Frey Saga Book II: Pieces of Eight (21 page)

His word
unexpectedly produced the image of the remains and I shuddered.
Anvil, assuming I was disturbed by something he'd said, leaned
closer, planning to explain. When he reached out to me, I saw his
large, strong hands and I suddenly knew what was so disturbing
about the frail, petite fingers of the woman in the secreted
chambers. Not a woman, a human. I could feel the flush rise through
my neck and cheeks, my fists clenched involuntarily, and it took
all of my concentration not to rise from the bed.

Anvil backed up
slightly and appeared to be preparing to do something, though I
couldn't began to imagine what.

"There was a
human in the cave," I started, surprised by how composed I sounded
in comparison to the way I felt. He didn't respond but I could see
his posture straighten as I continued, thinking aloud, "A human in
Asher's secret burrow." My words ended in something like a hiss and
I was caught off guard by the course my thoughts had taken. "Why is
there a dead human in Asher's hidden chambers?"

I was staring
directly into Anvil's eyes as he responded, "Well now, that's a
loaded question." I forced the flames to remain in my fists as I
waited. He cleared his throat and then began, "Do you prefer to
know why there was a human present, or why she no longer
lives?"

I felt my eyes
widen at the question and he explained. "I assume you will only
make it through one narrative or the other." When the flames bit at
my forearms, he was speaking again. "Then I choose before you
receive neither. It is that Asher means to persist in his design to
strengthen his line. A disgrace it is, an abomination."

I watched the
disgust on his face with confusion. He wasn't making any sense,
none of it made any sense. Where were all of these humans coming
from, why would anyone want them, what- And then Anvil's words sunk
in. They swirled hideously through my mind as the familiar, biting
pain returned, the sharp ringing a background noise to the
repulsive concept. Strengthen his line. I started to feel faint so
I forced myself to look at Anvil as I questioned him to find focus.
"He means to breed with the humans."

He nodded
once.

And just as my
mind formed the notion
because
he knows
, the blackness overtook
me. But even in my dreams, my mind refused to accept the idea that
Asher knew I could reach inside the mind of a human. So my dreams
focused on other things, small details that seemed
insignificant.

When I finally
opened my eyes, I was staring into Chevelle's deep blue eyes and I
smiled sleepily at him as I spoke my first thought aloud. "... like
your mother's."

The expression on
his face clued me in that my dreams had not been insignificant at
all. How had I remembered his mother's eyes? I tried to recall more
of her but couldn't bring her face through the haze to see it
clearly.

"Frey?"
Chevelle's words brought me back. He was so close, and he was
asking if it was me... or her, the old me.

I didn't speak, I
merely leaned forward, knowing what would happen if he thought it
was her. But I'd been wrong, I'd underestimated him. He grabbed me
roughly and pulled me onto his lap while his face was only inches
from mine. I could feel his breath on me, coming faster as his eyes
came up to meet mine again. My name slipped through his lips in a
low moan as they joined my own, his hands tightened on me and
somehow we had gotten even closer, my legs straddling his as he sat
on the bed. His touch was overwhelming, consuming. When I finally
recognized the sound of the others approaching the door, my breath
caught and I was surprised to find that I was lying on my back,
Chevelle over me, his dark eyes nearly black. He didn't take them
off me as his hand flew back toward the door, barring them from
entry before his mouth returned to my lips and then urgently traced
the line of my jaw, past my ear, down, his kiss opening on the skin
of my neck and...

"Frey!" the
demanding voice at the door called, but I couldn't find enough
interest to take in whose it was. They were insistent, trying to
enter the room while my hands frantically searched for the skin
beneath Chevelle's shirt. And then, suddenly, he was pulling me
from the bed. It was not the touch he had been using and I
protested, but something they'd said must have convinced him, must
have been important enough. I stared at him, breathless, as he
composed himself and released the hold on the door. It flew open
instantly.

Ruby and Grey
rushed in, and then stopped short. They must have thought something
had been wrong, though I couldn't bring myself imagine what at that
precise moment. Their eyes went from Chevelle to me and lingered
just a moment before Chevelle interjected, "What is it?"

Ruby was
apparently speechless, as Grey was the one who started to explain.
"We have word that Brahn has been located."

Chevelle released
a long breath and then nodded. "We leave at dawn."

"How do we
split?" Ruby asked, evidently recovered.

Chevelle turned
to me, expectant, and I stared back at him blankly. "Frey?" he
demanded.

"What?" I asked,
baffled.

And then, the
look of sheer disbelief on his face clued me in. He had thought I
was her, thought my memories returned, because
I
had led him to
believe so. And I'd just revealed my deception with one word. My
face flushed and he remained watching me only a moment before
turning back to Ruby and Grey.

"We should meet
with the others," Chevelle said briskly as he walked from the room
without glancing back at me.

I crumpled onto
the bed as if I'd deflated when the breath I'd been holding finally
let go. And then I heard Ruby approaching and I sat back up just in
time to see Grey stop her. "Go ahead, I'll walk with Frey," he said
and her eyes met his in a silent challenge.

I was on my feet,
stepping between them with the intention of speaking up, but when
I'd gotten close enough to Ruby I could almost feel the heat
radiating off her and I found myself stepping right past them and
through the door in no less than a hurry. Grey laughed quietly as
he followed pace behind me. I didn't look back to see
Ruby.

I fell behind
Grey as we walked into the room, not especially eager to meet
Chevelle again so soon. I was staring at Grey's feet, keeping as
close to him as possible so that Ruby could not grab me for an
inquiry, but my head jerked up when I heard Junnie's
voice.

She'd been in the
midst of a conversation with Chevelle when we entered and they
broke off, turning to greet us. She gave a slight nod and then
nearly smiled. "Freya, you look well." She glanced at Chevelle and
asked, "Have her faculties returned?"

His eyes met mine
as he answered, "Her memories are fractured but her powers are much
improved." I flushed and found my feet again.

I could feel the
questions linger so I swallowed hard and raised my head as if I
were not mortified. It was harder to pull off than I'd expected and
I found myself talking without cause. "Have you found
Fannie?"

Junnie seemed
surprised at the directness of my question but only hesitated a
moment before shaking her head. "Merely signs of her."

Signs
. "Animal attacks?" I
asked.

She nodded and I
could see Chevelle become uneasy beside her. "I understand you have
seen such evidence yourself," she said.

A vision of the
human carcass returned to me and I had to look away from Junnie. I
scanned the room for something else to focus on, finding Anvil and
Rider were staring at me with concern. I was still
nodding.

Ruby wound an arm
around my waist and I forced myself to focus on that while their
conversation from earlier resumed.

"I have since
located only carnage and two stillborn," Junnie explained. "In
addition to your most recent find, have there been any other
indicators?"

"Three servants
for certain," Chevelle said, "and four others that could not be
verified."

"We have removed
those threats," Rider added. "No others remain within the
walls."

I floated away
from the terrible exchange, mindlessly scanning the patterns on the
edge of a wall hanging. From there, I traced the lines of stone as
they spoke, their words merely background noise as I found an
interesting design on the floor and followed it through the room. I
tracked it until it ran under someone's boot and I trailed up the
boot to pants, unthinkingly upward, over a shirt, slowly reaching a
strong chin, lingering on lips that I knew, upward still, finally
reaching his eyes, sapphire.

Sapphire
. Suddenly, it was
right there, the name I'd tried so hard to recall, Chevelle's
mother. All that struggle and there it was, so simply. I laughed
out loud.

And they all
turned to stare at me warily. I attempted a sheepish grin but that
only seemed to make it worse. A minute gesture from Chevelle and I
could feel Ruby pulling me from the room. I hadn't realized how
heavily I'd been leaning on her.

When we were
nearly to my room, she asked, "Are you going to pieces,
Freya?"

"No," I answered,
but I didn't recognize my own voice.

We turned through
the door and she led me to the bed, sliding a chair to sit beside
me. "No need to worry, you are in good hands."

Ugh, hands
again
. I forced myself to
concentrate on something else, but my mind didn't get far from the
scene before my mouth opened. "Ruby, why would Fannie do such a
terrible thing?"

She knew what I
meant somehow, but her reply surprised me. "Is it so terrible?" I
stared at her, stunned. "I cannot say that I'm not satisfied that
it is done." She could see that I was lost so she clarified,
"Fannie is merely removing the... foul," she was struggling,
hesitating as she searched for useable terms, "...
things
that Asher is... producing."

I considered
that. I couldn't argue that it didn't make some sense, to Ruby at
least, but it was so hard to think of without seeing the bloody
mess in the hidden chamber and knowing what had been before. I felt
my eyes flutter so I moved forward with the conversation, or at
least sideways. "Why did Fannie go to council when she discovered
my mother's plans?" I asked.

Ruby looked
puzzled. "I thought that was explained to you?"

I nodded. "But
why council?" I thought of how much I loathed them now, how they
had hunted me down, though it was apparently only part of them. I
noticed Ruby was waiting as I reflected so I continued, "Why would
she think they would help her?"

I could tell she
was deliberating whether or not to tell me. Finally, she answered
in a careful tone, "You don't understand that Grand Council is a
birthright." I stared blankly at her. "Oh, you are missing so
much," she sighed. "Fannie didn't trust that council would help
her, she knew that by rule they
must
defend her." My vacant
expression only slowed her words. "The laws of council have been in
place for centuries, there was no foretelling of such a problem
arising, no one could have imagined. But your Vita was a member of
Grand Council, as was her family before her. Therefore, by default,
Fannie, and your mother, were also components."

She let the
information sink in. It took longer than she expected and I could
see her getting irritated by the time comprehension
came.

"So, Fannie was a
member of Grand Council?" I asked.

She was
exasperated. "Yes." I stared at her incredulously. "Well, she
didn't attend meetings or anything," Ruby explained sarcastically,
"but she had the right to request protection."

"I don't
understand," I said, "if they had to protect Fannie, why didn't
they protect my mother?"

Ruby nodded. "You
see why Junnie took issue with the outcome."

It was all
getting too complicated to grasp. I decided on a new direction.
"So, Junnie is starting a new council?"

"Yes, quite
skillfully, as a matter of fact."

I wasn't sure
about her tone. I'd started to ask when Chevelle came
in.

He motioned to
Ruby and she leapt from her seat and out of the room, probably to
meet with the others to be informed of what she missed. I sat up as
Chevelle took her chair beside me.

"Are you well?"
he asked.

A moment passed
before I realized what he'd meant, having completely forgotten I'd
been escorted from the conference. "Oh, yes." I answered. And then
I remembered. "Where's Junnie?"

"She's just
departing."

"No," I
complained.

He didn't comment
but I saw him glance at the window. I was on my feet and to it in a
heartbeat. I scanned the grounds below and finally found her,
already too far from the castle. I squinted to see her better, she
was being escorted by someone, Grey I thought. And what was that
dark mass beside her? A large black dog...

Snickers
. My chest tightened
as I watched her carry on, the animal running contentedly beside
her as Grey started to slow and then, finally, turned to head back
toward the castle.