Chapter Eleven
An Education
The next morning, Ruby was in the main room
waiting for me. She instructed me to bathe and change; we would be
spending the day training. I followed her directives but couldn’t
decide whether to be grateful or worried when the clothes she’d
laid out for me were plainly meant for a hard day. It was still
early as we stole out the back, cloaks covering out heads, and made
our way to the ridge.
Steed, Chevelle, Grey, and
Anvil were there. I imagined the others, Rhys, Rider, and their
dogs were there as well, though I couldn’t see them.
Watch dogs
, I
thought,
all four
.
It was comforting, but Ruby wasted no time in getting to training.
She immediately trounced me. Repeatedly. I felt whipped, literally
and figuratively, before we’d gone half an hour.
After watching us for a while, Steed stepped
in to save me. “Frey,” he'd converted to the nickname the others
used in place of the sunnier ones, “why don’t you take a break for
a while, let us spar so you can watch… we’ll give you a few
pointers.”
I didn’t know if I liked the idea of the
group sparring, whether it gave me a break from the beatings or
not, but Grey stepped forward and my opinion no longer
mattered.
“
Just watch… and
learn
.”
I backed away and sat, cross
legged on the ground. Ruby joined me; I could tell she was excited.
It seemed everything excited Ruby.
Everything that made me nervous
, I
amended in my head.
Steed and Grey stood opposite each other in
the center of the flat we circled. A cursory nod at one another
signaled the onset of the bout and both tensed and crouched
slightly into a ready stance. I found myself leaning forward in
suspense. Chevelle moved to stand beside me, he, too, watching
intently. Grey wagged his eyebrows at Steed, taunting him to make
the first move.
“
Come on, Suzie,” Steed
teased back, “let’s see what you’ve got.”
At that, Grey disappeared and then, in a
flash, was behind Steed, reaching up to smack him in the back of
the head. But just before he struck, Steed ducked into a squat and
spun, his extended arms taking Grey’s legs out from under him. And
suddenly I was jerking with their moves enthusiastically. Grey
caught himself and was gone again, this time reappearing midair in
a flip above Steed’s head, reaching down to tag him on the way by.
It was a loud smack, I was sure it had stung. Steed was standing
again, focused on the spot where Grey had landed and now flickered
in and out of view so fast I couldn’t keep up. I made an effort to
consider possible responses in my head, but was coming up
blank.
The nerves were gone, I
found myself
wanting
Steed to win and leaned with his strikes, tensing as if they
were my own. Grey bounded through the air once more, showing off,
confident in his evident lead, and then a small rock rose at chest
height in front of Steed. I was wondering who had lifted it when I
saw Grey flash back into view and hesitate, only a moment, as he
considered the rock. At once, his face changed; he knew he’d been
beaten. As he'd paused to study the floating rock, Steed had
immobilized him and, just like that, the match was over.
Ruby leaned toward me as she spoke softly.
“Steed is stronger than Grey, he only needed to catch him.”
Grey conceded, his walk slower, no longer
jerky as he made his way out of the makeshift ring. Steed threw me
a quick wink.
Anvil approached next,
stepping into the same starting position Grey had used, and Steed
shifted several paces back before he readied himself and nodded
toward his new opponent. I remembered the tree and was suddenly
afraid for him
. Would Anvil use the same
method on a
person?
A thunderous crack answered my unspoken
question. The lightning bolt was faster than my eyes at such a
close distance, by the time I looked at Steed, there was nothing
but a wall of water. He had constructed a barrier of sorts, caught
the strike and redirected it around himself by melting the snow
that spotted the mountain. Anvil was winded, though the strike
wasn’t as severe as his previous show. Steed would unquestionably
be the winner now and as he took aim to retaliate, his opponent
raised his hands in surrender.
“
Quick thinking, Mister
Summit.” The large man grinned and I was in no doubt they were old
friends.
Chevelle stepped forward then, eager. I had a
feeling he’d been itching for this the way I’d been itching to burn
Ruby. Steed smiled in acceptance, but not the same smile he'd given
his last opponent. They stood across from each other and readied
themselves. Both tensed but neither took the low, wide stance
previously used.
As their eyes fixed on one
another, I felt myself, and Ruby beside me, lean forward in
anticipation of action. Simultaneously, both men stiffened, their
muscles taut, jaws clenched tight, stares focused, determined. I
saw nothing
happen
but knew there must be something, some unseen force causing
them pain, draining them. I couldn’t look away but stammered to
Ruby, “What’s happening?”
“
They are trying to
overpower one another.” I could hear the pleasure in her voice. “No
silly games, just
power
,” and the way she said it made me wonder in the back of my
mind whether her statement about not having her mother’s ambition
was true. But I could not concentrate on anything other than the
struggle in front of me. No visible action, I tried to judge by
appearance who might be winning. Chevelle’s face was stern and
fierce. Steed flinched occasionally, though I had no idea if that
was pain or something else. I had no doubt, however, that neither
intended to lose. Their stance, right down to their eyes, was
absolutely unwavering.
There was a sound behind me
and I realized it had been completely quiet as we all watched the
unanimated brawl. Instantly, Steed and Chevelle broke their stare
and turned to the noise, dogs I thought, looking past me. I started
to turn as well and noticed Ruby was gone from beside me, though
I’d not seen her move. And then I was whisked from my seat as I
glimpsed Steed and Chevelle dart past me.
But they hadn’t touched me
.
Less than a second ago, I'd been watching a
contest and now I was standing behind Ruby, facing the other
direction, her red curls blocking my view as she shielded me, her
arms outstretched in ready. Steed and Chevelle were at opposite
angles in front of us, both tensed, even more so than they had been
in their bout, and I leaned my head around Ruby’s hair to see what
they were seeing.
In front of our triangle,
directly ahead of Ruby, stood a councilman in the indicative long
white robe and tassels. I sickened as I absorbed the idea that a
council member…
was he a
tracker
… was behind me…
directly behind me
… as we were all
engrossed in a trivial match. He was frozen, unmistakable agony
distorted his features. I didn’t know which of the group were
restraining him, Anvil and Grey flanked him, Rhys and Rider were
posted a good distance behind him with their dogs, watching.
Maybe all of them held him
.
He seemed to be attempting to speak but
couldn’t get the words out. I noticed his blond hair and became
vaguely aware I had grown accustomed to the dark features of my new
companions. Chevelle mumbled something but my ears began to buzz,
not the all-out siren that had crippled me before, more like
interference, and I couldn't understand him. I could see his lips
moving as he then spoke to Anvil but wasn't able to catch the
words.
And then Anvil approached
the captive, dwarfing him with his mass. He exhibited remarkable
menace when he addressed the motionless councilman, whose mouth
appeared to be working again as he replied. Through ringing ears I
couldn’t hear their words clearly, but I
did
hear the breaking bones. A
grotesque crunch sounded as the councilman's thigh bone snapped,
dropping him halfway to the ground. Anvil was leaning over him,
somehow even more intimidating than my first, moonlit sight of him,
while he spoke directly to the man as if they were the only two
here, as if he hadn’t just suffered a traumatic injury. And,
evidently, Anvil didn’t like the answers he received, because the
councilman's other leg snapped, dropping him to stand on the stumps
of his broken, mangled thighs.
I couldn’t keep from
wondering how it was possible he remained
upright
. Anvil bent down to keep his
stare close, threatening. The broken man looked at me then, his
glare accusing, and suddenly his mouth was moving heatedly, but my
ears only rang louder, engulfing all other sound. I cringed away
from his gaze but couldn’t stop myself from watching the scene play
out, even as my head turned down, wanting to look away.
Why was he fixed on me? What were they
saying?
Ruby remained protectively
in front of me, her posture lowered, arms tensed tighter since he’d
turned his eyes on me. His face twisted in agony as his right arm
was torn from its socket, leaving the limb hanging limply at the
shoulder, and part of me was glad I couldn’t hear that sound. He
turned back to his questioner, his mouth a grimace as the words
came out, unmistakably a curse, and his other arm was wrenched from
its socket. He winced, apparently not yet numb from the damages,
and then his face went hard, his lips pressed together, jaw
clenched tight. He wasn’t going to scream?
Or talk
. His back twisted and he fell,
a motionless heap on the ground. His body was bent out of
recognition.
It was over.
My ears had stopped ringing the moment he'd
hit the ground. Ruby relaxed and stepped away from me. I wanted to
catch up with what had happened but no one was talking, the
mountain was silent. Rhys and Rider were gone from sight again.
“
Aren’t you going to perform
the death ceremony?” I worried as the other elves began walking
away.
Anvil spat on the mangled
body.
The corpse
.
“It’s done.”
I stood staring at the crumpled mass as the
others gathered, arguing.
A council member.
“
It’s time to move,” I heard
someone say.
Came for
me
.
“
No, not yet.” Someone
else.
They killed
him
.
And I was glad.
“
There could be more,” Grey
insisted.
That brought me back. “More?” Chevelle looked
irritated again and then gave the bickering group an admonishing
glare as he approached me. “There are more council members coming
for me?” I could hear the alarm in my own voice.
He tried to calm me. “Frey–”
I cut him off. “I won’t let you all pay for
my crimes.” Confusion passed over each face, except Chevelle.
“
We aren’t. You don’t
understand…” Something flickered in his eyes. “Besides, they are
pursuing
me
.” The
group appeared even more puzzled. “For choking the tracker.” Grey
shook his head.
“
Because of
me
,” I argued. “And now,
well, now you’ve
killed
one.” But I didn’t know who, Anvil had stood before him but
any one of them could have snapped his spine.
“
Frey.” His tone was solemn.
“You know what they did to your mother.” And I could hear what he
didn’t say,
and you know what they’ll do to
you
.
I didn’t have a counter for that and he knew
it. He took advantage of the silence, giving orders to Ruby. “Take
her to the house.”
She had me at once, towing me beside her as
she covered us with cloaks.
Chevelle was still instructing, “Steed, watch
the front, stay inside. Grey, take the rear, out of sight.
Anything, no matter how trivial, signal the wolves.”
Wolves
. They
had
been wolves, not dogs. I immediately had more respect for the
tall, slender elves. Men who tamed wild wolves.
We were back at the house in what seemed like
a heartbeat. Steed watched the village from the front room. Ruby
sat with me on her bed, the door closed.
“
This will calm you,” she
said, and a sprinkle of glitter hit my face before I had the chance
to protest. “Just a touch,” she assured me, “just a
touch.”
It was too late, I was
already completely relaxed. I lay back on the bed and she did the
same. We stared at her ceiling unspeaking for an immeasurable
amount of time.
Probably immeasurable
because of the fairy dust
. I rolled on my
side toward her, dimly irritated she’d poisoned me again. Though it
was much less severe this time. I was simply enveloped in
tranquility.
“
Ruby...” My question fell
short as I was distracted by her ears. Her hair had fallen back as
she lie beside me.
“
Hmm?” she
answered.
I reached up to feel my own ears as I
considered hers. I had always hidden mine behind hair, never
braiding it back or putting it up to expose them. Not that I could
have pulled off the intricate braiding and designs of the other
elves. But my ears were clearly more rounded than everyone else’s,
almost blunt. Ruby’s were different, too. Hers were more angular
though, almost pointed at the tip. Neither of us matched the norm,
hers were one extreme, mine the other.