by Jill Nojack
Avenall turned, dismissing him, as Evrard exited the training cage. He walked to Harul and stroked his hand gently along the side of her head where the red scales joined with the orange and yellow that covered the rest of her body. She was beautiful, like flame itself. He lay his head against her neck and sighed.
"Well, Harul, there will be no saddle for you today. But I think there might be one for me."
***
After shepherding Harul and the other dragons safely back to their stalls, Avenall climbed to the loft. He removed his leather jerkin and shirt, then slipped a black t-shirt with the human symbol "AC/DC" on the chest over his head. He put his shirt and leather jerkin back on over it and climbed out the back hatch of the loft. Within minutes, he was running through the forest in the direction of the village several miles away. If the council came for him, Oriane's message must already be on the way to the queen so that he was not prevented from delivering it.
Outside the town, he removed his shirt and jerkin again. He unbound his hair and left it loose on his shoulders in the human way, which also hid his elvin ears. He casually sauntered down the central street listening to his music. He hoped this would mark him as one of the humans who had adopted elements of elvin dress rather than as an elf who risked imprisonment for adopting human ways.
Avenall walked the street, looking for the cafe where Danton said he worked. There, that was it. Avenall peered into the window of the brightly lit restaurant, scanning for Danton among the patrons. The crowd was small. Danton looked up just as Avenall located him. Danton's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Then he stowed the counter towel he held in his hand under the sink and walked to the door of the cafe.
"Mon ami, what are you doing here? Isn't it dangerous for you?"
"More dangerous than almost anything I have ever done," Avenall said, as he flashed back to Evrard backing out of the barn, anger and revenge in his eyes. "But I need your help. I have no one else to turn to."
Danton waved him inside. "Come, the break room." Avenall followed him into a small room with a tiny table and a few chairs crammed in with boxes of cups and lids behind it. Danton waved his hand at the chair on the left, "Go ahead, take a seat. I'm curious."
"I'm here to ask that you carry a message to the Queen of the Fae."
Danton laughed. "The Queen of the Fae, is it? You might as well ask me to carry a message to the Prime Minister of France. How would I accomplish that?"
"Humans have, what are they called? Phones?"
"Oiu, and if she's not listed, one of her friends might be. They aren't royalty. And there is always the mail or even email. So, perhaps it's possible to get a message to her." Danton looked cagily at Avenall. "You know nothing of the difficulties of these methods?"
"I do not. I could not use them. Will you help?"
Danton smiled, pleased he could turn the elf's lack of knowledge of modern communication into an opportunity once again. "I could do this for you, if it is important. But what will you give me in return?"
"I have nothing to give you except my thanks and friendship."
"Ah, that won't put money in the bank so that I can buy this place, will it? I don't plan on always doing the cleaning up. And the call will be expensive because it is such a long distance. That dragon claw you gave me sold well. Nearly four thousand euro. I could do it for another one of those, I think."
"I haven't got one."
"You have one around your neck."
"I can't give it up. Not for anything."
"Then I see you are on your own. We have nothing else to talk about." Danton stood and gestured toward the door of the small room, ushering Avenall out.
Avenall's heart was heavy as he walked through the town again, heading for the forest. The man he had thought was a friend had only been using him to collect elvin keepsakes to sell. He had been no friend at all. Even worse, he still could not get a message to the queen. He would be nothing but a disappointment to Oriane. This hurt him even more now that he realized she and the dragons were the only friends he had left.
Maybe he should give up the dragon claw. It was, after all, just a dead piece of a dead dragon. Meaningless to anyone else. But Durian had given it to him, and Durian was the only elf who had treated him with kindness after the discovery that he would be a Dragon Tender. He would not betray the kindness and good memories of his true friend by selling the dragon claw for favors.
He wondered if all humans would treat him as Danton had done. If so, why should he even try to help their race? When he realized he was thinking like a good elvin son to his father, it wasn't the cold day that made him shiver.
***
In the morning, Avenall was sure they would come for him, but no guards arrived with their swords drawn. No Elders came to the front of the stable to read charges.
He fed the dragons, cleaned their stalls, touched their minds, and found them contented and calm after yesterday's excitement. He rubbed each of them under their small, pointed ears, except for Fein, who disliked it and would pull away.
As the largest of the dragons, twice as large as a horse, Fein was the pride of the stable. He easily carried a rider for a day without rest, and he was the swiftest among them. Instead of rubbing Fein beneath the ears, he slipped him a special treat, a field mouse he had charmed into his hands especially for the dragon.
He couldn't bear it if the dragons were taken out among the humans as tools of death and objects of fear. In the wild, dragons kill for food or when they are frightened and need to protect themselves. Humans and fae are not their natural prey, but the elves press them into servitude as warriors. Avenall hated it, and he hated that it was his job to keep them calm while the warriors trained them to be tools for violence.
Evrard entered the stable, pulling Avenall abruptly from his thoughts.
"The elders have decided you are to be given another chance, but you will never dare to speak to me or any of your betters in the same way again, or I will lash you myself on the spot. Ready the dragons for training. The other riders will be arriving soon."
Avenall did as he was told that day. He had to focus on getting a message to the queen. He couldn't ruin that chance by losing his temper. He ignored the casual cruelty of the riders when the dragons did not do exactly as they demanded. He kept calming thoughts flowing through their minds whenever one of the herd spiked toward anxiety or fear. It saddened him to watch Harul and Mer be put to bridle and saddle.
While he worked, a plan began to take shape that would allow him to protect the dragons while fulfilling his promise to Oriane.
CHAPTER SIX
Turn Around, Look At Me
"Why all this interest in internal combustion and bombs all of a sudden? Wouldn't you rather be snuggled up with your girlfriend watching a romantic movie?" Tanji moved closer to him as she made her point, but Thomas continued to run a finger down the book that sat on the coffee table in front of him. His focus was intense. She wasn't even sure he'd heard her.
She got up and stamped off to the kitchen. "Nope. No. Let me just go ahead and answer that. You wouldn't. Because you were a monk for all the right reasons."
Tanji took a tray of bottles and jars out of the cupboard and picked them up, read the labels, then set a few on the counter before she loaded the others back onto the tray and put it away. She took down the cobalt blue bowl she used as a mortar and blended the ingredients together carefully, measuring with a scale at times, pinching off a small amount at others.
When she was done, she walked to a spot about three feet behind the couch where Thomas sat. She took a handful of the mixture in the bowl and spread the powder through the air with a flowing gesture. Clouds formed at the ceiling and a small bolt of lightning, followed by an equally small clap of thunder, exploded in the corner of the room just before it started to rain heavily above Thomas's head. He slammed his book shut to try to keep it dry, but it was spattered with rain before he had it closed. He jumped up and turned to face Tanji, angry now.
"Why would yo
u do that, you ignorant girl?" he shouted as fat raindrops continued to hit his face.
Tanji stayed calm despite her inner upset. "It was the only way I could think of to get your attention. But as it turns out, I don't want it. Get out, Thomas. It's done between us. Not that you'll notice."
Thomas put his book down and moved to her, attempting an embrace as he apologized, but she pushed him away. "No. I'm sorry I pulled such a stupid trick, but it's not right between us anymore. I'll see you at work, and I'll see you as a friend, but I'm not your girlfriend any more, capisce?"
He nodded, gathered his books, and left. The storm Tanji had created followed him until it exhausted itself.
***
Tanji slumped down into the big, soft chair across from Lizbet's family room couch and threw her legs over one arm, flopping over to lounge across the other. She nodded her head at James when he looked up from keeping his eye on Bobby's moves in the video game. James gave an acknowledging nod in return and turned his attention back to the game. Lizbet sat across from her, cheering her brother on.
"Your former roomie is a freak, you know?" Tanji lobbed at James. "He'd rather study than spend time with a beautiful woman."
James gave a half-smile without removing his attention from the TV screen. "Well sure, who wouldn't?"
"Really, he's made me nuts for the last time. I ended it." She turned to Lizbet then, not really meaning to include James in the first place, but it felt good to send some of her anger in a male direction. "I just hope it isn't uncomfortable at work. Not like he'll notice me any more than he ever did. Yeah...not going to be uncomfortable at all, really."
"Did you break up for sure this time?" Lizbet asked. "You're not just saying you're going to do it and then decide he's all cute and smart and not annoying at all again? And I'll be in trouble for dissin' on your boyfriend if I say you can do better?"
"Yeah, yeah...I really did it. And I mean it. I just hope my dad doesn't pop a blood vessel when he sees the storm damage in the living room."
"Huh? Storm damage?"
"You know me...I can get creative. Just a little thunder and lightning..."
Lizbet laughed. "You did a rainmaking spell inside your house? Really?"
Tanji tried not to grin, but she couldn't help herself. "I know, right? It was uber-cool, girl. You should have seen it. And, you know, super-metaphorical. I'm going to carry a storm around with me in a pouch from now on."
"Thanks for the warning. I'll start carrying an umbrella. But I can't say it bothers me you dumped him. I don't care what James says, and I don't care about all that time you've spent trying to convince me that Thomas is okay, I still don't trust him. And I'm never going to like him. Makes my day that you're not going to insist on dragging him out with us on double-dates anymore."
"Yeah, well, that was the daddio's rule, not mine. He was convinced we needed a chaperone. Difference in ages and all that. He has big trust for James narcing if Thomas acted like a bad boy. Like he would, right?"
As Tanji spoke, Sheila Moore walked into the family room from the garage. "Oh, a houseful, I see."
"Hey Mom. How was dinner with Mona?" Lizbet called from the sofa. Bobby just nodded quickly then returned his attention to James's navigation through the battlefield.
"She didn't turn up. It's so unlike her. I called her, but she didn't answer. I had dinner anyway since the restaurant was booked, and I kept hoping she'd get there, but I can't think about what's happened. I'm sure it's nothing."
"Yeah, right, Mom. 'Cause everything around here turns out to be nothing. Plus, she was supposed to give me a call just to help me keep up with what's going on in Europe until my weekend visit to court, but she didn't. And that is also really not like her. Bobby, hey, would you like me to..."
"Make me a bowl of ice cream, right? Because every time you start talking all fairy-secrets, I get a bowl of ice cream and have to eat it somewhere else. Like I don't know."
"Well, yeah. So, I guess you're not interested in ice cream?"
"I didn't say that! I just said I know what you're doing. I'm not dumb."
He followed her into the kitchen, and she dropped a couple of sisterly noogies on his head before she handed him the ice cream. "Thanks, kiddo. It's all boring stuff anyway."
***
James held his hand out in front of him, following the glowing dot as it traversed a map across his palm which wrote and revised itself in brilliant color as they traveled. They'd walked about half a mile from their starting point near Mona's apartment when the orb stopped moving and changed from blue to gray, then disappeared. The woods were suddenly much darker than they'd been before.
James looked around, and said, "So, we're in the middle of the woods and the spell says she's here, but I don't see her. Maybe this spell doesn't always work the way I thought it would."
Tanji and Lizbet scattered in opposite directions, ranging away from where James stood, to see if Mona was anywhere near, but they found nothing. There was still an inch or two of snow on the ground from the day before, but there were no footprints in it to show Mona had come this way. But it was dark, and the starweed Tanji used to light the area didn't bring the light up that much.
When the girls returned, James rubbed his palms together and ended the spell. He took mittens out of his coat pocket and shoved his hands in quickly against the cold. "I don't get it. The spell works for me whenever I want to find something I've lost. It always gets me within at least ten feet. It should have worked to find Mona, too, if she's in range. If she's not, it shouldn't light up at all."
"Maybe she's shielding herself magically?" said Tanji.
Lizbet shook her head. "I can't think of a single reason she'd do something like that. I mean, she and my mom are close. Like grownup besties close. If she needed to hide for some reason, my mom would know. Man, I hate this. Nothing about it feels right."
Tanji said, "I'm there with you—my spidey-sense is way tingly right now. Having one of super-wizard Myrddin's spells lead us nowhere is a bad sign."
James shrugged. "What can I say? I don't always get it right." He started to walk toward Lizbet, reaching out his hand to take hold of hers in preparation for the walk back, but he stumbled, tripping on something under the snow. He bent over and brushed it clear. "Guys, what kind of shoes does Mona wear?" He stood and handed the snowy shoes to Lizbet so she could take a closer look.
"Yep, I think these are hers. She likes slip-ons, even in the winter, so she can get them off fast and connect to the earth. I guess your spell didn't go completely wrong after all. But, so...where's Mona?"
She swept her eyes around again, but all she could see was tree after tree.
***
Sheila clicked the off button on the remote when she heard the front door open. "Did you find her?"
Lizbet walked into the family room, shaking her head. "No. Just these." She held up the shoes.
"Those are hers. She wears them with that long green skirt all the time."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. We found them in the woods. But that's all. I'm trying not to get crazy about it, but I need to go to Scotland to find out if the dryads at the court have heard from her. I wish a few more of the fae would get with it like Eamon and start a cell phone family plan. I'll go tomorrow after school."
"No, not tomorrow. As much as I'm concerned about Mona, I don't want you to get stuck there and miss dinner. Your father is joining us, and I want the two of you to make nice to each other. I've had enough of this cold front between you. It's time to get it straightened out, and since he's agreed to come by, you're going to be here."
Lizbet started to protest, but her mother stopped her. "No arguments. I'm not even married to him anymore, but we manage to speak to each other civilly. Plus, while I'm at it, I don't want you going alone to Scotland, either. You need to take James or Eamon with you."
"Fine. I'll ask James. Is Saturday morning okay?"
"Sure. I'm as anxious for news of Mona as you are, I'm just not sur
e you're going to find it in Scotland. I'm pretty sure if you thought so, you'd be there right now."
"Well, it is the middle of the night over there."
"Because that would stop you? I know you better than that."
Lizbet knew she was right. "No. Being queen has its perks. It's not like anyone would complain if I woke them up. You're sure she didn't say anything to you that might help us figure this out?"
"I've been over everything she's said to me in the past month, sweetie. Things were just normal—as normal as things can be for a half-dryad, I guess. She loves working for Ron. She's enjoying getting to know the other dryads in Europe, and she gets so excited when she talks about how they communicate through the earth. I mean, there was nothing going on with her that seemed out of place."
When she got out her homework to study before bedtime, Lizbet had a hard time staying focused on verb tenses. If there was nothing about Mona's life that would have caused her to disappear, then either something completely random had happened, or something fae had happened. She was hoping for "oops, I forgot to tell you all I'd be visiting my mom" or something equally harmless. And then they'd all have a laugh for having gotten themselves bent out of shape about it, and that would be lots better than the alternative. Because anything fae always turned out to be trickier than it appeared on the surface.
CHAPTER SEVEN
No Place Like Home
Elder Shan scowled in distaste. "They hover around us like flies to carrion. I'm tired of seeing them outside the gate. Scatter these humans and make sure they do not return. I see no reason to be delicate."
The archer at his side behind the parapet nodded and nocked an arrow. It flew true and pierced the meaty part of a man's upper leg. He crumpled, screaming.
