The Trouble with Fairies
Friday, April 1, 2005
"Leah!" Someone was poking her shoulder.
"Shit!" Leah gasped, sitting up.
Her classmate, Cory, leaned away from her, out of the way of Leah's flailing hands. Her classmates giggled. In front of her desk stood stupid Miss O' Sullivan, with her arms crossed. The startling fluorescents and dry artificial smell brought her back to the classroom. That and twenty faces looking at her expectantly, most of them amused.
"I said, what is the topic of your final project?" the teacher explained, in perfect Quileute.
"I, um." Leah flipped through her binder, scrambling for her half-finished notes. "I'm researching patterns -"
"In Quileute, please," Miss O' Sullivan corrected.
Leah gripped the edge of her desk. That bitch!
"Leah?"
Her mind went blank. She did recall one phrase, one her mother often used on the phone with Judith. One that reminded her a lot of Sam and Paul and every loser she'd served in the restaurant. She recited it.
The classroom erupted into laughter.
Miss O'Sullivan's round face reddened. "Well! If you want to sleep that badly, you may do so in detention,"
After class, Leah stuffed her fists into her sweatshirt pockets and ducked her head, shuffling out the classroom.
"Miss Clearwater, would you come here for a second?"
Leah groaned, dragging her feet to the teacher's desk. "I'm sorry," she managed to choke out.
Miss O'Sullivan didn't smile, only stared solemnly over her glasses. "I am, too. Your grades from freshman to junior year are remarkable. You're a bright girl, Leah."
"I try."
"But you're slipping - and not just in my class. English and math, too. Have you considered tutoring?"
"I've got work. My dad needs me at the restaurant," Leah explained. Of course, that wasn't the whole story. Everyone needed a piece of her.
"Leah, have you thought about college? You could miss out on scholarships or even acceptances, if your grades aren't up to standard anymore."
She clenched her fists. "I know that. I don't want to go to university. Community college is fine by me."
"So you've heard back from the University of Washington?"
"Yes. And I've decided to stay here, with my family," she seethed.
"Miss Clearwater, your attitude is only going to get in the way -"
"I'll get by. Look, is this counseling session over?"
Miss O'Sullivan's shoulders sagged. "You're dismissed."
Leah rushed out of the school, almost bumping into a group of skaters outside the steps. She didn't even wait for the girl in her way to glide past and almost knocked her to the ground.
"What the hell is your problem?!" the girl yelled after her.
"Ignore her, Jackie. Leah Clearwater's nuts," a boy laughed.
She was past getting angry over petty things like that. It didn't matter what they called her. But she had to assert her dominance anyway. She turned back and grabbed the kid by the collar. "Piss off," she scowled at him, just as she had to Miss O'Sullivan.
The rest of them scattered.
She should be above such childish antics, being almost grown and educated and whatnot, but a piece of Leah craved to bite at whatever hand came close. It distracted her from the conversation with her language teacher.
University. What a freakin' joke. The University of Washington had made it clear in a very concise letter that she was not welcome. Not even waitlisted. One other had waitlisted and two offered acceptance, but with such meager award offers she'd have to work two jobs and live off of ramen noodles for four or five years. She was smart enough to get in, but too mediocre to get a scholarship like Rachel's.
There would be at least two more years of haunting the reservation in a half-existence.
She realized this extended her time with Edward and Alice and the others. Though they'd be in Forks for at least another five years, even after high school, and they would've tried to see her anyway, she hoped.
It was just as well. Who knew when Ella would call her up?
She snorted at that thought, as she headed to the locker room of Chief's Seafood, and changed into her hideous uniform. Of all the possible comforts the largest she could find was that she'd be close to the clan. She couldn't figure out what they were to her - they were supposed to be like family, and with Echo and Troy, sometimes she did feel it. But with all the training and the thought of the serious task that laid before her - assassination, possibly war - it often felt like mandatory military service.
Was that fair, though, when the reason she had been chosen was for her potential? For the magic inside her soul?
Leah walked over to the potted plant by the sink. They said she was destined for greatness. Could it be?
She closed her eyes, grazing one hand over a leaf.
Please. Grow for me.
The plant remained stubbornly unchanged.
"Oh, come on!" This was one of the few things that had come easily to her. If she was still a bumbling beginner after weeks, then what? Stingy Echo should've given her a wand. Leah closed her eyes again.
The door swung open. "Leah, get in there, I'm heading out." Valerie scrunched up her nose. "Why are you sniffing a fake plant?"
"I was pretending. Get outta here, Val," Leah said, sliding past the waitress.
The restaurant was crowded with the early dinner crowd. At least the hostess, Anne, tried to keep skeevy dudes out of Leah's or any other woman's section.
Leah tightened her apron and glued on her fake-happy smile. No one wanted to eat with a miserable bitch looming over them.
She practically skipped over to her section, feeling a lot like Alice. "Hello, my name's Leah and I'll be your…"
Every fiber in her being screamed to run or attack immediately upon seeing Sam in the booth. And even though he was without his revolting posse or skanky girlfriend, he was the ultimate revolting skank.
She could afford to show a little dignity, even if it cost her pride. She dealt with it the most mature way she could. "The sight of you turns my stomach," she said, her tone clipped but professional. "Please leave and don't come into my father's restaurant ever again."
Sam, shockingly, didn't whimper and cower as he might've a few years ago. He only pursed his lips. "Leah, please. This was the only way I could talk to you."
She rolled her eyes. "Some people have to work, y'know. We can't all gallop the streets shirtless for a living."
There was a family to her right waiting, so she took their order and turned it in. Then she stormed back to Sam's booth, sliding across from him. "What do you want?"
"I want to talk to you about the party."
"God, let it go and leave me alone."
"I only wanted to make sure you were alright after the hit with Paul," he placated..
Her face softened. And her betrayer of a heart skipped a beat. She had thought him completely closed off, cold and distant. But there was a part of him that still could spare her some comfort.
Her voice was mousy. "Oh. I am alright. Well, my hand is."
Sam chanced a nervous smile, before leaning in conspiratorially. "Lee, you're not…you're not hanging around those Cullens again, right? They haven't gotten you mixed up in something weird, have they?"
She groaned. Of course he had to ruin it. "Listen, Sam. Stop messing with shit you have no business with."
"That's more you than me," he contested.
That was a fair point, though he couldn't possibly know the truth in it. He was just making baseless accusations like a jerk. She straightened. "Then maybe you're the one who doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Is it a boyfriend?" he asked suddenly. "Someone from Forks?"
She stared at him as if he had three heads. "Yes, Sam. I'm dating a drug dealer from Forks who has me circulating them to the reservation. I'm fourteen months pregnant with his baby, too and we're planning to assassinate you, Sam Uley, the president of the reservation. Want some crack?"
He looked down sheepishly. "I don't get you."
"What?" she snapped.
"You always said you hated those kids from Forks coming here to the beach all summer. You hate outsiders as much as I do, Leah."
Sam, 2. Leah, 0. She scowled. "I don't see you making Rebecca break up with her surfer boyfriend. Or is that on tomorrow's to-do list?"
Sam scratched his head. "That's different."
"Because Solomon's Hawaiian?"
He gave her a patronizing look. "Because Rebecca's not causing scenes at parties and hitting people."
She noticed he didn't admit that he'd do it if he wanted to. If he felt there was trouble, he would get rid of it, no hesitation.
She stood, hands shaking. "You're wrong about me. It's not outsiders I hate. I don't like people who bully, who start drama on the rez, who think they're better than me and the people I care about." She glared at him. "And I swear to never associate with those types again. Mind that you fall in that category."
"Wait," he tried. His hand reached for her, then lamely dropped to the table. He took a deep breath, meeting her eyes with steel. "Leah, if you're siding with monsters, then you're as bad as them."
She froze, wishing his words and this moment to nonexistence. Then, icily, she leaned in and muttered, "A pity our plan didn't work out. You could have majored in philosophy. All for the best, jackass." She straightened and her toothy grin returned. "Wanna hear our specials?"
Sam shook his head and left the restaurant.
After an hour of running, Leah's body was significantly tired out enough that she wouldn't be able to muster the strength for thinking. It was getting so hot out that a shower wouldn't be cold enough. But the lake would do.
She made the slow trek through the forest, feeling as if all the energy in her body had been zapped out of her. It was a peculiar feeling to move slowly, clumsily like the olden days. She wasn't supernaturally graceful like Echo or Ella, but training had given her an ease to her gait she didn't naturally possess.
She left on her shorts and camisole. As long as she returned before sunset, no one would be home to ask why she was soaking wet. Besides, if someone happened upon her, even this deep in the forest, she'd rather not be naked.
She eased into the pond, feeling the stiffness in her muscles dissipate at the cold. The flutter of leaves alerted her to an animal approaching. Freezing, she heard only the stride of deer and elk. If a wild bobcat creeped up and wanted a fight, she hoped that finally her wings would choose to make themselves known. If she was capable of having them at all.
"No such luck," her redhaired friend said, appearing out of the thicket.
She startled. "What are you doing here?"
"You're on our property."
It was hard for her to remember what section of land the Cullens had marked out for themselves in their treaty with the Quileute tribe. It didn't concern her at all. She could come and go as she pleased.
Leah crossed her arms. She suddenly felt naked, in a white cami clinging to her torso, though she was certain her bathing suits had covered half as much skin.
Edward turned awkwardly to the side. "I, can, uh…"
She rolled her eyes. A couple of dumbasses they were. "It's your property."
He flopped onto the wet grass, looking out of place and modelesque in a khaki green polo and gray chinos. For someone who seemed to dress so carefully, he didn't take good care of his clothes.
"You wear that to school today?" she asked.
"Yes. Why?"
She snorted. 'Nothing, if you wanna get beat up.' That was an exaggeration. It was the kind of outfit girls would want to see guys in and guys would laugh at.
He took it on the chin. "You must have been deep in thought to not sense me coming. I was even walking."
She shrugged. "I can hear and see better than a human, but nothing special by fairy standards. I haven't got their sense of smell either."
"Ah." He toyed with a strand of grass.
"The major says that to fairies, each person has a smell that is so distinctively them you could find a friend miles away. Is it the same for vampires?"
"I think so. Though all in a species smell generally alike. Humans, vampires, fairies. Werewolves. I definitely knew what Echo meant when she said fairy blood was particularly appealing. Before my sense was lost. Taken, really." He sighed wistfully. "To be short, yes."
She frowned. "I don't really fit into one category. What do I smell like?"
"I don't…" He ran a hand through his hair, eyeing the treeline. "You smell like you."
"Well-said."
"I don't know, you tell me first."
She laughed. "Oh, come on, you're like a middle schooler playing truth or dare."
"It's a personal question," he balked.
She frowned. Hm. If she ever had to find him, she'd have to know what she was looking for. The first thought she could associate with Edward was a nice lotion she'd gotten for Christmas when she was fourteen.
"Lotion?" he screeched. "What is Victoria's secret lotion and why is it a secret?"
She laughed, sending birds scattering. She nearly drowned herself, unable to keep afloat.
"I'm joking," he stressed. "Since you think I'm such an out-of-touch clown."
"Can you blame me? You won't even get in the water."
"I'm hoping you'll get out, since it's not very safe to spend an extended period of time in stagnant, dirty water."
"No," she said, flipping her wet hair. "I'm bored with this whole routine. School, work, home. School, lessons, your house. School, work, lessons, running, bullcrap, and so on."
He held out his hand. "C'mon. I'll make you a grilled cheese sandwich."
She raised an eyebrow. "I don't know." Esme had made it for her once and now the house was stocked with bread and cheese. It had been the custom for her to eat the sandwich almost every visit. Besides... "Can you even cook?"
"How hard can it be?"
"Spoken like an ignorant man," she murmured, but her stomach growled. "Okay, but you must prove yourself to be forgiving."
"Forgiving?"
A tree's low branch extended towards them, sweeping across the ground and battering into Edward's backside like a baseball bat. He only had time for a masculine squeal before disappearing under the water.
Leah was too pleased with herself even to cackle. She crawled onto a boulder and crossed her legs, feeling like a mermaid.
However, the water didn't move.
"Edward?" she called, panicking. "I'm sorry, okay!"
No answer.
She dived back into the water, pushing through algae and muck (okay, it was a little dirty) to the bottom. She squinted, peering for a sign of life besides fish and plants.
Something ensnared her torso, dragging her to the surface. She gasped as the air hit her. Edward was cradling her to his chest in a bridal carry, his face inches from hers. And giving her the death stare.
"Are you nuts?" he thundered.
"Are you?" she fumed. "I was looking for your stupid self."
"So your solution is to swim to the bottom of an enormous lake? You're not a superhero, Leah."
"I know that!" She pushed away from him until he slackened his grip, allowing her to slip back into the pond.
"Didn't you see me crawl back out as soon as I got in?" He huffed. "I guess you were too busy laughing."
She did feel a little guilty, seeing how miserable the water was making him. "Sorry. I just wanted you to have fun."
His face softened, looking younger and brighter. "It's okay." He looked down at his shirt. "I just didn't want to get my clothes dirty. I feel like I can smell whatever was on them, even when they're clean."
"Oh. I'm sorry," she repeated. "I'm such a jerk. Well, you could always swim naked."
He gave a disapproving glare.
"What?" she said innocently. "Nothing stops a La Push kid from swimming. No bathing suit? Wear your clothes. Nice clothes? Wear nothing. Depends on who's around."
"I just - what - you're asking," Edward stammered uncharacteristically.
Leah held up a hand. "Oh, get over yourself, buddy. If I can wear my undershirt, I won't faint if you're shirtless underwater. Besides it's just a suggestion. No peer pressure."
Edward scoffed. "You know," he grumbled, peeling off his wet shirt. "There was a time I thought you respected me. I'm kind of missing that."
Leah turned to float on her back and stare at the grey sky. "That was ten percent fear, thirty percent resentment, and sixty percent begrudging respect. Call it what you want, Red."
"Fear, huh? That's more than fair." She could hear his voice close by her head. "Have we made it to one hundred percent respect?"
"I'm trusting you and counting on you to have my back when we go kill some vamp. I think that's good."
"Likewise." He sighed, but not one of his sad, overthinking sighs. "Leah…does nothing scare you?"
"What do you mean? Everything scares me. This situation, the mission, my powers. Even those wolves scare me. I'm too chicken to go home so I'm sitting in the middle of a dirty forest pond."
He chuckled lightly. "Even with all that, you put on a brave face. I know you're not unconcerned, but you act out of such duty and perseverance. I wish I could say the same."
She shrugged. "I sort of feel like we don't have the choice. This is our life now. We each made decisions that brought us here, that made us part of the clan, their soldiers."
"A fairy clan. Fitting, I suppose, for a world with both werewolves and vampires."
"Lucky us," she smirked. The sky was darkening to a dull gray, reminding her of preppy chino shorts. "Say," she started. "Who do you think we're...getting rid of?"
"Ella said it was the vampire they suspect is leading their friends here. Jasper and Carlisle have theories. We know of many covens around the world, so this is likely a newer one. Likely further north than south. If he or she is leading their friends here, they can't be more than a thousand miles off."
"Why?"
"Otherwise they'd be visiting the rebels. Though I imagine it difficult to get close to an underwater civilization."
Leah said nothing for a long moment. She wished they could know more. They wouldn't learn the full details until right before the mission. Ella's security concerns made her paranoid by extension. What was so precious she couldn't say it to the very people she was entrusting to carry out the mission for her?
Edward snorted. "She was probably worried we'd attempt to get it over with now. Or that Carlisle or one of us will know the vampire and spare them. I think they should just wait it out. Nomads get restless. They might head off to another clan."
"You know the realm can't go into complete lockdown. Many of them still have families or jobs, even, in the outside world."
"That's true." He flipped to an upright position, watching her. "At least it's a vampire. If any others are put on our list, it'll probably be their friends. She wouldn't touch anyone else."
"What makes you certain? Her value of loyalty does not mean she practices what she preaches. She's good to those who are good to her, but we would pay for any misstep. You know that."
Edward considered that. "I do. I just don't want to think that when this is all over, I'm leaving you under the care and direction of a mad woman."
"When this is all over," she repeated softly to herself. "Any more theories?"
"I can't help thinking about that girl, the one who needed protection. She was part of your tribe, she said."
"I remember. A fairy woman part of the Quileute tribe. But the shapeshifters of that era sent her away when they learned two vampires were after her blood." Leah shivered, both from the cold and the memory. "Do you think Ella would want to avenge her?"
"I don't think she'd go so far as to kill a Quileute. But I think if someone failed to protect the clan or one of its members from vampires, she would retaliate."
She turned to him, watching his full brows knit together. His hair was longer than she thought, a few strands clinging to his sharp, white cheekbones. In the weak gray light, he seemed ghostly. "Dark," was all she said.
"I know. I wish I could get inside her head." He rubbed his temple.
"Does it hurt?" she asked.
"Physically, no. But one could go crazy, of all that thinking and noise, without rest. It's a little better around you."
"Me?"
"Even when I disagree with you, your thoughts are so strong with feeling, I doubt myself. Even when you're sad, everything is warm and vibrant in your mind. There is so much resilience in you, it grounds me. It's oddly comforting."
She brushed a lock of hair from his peculiar eyes, then rested her hand against his face. "Thank you."
He pressed his hand over hers. He meant it.
"You're the only person in the world who would think that," she laughed.
"And you're the only person in the world who would tell a vampire he's not a monster, days after he tried to kill her."
"You couldn't say things like that and be a monster. Sometimes I think you're more human than I am."
He shook his head. "Because you make mistakes? Because you get angry? So do I."
She took a deep breath. If he could open up, so could she. "Not only that. Sometimes I wonder what will become of me after this mission. With all you've seen in the world, you can look at them as savage animals, these vampires, as readily as you can look at others as friends and family. So do my tribe and the shapeshifters. You can see who we are helping and weigh one life over the other. But knowing you and your family, I wonder whose life I am taking. Whose child? Whose friend? No matter the species, it will haunt me. And if the clan goes to war, those scars will multiply." She tilted her head to the sky. "So much for courage, right?"
His hands found hers under the water, his smooth skin against her callouses. "If you can attest to the humanity of a vampire, do not doubt your own. I won't tell you whether or not to go through with it. But whatever your choice, I'll support you. Be kind to yourself, Leah."
She nodded, squeezing his hands before slipping hers away.
"It's late," he said, and without further ado, picked her up in the same bridal style as before.
"What gives?" she protested.
"Your shoulder just healed."
"I don't need someone to carry me!" she shouted, punching his shoulder. "I can walk on my own!"
"I know you can," he agreed easily.
"Thanks for absolutely nothing," she grumbled, but settled deeper into his chest, just because she could.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
"Where's Troy?" Leah questioned, the first thing out her mouth. "He promised he'd bring me farmer's pudding."
"What! That has alcohol in it. Why would he do that? I'm gonna kill..." Echo squinted into the distance, her scarily vivid green eyes reflective. She looked like a ballerina today in her long flowy pink skirt. "He is part of the group sent to collect the prince."
"Ah." Leah took a swig of water and sat down on the log next to her. They were dancing around the topic of the wedding, for the sole reason that Echo acted weird whenever it came up. Leah's curiosity won out. "Can't the prince's guards do that?"
"They're not as skilled or experienced in combat as our military. Three thousand miles is a lot for them," Echo explained with a touch of sarcasm.
"How long will he stay?"
"He'll leave right after the engagement party. For now."
"Is he nice, at least?"
"I wouldn't know. Prince Elias is said to be a formidable fighter and a fair ruler. This alliance will benefit both the Arlun and the Cosaint. You understand loyalty as well as I do, Leah." And the topic was dismissed. "Besides, that's not what I want to talk about. I wanna talk about this."
The princess reached into her roller case and revealed a weapon more beautiful than her sword. A handgun made of glass.
The beauty was nothing to Leah. She ducked. "Why do you have a gun?"
"Target practice."
"Target practice. This isn't the realm, Echo! We're only miles from my house!"
"Gee, I never thought of that," Echo said sarcastically, tapping her chin. "We're not using it here. C'mon."
She pulled Leah and the suitcase over to a tree. Pressing one hand against the rough bark, she dissolved the physical barrier, opening a crack of white light in the center. The girls slowly entered the portal, melting into time and space.
Leah thought she was going to get sick from the foreign sensation, but it was quicker this time. More natural. Maybe it responded negatively to resisting and hesitating.
They appeared in a field, warmer than it had been on the other side, and with fresh breezes whistling past. Leah watched the swaying clusters of daffodils and tulips and marigolds and strange hybrids she couldn't identify, in cheery shades of red, blue, green, and yellow. Rolling hills surrounded them and the crisp blue sky seemed closer than normal. They must be in the valleys she had seen beyond the village behind the castle.
"Is this… is this safe? Do you have a license?"
Echo tied her hair into a perfect bun. Dark magic, it was. "It's my kingdom, isn't it?"
The princess pulled her wand from her pocket, and whispered a spell. "No one will hear the gunshots from beyond a quarter-mile."
"Are we hunting?" Leah had little experience. She'd gone two or three with her father, but that had been years back.
"Hunting," Echo repeated. "There's nothing to hunt. You'd be punished severely, anyhow."
She pulled a bullseye from the suitcase that Leah was sure couldn't have fit in there. With a flick of her fingers, she sent the target five yards away from them.
The princess loaded the rounds into the magazine, took position and aimed like an action star, two hands wrapped around the glass revolver and shot. Again and again and again, until ten bullets had blasted through the center of the bullseye.
Leah barely had time to breathe.
"Echo...why?"
The bullet was removed and held up for inspection. "These aren't true bullets. They're enchanted to shock whoever comes in contact with them." She gave Leah an arch look. "Even vampires."
"Does it hurt?"
"Like hell."
Leah cleared her throat. "Can it cut through their skin?"
Echo hesitated. "Well, some can. But that's hard to make and rare to find. Even more than the swords."
"I didn't think…" Leah started. But what had she thought? That brute force would do it? That it'd be a fair fight? "Nevermind."
Once the gun was in her hands and her position adjusted, her knees buckled.
"Just aim and squeeze the trigger."
The glass felt burning hot in her sweating hands. Leah closed her eyes and shot. Once. Twice. Three times.
Her eardrums felt muffled and her hands seemed to sting. She dropped the weapon. "There."
"You need to be faster. Your brain has to be turned off."
"Do I need a gun, Echo? Really, it'll be me, Edward, and a team working with us."
"You can't count on anything or anyone!" Echo yelled, her bright eyes fierce.
Leah looked at her tennis shoes, remembering when her mom caught her sneaking in at three in the morning. Young and stupid.
"It's the truth, Leah." Echo crossed her arms. "My grandmother wants you and the army and the guards to think otherwise, but this kind of life is dangerous. And even the best of magic won't…" Echo's nails dug into her biceps.
"How do you know?" Leah asked softly.
Echo closed her eyes. "It'll be easier if you close yours, too."
Leah complied.
And then she was trapped in a memory.
"Papa!"
A dark-haired girl in a patterned slip dress and sweater races down the sidewalk. As tall as she is, she must be too old to be running in public, but her youthful face shows an uncontainable mirth. Her father catches her in a big hug, spinning her around.
The city streets are busy and the sun is sinking early, its last rays shining on his greying-too-early hair and the long scar running from right eyebrow to nostril.
"My little princess." He sets her down on her feet.
"You didn't say you were coming!"
"I caught the early flight and gave the guards a day off."
"I really don't need four. Other kids notice four buff guys tailing me. And Onyx has gotten too old to pass for my big brother anymore."
He pats her shoulder. "When you turn eighteen you can go where you like, when you like."
"That's three years away," she groans.
"Time goes by faster when you're my age, little lark."
"I don't care. I want to be like you and mom, fighting in the army, slaying vampires like Buffy, defending against the rebels! You guys are heroes."
Her father smiles. He's thinking either of his wife at home, lying sick in bed, or the last mission - a failure his daughter would later hear. "We're only heroes in the realms."
"Who cares what these idiots think?"
"Hey, hey, don't be like that. Part of being a leader is to have compassion for all people. No matter their species, beliefs, or customs. All species."
Echo crosses her arms. "All species?"
"Monsters, even. Never take a life until you have to." He pulls her across the street. "You still like ice cream?"
"Duh, why?"
But when they turn the street corner, her heart stops. A ferris wheel, brilliant red and orange tents, the merry-go-round, polk-a-dot food stalls. It is the first thing she's seen outside of school and home since she asked to move out of the realm one year ago.
They spend hours on rides and eating things she's never tried like corn dogs and nachos. In some ways it is mundane compared to flying around the countryside of the realm or exploring the tunnels of the castle. But on this day, under the twinkling lights, she realizes that some parts of the human world rivaled her own.
Her father hands her a stuffed lion after winning at a bean bag toss. "I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to visit the castle."
She shrugs. "It's fine. High school's not so bad."
"I'm glad. Your mother knew you'd adjust to being out of your element. You can blend in, have a normal experience before -"
"Before I become queen?" Echo guesses.
"How did you -"
"Papa, I'm not a kid anymore. I know that Grandma wanted you on the battlefield, not the throne - it wasn't your choice. She'll do anything to make sure you're not king. But when things settle, it's a matter of time before Grandma steps down for me, not you."
His forest green eyes seem to lose their brilliance. "Well, you got your mother's brain, that's for sure." He drops his ice cream in the trash, wipes his face on a napkin. "I was hoping you didn't overhear anything about that."
"My maids are loyal. They tell me things."
He laughs deeply. "Your grandma's got a right to stay on the throne so long as there's a war. No change in leaders until it's over. And I don't mind being an ancient, wrinkled Prince Florian."
"It's still not fair. I'd never rule like that. I'll be like you."
"Now come on, little lark. If you're going to be like me," he claps her on the back, "at least start working those arms. Those tosses back there were pathetic."
"You're so mean!"
Her father swayed.
The ground shakes heavily, its rumbling deep and menacing like a god seeking revenge. The first wave knocks the girl into her father and the stuffed lion drops from her hands. Prizes are knocked from the stalls and food clatters to the dirt. Children scream, as they're the first to be frightened.
Her father grabs her hand and drags her away from the dirt path circling the attractions, then around the corner. Down an alley, around another corner. They're not so far from the parking lot, she sees. They're both fast. They can fly out of here, in this night of chaos. Or book it for a tree.
The second wave is stronger and more violent. The fairies are knocked over, falling into strangers. The screams are stronger and hordes of people are running, holding toddlers and kids. Some are caught under tents or slabs of wood.
Echo crawls to the side. Her knees are skinned and bleeding. "Papa?"
Somehow the crowds have thickened to an impenetrable state. "Papa!" she shouts, even though it's now so hot and crowded she can see nothing but motion.
Strong arms pick her up. She screams on instinct. It's not her father, but perhaps she is being taken to safety by a guardian angel.
Their pace is too fast, too smooth, and when she opens her eyes, she's by the trash cans, obscured by the bins and the darkness. They drop her to the ground and she hits her head against the unforgiving gravel. Her cry of pain draws no sympathy.
At least they are quick. Teeth sink into her neck, ripping through her flesh like paper. She can smell her own blood as her consciousness fades. The feeling is foreign and nauseating, and burns beyond belief, so much so she wonders if she died and went to hell.
Her life is draining out of her. But through her eyelashes, she sees a burly, grey-haired man charge the monster, tearing at his limbs, shoving him into the brick wall and pressing a gun to his chest.
"Papa!"
Leah let out a choked sob. She blinked rapidly, trying to diffuse the tears springing to her eyes and adjust to the light of the day.
"I'm sorry!" Echo said, grabbing her shoulder. But it was clear she didn't regret it. "I'm sorry it hurt that bad. It's dulled in my memories."
Leah breathed deeply, counting again. One, two, three, four, five… She was at forty-nine when she could speak again. "Why was it so real?"
"Because it's my strongest memory," she rasped. "Prince Florian, dead at 44. And his wife Princess Estrella followed within the year." She sat down in the grass. "That's why I'm leading the protectors. It's why I volunteered to help you."
Leah nodded, still shaken.
"I'm not trying to scare you. But dozens of men and women go out there, thinking that just because you train for a few years, you're ready. But if you're prepared to fight, you need to be prepared to die."
"How?"
"You need to decide if you're fighting for the right reasons."
Leah eyed her shoes again. She was sick of questioning the 'why' instead of doing the 'what'. If that's what reflection looked like for Echo, she didn't want to follow the older woman's example.
"I wish I could tell you more. You remind me of myself at your age, as weird as that sounds. But -" The princess's mouth closed as she stiffened. "Don't turn around." She snatched the gun from the ground and stuffed it into the suitcase.
Leah peeked over her shoulder.
Flanked by two castle guards, the queen herself was marching over. Her brown boots were oddly matched with her long seafoam dress. The look on her face reminded Leah of Emily's mother, Judith. A bit of unwelcome challenge in her eyes matched with a taunting smile. Never a good thing.
Leah and Echo curtsied silently.
"Your Highness. Miss," Queen Ella greeted neutrally.
The two murmured their hellos.
"Do not mumble at me, girls," she snapped. "Princess Echo, you should know better."
"I'm sorry, grandmother."
"If you are going to play with a gun behind my back, please not do so where any farmer's wife can see you from her laundry line."
Echo wrung her hands. "Miss Leah shouldn't be distracted by the soldiers in their training quarters."
"When you are queen, you may decide who should and shouldn't be there. You are not yet Head of the Protectors, but the crown princess, so I implore you to act like one."
Echo flinched.
"Especially as an engaged lady of five-and-twenty!"
Leah's throat felt dry as she shifted under the heated glare of the fairy queen.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Echo complied gracefully. But from the corner of Leah's eye, she spotted the glower the princess managed.
"Miss Leah, I understand you had no fault in this," Ella said.
There was no proper response but a nod.
"Now both of you girls may join me for tea." She turned and headed for the lane leading to the castle.
Feeling they didn't have much choice, the pair followed. Echo gave Leah a hard look. 'Don't speak of this. To anyone.'