The Toll (50 page)

Shifting and climbing
higher, my hands reached out, smoothing across worn oak, a frisson
of magic suffusing me. The feeling of a warm, stomach tickling
welcome overcoming me, my eyes bulged and my mouth swung
open.
Magic. The door is
magicked.

“
But how?”

“
Aos Si, the fae folk,”
Magda barked from the confines of her traveling abode, “Sad,
really. Was but a little one myself when it happened, but the wood,
it talks, never forgets, told me so. Humans tore it down, made
firewood of the unsuspecting doorway to the Hill. Funny now, I
guess, that it was fashioned into a plain ol’ door,” she gave it a
good rap with her cane, “in the end, hm?”

“
The hill? Talking
wood?”
Uh-hm...
If there was ever a time to make tracks, Nugget, old girl,
now was it.

My foot went down a step, on the verge
of a very quiet retreat, maybe a scramble followed by a run, but my
senses cranked up and the door gave off a low hum of vibration
under my touch, a sharp zap zipping through me.

“
The Hill.
Underhill.
Fae folk.
Yes. Yes. But talking wood? No.
Hah!
I said it ‘talks’, didn’t say
it
talks
. You
see?” Angling herself just so, she tilted her chin towards the
faded wood. Her shape shimmered for a minute—small, heart shaped
face, pointed chin, glittering gold green eyes—quicker than a
blink, but I convinced myself it must have been a trick of the
light. “No lips or eyes, but the story is told. Won’t not be told.
Old magic runs deep, kisses the roots.” Head dipping back in and
popping out again moments later, Magda’s eyes narrowed on me,
wrinkle lined face crinkling just so.

“
Uhm, sorry. Don’t believe
I do.” I took another giant step back, foot slipping on the wrung.
Righting myself quickly, my hand fisted the step right above
me.

Magda leaned down, gaze bright.
“Wouldn’t be leaving so soon, would ye, bonded of
Bektam?”

Stilling, my eyes shot up and I rushed
up the steps. “What do you know of Troll?” I demanded, my tone much
harsher than I’d intended. “Do you know where he is? Can I- can you
help me find him? Is he here?” My eyes bounced around and I would
have leapt off the sturdy wooden steps, rushing in search of him,
but her hand, grip sure and strong, snagging my wrist in an iron
tight grasp before I’d even made the first bound, held
me.

“
Don’t know anything about
any whereabouts, don’t know anything at all, actually. That’s the
name I was told to address you by. Said it would get you to
listen.”

My hand clasped over hers and I let
her lead me inside. “Who did? When? Just now? Are they still here,
I-”

Flapping her hands as her gaze darted
around frantically, scowling, she tried to quiet me down, but I was
already babbling by that point. Snapping her cane down on the
ground, she stamped her foot impatiently.

“
You talk much of nothing.
Ears.” Face pinching, she tapped the side of her head. “Be
still.”

At the firm, hard tone, a thousand pin
pricks marked my flesh and my body locked up, frozen on the spot as
the plump older woman’s lips pursed, glaring up at me.

No small amount of triumph lighting
her eyes, flashing that eerie silver again, her lips jerked at the
corners. “Will you sit a spell now, then? Long enough for an old
woman to have her say?” She was enjoying this, amusement lacing her
tone.

I wasn’t a puppet for her to play
with. There would be no strings attached to me.

Unable to move a muscle, nothing but
my eyes, I gave her a hateful, narrow-eyed look, eyes flashing
bright blue as my runes lit up, a low hum thrumming through my
skin. As my jaw slowly unlocked, a deep hiss escaping my lips, and
my limbs sluggishly loosened from whatever hold she had me captive
in.

Magda’s eyes widened in stunned shock,
blinking back and forth between her cane and my eyes, then she was
muttering something that sounded very much like a prayer under her
breath, but could have been a spell for all I knew, stumbling
back.

Fear, a scent I could now detect as it
filled the small space, acrid and sour, quite bitter, had my
tension easing as I slowly backed up, noting a small wooden stool,
and took a seat.

Good. She should be scared.
That witch tried to spell me!

“
Not human, and not Fae,
and yet...” Her head cocked in pure bafflement, dark brows
furrowing. “You have magicks. What are you?” she half mumbled, half
demanded, in awe.

“
Don’t you already know?”
She seemed to know a hell of a lot more than I did with all of
this. Meeting her perplexed stare with an irritated glare, I
muttered, “Maybe I should be asking you the same thing. What, pray
tell, are
you?”

Vidi came in just then from a small
door towards the back, arms full with three large mugs, a loaf of
bread wrapped in cloth tucked under one arm, and a steaming bowl of
what smelled like beef stew.

Stopping dead in her tracks, she eyed
us curiously. “Did I miss something?”

As we continued to eye one another,
the older woman’s cheek started to twitch.

“
Nothing you need worry
about,” Magda said finally.

Rolling her eyes, Vidi let out a very
put out huff. “Uh-huh. That’s what you always say.”

“
And for good reason!”
Tossing her arms up, Magda let out a loud harrumph. “Heed my words,
Lavidia, you keep messing with things best left alone, believe you
me, you’ll put yourself in a bind not even a watered down halfling
could pull you out of!”

Eyes looking to me sharply before they
returned to her wily kin, Vidi’s lips pursed and she muttered,
voice just barely above a whisper, “I’ll do as I please, same as
you, and you’ll do well to mind yours.”

“
No use whispering,” Magda
tipped her chin in my direction, “I’ve a feeling she can hear
anyways.”

I could, but didn’t realize she’d been
talking so low. Her voice was loud enough and clear enough for me
to make out easily.

Have I really changed so
much?
Thinking it over as the two women
bickered amongst themselves, my eyebrows puckered in thought and my
chin dipped low, masking my expression
.
I can scent
emotions
—I’d smelled fear. Hell, I can
smell what’s in that bowl—beef stew—and it’s not a guess, it’s a
surety.

Have I really changed so
much?
I kept asking myself, mulling it
over as it sank in. My hands strayed to my eyes and I squeezed them
shut tight.
Of course I have. What does
that make me now?

Magda and Vidi’s voices drifted back
to me and I let out a long, quiet breath, trying to calm my shaken
composure without alerting them to my discomfiture.

“
You just mind your own. I
know what I’m doing.”

“
I’ll mind what I mind, and
you’ll listen and know what’s good for you.” Magda’s cane slammed
the floor again.

Power rumbled along the floor boards,
but it wasn’t coming directly from Magda, it was the cane
itself.

The magic spat at Vidi didn’t faze her
one bit, bouncing right off, unnoticed,

“
That makes no sense!” Vidi
hissed, slapping a small wooden spoon down hard on the small trunk
that separated us.

“
Of course it does! I’m not
infirm.” Snatching the spoon up, Magda glared at her.

“
If I have the gift, why
should I not harness it?”

“
Harvest, not harness.
Casters are unnatural. They blur the lines. Part Fae, enough to
fill my pinky, won’t do you much good, spells or not. As I’ve said,
time and again, you don’t have enough to make a dog
piss!”

“
But I-”

“
It’s pure bull, so you’ll
drop this!”

“
I’m old enough to
decide-”

“
How to kill yourself being
a fool, yes, so you’ll listen to me!”

“
Arrrgggghhh!”

Tuning them out again, my
eyes drifted towards the old, oddly shaped wooden door.
What am I now?
I
wondered.
Am I Ornthren?
Glancing down at my fingers, I turned my hands to
exam my palms. I’d never thought to ask, or even questioned
it.
Not quite human, not quite
Ornthren—I’m a freak.
Flexing, I curled my
fingers into tight, balled up fists, then slowly let them loose.
Untainted, they were, pale and soft—normal—unmistakably unmarked,
unmarred by anything.

I’m not all marked up like
Troll, only the...
Ignoring the sharp pull
in my chest, the tug of pain that picked at me, I forged on,
forcing myself to finish the thought—it was true, after
all—
only
the
‘ruined’ parts of me are marked up, not all of me.
And what was the reason for that? A
punishment?
I didn’t do anything wrong.
Would I ever know?
Tugging my collar aside
absently, skimming my hands over my collarbone and neck, my runes
tingled, a low, humming sting. The sheet I’d fashioned two ties out
of to secure it around my neck suddenly felt tight.

“
What’s that you got
there?”

Jumping at Magda’s voice, much closer
than I’d realized, it rang in my shocked ears. She took my
momentary distraction to flip my makeshift cloak over my shoulder
and yank the top of my night dress to the side, exposing the
damaged skin at my neck and shoulder.

The second her fingers touched a rune,
she hissed and jumped back, leaping so far and fast her back
slammed into the wall. Grimacing, she clutched her hand to her
chest, wiggling her fingers as she glared. Small tendrils of smoke
steamed from her freshly blackened skin.

Blinking down at the swirling bright
blue patterns lighting my skin, wide-eyed, I ran a finger along
one.

Nothing.

“
Whoa,” Vidi murmured,
impressed. Chuckling into her fingers, a slow smile spread across
her face. “Maybe you should have asked before touching, eh,
Granmamma.” Brilliant green eyes dancing, she laughed teasingly at
her elder.

“
Hush, brat, and mind your
betters,” Magda muttered, shaking out her hand. Fixing her stare on
me, she grimaced. “I wasn’t going to hurt you. No need to mark me
up like that. Only wanted to see. Damn and blasted, I know you’re
stronger than me! You broke the hold, didn’t you? I concede! And
you certainly don’t have the taint of Fae, that’s for
sure.”

“
Nope, not Fae,” Vidi
agreed, ignoring Madga’s warning glare.

“
Whatever monster you’ve
fashioned yourself into,” her eyes turned to small, beady little,
accusing slits as they bored into me, “you can be sure I’ve no
means to tangle with you.”

Hurrying to cover up my markings, face
crimson, I spluttered. “But I-I didn’t do anything.” At her
unconvinced look, I admitted, “I mean, I didn’t want you to touch
me, yes, but I-I... I didn’t! I don’t... I mean...” Tears filled my
eyes, unbidden, and my lower lip started trembling something awful
as the pair stared at me like they were in the presence of a real,
living nightmare. “I swear,” my voice choked on a sob, “I’d never
hurt anyone!” It immediately brought to mind the fact that I’d
cursed my entire family, and I caved in on myself, crumpling off
the stool and onto the floor, openly sobbing, sprawling in an
unseemly heap where I lay, uncaring who witnessed.

Firm arms wrapped around my shoulders,
hugging me tight, and it was Vidi who’d approached me, eyes
unafraid when I glanced up through blurry, tear filled ones of my
own once the worst of it was over.

“
It’s alright,” she
soothed, “it’s alright now.”

As small hiccups wracked me, Magda
quietly asked, “Who is it you’re bonded to, child?” Sighing
heavily, she rubbed at her neck.

Confusion clearly evident
in my voice, I mumbled, “Don’t you know?” She’d said his name. I
know she’d addressed me as bonded of Bektam, or something like
that.
What was she playing at?

Vidi let out a small chuckle as Magda
threw her hands up dramatically, exasperated. “If I knew that,
dearie, what would I be asking you for?”

“
Well, I don’t,
I-”

“
Look,” she sent me a level
stare, leaning forward on bent knees, “I understand you’re in a...
predicament, and I can understand, seeing as to how there are
things going on,” her gaze went to Vidi briefly and she paused,
asking me silently not to elaborate, “we aren’t privy to, but we
can’t help if we don’t know anything.”

Curling my legs up to my chest, I
rested my chin on my knees, arms wrapped around my bent legs,
hugging myself protectively. Sniffling and not quite sure how much
to say, I said tentatively, “Why don’t you start off with what you
know.”

“
Not very trusting, are
we?” When I just stared at her, she nodded. “Smart, really, unlike
that one. Walk off with the first boy who made calf eyes at her if
I wasn’t around.” Waving a hand at Vidi, who had situated herself
between us and was currently carving up the loaf of misshapen
bread, Magda clapped her hands together once, making everyone but
herself jump.