Elizabeth straightened up. “Or we could use this as a chance to scare her off. Say we’re going to meet with her, send her to a bad part of the woods—make sure it’s during the daytime so her vampire parents won’t be around to save her—”
“That’s enough,” Mary said firmly, staring at her daughter. “We’re not causing any trouble. I’ll pass this note along to someone else in the group and let them come up with a way to handle it.” She turned to me. “What does yours say?”
I looked down again and realized that my hands were shaking. I stood up slowly, steadying myself with a hand on the back of the chair. “I think I’ll go read this in private.”
Akasha jumped up out of her chair. “I get to see it, too.” When I tried to stare her down, she scowled. “She’s my family, too. I miss her.”
I sighed, remembering the constant sisterly bickering. “If this is what it takes to get you to care about your sister—”
“Mom, just let me read it!”
“Fine.” I left the room without looking behind me to see if she would follow.
Back upstairs, I sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. Menolly leaped up next to me and wound her way into my lap, nudging my hand. I smiled and stroked her long, soft fur. As my familiar, she was tuned into my emotions, and her comfort and companionship were more valuable to me than the small assistance she offered in my witchcraft.
Akasha sat on the chair across from me and folded her arms impatiently.
I opened the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of lined notebook paper. I unfolded it and saw Rosa’s decorative curlicued letters.
Dear Mom,
A lot has happened since the last time I saw you. I can’t say that I understand why you did this, but I don’t want to fight with you or see you suffer.
I’m really worried about Akasha. I don’t think it’s fair that you took her. She’s missing a lot of school. Dad and I miss her a lot, and it’s hard for us to not even know if she is safe. Whatever you’re trying to do, she’s just a kid and she shouldn’t get mixed up in this.
I want to make a deal with you. If you let Akasha come back to Dad safely, we won’t ask any questions or try to find you. The Faerie Court is trying to find you but I won’t help them if I just get my little sister back.
Please try to find it in your heart to do the right thing for her.
Still your loving daughter,
Rosamunde
Akasha listened quietly while I read the letter aloud, but at the end she cleared her throat. “You have to let me go back.”
I looked up at her and blinked back tears. “You’d leave me all alone?”
She shrugged and looked at the floor. “This isn’t really working out. You keep promising you’ll make things better, but it never comes true. I can’t keep living like this.”
My chest felt heavy. I looked down at Menolly. “Will you go, too, and leave me with nothing?”
The cat closed her eyes and leaned into my hand.
I looked back up at Akasha. “Let me try one more thing. Maybe your sister would actually be able to help us. If it doesn’t work, I’ll let you go back.”
“Okay.” She pointed at me. “Don’t forget your promise that you’ll get someone to bring my books here. I have the space, now I want my stuff.”
I managed a weak smile. “Of course, dear. I’ll do that today. But first, let me tell the others about the plan.”
When I nudged the cat off my lap and stood up, Akasha jumped to her feet and hugged me.
“I don’t really want to leave you, Mommy. It’s just hard.”
I patted her head. “I know, and I’m sorry for putting you through all of this, but I’m trying to do what I think is best. I need you to trust me.”
Mary and Elizabeth listened intently as I read Rosa’s letter aloud. When I finished, I looked at both pookhas, struggling to keep my face from betraying how I felt.
“I think we should respond to this one,” I said in an even tone. “Rosamunde isn’t easily discouraged, and she’ll keep digging until she finds me. We have to give her something to keep her occupied without letting her get too close to the truth.”
Mary frowned. “I need to ask you, Akasha, would you rather go live with your father? It might be better for you to get away from this situation.”
Akasha piped up, “If this doesn’t work, I’ll go back to Dad. But I’ve agreed to wait while you try to stop the Seelie Court.”
“But she’d rather stay with me,” I added defensively. “I’m her mother.” Mary wasn’t going to force me to send her back.
Elizabeth snorted and turned away.
Mary nudged her daughter under the table. “Don’t be rude.”
The girl held up her hands defensively. “Hey, I get it. She had one daughter brainwashed by the stupid faeries and she doesn’t want to let them get their hands on the other one.” She raised her eyebrows at me with a smirk. “It’s not just her dad she would go back to, am I right? It’s that whole corrupt system.”
“But if hiding keeps her out of school and could lead to her getting in trouble—”
“Akasha is staying with me,” I snapped. I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Rosamunde will help us if she thinks she’s helping her sister.”
Mary shifted in her chair. “Won’t she just send the hunters after us again?”
“My intention is that she won’t have any real contact with anyone in the group. Except perhaps someone her own age, someone who could sympathize with her problems.” I looked directly at Elizabeth. “Someone who already sees her nearly every day.”
Mary coughed. “Now, James and I have always said that it was better if Lizzie didn’t get directly involved.”
Elizabeth groaned. “Don’t call me that, Mom. Everyone is Liz or Lizzie. I like Zil better.”
“What kind of a name is Zil? I’ve never heard of it before.”
“Exactly! It’s different. Elizabeth is a really common name.”
“You don’t want a weird name,” Akasha interrupted. “People make fun of you, and nobody spells it right.”
I cleared my throat to stop the argument. “I don’t want to put your daughter at risk,” I said quietly, glancing at Mary. “She can’t avoid me now, of course, but she should stay away from the others in our group and our real activities. If Rosamunde does turn her over to the Seelie Court, I want her to be able to honestly say that she never worked for the Unseelie. The Fae will be able to tell if she lies.”
Elizabeth sat up straight, her eyes sparkling with interest. “Any way that I can help, I still want to do it, dangerous or not. I’m old enough now that I should be able to stand up for what I believe in.” She grabbed Mary’s hand. “Please let me do this, Mom.”
Mary sighed and looked at Akasha. “And this is what you want, too?”
Akasha nodded. “If I can stay with Mom and not get her in trouble, that’s what I want. Please help.”
“Okay.” Mary took Elizabeth’s hand. “We’ll hear the plan, and then I’ll talk it over with my husband.”
I pulled out a chair and leaned forward across the table to speak with them in a low voice. “We’ll have to adapt as we go on, but this is what I had in mind.”
True to my word, I worked to make things better for Akasha in the meantime. Mary set up Akasha with an online middle school where she could continue her studies under a fake name, using one of the old computers in the house. I was skeptical that she would learn much through the computer, but it was no worse than studying with her books on her own. If it made her happy, then I wouldn’t stop her.
Then at dinnertime, there was a knock on the back door in the code that we’d arranged for Unseelie visitors. James, Mary’s husband, checked out the window, then opened the door.
Sir Allen, a faeriekin knight from the court, stood on the step holding a box. “Somebody ordered a book delivery?” he said with a dazzling smile.
Akasha peeked into the hallway and leaped forward whe
n she saw what was in the box. “You brought my stuff!” She snatched a battered paperback from the top of the pile. “I missed these so much.”
Sir Allen put the box down on the floor and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “There’s a few more boxes in my car. Hang on and I’ll bring them in for you.”
James helped carry the heavy boxes of books inside and upstairs to Akasha’s borrowed room, and when everything was inside, Mary politely invited him to stay for dinner. I’d actually cooked most of the meal myself, as my way of giving back to our host family—pot roast and vegetables, a hearty meal for the chilly night.
Sir Allen accepted, and we moved into the dining room with the food, a crowd of six. Somehow the knight ended up sitting next to me, and I found myself self-consciously avoiding him, leaning away so that I wouldn’t accidentally brush up against him.
Mary and James also looked at the faeriekin warily. At last, Mary cleared her throat and asked him directly. “I recognize you from Count Duncan’s personal guard. Why are you helping a fugitive?”
Sir Allen flashed that easy-going smile again. “I volunteered to join the hunt for Rosmerta. It lets me keep tabs on what the Seelie Court knows, and it also gives me access to her house, so when she needs something, I can get in without attracting attention.”
Akasha had been reading her book at the table, a habit that I usually discouraged, but now her head jerked up and she stared at Sir Allen. “I remember you from the castle. You could’ve gotten my books all along?” She turned on me. “Mom, why didn’t you get them sooner?”
I shook my head. “It was riskier before, and you know that we didn’t have the space to keep them. Just be grateful now.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Allen said, addressing the girl as if she were an equal instead of a child. “I was the one who warned your mother away. Rosamunde was at the house only last week, and I was afraid she would check to see if anything was missing.”
Mary raised her eyebrows. “So you talk to Rosamunde, too.”
I cleared my throat. “My daughter doesn’t know of his connection to me. Sir Allen has secretly been assisting me for years, so that I know some of what goes on in the Count’s court, but to protect his double identity, he usually doesn’t contact any other Unseelie directly.” I looked around the table. “You must make sure that you don’t mention him to anyone else.”
James frowned. “But why do you betray the Count when you’re sworn to protect him personally?”
Allen’s smile faded, revealing lines on his face. He wasn’t as old as the Count, but he wasn’t young even by faeriekin standards, and sadness showed his age. “My father was one of the founding faeries of this county. He was banished when I was very young.” He looked down at the table. “I was raised in the Court, and granted knighthood for my service to the Count. Then I learned the truth about what Duncan had done to my father.”
I raised my finger. “But they don’t know that he knows, or that it’s turned him against them. I made sure that he didn’t go confront the Count directly.”
Mary nodded. “I understand.”
Akasha pushed her plate away and stood up from the table. “I’m going to go read in my room. Thanks for my books,” she said with a small smile at Sir Allen.
I opened my mouth to call her back to clean up, then just shook my head and picked up her dishes myself.
9
First Test
Rosamunde
Heather had left a letter in code at Rose’s Garden, written with Ashleigh and Glen’s help, and she checked back every day after school to see if there was a response. I didn’t tell my friends that I’d sent a letter of my own to Mom, although Kai suspected I had because he’d been there when Feste made the suggestion. We all waited for something to happen—an answer, a threat, anything to let us know that the letter had gone through.
Three days later, on Wednesday, Heather came to school looking even more pale and nervous than usual. Before class started, she pulled all of us over in the hallway and held out an envelope with a shaky hand.
I recognized the wax seal on the outside. “Did you go by the store this morning?” I said in surprise. Heather rode the bus to school and couldn’t make stops easily on the way.
She shook her head and handed the letter to Glen. “This came to my house.”
Ashleigh’s eyes widened. “And your parents didn’t sense anything?”
“I didn’t ask them, but I think they would have said something if they knew.”
Glen opened it and pulled out a photograph. It showed Heather, standing in front of Rose’s Garden and peeking into the letter box. He turned it over and read the other side, written in plain English instead of code. “‘This does not concern you. Stay away or else.’ That’s it?”
I leaned closer, straining to see if there were some hidden message or symbol that might give us a further clue. Why was there a note for Heather and not for me? I didn’t remember seeing anything unusual in my house that morning.
“It’s just as cryptic as the last one,” I grumbled.
Kai slid an arm around my waist and kissed the side of my head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. It looks like this was another dead end.”
Heather pointed at the envelope. “Can’t you do that spell thing again and check where it came from, at least?”
“It was probably delivered by a ghost again.” I sighed. “And that would just lead us back to the ghost town. Around in a circle.”
Ashleigh and Glen shared that look again. “Maybe that’s where we need to concentrate our efforts,” she said.
Glen nodded. “We found some books in the castle library, about the history of the area. Some of them mention Byrnes Camp. Maybe we can get the real story about what happened there and how the Unseelie were involved.”
I snorted. “What good will that do us? Stuff that happened back then won’t tell us where my mom is now. And if you really wanted to know, why wouldn’t you just ask your grandfather? He was here when it happened.”
Glen cleared his throat and shifted from one foot to the other. “Well, he doesn’t really like to talk about it.”
Ashleigh put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s a touchy subject, given the family involvement.”
Now there was something I’d never heard before. “Family involvement? Yours?”
His eyes were shadowed as they met mine. “Who do you think founded the town?”
I realized that the answer had already been staring me in the face. Glen’s last name was Byrnes.
Ashleigh moved on in her usual bubbly manner. “So I was thinking that this weekend, everyone could come up to the castle and hit the books. We still have leftover apple cider and I can ask the staff to cook something. A cozy fire in the library, good food, and hot cider. We’ll make it a pleasant afternoon while we dig through the dusty old history books together.”
Heather brightened up a little bit. “That sounds like fun.”
But I wasn’t done questioning Glen. “If the Count doesn’t like to talk about this stuff, then how does he feel about you investigating and spreading around old family secrets? I thought you had to keep some things private for our own safety.” I was still mad at him from the week before.
Glen glanced away. “I haven’t told anyone else about our suspicions yet. I thought you would feel better if I didn’t get any official involvement in this until it was really necessary.”
I shut up, feeling guilty. Glen and Ashleigh had kept Mom’s spells secret for as long as they could, even though they were worried about my safety, because I had asked them to let me try handling it. Although I wasn’t happy with what the Faerie Court had done since then, and I’d been resenting the two of them for it, I had to keep in mind that they were still my friends and they wanted to respect my wishes—as far as they felt they could.
Maybe I should have told them that I’d sent a letter of my own. But did it even matter, since I never got an answer? Unless my letter had somehow triggered the negative reac
tion to Heather’s.
Kai interrupted my thoughts by tugging me down the hall. “Rosa, we gotta go or we’ll be late for class. Are you okay?”
I looked up. “Oh, yeah, just thinking.”
I pulled away from him and half-ran down the hall for a few steps to catch up with Ashleigh. “Hey, Saturday sounds like a good idea. Thanks.”
She smiled at me. “No problem. We’re just trying to help. I know this is a rough time for you.”
On her other side, Heather nodded. “We’ll all be there Saturday.”
I fell back to walk with Kai again, but even as I slipped my arm around him, I looked ahead at the other three. Ashleigh, Glen, and Heather were all walking close with their heads together, whispering about something that I couldn’t hear. Something was weird. When had the three of them become so close?
It wasn’t fair of me to be jealous. I spent more time with Kai than anyone else. But I was the first one to talk to Heather and bring her into our group, and I felt momentarily possessive of her.
But the five of us were already sitting at our end of the table in the classroom, and pulling out our textbooks before the bell rang. There was no time to think about it. I let the moment pass.
That afternoon, in orchestra during the mid-class break, someone came up behind me and put their hands over my eyes. “Guess who,” said a husky girl’s voice.
I flinched under the sudden touch. “Who? Oh—Zil.”
The hands fell away, and I turned around to look at the pookha girl. Recently, she’d taken to wearing ratty black hoodies over her school uniform. It wasn’t exactly allowed in the dress code, and though a few teachers had been giving her disapproving glances, no one had written her up yet.
She stood there with her arms folded, looking down at me. “Can we go outside? I need to talk to you about something kinda private.”
I had no idea what she could want to talk about, since Zil and I had never been close friends, but I stood up and set my clarinet on the chair, where no one could kick it over. “Uh, sure.”
Fae of Calaveras Trilogy Box Set Page 33
