“Come with me.” Ariel led Pip from the kitchen through a small door at the rear. Pip had never been in here before, having always assumed it was a storeroom, when in fact it was the herbalist’s house. Which made it Edison’s house. She looked around with interest, imagining her beloved living inside this space.
It was a small home, jammed with a lifetime’s worth of belongings, including Ariel’s bed. There was another door off to the side where Edison must sleep, given she could only see one bed. A large mirror stood to one side and that’s where Ariel took her now.
Pip turned her head not wanting to see herself, but Ariel positioned her in front of it and held her still.
“Tell me what you see,” said Ariel.
Reluctantly, Pip shifted her gaze. In her own room, the blanket still hung over the mirror. It’d been years since she’d seen herself and she barely recognized the girl she saw before her now.
“What do you see?” asked Ariel, standing beside her.
“Me. And you.” She attempted to smile at Ariel in the mirror, wondering why she was doing this to her. Perhaps Edison was right and his mother was losing her mind.
“And what do you look like?” asked Ariel. “Describe yourself.”
“Fat,” said Pip, the word that’d haunted her for so many years, spilling from her mouth automatically. “I’m fat.”
“And do you think I’m fat?” asked Ariel.
“Of course not!” said Pip. Ariel had always been slender.
“Now look at yourself, comparing yourself to me, and again, tell me what you see.”
Pip dragged her eyes back to herself, comparing the broadness of her shoulders with Ariel’s, the width of her waist, the angles of her face.
And suddenly it felt like the blanket in her bedchamber had fallen away, not from her mirror, but from her eyes, and she was seeing herself properly for the first time.
She raised her arm and saw the protruding bones, turned sideways to see that her waist was little wider than her arm, and her cheeks were sunken and hollow. Ariel, who was so slender, was at least twice her size. Could it be true? Could she really be so thin, when she’d spent her life believing the opposite?
“Pip, you’ve never been fat. Not for a single day of your life,” said Ariel. “Tate’s said for years now how worried he is about your weight. He told me how thin you’d gotten, but I didn’t realize how serious it was until just now when I saw you for myself.”
Pip looked back at the mirror. Could it be a trick? Was she really thin, when she’d been convinced she was fat?
“Pip, how long has it been since you ate anything?” asked Ariel.
“I eat.” This wasn’t a lie. She ate everything Tate brought her, which was enough to feed three men.
“And then what do you do with it?” Ariel’s eyes were dark and serious.
“Nothing,” said Pip, averting her gaze.
“You bring it up again, don’t you?” Ariel put a gentle hand on her back.
Pip stepped away from her, shocked at how Ariel could know such a thing.
“Have you been spying on me?” Was that how she’d recognized her so easily. “Has Elise been telling tales as she’s emptied my chamber pot?”
“Oh, Pip. No, of course not. I can see it for myself. There’s no way you could be eating and look like this. There’s not an ounce of fat or muscle on your bones. You’re starving yourself to death, my poor girl. And you’ve been doing it for years.”
Ariel looked so upset that Pip’s eyes were soon welling with tears of her own. She’d forgotten how a mother’s love felt. And Ariel may not be her mother, but she was the next best thing to the mother she’d lost, despite the missing years between them.
“Why, Pip?” asked Ariel. “Why are you doing this to yourself?”
“I don’t…" Pip paused, not sure how to explain something she didn’t even understand herself. “I don’t deserve to eat.”
“Oh Pip,” said Ariel, reaching for her and wrapping her arms around her. “Sweetheart. That’s not true.”
Pip hesitated, then accepted Ariel’s love, catching sight of their embrace in the mirror and noticing how frail she looked beside this healthy woman.
“It’s okay,” said Ariel. “I’m going to help you. I’m glad you came to me. We’re going to make you well again.”
Tears spilled freely from Pip’s eyes and she wondered why she hadn’t come to Ariel sooner. She’d thought she hadn’t been worthy of a mother. But maybe it was a mother who’d be the one to make her feel worthy once more.
“What’s going on?”
Pip’s head snapped up to see Edison standing in the doorway, his face contorting into a series of strange expressions as he tried to figure out what he was witnessing.
“Edison!” Pip let go of Ariel and rushed to his side to show him her loyalty.
“This was a terrible idea to have you here.” He put out his hand to hold her at a distance. “Go back to the palace, Pip. I’ll come and talk to you about this later. In the meantime, have a good think about what you’re doing.”
Pip hung her head once more and went to leave, but Ariel darted forward and took hold of her arm.
“She’s staying here,” said Ariel. “Look at her, Edison. She’ll die if she goes on like this. She needs help.”
“She’s fine,” he said.
“She’s not fine!” Ariel held out her palms and shook her head. “How could you let this poor girl believe she’s fat, when clearly she’s starving to death?”
Edison bit down on his bottom lip. “How long do you think she has?”
This was when the room started to spin and Pip had to reach out to hold onto Ariel to stop herself from falling. Because yet another thing had just become perfectly clear. Edison wasn’t asking how long she had because he didn’t want her to die. It was more like he didn’t want her to die yet.
TATE
THE NOW
Tate made his way through the cornfields. It was early and there was no need to run today. The sun had barely peeked up from behind the hills.
He yawned, thinking about River sound asleep in his bed. He’d had to be extra quiet to leave without her noticing. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her company today, more that he just wanted to be alone to sort out all the thoughts swirling in his mind.
River. Pip. Edison. Ariel. His father. There was just far too much going on right now. Everyone competing against each other instead of working toward common goals. This was no way to run a kingdom. The royal family were meant to be the leaders, but how could they lead when they all wanted to walk down different paths?
Tate wasn’t sure how he was going to put a stop to Edison. All he knew was that he had to. He’d spent all of yesterday and most of the night talking through the possibilities with River. Well, to be fair they hadn’t talked all night, but they had been awake. Part of the night had been dedicated to exploring each other, learning and bonding. He felt so close to her now. Far closer than he’d ever felt to another human, Pip included.
Pip had held herself at a distance ever since their mother died. She’d taken it so hard, blaming herself. That blame had no doubt led to her health problems. He was at a total loss to know what to do about that. His sister was disappearing in front of his eyes. It didn’t matter how much food he brought her, she just got thinner.
He plucked a leaf from a corn stalk and shredded it in half. He’d let Pip down. He just didn’t know what he could do that would save her. She was so vulnerable. It was no wonder Edison had been able to swoop in and influence her like that.
Putting Edison in charge of the Guardians was a disaster. Tate was shocked his father was even entertaining the idea. But short of murdering his father to take the crown, what could Tate do about it, except continue to voice his disgust?
Seeing a mass of brown fur in one of the traps, he went to the injured rabbit, crouching down and feeling the faintest sign of a heartbeat. There was no hope for this poor little one.
He op
ened the trap and lifted the rabbit to his chest. It didn’t even move to register it was aware of the contact.
“Sorry, little guy.” Tate squeezed the small furry body with one hand and felt the heartbeat ebb away with his other. At least this poor creature’s last moments were one of human kindness.
He put the rabbit back in the trap and closed it. The farmer would be none the wiser and could still make rabbit stew for dinner tonight. But at least Tate had been able to put an end to the suffering. He really hated those traps.
Maybe River was right. What difference was he making out here? Was he doing this for the rabbits or was he actually doing it for himself? Did it make him feel like some kind of hero to rescue these defenseless creatures each morning? Or was he just rescuing them because he wasn’t certain how to rescue his sister? He couldn’t make things better for Pip, but he could make a difference for the rabbits. It all seemed so stupid now that he thought about it.
Deciding to abandon his traps for the morning, he turned back to the palace. If River was still asleep, maybe he could crawl back under the covers next to her and get some sleep.
As he got closer to the palace, a noise reached his ears. He stilled his footsteps and tilted his head as he listened. It was the sound of marching. Heavy boots stomping on the earth. Were they being invaded? Had Edison stirred up something in Wintergreen and now they were paying the price?
His steps quickly became a jog, then a run, as he ran toward the source of the noise. The Guardians’ village. A strange place for Wintergreen to attack. In years gone by when battles had taken place, the palace was always the first target, which was exactly why it no longer greeted their enemies from its former vulnerable position in the Bay.
It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized there were no shouts or cries to accompany the sound of battle. Just boots marching.
And one voice shouting.
Edison’s.
Tate increased his pace, emerging through the gap in the hedged fence to the Guardians’ village, then ground to a halt as he took in what was before him.
The village was a shambles. Belongings had been taken from the huts and piled up in broken pieces. Doors to what had once been proud homes swung open and a sense of profound sadness hung in the air.
Looking toward the training fields, he saw that Edison had separated the Guardians into two groups, with men in one and women in the other. They were lined up in neat rows with a large space running down the middle.
Tate ran to them, gutted to see the defeated look on the Guardians’ faces. Eyes were red and cheeks were stained with muddy tears as they kept their eyes focused on the back of the person in front of them. One young female Guardian broke her gaze to look at Tate, pleading with her eyes for help. The Guardian next to her had a large purple bruise on her face. This was outrageous! What had Edison done to these people? He’d broken them!
An army may fight for you out of fear. But didn’t Edison know that when they fought for you out of love and respect, their power would be far greater? It seemed Edison was even more foolish than Tate had believed.
He watched Edison now, pacing up and down the space between the Guardians, using a sword for a walking stick as he inspected his marching army.
“Faster!” he shouted at a male Guardian, tapping him roughly on the back of his legs with his sword.
The Guardian picked up his pace to fall in step with the others, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead.
Edison nodded his approval, before shifting his gaze to the females, using the tip of his sword to lift the tunic of a young Guardian, while he smirked, drunk on his power.
“What are you doing?” Tate called out. That Guardian could’ve been River not all that long ago. How dare he abuse his position like that.
The sound of the marching softened and slowed ever so slightly.
“Keep marching!” Edison commanded, his sneering face pointed at Tate.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Tate.
“Training my army,” said Edison, puffing out his chest.
“Training them for what?”
“We’re going to invade Wintergreen,” said Edison. “King’s orders.”
“You couldn’t even keep a dozen of them alive on one simple quest,” said Tate, shaking his head. How could his father have approved such a thing? “How can you possibly invade a kingdom?”
With these words, Edison stepped toward Tate with his sword held out in front of him.
Silence filled the fields. The marching had stopped and the Guardians turned to look at Edison. He may be their master, but they’d been bred for generations to protect the royal family. And that included Tate.
Edison put down his sword and took a step back from Tate.
“March!” he cried. “I didn’t tell you to stop.”
The Guardians resumed their march. Tate could command them to kill Edison right now, and they would. Put him out of his misery in the same way he’d shown the rabbit mercy, earlier that morning. But Edison wasn’t a rabbit. He was a snake. And snakes needed to be outsmarted not crushed under a boot, in case their poison leached into the ground. He was determined to be a better leader than his father. One who ruled with compassion instead of fear.
“You’re so weak,” spat out Edison, glaring at Tate.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so terrible to crush just one snake. Especially if it was a snake determined to bite him. But then he reminded himself how devastated Ariel would be to lose her son. He couldn’t kill him. He had to find a way to see if he could be redeemed first. If there was even an ounce of hope, then he had to explore that.
“Just so you know,” said Edison. “If the roles were reversed, I’d have had them kill you right now, you spineless fool. And your freak of a wife.”
The Guardians paused their march once more and looked at Tate for direction.
“Kill him,” said Tate, the temptation too great and exploding in his chest like a bolt of lightning. Nobody threatened River like that. Especially not Edison.
The Guardians abandoned their lines to form a circle, with Edison and Tate in the middle. But it was Edison in their focus, their hatred for him just as great as Tate’s own. The circle began to close and Tate was swallowed into the first row as the two Guardians closest to Edison wrestled his sword from his hands and took hold of his arms. A third Guardian placed his large hands around Edison’s neck.
Edison thrashed and squirmed. “No!” he cried out. “I’m your master and I command you to take your hands off me.”
The Guardians turned to face Tate, seeking his final approval for the slaughter of the man who’d appointed himself as their master.
“You are not our master,” said the Guardian with his hands around Edison’s neck, as he tightened his grip.
“No,” Edison gurgled, his face quickly turning purple. “No!”
“I am your master,” boomed a voice from the back of the crowd. “And take your hands off him.”
Tate spun around, just as a path opened up between the Guardians to reveal the owner of the voice.
The Guardians let go of Edison immediately, letting him fall to the ground. They may have been acting on Tate’s instructions, but there was only one person who overruled him.
The King.
Tate watched his father stride toward the center of the crowd to stand beside Edison, who was now struggling to his feet.
“What’s going on here?” The King directed his question at Tate.
“Somebody had to stop him.” Tate put his hands on his hips and glared at his father. “He’s treating the Guardians like animals, not people.”
“They’re an army.” Fire burned behind his father’s eyes. “An army that I instructed to follow Edison’s commands. You had no right to interfere.”
“And you had no right to appoint him to such a role.” The words flew from Tate’s lips before he could stop them. The King may be his father, but he wasn’t known for his mercy or his love for his chil
dren. “You must put a stop to him.”
The King seemed to think about this for a moment.
“Tate, you are my son, but you have failed to act when your kingdom needed you. Edison may not be doing everything right, but at least he’s trying. That shows strength and courage.”
Edison stood tall now, smirking at Tate like he’d done as a child whenever he’d beaten him in a game. But this wasn’t a game! The future of the kingdom was at stake.
“Father, you don’t know the first thing about me.” Tate stepped in front of Edison, hoping his father would look at him; not like he usually did, but properly, seeing the man he was instead of the man he wanted him to be. “Appoint me to the Guardians and I’ll show you what a strong force they can be.”
“What?” said his father, with a smile so bitter Tate could practically taste it. “You’ll rescue them like you rescue your precious rabbits in the cornfields?”
Ice gripped Tate around the core. “You know?”
“Of course, I know. It’s my job to know.” The King’s smile morphed into a sneer. “You accuse me of not knowing the first thing about you. Perhaps it’s you who doesn’t know me. You’ve done nothing but disappoint me your whole life.”
“But… but… I don’t…” Tate grimaced as the words refused to come out. His father must’ve had him followed. But when? And what else had he seen? What kind of a father spied on his own son?
“Rescuing rabbits in the cornfields?” Edison laughed, clutching at his sides as if it was the funniest thing he’d ever heard. “Oh, how very sweet, Prince Tate. Or should that be Princess Tate?”
“Take him away,” the King commanded his Guardians. “To the dungeon.
At last, his father had seen sense. With Edison locked away, they might be able to set things right. But when two Guardians took hold of his own arms, he realized his father hadn’t been talking about Edison.
He’d been talking about him.
RIVER
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 80
