Chapter 8:
She listened for a long moment to the distant baying of the hounds. Frowning, she shook her head, dismissing the far-off hunting dogs. She was half-tempted to depart and try to find them but she had a new responsibility. Instead, she stepped forward, towards the man in the grey cloak, who regarded her cautiously.
"I am… Alexandria," she spoke, watching the man's eyes carefully. There was no reaction to indicate he knew of her. Yet another indication that she was in another world.
She reached out with both hands and seized one of the manacles, the man seemed to flinch backward. Her thumbs squeezed under the metal and in one smooth motion, she pulled them apart, the metal deforming like taffy. She reached for the other, the man seemed frozen as if he couldn't quite decide what to do.
The other manacle was just as easy to remove, the metal pulling away, allowing her to safely pull it off without the thorns digging in even farther. Once free, the grey cloaked man's hands went immediately to the gag and tore it out. It wasn't just the cloth on the outside but a proper gag. A wad of cloth inserted into the man's mouth.
The man just stood there for a moment seeming unwilling to say something. If that was the way he was going to be then… Alexandria turned and walked over to the thralls. The vampires had taken the ones in the suits, leaving only the three brain-dead looking female thralls. They were comely looking and might have even been beautiful without the bruises and vacant stares.
"Can they be fixed?" She decided to ask the man, who was still eyeing her warily.
"It's possible," he allowed, then continued, "I feel I must thank you, on behalf of the White Council, for your assistance."
White Council? How interesting. No wonder the vampires thought she was allied or part of the White Council if this man was part of them.
"The White Council," she said out loud, musing. Was there a White Court as well? Or a Blue Council. Odd that out of the three groups she first came across in this world, two were named after colors.
"Yes," the man replied, shifting on his feet, he glanced off into the distance where the sound of the hounds had come from, not long ago, "I'm a Warden of the White Council."
Warden sounded like a position and the man held himself with obvious pride at that statement, which added a certain gravitas to his words.
Her pixie friend decided to make itself known then, fluttering out from her hair and circling the area, "You said you'd give me candy."
"Yes," Alexandria smiled, then turned to the Warden, who was still facing towards her, and asked, "Do you have any candy for my companion?"
The Warden swallowed, his blue eyes looking slightly panicked for a moment before he seemed to realize something and said slowly, "I might."
He shoved a hand underneath his grey robe and dug in his pockets for a moment before extracting a single solitary Hershey's Kiss, badly misshapen, probably by his body heat. Alexandria floated off the ground towards him as the little pixie grabbed ahold of her hair and made an 'onward' gesture.
"Wait," the Warden said, swallowing again slightly, his eyes resting on her nose now that she was so close to him. Then it drifted downwards a little farther for a moment then snapped back up, taking in Alexandria's raised eyebrow, "If I give you this, would you consider my debt to you fulfilled?"
Alexandria snorted, what exactly was he trying to say? That this half-melted Hershey's Kiss would be adequate reimbursement? She didn't need any reimbursement, saving him and freeing those thralls was payment enough.
"For this pixie, yes, after all she led me here," Alexandria said with amusement, even though she didn't let that color her tone, "As for me, saving you served a greater purpose of mine."
"Tell me, Warden," She continued as the Warden seemed to stand there woodenly. The pixie looked left then right and darted forward, grabbing it from the Warden's hand before darting back over to Alexandria's shoulder. She shot a glance at Alexandria who nodded fractionally in permission as then continued to speak, "What exactly did the Red Court want with you? Speak truthfully."
The Warden just stared at the Hershey's Kiss as if disappeared into the pixie's gullet, tin foil and all.
"I'm part of the attache assigned to Wales," he began before Alexandria interrupted.
"Really?"
The Warden's eyes flickered away for a split second and Alexandria narrowed her eyes, "Tell me the truth, not a half-lie."
"I was in Wales!" The warden protested, before sighing, "But I'm not stationed there, I'm an attache at Archangel."
Archangel? Russia?
"Why exactly did the Red Court want you then? This doesn't look like Russia," Alexandria continued sardonically. Of course, she wouldn't admit it but this kind of looked like Russia with the snow and storms. The mythological creatures, however, were not familiar.
"Don't you know? The Red Court and the White Council have been at war for months?"
"Have they," Alexandria asked to cover up her ignorance. This seemed a touch more important than just a gang war. For one, gangs didn't generally span over multiple countries to such an extent that their agents could travel to Wales when they were living in Russia. Also, gangs usually didn't have attaches, that was a diplomatic function.
Alexandria was forced to consider the fact that these 'Red Court' and 'White Council' were either major international organizations or were actual countries in themselves. Her thoughts were interrupted again by the distant calling of the hunting hounds, it sounded like they had treed something. Good for them.
Alexandria turned away, surveying the raging storm around them, which seemed to be dying out. Its gales were less furious and the hailstones lighter. She turned away, foot catching briefly on the iron knife which was left behind by the vampire that tried to stab her. She bent down and pulled it free from where it rested, just barely in the snow.
It was well made, for a blade made of raw iron, wasn't that also called pig iron? She absently mindedly kneaded the knife for a long moment, deforming the metal. The question was, what should she do. Arguably she had just involved herself in what might be an actual international war, either between countries or organizations.
"You!" She barked out, turning back towards the Warden, who looked suddenly nervous, "Do you know where we are?"
"The Nevernever," he replied, frowning.
She had expected 'Winter' as his response. Either she had crossed a border somewhere, which granted, had happened before. No, Kurt, she thought in her head, the incident in Bolivia didn't count. Or this land was known by different names. Perhaps Winter was a state in a country as the pixie suggested.
"Do you intend to leave the Nevernever?" She finally continued.
"Yes…?" He responded after a moment, still frowning, "If I may be blunt, what are you?"
Alexandria looked out into the gale, and considered how to answer that question, before settling on something vaguely philosophical, "I am nothing anymore."
Her purpose was fulfilled, her meaning, her entire life's purpose, snuffed out at the start of her fall from grace. Once she had been the perfect symbol of a nation. A brave young leader of the most powerful government agency on the planet. Or from the other side, one of three of the most powerful real heroes in the world.
Then…
"Echidna ruined me," she continued, more to herself than to her audience. It felt good, almost, to say it out loud. It was then when her clone revealed everything she had done while casting it in the worst light possible, that she could say her image had truly died. Yes, the people still admired her, but it was tainted admiration. Acknowledgment that she had been a great hero but was no longer.
The Warden regarded her with an inscrutable gaze when she turned back to him. The hounds were a lot closer now, "If I may," the Warden said, gazing up the sheer cliff, towards the baying, "We should probably run, I think those are for us."