by J. A. Curtis
“Or we grant him access to what he wants. Me.”
“I’ll make sure we keep a close eye on him, if that’s what you—”
“No!” Chels shouted. “I will not allow you to bring Dramian and his delinquent followers into this camp!”
I frowned as the faeries of the Haven around the clearing stopped what they were doing and turned alarmed eyes on the tent behind me.
Not quiet enough, Mina.
The eyes were moving from the tent to me. I could no longer just stand there. The anger in their eyes warned the beginning of a rebellion. I entered the tent.
Mina advanced on Chels. “Shut up,” she hissed. “Shut up, you stupid—”
“No! I am your queen! I will not—”
She gasped as Mina gripped Chels’s arm, twisting it behind her.
“H-hey! Get off me!”
Mina shoved Chels out through the tent’s entrance. Chels stumbled into the light of day. I followed Mina out as she stalked behind Chels, looking ready for a fight.
“Time to gather round everyone,” Mina announced, “and meet your queen.” Her face displayed a dangerous look. “This is her, the one we’ve all been waiting for, holed up in her tent, refusing to come out. Should we tell them, Arius, how we dragged her, kicking and screaming all the way here? Or how about how all she can talk about is going home and exposing us so we can be broken up and scattered among the humans? She doesn’t care about us. She doesn’t care about anything.” She turned to me. “Arius, Palon, give me your swords.”
The faeries gathered around.
Mina walked up and took Palon’s offered sword, then stepped up to me, her hand out. The way she stood was still a little off balance, and there was a manic glint in her eye. But there was also something else, an expectation that I comply. Before I’d have balked at such a gesture, but now I knew, Mina always had greater reasons for the things she did. And even in her unsteady state, I trusted her.
I handed over my sword.
She threw Palon’s sword on the ground at Chels’s feet while hefting my own. “Fight.”
Chels’s eyes grew round, her mouth slack, her face ghost-white. “Are you insane?”
Mina’s grip tightened on my sword. “Fight! Coward!”
Chels turned as if to ask for help, but the faeries watched her with stony faces. If there was something worse than uniting with Dramian, it was the possibility of being turned over to the humans.
Chels turned to me, but I watched her with a hard gaze. Let the faeries know, if there was a question who I would back between the two, it would be the person who had the faeries’ best interest at heart.
“You—I can’t—I want to go home!” Chels cried and ran for her tent, disappearing inside.
Mina raised her sword. “Faeries of the Haven, if any of you think you can do a better job. If you want to stop me. If you want this responsibility, I challenge you—pick up the sword and face me.”
The manic expression remained on her face, but also filled with a shadow of hope. A few of the faeries’ eyes flicked to me. I never wavered. I knew who should be in charge, and it wasn’t me. When nobody moved, her sword lowered and her shoulders sagged. Was she relieved, or had she wanted someone to challenge her?
“Then listen,” Mina continued. “We are on a precipice. We make the wrong move and we will all be destroyed. Margus and those working with him outnumber us, and most of them are full-grown adults who have much more experience with their faerie guardians than us. We have this one chance to unite with Dramian and those who follow him before their numbers join Margus against us.”
I stepped up behind her. “We unite or perish. I choose to follow the commands of our general. What say you?”
Palon came forward, gathered his sword and faced Mina. He dropped to one knee, placing the point of his sword down in the grass. “I will follow the commands of my general.”
Caelm came next, dropping to one knee and planting his sword in the grass. “I will follow the commands of my general.”
Luchta and Earlana came forward, followed by the rest of the faeries, who each bent a knee, agreeing to follow Mina’s command all the way down to the little five-year-olds. Kris stood behind the line of faeries, looking uncertain.
Mina stared at me, a soft smile on her face and gratitude in her eyes.
I knelt before her. “We are with you, General.”
I SCOUTED AHEAD PAST the boundary line. No humans were around for as far as my eyes could see. The trees loomed above my head, and for a moment, I let myself breathe in the familiar scents of the forest.
Movement caught my attention. I slid behind a tree and drilled in as far as my eyes allowed among the foliage. Yes, there were several figures moving through the forest toward us. I made out Dramian with his dragon tattoo. They were still a ways away.
Logically, Mina was right. Either we united with Dramian and his followers, or they united with our enemies. She’d needed me, and the faeries needed someone who could lead.
And yet, this decision to unite with Dramian left me with a deep foreboding.
I waited till they came closer, moving through the forest, to see who was with him. The older kids walked up front. Raedia flashed into view occasionally, no doubt scouting ahead. Behind them were the younger children with their domovye, carrying the babies and other supplies, bringing up the rear.
I walked back to the boundary line where Mina waited. The wound on her forehead and the bandages on her arms were gone, signs that she had taken advantage of Caelm’s healing touch. The other faeries of the Haven stood behind her, waiting at attention. The only people not present were Chels, who we determined would be better off not with us; Docina, who guarded her; and Kris, who also waited back at camp. Most likely, Mina wanted to protect the human just in case things didn’t go as planned. That may have said the most about Mina’s plans. Not even she was sure it was going to work out.
“They will be here within ten minutes. Everything looks as it should. With your permission, I will escort them in,” I said.
“No, if everything looks okay, then there is no need for an escort,” Mina said.
I frowned, wondering if she doubted whether I could keep my cool in Dramian’s presence or if she worried about offending Dramian by the potential show of distrust. But I bowed. “Yes, m’lady.”
I took my place at the head of the line of faeries, standing behind her, and watched as Dramian and his followers made their slow approach.
Dramian came forward at the head of his troops and stopped in front of Mina.
“Thank you for coming,” Mina said.
Dramian’s eyes moved along the line of faeries until they stopped on me. I kept a neutral expression on my face. As our eyes met, I put all the warning I could into my gaze. If he was thinking of double crossing us, there would be consequences.
Mina took a small step toward him, drawing his attention back to her. “We have a space prepared for you and your troops. Palon will show you to your spot. After you are settled, we can meet and discuss your needs.”
A smile crossed Dramian’s face, and he approached Mina, his arms wide like he was about to embrace her. “Sounds wonderful, Mina.”
Mina jerked back, her eyes flashing in warning. Any sign of personal affection between her and Dramian would undermine everything she was trying to do. That would ruin the fragile trust of the faeries.
Dramian paused and dropped his arms. There was a weird sort of awkward tension between them, but with a familiarity to it—similar to Jazrael rejecting Dramian’s advances when she secretly desired him.
Mina turned to the rest of us. “You are dismissed.”
I stumbled away, a burning in my chest. The intimacy with which Dramian moved—was there something going on between Mina and Dramian? They’d loved each other in their past life. What did that mean?
She passed over me and assigned Palon to show Dramian their new spot. As well she should. Palon wouldn’t lose his temper, as I was always so p
rone to do around Dramian.
Palon. Calm, capable, intimidating Palon. He never lost his temper, yet he was the most dangerous fighter here. His super strength had forced him to be in constant control so as not to hurt others. But when he unleashed that strength, he was unstoppable. We all knew it. Even Dramian. He’d once taken on Dramian’s dragon with his bare hands. I’d seen it.
My teeth clenched. Probably for the best, I thought as I slipped into the backwoods. Not like I deserve my position, anyway. And yet, that foreboding still haunted me. I drifted back into the trees until, to anyone watching, I’d appear lost in shadow.
I spun around, letting my back rest against a nearby trunk, and watched the newcomers set up camp. So many years spent on guard for the enemy's approach from outside the Haven...
Now, we would need eyes turned inward on our own camp.
25
Uneasy Truce
Mina
“Keep faith in people, Mina. It’s the only way to live.”—Nana
I WATCHED ARIUS DISAPPEAR among the trees. Again. He was gone, again. I wanted to run after him and scream. Didn’t he see everything I was trying to do? Everything I was trying to hold together?
I just told him I needed his help, and he’d followed through spectacularly when I announced Dramian was joining us. But that help, as always, was fleeting. There one moment, gone the next.
I stomped to my tent. Kris lay on her makeshift bed staring at the canvas ceiling. I’d asked her to stay behind for her own safety. It was the same reason I’d insisted we bunk together, not that I had a problem with it, anyway. But the faeries were suspicious of humans. I didn’t want her getting hurt.
“How’d it go?” Kris asked.
“Fine.”
“Then why don’t you look fine?”
I gestured outside the tent as if the motion would explain everything. “I was going to ask Arius to meet with Dramian and me, but—he’s gone again.”
“Back into the forest?” Kris asked.
“He keeps doing that. Doesn’t he see how much I—how much we all need him?”
Kris’s head tilted as she regarded me. “He’s had it pretty rough. He lost Nuada. He thought he lost you—”
“I get it. I’ve lost people too.”
Kris stood. “No. You don’t get it, Mina. You may have given up your family, but at least you know they are alive and well. There is a difference between missing someone and knowing they’re gone for good.”
I wanted to point out that Nuada was still around, but the look on Kris’s face stopped me. There was pain there. A pain I knew extended to me. We were best friends, and she’d thought I’d been dead—gone for good.
“I’m sorry, Kris,” I said.
She ran a hand through her hair, blinking. “He’s loyal to you, Mina. Just give him some time.”
I nodded, but frustration filled me. I had given him time. I’d given him so much time, and he didn’t seem any better. How much more time could I give? How much would he take? Every day he was out of action, the burden on my shoulders grew heavier.
“Mina.” Dramian’s voice came from outside the tent.
I took a breath. “Come in.”
He entered, a frown on his face. “The queen didn’t go along, did she?”
“The queen isn’t calling the shots at the moment.”
Tension radiated off him. “We agreed. We’d only come if you convinced the queen.”
“You’re too good at making people hate you, Dramian,” I said. “I’m going to need more than one night to undo that.”
“I had higher expectations of your abilities—”
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Kris muttered.
Dramian turned at the sound of Kris’s voice, taking her in for the first time.
Kris stepped up next to me. “You’re really going to blame Mina for something that’s your fault? How pathetic.”
Dramian’s eyes flashed. “Excuse me?”
“No, I don’t think I will.” Her unyielding gaze held his. “Not until you can man up to your mistakes and stop expecting Mina to fix your problems for you.”
He scowled. “I saved her from Margus.”
“After you kidnapped Chels and got Mina captured in the first place.”
Dramian glared at Kris. I fought to hold back a smile.
Kris stepped closer, getting in his face. “She did the work to get you here. She convinced a group of faeries who have loathed you for years—someone who burnt down their home—to let you in. You should thank her for making the near impossible happen.” She shook her head. “You don’t deserve her.”
She turned, threw the tent flap back, and exited.
Dramian blinked, then slowly turned back to me. “Who was that?”
I couldn’t hold it any longer. A smile spread across my face. “That was Kris.”
After Kris left, Dramian and I spent time discussing supplies and logistics and the division of duties. When our conversation wound down, he rose. “I guess I should get back.” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I guess I should thank you.”
My lips parted in surprise, and I sucked in a small breath.
He stared out of the tent. “It probably wasn’t easy getting Arius and the others to go along.”
“It wasn’t,” I said.
“I should go,” he said again and made to leave.
“Dramian.”
He stopped and glanced back at me.
“Can I trust you?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed. “You really should have asked that question before inviting me here.”
Then he was gone, the tent flap falling closed behind him.
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, we fell into a kind of awkward rhythm. Dramian’s faeries took half the watches and half the chores around camp. The two sides, though having to work together, seemed to dance around each other, mingling as little as possible. They never associated during downtime, preferring to stay in their own section of camp.
Other than brief visits to the outhouse, Chels hadn’t left her tent since our confrontation, and I hadn’t bothered to stop by and visit, although I made sure there was always one faerie of the Haven standing guard outside her tent. Part of me recognized I’d have to confront her soon, but then I’d find an excuse not to and put it off for another day.
Arius wasn’t around either. Occasionally, I saw him helping Luchta, building the new cabins, but other than that, I assumed he was off hiding.
Luchta hadn’t been thrilled when she realized she now had to oversee the construction of two new cabins, which meant twice as many trees, which required twice as many supplies. Veran, who supplied us with food, hadn’t been very happy either.
“You guys think I just touch something and it duplicates,” he complained. “Tell me, is that how your guys’ abilities work? Because it takes a ton of work to get it right. I’ve been half-afraid of poisoning everyone this whole time.”
“But we’re faeries,” I pointed out. “We wouldn’t die from being poisoned.”
Well, as long as it wasn’t magic poison...
“No, but our bodies would still react, and if I get it wrong, then over time, they’ll react to a lack of nutrition. It's why we don’t live off of Rowan berries.”
We really were lucky to have Veran around. “I’m sorry, how can I make this easier? Switch off nights? One night half of us live off Rowan berries while you make enough food for the other half, and then the next night we switch?”
“I guess that’ll help,” he grumbled.
“Thanks, Veran.”
I left him in search of Kris. I found her talking to Docina.
“Hey Kris,” I said.
“Hey Mina, did you know Docina can read my mind?” Kris said. “I mean, she can’t do it without me specifically thinking something to her. But she gets it right every time.”
“That’s great. Can we talk? Alone?”
“Sure.” We walked back to our tent. “What’s up?” Kris as
ked after we entered.
I let the tent flap slide from my fingers and turned to face her. “It’s Dramian.”
“Yeah,” Kris huffed. “He’s a piece of work.”
“I was wondering if you could talk to him?”
“Seriously?”
“He’s in pain. His brother, Iris, was killed. I thought you could help him.”
“I can try. But if he doesn’t want to talk, then...” She shrugged.
“Oh, Dramian will talk,” I said with certainty. “The question is whether he’ll let you help him.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “I... uh... was also wondering if you might find out what his intentions are?”
Kris’s eyebrows raised. “Intentions?”
“Not with me,” I blurted, biting my cheek harder. “I mean what his plans are—whether we can trust him.”
“You want me to be your spy?”
I gave her my best pleading look. “All of our safety relies on what he intends to do.”
Kris ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know, Mina. That goes against everything I’m about.”
“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t life or death,” I pressed. “And who knows? If you can help him resolve some of his issues, maybe that’ll solidify his loyalty to us.”
Kris snorted. “No pressure.”
“Yeah. But he blocks me out because...” my position of power, my culpability in Iris’s death, Arius... “Well, there are a lot of reasons.”
Dramian was supposed to be the open brother. Perhaps that’s why it disturbed me so much that he was so closed off.
Kris chewed on her bottom lip but then nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I gripped her arm. “Thank you.”
She nodded again. “Okay. But Mina, it’ll be Sunday soon. My parents get home Sunday night. If I’m not home by then...”
I released her arm. She wanted to leave? Of course she did. Kris wasn’t a faerie. I had dragged her along because of her willingness to help me. But would she be safe going home? Unlike my family, she didn’t have the protection of ignorance. If the Fomori got their hands on her, she’d be just as easy to leverage against me as Arius.
