by Jill Nojack
Mona meekly replied, "I don't know what you mean."
"Yes, you do. Allow Euphemia to take charge. Follow deeply into her memories. You've been reaching for the soil all along. You just didn't know that the whispering of all the connected voices was coming from your magic as a dryad. You’re a nymph with the power of the trees to communicate across long distances by your connection to the earth. It’s probably been confusing for you, but you can learn to reach out for individual voices if you let your fae half take the lead."
"I can try." As she reached for the earth, she began to remember. Mona gasped as the voices of the other dryads reached out to her and she felt her body transforming and connecting to the earth.
"I believe in you, Euphemia. When you’ve mastered your ability, you’ll be more than useful to me."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Don't Fence Me In
Just before dawn, Eamon spread a trail of sugar from one of the burrow holes off into the woods. With a little luck, it would lure only one of the gnomes his way. If more than one found the trail, it would be more difficult to manage. He didn't know if they'd have enough amnesia potion for more than three.
He and James lay silently on the ground among the tall green ferns, waiting for one of the gnomes to exit the burrow in the first light of false dawn and catch the scent. It wasn't long before one of the elder gnomes popped his head out of the burrow, nose twitching. Greedy thing that he was, he exited the burrow, turned around, placed his small rear end over the burrow entrance, and blew out a great load of gas to keep his huddle-mates from sniffing the treat before he'd scooped it all up for himself.
Eamon was poised at the ready as the gnome approached them and sprung from his hiding place to grab the gnome, placing a hand over his mouth from behind while James uncorked the potion.
"Alright, then, if you know what's good for ye, you'll not try to rouse your huddle when I remove my hand from your mouth. You know who that lad is, right?" Eamon said, as he nodded toward James, "The great sorcerer Myrddin, that's who he is. He doesn't want to hurt you, but you know that he could."
The gnome nodded solemnly, his eyes wide with fear.
"Good. Myrddin has something for ye. Drink it down without a fuss, right?"
The gnome nodded again.
Eamon removed his hand from the gnome's mouth, and James handed the potion to the gnome. "All of it, now. It won't harm you."
His eyes still wide, the gnome never removed his gaze from James's face as he drank the potion. The effect was immediate. Eamon let him go as he suddenly relaxed and started giggling quietly, sitting down on the grass.
Eamon told the gnome what he expected him to do, and the gnome walked a circuit around the Moore's backyard with James and Eamon following behind. He chanted, farted, and burped as he went. Eamon had never been sure if the bodily functions were an important part of magic for the gnomes or if they just couldn't control it, even for their rituals. Not that gnomes are big on mystical. They're earthy creatures with very simple needs: food, shelter, safety, and gods to cover the bases for everything else. It doesn't get more basic than that.
When the gnome was done, Eamon had him sit back down in the grass and handed him the memory potion, advising him to drink. When the gnome finished off every drop, Eamon took the bottle from him, and he and James quickly walked past the porch, around the side of the garage, then out to the driveway where they parted with an enthusiastic fist bump.
Eamon knew that the gnome, when he woke up with his small leather pouch now full of sugar, wouldn't pause to wonder how he'd gotten so lucky to come across such a rare treat. Gnomes just aren't smart enough to ask the really big questions.
Through the sliding glass door at the back patio of the Moore house, Gurrdenn watched Bobby eat his breakfast, kiss his mother, and then grab his backpack and walk toward the front door. He called out to the others, and they joined him as he headed for the gate at the side of the yard.
The gnomes were moving fast when they slammed against the invisible barrier. There were many cries of pain and a great deal of gnomish cursing. A few minutes later, they’d recovered their normally upbeat approach to problems and took another run at the barrier.
After the fourth attempt, getting the same result every time, Gurrdenn walked back to the burrow, trailed by his huddle-mates. He sat on the flat stone that served as the place of law-giving. The others brought him food and drink while he sat and pondered in front of the azaleas.
When Lizbet's alarm went off, she woke up feeling groggy and light-headed with just a touch of a headache. She felt the pull of a small craving. It wasn't hunger. In fact, she didn't feel hungry at all. When her eyes lit on the small brown bottle on the table, it occurred to her that it was just the thing. There was still at least three-fourths of a bottle of the stuff, so she would have plenty to make it through school this week. But she definitely needed to talk to Tanji about getting more.
Once the potion hit her system, she felt brilliantly alive. She bounded from bed with a song and dance. When she joined Bobby for breakfast, she gave him an extra portion of noogies. Oh, what a beautiful day!
She was bopping down the hallway at school when the shakes hit. She felt awful. Suddenly, she was so sleepy she felt sick. She sunk to the floor next to a set of lockers and rummaged through her backpack, looking for the brown bottle she'd made sure to store there before she left the house.
There were gray spots swirling before her eyes, and she sank lower onto the floor, but then...she found the bottle...it was such an effort to raise it to her lips...and then...oh, brilliant day. The warmth of it flowed through her and she felt like she could fly.
Feeling that she could, she did.
She laughed at the other students as they ran to get out of her way when she buzzed down the center of the hall, flapping her wings vigorously just for show.
"Ha! Why walk when you can fly? I'm having the BEST day!"
Miss Armstrong stood in the middle of the hall near the gym, talking to one of the girls on the track team. As the other students got out of the way noisily, she looked up and then turned to plant herself firmly in Lizbet's way.
"Moore! What's gotten into you? Feet on the floor! Now!"
Lizbet stopped then, and hung in the air for a moment, unsure about what was happening. She still felt pumped, better than she'd ever felt. And maybe that was the problem. She lowered her feet to the floor.
Miss Armstrong called down the hall. "Anyone hurt?"
There were headshakes, and a few students quietly answered "no".
"Moore, you're lucky this time. But, I think from now on we can agree that in addition to no running in the halls, there'll be no flying. Understood?"
Lizbet nodded her head. "Yes, Miss Armstrong. I was just feeling so good, I didn't think about it until I was doing it."
"No excuses, young lady. You should have known better."
"Yes," Lizbet said, "I'm sorry."
Lizbet next got the shakes when she was in the girl's bathroom after her last class. As she pulled the precious bottle out of her backpack, her hands were so unsteady she lost hold of the it. It bounced against the edge of the counter as it fell and then shattered as it hit the hard tile floor. Lizbet stared at it, still shaking, until she dropped unconscious into the spreading pool of potion and shattered glass.
Morgan held a hand over the girl's arm where there was a deep gash, bleeding freely. The wound closed as a pale blue light glowed from the fae's open palm. Better. It would not do to have the Queen of the Fae greeting her followers bloodied.
She stood up then, looking down at the mess the girl had made of things. She could feel many small cuts and a painful bump on her head. She's freed me, at least. I am more than glad that Thomas suggested that potion to Langoureth. Too bad he didn't know the side effects. Perhaps I should have mentioned them when I gave it to him? Morgan smiled to herself.
As a group of girls entered the bathroom, she turned to face them. One of them asked, "Lizbe
t, are you okay?"
"I think you'll find I'm better than ever," Morgan replied, as she faded into the aether.
She popped back to Lizbet's house to change her clothes, and after she’d cleaned herself up and approved her appearance in the mirror, she walked downstairs and waved her hand across several pieces of furniture, reshaping them into more suitable styles. The house would do for her court for now. She didn't want to return to Scotland without Myrddin, and she would have to be happy with having him next door until he was ready to leave for home with her. She felt sure that she could convince the girl's mother that this is what an integrated version of Lizbet would be like. It would be difficult, though, to pretend to the innocence of the girl, even for a short time. Still, it had to be. Declaring herself as Morgan would lose her Myrddin and turn many humans against her. Neither of these things suited her plans.
She'd dressed in some of Lizbet's clothes instead of her own. She would eventually start dressing to her own tastes, but until everyone accepted her as Lizbet, she would have to be careful. The changes to the furniture would be enough for now. She had to make those changes: she would soon be holding court for her subjects.
The front doorbell rang. She opened the door, hands free, as a queen would. Faolan, no...Thomas, stood before her. He dropped to one knee, but he did not bow his head. Instead he looked up at her, his gaze one of adoration.
"I felt you here, my queen. I knew it was you."
The Fae didn't quite know what to do with him. He’d been a danger to Myrddin in the past, but she knew he was no threat now, and certainly, he was easily misled. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here looking up at her as he offered himself to serve.
"You may rise, Thomas. Yes, I've integrated now. Please, call me Lizbet, for that is who I am. But I am Lizbet and Queen of the Fae."
Thomas nodded and rose. He was at least a foot taller than she was and as handsome as Faolan had been. Faolan's beauty had been wasted when he joined the monastery. She remembered her petty desire for great-grandchildren from him when she had a human side and her upset when he chose to serve the church as a celibate instead. How foolish it seemed now, when she had lived for so many hundreds of years. She needed no children and grandchildren to carry on her legacy, only this young body that Lizbet had so recently yielded to her.
"Thomas, if you are offering to serve, there may soon be a time when I have a request of you."
"Anything."
Sheila arrived home to a house full of fae. Mona was there, and a full elf was also seated stiffly on the living room couch, his bow resting across his lap, ready for action if needed.
Lizbet sat in a large wooden and velvet chair where a recliner had sat that morning.
"Lizzie, what's going on?"
"Mom, welcome home. I would like to introduce my friends. You know Mona, or, as she was known in Morgan's court, Euphemia. This is Freoric; he’s the representative of the elves in this country. They’ve come to pay their respects to me as their queen."
"If that's true, then you're not Lizbet." In the back of her mind, Sheila remembered Lizbet's warning that the fae might be dangerous. She wished she’d thought before she’d blurted that out.
"I am. Don't worry. She...Morgan, I mean...has finally fully remerged. Today at school. She gave up trying to take over. It was really cool."
Sheila continued to look at her daughter for a long moment. "If you're Lizbet, then tell me, what does Lizbet most want out of life?"
"That's an easy one, if you’re talking about what I most want right now—I want to be free of the wings so that everything can just get back to normal. Which, as you can see, is already done." Lizbet stood up then and turned around. Sheila could see that the wings were gone. Not just folded on her daughter's back, but gone. Lizbet said, "Isn't it great? But I do have responsibilities to the fae. I can help people like Mona now."
Sheila enclosed her daughter in her arms when she came forward for a hug. She wanted to be happy for her, but she wasn't sure she should be. The girl in her arms felt and sounded like her daughter, but a part of her held back. Lizbet didn't just want her wings gone. They were only a symbol; what her daughter really wanted was a normal life back. Holding court was not part of any normal life that Sheila would have expected.
“Mom, Mona and I are going to take a walk in the woods. It’s such a nice day. We have so many things to talk about, don’t we, Mona?”
Mona turned and nodded to Sheila in affirmation, but Sheila saw her hesitate for the briefest second before she did. She wasn’t sure what that hesitation meant, but she didn’t like it.
“Sure, honey. Just be back in time for dinner.”
Sheila waited until they disappeared into the trees at the back of the garden to pull her phone out.
The first time Morgan had made her reach for the earth, it had been invigorating as the power began to feed up through the soles of her feet, but then it grew painful as the connection to the soil grew stronger and she began to transform. Afterward, Morgan assured her that the pain would decrease in time as her human cells absorbed more of the transformative magic a dryad uses to join with the earth. But Mona didn’t want to do it again. And she certainly didn’t want to do it every time Morgan commanded it.
But that didn’t matter: Mona had no a choice. She’d sought out the queen as a better alternative to the gawking and judging of other people, and now she was an indentured servant assigned to build a relationship with Sheila so she could spy on Lizbet’s friends and family. She was also expected to be available for the queen whenever she wanted to dial up the fae at her home in Scotland. The queen smiled sweetly and asked her for her help, but behind the smile was a command and a threat. Why couldn’t Morgan just get a cell phone like everyone else?
“Here will be fine, Mona. We’re far enough away from the house. No one will see.”
Mona slipped off her sandals and dug her feet into the soft topsoil. She closed her eyes as the energy started moving from her feet to her legs and up her body, changing her as the whispers of the other dryads became stronger. The voice of the queen came to her more as a vibration than a sound: in dryad form, she no longer had ears. The queen fed her questions, and she relayed them to the others who lived in various parts of Europe. When the queen had asked all of her questions, she told Mona she could return. Mona visualized pulling her roots from the soil, painfully, and the stiffness in her body gradually eased until she fully inhabited her human form again.
“So, Euphemia, the answers to my questions?”
Mona looked up from the ground where she lay in agony and began to relay what she had learned.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Fakin' It
Gurrdenn peered in the family room window, watching Bobby stare at colorful images as they flashed across the front of the picture box. Gurrdenn also enjoyed the images, and he laughed as one of the creatures on the screen hit another over the head with a hammer bigger than he was. But there was no point to it; neither of the creatures ate the other one when the battle was over. Even so, Gurrdenn enjoyed the battle as he kept an eye on his god.
He heard the sound of a bell and then the raised voices of the mother and father. He moved to the large glass door on the patio to better see what was happening. Everything that happened in the home of the god was of interest to the gnomes.
The father looked angry, shouting at the mother from just outside the door. Gurrdenn didn't understand all that he heard but, "around those fae again" and "you have an elf standing guard at the end of your driveway" and "I'm getting Bobby out of here" made sense to him.
Bobby walked into the hallway then. The father saw him and said, "Bobby, come here. You're staying at my house for a while."
The mother turned around. Her voice was quiet. "Bobby, please go to your room. You're not in trouble. I just need to speak with your father privately."
The father moved forward but the mother blocked his path as he said, "Bobby, come here."
Bobby turned around and went
back the way he'd come in. Gurrdenn tracked him with his eyes until the boy disappeared out of the other side of the family room.
The mother and father became quieter, and then the mother shut the door and the father was gone.
Gurrdenn knew what he had to do. The Bobby god was under threat.
Tanji parked at the side of the road and walked into the meadow. The sun was just rising, and the grass glistened with a touch of dew. It was a beautiful and peaceful scene. She wished she could enjoy it.
"Eamon?" she called.
The gruagach appeared at her side in a blur of movement. "Mornin’, lassie. What brings you here so bright and early?"
"Real problems, I think. Lizbet's mom called me last night, and she was worried. She says that Lizbet had an elf over for a pow-wow, and she was planning on ‘holding court’ regularly as Queen of the Fae. She also says that Lizbet claimed your good buddy Queen Morgan had finally remerged and fully integrated with her, so no one needed to worry about her anymore. The thing that bothered Mrs. Moore the most was that she couldn't tell if it was real Lizbet or faux Lizbet."
"Poor Sheila, she's so been so jargogled since Fae Day. I'm glad she called you. Will you be able to tell the difference if it's my mistress just claiming to be Lizbet?"
"Yeah, definitely," Tanji said. "But if ‘ol Queenie is trying to pretend that she's Lizbet instead of just sneaking around when Lizbet's out of it, that worries me. Do we let her think that she's fooled us, or do we confront her? I really don't know what to do when I pick her up for school this morning if it's not Lizbet in the car with me."
"If, as you say, it's Morgan trying to convince you that she and Lizbet have finally remerged, let's go about this carefully. With Morgan in full control, she could take Lizbet away. I believe James, or more accurately, Myrddin, would be the only thing keeping her here, so we've got to keep quiet until we're sure we have a plan."
