“I don’t need any,” he said, winking. He released me and walked out of the bathroom, yelling to Becky on his way, “Hey Beck! She needs clothes and a towel!” The door swung shut behind him.
I leaned against the wall, letting the water wash over me. I was still fully dressed. The water felt good but it couldn’t do what I needed it to - wash away the memories and the feelings. Unbidden images of Chase’s happy face kept coming back and flashing through my mind’s eye. It made me miserable all over again.
Becky walked through the door with a load of my stuff in her arms. As soon as she saw me, she instantly looked sad. “Oh, honey, don’t let this get to you so much. We’re gonna fix it ... I promise!” She looked so hopeful, I couldn’t keep crying in front of her. No reason to torture everyone else with my shame. If she wanted to have false hope, who was I to take that from her?
“Thanks for bringing in my stuff, Becky.” I worked like hell to keep my voice from catching on the giant lump that wouldn’t leave my throat.
“You’re welcome. Can I ... help you or anything?” She looked like she was at a loss.
“No. I’ll take it from here. Just give me a few minutes.”
“Sure, hon. No problem. I’ll be just across the hall in your room with the guys.”
“Where’s Scrum?” I wanted to talk to him about Chase.
“He’s out training, but he’ll be here soon. We sent him a message that you’re up.”
“‘Kay.”
Becky left me to my shower and I used the time to get out of my clothes and clean off every speck of Dark Fae dirt that might be hiding on my body. No matter how hard I scrubbed I felt like there was still some there. I only stopped when my skin turned bright red and threatened to bleed.
I dried myself off and dressed in the white tunic and jeans that Becky had brought. Under the pile of clothes was my sheath and, miraculously, Blackie too. I pulled the weapon out, dragging my fingers along its length. Chase. He had to be the one who made sure I got it back. What had I done to deserve such loyalty? He’d changed sides and yet he still took care of me – a stupid Light Fae girl. I took in a big wavering breath and let it out slowly. Time to face the music. I needed to be someone who deserved that kind of dedication.
I left the bathroom and joined my friends. I just hoped like hell they’d still want to be my friends when all was said and done. I’m not sure I’d be as generous with them if I were in their shoes. Hopefully, they were better fae than I am.
Chapter 29
I walked in and noticed right away that Scrum had joined the party. I expected him to judge me harshly, so I was a little surprised when he perked right up with, “Hi, Jayne!” as soon as he saw me. I gave him a half-hearted wave and avoided looking at Spike, focusing on Tony instead as I went over and sat down next to him on the bed.
“Hey,” he said, moving over to give me more room.
“Hey.” My voice was rusty from all the emotion that had ravaged my throat in the last hour.
Tony looked at everyone. “Okay, so as all of you know, I’ve been made the new training coordinator for the Light Fae.”
He glanced at me, and I acknowledged the pride I felt with a nod. I was so glad he could feel me right now with his wrathe vibing talents. I was too wiped out to say the right things.
“The gray elves have met with the council, and now, after taking Jayne and Tim’s kidnapping into account, you will notice several changes around here.” Tony turned his gaze to me. “Jayne, the gray elves and the council want to meet with you as soon as possible.” He looked up at Becky. “Can you let them know we’re ready and find out where and when they want to see us?”
“Sure,” she said, a second before she disappeared into thin air.
“What kinda changes should we be expectin’?” asked Finn.
“Well, first of all, there will be several cross-training exercises. The green elves and dwarves will be working with all the other fae on battle tactics. The silver elves, gray elves, and I will be collaborating together to share our work with the wind and the Gray with all of you. The witches will be giving some lectures and demonstrations on the most common spells we’re likely to see during wartime.” He paused, looking at all of us in turn, “And each of the high value targets in our compound will have constant guards and additional training duties.”
“And who would those high value targets be?” asked Finn.
“Well, Jayne for one. Me for another. Naida.”
“Why us?” I asked. “What was the selection criteria? ‘Cuz obviously it wasn’t those who are the best fighters, or Finn would be on the list. And if it included the fastest or most dangerous, Spike and Tim would be on it.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“No, those weren’t our criteria. We’ve done a full analysis of our resources and those that are both vulnerable and valuable are on the list of those needing extra protection and work – to help them be not quite so vulnerable.”
“Ah,” I nodded. “I’m not worth a shit at fighting off the bad guys and I’m dangerous to let loose. I get it. I’m on the short bus.”
Tony frowned at me. “Don’t say it like that.”
I held up my hands, “No, no offense, don’t worry. I got myself kidnapped by the bad guys and couldn’t get myself out of it. I deserve to be on that list – except I’m not sure I agree about the high value part.”
“Don’t underestimate your powers, Jayne. The gray elves have some theories about you that I think will surprise everyone.”
I sighed, knowing that while it sounded romantic, it wasn’t very likely. Even while getting my ass kicked and feeling like I was on death’s doorstep, I still couldn’t pull that rabbit out of my butt. Weren’t a person’s most awesome skills supposed to come out in moments of stress? The only thing I found out in my moment of stress with Leck was that I had a low tolerance for pain and no skills to get rid of it.
Becky reappeared, interrupting my one-woman pity party. “They’re ready for you now. The meeting’s in the assembly hall,” she said, nervously.
“What does that mean?” I asked, looking at her and then Tony.
“Don’t freak out,” said Tony. “I know they want to hear from you about what happened, even though they know most of it from Tim already. There are a lot of important decisions to make and so they’re probably involving everyone. It’ll be faster that way.”
I sighed. That’s all I needed – to be in front of the assembly again ... for the third time. These fae were probably getting sick and tired of seeing me up there. It reminded me of being called to the principal’s office, only this was worse because I had a couple hundred witnesses. I thought I’d left public humiliation behind me in the human world at high school.
Spike stood up from his spot on the floor. “Don’t worry. We’ll be with ya.”
“Yep. All of us,” said Scrum cheerfully. “And if Chase were here, he’d be with you too.”
Everyone groaned at him but me. Finn threw Tim’s tiny bed pillow at Scrum’s head. I just fought the urge to cry.
“Who invited this kid here, anyway?” demanded Tim.
I waved his anger away. “He’s right. Chase would stand up for me. He’s that kind of guy.” I cleared my throat to push the frog that was in there back down. I would not allow myself to cry in front of the Light Fae. If they were going to roast me, I was just going to have to take it.
Chapter 30
We arrived at the assembly hall much quicker than I would have liked. There were only a few seats left, but knowing I was going to be called to the front to testify to my own stupidity, we didn’t bother taking them; my friends had already declared their intentions to stand with me and show their support. I looked up at the front and saw that the council was already in place on the raised platform of seats set in a semi-circle in front of the audience chairs, some of the members talking to one another, and others just looking at the crowd. Jared was standing in his usual spot behind them with Ivar and Niles.
>
Dardennes raised his arms up, standing in the front of the room behind his council seat, calling out to everyone to take their places and quiet down. His eyes scanned the gathering group, stopping when they reached us. He gestured for us to come forward. As we walked down the center aisle, the noise in the room hushed, everyone watching us. A few latecomers scrambled to get to their saved seats as quietly as they could. By the time we reached the front, everyone was in place and observing us with undisguised curiosity. I was in the center of my group of friends, Finn and Scrum on either side of me, Spike and Becky behind me, Tony in front, and of course, Tim on my shoulder.
Dardennes began his opening speech while we stood there trying not to feel totally self-conscious. “My fellow Light Fae, thank you for gathering here today. We asked you to come because we have some information to share, and the council has requested that your input be considered before certain important decisions are made.” He paused a moment for his words to sink in and then continued. “The changelings you see before you today are here because we have asked one of them, Jayne the elemental, to tell you a story about her recent kidnapping by the Dark Fae.”
Murmurs broke out across the crowd, signifying to me that maybe not everyone knew about what had happened. I was surprised at this, considering how small our compound community is.
“On a related note,” Dardennes paused to point at Tony, “just a general announcement – the changeling Tony, who is our one and only wrathe here in the compound, has been working with the gray elves and is now officially our newly appointed changeling training coordinator. I understand that this appointment was well-earned and has been unanimously approved by all of the gray elves, who as you know, are head of our war strategies group.”
Heads around the room were nodding and fae were turning to one another to whisper comments. This piece of news, at least, seemed to be welcome. I had my fingers crossed, hoping the parts that I had to contribute would at least not make everyone want to vote me off the island. I didn’t know if that was possible, but if I were in their shoes, I know I would want to have that option.
Dardennes turned to look at me. “Jayne, if you will please relate your tale to the group here, that would be a helpful lead-in to our next topic. Just begin with your initial contact with the Dark Fae.”
I nodded at him and then turned to the crowd. Tony stepped to the side so they could see me better. “A couple or few days ago, ... sorry, I’m not exactly sure when it was, the days have kind of blended together ... I went into the Infinity Meadow with Tony and Scrum ... he’s a daemon ... and Tim ... the wingless pixie, to do some training stuff.” I hoped that little fib wasn’t going to get me in trouble, since technically we weren’t doing any training. I noticed some smiles at my description of Tim. I’m not sure if he appreciated it so much, but at least he didn’t yank my hair.
“We were lying in the meadow grass when I heard a noise. Then I saw that Scrum and Tim and maybe Tony too, were frozen – not moving.” I looked over at Dardennes and he nodded his head at me, so I continued. “Then two Dark Fae came out of the forest. Ben and Samantha. Samantha’s someone I knew in Miami, when I was a human, who Dardennes and Céline had rejected as a changeling recruit.”
There was some murmuring in the crowd, and I took a quick moment to glance over at Jared to see his reaction. He was frowning, but I couldn’t tell what that meant.
“Ben told me they were bringing me to the Dark Fae compound. I refused to go, so they did something that knocked me out. The next thing I knew, I was in the Dark Fae compound with Tim, in some sort of cave room.”
Someone shouted from the crowd, “Why didn’t you use your power against them or at least attempt to protect yourself?”
I looked at Dardennes and he nodded again.
“I tried. I actually did use The Green for a little while, but Samantha is a witch and she started damaging my protective cover, and Ben threatened to hurt my friends if I kept resisting.”
Someone from the witch group spoke up then. “She would have to be a very gifted witch to be able to affect your power as you describe. And you say she’s a changeling?” The implication was obvious. I was going to have to fight to prove the truthfulness of my story. I shouldn’t have expected anything less, and a little piece of me was happy about it. I wanted the Light Fae to be tough, now that I knew how ruthless the Dark Fae could be.
“She had help. At first I thought it was just her, and since I have no experience with the witches, I didn’t know what was normal and what wasn’t. But then I saw that Maggie the witch was involved.”
That got the witches really hyper – they were all talking to one another and gesturing wildly. I saw a lot of angry faces.
“Please, fellow fae, let her continue. We will discuss the ramifications of the details after she finishes.”
The group quieted down in response to Dardennes’ request, so I began speaking again. “Maggie has been my friend in the past and has helped me a lot – and some of my friends, too. But I have since learned that Maggie helps whoever she wants. She doesn’t discriminate between Light Fae and Dark Fae. I’m not sure what her motivation is for helping one and hurting another, though. Her decisions don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
I could see that this struck a chord with a few others in the audience. Some heads were nodding, some in agreement and some with what looked like a willingness to at least consider it.
“Jayne, will you please tell us what happened in the Dark Fae compound?” requested Dardennes.
I took a breath and continued. “Well, I was tortured by a guy named Leck, a wrathe, on the orders of Ben, an elemental, I think, who controls Fire and Wind. I also had a confrontation with someone name Maléna who is a silver elf.” I looked over at Céline to see her reaction, and I wasn’t surprised to see her face go white – whiter than it normally is. This confirmed for me that at least there was some connection between the two. I so hoped we were going to hear what that connection was during this meeting.
“Why were they torturing you?” shouted one of the gray elves. “And what about the pixie? Where was he?”
“The pixie was hiding in my bra ... ,” this got some laughs from the crowd, “ ... so they never knew he was there. And the reason they were torturing me was for information. They wanted to know how to get into the Light Fae compound.”
The roar of unhappy fae voices rose up so loud it was impossible to continue. I stood and watched the crowd, trying to pick out individual reactions. The green elves as a group seemed to all favor retribution – they all had their hands on their bows and looked angry. I looked to my left and saw Finn doing the same. I looked over at Niles and he had his axe out of its holster, swinging it a little at his side. He was ready to chop some kneecaps, that was obvious from the axe and the murderous look on his face. I glanced at Becky and she just seemed scared. I looked for other sprites in the assembly and they appeared to share the same feeling. I wasn’t sure if they were all a bunch of wimps or the only smart ones in the group. The witches were very animated and talking amongst themselves. I knew the reason the Dark Fae couldn’t find our compound was because of the spells those witches had made, so the pressure was on them, I guess.
“Did you tell them?” shouted a green elf. The entire room went dead silent. The sprites in the crowd that I had noticed looking scared seemed especially interested in my answer.
“No. I did not.”
More murmuring and even some distrustful looks.
“I find it hard to believe that a changeling held out under threats of torture and did not provide the information demanded.” This came from a gray elf.
Tony stepped forward and opened his mouth to defend me, but I stopped him by putting my hand on his arm. “Let me,” I said to him softly. I needed to do this. I had a lot of rage built up inside me from what had happened – not just to me but to Chase too. This was going to make me feel better.
“Just because you’re a complete wuss who would cr
umble at the slightest threat doesn’t mean I am. And just so we’re clear, it wasn’t just threats of torture, it was torture. The wrathe went into my head and tried to melt it. And just so you know, a brain melting is a very unpleasant, very painful experience. I was also kicked in the face by this guy. You can’t see my injuries because I was healed by The Green, but trust me, they were there.”
Tim stood up on my shoulder and started yelling. “You guys are lucky it was Jayne there and not any of you! I’ve never seen a braver fae in my four hundred years of life!”
I smiled, warming at his compliments, but said quietly to him, “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but no one can hear you but me.”
Céline stood at the council’s table. “The pixie corroborates her story.”
My head whipped around to look at Céline. Could she hear the pixie too? Since when? I looked at her questioningly, meeting her eyes. She just bowed her head to me, no other expression on her face.
“She can hear me?” whispered Tim.
“Maybe.” There were too many mysteries in this place, especially where Céline was concerned. I was trying to decide if I should call her out right here in front of this entire assembly, when Dardennes started talking again.
“How did you get out of the Dark Fae compound?”
And so here I was. The moment when my indiscretions and bad choices were going to be revealed to everyone. This was like the worst type of confession ever. Too many people to see my shame. Too many bad things to say. I felt like I was laying my inner self out there, raw, for everyone to see and criticize – and turn away from. Had Tim told them everything? About the pixying too? Would they send him away? I didn’t know what to say and what to hold back, and I couldn’t ask Tim without Céline knowing.
“Uh ... I plead the fifth?” I looked over at Dardennes, ducking my head as I said it, but he frowned and shook his head at me. He’s probably the only one out of all these fae who even knew what that meant.