Ashes to Ashes

by M. J. Padgett

  Calla smiled. “Mom and Dad have decided to stay this time. The charity needs Mom around more often, and DAD needs Dad, so...” she trailed, leaving the assumption up to us.

  I was bewildered, and it must have been apparent on my face because someone else started giggling.

  “I take it this is Sierra?” she asked, pointing to me. I nodded, so she crossed the room and hugged me. “I’m Julianna, also known as Princess Isabella, Ely’s sister—adopted sister, from Spain. These lovely souls are Calla’s adoptive parents from America. And judging from the look on your face, you have no idea what DAD is.”

  “Um... to be honest, I have no idea about anything anymore,” I admitted.

  Felix wiggled by me and gave me a nod. “Good morning, Princess Saskia. I see you’re meeting some more of the family.”

  “Yes, I was just about to tell her what DAD is. Would you like to tackle that?” Julianna asked.

  “Maybe the founder and head of the department should explain?” Felix nodded toward Gerald.

  “It’s the Defense Against Disasters Council, and I assure you the acronym was purely coincidental. That said, Jeanine and I believe we’ve had enough flying back and forth, so we’ve put the house for sale, and we’re moving here permanently.”

  “Wonderful news,” Ely said. “Now, what other news have you this morning?”

  Calla went from all smiles to all business in a nanosecond. She pushed a book toward Ely and motioned for me to join. I was still quite confused as to who everyone was but assumed I would figure it out, eventually. I glanced at the book, written in yet another language I did not understand. Being royal was already difficult, and I’d barely begun my journey.

  “I have no idea what it says, and neither do Wil and Jay, but Caleb is on the phone with Carlos—that’s Julianna’s father,” she said directly to me, “so with any luck, he can help us. Hopefully, the Ortega’s can fly in or... I don’t know, decipher it by email.”

  “They’re coming!” A man said, tall with dark hair. He looked like Marcus, so I guessed he was Caleb, the only other Salien I had yet to meet. “He said it’s ancient, definitely, but he thinks he can decipher enough of it to make sense.”

  “Okay,” I said, “I know I’m new here, but I’m so confused. Can we start over?”

  Everyone started speaking at once, which sounded like a roaring crowd in the large dining hall. A loud slam on the table stopped all speaking immediately. I flinched, then directed my gaze toward the woman who’d nearly given me a heart attack.

  “My goodness, children. You’re going to give the girl more anxiety than she already has,” Jeanine said, then slowly walked toward me. “I’m Calla’s adoptive mother from before, does that make sense?”

  “Yes, before she knew about all of this, right?” I asked.

  Jeanine nodded, then said, “That is my husband, Gerald. He looks mean, but he’s just a teddy bear. Give him a newspaper from this century, and he’ll be happy. That is Julianna, the daughter of Ravenna’s lady-in-waiting. She passed, and Ravenna took Julianna in as her own, but you may hear her referred to as Isabella, her real name. And finally, this is Caleb, my sweet Caleb who grew up way too fast.” She pinched his cheeks, and he blushed though he was probably around the age of twenty.

  “If you hear Christian, that’s him. I know all these second names make it difficult, but the thing to remember is, we’re family dear. We’re family, and I’m going to go bake you a cake.”

  With that, Jeanine Benson left the dining hall to go bake a cake. I looked at Ely who was laughing hysterically with his siblings and Felix. I glanced at Jack—rather, Jack’s back since he was chasing Jeanine down begging her to let him lick the bowl.

  “Don’t mind my wife. She’s a stress baker. Now, back to business. When Carlos arrives, we may have the key to healing Henry,” Gerald said confidently. “At least we should know how to kill a troll.”

  “Really?” I asked, leaning over the table.

  “Yes, dear. See here, this is definitely a troll. There have been plenty of sightings to know there’s no doubt about that. We assume they are coming from Goldene Stadt, one of Ella’s assault tactics so to speak.” I watched where Gerald’s fingers pointed, not understanding a word on the page, but following the pictures well.

  “This is a dead troll which is how we like our trolls around here, but we haven’t found a way to kill them. We can’t even catch one, for that matter. My hope is this book will tell us everything we need to know once the Ortegas arrive. Carlos Ortega studied ancient Spanish civilizations, and with any luck, he will recognize this gibberish I can’t begin to understand.”

  I sighed, frustrated and helpless. “I wish I could read this. I feel so useless.”

  Calla placed her hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “We all do, don’t worry. It’s a huge learning curve, and we have five years on you. You’ll figure it out soon enough.”

  “So,” Gerald continued, “now we’ll take the horses out to the burned community to see if we can recover anything of use. I’m interested to see why she chose that community when there were many closer to the border. It was a risky move.”

  “The horses are prepared, sir,” Felix replied, and I noticed Cecily was standing beside him. I opened my mouth to speak, but once Felix made his announcement, there was a flurry of movement in the room.

  Gerald joined Felix, and it appeared Calla and Ely were also going along. Cecily made a move to take one of the horses, and I stepped in.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  She gaped at me with confusion. “Um... to the community?”

  “Not with trolls running around out there, you’re not. Get off that horse right now,” I said firmly.

  “You can’t tell me what to do. I’m a grown woman, Sierra, now get on your horse and let’s go.”

  “My... oh...” I saw an extra horse and everyone else waiting for me.

  “Well? Are you coming, Princess?” Ely asked with a smirk. I hesitated, worried it was a horrible idea with trolls and Ella’s men roaming around, but Ely insisted. “Gerald is the fiercest warrior on the face of the earth, Si. We’ll be safe, I promise.”

  I walked up to the horse and stared at it, a pretty chestnut who seemed kind enough, but I knew nothing about horses. I hesitated again and looked to my sister for support. I pulled double shifts for two solid months so I could afford riding lessons for her for one summer. It was the best money I ever spent because it made her smile every Friday afternoon.

  “It’s not hard, sis. You can do it, I promise,” she encouraged.

  I gazed into the horse’s eyes. She seemed to sense my fear and nuzzled my hand, then quite literally pushed me with her nose around to her side, urging me to mount. I put my foot in the stirrup and tried to lift myself over, but she was possibly the tallest horse on the planet.

  Felix slid down from his horse and came to my aid. “Here Princess, let me help you.”

  He clasped his fingers together and let me place my foot in, then he hoisted me up. I fell onto the horse’s back, and she grunted.

  “Sorry... uh...”

  “Cinnamon,” Felix said, patting her neck. “She’s my favorite horse, actually.”

  Ah, kissing the sister’s butt to earn brownie points. I see. Well, if he thinks he’ll win my approval that easily, he’s mistaken.

  Cecily blushed deeply. “Oh, Si.”

  Felix bit his lip to keep from laughing, then said, “Maybe a little butt kissing, but she really is my favorite horse.”

  I ducked my head in embarrassment. It was going to be a long day if I didn’t keep my thoughts to myself. The others stifled their laughter and turned their horses easily. Ely kept pace with me—which was embarrassingly slow, but I was too afraid to go fast.

  We traveled quietly into the forest. Nothing about it felt right, but I didn’t exactly know how it should feel. Gerald seemed tense and scanned the trees religiously. Felix did the same, and I noticed they were flanking the rest of u
s. Ely stayed by me, perhaps a bit behind, and Calla, Cecily and I were in the middle of a protective sandwich. I was grateful for it, but I also wondered if I was equipped to take care of myself in the dense forest. I had spent a little time studying the predator population in the area, and while I knew there were no bears and few wolves—besides us, of course—there were still snakes and badgers, which I had no desire to go against. Trolls, now those weren’t in any tourist guides I’d read.

  We were about ten miles or so from the castle when the air became heavy, acrid and dense with a haze that indicated we were growing closer to the burned community Ella had attacked. Just over the next hill, we came upon the first of the destroyed homes. It was leveled, charred nearly unrecognizable.

  Cecily gasped and instinctively reached for me. I took her hand, chancing Cinnamon wouldn’t toss me onto the ground.

  “Did they recover everyone?” Calla asked Felix.

  “Nearly. No survivors, but all villagers were accounted for except one. Joseph Hines is still missing, but we have a small team still scouring the forest for him.”

  Calla nodded, then slipped from her horse to better observe the devastation. Ely dismounted and followed her, taking her hand as they passed through the smoldering remains of their people’s homes. The full weight of the situation took its toll on Calla, and she began to weep for her lost countrymen. Ely comforted her as best he could, but I had a feeling there was only one person who could make her happy when she was that sad.

  I averted my gaze, thinking I saw something to my left. I was a second too slow and whatever it was snatched Calla’s horse and took off into the distance.

  “Troll!” Gerald screamed, and he slipped from his horse to protect his daughter and Ely.

  Felix circled around and urged Cinnamon and Cecily’s horse closer to a crumbling wall where he would only have to watch us from the front. I started to panic, but Cecily was calm and collected. She urged her horse to back up, which looked like quite the feat for a horse. Cinnamon was getting a little antsy, so I patted her head.

  Calla’s horse screamed in the distance, but only for a moment. I tried not to let the death of a horse get to me, but it was so violent it made a mark on me. I knew I would dream about it later, but I tried to stay present and alert, nonetheless.

  Felix slid from his horse, sword drawn and ready to attack anything that came near either of us. Gerald was the same, but the three of them were slowly inching back toward us. When they were close enough to the remaining horses, Ely mounted one while Gerald pulled Calla onto his with him. Felix was about to remount his horse when something breezed past and ripped it right away from him.

  “Well, at least we know it prefers horses to humans!” he yelled, then leaped onto Cecily’s horse behind her.”

  “Go!” Gerald yelled, “While we still can!”

  Cecily kicked her horse, and it bolted forward, kicking up the soft forest floor as it did. The dirt was black and wet from the vast amounts of water used to quell the fires, wet enough that Cinnamon lost her footing when she tried to spin and run. She slipped and fell on her side, throwing me a few yards away from her. No, no, no. Not Cinnamon.

  Cinnamon managed to find her footing in the mud and galloped away, forgetting her rider. She was decidedly not my favorite horse, but her passing the others riderless was not lost on them. Cecily skidded to a stop, and Felix slid from the back of the horse. I scrambled to get up but paused when I heard heavy breathing behind me. Oh man, you have got to be kidding me.

  I rolled over to find the nastiest-looking thing I’d ever seen staring back at me. Easily seven feet tall, bulky with a hunched back that dripped with a thick, yellowish discharge. Its entire body oozed like a festering wound, and it nearly made me gag. The smell was worse, pungent like a rotting corpse right around the putrefaction stage—putrid, the best word to describe the nasty thing.

  “Run Princess! Go now!” Felix screamed as he put himself between the troll and me. Okay, massive brownie points for that... Wait... I’m invincible in wolf form!

  I let the fear wash over me, flooding my senses until my entire body quivered. In one swift movement, I shifted and shoved Felix behind me. The troll who, oddly, had facial expressions resembling a human, was taken by surprise and stepped back.

  I lowered my head slightly as my hackles stood on end. I bared my teeth and growled, a deep rumbling I’d never achieved before, but I’d never been so scared. My vision was still crummy in wolf form, but my sense of smell was more acute, my hearing off the charts. There were more trolls, surrounding us on three sides. I couldn’t speak in wolf form but shifting human would surely be a death sentence. I didn’t know what to do, but the standoff gave me an idea. Pull rank. Be the alpha.

  I growled again, hoping trolls understood pack order or at least knew when to run when facing a stronger opponent.

  I heard a voice I recognized, but it wasn’t so much a voice as a thought—just not my thought.

  You’re not stronger, Sierra, just less killable than Felix. Don’t get cocky. Take a small step closer. I think it’s afraid of you.

  It was Ely, and somehow, I heard his thoughts. I felt something on my right. A quick glance showed it was Cecily in wolf form, protecting my weaker side as she always did.

  I’ve got your back, sis.

  Calla and Ely were somewhere behind us. I could sense them, feel them backing us up. I took the step, baring my teeth in a vicious growl. I heard a shuffling on both sides, retreat. The troll in front of me slowly backed away, then turned and ran on all fours. I didn’t want to wait around to see if they would return, so I turned on my heel and pointed myself in the direction of the castle. With the four of us as wolves, Felix and Gerald would have to manage the horses alone.

  We flanked them, protecting the horses as we ran. We only made it a few miles before it became a chaotic mess. Gerald skidded to stop, unable to hold the reins of his scared horse while another tugged in the opposite direction. Cecily shifted and quickly jumped on its back, then took off again with Gerald. Calla did the same with the other horse, and we were off again, only less protected.

  Up ahead I could see the castle walls, so close yet so far. I pushed on but was startled by an out-of-place noise. It was a cell phone ringing—Cecily’s. I saw her reach into her pocket and pull it out, surely not to answer it, but the silly girl did just that.

  “What Brian? I’m kinda busy right now.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. I thought, and Ely heard.

  This should be fun. Running from a troll and the ex-boyfriend calls.

  I wanted to laugh, but we were running from trolls in the middle of a mythical land. There was nothing funny about it.

  “I told you where I was going, not that it matters because you broke up with me!” she shouted, then, “I’m running from trolls right now, can this wait?”

  Felix caught up with her and reached for her phone. He grasped it in his hand and tossed it into the forest. Cecily gaped at him as their horses continued to gallop along. I’d have fallen right off the horse trying to answer a phone, but I was glad the riding lessons paid off for her.

  “Why’d you do that?” she barked.

  “Trolls, Cecily! We’re running from trolls! And you are far too good a woman for the likes of him. Mostly the second.”

  “Jealous?” she asked with a smirk, then the unthinkable happened. Something darted out of the trees and grabbed my sister’s horse. Her foot was caught in the stirrup, and it dragged her deep into the forest.

  I veered off and ran after her, but she shifted, freeing her foot from the stirrup. She ran toward me, but the troll left the horse and chased Cecily. I put myself between them and crouched, daring it to come near her again. Again, it backed down and ran away.

  We were close enough to the castle that the guard in the high tower saw what happened. Within seconds, dozens of guardsmen in full armor surrounded us. Between the running and the fear, I was spent. I collapsed, whimpering. Ely nuzzled my
face, urging me to make the last of the trek home. Home...

  I stood with a whine and followed while our knights in shining armor guided us back to the Salien castle.

  Back home...

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What happened?” Jeanine cried when we entered the castle gates.

  Calla stormed off to the dining hall without speaking a word, so Jeanine looked to her husband for an answer. Gerald shook his head and wiped the sweat from his brow. His dark skin glistened, soaked with sweat from head to toe.

  “We saw the burned community, lost three good horses, and nearly got ourselves eaten by trolls.” He handed his horse off to another guard, then addressed his wife again. “I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life, and that’s saying something. I’m going to head to my study to think and work on a strategy if you need me.”

  He paused to kiss her cheek as he passed, and Felix followed close behind. I shifted, as did Ely, and stood staring at Jeanine for an awkward amount of time before she spoke again.

  “Well, if Jack hasn’t eaten it all, I’ve made a chocolate cake.” She turned and headed back toward the kitchen area, leaving me, Ely, and Cecily standing in the open courtyard.

  Jeanine wasn’t necessarily odd, but I found her way of managing stress to be amusing. I also found myself wondering what Calla’s childhood might have been like. Certainly, it was better than what Cecily and I had experienced, but I was sure it had moments of difficulty. Calla was one of us, a wolf and a fairy tale princess, but her parents seemed to adjust well. The troll incident had me stressed to the max and thinking about Calla and her family life was a pleasant distraction.

  When we reached the kitchen and found Jack elbow deep in the cake, it made Ely laugh, but it was the half-eaten jar of peanut butter sitting on the counter beside him that did it for me. I rolled my eyes, then asked, “Are you double-dipping or is the peanut butter drool-free?”

  He grinned, but Jeanine answered for him. She pinched his cheeks and said, “My sweet Jack can double-dip all he wants.”