After several giddy seconds, Helaine and Crow both reapplied their stoicism
and moved on, but under a lighter atmosphere. Crow bounced off Helaine's
bed and began rummaging through her trunk. Helaine bit the inside of her
cheek, and reminded herself that she was trying to earn Crow's trust, and
snapping at her would not be beneficial.
Crow unearthed a multitude of various sharp objects designed for man- killing (mostly presents from the boys), but somewhere near the bottom she managed to find a large signet ring.
"What's this?" she asked inquisitively.
Helaine took the object from the girl. It was engraved with her initials and a unicorn, and felt weighty in her hand. "My seal." She ran her fingers around the grooves, but did not put it on.
"S'pretty." Crow commented, entranced by the flashing metal. It wasn't terribly clean. Helaine had hid it on her person the first night she'd met the boys on Treen, certain the unicorn, a symbol of grace and beauty, would betray her sex. She hadn't thought to put it on since. There was something enticing about its smooth, cold feel in her hands, and she was reminded of the heavy thud it made when she stamped it into hot wax on her letters and the authority it granted her over Votrin Keep - under her father, of course. It was a sign of power, and it sang to her.
Helaine's head snapped back. What was she thinking about? "Do you want to try it on?" She asked Crow, extending the signet on the palm of her hand.
Completely missing the solemnity of the occasion, Crow snatched it up, but was unable to fit it on any of her fingers -not even her thumb. Helaine smiled, and retrieved the ring. She beaded it on the rabbit-snare string and looped the ends around Crow's neck, making a short necklace for the girl.
"There." Helaine smiled a little bitterly. Delusions of grandeur didn't belong in her head.
"Where'd you get it?" Crow rolled away from the chest and sprang, feline, back onto the bed.
"I was a princess once."
"Once?"
"I gave it up. Ran away. Came here." Helaine tugged on a strand of her hair.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Destiny, I guess."
"But...But Score said Destiny was a wicked bitch." Crow tilted her head inquisitively, looking for a brief second like her namesake.
"Young ladies don't use the word 'bitch'. And yes, Destiny the person was evil, but the destiny I speak of is more of a concept." Crow tried the forbidden word out again, but after a stern look from Helaine, shut her mouth. Helaine continued. "Destiny is... is this idea that when you're born, certain things will happen to you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Some people think you're a slave to your destiny, some people don't believe in it."
"What do you believe?"
Helaine stared hard at the girl. There was something to be deciphered here. She felt as though she'd reached an invisible crossroads. The road she picked was bound to be important. Bound to be.
"Destiny, I guess, is how we connect events. How we explain why we're here. If I became a warrior, then it was my destiny to do so. But I think destiny is something best understood after it has been fulfilled."
"So we are in control of our own lives?"
"As much as we can be. But some things... some things can only be explained by fate."
Crow came close to Helaine. Her eyes looked strangely shiny. "Was it my destiny to come here?"
Helaine shrugged. "You're here, aren't you? It must be."
"Was it my destiny to..." Crow choked a little. "...to be a...a... girl- toy? To be -"
"No" Helaine hastily cut the girl off. "Of course not. It is never anyone's destiny to do... what you had to. That is the product of human evil, not destiny."
"But why?" An unchecked tear traveled down Crow's brown cheek.
"I don't know." Helaine reached for Crow, taking her hand gently. "It's a bad seed inside us all. Some rejoice in it."
Crow shuddered. "Aren't there any good people?"
"We have to fight the monster inside us. It will never tire, never die, but we can't give up."
"How do you do it, then?" Crow asked with a small sniff.
"What?"
"Fight the evil in yourself, and the evil in everyone else?"
Helaine opened her mouth, then stopped herself. How indeed? Why did she and the boys war against power-hungry wizards? It was more than just survival, it was-
Pixel opened the door to her bedroom, shaking up her thoughts. "Helaine, can I talk to you for a quick second?" He asked. Helaine nodded, waving him in. Pixel threw a glance at Crow, saw the girl's somber face, and continued.
"Listen, I know... I know you don't want to hear this."
"Just tell me." Helaine dropped Crow's hand and reached for the dagger she kept in her boots.
"It's about Dorian."
Helaine drew the dagger, marveling as she always did at the clean lines, the razor edges.
Pixel took her silence as a signal to continue, and did so. "Well, I cast a magical tag on him, so he'll show up on our map."
Carefully, Helaine pressed the flat edge of the dagger into her palm.
"And I was planning on letting be until you decided what you wanted to do... but..." Pixel paused for a breath. "Well, he's back at Shanara's castle."
A flicker of pain as the sharp edges of the dagger sank into the flesh of her palm.
"I just thought... we should warn her. When Score and I brought you back, we didn't give much of an explanation. Shanara might be in trouble."
Two bright threads of blood crawled onto the flat of the dagger. Helaine watched it amusedly.
"Do you want to come with Score and -" Pixel suddenly noticed Helaine's preoccupation. "What are you doing?" He snapped. Helaine's head jolted up.
"Nothing." She quickly closed her fist tight. "I'm coming with you."
Pixel glared. Helaine glared back, jaw clenched, ignoring the bite of the dagger on her palm.
"Maybe it would be better if you didn't go." Pixel said gingerly.
"No. I owe him."
"Owe him what?" Crow asked.
Helaine had been perfectly prepared to say 'Death', but she held back, and looked at the girl.
"Justice" she said finally, with a sigh. She withdrew the dagger from its newly-made sheath of flesh in her hand and returned it to her calf, nudging her hand to knit itself back together by speeding up time directly around it. Score chose that moment to pop into the room.
"Did you tell her?" He asked Pixel, who nodded. "Right, then. Is Crow coming?" All three looked at their young charge.
"I don't see why not." Helaine said coolly. "Perhaps she needs to know that the evil seed gets its due end."
The boys exchanged looks, confused by her metaphor, but Crow nodded solemnly.
"Then it's settled. A little family picnic."
For some reason, no one laughed at Score's idea of a joke.
***** And the author laughs a little nervously, unsure how the audience will react to a chapter that follows the previous by several months.
Heh. Oops.
Oh well, I've got another one almost done, just need to run it by some censors and such.
Aroo!
Crow unearthed a multitude of various sharp objects designed for man- killing (mostly presents from the boys), but somewhere near the bottom she managed to find a large signet ring.
"What's this?" she asked inquisitively.
Helaine took the object from the girl. It was engraved with her initials and a unicorn, and felt weighty in her hand. "My seal." She ran her fingers around the grooves, but did not put it on.
"S'pretty." Crow commented, entranced by the flashing metal. It wasn't terribly clean. Helaine had hid it on her person the first night she'd met the boys on Treen, certain the unicorn, a symbol of grace and beauty, would betray her sex. She hadn't thought to put it on since. There was something enticing about its smooth, cold feel in her hands, and she was reminded of the heavy thud it made when she stamped it into hot wax on her letters and the authority it granted her over Votrin Keep - under her father, of course. It was a sign of power, and it sang to her.
Helaine's head snapped back. What was she thinking about? "Do you want to try it on?" She asked Crow, extending the signet on the palm of her hand.
Completely missing the solemnity of the occasion, Crow snatched it up, but was unable to fit it on any of her fingers -not even her thumb. Helaine smiled, and retrieved the ring. She beaded it on the rabbit-snare string and looped the ends around Crow's neck, making a short necklace for the girl.
"There." Helaine smiled a little bitterly. Delusions of grandeur didn't belong in her head.
"Where'd you get it?" Crow rolled away from the chest and sprang, feline, back onto the bed.
"I was a princess once."
"Once?"
"I gave it up. Ran away. Came here." Helaine tugged on a strand of her hair.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Destiny, I guess."
"But...But Score said Destiny was a wicked bitch." Crow tilted her head inquisitively, looking for a brief second like her namesake.
"Young ladies don't use the word 'bitch'. And yes, Destiny the person was evil, but the destiny I speak of is more of a concept." Crow tried the forbidden word out again, but after a stern look from Helaine, shut her mouth. Helaine continued. "Destiny is... is this idea that when you're born, certain things will happen to you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. Some people think you're a slave to your destiny, some people don't believe in it."
"What do you believe?"
Helaine stared hard at the girl. There was something to be deciphered here. She felt as though she'd reached an invisible crossroads. The road she picked was bound to be important. Bound to be.
"Destiny, I guess, is how we connect events. How we explain why we're here. If I became a warrior, then it was my destiny to do so. But I think destiny is something best understood after it has been fulfilled."
"So we are in control of our own lives?"
"As much as we can be. But some things... some things can only be explained by fate."
Crow came close to Helaine. Her eyes looked strangely shiny. "Was it my destiny to come here?"
Helaine shrugged. "You're here, aren't you? It must be."
"Was it my destiny to..." Crow choked a little. "...to be a...a... girl- toy? To be -"
"No" Helaine hastily cut the girl off. "Of course not. It is never anyone's destiny to do... what you had to. That is the product of human evil, not destiny."
"But why?" An unchecked tear traveled down Crow's brown cheek.
"I don't know." Helaine reached for Crow, taking her hand gently. "It's a bad seed inside us all. Some rejoice in it."
Crow shuddered. "Aren't there any good people?"
"We have to fight the monster inside us. It will never tire, never die, but we can't give up."
"How do you do it, then?" Crow asked with a small sniff.
"What?"
"Fight the evil in yourself, and the evil in everyone else?"
Helaine opened her mouth, then stopped herself. How indeed? Why did she and the boys war against power-hungry wizards? It was more than just survival, it was-
Pixel opened the door to her bedroom, shaking up her thoughts. "Helaine, can I talk to you for a quick second?" He asked. Helaine nodded, waving him in. Pixel threw a glance at Crow, saw the girl's somber face, and continued.
"Listen, I know... I know you don't want to hear this."
"Just tell me." Helaine dropped Crow's hand and reached for the dagger she kept in her boots.
"It's about Dorian."
Helaine drew the dagger, marveling as she always did at the clean lines, the razor edges.
Pixel took her silence as a signal to continue, and did so. "Well, I cast a magical tag on him, so he'll show up on our map."
Carefully, Helaine pressed the flat edge of the dagger into her palm.
"And I was planning on letting be until you decided what you wanted to do... but..." Pixel paused for a breath. "Well, he's back at Shanara's castle."
A flicker of pain as the sharp edges of the dagger sank into the flesh of her palm.
"I just thought... we should warn her. When Score and I brought you back, we didn't give much of an explanation. Shanara might be in trouble."
Two bright threads of blood crawled onto the flat of the dagger. Helaine watched it amusedly.
"Do you want to come with Score and -" Pixel suddenly noticed Helaine's preoccupation. "What are you doing?" He snapped. Helaine's head jolted up.
"Nothing." She quickly closed her fist tight. "I'm coming with you."
Pixel glared. Helaine glared back, jaw clenched, ignoring the bite of the dagger on her palm.
"Maybe it would be better if you didn't go." Pixel said gingerly.
"No. I owe him."
"Owe him what?" Crow asked.
Helaine had been perfectly prepared to say 'Death', but she held back, and looked at the girl.
"Justice" she said finally, with a sigh. She withdrew the dagger from its newly-made sheath of flesh in her hand and returned it to her calf, nudging her hand to knit itself back together by speeding up time directly around it. Score chose that moment to pop into the room.
"Did you tell her?" He asked Pixel, who nodded. "Right, then. Is Crow coming?" All three looked at their young charge.
"I don't see why not." Helaine said coolly. "Perhaps she needs to know that the evil seed gets its due end."
The boys exchanged looks, confused by her metaphor, but Crow nodded solemnly.
"Then it's settled. A little family picnic."
For some reason, no one laughed at Score's idea of a joke.
***** And the author laughs a little nervously, unsure how the audience will react to a chapter that follows the previous by several months.
Heh. Oops.
Oh well, I've got another one almost done, just need to run it by some censors and such.
Aroo!