"Thanks, Ruby."

Her departing smile was
enchanting.

As soon as she'd turned, I
hurriedly flipped through the pages to the back of the diary,
finding the passage I was after.

“
You’re back.” His voice
was trembling, feeble. It was my Noble, young no more. He had been
waiting here for my return. An outcast of the village; no one
believed his tales of magic, the mysterious woman he claimed to
meet here. He confessed to spending years trying to find me. He’d
thought I was angry with him and that was why I’d not returned. He
was afraid to leave this spot, if I were to change my mind… forgive
him for whatever he’d done.

I pushed the guilt aside
when I recalled why I'd had to come here. For my Freya, to save
her. What my father did to me, to my mother, I would not let him do
to her. I knew what I must do, the only way. I approached the
grieving man and reached out to him. As I held his hands, I closed
my eyes. I could not watch as I snapped his neck, the way I had
with the small boar as my first show of magic to him so long ago. I
placated myself by remembering that he would soon be gone, his life
so short. I held him until he began to stiffen, and then carried
his lifeless body into the village. Proof that they would be
attacked and killed, proof that they must fight the elves. It was
not hard to incite a riot. They were fearful creatures. I convinced
them to raid the castle, gave them direction.

All that had happened and
it was still hard to read. But I'd found what I was looking
for,
gave them direction.
She had done it, my mother had impressed upon the
humans to find the castle and attack. She must have kept it a
secret from her father. She would have known the danger.

I thought of my dream
again, how I had run to her. I could recall the emotions, the
betrayal yes, but there was more. I had thought her ridiculous,
hadn't stood by her as Asher condemned her. And she had been right.
I'd run to her, slain her guards and... and what?

I tried to force the memory
but pain seared through my head. So instead I focused on what I did
have. Asher. He was still alive, and was somehow connected to this
group... my guard.

Comprehension came suddenly
and forcefully. I knew, not just from reading the diary, but I knew
intuitively what he wanted. Power and control. Unique enough to
assure his line, his rule. She had kept it a secret from him. He'd
known her child was half human, known she had found them, which had
probably given him the idea to try with me. He thought them dumb
like animals. But he did not know she could control the humans. Not
until she had created an army.

"Frey." Chevelle's voice
startled me. I looked up at him but he was staring at the diary on
the blanket beside me. "It's time to go."

I started to stand and he
grabbed my arm to help me, a little too forcefully for my taste.
But before I could protest, I realized I was standing unbearably
close to him. I could feel the length of his leg against the side
of mine and, too fast for me to look away, a flush tore through my
cheeks. He let go of my arm and turned, directing the others to the
horses.

I purposely kept a sluggish
pace as the others mounted, not wanting to ride near the front
where I knew he would be. And then I saw Anvil, his massive black
horse almost purring out breaths as they passed. I hurried, jumping
up into the saddle (and almost over the other side) to catch
him.

I casually fell in beside
him and gave him an earnest smile. It must have been transparent
because he laughed. I was undeterred. "Anvil," I tried to keep my
voice as subdued as possible, "do you mind if I ask you
something?"

"Probably."

I ignored him. "I was
reading my mother's diary and I was wondering... why would Asher
shun Fannie if she could use the animals?"

I expected him to give me a
stuttered reply spoken in a hushed tone or avoid answering all
together. He did neither, answering as clearly and normally as if
he had nothing to hide. "Francine kept her ability a secret. Not
just from Asher but from everyone."

I was speechless, I
couldn't even think of a follow up question. But he continued, "She
was smarter than anyone gave her credit for and paranoid to
boot."

I considered that,
remembering her conspiracy theories about High Council and the
villagers. I had thought them ridiculous, but, in hindsight, they
had more substance than I'd have imagined possible.

As I reflected, I caught
sight of a familiar expression on Anvil's face. It hadn't always
been familiar, not before I'd regained part of my memories, but I
could see his manner, like a reflection now. I'd been impressed
when I was younger, the way he'd regarded my grandfather. Such a
contrast from the others. Not like Asher was his ruler, but as if
he were his equal. No concern, no formality, just himself, calm and
undaunted by it all. He would have never bowed to
Lord
Asher. I found
myself smiling at the memory.

Chapter Seven

Out of the Blue

We rode without event for
days and I realized I'd started to become relaxed instead of more
prepared for the battle we were heading toward. When we stopped for
the evening I sought out Ruby for training, even though I knew
after a few whip lashes I'd regret it.

But she must have been
taking it easy on me because I didn't fare too badly, even besting
her twice. She cut practice short, prattling something about Grey,
and then stomped off toward Chevelle. I watched her for a moment
but a chill caught me as I stood, now motionless. I picked up my
pack and found the closest thing to an isolated spot I could to
change into some warmer clothes.

Ruby had taken to tinkering
with my clothes so the strings of the vest I held were adorned with
jewels and feathers. It reminded me of my strategy to sweep the sky
each day, which I cringed at neglecting. I stuffed the bejeweled
vest back into the pack but the next morning, as soon as we
mounted, I found a vessel and closed my eyes, settling into its
mind.

Though it had been a cool
morning, the sun was bright and the sky was clear. It was
embarrassing how long I soared before I noticed something was
wrong. I didn't exactly know where we were going, but I had no
doubt that wherever council was, it wasn't back up the
mountain.

I pulled back to my body
and, almost before I opened my eyes, shot out, "Where are we
going?"

Five pair of eyes focused
on me. Ruby spoke. "Oh."

"
Oh?
"

"Well, when you were
comatose the other night, there was a change of plans."

I ignored her remark about
my... episode. "And no one thought they should tell me?" I was
irked.

"Gee, Frey, you just go so
easily these days, I didn't know if I should." She thought it was
funny.

I heard my teeth
grind.

Her teasing tone
disappeared in an instant. "Frey, please. Trust us."

I waited.

"Fine," she sighed. "We are
going back to the castle."

The castle? I had been so
far off. We had been riding for days in the opposite direction and
I'd had no idea. I didn't know what irritated me worse, the fact
that they’d left me in the dark or that I'd been oblivious. And
then my brain caught up with my reaction. "Wait, why are we going
back to the castle?"

The horses slowed to a walk
and I could feel the tension surge. I swallowed hard as I waited
for her to form a response. "Freya, Fannie has destroyed a number
of Grand Council members. Those who remain are not waiting for her
there."

I let that sink in. It
hadn't sounded half as bad as I'd expected. I wondered if they were
chasing after her now, and where, if they had given up on me for
the moment, and then, again, my mind caught up. "How
many?"

"We do not have an exact
count."

"But several. And... Ruby,
I don't have my mind back." I felt my features contort and tried to
compose them.

"We will take care of you,
Frey. We will find those that remain and-"

"Ruby," I interrupted,
"
why?
Why haven't
I recovered? How many of them were in on the binding?"

"It's not how many, Frey.
It's which ones."

The information formed a
tumult and I took a deep breath as I attempted to find order.
Fannie was slaughtering council at random, she'd caused them to
scatter or come after her. And we had to find the right ones, those
who had twisted the spell through my mind. Then I recalled Junnie's
part in the ordeal. She'd shown up, out of the blue, and informed
on Fannie. So, she was acting on behalf of Grand Council? But I'd
seen her fighting against them at that initial battle, before she'd
gone after Asher.

My head was beginning to
throb so I drew back in an attempt to not focus. It was near
impossible and, in the end, I gave up and returned to the sky to
avoid the commotion in my head.

I circled overhead for a
while, watching us ride below and contemplating what a peculiar
view I had: I was seeing myself. I started to play a game, jumping
from the bird to my body, the view from above, the view from below,
but the strange flashes made me a little dizzy so I returned to the
bird.

I was flying when I was
attacked. Large hooks tore into my back, taking feathers with them
when they pulled away a second later. I could see the weathered
yellow curve of a beak as I was assaulted again, talons tearing
into my wings this time. I tried to maneuver clear of my aggressor
but it was futile, I was struck again and again, each time the
sharp claws tearing out my feathers. I fought to no avail. Somehow
I knew it was the loss of my feathers so I relaxed just enough to
let the bird have its control, hoping its instincts would guide us
better than my efforts. We were being thrashed by the attacker and
nothing I could do seemed to be working.

And then I remembered
myself. It wasn't my body being assailed. The realization eased the
alarm that was building and a new plan formed. I jumped to the mind
of the other bird but the second I hit, the tension increased
tenfold. The shock threw me back to my mind and my own body jerked
in response. I was just trying to breathe but I drew in a gasp as
my head snapped up to find her in the sky.

"Frey!" I heard Ruby and I
was instantly annoyed. The moment the anger had switched to
irritation, I realized I wasn't actually in danger.

I
was
incensed, however. My eyes
narrowed on her in the blue but before I could pluck her head from
her neck, both birds dropped from the sky. I watched them as they
plummeted, finally landing with a dry thud on the ground. I had
expected a softer landing somehow.

I shook my head as I turned
to look at the others, who were waiting for an
explanation.

"Frey?" Chevelle
asked.

I sighed. "I was just up
there," I pointed to the sky for unnecessary emphasis, "and I was
flipping mugged."

"That's all?"

"No." I hesitated but it
was almost pointless now, they knew so much. "There was someone
there. Fannie, I think."

The group was suddenly in
an uproar, confusion and anger eddied around me. I was bewildered.
I interrupted the commotion. "Wait, if you didn't know it was her,
why did you drop them?" I asked, indicating the lifeless bodies on
the ground.

"I told you, all of them,"
Anvil directed at Chevelle, almost with a grin, I was
sure.

Chevelle nodded in assent
as he looked at me. "No more birds."

He was telling me I
couldn't fly?
I was beside myself.
"Why?"

"We only left them for
you," he said with a hint of regret in his voice. It took a moment
before I understood. They had been killing all the animals, left
nothing but the birds. He wasn't asking me to give up them up, he
was informing the others to destroy them.

Fannie hadn't hurt me,
she'd only really irritated me. But now, she'd gotten my birds
taken away. I suppressed a growl.

I saw Chevelle and the
others visually sweep our surroundings as they set off again. I
just sat, staring at them. One of them must have noticed because my
horse unexpectedly took off, nearly tossing me from my saddle with
an abrupt start before joining the group. I had to restrain myself
from riding with my arms crossed in a defiant glower.

Anvil was riding beside me,
very nearly smiling at my scowl, and by some means I felt slightly
less irritated. I couldn't fathom his effect on me. He was in some
of the few memories I had recovered after the battle with council.
I could see him there, his magnetism strong even in a faded
recollection.