***
Shade found herself staring at the TV screen, its soft rambling banter filling the room like white noise. She didn’t really see anything on it. Her thoughts were focused elsewhere. Thinking about Ilarial’s scrying session had most of her thoughts tangled up. Her confusion added to the headache of everything else she was worrying about. Her vision blurred as the flashing of the screen faded into a commercial.
She couldn’t help but wonder about having a grandmother. After all the years of not having anyone else beside her mother around, a grandmother could possibly help her solve everything which was so wrong with her right now. If only she could find her. She’d been exiled somewhere in Faerie. Shade wondered if her grandmother even knew she had a granddaughter. Frowning, Shade could almost bet that she didn’t. Maybe her grandmother would’ve looked for her already if she’d known about her.
The glare of the TV darkened as a figure came to stand between her and the screen. Her eyes focused on it and moved up toward Dylan’s face. “You’re not see-through, you know,” Shade told him.
“What’s wrong with you?” Dylan asked. “You seemed distracted.” He moved to slip down onto the couch next to her. She glared at him for a moment then looked away. She sighed and resumed her zoned-out stare at the TV.
“I have a lot to think about. Ilarial said my vision today was of events most likely happening right now, but she has a lot of work to do to help me out more. Especially in finding my Faerie grandmother and keeping my wild magic in check.”
“Wow, she said all that?”
“Yes, but not in so many words.” Shade yawned as she stretched and slumped onto the arm of the couch, blinking her heavy eyelids. The day had seemed to last forever, and her muscles ached from training. She’d been sleeping like a rock since she’d started the fight training. She was hoping it would get better with some time and practice, but her muscles still protested with all the physical work.
“You look exhausted, Shade. You need to rest, especially for tomorrow.” Dylan smiled at her as he shifted on the couch.
“What’s tomorrow?”
He turned toward her, lips pressed and eyes looking almost as exhausted as she felt. “We’re leaving again.”
Shades eyelids flipped open from the dreamy, half-awake state she’d been hovering in. Sitting up, she stared at him, shocked.
“What? What the hell do you mean we are leaving? I’m not going anywhere!” She watched his face assume its flat expression at her response. She was getting quite sick of his blank facial mask which he seemed to wear a little bit too often lately. She longed for some sort of feeling to seep through his façade. She wondered what was lingering in his empty stares.
“Well, I didn’t know either until this evening while you were with Ilarial, if that helps any, Shade. Queen Zinara has asked us to meet up with Prince Lotinar to discuss our alliance. He has agreed to meet halfway from the Santiran City. He requested to meet with you in particular, besides the rest of the Queen’s advisors. We leave at daybreak, so you have to get your things together right now.”
The disgust on Shade’s face didn’t faze him one bit. She stood, flung one of the sofa pillows at him, and marched away toward her room. She was seething and wide-awake now. How dare he not tell me this until now? He’d been extremely silent on the way home from Guildrin though that hadn’t seemed too unusual to her. He was always pretty much keeping to himself, especially since he had to hang out with her constantly, and yet he seemed to flare up her temper more easily than anyone else she knew.
She flopped down onto her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow. She wished things were different. Sometimes she wished she’d never met Jack and hadn’t been introduced to Faerie at all. It had done nothing for her except cause more pain and confusion. She could be heading straight to college with Brisa, with nothing but parties and studying to worry about. Not now. Now she was stuck with the concerns of her faery lineage and obligations. She didn’t want to return to the hikes and dirt which were sure to come. She hated the outdoors, maybe a little less now than before her journey to the Fountains, but she was sure-as-hell not wanting to repeat her adventure at all.
Sitting up, she glanced around her room. Nothing would make her happier than staying here, in her own house, with her brothers and sister running around. Nothing.
Shade sighed and resolved to give in. She couldn’t refuse, no matter how she felt. The fey were her people now; learning from them was the only way she would ever understand who and what she was. She grabbed her backpack off the floor and whispered the shrinking spell into it which Ilarial had taught her. She smiled as the pack’s insides blackened into the bottomless pit which would let her pack whatever she wanted without having to worry about the bulk and weight. She began stuffing clothes and essentials into it. She made sure to grab her family’s picture with her human stepfather in it. She was feeling pretty sure this wasn’t going to be just a day trip.
When she finished, she left her pack by her door and slipped into her pajamas. Under her sheets, she laid back, cradling her head. Sighing, she turned to set her alarm for a forsaken early morning hour and flicked the light off, welcoming sleep quickly.
Chapter Four