Darkness & Light (War of the Fae: Book 3) (40 page)

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 crumble 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.
 

“Jayne, just tell the truth – all of it.
 
Good or bad, it’ll be okay,” said Tony.

“The truth shall set me free, Tony?
 
Is that what you’re saying?”

He shrugged.

It seemed ironic to me that this same phrase had come to me before when I stood outside the fourth waypoint after the changeling test, deciding whether to enter the compound or not.
 
The truth had set me free then, at least inside my own blocked mind; hopefully, it would do the same today.

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders.
 
“Okay, so I’ll tell you what happened and it will be the truth.
 
But I’m warning you – some of it will probably piss you off, and I’m sorry about that.
 
I never meant to hurt anyone ... ”
 

And so I told them the story about Chase and how he ended up there, and how The Green came to me through Water, and finally how Chase delivered us back, even after declaring his loyalty to the Dark Fae.

The entire time I talked, everyone stayed completely silent, hanging on my every word.
 
I could see that some of the things I said surprised them.
 
Some things made them upset, and others just made them look more curious.
 
When it was all over, I looked at Dardennes and then back to the assembled fae.
 

“So that’s the story.
 
I don’t really know how I got back here, since I blacked out when I was still in the Dark Fae compound.
 
But Tim can tell you the rest.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, Jayne, but thank you for your honesty and forthrightness.
 
We do appreciate that.”
 
He nodded to me and then looked back to the crowd.
 
“The council considers that this act against one of our own is an overt act of war and that we must respond in kind.
 
Therefore, we bring this notion to your attention for your deliberation.
 
The topic is now officially open to debate for anyone who would like to submit a comment.”

I raised my hand immediately, not sure what the protocol was.
 
But a gray elf beat me to it, leaping to his feet and talking right away.
 

“The gray elves have done a significant amount of planning with regard to this war, and we all agree that we need more resources.”
 
He looked at Tony and nodded.
 
“The changeling Tony has been a very welcome addition to our ranks and has proven himself to have a sharp mind when it comes to developing strategy and considering various battle scenarios.
 
He suggests that we need to train our changelings in an accelerated fashion so we can include them as resources in our planning models.
 
This will help, but it’s still not enough.
 
We need to bring in the others.”