Crimson Secrets

by Garnet Davenport

  ➢6 Transitioning

  So many thoughts were going through my mind: the Morrígan, bloodlines, finding a mate, special abilities, and council members. I felt like I was falling. Even with all this going through my mind, I was fast asleep in no time.

  ***

  I was running through the Callamore mansion. I felt like something was chasing me. I found the front doors as quickly as possible. I wanted to go home. I opened the doors, stepped out onto the stone walkway, and then I ran for the woods. If I could make it to the other side of the woods I would be safe. The road wasn’t that far off. I felt like I was running easier, my chest didn’t hurt as much and the trees weren’t ripping open my arms, I could see better than ever in the darkest night.

  I ran up to the river, I heard growling behind me. I panicked and jumped, this time hitting the other side of the riverbank with ease. I turned to my right seeing the blueish-silver furred wolf running after me. I turned back to keep my focus. I needed to get away from him. He made me nervous. I heard more aggressive barking getting closer. I forced myself to run faster, my legs started to burn, I knew I was tired. I saw the road coming up in the distance. I looked toward the blueish-silver furred wolf. I felt like he was looking back at me. I heard words in whispering in wind “Stad, tá sé in am chun teacht ar ais.” I stopped dead in my tracks. I was just feet away from touching the road. Everything started to go blurry. I felt a jolt that drove me backward, as if I were falling from a cliff.

  ***

  My eyes shot open.

  “Good morning, my dear. How did you sleep?” Edness Callamore opened the curtains in the room.

  “I’m not sure. How did I sleep?” I rubbed my eyes and moved a strand of hair out of my face.

  “Well, you were in the walking dream state for most of the night. You ran pretty far, almost all the way to the road. Our full property covers about five miles in every direction. You almost crossed the property line. How would you like some breakfast, you must be starving?”

  I was. I could hear my stomach start to growl. “Yeah, I could eat. Do I have any normal clothes here?”

  She looked at me like I had insulted her. “Normal, my dear?” I could hear an attitude in her words.

  “Yeah, like T-shirt and jeans kind of normal?”

  She looked away from me. “No, my dear, you will be dressing like a lady. Breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes. I expect to see you downstairs on time.” She left the room shutting the door behind her.

  I sat on the edge of the bed, putting my hands on my face. “Oh my god, I feel sick.” Everything was so bright. I stood up and walked into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror. There I was, hair still partially up from last night’s coming out party and looking a wild mess. It was definitely time for a shower. I could feel the stiffness of the hairspray in my hair. I turned on the water and got in as quickly as possible, letting it wash all the hairspray out of my hair. I didn’t want to be late. I was afraid that Edness Callamore would be upset with me and that I would get in trouble. I didn’t know what their definition was of in trouble. I put on the first outfit that I found. It looked like something that a royal would wear. It was a dark blue three-piece dressy skirt set as a classy out-and-about outfit. The skirt came down right past my knees. The shirt was a button up and pink, and the jacket matched the skirt exactly. I looked around for shoes, but all I could find were heels. I just grabbed them in my hands and ran out the door, down the stairs and into the dining room where they were serving breakfast.

  Everyone was already seated. Declan, Duncan, and Angelica were already there. Duncan smirked as I walked into the room.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just—”

  “Your hair is dripping on my floor,” said Edness. She spoke at me as if she had razors instead of words.

  I grabbed my hair and held it up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be late.”

  Edness Callamore motioned for me to have a seat. I quickly sat and put on the shoes. Duncan laughed.

  “Duncan, mind your manners,” she ordered. Then she turned to me. “My dear, if you are not presentable, you do not present yourself.” She picked up her teacup and took a sip, never looking at me. I wanted to disappear. “Do not slouch.”

  I sat up quickly. Duncan smirked and looked down at his plate.

  Angelica and Declan stayed silent.

  “Mother, I believe Miss Evans needs to be acquainted with the proper rules before being told that is not the proper way to do something,” Julius said, smiling at me.

  I smiled back. Finally, someone on my side trying to not make me look stupid.

  “You are correct, my son. My apologies, Miss Evans. In this scenario, you would not verbally accept my apology. You would make a gesture with your head in an accepting manner. You see you are too far away from me to verbally accept; however, I was able to say something to you because I am at the head of the table. I am allowed to speak directly to any of my guests. Do you understand?”

  I knew this was a test. I nodded my head.

  “Very good, my dear.” She picked up her teacup. “Now, as for today your studies will be sent over this afternoon. We have the rest of the day to practice your etiquette and language skills. As for you boys—”

  Julius cut her off and it almost made me chuckle. “I have been called into the office with a new acquisition.” Julius looked at his watch. “And I am also running late.” He took a last sip of coffee and excused himself from the table.

  “Duncan and Angelica, off to school. Declan, you have your responsibilities for today,” Edness Callamore ordered.

  Duncan stood. “Yes, Grandmother. However, I don’t think that it is me you should be worrying about.” He looked at Declan and excused himself also.

  I turned to Edness Callamore when he said that. Was this something I could ask about? Or was I still too far down the table for questions.

  “There is nothing to be concerned with,” she said, continuing to sip her tea. “I have called for an Irish tutor. In most cases you would have learned it by this point. You will have much to catch up on. There will be no free time and you will spend your hours awake perfecting your etiquette. Do we have an understanding?”

  I responded quickly. “Yes, ma’am.” I looked around as everyone left the room.

  “Good. First, you will return to your room. Dry your hair, make it presentable, change your wet clothes, and apply appropriate makeup. I will expect you in the living room in thirty minutes. You are excused.”

  I stood and walked out of the dining room and up the stairs.

  When I opened the door Maxwell was inside. I walked over to him and gave him a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  He looked at me as if he felt sorry for me. “Ohs, woofie, what happened?”

  I sighed. “I had to get the hairspray out of my hair this morning, and I didn’t have time to dry my hair, so I just went downstairs like this. Duncan laughed at me, and I don’t think Mrs. Callamore likes me.”

  He stood there shaking his head. “Ohs, no, that’s not it. She is worried about training yous. It is a big job to take the first female mac tire in generations under her wing. And to be so far behind going into yours first transition, there is just a lot for yous to catch up on. Don’t take it personally.” He held my hands.

  “Okay. Please help,” I said, picking up my wet stringy hair.

  He hadn’t made me feel much better. So now I was this huge undertaking because there was so much to fix about who I was.

  He looked at me without hesitation. “Ohs, of course. I’m going to shows yous an easy way for yous to put yours hair up and it look fabulous. Come on.” He took me and swept me off to the bathroom. “Ohs, have a seat.” He started to pull up my hair and ran the blow dryer over it, drying my hair quickly. “Ohs, yous see what I’m doing?”

  I watched closely. “Yes.”

  He smiled. “Ohs, if yous dry yours hair like this it will be dry in five minutes. Got i
t?”

  I nodded my head. “Yes.”

  He straightened my head and continued. “Ohs, then yous pull the top up here, twist, band the bottom, and spin around the band, pin and pin. Yous got it?”

  I blinked in shock that my hair was staying in this grown up style, whatever it was. I chuckled. “Yes.” My hair was up and it looked so fancy.

  “Ohs, now for yours makeup. Just a little powder, mascara, and eyeliner. Yous don’t need anything else. The natural look is so in right now,” he said as he applied everything so quickly.

  He set everything down and then grabbed my hand and back into the closet I went. “Ohs, I know yous don’t like pink.” He pulled out a nice white and black casual dress. “Ohs, here yous goes.” It was a little bit dressier than expected, but much more my style. I hugged him again. “Ohs, woofie, don’t, yous going to make me cry.”

  I pulled back.

  “Ohs, I’ll talk to Mrs. Callamore about having me help yous for the next week. How does that sound to yous?”

  I was so happy for the first time in a few days now. “It’s the best idea in the world.”

  He leaned in and kissed my hand. “Ohs, I’ll go ask now, see yous later, woofie.” He gave me a quick wave as he backed out of the door closing it behind him.

  I looked at the dress hanging on the mirror in front of me. “All right, let’s do this.” I got changed quickly. When I turned around there were white heels to match sitting right beside me on the floor. I slid them on, then looked at the time; only twenty minutes had passed. “That man is a miracle worker.” I brushed my hand over the dress, smoothing out a crease, and I smiled.

  Then I walked out of the door and back down the steps. As I reached the bottom Duncan was about to leave.

  I swear he did a double take when he saw me. He walked to the steps quickly and held his hand out to escort me off the last step. I did not take his hand at the bottom, but he wouldn’t stop staring at me.

  “What’s the matter with you?” I asked him, staring him down.

  He blinked. “Nothing, I just didn’t expect—”

  “Yeah, well it happens,” I walked past him, smirking. I had never had that kind of reaction before.

  I heard a voice in the distance. “Duncan, it’s time for you to leave. Where’s your brother?”

  He turned his head away from me. “Yes, ma’am, he’s upstairs.” He turned back to me and smiled in a flirty way.

  Edness Callamore was ready for me. I could tell by the way she shooed Duncan out the door. I walked into the living room and had a seat next to her. She sat quietly for a few moments. It was driving me crazy. “Are we going to start?” I asked out of pure boredom.

  She had tea set out on the table. She silently poured a cup and then picked it up and took a sip. “My dear, I am going to explain this as clearly as possible, I do not want any confusion or misunderstanding. While you are in transition you are not to speak directly to any male mac tires that have not found a mate. If you find a mate before you have fully transitioned, you will not acquire as much strength or abilities as you could. I would love for your mate to be my grandson. He has been through so much. I want you to bond not only for the benefit of our territory, but for your safety. Go through the transition process in its entirety. Do we have an understanding?”

  I looked at her, thinking that Duncan wouldn’t really be an option for me. I wasn’t his type. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled. “Good, I am putting faith in you that you will keep your distance from any romantic possibilities.”

  I couldn’t even think about romance. “Yes, ma’am.” I think she was just worried. The possibility of romance, with everything that I had just learned, was the last thing on my mind.

  “Good. Now then, we should move forward. Your tutor will be here this afternoon with your studies. Until then I expect that you will have read through the first four chapters of this, and in about two hours the fencing instructor will be here, Mr. Clint Vaxshire. He will demonstrate some defensive training.” She got up and started to walk toward the door.

  “Mrs. Callamore?”

  She turned. “Yes, my dear?”

  I was still sitting on the sofa. “I’m not sure how fencing will help me.”

  She looked me dead in the eye. “Your balance is atrocious, and if you do not anticipate your opponent, you might as well surrender to the hunters now.” She walked out in a rush.

  I was pretty sure I pissed her off. I opened the book and started to read. It was a good thing I not only loved to read but had a good memory.

  “The advance is the basic forward movement. The front foot moves first, beginning by lifting the toes, then straighten the leg at the knee, pushing the heel out in front. Landing on the heel, and then bring the back foot up to en garde stance.”

  I already started to yawn. This was so boring, I looked out the window, and I just couldn’t wait to get outside. Maybe I would get to go outside when we practiced fencing. I looked back into the book to continue reading.

  “Compound Attack, or riposte, incorporates one or more feints to the opposite line that the action finishes in. A compound attack does not necessarily lose right of way during its execution. It comprises more than one indirect action. Compound attacks are usually used to draw multiple reactions from an opponent, or against an opponent who uses complex parries. A counter-attack into a compound attack must hit a clear tempo ahead of the compound attack to be valid.”

  Absence of blade, Advance, Advance-Lunge, Allez, Appel, Arrêt à bon temps, Assault, Attaque au Fer, Black Card, Body Cord, Corps-à-corps, Counter-Riposte, Disengage, Épée…the list went on and on and on.

  “Blah, blah, blah. I think I’ve got it,” I said as I closed the book with a clap.

  I heard something outside and got up to look out the window to see what it was. There were two men fencing outside. Finally, I would get to see the sun.

  “Yes, my dear, it is time.” Edness Callamore motioned me to come out of the living room. She brought me outside.

  The instructor looked over at Edness Callamore and me walking toward them. “Continue.” He urged the match to continue while he spoke with us.

  Edness Callamore edged me forward. “Mr. Vaxshire, this is Miss Shay Evans, and she will be your newest pupil.”

  He took off his glove and held out his hand for me to shake. “Pleasure, Miss Evans. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  I must have looked confused. “You have?”

  He pulled his hand away. “Not in an unusual way. I just know of you. You’re the first female mac tire I’ve ever met.”

  I blinked at him, shocked that everybody now knew that I was this wolf thing. I only just found out not even four days ago.

  “And I realize that I am probably freaking you out, so let’s get started.” He pointed to the match.

  One of the men flung his sword outward in my direction, and I jumped.

  Edness Callamore held her hand out to Mr. Vaxshire. “I will excuse myself. I have preparations to attend to.”

  Mr. Vaxshire leaned in and kissed her hand. “Of course.”

  He turned to me. “You must predict your opponents’ moves. This will elevate any distrust in your own abilities.” He looked at me for a moment while I watched his two other students strike at each other. “Pass backward,” Mr. Vaxshire called out.

  My heart started to speed up as I watched the match continue. One of the opponents looked up in my direction. He was struck in the chest by a forceful touch move and was taken down in his distraction. I jumped when I saw the reaction of the take down. The opponent that was taken down stood and speared his foil into the ground as it swung back and forth with the force of the movement. He took off his mask, looked at me and then walked past me. It was Declan. I wasn’t sure what just happened, but he was more brooding than usual.

  I always felt like I was missing a huge piece of the story.

  I hadn’t heard anything from Tommy or Matt in a while, but now knowing Matt
was around to be my bodyguard made our friendship an elaborate charade. There had to be a phone somewhere around here. I opened up room after room, trying to find some indication of a landline.

  I kept searching until I reached the kitchen. Finally, I found a phone. I picked up and dialed Tommy.

  “Hello?” He questioned the random number.

  “Tommy, oh my god, I’m so happy to hear your voice,” I said with enthusiasm.

  “Shay?”

  I almost started to cry when I heard his voice. “Of course. Kind of freaking out here. I miss you,” I said wishing that he would come rescue me.

  “I know. I miss you too, but I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”

  I hated that Edness Callamore separated me from my life. I heard someone coming. “Tommy, I’ve got to go, but I want to call you later.”

  There was a brief pause. “Okay.”

  I quickly hung up the phone without saying goodbye.

  One of the staff came into the kitchen. “What are you doing in here?”

  I looked around to the refrigerator. “I was hungry, and I just thought I would grab a high-iron snack,” I said sarcastically while using air quotes.

  She looked down at the bowl of raw dough she was making. “You know, sweetie, it’s not going to be that long. I’m sure you can make it without seeing this boy you’re so concerned with. Besides, I’ve heard that if you don’t find a mate during transition you will actually be less uncomfortable.”

  I looked at her. “It was actually my brother. And that’s just it, nobody is telling me anything. I feel so left out of my own life.”

  I heard the intercom go off and turned to it with a jump.

  “Relax, will you. How about you answer that and help me make dinner, and I might just be able to answer some questions you are too afraid to ask Mrs. Callamore.”

  I quickly agreed. “Deal.” I walked over to the intercom and pressed the button. “Yes?”