The Misadventures of Annika Brisby (19 page)

“That was Sevan Derbedrossian,” he said apologetically. “My least favorite cousin.” Annika was in disbelief that the two came from the same family.

“That bitch is related to you? Is she coming to your party?” she asked in horror.

“She had to be invited,” said Yuri with a helpless shrug. “It would be an insult if I didn’t personally make certain that her family had an invitation.”

“If she talks to me like that at the party, I’ll—” Annika started to say.

“You’ll do no such thing,” said Finn, and stopped rubbing her shoulders. He brought her closer to him and bent down so that he could speak without the others hearing. “You know, Annika, reacting to her ill manner only robs you of your sweet nature, which I’m quite fond of.” He tossed his loose curls out of his eyes and looked at her so intensely that she felt herself blushing. Was he flirting with her? She couldn’t tell. Annika fidgeted with her fingers, wishing she had a beer or even a pixie dust cigarette to distract her. Without saying another word, he winked at her and guided her to sit back down.

“You can’t let her bother you,” said Runa. “Her whole family is like that, except Zaven.” At the mere mention of this name, Runa’s eyes misted over as though she were lost in a daydream. Finn pulled out his tobacco pouch as though he’d read Annika’s mind.

“I just can’t believe she’s your cousin. You guys are so nice,” she said to him and Yuri, still feeling miffed over the insults. “How come your families are so different?”

“That’s quite a story,” Yuri began. “Sevan and Zaven’s mother and our mother are sisters. They fought all the time growing up and they still don’t get along. Mother’s side of the family saw it as an embarrassment that she married into a less traditional family like Father’s. Rather than put up with her stuck up family, our mother came here to live in Father’s village. Together they built the first mills with their own hands, and that’s how it grew from just a few neighbors of families into the busy place it is today. Perhaps we get preferential treatment on occasion, but we know how to return a favor. Father renamed the town after my mother’s family as a gesture of goodwill. Her family has always said that we were too wild, too uncivilized, because they were formally educated while we went through the portals and interacted with humans all the time. Personally, I always thought they were too dull to be around anyway.”

“I’m sorry your cousin’s a snob, but nobody talks to me like that,” Annika said and downed the last of her ale.

“Listen here, you modern girl—you’re going to have to get used to a few things,” Yuri said, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re an outsider here. You never would’ve made it past the guards if it weren’t for the fact that you were escorted by a Marinossian, so don’t test your luck. Especially not with her.” Annika got the impression that she probably shouldn’t test her luck with Yuri, either, by the way she was acting.

“What are you, like, the Mafia or something?” Annika asked. Yuri looked at her sideways.

“You can call it what you want, but I call it part of my duty as a Marinossian. That’s why I have to include my cousins in my birthday celebration. Their whole family is invited because to disrespect them would be, well, it would be bad.”

“Did I get you into trouble with my fist comment?”

“Just don’t carry it out or things will get ugly,” Finn laughed and handed her a cigarette. She reached out for it, but stopped her hand in mid-air.

“What’s going to happen? Will I do anything stupid?” she asked.

“Only if you’re greedy like Sariel,” he said and winked at Sariel, who sneered halfheartedly back at him. “If you share with everyone it will be fine.”

“Alright,” Annika conceded, and took the cigarette from him. He lit it with a flip-top lighter and she could see a couple tiny sparks that rose up and disappeared immediately in front of her face. It smelled like tobacco. It tasted like tobacco. No wonder Sariel had fallen for this trick so easily. She held the smoke in her lungs for a moment, not sure if it was the same concept as smoking pot. She passed the cigarette to Yuri and slowly let a stream of smoke escape from her lips.

Her anger towards Sevan quickly melted away. She looked down in front of her at her empty glass as she passed the cigarette to Runa. She wasn’t drunk yet, not with only two pints under her belt. Finn slid one of the golden key chains over to her and asked if she minded getting him another pint as well. Without consciously deciding to get up, she found herself drifting to the bar and ordering two more drinks. Compared to the secluded corner she’d been sitting in, everyone seemed giddier at the bar, far livelier and animated with talk and laughter. She found herself snared in a conversation with Dorsey about the differences between his pub and the bars in America. When she eventually turned around, she realized she was standing right next to the tall brunette and her two gorgeous friends, who were still talking to Talvi. His eyes met with hers and grew wide as the brunette kissed him on the cheek. At the same moment, one of the blondes mussed his hair affectionately.

“I know you’ll figure it out Talvi. You always find a way,” the other blonde said playfully. He looked surprised, even guilty, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something to Annika, but she beat him to it.

“I just met your cousin Sevan,” she said to him, ignoring the brunette’s kiss. “She’s the most delightful person. Have you ladies met her?” The brunette clutched Talvi’s arm tightly, eyeing Annika carefully up and down but not saying anything.

“Ugh, I can’t stand her!” one of the blondes said.

“Her brother is much more tolerable to be around,” the other said with a grin. “Why, I just saw him in town earlier today.”

“Zaven is here already?” Talvi asked, and glanced away from Annika for only a moment.

“And you didn’t tell me?” the first blonde said with a pout.

“If you see him, be sure to let him know that his sister was this close to losing a few teeth,” said Annika, not sure if her refreshed anger was caused by Sevan or Talvi.

“What happened?” Talvi looked concerned.

“Oh, nothing
you
need to worry about,” she said, and put on her bravest smile. “Finn put her in her place before I had a chance to break her nose. I’m so glad he was there looking out for me.” She turned and waved at Finn, who waved back with a big grin. “He’s a real gentleman, your brother.” She kept smiling at Finn as she sailed past Talvi and his girlfriends. She wanted so desperately to turn around and see his reaction, because nothing made a man more jealous than showing interest in his brother. She walked back to the table feeling triumphant, but when she plopped down next to Finn, he and the girls started laughing at her.

“What’s so funny?” she asked them.

“Did you forget something?” Finn asked her with a huge smile. She looked around the table, patting her pockets. The rings he’d given her were still there.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

Hilda and Runa were holding their stomachs in pain from laughter. Annika tried to remember, but she was definitely experiencing an altered state of mind. The candles burning in the chandeliers never seemed so bright. They looked like living things with their firelight dancing all over the place. And the plants that were growing outside the windows seemed to beckon to her. They moved as if they were seaweed under the water; they appeared to be living, breathing animals in various shades of green. They rose and fell countless times, their leaves moving ever so softly.

“Hey, I need another drink. I can’t believe mine’s gone already!” Annika complained, seeing no glass in front of her. Runa howled again, and fell right off her seat, causing everyone else to laugh even harder, even Sariel. Finn moved close to Hilda and made room for his brother, who set a full glass in front of Finn and Annika, before setting down his own. She scooted closer to Finn, not wanting to be next to Yuri any more than her twin brother.

“You are either a very lightweight drinker, or you’ve been in the pixie dust,” Talvi observed, sitting down on the bench between her and Runa. “And I know you can handle your wine, Miss Brisby.” Annika wanted to disappear right then and there.

“I don’t think I need any more of that stuff,” she said as the laced cigarette came her way again. “I’ll just stick with my beer.”

“So Talvi, what did Pavelina and Milena have to say?” Finn asked. Talvi muttered something too low for Annika to hear.

“What?” he called out louder over the noisy room.

“I’ll tell you later. This isn’t the best time to mention it,” Talvi replied, looking around the table. He seemed preoccupied with something serious. Annika sipped on her beer in silence, ignoring Talvi as he chatted with the nymphs and his siblings. When the pixie dust cigarette came her way again, she changed her mind and took another long puff. She saw the smoke form into the shape of a horse, and then a fish as it swam up to the rafters and dissipated. She smiled in amusement at the sight. The vote was in…pixie dust was alright.

“When are you going to play me something?” a female voice crooned nearby. It was that brunette again, hovering over Talvi, but he didn’t seem to mind the attention.

“Well, give me a moment,” he said patiently, but the girl walked over and grabbed the Spanish guitar in the corner before he could get up. He handed it to Annika, much to the brunette’s disappointment. Hilda picked up Talvi’s guitar lying nearby and passed it over to him. He straddled the bench to face Annika.

“Let’s have a duel, shall we?” he asked her as he picked out a few chords.

“What the hell are we going to play?” she asked, unsure of what songs they would both know. But the annoying girl standing next to them spoke up again.

“If she doesn’t want to play, Talvi, don’t make her. You know that I could listen to you until Dorsey locks the doors.” Annika caught Hilda and Runa rolling their eyes and pretending to gag. She suddenly felt empowered by her anger at him, and at the sappy bimbo standing before them. She let her fingers fall over the strings softly as her mind searched for the right song.

“Do you know any gypsy songs? Anything like Flamenco?” she asked him.

“Ha! Do I know any gypsy songs? I thought this was going to be a duel, not a massacre!” he snickered, and tightened a string.

Annika smiled to herself and took one more sip of beer. She was determined to kick his ass, in a musical sense. She tore into a song native to the south of France, tapping her foot hard against the floor to the beat. She closed her eyes and the song took on a life of its own, for as many times as she’d jammed in the garage with her brother while they smoked a joint, she’d never done so while high on pixie dust. It nearly became an out-of-body experience. She could hear Talvi struggling to keep up with her notes, and it only made her play harder. She couldn’t hold back her overwhelming desire to give voice to the emotion of the song. If she hadn’t been under the spell of the pixie dust, she might have been content to just strum along. Her head fell back as the words came to her, pouring out of her lips in the French her mother had taught her. There were loud cheers of encouragement from the crowd feeding her with even more energy. She could hear Finn’s deep voice joining hers now, singing with perfect harmony, and incredible talent. She turned away from Talvi and sang with Finn. Together the three of them put on quite a show.

“
Votre coeur est un océan, mystérieux et foncé, sauf votre fidélité n’est pas à moi, c’est aux étoiles au ciel
…” they sang together, harmonizing their voices with ease. When she turned back to Talvi he was watching her intensely, keeping up and improvising complex harmonies to compliment her quick paced melody. She paused briefly to take another drink.

“Don’t stop!” yelled Runa as she stood up to dance on the table. Then Hilda joined her, and then Sariel of all people climbed up as well. All around the room there were girls getting up onto the tables.

“Keep playing!” Runa yelled again, shaking her hips like a belly dancer. Finn eventually took Hilda off the table and led her to an open section of the floor, and it wasn’t long before their end of the pub was dancing or stomping their feet along with them. Annika felt urged on by how much the crowd around her was enjoying the music. Even Dorsey had come out from behind the counter and was occupied by dancing with every single girl in the establishment. She stood up so that the music would project even further out to her audience. A drop of sweat ran down her forehead and stung her eye, but she didn’t stop.

There were whistles and catcalls as Runa jumped off the table and into Dorsey’s huge arms. She played as long as she could, letting Talvi lead her into a different song. They played some modern songs with a twist; good old rock and roll in this tavern of intoxicated elves and wood nymphs. Eventually her fingers gave out and she had to set the guitar down. There were claps, cheers and laments at the silence, but she couldn’t go on.

Talvi leaned close to her and said in her ear,

“Where did you come from?”

“What are you talking about?” she snapped. “I came from the states of madness, remember?”

“I didn’t think they made girls like you, Annika Brisby,” he leaned back and just smiled his sweetest smile, watching her with fascination. She took a drink of the complimentary ale that Dorsey had set in front of her and wiped the sweat from her head. She had no idea how to respond to his remark. She wondered how he could treat her the way he did; nearly seducing her only hours ago, and then snubbing her for three other girls right in front of her and everyone else. There was nothing she could say. The only one who knew her true level of humiliation was him, and he obviously didn’t care.