“Wow. For his best friend, you don’t seem too fond of him. No wonder he clings so hard when he finally finds someone who doesn’t write him off.”
“I love Kerdik, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see him as he is. If you had a daughter, and you knew what would happen if she got too close to him, would you allow it? At best, we’re talking a broken heart. At worst, my sweet girl mutates into a monster that I’ll have no choice but to kill.”
“For the last time, I’m not having sex with Kerdik. That was never on the table to begin with. Bastien is my boyfriend.”
“Yes, you’ll do well to remember that.”
“It’s what I just said!” I snapped. “Kerdik’s my friend.”
“Kerdik loves you. He would tear the sun from the sky, ignore Avalon while it withered and died, just so you had something shiny to play with.”
“Oh, jeez. Enough with the dramatics.” I shook my head at my dad. “This isn’t what I want to do with the time we have together. I want to pal around and have fun. I want to talk shop. If I wanted to talk about boyfriend stuff, then I would, and the conversation would be entirely about Bastien, and zero about Kerdik.”
Walter murmured about our bickering, and kept up a steady stream of disparaging remarks about me, which I tried to ignore.
Urien looked like he wanted to say something surly, but he put on his kingly airs and refrained. “Very well. Do you have everything you need for the night?”
“I do.”
Urien let out a heavy sigh, and I knew part of his frustration wasn’t with me. Ruling was rough – especially with such an uncertain territory. This was half the entire kingdom, which was more than he’d ever ruled – and he was doing it alone. “I’ll see you in the morning, then. See to it you stay in here, or else you’ll be privy to yet another argument about bricking materials and wells, and how there aren’t enough of them to satisfy the needs of the new travelers.”
My gut twinged, twisting me toward my dad, and away from our fight. Despite our argument, I stood and cleared the distance between us, so I could fling my arms around his neck. “I’m sorry we fought. I love you, and I know you’re in a rough spot. You have to worry about so much.”
I could feel his cheek lift in a smile against mine as he bent to accommodate my lesser height. “So long as you’re safe, that’s one worry I can cross off my list. I’m sorry I was cross with you. I worry, is all.”
“I know. But I’m grown now. I’m pretty decent at navigating my own pitfalls.”
“Yes. I wish with all my heart that I had something to do with that, but I suspect I should thank Lane yet again for her wisdom in raising you.”
I kissed his cheek in lieu of a quick cheer-you-up response. I couldn’t imagine not being able to raise my own kid, and then trying to figure out how to assert myself once said child was grown. “Go be the best king in all of Avalon.”
“I’ll do my utmost.” Then my dad pulled away, so he could give me a gracious bow before he exited.
The room was about half as large as my bedroom, but it was unfinished, and basically a cavernous stone room with a high ceiling. There was no bed, all my stuff was shoved in a corner. I wasn’t sure if it felt like I was changing rooms, or moving into an isolation chamber.
After three days and three nights of the candlelit dank room, I was more than a little stir-crazy. Montel and Link stopped in periodically to make sure I was still alive, but today, I was crawling the walls with the anxiety that comes from being locked in a stone room for your own good. When Link opened the door, I all but attacked him with a ferocious hug. “Please don’t lock me in here anymore!” I begged. “It’s cold and Walter hates me.”
“Jays, you’re freezing! Why don’t ye wrap up in the blankets we left here?”
“I have been. Tell me you’re almost on top of the Sluagh. Tell me this is almost over.”
“In a blink, your old Link will have him skewered and filleted over a spit.” Link snapped his thick fingers to illustrate his point.
I grimaced. “Gross. Please tell me a joke, or sing me one of your songs or something. Any word from Bastien, Mad and Draper?”
Link’s merriment died down. “Not yet. I’m sure they’re alright. Two Untouchables and a prince against an evil queen and her army? No contest. I’d put my money on Mad and Bastien any day.”
“Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite monkey?”
Link’s lopsided grin was in full swing. “Ah, nice try. I see you’re trying to charm me into letting ye roam about the castle. No can do, wee Rose.”
I harrumphed. “Can I at least have a paper and something to write with? I’ve been thinking about my dad’s problem with the bickering over the wells, and I think I can help.”
“Is tha so? I was thinking more along the lines of ye staying in here and keeping your nose outta mischief, but tha doesn’t seem possible for ye.”
“Paper and quill, Warden,” I requested.
“Oh, alright. I guess ye can’t get into too much trouble with just tha.” Of course, Link locked me inside my dim, dank, windowless room with the grumbling Walter until he came back. “Here. Is tha all? I was thinking of heading out for a few to see if some of the lasses wanted to show their favorite Untouchable some love.”
“Have fun, Link.”
He kissed my cheek before he left me to my madness.
4
Sweet and Dysfunctional
Madness, indeed. I wanted to help my dad and Lane’s people. If they were having a hard time getting water to their homes, that was a problem I could maybe help fix. Instead of building a wall, I could take a page from my Ancient Rome history lessons.
I was terrible at drawing, but worse with words, so I did my best to draw from memory the things I’d thought I’d never need to remember beyond taking the exam (that I’d barely passed with a D+). I knew the material; Judah and I had made a 3D map of Ancient Rome, complete with aqueducts and a colosseum we planned on throwing raves in for our little army guys we’d used as civilians in the display. I did my best to create an aerial view drawing, but halfway through, I knew I’d gotten the dimensions wrong.
Quills came with no erasers, so I overthought every stroke and dip in the ink. I did my best to lay out a map of Avalon as I understood it, with the two wells clearly marked. From there, I drew a series of streets, with the aqueducts lining what I assumed would be cobblestone, once we’d finished it. I’d need Judah for the actual dimensions. Numbers always got confused in my brain, especially ones I hadn’t had to remember since high school.
I wanted so badly to help my dad – to save the day in a real way that might take some of the burdens off his shoulders. I wanted to help the people who’d given up the creature comforts in Province 1 to follow us here. I didn’t want to be useless, holed up in a dim room because some angry soul-sucker thought the formidable Untouchable had a thing for me. Lame. Mad didn’t want me like that. He had a pretty low tolerance for most people. In fact, I was pretty certain if Mad got tested for Autism Spectrum in my world, he’d come back borderline Asperger’s.
I wanted my story to be one that made Avalon proud, and that spoke of how Lane raised me to stand with my head high. But my head wasn’t high right now. I was frustrated that I couldn’t remember the dimensions of an aqueduct, and knew that my map wasn’t totally correct. I began to fear the worst: I was a stupid girl, who was only good for one thing. My status was happenstance, and I would never be worthy of all the hype that had gone into my birth and the whole royalty hoopla. Despite my best efforts, if I showed my dad this attempt at a plan, all he would know was that I was stupid, not that I was an asset. I was the girl who was supposed to wear the dresses, and nothing more.
I didn’t want to be that girl. I didn’t even own any dresses in my real life on earth. Though I’d been steadily at the bottom of the curve of every class ever, I’d never been useless. I was determined Avalon wouldn’t change the fundamental parts of me, and tried my very best to help the kingdom
from inside these four stone walls.
I willed my tears not to fall to the paper, and like good little soldiers, they obeyed. The bloody tears freaked me out on many levels – the biggest of which was that they obscured my vision. It was like being punished for showing emotion, muting my sight until I calmed the crap down. I tried to breathe through the taunts that, these days, mostly came from myself in my life of seclusion.
Know who you are, Lane’s voice echoed in my heart.
I wasn’t the girl who sobbed on the floor. Well, I didn’t want to be that girl, anyway. I was the girl who showed up day after day, studying all night and persevering through too many cards stacked against her. I was the girl who turned up my middle fingers at the guidance counselors and teachers who tried to veer me away from applying for college. I was the girl who would be a veterinarian someday, taking care of the creatures who couldn’t speak for themselves. I was annoyingly persistent when I wanted something, and what I wanted was to help the people who were looking to me for answers.
I didn’t know how to be helpful, so I moved away from the parchment and sat in the center of the room, crossing my legs and relaxing my shoulders. I closed my eyes and focused on my slow breathing. Meditation had been more Lane’s thing than mine, but if that was my only tool, I wouldn’t sneeze at it. I focused on thinking positive thoughts for the people out there, willing tranquility to their hearts, which in turn reminded me to be calm.
When Link came to check on me, I wouldn’t open the door for him, though I was desperate for the company. Loneliness gnawed at me, and teamed up with a desperation to get to Judah and Lane, who were no doubt terrified.
“Ye don’t want your supper?” Link asked through the door.
“No, thanks. I’m not hungry.” It was a bad lie; I was ravenous. But I was more prideful than hungry, and didn’t want Link to see me falling apart because I was too dumb to draw a map, and I knew he wouldn’t understand meditation. I cursed my uselessness and my inability to draw a map. I could get anywhere, thanks to my inner Compass, but maps were utter gibberish to me, with words and nonsensical abbreviations going upways and slantways and every which way.
I’d thought Link would go away, but he barged in, doing as he pleased, which was no great surprise. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head, my cheeks burning with chagrin as I crumpled up my poor attempt at a map. “Nothing. Just having a frustrated moment. You can go do your thing.”
Link moseyed to the middle of the unadorned stone floor with a look that told me he didn’t give a crap about my pride. “Frustrated with this saferoom? I can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t revel in this here luxury.” He sat on the cot that I’d pushed up to the wall in the corner of the room, and patted the empty space next to him. “Come keep me company.”
When I could tell he wasn’t going anywhere, I exhaled out the last of my self-loathing and frustration, and plopped down next to him. I breathed easier as I sunk into his outstretched arm. “How’s dad? Any updates on the kingdom? Any word from the search party?”
“No word from them. The kingdom’s restless without Lane, but tha’s to be expected. Seeing ye so often out at the wall gave them all some assurance that everything was alright. Now tha you’re not there, people are getting scared.”
“If I haven’t said anything before, I hate this plan.”
“Ye might’ve mentioned tha a time or two before.” He squeezed my bicep as he leaned against the cold stone wall. “Ye know ye have to stay hidden. Kerdik’s trying to draw the Sluagh away. It’s for the good of your kingdom tha you’re in here. If the Sluagh gets hungry, he could start sucking the souls out of your people.”
I stretched my arm around his stomach, letting myself relax in his half-embrace. “I know, I just feel useless, is all. I should be helping them build the wall. Dad shouldn’t have to hold court alone. You’re making sure there’s enough security for him when he meets with the people?”
“Aye.” Link kissed my forehead. “Ye worry about everyone. It makes ye a good ruler, but it’ll turn your insides miserable after a while. Just be here with me for a minute before ye go rattling off all the things tha need fixing.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” I forced myself to take a deep breath and exhale out enough of my worries so that I was able to enjoy the simple gift of loving contact when I’d been isolated for so long. “You stink like sex,” I commented with my nose wrinkled.
“I’ll take tha as a compliment.”
“Depends on if the girl looks half as satisfied and cocky as you do right now.”
Link sniggered. “Aye. She was plenty pleased with me. And I was plenty pleased with her.” His eyebrows did a suggestive little dance “Twice.”
“You ever think about settling down with anyone?” I asked, lightly tickling his side.
“Nah. It’s too much fun to have new bounty thrown at me daily. One woman when I can have them all? I don’t see the draw. Bastien got himself all twisted up for ye, and I don’t see it having done him no favors.”
I sat up straighter. “Hey!”
“Not that ye aren’t worth the daily risk of putting his life in danger, traveling across a country just to make sure ye have a bit of family to come home to. It’s just not for me.”
“You’re a romantic, if I haven’t told you before. Feed lines like that to the ladies, and they’ll eat it up. ‘Baby, I wouldn’t cross an ocean for you, but I’d probably like, walk a block or so.’”
Link blew out a raspberry. “I don’t need a line. I’m Untouchable. My tattoo says enough.”
“You’re super charming,” I said with too much saccharine dripping from my sarcasm.
“Besides, now that we have ye in the group, there’s no need to settle down. If I want a roll in the hay, I go find a willing lass. If I want a snuggle and a talk, I have ye. Best of both worlds.”
“I’m your rent-a-wife? That had better come with perks.”
“Aye, it does. Once Avalon is settled, ye won’t have to lift a finger again in your life. You’ll have the Brotherhood to do the lifting for ye.”
“Oh, how well you know me,” I simpered. A life with nothing to do sounded horrible. “I wonder if Avalon ever will get settled, and what that would look like. Do you think Faîte will ever get its mojo back?” I wondered idly. “Bastien told me once that Avalon used to have more magic than this – that it wasn’t all so dependent on the Jewels of Good Fortune.”
“Tha was before my time.” Link’s arm stayed securely around me, his thumb brushing up and down my side lazily. I guess I really was becoming his rent-a-wife. “Everyone thinks more magic, more power, will solve all the problems, but it won’t. It’ll just mean more policing of the new problems tha’ll come. If the people can’t work together when they have nothing, then they can’t be trusted with everything.”
“Careful, otherwise I’ll start thinking you’re wise, and not just pretty.” My eyebrows furrowed together. “What sort of problems? I thought more magic is what everyone wanted. The good old days, and all that. The Jewels of Good Fortune being in the area has been great for the land, except for all the warfare.”
“Your country hasn’t seen Vampires or Werewolves like Éireland has. To Avalon, I’m sure having the higher magic back would be a return to the good old days – until the fighting for more power and resources starts up again.”
“Vampires and Werewolves? Yikes. We’ve got stories about those in Common. Just pretend stories, of course. Lots of times they’re spun into romances.”
Link crinkled his nose and looked at me to see if I was joking. “No, Vampires and Werewolves,” he repeated, as if I’d heard him incorrectly.
“I know what those are.”
“Common must be some twisted place, if they’re weaving tales of romance out of rabid blood-sucking creatures and Werebeasts.” He shook his head, tightening his arm around me, as if he expected the extinct creatures to come roaring through the door at any moment. “Tha the foul creatures might
come back?” He shuddered. “If ye think your Da has his hands full now, you’ve no idea the mess he’ll have to stay on top of if the Vamps tha used to live in Éireland come into his territory. I’d gladly move up to Common and forfeit all my magic just to be rid of tha nightmare.” He paused to laugh, but the sound was bitter and laced with disbelief. “I can’t imagine a book where a Werewolf or a Vampire’s the lead in a love story. How would tha even work? They don’t slow down to get all gooey before they pounce; they just attack, and ye don’t get back up.”
“Do they obey the code of the Untouchables?”
“They can’t think to reason it out tha far. The Vamps only see blood, and the Weres only see meat. No, no. Higher magic back in Avalon would be a disaster. Sure, ye might be able to fly or heal people easier. Ye could renew nature without the jewels, but the price tag isn’t worth the trade. We’ve got enough problems with regular attacks without adding those beasts into the mix.” His thick fingers squeezed my shoulder, and then reached down to flip my wrist over to get a look at my tattoo. He pressed his wrist to the side of mine, letting the visual of the team spirit sink in. “Our mark looks good on ye.”
I leaned my head against his cheek, grateful he was here. Grateful for so many things, really. “If I never said so before, thanks for convincing me to get the Untouchables tattoo. I like being part of your family. I love you guys.”
He kissed my temple, his full lips leaving a trace of wetness on my skin. I didn’t wipe it away; I loved him too much not to keep every bit of him – slobber and all. “Even though your situation’s turning out to be a bigger job than we’d planned, I wouldn’t have us without ye in the mix.” He sighed heavily. “We cling to those of us in the Brotherhood. We’re all we have.” The corner of his mouth lifted with his natural caddish charm to cover over the melancholy. “I’m glad we have ye now.”
Untouchable Girl_A Fantasy Adventure Page 3
