Chapter 1
I
found Dark Horse by the small river that ran near our glade and asked him if he
was ready.
Almost, let me
finish eating, why are you in such a rush? Dark Horse asked as I paced
and he pulled at the clover that grew near the banks of the river.
Because it's noon
already and I want to get home before dark. I replied trying not to
sound exasperated.
It's that late?
Dark Horse asked choking on some clover. Why didn't you tell
me? Dark Horse took a quick drink from the river and turned to face
me.
I
didn't think I had too. Come on. Let's get going. I said as I climbed
onto his back and he took off at a gallop. After a while he slowed down and we
continued at a leisurely pace towards the village.
I'm not sure what the village people thought
of me or the things I was able to do. I look pretty normal; I'm about 5'7" and
have curly mid-length brown hair, slate-gray eyes, a button nose, and normal
pink lips. Other than my eyes the most
interesting thing about me is my horse.
Well, him and my abilities to communicate with, to shapeshift into, and
heal animals but most people don't see the last three and are intimidated by
the first so the village community tends to leave me alone.
Since learning how to
shapeshift I have started going to the market, I never realized exactly how
many different, interesting animals were at the market until I could shapeshift
into any of them. Just last week in fact, I had spoken to a camel-like creature
from Carthak. The only down side to talking to the animals at the market was
that if I wasn't careful the people around me tended to look at me funny.
Wow,
look at that mare. Dark Horse said breaking my train of thought.
Dark
Horse, could you please stay on the path, I don't want to get lost--again! Last
time was enough, thank you! Besides she looks exactly like all the others!
Well
at least I consistent, Dark Horse said jokingly as he swerved towards
the field where she was grazing.
Ugh,
can we just go, please? I asked. I was just messing with him and he
knew it so he kept going towards the field until he saw a little foal come
racing up towards her.
Oh
yeah, we can go. He said almost sounding scared. I shook my head at him,
he was so shy around foals, he never knew how to act around them, so most of
the time he avoided them, even if their mother was beautiful.
Can we gallop,
just until we're out of sight, just in case she's watching? Dark Horse
said a twinkle of humor in his eyes.
Oh,
by all means. I replied teasingly-he was so cute when he was trying to
impress a girl.
HEY,
coming in for a landing. Willie said flying at me from a nearby tree.
Great,
it's the chatterbox squirrel, Dark Horse muttered but I could hear the
smile in his voice.
Hey
Willie, how are you doing? I asked bracing my shoulder for the impact
of his landing.
I'm
fine, Willie said obviously in good spirits. I decided to tease him a
little.
Hey Willie, we're going to
the market, remember that fur trader? I asked thoughtfully
Maybe he'll be there again and we can get some serious bidding on
you, I couldn't help teasing him. This was shaping up to be a great
day, even if it had been started with a rude awakening by a certain wood sprite
that shall remain nameless. (Woodson)
Oh really,
serious bidding, huh? Well we'll just see how far you get when I flash my
deadly teeth at him. He said gnashing his teeth together and growling.
See who buys
whom. I may be a flying squirrel but I'm as deadly as a lion. Willie
said, looking like a little runt fox. I was glad Willie also seemed to be in a
good mood, that way it was safe to chuckle at him. For a little creature he
sure had sharp nails.
You
look so cute, I told him which made him try even harder to look
menacing. After some more of the same playful conversation we were almost to
the village, which was good because I could feel through my mind-link with Dark
Horse and Willie that they were as hungry as I was.
Hey,
Dark Horse, if you go any faster you'll blow my whiskers off, Willie
complained, he'd always been a neat freak about his whiskers.
Sorry
Willie, I didn't realize how fast I was going, guess I'm hungry. Dark
Horse replied sheepishly as he slowed to a trot.
Oh,
look at those berries over there, we should stop, Willie said
suddenly, almost falling off my shoulder as he drooled at the berries we had
just passed. Since we were all hungry I figured this couldn't be that bad an
idea, besides why wait when you didn't have to?
So we stopped and I spent
some time leisurely picking berries, and mushrooms, when I could find them.
Willie just rested on my shoulder, nibbling greedily. Dark Horse waited
patiently over by the shallow brook, occasionally taking a drink or nibbling on
nearby clover. Just when we were about
to start towards the village again, a huge gold griffin came limping out from
behind a big bush. He was beautiful,
but I didn't have time to appreciate his beauty because he was bleeding badly
from a wound on his left back paw.
Are
you Marisa, he asked me in a breathless whisper.
Yes.
I said a little surprised.
Please,
help me. I was injured in a hunter's trap. He said hobbling towards
me.
Of
course, I said rushing over to him not wanting to cause him any more
pain than he was already in by making him come to me.
Out of the corner of my
eye I noticed that Dark Horse had looked over at the griffin curiously but made
no move to come any closer. He was very
cautious and didn't want to startle this intruder.
Willie was digging his
nails into my shoulder from fear and hiding his face in my sleeve. But I pushed
the pain from his nails as far back in my mind as I could and thought about how
I could help this griffin. I'd never healed an immortal, but I knew better than
to tell the griffin that. So I just worked on getting his mind off of the pain.
What's
your name, I asked as I gently probed around the wound and tried too
summon my magic. I had decided to not only call on my healing gift, but also on
my mage's power. I'm a brown mage, which is pretty high up on the mage scale,
and I just hoped that my mage abilities could actually help me heal him. I'd
never done this kind of thing before, so I wasn't positive what the results
would be. I wished to Mithros that Oak had been here instead of me; he was good
at this kind of thing.
My
name is Fantasia, he said, his voice thick with pain.
That's
beautiful, well obviously you know my name but the squirrel on my shoulder is
Willie and the horse over there is called Dark Horse.
How's
he doing, Dark Horse asked too curious to be cautious any longer. He
walked over to see for himself.
I'm
okay, Fantasia said weakly, I could tell he was lying, instead of
saying so I let Fantasia and Dark Horse continue to talk and I pulled my magic
closer, pouring the green power into my fingers and gently taking his paw in my
hands.
Hold
still, I'm going to try and heal you now. I concentrated, more than I
normally do since he's an immortal; I focused all my energy on fixing him. Then
all I was aware of was an incredible pain. The most intense pain I had ever
felt, apparently mixing immortal magic with mage magic wasn't a great idea.
It
seems I fainted, because when I opened my eyes Willie was on my chest and Dark
Horse was on my right with Fantasia on my left.
"I'm
okay." I said aloud to reassure them, they were looking at me with concern.
Oh,
good, Willie said with a huge sigh of relief climbing around on my
shirt.
I
didn't know that would happen, I'm sorry, Fantasia said still looking
slightly worried, but even that didn't stop him from sounding regal.
Oh,
it's okay, it was just that I wasn't sure how large your wound was and I over
compensated with magic, I wasn't sure if that was true or not but it
sounded good to me, and it seemed to reassure him.
You
could have really hurt her, you ass. Dark Horse said startling
everyone and glaring at Fantasia. Dark Horse is normally very laid back. I was
flattered at his sudden outburst but I knew he was blaming Fantasia for
something he couldn't control.
Dark
Horse, thank you, but really I'm fine and Fantasia had about as much of an idea
that that would happen as you or I did. Dark Horse looked at me
chagrined. But before he had a chance to speak Fantasia spoke.
I
should apologize I should have realized that it could hurt you. He
sounded all of seventeen as he looked from Dark Horse to me, including Dark
Horse in his apology.
"Thank
you," I said to Fantasia, for some reason surprised that he would apologize.
And I love you
Dark Horse, thank you. I said giving Dark Horse a big hug, just to
wipe that sheepish look off his face.
Now
let's get to the market we're already very late and Oak will be wondering where
we are. I turned from Dark Horse to Fantasia.
You're welcome to
come but the locals probably wouldn't know what to make of you.
Yes,
I should be going now. Fantasia replied.
Yeah,
I guess that would probably be best, I said regretfully, silently
cursing the narrow-minded idiots of the village.
Good
day Marisa, you are headed for an enviable future, Fantasia said as he
prepared to fly away.
Goodbye,
I felt sad, abnormally so, considering I had just met him.
I hope I'll see
you again. I wanted to say the other half of the traditional Griffin
farewell, which he had so beautifully started, but had only ever heard it used
once by Nina years ago and at the moment couldn't remember it to save my life.
Perhaps, it's all
in the hands of the Gods. He said finishing the farewell. Then he was
gone.
I
heaved a huge sigh and mounted Dark Horse with Willie on my shoulder and set
out for the market once more. Both were very happy to be moving on.
Chapter 2
"Did
you see her," the blond woman asked excitedly.
Yes,
I did, she helped heal the Griffin just like you said she would, although how you
knew she could heal like that I don't even want to know. What I do want to know
is how the Griffin knew to go to her for help? The ferret asked as he
searched the tree above the woman's head for something to munch on.
"I
gave him a powerful, silent, magical suggestion, he didn't even know he was
being manipulated." The woman replied distractedly as she thought over possible
courses of action and their consequences, her eyes growing feverish.
"So she is as talented as
I feared she could be, we'll have to get rid of her quickly." The woman said
more to herself than the ferret. She was quiet for a few more minutes.
"I need only one more
piece of evidence to justify her death." The woman said, so suddenly and
forcefully she startled the ferret in the tree above her.
Why
do you need to justify her death? The ferret asked puzzled, staring at
the top of her head.
"Because
the gods don't look kindly on killing without reason." The woman replied her
face flushing angrily as she thought of how stupid that law was, and how it
stood in the way of her plans.
What
more proof can you possibly you need; she lives with sprites, she talks to
animals, and she can heal, the ferret said as he found some nuts and
began to nibble on them, making a disgusted face as he did so. He wasn't one to
eat nuts under normal circumstances; then again, since he'd met her nothing had
been normal. He stifled the gag and ate some more, he was starving, and even
nuts were good if you were hungry enough.
"Just
this, how old is she," the woman asked, after a few seconds of smiling
triumphantly to herself.
I
don't know, the ferret replied nonchalantly, pulling another nut from
the branch they were connected to, unaware of how angry he'd just made her.
"What!"
the woman shrieked, her temper exploding. " Do you mean you don't know how old
she is and you've been watching her for
two months!"
Well, the ferret
replied fearfully, his nuts forgotten. She looks about your age, if
that helps.
"It
doesn't." She stated flatly. " I need something more precise than about," The woman said gritting her
teeth as her eyes darkened and her cheeks got redder.
Well,
you'd be surprised how little people talk about their age. The ferret
said thoughtfully in his defense.
"Fine,"
She snapped, sighing in frustration, "I'll find out myself."
Chapter 3
When we got to the market
it was so late I had to really search for any good food, and all the animals
were long gone, but eventually I found something and we started back home. The closer we got to the glade the more
excited and eager I was to tell Oak about how I had cured Fantasia, I only
hoped he hadn't decided to go on another overnight trip.
"Excuse
me," said a voice startling me, it seemed to come out of nowhere.
"How old are you that you
can travel at dusk in a place as dark and dangerous as this," asked the most
beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had full blond hair, ice blue eyes, and
pale skin, she was wearing a gown that looked like a village maiden's simple,
Sunday dress but I could tell it was made of some of the finest material in
Tortall. I was so shocked to see her on
the normally deserted path I couldn't speak.
"Excuse
me," I asked when I found my voice, I had been so surprised, I had not paid
attention to her question.
"How
old are you," she asked sharply, her eyes seemed to flash as if she was very
angry or eager or both but it vanished so quickly that I figured it was just
the dying sun.
"I'm
not sure I understand," I said confused.
"How
old are you that you can be out here near dusk," she asked for a third time,
sounding impatient.
"
Oh, twenty-six last week," I replied thinking I could be asking her the same
question.
She
mumbled something that I couldn't quite make out, but she seemed happy at my response,
which made no sense, and then without any warning she was gone.
"Hey,
wait," I called " what's the importance with my age." But it was too late, now
not even her shadow was visible. I know that someone asking your age is not
that big a deal but the way she asked the question made it seem as if I had
just given away vital information.
Chapter 4
By
the time we'd gotten home I'd decided to forget about the woman, it was only
one dumb question after all. I got very excited when I discovered that Oak
hadn't disappeared. I couldn't wait to tell him about Fantasia.
"Oak, guess what," I said very happy
and bouncy as I hopped down from Dark Horse's back and situated Willie in a
nearby tree.
"What,"
he asked looking up from the huge leather-bound book he was studying, pushing a
piece of his thick white hair behind his ear.
"I healed a griffin," I
said very proud of my accomplishment.
"You
healed an immortal?" Oak asked incredulously. Nina also looked up from the
middle of her lake where she was making a water sculpture of a unicorn rising
out of the water.
Woodson unlike the other
two had an unreadable expression on his face. I couldn't tell if he was happy
or angry about what I had done, his dark brown eyes were masked in a carefully
neutral expression. I felt my happiness deflate at the thought of him not being
proud of me, but when I looked at Oak again I regained some of my previous
excitement. Since all of them were looking at me expectantly I told them what
had happened.
"Yes,
I did. He came to me and asked me to help him and I did." The pride I felt in
my accomplishment was obvious in my voice. Oak was the first to recover from
the shock.
"Why did he ask you?" Oak asked. I
was disappointed that was his first question. But I answered it.
"I have no idea. Maybe he
saw my aura, and knew I could heal him." Oak nodded absently at my answer and
after an impatient moment he realized that I wanted them to ask me something.
Anything, just so I didn't feel like I was bragging, which is of course what I
was doing, but I didn't want it to sound like that was what I was doing.
"What where his
injuries?" He said interested now that the shock had worn off.
"He had a wounded left
back paw. Looked to be from a hunter's trap."
"Were there any scars?"
"None that I could see."
I beamed a little as Nina and Woodson nodded in approval.
"Was it more difficult to
heal him than it was to heal that Bison last summer?"
"No, just different. I
used more magic, I combined healing magic with my other magic."
"We never taught you to
do that. It says a lot that you did that instinctively." Oak was obviously
proud of me, I smiled and grinned at Woodson, he was still doing his non-glare.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Next Question." I said
happily.
"Were there any side
effects for you or the Griffin?" Nina asked coming closer and sitting down next
to Oak.
"Well, Fantasia, the
Griffin was fine, he suffered no side effects." I stopped there and hoped
they'd let it go at that. No such luck.
"What about you?" Woodson
asked eagerly. I frowned at him and reluctantly answered his question.
"I felt some pain. And I
fainted." I said this last part so quietly they asked me to repeat it. Nina
gasped and hugged me when she heard. Oak looked worried, and Woodson just
looked angry. I was about to say some nasty things to him for making me tell
them, but then I saw the fear behind his anger. My anger died. I stood up and
hugged Woodson, he hugged me so tightly that I couldn't breath until he let me
go.
"How long?" Oak asked when
everyone had calmed down.
"Just long enough to hit
the ground." I said sheepishly.
"Are you okay?" He asked
looking me straight in the eye and daring me to lie.
"Yes. I don't have any
lingering feelings of nausea or dizziness, no blurred vision or anything else
you taught me to look out for." I told him. He nodded and we discussed what to
do next time I was asked to heal an immortal. Turns out I did almost everything
right.
Later, when we were having dinner and talk of
Fantasia had quieted down, I remembered the woman whom I had met in the woods.
I told Oak about her and for some reason he didn't react very well and the next
morning he was gone again. Woodson and
Nina and I were used to Oak and his strange wanderings and just relaxed and had
a fun day. Willie showed up so Dark
Horse and Willie and I went fishing. When we returned with the fish that we'd
caught we shared it with Nina and Woodson.
Chapter 5
Oak didn't take as long
with this trip as he had with the last one. He was back at dusk but he wasn't
alone, with him was a badger who looked very grumpy.
"So
this is Weiryn's older daughter. Nice to finally see her," the badger said
talking about me but not addressing me.
"What
are you talking about, Weiryn is a God," I said not sure that this badger was
completely sane.
"It's nice to see you're not an
idiot. Yes, Weiryn is a God and he is also your father," the badger said,
saying it like it was obvious and I should have realized it years ago.
Needless
to say, this came as a big shock. I had never really wondered about my family I
just assumed that my family had done something good for Oak, and they had died
somehow, and Oak and his friends had taken me in to pay my family back.
Now
to find out that my father was the God of the forest and it's creatures was
very exhilarating and a bit frightening. I didn't know what was going to happen
now because the badger was obviously not just here to visit, maybe he was
taking me to see my father.
How
strange to use that phrase, but would I be able to come back to Oak and Woodson
and Nina? I didn't want to leave them forever but it would be nice to see my
father. What about my mother; was she a God or was the story of my coming into
the world one of the tragic love stories of the gods, humans and forbidden
love.
In
fact, I had heard a story about Weiryn and a woman in a village who had fallen
in love and when she died she had joined him in his forest where she was made a
God of her village. Did she have a daughter?
Yes, I remember;
part of the story was her decision to join her love or wait for her daughter.
Was I that daughter? Could I find my mother and my father all in one day? All of these thoughts raced through my
mind in the time it takes to draw a breath. Then, when I'd collected my
thoughts and decided I could speak in a normal voice, I calmly asked what I
felt to be a very pertinent question although the badger didn't think so.
"Is
my mother the woman from the village in the story?" The badger looked at me for
a moment before finally replying.
"No,
but you are related to her daughter, her daughter's your half sister." This totally blew my mind.
"I have a sister?" I asked incredulously.
"I
believe that's what I said," I could tell he was losing his patience with me
but at the moment I couldn't care less.
"You
should lay off she has a lot to adjust to, in just a few minutes her world has
been turned upside down," Woodson said in a sharp voice, I shot him look full
of gratitude. Nina didn't seem to be paying attention; she was busy staring at
the badger.
"Oak,
all those times you said that you had gone to meet the badger, you meant it.
You went to see him?" Nina asked,
pointing at the badger; not sounding very impressed.
Oak smiled and nodded yes.
"Oh, darling, I'm sorry
for doubting you." Nina didn't say any more just looked very surprised and
slightly confused.
"I
would meet him and give him updates on how Marisa was doing, and he would report
them to Weiryn. He is a friend of Marisa's father, he is the Badger God." This
silenced everybody, to realize we were in the presence of a god amazed us all
and to top it off he was a friend of Weiryn's.
"Perhaps
you should tell her the entire story badger," Oak continued, " Marisa has to
know if she's going to do all that you need her to."
Chapter 6
Badger
talked all night about my life but basically what it came down to was this; my
father was, for a time, in a period of upheaval in the reign of the Gods, one
of the most powerful of the Gods in the Heavens. Because of this he was
targeted by Tatiana, Queen of the Faeries, she thought his control of the
heavens would be longer lasting than it was and he would need a queen, her.
He rebuked her offer, so
she tricked him into sleeping with her and became pregnant with me. She had
planned to use me to force Weiryn to let her be queen of the Gods. But shortly
after I was conceived the tides of the war between the Gods turned and my
father was ousted from the seat of power.
He was not punished for his role in the war, none of the Gods were, and
everything went back to the way it was, except for me.
My father wanted to take me from Tatiana when I was
born and take care of me. My mother refused and after fighting it out they
compromised. They decided I would live with Oak and Woodson and Nina. The trio
was powerful, smart, and kind enough to raise me according to my father's
wishes. And they were on earth so my mother thought she would have enough contact
with me to "persuade" my way of thinking.
After I was born I was
taken to Oak and brought to this glade, I hadn't heard from my father or my
mother since. Oak had been secretly instructed by my father to hide me from
everyone, even him, to protect me from my mother.
This didn't sound like
the kind of family I had always envisioned when I was little, in fact, it was
the exact opposite. After the story was told and I had thought about it I asked
the only question that I was truly curious in getting an answer for.
"What
powers did I inherit from my father?" I asked badger. I didn't know much about
faeries, but I knew all kinds of stories about the gods. I knew I couldn't be
half as powerful as even the smallest god.
"You
inherited all your animal-related powers
from you father; your abilities to talk to, heal, and shapeshift into animals,
all came from Weiryn. All your other mage-like powers you got from your mother
and her Faery relatives," he said mother like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Badger left no doubt as to what he thought about faeries and not much of it was
good.
"What
do you mean Faery relatives, what do they have to do with my abilities," I
asked curiously, ignoring the sarcasm that seemed to drip from his speech
unconsciously.
"Whenever the Faery queen has a
child they each give the child a little their gift," the badger replied.
"What
if she had twins, would they both get the same abilities or would they be
divided between the two," I asked, curious now. The badger looked at me funny.
"That's
only happened twice, both times each child received the same gifts as any other
Faery child would only the faeries had to give more and this made the faeries
weaker than they normally would have been and for a longer period of time," the
badger said.
"Perhaps
now you should tell her the rest," Oak said quietly urging the badger to tell
me what must have been very important.
"Yes, you're right Oak. Marisa you're
part of the second set of twins," the badger said simply. By now I was used to
the surprises but I still wished they could at least give me some kind of
warning before springing them on me.
"But,
where's the other twin? Why isn't she here with us?"
"Because,"
Badger began sighing at my lack of understanding, "Your father and I didn't
even know she existed until yesterday when Oak told us, or actually warned us
it was a strong possibility." Badger replied, he obviously he wasn't a good
person to chitchat with.
"How
did you figure out that I had a sister?" I asked Oak surprised, "How long have
you suspected?"
"I suspected you might
have a twin a long time ago, when your mother made absolutely no effort to find
us. I couldn't think of any other reason for your mother to leave you in peace
for twenty years. But I didn't think it was a major concern until you told me
of that girl asking your age, after you told me I went to Weiryn.
"We did some magical
tests and discovered that you have a fraternal twin, a sister. But we were
unable to learn much more than that. It does seem that your sister is well
trained in magic, although we're pretty sure she doesn't have your ability to
communicate with animals, or if she does it's not nearly so strong." Oak replied.
We were all quiet for a
moment. I thought back to my life, which up until now had seemed if not normal
at least devoid of mystery. I realized then how dense I was. My whole life we
had had all kinds of protection spells, one of those protections was a spell
that made it impossible for any Faery besides me it seems, to see this glade.
As far as I knew no other
Faery anywhere even knew of its existence. Thinking of this I also thought of
my twin and I wondered if she was the girl that I had met earlier.
"That girl I saw today,
she's the one you think is my sister, isn't she?" I was pretty sure of the
answer but I asked it anyway.
"She is either your sister or she is
a woman hired by Tatiana to spy on you because if she isn't a Faery then she
can see into this glade." Nina replied thoughtfully, finishing the thought even
as she said it.
"I
wonder what she is doing approaching Marisa, you would think she would let
Marisa just live out her life, Marisa didn't even know anything until she
showed up." Woodson pondered, deep in thought, obviously not expecting any real
answer.
"That
is another reason I went to Badger with my suspicions about Marisa having a
twin, why else would she be asked her age by a stranger? Most likely her sister
found out about her and is curious what she's like." Oak said to Woodson.
Woodson nodded agreeing that it was a possibility.
"Why did my father decide to have
you raise me?" I asked all of them. I knew we weren't going to get any answers
to all these questions about my sister right now and since I had many questions
they could answer I figured it was my duty to distract them.
"Your father chose us because Oak is
a master of magic, he is the first black mage and has more power than any being
on earth," I took a second look at Oak; I had never realized he was so
powerful.
Woodson
continued, "I was chosen because of my fighting ability to defend you and this
glade. Nina was chosen because she is an expert at detecting magic and she is
part Faery so if problems ever came up with you or the faeries she would know
what to do." Woodson said finishing his explanation looking properly distracted
from any thoughts of my sister. I looked at Nina the longest; all my life I'd
had no clue that she was part Faery. Nothing like a complicated family intrigue
to help you realize how totally dense you really were.
"Wow, okay, hmmm, what do we do
now?" I asked after a moment.
During all of this the badger was
just watching but finally "We finish your mage training, to the black mage
level then we send you off," the badger said seeming as if he regretted my not
already being a black mage. I refrained from pointing out that I was
considerably farther than any other person my age and instead asked a more
important question.
"What are we training me for? And are Oak, Woodson and Nina going to train
me?"
" Yes, they'll continue training you
then you'll have to stop your Faery family," the badger said in all
seriousness. I almost laughed, they made them sound like some kind of crime
boss family, but I saw the seriousness reflected on everyone's face even Nina's
and decided to take it seriously.
I sighed and tried not to laugh,
"Okay, why me? Why can't someone else stop them? Why can't the Gods stop them?"
These thoughts had just occurred to me but I realized that they were good ones.
"You have to do it because the gods
made a peace treaty with the faeries a long time ago, and it says that if the
gods interfere with the faeries without solid proof that the faeries are
plotting against the Gods then the faeries get control of earth." The badger
replied not mincing any words. Boy, talk about sucker punch, that one shocked
me a little. Someone had gotten the one up on the gods.
"What have the faeries done that
makes the Gods suspicious? Why are the Gods going about this in such a
diplomatic way, why can't you just hold a trial or something?" I asked trying
to help the badger find some loophole that didn't involve me.
"We are doing it this way because
the original treaty we made is mostly in the faeries favor because when the
treaty was made, the Gods were more concerned with winning their allegiance
than with the fairness.
"Now
the faeries are trying to take us unawares. (Apparently the gods weren't that
hard to sucker) They are secretly plotting to overthrow us and take over the
ruling of the heavens and Earth. They most likely plan to use the treaty by
manipulating its contents to help them strengthen their takeover.
Most
of the Gods still don't believe that the faeries are smart enough or powerful
enough to do this and the only reason your father and I were able to help you
was that the Gods thought that with you being part god and part Faery and not
corrupted by Tatiana, you'd be more willing to discuss changes in the treaty."
The badger seemed disgusted by his fellow Gods behavior. I was just trying to
puzzle out what he was talking about.
"Why was the treaty created to give
the faeries the better part of the deal?" Woodson asked. Badger glared at him
for a moment and then reluctantly began to explain.
"Because when the treaty was made
everything was new. The Gods were just beginning to assume a fragile command
over everything and that's when the faeries showed up. We weren't sure how
powerful they were or what they could do to our…situation. So we rushed into a
treaty and the faeries knew it. They made sure everything in that treaty could
somehow be turned in their favor." Now I understood why he had been reluctant
to tell us the story, so did Woodson.
"Basically
you're saying the Gods rushed into the treaty to protect their immediate future
because they were scared," Woodson said obviously not impressed with the Gods
strategy.
"Can't
the Gods just go to war with the faeries and break the treaty with them?" Nina
asked; she and I hoping against hope that the gods were smart enough to have
already thought that one up.
"No. Even if the Gods take this
thing that seriously they don't want a war with the faeries because it would
probably destroy the people on Earth. The faeries have an alliance with the
sprites, dwarves, gnomes and the elementals, all earth-bound immortal creatures,
and if the elementals decide to fight the faeries could win a war against the
Gods," the badger said giving me the worst-case scenario. I didn't know the
Gods could be defeated in anything and I had to sit down. At least now I knew
they had considered it.
"What can I do? I don't know how
anything I do could possibly help in something so huge even the Gods can't do
anything." I said to badger hoping he would be able to say something to prove
me wrong. He didn't disappoint me.
"The Gods can do something," Great!
I thought, and then he started to talk again. "But it would hurt the humans and
they don't want to do that. They need you because you can do something. You're
an unforeseen loophole." the badger replied.
"What kind of a loophole am I?" I
was not even able to fathom a guess as to what I could possibly do against such
a giant conspiracy.
"You're a legitimate contender for
the Faery thrown and so we want you to meet with the Faery council and put in
your bid for it." The badger explained, acting as if I had finally asked a
marginally intelligent question. After a moment of considering the only answer
that I could consider, I gave it to him.
"Okay.
I'll do it."
"Good, from now on you'll be trained
in everything you might possibly need to survive in their world and then you
will be sent to stay with your half sister and you will arrange a meeting with
the faeries through King Jonathan. This seems the safest and most publicized
route to take. The faeries play a dangerous game with the elementals and their
other allies and must be careful not to upset them. This means that they must
respect the rights of the daughter of the queen of the faeries; that's you by
the way. The reason, in case you're wondering, that the meeting will be so
publicized is because if you go to your mother privately she might have you
assassinated, but if you announce your meeting they will have to respond to it
fairly to keep from upsetting their allies." The badger told me gleefully, he
seemed to wish that the faeries would screw up and anger their allies, and I
was all for agreeing with him, except for the part I would have to play to
anger them. I had no interest in being assassinated.
"What will my training consist of?
It sounds to me more like I should learn how to behave like royalty rather than
improving my magical abilities."
"We'll
be working on both, and I'll be teaching you the basics in defending yourself.
You never can be to prepared." Woodson said speaking over Oak and Badger.
"Okay then, what do we do now?" I asked
expectantly.
"Now you will go to sleep
Sweetheart, you need the rest," Nina replied. That one set me back a little.
"Sleep? But why not start training now, I'm ready." I knew that
the next thing I was going to be doing tonight was sleeping but I still felt
the need to ask.
"There is no reason to learn
something so late when you will just forget it in your sleep," Oak told
me. I bowed my head in defeat, I should
have known better than to even try going up against Oak and his unbeatable
logic.
