Untouchable Girl_A Fantasy Adventure

by Mary E. Twomey

  Dad’s mouth was set in a tight line, and he talked with his hands, just like I did when I got too worked up. He was kind of precious. “You weren’t supposed to have to fight. That’s the whole point of having security assigned specifically to you.”

  I lowered my chin, lest it tremble and give away that I was on the verge of a breakdown. I breathed steadily through my nose, keeping my voice level and low. “I’ll tell Pascal what happened.”

  “Not a chance. You’re lying down just as soon as Jean-Luc finishes up. Link and I can tell Pascal what happened to his son.” Then my dad turned to my healer. “Has she lost much blood?”

  Jean-Luc looked at my dad as if to say, “What do you think?”

  “I’m fine. Just freaking out a little, is all. That dude was janky.”

  “Indeed. You pierced him through in the one place you could’ve killed him. That’s some luck you’ve got. It seems to keep you barely alive, and perpetually wounded. Though I guess I can’t complain, as you survived. You could’ve had your soul sucked into his heart, you know, just like Montel.”

  I nodded, knowing I couldn’t sidestep that warning. “He really sucked out Montel’s soul?”

  Link nodded from my bed. “Aye. There was no stopping him. Ye did Montel a kindness, murdering the Sluagh. Now Montel’s soul can rest. He only had a brief stop in limbo before ye freed him.”

  “You mean before I let him get murdered. I didn’t free Montel. He died because he was watching out for me.” My gaze cut to my dad. “You’re sure nothing wonky happened to my lueur? It just went back into me, no muss, no fuss?”

  “That’s how it works, yes. If your Guardien passes, the lueur is returned to its owner, good as new.”

  I waved off Jean-Luc’s efforts to bandage every cut I’d received. The larger, more problematic ones had been taken care of well enough. “Montel was good to me. He was my friend. He walked me home after work every night just because Draper asked him to. He took my lueur,” my chin quivered, and I wished everyone would just get the crap out of my room. “I got Montel killed.”

  “He died protecting the throne. There’s no higher honor,” my dad ruled.

  “Who cares about honor when you’re dead?”

  Link’s shoulder had been stitched and bandaged, along with the deep slice on his calf I hadn’t noticed in the chaos. “His Da will care about honor, and when there’s no more life to have, we cling to the only thing left. Urien will gift Pascal with a medal tha hangs over the doorway to his home, letting everyone know tha Pascal raised a warrior. He’ll be respected in the village for it.”

  My dad hugged me, and after much reassurance that I was fine (I mean, honestly, I had dozens of glorified papercuts, and Link had actually severed something that sounded important. I was fine), he and Jean-Luc left us to the quiet of my room.

  I stood by the window, peering out at the world I couldn’t touch until I’d healed up enough that the people didn’t freak out at the sight of me. Dad explained that I was their touchstone, so a cut on me was read as a danger aiming at them. If I couldn’t escape unscathed, then they would lose hope that they were living in a safe place.

  A bird landed on the sill, squawking at me to open up and let him inside. I wanted to let him in, but knew I couldn’t. I’d tried to open the windows before, but the magic Kerdik had sealed me inside with kept me from even cracking a window to let in a little fresh air.

  “How’d ye know to stab the Sluagh there? Did Kerdik tell ye?”

  I shook my head, my eyes still on the bird I couldn’t quite hear. I leaned in and pressed my palm to the window, wanting to stroke the feathers that ruffled in the slight breeze. I’d let Walter go free, and he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. I longed to be near an animal who wanted my company. “I saw the eyeballs swirling around in the heart thing he had, and my Compass told me that was where to land the kill hit. I guessed, is all.”

  “Tha sure was lucky. I tried to get to ye, but he stuck my leg worse than I was expecting. Nasty bugger. I’m sorry I failed ye, Rosie.”

  I glanced at him over my shoulder and quirked my eyebrow. “You didn’t fail me. You tried to save me. It was just my turn to save you this time, is all.”

  “Aye, and ye did tha beautifully.” He was quiet a few beats. “What was tha spell ye were casting? I didn’t think ye had witchery magic, other than your birth blessings.”

  I snorted, my eyes on the bird who stared at me with longing. “I don’t. It wasn’t magic at all. It was pieces of a poem. I think I snapped or something. It calmed me down when I was on the verge of losing my shiz. I don’t like when the people I love get snatched at.”

  Link rubbed his chest and smiled at me, letting me know I belonged to him. I was covered in cuts, and a little disheveled, yet I was precious to someone wonderful. “I love ye, too, wee Rose. But the next time I tell ye to run, do as I say.”

  “And not as you do? Like you would’ve run away if I couldn’t defend myself,” I scoffed. “Don’t tell me to be less like you. I can’t imagine anything more terrible.”

  “Much less,” he pressed, his eyes suddenly serious. “Don’t ye understand what ye mean to Bastien? If he’d come home and ye weren’t there to greet him? I’d be sending myself off to the Forgotten Forest with my shame, letting his life implode like tha.”

  “Hello, I’m not Bastien’s whole life. You’re being dramatic. And don’t you even think about going to the Forgotten Forest. Not for a single second. Avalon without your smile? We’d have to rely on simple sunshine to brighten the world, and that’s just plain not enough.”

  Link blinked twice at my compliment, and touched his finger to his heart to let me know that one had stuck in there deep.

  I turned back to the window, frustrated that I couldn’t hear the bird, who was chirping his heart out. Out of sheer frustration, I gave the pane a push, shocked when it actually popped open. “What the…” Kerdik had seen to it that I was sealed inside. I wasn’t supposed to be able to open any of the doors or windows.

  The bird flew in and landed on my finger, singing me a song to tell me that his flock had snubbed any ravens that might happen to pass by. Link hadn’t put together that me opening a window was a big deal. Everyone else had been able to come and go as they pleased, but whenever I’d tried to open a door, or sneak through when someone else left it open, I couldn’t inch a single toe into freedom.

  Now I had options.

  I petted my new friend with two fingers. “No, no. I don’t want you to be mean. The nasty ravens are all gone now. Being a raven doesn’t make you bad, just that one flock, and they’re gone now. So you don’t have to treat all ravens like they might hurt me. They won’t. I want you to be nice, alright? Can you spread that around?”

  The bird flitted onto my shoulder while I surreptitiously moved around the room and quietly started stuffing clothes and provisions into a knapsack. “This room is a mess,” I explained when Link quirked his eyebrow at me. Hopefully it just looked like I was cleaning. When I had enough shoved into the pack, I made sure my voice was light and airy. “I’m hungry. You want me to grab you something from the kitchen?”

  “Sure. Whatever you’re having, triple it, and tha’s what I’ll eat.”

  I let out a nervous chuckle at the subterfuge that was finally within my grasp. I could escape. I could be useful. I could run. “Cool.” I slid on my shoes and slipped out of the room. I quickly tiptoed down the stone steps, hoping the staff didn’t greet me too loudly when I inevitably ran into them along the way. I gave sweet Mercy a cheery smile when I reached the kitchen.

  “Oh, Princess! So many cuts. Are you alright?”

  “Better than ever.” I worked up a grin, wishing she wasn’t so near to tears at the sight of my cuts. My dad was right; the people saw themselves when they saw me. If I’d escaped Morgan le Fae, then they could leave, as well. If I had slices on my skin from a monster, then they felt attacked, too.

  I shoved a few rolls, and some peaches from th
e bowl on the counter into my pack when she had her back turned so she could sniffle into her handkerchief. It wasn’t enough food, but I didn’t have many options if I wanted to cut and run before anyone else intercepted me.

  When my pack was ganked from my hands, I whirled around to face the thief. Link grinned down at me with a knowing smile that told me I wasn’t as sneaky as I’d hoped. “Well, what do we have here? Did ye get me a wee present?” He tugged out a tank top of mine and eyed it appreciatively. “I’m not sure it’ll fit me, but I’ll give it a go.” He shoved my shirt over his head, looking like the Hulk trying on a doll’s outfit. He finally gave up getting his arms through the holes, and wore it around his neck like a choker. “Fits perfect. Cheers, Rosie. Ye always get me the best gifts. Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll tell you all the ways I’m extra grateful ye are so very predictable.”

  His meaty hand gripped my bicep, informing me that I had no choice in the matter, and that he was miffed at me for trying to give him the slip. “Oh, fine.”

  Link practically dragged me up the steps, waiting until the door was shut behind us to yell at me. “Are ye out of your mind? Where did ye think ye were scampering off to?”

  I shrugged. “I was going to see if I could help out with Bastien and them.”

  “I swear, if ye weren’t already so daft, I’d knock ye in the head. You’re the same mule as Bastien. Ye deserve each other. Master Kerdik put ye in this house, and your Da said for ye to stay here, so tha’s where you’ll be.” He moved to the opened window. “Did ye really think I’d miss tha? I don’t know how Master Kerdik’s magic went sour, but it’s no matter. I don’t need magic to keep ye in place.” He slapped his massive bicep. “I’ve got these. Try your tricks, lass. I’ve seen it all.”

  “Morgan doesn’t want them,” I argued. “She wants me. She wants my ring. She can have it, for all I care. If I can help get Lane and them all back, shouldn’t I? Judah’s my best friend, Link. You don’t know Judah. He can’t handle Avalon! Morgan’s got him locked up, Link! Judah’s delicate!”

  “Delicate?” Link scrunched his nose. “I can’t imagine ye with a bloke who’s delicate.”

  “Let’s go together,” I suggested. “I wouldn’t be out of your sight. We could ride out right now and track them down.”

  “You’re batty,” he observed, stepping back and pressing his spine to the closed door. He was a wall of muscle, and I knew there was no way I could get by him.

  I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated and growing desperate. I didn’t know how long my window of freedom might last. “You don’t understand, because you’re cool!”

  “I’m cool?” he repeated, amused. “I understand well enough the fear that comes with losing the one person ye can count on. When I lost Mad?” He shook his head with sadness. “I understand better than ye think.”

  “You’ve got friends everywhere you look. You walk into a room, and women throw themselves at you. Men want to be you. I didn’t have that. Lane camouflaged my body so Morgan’s spies wouldn’t be able to find me. I had a hump and acne. I had a lazy eye and a learning disability. No one was throwing themselves at me. No one wanted to be my friend, except for Lane and Judah. Judah didn’t care what I looked like; he only cared that we were best friends. You have no idea how rare it is to find someone who loves you unconditionally, because everyone loves you! You weren’t Remedial Rosie. You weren’t the Humpback Whale. You weren’t the only one not invited to every single birthday party in the second grade. You don’t know what it feels like to have someone stand with you when no one else will. Judah’s my Brotherhood. Judah’s my family, and right now, he’s caught up in Avalon’s drama because my mom hates me that much! She hates me so much that she’d take my Lane and my Judah, all to try and get at my jewelry.” I thumbed my ring. “She can have it, for all I care! I want my family back!”

  Link scooped me up in a one-armed hug to quiet my hysterics. “Okay, okay. Settle, now. Bastien knows how much ye need your mammy and your brother. He won’t come home without them. Trust him to get the job done.”

  “Judah’s not built for this kind of world.” I gripped his t-shirt, feeling the hard muscles beneath. “He’s the reason I know that poem I used to distract the Sluagh. He taught it to me. It’s because of him I’m alive right now, and didn’t get the soul sucked out of me. Even before Avalon, I was so miserable, Link. Kids can be cruel, but Judah made up for all of that. He always stuck up for me, and you’re asking me to leave him with Morgan?”

  “I’m not asking ye anything. I’m telling ye tha there’s no way I’m letting ye anywhere near your crazy mammy. Never again.” He clumsily patted my back. “Ye really had a hump and all tha? I wondered how the Commoner men could be so daft as to let ye slip through their fingers. It makes a little more sense with tha filter. Shortsighted fools.”

  “Link, you have to…” I was working out my next plea, but suddenly the room vanished from my vision. A white light flooded my view, pushing out the details of my bedroom. “Link? Link!” I gripped him, scared that I’d suddenly somehow gone blind. I could feel his musculature, but I couldn’t see a thing.

  “Rosie? What’s wrong? What’s happening to your eyes? The pink one’s turning red! Rosie, stop it!”

  I clawed at him, afraid of the brightness I couldn’t escape. Then suddenly, a face materialized before me. I didn’t recognize the flaming red hair, the high cheekbones, the sunken-in cheeks or the bright blue eyes. I didn’t recognize the woman with the mannish hands, dressed in a moss-colored gown with a crown of twisted vines atop her curls. She yelled at me in my vision, and I jumped in Link’s arms. “Ye think ye can come here after all this time and ask me for favors?” Her overlarge nostrils flared with temper as she glared at me. “Understand this, my green friend: the only thing tha would make me happier is if there was a cure to our immortality. I would gladly end you, if there was tha possibility. As it is, ending everyone you love is a grand second choice.”

  I gripped Link’s face, but couldn’t see him. I only saw the woman with hate burning in her eyes. Words came out of my mouth that didn’t belong to me. When I spoke, I heard Kerdik’s voice instead. “How droll to use up your attentions on me. You always were obsessed. How very small your kingdom must be, to afford you all this free time. Remember well our night between the sheets, do you? Was I so good that after decades, you still burn for me? Tell me, Brìghde, did you go after Tara out of hatred for me, or jealousy because I chose a mere handmaiden over you?”

  Brìghde’s nostrils flared again. When she raised her hands, foot-long thorns shot out of her palms, piercing Kerdik all over. I felt his pulse quicken, but didn’t experience his pain. “I know your patterns. I know your desires. You’ll choose a virgin to defile when ye get so lonely tha ye risk mating again. She’ll be meek, and think the world rises and falls on your shoulders. She’ll pretend she doesn’t mind your green hands on her body, but she’ll shiver in disgust, Kerdik. Mark my words, old friend, it was only me who ever fancied ye, and ye betrayed me.”

  Kerdik’s voice came out of my mouth again, and I felt Link lowering my body to the wooden floor of my bedroom, while I trembled through the scene I had no right to be witnessing. “I wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known you had so little going on in your life. One betrayal shouldn’t equal unending vengeance. Have you truly found no one who can satisfy you after all these years? Do mortals pale in comparison to how well I pleased you so long ago? It’s the only explanation.”

  Brìghde screamed her fury at Kerdik, but didn’t strike out this time. “Don’t make a joke of my affections. I loved ye, and ye used me! I left my husband for ye, and then ye were gone!”

  8

  Brìghde, Kerdik’s Ex

  Kerdik took a chance and stepped forward. I felt my foot moving in time with his, though since I was laying on the floor, I didn’t go anywhere. He leaned in and spoke low in her ear. “It was you who used me, if I remember correctly. Over and over again, you took everything I gav
e you. How sad you haven’t been pleased since then.” He shrugged and stepped back. “That’s the difference between mortals and us, I guess.”

  Brìghde wound up and slapped him across the face, snapping my head and his to the side. I could hear Link calling my name and patting my cheek, but it all took a backseat to the scene I was living out through Kerdik. “Tell me you’re miserable because of me,” Brìghde seethed. “Tell me you’ve found the love of your eternal lives, but ye can’t have her because of me.” She must’ve seen something in Kerdik’s eyes, because she chuckled darkly. “Oh, grand. I haven’t seen a dragon in so very long. Tell me, who is the poor lass who had the rotten luck to draw your eye?”

  “There’s no one.”

  “You lie. Poorly, too. You used to be so much better at deception.”

  “She’s protected, so there’s nothing you can do to touch her. And thanks to you, there’s nothing I can do to touch her, either. I’m tortured even without your help, because she doesn’t want me in the ways she should.”

  Brìghde let out a gratified, throaty laugh. “Oh, tha is far better than my curse. What magic does she carry tha even I can’t tear out her heart through her chest to wrap it up as a present for ye?”

  Kerdik’s voice was steady. “I gave her Faîte’s lost magic. She doesn’t know it, of course, but it’s been with her for a while now.”

  My horrified intake of breath was the only reaction I was permitted as the scene continued to unfold.

  Brìghde scoffed. “Faîte’s magic? Ye wouldn’t dare unleash tha. Nor would ye trust it with a mortal. It took the three of us too long to bottle up.”

  Kerdik didn’t bother arguing. “I came here to warn you not to touch Rosie. Word will reach your lands soon enough that the Avalon Rose caught my eye.”