Rise of the Seven (8 page)

I remembered his face, the tightness in his
muscles, the restraint apparent in every part of him. He’d turned
from me with fisted hands and disappeared.

“
And then you broke it,” he
continued. I glanced up at him, pulled from my reverie. “You stood
before council and transformed.” He glanced at my hair. “Dark
seemed to seep out, drowning the pale like oil over straw.” His
gaze moved to meet mine. “And your eyes shone as green as a fey
flame.”

I remembered. I’d unwittingly summoned the
wind. Crushed the council speaker’s windpipe.

Chevelle laughed humorlessly. “I thought you
were going to kill him right there. And then you just left.”

I’d run.

I was unaware of how low our conversation had
become, nearly a whisper, until rowdy laughter brought our
attention back to the others. The banter between Steed, Anvil, and
Grey had taken a fevered pitch, and they appeared ready to roll
around the rock like tiger cubs. Ruby was egging it on.

“
Yes,” she taunted Anvil,
“but you are more of a one-strike wonder.” Grey and Steed were in
an uproar at this, but she carried on. “Steed can outlast any
man.”

A snicker escaped me and she turned to
us.

“
Would you not
agree?”

I bit my lip.

“
Damned fairies,” Grey
quipped, and there was suddenly a bolt of fire headed for his
chest. He rolled and twisted and was abruptly standing behind her,
hands at her hips. Her face was near the color of her hair and I
laughed full out. She was going to slaughter him.

“
He’s quick,” Chevelle said,
shaking his head.

“
You’d have to be.” I
smiled, indicating Ruby.

The exchange had evolved into a full-on brawl
and Chevelle gave me a look that clearly implied it was my
responsibility to manage it. Each day, I had more sympathy for what
he must have endured on our previous journeys.

Steed tumbled over Grey and their boots
landed in the fire, kicking up smoke and embers.

“
Children,” I commanded. I
was reasonably certain they’d not even heard me. I tried again,
standing for the order. “Cease.”

Steed looked up from his place on the ground,
cheeks smeared with dirt and ash, and quirked his brow. That sly
grin was the only indicator that he was about to launch himself at
me. I could say I had no intention of joining in the melee, but
that would be dishonest. I was going to have a little fun with
him.

I dropped to a defensive stance, arms out at
the ready, just to give him permission. When he moved, I
straightened back to my casual posture and waited. I let him get
about half way.

He was off his feet, airborne in his leap for
me, when I flicked my wrist to leave no doubt where the blast had
come from. I felt the percussion as it collided with his power, but
it barely affected the strike. It threw him back with considerable
force, which I expected, and into a very large boulder some
distance from the camp, which I had not. The previously boisterous
onlookers fell silent, not even laughing at Steed’s shocked
expression.

I might have overestimated the amount of
power required for the move.

I hadn’t meant to end our playtime so
abruptly, but this was no time to admit it. I tilted my head
slightly in acknowledgement of a completed battle, as if I’d not
just humbled him in one motion, and turned back to my seat.

The smile I found on Chevelle’s face could be
called nothing but satisfied.

No one challenged me over the following days,
but they didn’t really spar either. I wasn’t sure if the upcoming
meeting was weighing down their moods, or if they were saving their
energy. Either way, I didn’t plan on practising until I’d figured
out control. I pledged to myself I’d find the wolves when we
returned and work out how to share or store this extra power before
I hurt someone. And then I had to bite my lip not to smile at the
memory of Steed’s face when I’d sent him flying through the
air.

“
All right,” Chevelle said
as he brought his horse to a stop. “This is the nearest we can get
you. We can wait for her to find us, or search for some clue of
where she’s hiding.”

I smiled. “You make it sound as if she’s–” My
words cut off at a sound from the trees behind us. I turned to find
Rhys and Rider entering the clearing.

They’d been following at a distance because
I’d been attacked on our own lands. No one had expected this trip,
so if there had been any other plotters, they’d be on the mountain.
Not to mention that we didn’t want any of the rogue clans pursuing
us here, in the First Forests. Words forgotten, I scanned the
surrounding trees.

I’d been surprised when Anvil had told me
where Junnie would be. I wasn’t exactly shocked she’d gone into
hiding, considering she’d turned on her own council and lost most
of her family, but I hadn’t expected her to stray so far north of
the villages and forests that had been her constant. The trees here
were thin and wiry, more needled than broadleaf. The forest floor
was moss and ink-bristle. This was a palette of night blossoms and
jade flower, not the sunny rainbow of her home. She’d feel out of
place here. Cold.

I realized the others were watching me.
Waiting.

“
Set camp here. I’ll have a
look around, I should be able to tell where she’s been.” Surely,
there would be some mark of her, some sign of growth or garden or
change.

Ruby went straight to forming a large fire. I
doubted we’d need to make a spectacle, it wasn’t as if we’d be hard
to spot, but I didn’t spoil her fun. Rhys and Rider stayed close. I
knelt, splaying my hands on my legs, and closed my eyes. I didn’t
expect to find her so easily, but it was early afternoon, and I
could at least get a feel for the land before she came to us.

I found a harrier and sank deep into its mind
so I could cover a greater distance. It was easier with my own
hawk, took less focus once I’d gotten familiar with its mind, but
that was why I hadn’t brought it. That familiarity allowed me to
find it even now, back in the castle. It meant I could still keep
an eye on things.

The forests were a striking green, dark
patches among the clearings. The harrier took long, lazy circles
and I could see the patches grow larger, taking over the clearings
farther south. We weren’t terribly far from the base of the
mountain, closer to it than any of Junnie’s own people. It was a
disturbing sign.

For a long time, I saw nothing out of the
ordinary, no indication that she’d touched the land. But there was
no hint of anyone else, either. And then I saw a dog.

It wasn’t mangy, in fact its
coat was clean and shiny, a fluffy black that appeared to float
about it as it ran. It didn’t look as if it’d missed a meal either.
I touched its mind briefly and knew.
Snickers
.

I came back to myself, shaking my head. They
were watching me.

“
She’s there. A league or
more, in a copse of blood oak.”

Anvil glanced at the sky. Would we go
now?

I nodded. If Junnie was behind the attacks, I
didn’t want to sit in wait.

“
Do we go in mounted?” Steed
asked.

“
Yes. It’s not as if we’ll
be able to sneak up on her.” We could be stealthier on foot, but I
was confident that by now she knew we were coming.

On Steed’s command, the horses gathered and
in moments the packs were secure and ready. Snickers was still
running the field when we approached.

“
Is that...” Grey asked,
trailing off as the dog spotted us and advanced, immediately
picking up speed.

I answered a flat, “Yes,” but the question on
their faces was plain. How could he have grown so quickly? He was a
giant, some terrifying mix of a mastiff and a wolfhound. I tried to
work out his age in my head, but no amount of arithmetic could
reconcile this massive beast with that puppy.

I tore my eyes away long enough to glance at
Chevelle, whose expression was wary.

“
Does he plan to eat us?”
Anvil asked evenly.

I managed a laugh. “No, but there will be
slobber.”

Ruby made some sort of disgusted noise and I
turned to smile at her. Fairies didn’t like dogs, and this one was
bigger than she was.

We continued riding, though we could see the
trees that framed Junnie’s lodge. She’d formed the structure within
the copse of blood oak, using the trees as column and canopy.
Native ferns and mosses camouflaged it further and with the
smattering of rock by the entrance, no one would have easily found
her.

As we neared, she stepped from the trees in
all her blonde glory. We stopped as a group and dismounted, and
Snickers tested each of us, cold nose snuffling for our scent. Once
finished, he chuffed and went to stand beside Junnie.

“
He’s grown quickly,” I
commented offhandedly, though all of us knew it was
unnatural.

Junnie smiled and I was struck, as I was each
time I saw her, by how different we were. There was a lightness
about her, shimmery golden hair, bright sky eyes, everything about
her seemed to glow. It was made all the more perceptible by the new
colors of her robes. She noticed as I took them in.

“
I am glad you are returned,
my Freya.”

“
Thank you, Juniper. I am
grateful for all that you have done to help us.”

Her gaze fell on the others. “Word of the
Seven has traveled far. Even here, I have heard of their imposing
presence.”

I wanted to trust Junnie. I wanted to take
her endearment and hold it in my heart, keep the last of my family,
but I couldn’t stop myself from questioning her words, couldn’t
keep from wondering who had told her of the guard, what she’d meant
by imposing presence.

A silence hung in the air and then Anvil
stepped forward, bowing slightly in greeting. “Juniper.”

“
Ah, Reed. Forgive me, it is
simply such a shock to see Freya restored.” She tilted her head to
return his salutation and then smiled. “Alone for mere weeks and
I’ve lost all trace of civilization.” But she still didn’t invite
us in.

“
Though I am certain Frey
has been eager to see you,” Anvil said, clearly struggling with the
dictates of etiquette himself, “that is not the reason we have
come.”

Junnie straightened.

“
She has been
attacked.”

Junnie’s eyes flicked to mine, and I could
tell she was concerned, but that ugly voice in the back of my mind
wondered if she was worried for me or herself. I took a deep breath
against the tight lacings of my vest and moved closer. “Twice
actually.”

She stared at me, waiting for more
information. Or maybe an accusation.

“
A boy entered the castle
through the kitchens. Pulled silver from the air and formed a
blade.” I purposefully left off the fact that he’d managed to slice
my arm and the details of his coloring. “And then a second, outside
the castle. It in the form of an ice shard.”

“
Fey?” she asked,
incredulous.

Ruby spoke up then. “There was a toxin within
the crystal. I have been unable to identify its makeup, but it
doesn’t appear to be plant-based.”

I started to turn back to
Junnie, but Steed caught my eye. With the smallest glance, he
conveyed his suspicion. By the time my eyes fell again on Junnie, I
was just as wary. She was troubled, there was no doubt about that.
But that wasn’t what was bothering me.
Why
hasn’t she invited us in?
As they continued
to discuss the attempts, I let my mind wander, trying to figure out
what she could possibly be hiding. She should have wanted this
meeting under cover.

And that was when I felt it. A human.

Chapter Ten

Betrayal

Before I could stop myself, I was past
Junnie, pushing through the door. I could hear them all on my
heels, but I didn’t look back. I followed that strange feeling,
that connection, through her house. Just before I threw open the
last door, Junnie spoke my name. It was a cross between a plea and
a command, and I ignored it.

On the back wall of a small, clean room was a
crib.

I did look at her then. Her face held a hint
of an apology, but not regret.

I opened my mouth, a thousand thoughts
fighting for issue, but all that came out was, “Why?”

Junnie shook her head, what might have been
sadness playing in her eyes. “I could do nothing else.”

“
You could do nothing else?”
Anger and incredulity warred for my tone.

She sighed. “He chose this one above all
others.”

I stared at her silently for a long moment,
her words repeating in my head. And then understanding came. A
burst of power escaped in my fury as I turned back for the
child.

“
Hold!”

The words brought me up short, Rhys had never
spoke anything but gently to me. This had been nothing short of an
order. He stepped forward and tilted his staff past me. Where the
grip touched, mere inches from us, the air rippled. There was a
ward protecting the crib.

My teeth gritted as I glared at Junnie.

She was unrepentant. “I did not create this
child, Freya. But she will not be destroyed.”

My hand came forward, but Junnie was too
fast. She stepped through the ward, cradled the babe against her
chest, and burst through the back wall of the lodge.

Rage tore through me and the other walls
surrounding us exploded into bits of kindling. My guard flinched,
though most of the shards had flown outward. I took a breath. We
could go after her, but we’d have to kill her to stop her.