Chapter 2: Seeing Red

Three weeks later.

"Maker damn you, Sasha!" her father yelled, furiously brandishing her bag at her. Several stems of elfroot fell out, littering the floor.

Sasha stuck her chin up and looked at him, her dark eyes calm.

"What do you think Nelaros is going to do when he comes and hears these tales? Do you think he'll be impressed? That he'll join you on your path to self destruction? Because that's what happens to your so-called 'Friends.' No Red Jenny is going to save you from the nobles' wrath, Sasha!"

"I don't expect them to." And she hadn't intended them to.

"Then why? Why continue these childish pranks?"

Sasha took a deep breath before responding. "You know exactly why."

"So this is all to punish me then, eh? For forcing your hand in marriage? Living out the glory of your childhood before it's gone? I understand, child, the need to reclaim that part of ourselves, but this isn't-"

"No, father. That is not why I do what I do." Sasha looked down, collecting her thoughts, before her back straightened and she looked her father in the eye. "Bann Ceorlic is an idiot who had it coming to him. And now the other nobles know his penchant for overindulging in elfroot. Relatively harmless compared to how he treats his servants. Did you know that the vast majority of servants in the nobles' estates are elves, father?"

"I still don't see what any of this has to do-"

"When was the last purge, father?"

His eyes widened. "I… that has nothing to do with-"

"When was it?"

"Before you were born."

"Twenty years ago. You and mother got lucky. You were stuck outside the alienage's gates when the mob hit. Had you not been, I would not be here. Soris's parents weren't so lucky. How many more cousins might I have if Lord Ceon had not decided to pick on an elven dockworker that day? The way they call us knife-ear and spit at us- it makes me sick. They deserve all that they get and more. And if the Friends of Red Jenny can keep a noble embarrassed enough that they don't leave their estate, all the better! We have fewer purges because of it"

She told the truth. And he could see it. What he couldn't see was her secondary purpose, which he had almost guessed.

Her father put his face in his hands. "And do you plan on continuing this behavior once Nelaros arrives?" came his slightly muffled voice.

Sasha's mouth twitched. "I don't know. I guess… we'll see."

"Just- don't do anything absurdly reckless before he gets here. He doesn't know about your knife training, and we need to keep it that way."

"He doesn't know?"

Well, it's not the sort of thing that makes you popular as a match, Sasha!" he spluttered.

First of all, they're daggers, not knives, Sasha thought angrily. "What else doesn't he know about me?"

Her father threw his hands in the air. "I can't do this with you right now. You'll have plenty of time to catch up with him once you're married," he called over his shoulder as he stalked back to his bedroom.

Sasha felt the anger coursing from her chest and clenched her fists as she stared at the curtain that served as his door. At that moment, she wished with all her heart that she had been caught. If anything would break her from this marriage contract, that would be it. Blinking back tears, she stumbled into her room, sitting down hard on the bed. Her fists lay clenched in her lap. One tear fell. Then another. Then she watched as scarlet tendrils of energy began to snake their way out of her left fist and twine along her arm.

Fear shot through her as she jumped to her feet, clutching her left arm to her chest and looking around. Beneath the shoddy planks of wood, small green sprouts began to shoot up, blooming before her eyes.

Sasha let herself fall back onto the bed, stomach first, crushing the arm against her as she screamed into her pillow. There was no physical pain, but the flare ups were always taxing on her emotionally and mentally. Without proper control, she never knew who would be around when it happened.

Shaking, her face pressed into the pillow, she began her breathing exercises. In for eight counts. Out for eight counts. Repeat. Repeat.

At some point, she fell asleep.

One Week Later

"Wake up, cousin. Why are you still in bed? It's your big day!"

Sasha blearily opened her eyes to see Shianni's grinning face above her. She moved her pillow to cover her head. "Maker, don't remind me," came her muffled voice.

A raging headache came on, and Sasha's mouth felt drier than the Hissing Wastes. Maker, why did she have that much wine? She thought she would have known better. Evidently not.

"Here, silly." Shianni removed the pillow from her grip and, when Sasha sat up to protest, pushed a cup of water into her hand. "Drink! You don't want to face your betrothed looking like that!"

"I don't deserve you," Sasha mumbled as she drank greedily from the cup. She drained it in three seconds. The headache subsided somewhat and her mouth didn't feel quite so dry, though she could have easily had another cup.

Shianni rewarded her with a grin. "Probably not. I'll leave you to get ready!"

Shianni walked out the door, a little unsteady on her feet. She got started early, Sasha thought, then shrugged. She was in no position to judge.

Then the dread hit. She would have to get married. That thought wasn't the one that scared her though; she was more terrified by what would come after, what her "duty" would be to Nelaros. He would expect children, that was almost certain. And that meant lying with him, allowing him to fill her with- Maker, she didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it made her feel nauseous, and that was the last thing she needed with her hangover.

Sasha bitterly got dressed, pulling her white gown on. It was of simple make, and fit quite well. She was lucky. Like most elves in the alienage, she had to borrow it from the community supply, and more often than not, brides-to-be got dresses that were far too big or small, unflattering to their figures. Hers wasn't perfect; there was a long stain along the hem, characteristic of any gown that had been worn on the streets of the alienage, and the neck width was a bit wide, but it fit reasonably well.

It was no accident that her father had found the bag full of elfroot. Well, maybe that was an accident, she had intended for the guards to find it, but evidently, they couldn't follow the trail she had left from Bann Ceorlic's estate to the alienage. With that run was her last hope that her reckless work in service of Red Jenny would lead to her arrest. No one would agree to marry a convict, that she was certain of. She had seen it happen many times in the alienage to women arrested for lesser offenses. But she had failed. Or, succeeded, from Red Jenny's point of view. She dared not take another mission from the Friends after the argument with her father. She wasn't sure she'd be able to resist the temptation to get caught, and it wasn't worth destroying that relationship.

She looked in the mirror she had pinned to the wall all those years ago. Her dark hair was a mess, tangled every which way. She grabbed a comb and began to saw it through her hair, grimacing at the pain but bearing it. Several minutes passed, and eventually she managed to tame it somewhat. She grabbed a ribbon from a side table and braided it into her hair. It was just visible in her peripheral as her braid came over her right shoulder.

Sasha deemed her brows and lashes dark enough without the addition of any pots of makeup, and left her room. Waiting in the main room was her father.

"Ah, my little girl," he smiled. "It's the last day I'll be able to call you that." His face turned sorrowful for a moment as he said, "Oh, I wish your mother could have been here." Sasha stood shock still as he approached her and reached out, touching the ribbon in her hair. "You look so much like Adaia."

He never spoke her name. Never. The softness in his voice alarmed Sasha. She wasn't used to seeing him like this, and she didn't like it.

"If I ever find the humans who did it, she will be avenged, I promise," she replied, her voice sharper than usual.

Her father smiled, shaking his head. "And what would that solve? No, I only regret that she could not see her daughter wed, her child turn into an adult." His hand dropped back to his side. "I imagine you are anxious to see your betrothed. Go on, don't let me keep you. The sooner this wedding starts, the less of a chance you and Soris have to escape." He walked over to the kitchen table and sat down, gesturing towards the front door.

Sasha steeled her nerves and went to see what fate had in store for her.