Okay there's no excuse for me this time. I'm just straight up late. It's usually because I put off the final proofread that I always do before posting. Except this time it's like 2 in the morning and so I probably missed somethings. Bleh.
Anyway, this is the first in a few of these sorts of "down times" when the curtain comes down for a bit and the plot catches its breath before a shift. You get to meet Nod's mother Eilley, whom I really enjoyed coming up with and get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes in the other characters' lives. Lots of angst happens haha. It was fun to write.
Cheers and enjoy!
Chapter 7. Interlude I
Nod raced into the heart of the Brightwood, launching himself from Maia's back as they landed on the threshold of Moonhaven. He stumbled but didn't stop his forward momentum.
"Ronin! Where's Ronin?" He nearly barreled into Captain Finn.
"Nod, what's going on?"
"Get out of my way! Where's Ronin?"
Finn grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in place, and Nod twisted wildly out of his grasp.
"Nod, what on earth?" Ronin strode down the ramp at the sound of the commotion, notified by the other guards.
"Mandrake has MK!" Nod shouted, and all the rage on Ronin's face fell away into shock.
"What? How did that happen?"
Nod's gaze swerved away. "It's my fault. I lost her at Nim's, and she got swept away by wind when she was looking for me."
"You were at Nim's? Of all the stupid things to do—You know how close that is to the borderlands!"
Finn backed away hastily as Ronin yanked Nod by the arm and towed him back to the Queen's sanctum.
"I tried to go after her. Got caught…" Nod mumbled.
"You went after her?" Ronin exploded.
"I had to! I was supposed to watch her!" Nod pulled his arm from Ronin's grasp and paced in front of him, rubbing his face furiously.
Ronin looked like he was about to shout again, but he paused, narrowing his eyes. "Is that how you got this?" He reached for Nod's lingering black eye, but Nod slapped his hand down. "How did you escape, and without MK? No, start from the beginning. Start after you realized she was gone from Nim's."
Nod glared at the ground, rubbing the abrasions on his wrists where the Boggans had bound his hands. "I got a silk moth to track her scent through the borderlands. It led me straight to the edge of Wrathwood, so I tried to sneak in. Got caught, even in full daylight."
"Damn it, Nod. Of course you got caught," Ronin muttered. "Those creatures have eyes everywhere, all the time."
"You want the story or do you want to lecture?" Nod snapped. His tone earned him a glare, but Ronin gestured for him to continue.
"I came to in the Hollow, and it turned out MK was alive."
"Was?"
"Is. I hope. To quote the Boggan himself: she can 'take perfect care of herself.' They were going to kill me, but MK walked in as they were beating the crap out of me." Nod shook his head, reliving the moment. "She talked him down. Somehow. Made a deal for me. Something about how she saved his son's life so now he owed her a debt." He lashed a foot out and kicked a pillar. "She offered to stay too, as like some kind of hostage, as a show of good faith that she was neutral in our war. She even promised we wouldn't try to rescue her. Why would she say something like that? Of course we're going to rescue her! None of this is her fault. She shouldn't even be there!" Nod peered at Ronin's stony expression, horror swimming up in his chest.
"We're going to rescue her, right?"
"Nod…"
"Right?" Nod lunged forward as he said it, reeling himself back in at the last minute. Ronin didn't move.
"I think MK understands what's at stake far more than you do," Ronin said. Nod's jaw worked, but his voice did not. Anger clawed at his throat, making it impossible to even breathe.
Ronin continued, "We've never managed a direct attack on Wrathwood, much less Mandrake's center of command! Don't you think we would have done it years ago? It would have ended the war. If what you say is true, MK is much stronger than you think she is, and we all have to give her due credit for it. You know how much we would lose if we tried a rescue mission on impulse like you want. Would you expect an expensive rescue if you were a prisoner there?"
"She isn't one of us, damn it! She's an innocent caught in the middle of our fight!" Nod's breathing came out in gasps. "And we're going to let her be a prisoner for it? We're gonna let her take the fall for us—the greater good she's not even a part of?"
"You really think she didn't know the cost of that deal she made for you?" Ronin shouted. "You would waste her sacrifice for your guilt?"
Nod shook his head. "She shouldn't have had to make it. She should be home with her dad, where she wants to be."
"But she did, and she's not," Ronin said. "MK is involved. Whether she wanted to be at the start, she is now. Nothing you want to do can change that. I'm sorry, Nod. But I think you have to trust her and her strength. If she can talk that rot-heart down, she's got more power than you think. You have to let it sit. Understood?"
Nod backed away. "No. Not understood."
"Nod"—
"This is maggot-crap, all right? A load of maggot-crap." He laughed humorlessly. "You know, I don't even think I know what I'm fighting for anymore. For my dad? For what, revenge? 'Cause I think I'm gonna have to get in line behind everyone else who's got a bone to pick with the Boggan king."
"You protect the people of Brightwood. That was the duty you"—
"Protect them? That's not what this war is about, and you know it. This is about getting even with the Boggans—it always has been! If we cared about protecting the people, we wouldn't be fighting a war! With invasions and attack strategies and the works! We would be guarding them and their homes; we'd be repairing damages done, not asking random people to make these kinds of sacrifice plays for us." Nod shook his head, the cold smile lingering on his face. "I'm starting to think maybe MK was onto something when she said we weren't working hard enough for peace."
A storm crossed Ronin's face, and Nod breathed out hard at his triumphant provocation.
"Peace? With them? You should know by now that's impossible," Ronin snarled. "Not with that murderer in charge. No, he's not going to stop until every green thing withers and every Jinn suffers."
"Then why is MK still alive? You said it yourself. If she can talk him down, maybe she knows something that we haven't figured out yet. So you're right. I agree with you. MK understands more than any of us what's at stake. More than me, and damn well more than you." Nod turned his back to Ronin.
The general advanced on him. "Nod, don't you dare speak like that about things you don't even understand."
"About what? The war? I was born in it! And that means something too—that I had to grow up in it and you didn't. You had a childhood, Ronin—an actual childhood! What does peace even look like? I don't even know. I've never seen it. All I know is I don't want to be old and dying and have there still be a war happening! And if being a Leafman means just staying and fighting and doing the same thing over and over until one side is destroyed, I'm not going to take part in it."
He heard Ronin pause. "What are you saying?"
Nod craned his head. "I quit," he said.
"You're not being serious."
Nod whipped around, nearly jabbing a finger into Ronin's chest. "I've never been serious about anything in my life, not until right now! I'm not a soldier. I'm not my dad, so stop trying to see him in me. But if I stay here any longer, maybe you'll get your wish because we'll both be dead. That's all that's ever gonna come out of this! That's the only end I can see!" He barely had time to register the pain that clouded Ronin's expression before Nod turned and fled from Moonhaven.
Maia carried him all the way out to the Neutral Territories where open, grassy fields interrupted the thick forest. Cricket music whirred around them, filling the night, as Nod mechanically crept into the bower that sheltered his mother's home. He slid down the vines and slipped into the opening in the tree that led to his room. His bed had been tidied since he last left it weeks ago—as it always was when he came back to visit his mother. She'd woven sheets of new down, twining scented petals and herbs into the layers. Nod buried his face into the feathery mattress and inhaled the soporific fragrance. The starlight glow pooled on his floor through his window, and he yanked a curtain across it, completing the darkness of his sanctuary.
When the morning came, even the curtain couldn't keep out all of the light, but Nod lingered, yanking the blankets over his face and scrunching himself into a corner. A light rustle sounded at the curtain that blocked his main door leading into the center of the tree, and he looked up.
"How'd you know I was here?" he asked.
His mother stood in the doorway with a fond smile. "Maia was on her perch," she said.
Nod groaned. "Ugh, she blew my cover."
That earned him a laugh, soft as dandelion seeds. "Don't you want me to know when you're coming to visit?"
"It's not that." Nod chewed on his lip.
She stood there patiently, waiting for his elaboration.
"It's going to be a long visit," he said finally.
"You know I don't mind your company." There was another silence, and Nod let it float in the air. His mom could wait days for him to speak in his own time. He breathed in, and the air tasted fresh.
"Does this mean you made breakfast?" he asked.
"Of course." She shifted, and he opened one eye to watch her leave. He turned to lie on his back, staring up at the pollen and dust that drifted in the filtered light above him. After gathering his energy, he kicked the sheet off his body and jumped out of bed, brushing the curtain aside to enter the main corridor that spiraled along the perimeter of the tree's interior.
The hollow of the trunk was astir with soft voices and the pattering of children's feet. A flailing bundle rammed into his legs and wrapped its small arms around him, nearly tripping him.
"Nod! Nod! Miss Eilley said you came back!" the grasshopper boy babbled, a grin plastered on his flushed round face.
Nod pinched his cheek and rustled his antennae. "What? Is my mom telling the entire tree?"
Another Jinn child came and joined the hug with a shriek. "Yes! You have to say hi to everybody now!" She tugged on his hand, brushing aside the large purple petals that covered part of her face. "Come on, Nod! We're waiting!"
The grasshopper bounded down the spiraling path ahead of them, looking back at every turn. "They're going to eat all of our breakfast if you don't go faster," he moaned.
"Well, if you stopped dragging me around, we could have a race," Nod said. Instantly the flower girl let go of his hand and dashed after the grasshopper.
"Ready, set, go!" she shouted and the children ran, giggling, down the trunk.
"You cheated!" Nod called after them, laughter rising in his voice. He jogged just fast enough to stay at their heels, reaching out to tickle them if they got too complacent. At the base of the trunk, several thresholds branched out, leading to the other areas of the thicket that made up the settlement. Nod followed the children out onto a sheltered veranda, shaded by the dense twine of vines, where a flock of Jinn, ranging from children to elderly, sat feasting on breakfast. The din of dozens of voices clamoring against each other crashed in his ears, but he only smiled.
"Sit with me, Nod," the grasshopper told him, leading him to an open seat. Nod caught the eye of his mother who was helping the other caretakers lay out platters of food for all of their wards.
"I see Abel has already caught you in his sticky fingers," his mom said with a smirk. She placed a bowl of warm, nutty broth before them both.
"Well, seeing as you went and told everyone in the Bower…" Nod said. "I'm not going to get a moment's peace, am I?"
His mom handed him a mug of honey-water. "You can, if you're clever."
"Miss Eilley, can I have seed cakes?" Abel asked. His full mouth muffled his words.
His mother pursed her lips. "Manners, Abel." The boy blushed and closed his mouth, chewing steadily.
"May I have seed cakes please, Miss Eilley?"
"Since you asked nicely," she replied with a smile.
"Yes, Miss Eilley, may I have some too?" Nod asked in a squeaky voice, batting his eyelashes at his mom.
She rolled her eyes and swatted him on the shoulder. "It's 'dearest mother' to you." She gave him the seed cakes anyway, and Nod winked at Abel who giggled behind a mouthful of his cake, manners already long forgotten.
When they finished eating, Nod helped the caretakers clear the dishes away. His mom caught his eye as they moved across the table from each other.
"You can help me make the beds."
He pouted. "I see how it is. You only want me home to help you with chores. I'm running away."
"I could make you do it yourself," his mother said, moving over and piling her load of dishes into his arms.
"Agh! All right! Give me a moment."
Hundreds of displaced creatures lived in the cluster of trees they affectionately referred to as the Bower. When the Brightwood-Wrathwood conflict escalated into an all-out war, refugees fled the deep forest and into the Neutral Territories and the open arms of Eilley and her helpers.
Nod walked in silence with his mother to the vacant rooms, whose inhabitants had gone off to play or enjoy the sun on the high branches.
"I quit the force," Nod said, once they were in the privacy of one of the rooms.
"I see." His mother's eyes glinted with steely pride. "May I ask why?"
"I have to tell you about MK first." Nod fastened a loose petal back into the twine of the mattress and straightened his posture. "Since this revolves around her."
His mom made quick work of the opposing bunks, swiping the dust out and straightening the children's belongings on the shelves.
Nod continued, "MK is a Stomper. She was shrunken—by the Draíochta. No one knows why. I found her in the borderlands, so Ronin assigned me to watch her. Anyway, I was trying to help her figure out what happened and how to get back home, so I took her to see Nim. Except I got carried away at the party, and she ended up getting swept back into the borderlands. She ended up in Wrathwood.
"You tried to rescue her," his mom said. She faced him with the tired resignation she always carried when he reminded her too much of his father.
"Yeah, well." He tossed his shoulders. "She ended up rescuing me."
His mom walked over and cupped his cheek, brushing a stray lock behind his ear. "I'll have to thank her, if I get the chance to meet her."
Nod pulled away. "Doubt that'll happen. She still in Wrathwood because of it, and Ronin's not planning on being any help." He sat on the freshly made bed and sighed. "We got in a fight."
"You two are always fighting." His mom didn't scold him for rumpling the bed he just made and instead sat beside him.
He shook his head. "I know it wasn't fair to ask him to risk all the Leafmen's lives for one person. Still rubbed me wrong though. I mean who are we really fighting for if we aren't willing to put it all on the line to save lives? I'd rather be here. At least I'm doing something actually useful."
"I'm glad you left."
Nod gave her a crooked smile. "I bet. Now that I'm no longer risking my neck."
His mother stared at the floor. "It's not that. I accepted your father's decision to become one of them. I respected that, because it meant so much to him—to be able to fight for the ones he loved. But it has to mean something." Her eyes narrowed in bitter memory. "Ronin was so convinced joining the Leafmen would give you a sense of purpose, and you seemed happy—at first."
"Is that why it made you upset?"
"If my son was going to put his life in danger, at least let it be for something he believes in with his whole heart, not to live up to some shadow of the past." She stood, and seeing her, Nod thought she could have become the real commander of the Leafmen if she had wanted. Eilley parted crowds in every reach of the Neutral, even among the racers and Bufo's gamblers. The war would never have even started if his mother had championed the Brightwood's cause. I'd like to see even Mandrake try to meet one of her glares. He wouldn't stand a chance.
"I don't think even the Leafmen really know what they're fighting for anymore. And if that's the case, they've already lost." His mother headed toward the door and beckoned for him to follow. The discussion was over. "We've got an entire tree of beds to make, and it's already halfway to noon."
Nod shuffled after her, patting down the place where they had been sitting. "You know, MK stood ol' Mandrake down. She just bargained me out of trouble like it was nothing."
His mother turned sharply and gave him a smile that was slightly too knowing. "She must be quite the woman. I like her already."
Nod felt his face heat up at his mom's grin. "Yeah." His voice wavered a little. "MK, she's a fighter."
Ronin felt Nod's parting words like a reverberating blow to the chest. When a soft hand touched his arm, he remembered to take a breath. He turned to face Tara who touched his cheek, and he leaned into her touch.
"How much did you hear?" he asked.
"Enough. You two could have woken the entire haven."
"Where is Cian? Why did he have to die? We need him. Nod needs him." Ronin sighed and let Tara lead him into her shelter, the flowers bowing for their shared gloom. They sat together in the center, Tara braiding strings of petals together, and for a moment, Ronin could imagine that they were children again, back when the weight of duty was only a vague dream, and Cian still alive, back before the war came to cast a moldering shadow over the luster of Brightwood.
"Nod doesn't know what he needs or wants. You have to let him go—find his own path." She pulled Ronin's hand into hers, weaving her flower streamer in between his fingers. Tara leaned on his shoulder. "He's fine. I'm sure he just went to Eilley. Give him some time to sort himself out. Perhaps the Leafmen is not his calling."
"I wonder if I should—"
Tara reached up and placed a finger on his lips. "Let him be."
Ronin's posture drooped. "You're right, of course. I doubt Eilley would be happy to see me, in any case."
"Probably not," Tara chuckled. No longer hanging on his shoulder, she was practically draped across his lap at that point.
"Do you think I am wrong?" he asked. Dread snaked into his chest, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear her answer. But the doubt would consume him either way. "To not rescue MK."
"No." Her firm answer surprised him. Tara blinked and turned over so she was looking up at him. "I think you were right to have faith in her. Something tells me she is here for a reason. Ronin, we're so stuck in this fight. Yield to Mandrake, and we lose everything. Destroy the Boggans, and the balance is lost irreparably, and we still lose everything."
"And you think MK is the one to get us unstuck."
Tara nodded. "The Draíochta brought her here. Not for no reason."
"But why her?"
"I don't know." She smiled and gave his face a feline pat. "We'll just have to see, won't we?"
Ronin huffed, dodging her playful pawing. "I'd much rather deal with concrete facts."
"I know you do, love. But sometimes, we need to have a little faith."
Chapter 8: Roasted Fish is out May 30. As a reminder, next week I'm taking a hiatus to catch up!
Here's an excerpt:
"You are a strange one, MK." Her name sounded foreign on Mandrake's tongue. Until then, only Dagda had called her by her name; Amianth insisted on calling her "Stomper" as a pointed display of exclusion. A shiver went through her—had she passed some sort of test to earn that privilege? "Your concern for the health of others extends even when you yourself are unwell."