Deception (27 page)

We were all standing at our pointed positions when two shorter Nyms stepped into the clearing.  I recognized the first one’s spiky hair cut, tinted blue skin, and pointy teeth.  The other had normal teeth I noticed, but his skin was lighter, almost gray.  He was pierced all over his face from different ornamental coverings.  They walked up, or rather swaggered, and stopped just inside the circle. 

When the next one walked out, it was obvious by the way his guards surrounded him he was Kinsler.  I couldn’t see him clearly yet, the sun was an unfortunate blind spot where I stood, but my hands burned.  Burnt rubber filled my lungs.  My heart did a 360 and flooded my stomach and back up.  I peeked at Ian and then Pike for confirmation that they could feel my anxiety but they couldn't know who entered my mind.  I was blocking one hundred percent but fear started to mess with it's hold. The one standing there obviously wasn’t a Nym original because he was two heads taller than the others, over six and a half feet tall at the very least, and all Hulk in the shadows. Taller than Ian and Pike by a good four or five inches minimum.  I'd only met one who fit all the above.   He took another step in the clearing and I nearly fell apart right then.  His glamour had been removed, and I could see him perfectly.

It’s you!
I screamed inside.  I hoped my face wasn’t giving myself away.  It’s Kin!  The horrible, arrogant, jock strap that tortured me for my whole life.  Ian could have mentioned that.  I dared a look at the deceiver of a man who said he loved me. 

“I see he didn’t inform you well, my green eyed queen.”  His deep voice boomed with laughter, his fair headed mess of hair moving with the wind.   I didn’t lose my cool.  I did however wonder if he could read my thoughts. 

A finger went to his temple, his signal for always watching, always following, always there.  “Of course, my beauty.  Always have, always will.  And parting
is
such sweet sorrow when one hasn’t seen you in weeks.” 

I flashed back to the many times he’d pin me up in a corner hoping and praying that Ian would be there to rescue me.  Ian always did.

One of my worst memories arose. I hated when Lit class read Shakespeare.  Kin reminded me often he had it all memorized.  Ian was gone for a lot of that.  He was skipping classes at that point in week intervals showing up late for class, missed the
entire
Romeo section.  My head tingled.  I had to stop thinking and focus. 
Blank!  Blank!
Whether someone was listening or breaking in, I couldn’t tell.  I felt weak, then not quite myself.  My mind tried to focus on my crown for object’s sake, but it was too late. Add yet another one to my five-alarm fire list of the ten worst days of my life.

  I flashed back to my freshmen year in high school when Kin tried for the hundredth time to ask me out and I turned him down once again.  I’d hesitated that day.  I couldn’t remember why or what caused me to get all the way across the picnic grove to his bike.  That had disturbed me greatly.  And why was I remembering that memory right now.  That’s an odd one to remember.  I tried to stop the pictures, but it kept flooding in. 

I saw Christian walk up to Kin and me and tell him he was supposed to take me home. I remembered picking a dandelion and blowing it while they argued.  Why, I didn’t know.  My yard was full of them.   I couldn’t remember what they were arguing about.  Then Ian walked up to the three of us and took me by the hand and walked me back into the school, to the parking lot, and drove my car home.  It was the first time he ever left his bike behind.  What a strange thing to be thinking about. 

Snap!  “STOP it right now!  You will not manipulate her.  If you wish to keep your lands, trickery will not get you what you want.”  Ian cut him off.    

I grabbed my head tasting the rubber on my tongue now.  Kin was just too close.  I was nauseated but gained my equilibrium as quickly as I could and looked in front of me.  I saw Kin, or rather Kinsler, but he looked mostly the same.  He was the broad shouldered giant who always talked about how good he was at football or soccer or harassing people.  Now he was a broad shouldered giant with the same lightly tinted yellowish skin and just barely pointed ears protruding from the sides of his head that the others portrayed.  I boiled inside.  I was abruptly realizing what he’d just done and how long he’d been doing it. 

He tried to control my mind, but I had it back now.  I was even able to tell that Pike interfered in the memory.  I couldn’t quite tell Kin’s odorous likeness from Pike or Ian’s but I just clued into the fact that there must be some type of magic going on with this scent thing cause all three were mingling together that was either queenly or prophecy based one because no one has mentioned yet anything about people owning their own scents.  And worse, I’ve had it for years but it is stronger than before.  And even worse, I have it for all three of these men and it’s killing me with them all together.  Something electric was in the air with it making my body go haywire.  Keeping it to myself was almost unbearably hard to do.

I had a flash of myself standing where I was right now looking from behind where Pike stood.  I didn’t understand, but I knew nonetheless.   I kept my eyes on Kin who made it obvious he was invading my every nerve.  I’d have to learn how to do that! 

“Make a wish, GRACE!”  A dandelion appeared in his hand.  He blew it in my direction looking absolutely insane.  “All those wishes come true yet?”

Control.  I breathed irrationally.  “You may have bullied me and the rest around in the past, but I’ll warn you now, I’ll not stand and watch you bully your way in here.”  I had the same edge in my voice as with every conversation we’d ever conversed in.  I brought up the only memories I had of him.  I made my thoughts picture the football field on the day he was humiliated when he hit face first and tripped with nothing around.  Probably had something to do with Ian now that I re-evaled.  When he had enough of the memory, I moved to the day when the geography teacher asked him to name the seven continents and he named the planets. Not to mention he named nine, including Pluto. The entire class talked about the “dumb jock” for days.  I started to move the next memory, but I felt Pike interrupt once again and I refocused.  Whatever I was doing in this “persuasion mojo” thing of mine, it didn’t exert my energy at all since my eyes changed. 

He was irate.   Kin was grabbing his head still dazed so I spoke quickly before he could retaliate, “You’re good, but I’ll be better, you’ll see.  Now, shall we get back to the niceties or do we keep exchanging our fondest moments?”  He was still wobbly from focusing on trying to hurt me, and then from my mojo trickery too.  He got weak?  Must be my queen thing that made me more stable and not weakened.  I liked the idea if it’s true.  Emotions...help me stay on this ride.

Kin was in focus again, but moved his legs apart to balance.  “Well, well, well!  Seems like our little queen’s got some skills!”

I squinted my eyes up and started again. 

He felt the pain shoot and recognized it from before.  “Stop!  Let’s talk.”  He would never admit I could overpower him.  And I wasn’t sure I could once he regained his composure.

I smiled deviously, then thought better and changed my expression with a false kindness.   I had business to do. 

I felt the tickle behind my ears again.  Pike!  I’d felt it several times now.  He had some way of signaling me to turn my thoughts off or just annoy me.  Probably the later.   I wanted to be able to do that too.  And even odder, I think I somehow recognized Pike’s break in different than Kin’s break in. 

“Will you take our lands, or allow your previous queen to rule you too?”

Bickering wouldn’t help any of us.  “Why would I take your lands, are you using it for the wrong reasons?  Are you torturing any poor souls to gain land as is your way human?  Give me a reason why it should be taken,
Kin
?”  I purposely used the human name.  I wanted revenge, but true revenge wouldn’t be useful for what the court needed most.  I knew that much.

He sneered, “The Nyms have a right to what is theirs.  They can’t have taken what belongs to them already.”

“I agree,” I simply said. “And why is it you are interested in the Nym legacy?”

He didn’t expect me to agree or question his reasons.  Nor did he answer. “If we draw a treaty we will agree to the boundaries and quit all the bickering,” I continued, but noticed he didn’t answer my question still. 

He couldn’t accept this as true.  Why would I be so quick to give in or want to help him?    In his eyes, there had to be a catch.  “Your previous queen was trying to steal lands from us.” 

I wasn’t told anything about that.  Ian rescued me, “She didn’t try to steal your lands.  Her guards were just surveying where the Fey were located, including your own homelands.  The court was just mapping what was there for furthering developments in the future, not taking what belongs to someone else.”

Kin looked at Ian when he spoke so I did the same, and I noticed his hand went to his sword.  Was it instinct or something else?

“Fine, but if this treaty is formed, we will expect some kind of warning message for surveyors to pass the next time.  After all, we all want to be
courteous
?”

“We will not take another’s land, nor will you.”  I paused and stared a second.  “So it is done, we will bring up the treaty tonight.  We will agree to stay on our own lands and ask permission before further intrusions occur.”

He was quite intimidating.

“Do we have a deal?” I asked coolly.

Kin took a step closer to me.  Both Pike and Ian did also.  Kin watched them less than he did me, but then held my eyes with a snarl in place, “I see your bodyguards haven’t left you.”

“Will you treaty?” I was getting nervous, but not showing it outwardly.   Inwardly, my mind was held at bay, but ready to burst.

“I will sign the treaty.”  He was about to take another step when Ian side-stepped in front of me.  Pike was faster than lightning to my backside and Kin reacted fast and retreated.  “I was just going to congratulate her on becoming queen.” 

“You can do that from where you stand now.  You understand, don’t you?”  Ian was acting as if he was being nice about it, but his underlying tone said otherwise.

Kin nodded and turned like he was walking away.

Even though he didn’t have to say it out loud, Pike made sure Kin knew to leave then with a human hand gesture that wasn’t meant for niceties.  Birds of a feather…Then he said with an irritated voice, “At dusk and not before.” 

Kin was hidden by the brush within seconds.  After a few moments of stillness passed, I let my guard down and turned to Ian and the confident queenly one I’d just portrayed just vanished.  I fell into his arms.  “How could you not tell me?  You knew all this time and you didn’t tell me.  You could have warned me.”

Pike gave him an “I told you so” look over my shoulder and headed back to camp to leave us alone.  I heard his snort of distasteful humor.  He’d done his part and I appreciated it, but I wanted to beat the truth out of Ian. 
Pike was infuriating.  A cantankerous, moody, stubborn man!  But Ian lied to me.

I was crying, but didn’t look up until I knew everyone was gone.  I wanted to look strong in front of them, including Ian, but I just couldn’t get past that he didn’t tell me it was Kin.

“I should have, but I felt like you might not be near as strong if you
knew
what you were walking into.  If I’d told you, would you have been as diplomatic in your thinking?”

“Heck no!  I’d have wanted to
kill
him.  But that’s beside the point.  You lied.”

“See!”

“See what?  YOU ARE INFURIATING.  You purposefully keep things because you don’t think I can handle them.”  I was pacing back and forth and purposefully keeping a distance so his hands couldn’t influence me.

I softened my tone and wiped my tears back still looking at the ground.  “But I would have at least known how foul this leader was.  I, of all people, humans, or whatever, would know.  And I’ll have to see him again and again.   I felt one small satisfaction about living here in this world; I was able to leave all the “baddies” and the meanness behind. 
Him
behind.”

“Did you?  Aren’t there just as many “baddies” and sorrow and problems in this world too?  You just traded worries for new ones to share them with me or so I thought.   And is that really your one and only satisfaction?”  I couldn’t believe we were arguing.

I didn’t say anything afraid I might say the wrong thing. Again.  My breath was stuck inside my chest.  Swallowing felt like choking as I tried to force my fear somewhere else.  Somewhere deep inside, I just wanted to scream and run away.  That’s what the old me would do.  “No.  Kin doesn’t get anything from me in either world.  And you, Ian
are
the reason I came anywhere and you know it.”

“Kinsler lives in a make-believe world that doesn’t exist anywhere,” Ian spat. 

Irony followed on my footsteps no matter what path I walk.  I laughed not able to ignore how bad that irony plays in my life.

“Humor me, since I seem to make you laugh,” he paused with a grim smile.  “His façade to allure you into a false sense of trust only endangers you more.  He is not to be trusted.  More importantly, he has an agenda.  And we still don’t know what it entails completely, but it’s has G.R.A.C.E. written all over it.”