Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) (18 page)

She smiled graciously at me, so maybe that meant she wasn’t going to sell me out for nearly killing her.
 
I wondered how many friends she had in the audience.
 
I hoped not too many.
 
I quickly scanned the audience for silver-gray tunics and only saw a couple.
 
Phew.

“Jayne has a connection to The Green that she can call up and link to at will.
 
It is instantaneous for her.
 
She pulls not just from the trees, but the creatures, air, water, everything in The Green.
 
The Green wishes to protect her.
 
It wishes to do her bidding.
 
I felt this power today.
 
It was too much for a silver elf, even an elder such as myself, to manage.
 
I was put into a state of suspended animation – it took two highly skilled witches to pull me back.”

The room was quiet, everyone waiting for more.
 

Robin raised his head and began speaking.
 
“I do not remember giving an order to do harm, but I do remember a green light surrounding me.
 
I had feelings ... emotions ... things I cannot describe to you; they came over me, took over my consciousness, nearly ripping me in two while smothering me at the same time.
 
At the end, when I thought I could bear no more, I saw her ... ”

He looked over at me.
 
All of the green elves looked over at me.
 
I could see their heads swiveling in unison out of the corner of my eye.
 
Finn turned and looked at me too.
 
And then he went down on one knee.
 

I got a look of horror on my face.
 
What in the holy hell was he going to do?
 
Propose?

“Finn!
 
What the fuck
?!
 
Get up!”
 
I was gesturing with my hand, motioning for him to get off his knees, but he ignored me.

I watched as all of the green elves got down on one knee too.
 
I looked to Robin for an explanation, completely lost for words.

Robin continued, looking me in the eye.
 
“We all saw her as she truly is.
 
The Messenger of Light.
 
She is the one we have longed for, waited for, needed – for all of these long centuries.
 
She is ...
Mother.”
 
A tear slid down his cheek and hit his chest.
 
He went down on one knee like the others, bowing his head as he did.

I felt like I was going to barf.
 
I swallowed over and over to keep the bile down.
 
My dirty nails dug into Chase’s hand as I squeezed it as hard as I could.
 
So many things were rushing through my head right then ... Tony with his gun pointed at Brad and the leaves raining down on my head ... the warehouse, singing songs with Spike on the guitar, Jared blowing smoke rings and offering to help us find our way ... the meeting at the hotel and that fucking ridiculous interview
question ...

‘If you could be a superhero, which one would you be and why?’

Why the hell did I do it?
 
Why did I write it down?
 
Dardennes had tried to warn me.
 
He and Céline had asked me: “Why that one?
 
Why did you pick that superhero?”

How was I supposed to know what it would mean?

Chase looked at me, worry written all over his face.
 
He turned, releasing my hand and taking my shoulders in his hands.
 

“Jayne, talk to me.
 
What’s going on?”
 
He searched my eyes, looking for answers.

“I didn’t know!”

“You didn’t know what?”

“Chase, I didn’t fucking know!”
 
I was in a panic.
 
I had to get out of here.
 
I was trapped.
 
I felt like I was going to have a friggin’ heart attack.
 
I was dying.

“Jayne, you didn’t know
what
?!
”

“That I should’ve picked a different superhero!”

Chase’s face screwed up in confusion.
 
“What are you talking about?”

“Which superhero did you choose?”
 
I grabbed his arms and squeezed hard, digging my nails into his skin.
 
“During the interview ...
which one
?!
”

“Ironman,” he said softly, “Why?
 
Who did you choose?”

I looked at him with tears of frustration in my eyes.
 
“That’s what all these dumbass fairies are trying to tell you, Chase.”

“What?”

“Mother Nature.
 
I chose
Mother Fucking Nature.”

Chase gave me a half-smile while his brain started processing all the craziness around us.
 
Green elves on their knees, shedding tears for me ... stories of the power of The Green doing my bidding ... me sending an energy into these fae that none of them could fight, that none of them even
wanted
to fight.
 

The light bulb went on.
 
“So you think, because you chose Mother Nature as your superhero on that questionnaire, that you somehow
became
Mother Nature, is that it?”

I nodded my head, tears in my eyes.
 
I didn’t trust myself to speak because I was sure I was going to start bawling.

“Don’t be silly.
 
Do you see Ironman standing here in front of you?”

I shrugged my shoulders.
 
“Kinda.”

He shook his head in denial.
 
“No, you don’t.
 
You just see a bigger than average guy who has a knack for protecting potty-mouthed girls.
 
So just relax.
 
Let’s see how this thing plays out.”
 
He tilted his head to the side so he could see Finn.
 
“Finn, get up.
 
You’re making it worse.”

Finn reluctantly got to his feet.
 
He wouldn’t look me in the eye, so I elbowed him.
 
He had better knock that shit off or I was
gonna
coma-size him, or whatever that thing was called that I did, making everyone go nutty with The Green.

I finally stepped out of my personal pity party bubble to see what was going on around me.
 
There wasn’t as much commotion following this announcement as there had been before.
 
There were lots of confused faces in the crowed.
 
Some fae were looking at their friends or neighbors, gauging their expressions, as if trying to decide how to react.
 
Eventually everyone looked to Dardennes for guidance.

The fae at the head table were in a private conference, all gathered around the old man who had asked me the questions about Finn and Robin.
 
Some were nodding their heads, some just staring at the old man who was gesticulating like crazy and doing most of the talking.
 

The chatter in the audience began again and eventually the room was filled with the noise.
 
I leaned over to Chase who had moved to stand beside me.
 
“Do you think we could sneak out of here, maybe?”

He shook his head ‘no’.
 

Spoilsport.

Dardennes separated himself from the others at the head table and faced the audience again.

“We have come to some conclusions.
 
May I have your silence, please?”

It was like he turned off a light switch.
 
Instant quiet.

“Changelings, please come to the front.
 
All of you.”

I watched as my friends emerged from the back of the amphitheater and came to join Chase, Finn, and me in front of the head table.
 
Becky stood in front of us and Spike took a position next to Finn.

“As all of you but our newest members know, we have been waiting for the return of our Mother for centuries.
 
We call this fae Mother, but I believe the humans refer to her as Mother Nature.”

I made bug-eyes at Chase who raised an eyebrow back at me.
 
I fucking told him!
 
No one ever listens to
me ...

“We have reports that the Dark Fae have an elemental in their midst with an affinity to Fire.
 
This makes sense since we are certain that our Jayne has an affinity to Earth and Water.”
 
Dardennes looked to the old man before continuing.
 
“It is probably safe to assume that this Dark Fae elemental has an affinity to air as well.”

The murmuring began again.
 
Most of the heads in the room were bobbing excitedly up and down now.
 
I had no friggin’ idea what Dardennes was talking about or what the significance of it all was.

I shot a ‘what the fuck’ look at Dardennes and he nodded at me.
 
I think he was starting to understand what
that look
meant.

“For the benefit of our new changelings here, I’d like to take a few moments to outline a part of our fae history.”
 
He turned so he was addressing us specifically.
 
“In human mythology and legend, there are two figures who are often mentioned in relation to the Earth and its human and animal inhabitants: Mother Nature and Father Time.
 
As you may have already learned, many human legends or myths are versions of our fae reality.
 
This one has some similarities, but there exist some key differences as well.”

Dardennes looked out to the audience and continued.
 
“The fae we call Mother has always been an elemental.
 
She has always been tied to the Earth element.
 
All creatures and inhabitants of The Green answer to her.
 
With the Mother we find life, our connection to one another and our planet, and ultimately, love.”

He began to pace, alternatively looking at the ground and the ceiling, hands clasped behind his back.
 
“Father Time, as the humans call him, is invariably also an elemental in the fae world.
 
The divergence in the fae concept of Father Time as a historical figure begins with the Time portion.
 
In the fae world, the Father or ‘Father’, as we call him, has no power over or affinity to time.
 
Time is not an element.
 
However, Father is the opposing force of Mother, in that he has an affinity for the elements that Mother does not.
 
And while Mother shows us the connections and love, Father shows us the passion and strength that we all share as species that share this planet.
 
Together, our Mother and our
Father,
control or are connected to all four elements of the fae world.”

I was starting to get a very uncomfortable feeling about this Father person, whoever he was, with his affinity for air and fire – especially the fire part.
 
I had never been a fan of forest fires, but I especially wasn’t now, since I was so connected to The Green and everything and everyone in it.
 
And the idea of me as this Mother person?
 
No friggin’ way.
 
It was too out of this world crazy to be true.
 
There’s no way I could just mark an answer on a test and suddenly become a fae goddess or whatever.
 
Especially not me.
 
I’m pretty sure the real Mother wouldn’t say ‘fuck’ – and it’s pretty much my favorite word of all time.

“We had an elemental in our midst, centuries ago, I’m sure many of you remember him well.
 
We lost him to his element.”
 
Dardennes put his head down, showing respect for the dead – or disintegrated.
 
“We have long awaited another.”
 
He lifted his head and looked at me, slowly walking around the head table to come and stand with us, the changelings.
 
“And it appears now that we have found her.
 
Changeling Jayne
is
an elemental.
 
Of that, we are convinced.
 
Whether she is our Mother, only time will tell.
 
But one thing is certain: we need our Mother to return, if we have any hope of holding our own against the Darkness.”

Dardennes turned to look squarely at me.
 
He continued to speak loudly so everyone would hear, but his words were for me.
 
“Jayne, I know this is unsettling for you right now.
 
You have a lot of questions that are yet unanswered.
 
We will work with you to help you find the information you want and need.”
 
He looked out over the audience.
 
“My people, the fae, are naturally suspicious and doubtful.
 
We have been tricked by the Darkness before.”