by Candra Kylar
“And what is right in your book?”, she asked with a strain to her voice, “Shutting down the circus and sending us all on the run? Patting yourself on the back for freeing us when you don’t have to figure out a new future?”
“A major life change is never easy. A year ago, I was killed on my twenty-third birthday and brought back to life. I became a hybrid, something a lot of people had a problem with, and I had to re-evaluate everything that I had found safe before. If I could do it on shaky ground then someone like you could be the kind of leader to guide others into it”, I encouraged.
Rynna dropped her hands as the ice dispelled, “I’ve already told you. There is no world outside of here that will ever accept me. My story won’t have a happy ending. If I don’t die in this circus, then I’ll end up dying in a science lab.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“Will you have a choice? You can’t just take us into your world and be the happy home for the abandoned Fae blooded”, she remarked.
I could sense her cynicism and couldn’t argue with her on that. It wouldn’t be a smooth transition over to a life outside of the circus. There wouldn’t be the routine or the safety net. She would have to make harder choices and might not even live near any of her friends. I planned to free Max, Alexei, and even the seamuck tonight. They would also have the choice and deserved to decide what path they would take further. I wanted to help them in any way that I could, but I couldn’t go with them everywhere. It was all uncertain and there was no neat way to wrap it all with a pretty little bow on top. No logic would agree that Rynna would necessarily feel happier once she was free from this place. It was a tough struggle.
“You’re right about my inability to follow you all over and build a community where you can all be neighbors. I don’t have that kind of power or gold but I wish that I did. But have you ever asked Alexei or Max what they would want for their future if they could ever leave this place?”, I probed.
Rynna looked uneasy, “Alexei always wanted to work in a museum that dealt with the evolution of magic in our world. He reads whenever he can. Max knows that he’d be happiest in a pack but has been shunned by too many. It’s all pipe dreams.”
“Don’t pipe dreams help us take steps to move forward? I dreamed of being an enchantress and then an investigator. My family would never condone it so I went out on my own. I had to pay for most of my own college education and didn’t have a shred of gold to start a business with. It wasn’t perfect but I’m happy with that work, that decision”, I reached out for her, my fingers pressing to her hand, “you could be happy, too. You have a future.”
Rynna closed her eyes tightly, “I don’t know what it is.”
“You can lay low at my place until you do. The Council would have to openly admit to investing in this scandalous situation to make you a known threat. They would never do that in front of a nation that already mistrusts them”, I squeezed her hand, “help me. Please.”
“What do you want me to do?”, she enclosed her cold fingers around mine and asked in defeat, a victory that came with a deeper sadness from uncertainty.
“I need you to get into Voldini’s office and steal his book of charms so we can undo all of the binding stones on the performers. Even the seamuck. Help me give them that choice.”
She chewed at her bottom lip before her words came, “I don’t need to do that. I’ve looked at it before and know every way to unbind the stones from my friends. My family.”
“You all can be part of a new family. We aren’t perfect but we take care of each other”, I squeezed her hand again, “and that’s something. Look how much I’ve been back to this jarring place just for Dimples.”
“I’m not in the same position. It wouldn’t be the same for me or anyone else”, she pulled away with a pained expression.
I gave her that space and spoke directly, nothing veiled, “You keep saying that there’s no future outside of here for you. Did you delve into the future and see that or have you been too afraid to do it because the answer may contradict that notion? Have you ever asked yourself what you could be if you weren’t an entertainer here? Have you ever dreamed of something and delved into how it could happen? Because I have trouble believing something so magnificent and focused could ever be without a future.”
“It’s a terrible world out there”, she said weakly.
“But some parts are beautiful. Not everyone will laugh or be afraid of you. Some of us just want to try and be your friend”, I replied in turn.
Small rivulets of ice fell to the floor at her feet. Even her tears had a magic in them. From the main circus tent, startled cries and loud applause came. The wicked monsters crawled out of their summon portals to shock and amaze the crowd. Max would shift over to fight them and Braeden would step in. I didn’t need to go inside to do it. Braeden was a man if his word and he would never let Max struggle on his own. I came to Rynna’s side and put a hand on her shoulder as she watched through the partition. This was her family and they all looked up to her for guidance. She would have to make this tough decision alone.
“Max won’t be alone tonight. Braeden has shifted over and he’s about to jump into the ring to help. That will royally piss Voldini off and he’ll know something is wrong. He’ll come looking for me. We only have now to do this. I know it isn’t easy and I know we can’t give you a surefire future you’ll love to be part of. I can still promise you my friendship and the hope of something better than this”, I said in a voice that held all of my convictions.
“I’ve never been more afraid than I am right now”, she pressed a hand to her chest, “but I’ve seen Vander at his worst and that is no future for anyone that I love. Do what you have to do, Abigail, and I’ll remove the binding stones. Even the new one that was put on Dimples. The formula has been etched in my mind just waiting to be free. Now it’s time.”
Another droplet from her tears froze on the ground. She undid the clasp at the front of her dress and let it fall to the ground, the silvery blue slip on being all that remained, With feet bare, she upraised her hands and began to draw symbols in the air above her. The tears kept coming but she had come to her decision. I watched in amazement for the second time tonight as her love for her family here conquered her fear of uncertainty. She chose love. I picked up the knapsack at my feet to get chance. A powder blue cocktail dress and a pair of kitten heels waited for me inside. By the time I finished changing and had put the blonde back in my hair, Rynna had finished her task. A stone located just above her heart slipped off of her skin and turned to dust. Alexei clambered inside the residential tent as his own attached stone dropped.
“This is madness! First the mender werewolf came back to help Max in the ring, then our stones were removed. Has Voldini finally lost his mind or do we get the chance to make a run for it?”, his voice came out clearer and cleaner than it had when he was playing the role of ringmaster.
Rynna fell to her knees and brushed off tears, “I’m so sorry, Alexei. We need to have this chance and I may have just ruined us all from doing this. Voldini may not love us but I do. I will never be able to forgive myself if you end up being hurt because of me.”
Alexei bent to the best of his ability to brush her hair from her face, “You have taken care of us all when you have so much youth to experience. Let us take care of ourselves now and, if you’ll let us, take care of you. If you think we should leave then that’s good enough for me. You don’t ever have to apologize for loving us.”
Rynna embraced him, “Where do we go now?”
Alexei looked back to the main ring and then to her, “Forward into the magnificent unknown.”
I wanted to join them in the hug and offer my own words of encouragement. Rynna had made a decision that would stay with her the rest of her life and, somehow, I thought she would find her peace through that. She would never have the “what if” lurking inside of her. She needed the reassurance that her circus family would bring. A series of bounces from deeper
inside the resident tent told me that Dimples was heading out for her act. She appeared with those purple and green feathers pasted to her. When she saw me, the bouncing ceased and her lower body nearly dragged along the floor. I met her halfway.
“You can’t stop me. Haven’t I made that clear by now? Why do you keep coming back when you know I’ll just find a way to throw you out?”, Dimples said, a battle of both anger and pain in her voice.
“Because I will never give up on you. Do you remember when you asked me, after we saved Braeden from his curse, if we were friends? I had given you no reason to trust me and you still managed to want that. You could have told me to take a hike but you wanted me around. You knew that my past didn’t define me”, I lowered myself to be at eye level.
“I’m. A. Demon. A monster!”, she shook her hands in front of me in a swirl of feathers.
I enclosed my hands around her tiny ones, “No, you’re my best friend. I never cared who you were before that and I don’t now. It’s not about who we were but who we choose to be. You have always chosen kindness. What kind if monster would do that?”
“One without memories and a limit to her deadly powers”, she whimpered.
“Rynna, will you please dig into that knapsack and pull out the paper folded inside? You’ll see some symbols that you and Alexei should be able to translate. I believe it is the same symbols you saw affiliated to Dimples when you dove into her past for Voldini”, I said over my shoulder.
Rynna was past the point of questioning my intentions. She steadied herself with Alexei’s help and retrieved the paper inside. Her eyes scanned over the symbols copied there, thanks to Ethan’s handiwork with research, and then handed it to Alexei. They conferred with each ancient letter before they came to the same conclusion. Rynna held recognition in her eyes as she returned the paper to me. Alexei looked at Dimples curiously. I knew that she had made the connection.
“It’s the same symbols that appeared over her thread into the past, the symbols connected to her. Was I correct in identifying them as a form of demon? Did you narrow it down?”, Rynna asked.
“Those symbols are recognized by ancient scholars of Elder Fae history as belonging to their greatest enemy...the Elementals.”
Alexei clanked in excitement, “Dimples here used to be an Elemental? The guardians of the planet that fought with the Elder Fae for balance? I once read an entire volume on their origin before the Fae sympathizing scholars started their editing work.”
“They were never demons. The Elementals were the only ones that could stand against the Elder Fae and bought humanity’s freedom by destroying themselves. No one knows how long their souls slumbered or where they waited to return”, I went back to Dimples, “but they’re real and research has told us that you’re one of them. You carry the element of Air like no other caster, no other demon, possibly could.”
Dimples pulled a feather from her dress, “An Elemental? Not a demon?”
“A powerful being who helped bring the world to life and promised to keep it in balance. There were once many of you. They could still be out there”, I smiled.
“People will still hate me. They might even make things worse if they think I could be some old god that failed them. This doesn’t change things”, Dimples defiantly proclaimed, “it just gives me another reason to stay. I’m the Bog Queen and everything is better if I know my place and stay in my domain.”
She hopped past me and my words faltered. It was time for the final phase of my plan. Braeden and Max limped into the residential tent having destroyed the summoned monsters. Max remained close to Braeden and speculated over the scene he had walked into. Rynna ran over to him and started to recount it all. I had pulled my wand out and enchanted it to look like a magnifying glass. It was larger than the one Meredith Marble had used but just as effective. The audience would see it and, most important of all, Dimples would recognize it. I slipped the powder blue headband into my hair and put on the kitten heels. Elizar stepped out of the shadow in a puff of smoke and held a look of satisfaction.
“Ian and I made a good team. Those guards are running circles in the parking lot and you both made it in. Ready for the show?”, he massaged my shoulders and asked.
“Keep watch for your cue. How could I ever do this without someone to play the Duke?”
Ian, my most random of spirit guardians, popped into existence holding a disgruntled Tippler, “Look who I zipped back to bring over! Don’t worry about the trip, he looks pretty healthy and we weren’t in the spirit channel long.”
“I get motion sickness when I’m not drunk”, Tippler barked.
Rynna took notice and his ears perked up when she came over. He clambered out of Ian’s hands and jumped onto her. She laughed and nuzzled her face against his. I may lose a familiar tonight now that Rynna had her freedom, but I was glad that the two could be reunited like this. Dimples was waiting for me and I took a long look at all of my friends assembled in the smaller of the displayed tents. It was a real melting pot that came together beautifully. All we were missing was Dimples Honeybell. Elizar walked me to the edge of the curtain with his dice clinking.
“If Voldini tries to hurt you…”, he swore.
“I know that you’ll do much worse to him. If I do this right, it won’t come to that. There’s no greater way to wound him than by making him a public disgrace. Meredith Marble is on the job”, I waved my large magnifying glass.
“No, Abigail Everlaine is doing all of the work. You’re just having a moment of cosplay that I hope we can recycle for the bedroom”, he kissed me teasingly, “now go save the day. You’re exceptionally good at that.”
I wanted to object to his confidence in me but I knew it came from love. Rynna left the residential tent with Tippler in her arms. He was content to be with his close friend again. I watched his tail sway happily as they went outside without the threat of the binding stones to interfere. They were all free. Braeden took one last long look at me and gave a curt nod before exiting with Max. This was the last step and my stomach lurched at the thought. How brave we work to become when fighting for someone we love. Dimples had spent a year making sure that the new Abbie would never fall back on her old ways. She pushed me towards something better. I was ready to return the favor.
“Here’s your cue”, Elizar opened the circus flap for me, “show them another side to this circus. Show them the Abigail that I know and love.”
I walked into the main tent and intended to do just that.
Nineteen
Silence fell over the audience when a witch dressed as a fictional character from a famous book series strutted her way into the ring. Dimples put her hands down before her own display of fireworks could start. Her act was cut short. Voldini rose in a silhouette from his seat, the energy of his anger baring down on me. I wanted him to feel that impending sense of dread. I was about to take it all away from him. I just needed one look at Dimples to remind me what all of this was for. I didn’t need that darkness inside that I had let come over me at the club. I had everything that mattered. My magnifying glass steadied in my right hand and I turned to Dimples. I had memorize the script that Frankie helped me write.
“I’ve come so far and have been paid quite heavily to investigate the plague brought about by the Bog Queen in her malice”, I said with my voice magically projected by the ring’s amplifiers, “and I spot her here amongst the good townspeople assembled. How easy she makes the job of the well respected Miss Meredith Marble!”
Dimples shifted uncomfortably, “Why are you doing this?”
I pointed the magnifying glass directly at her, “Strange, however, that she should look nothing like the images illustrated from her appearance as related to me before. Where is the fog dictated in letters to my personage? Where is the decaying bones of feasted upon innocents whose blood she paints the walls with? I see none of it and I never miss a clue.”
A few of the audience members dared to laugh and I encouraged it. Their participation was
important but I needed a little more help. Dimples had become quiet and didn’t counter a word of what I said. Her fandom of the Meredith Marble series was enough to at least earn her inquisitive speculation. I tried desperately to imitate a character I had only recently become familiar to. I wanted to be the best version of her possible. Voldini didn’t move from where he stood, a faint glow of light coming from where his hands rested on the lowered wall in front of him. He knew that the circus had officially gone out of control and that the audience may request a refund. He may have already lost an investor.
“But she has stolen our things and has dragged away the good husband of our most beloved heiress!”, my mother jumped up from her seat, “We have been told many stories!”
Frankie joined in, “Didn’t the heiress hire you to protect her from us? We can’t have the Bog Queen marring this town that has been a sanctuary for so long!”
There were my assigned townspeople filling their roles. From the other side of the ring, Rynna put Tippler on the ground so he could pad his way towards me. He had on his cowboy hat, tailored just to his size, tipped back to show his eyes. When he made his way over to me, I reached down to pet him. He sat gracefully in front of our little show as a guard in his own way. Surprisingly, he was sober and boring holes into Voldini from up above. Bad blood was all around and Tippler wanted a chance to be part of this. He had earned it.
“I may have been promoted to constable here, and it would make a great deal of sense as I am so trusted wherever I go. It’s the kind of trust that one could never have with such a tumultuous place like the department of motor vehicles!”, I gasped, magnifying glass swinging around the audience.
“She carries such resentment for an agency keeping our roads safe!”, Frankie accused.
My mother conferred with an audience member, “It’s the alarming amount of parking violations she has had. We had no gumption to give her a background check before assigning her the constable of our town!”
