Not All Who Wander are Lost (12 page)

Crimson and Finn awoke suddenly to the sound of the door being kicked in upstairs, followed by Kate’s screams. While she may have been rusty, Crimson’s Guardian instincts took over. In seconds, she threw her clothes on, and was headed up the stairs. Finn was close behind her. Wishing she’d brought at least a dagger, she searched the kitchen counter for a weapon. She grabbed a knife from the block. Finn had a baseball bat from his room.

Kate was on the stairs, holding Rickon back with one of the Swords from her shop. Amiee was standing in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips. “Ah, just the person I was hoping to see. I’ve missed you so much,” her voice was sweet, but her eyes betrayed her. “Crimson baby, I’m your mother.”

“So I’ve been told,” Crimson said, her voice ice cold. “Drop in for tea, did you?”

“Why so hostile? Has Kate been spreading lies about me again? She never liked me, she was always jealous of your father. She’s kept you from me all these years. I just want to know my daughter. I mean you no harm.”

“Save it. I know why you are here.” Kate was slowly backing Rickon down the stairs. “And you,” Crimson said, looking at Rickon with fury in her eyes, “You have a lot to answer for.”

“Seriously, Crimson. You need to get over me. Your jealousy is embarrassing.” Rickon sneered. “As for your fishy little boyfriend there, well, he may be taller, but I’m twice the man he’ll ever be.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, Crimson had to swallow hr laughter. “You are not a man. You use women to make you feel better about yourself. You are pathetic, and you will pay dearly for what you did to my sister and Mariah and all those other girls.”

“Silly girl, I have friends in places so high you’d get whiplash looking up at them. I provide a service. As for your sister and dear sweet little Mariah, they weren’t innocent. They came to me. Drella may have run, but she’ll come crawling back, she always does, just like Mariah did. Of course, Mariah outlived her usefulness. I regret to say she is no longer with us.”

Kate gasped and went pale. Finn looked like he’d been kicked in the stomach. “What have you done with my sister?” Finn demanded.

“I didn’t do anything with her. Amiee needed a little pick-me-up, and well, she wasn’t much use to me after that.”

“I’ll kill you with my bare hands!” Finn roared. Crimson held him back. Kate burst into tears.

“It’s been so nice watching you catch up, but I have places to go.” Amiee’s eyes started to glow. “Come to mommy, sweetheart, it’s time to go now,” she said in an eerie voice.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Crimson spat.

“I had hoped to do this the easy way, but if that’s the way you are going to play it…” The glow in Amiee’s eyes grew stronger. Amiee turned in Kate’s direction. Kate started to scream. “I can play this game all day.” Finn ran to Kate.

“Stop it you bitch!”Crimson’s eyes began to glow. She felt a power building in her belly. Amiee released Kate.

“Oh, kitten,” Amiee said, amusedly. “How cute, but you still have your training wheels on. You are not ready to play with the big girls yet.” Aimee turned her eyes on Crimson and turned up the heat, but quickly became frustrated when Crimson shook her head and shrugged it off.

Crimson felt something open inside her and the temperature started to rise in the room. “Don’t underestimate me, Mommy,” she said, her voice strangely amplified by the power building inside her. Amiee stumbled backwards as she felt the power being drawn from her. “Oh, does that hurt? Sorry. Oh wait, never mind, fuck you!”

Rickon started to back towards the door, but Finn caught him by the throat. Kate tossed her sword to Finn. “I should gut you.” Finn pressed the sword to Rickon’s belly from behind. “But I refuse to sink to your level. I won’t have your blood on my hands” Finn tightened his grip on Rickon’s neck until he passed out and slumped over. Finn let him fall to the floor and put his foot in the middle of his back.

Amiee’s fury grew. Their gazes locked, Crimson continued to pull power from Amiee. “Had enough yet?”

“I’m just getting started, little girl.” With that, she fled. Crimson collapsed, exhausted. Kate went to her side and helped her to the sofa.

Rickon started to stir, but Finn pushed him back down. “What are we going to do with this trash?” he asked.

Crimson caught her breath. “The Council is dead, but someone must have taken charge by now. We need to get him to Court so he can be judged for his crimes. Do you have a crystal, Kate?”

“It’s upstairs. I’ll go. How are you? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, just drained.”

“Finn? How about you?” Finn nodded silently. “There’s a chest in the hall closet. I think there is some rope in there. I’ll get it so we can tie him up and then I’ll make a call.” Kate found the rope and helped Finn bind Rickon’s hands and feet, then went upstairs to make the call.

Finn kicked Rickon in the side and went to Crimson. Gathering her in his arms, he could feel that she was trembling. He touched her face and felt the tears that were starting. His kissed them away. “Shhh. It’s over. I was so scared, baby. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“I don’t know how to explain it, I could feel her power filling me up. But it’s like it’s not in me anymore. I think it’s the baby. I can actually feel it, Finn. At
first, I thought I was imagining it, but I can still feel it. It’s really there. Our baby is really there. And it’s strong, so strong.”

Finn put his head in her lap. “Are you in there, little one?” Finn said to her belly, smiling.

Kate came back down the stairs. “I got through. Your dad has taken charge of the Council. He knows about Drella, and he’ll be here soon to take Rickon back with him to Court.”

“Sit down Kate. You look like you are about to drop,” Crimson said. “I’m so sorry about Mariah. I can’t even imagine how much you both must be hurting.”

“I should have seen it,” Kate said quietly. “There was always so much anger in her. So much defiance. Everything I tried to do to help her only seemed to make it worse. I guess that at least now she is at peace.” Tears glistened in Kate’s eyes as she spoke. “I’m going up to bed. Can you two handle this?” she asked.

“Of course, Katie. Go. We’ve got this covered. I just have one question. What am I supposed to tell them about myself and Mariah?”

“Tell them the truth. We are going to need all the help we can get, and I think it’s time that you came out into the open.”

“Are you sure? I mean, we’ve been hiding for so long.”

“Amiee is going to be looking for allies. If she’s smart, and I know she is, the first place she is going to look is your uncle Kieran. The Guardian’s can help you. You may not want to claim your throne, but it’s time someone knew that Kieran is not the rightful king.”

“She’s right, Finn.” Crimson agreed. “My dad can help.”

“Great, as if it’s not enough pressure that I have to tell him I knocked up his little girl, but I also have to tell him I’m secretly the rightful heir to a Marbendlar throne.” Crimson punched him playfully in the arm and narrowed her eyes in mock anger. “Ouch! Have I ever told you that you are freakishly strong for someone so small?”

Crimson rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’ll handle my dad, you just be your normal charming self.”

Kate retreated up the stairs to her room. Before long, there was a shimmer, and the portal opened. Three Guardians in full battle gear stepped out into Kate’s living room. Finn and Crimson stood. Two of the Guardians picked Rickon up off the floor. “High Guardian Thorn, we shall escort the prisoner to Court. Do you have further need of us?” one of the Guardians asked.

“No, you are dismissed. I will stay and speak to my daughter and then follow you in a short while. Thank you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, sir. My name is Roirdan Finn,” Finn said trying to hide his nervousness. He rose and shook his hand.

“Thanks for coming, Daddy.” Crimson said. She embraced him quickly and then stepped back, taking Finn’s hand possessively.

“That name sounds familiar to me, young man. Have we met before?”

“No, sir, But you may have met my father. He was the Prince of the Finn Folk.”

“Of course, now I remember. Please, call me Tabor. It seems you and my daughter have become close, I see no reason you shouldn’t use my first name.”

“Thank you sir, I mean Tabor.”

“It was a tragedy what happened to your father. I wasn’t aware that he had any children, however. How is it that you are here and Kieran is on the throne?”

“That’s kind of a long story that I would be happy to tell you. Would you like something to drink?”

“I would take a cup of tea if you don’t mind. Crimson, dear, you look tired. Why don’t you retire and leave your young man and myself to chat?”

Crimson looked at Finn. He swallowed and nodded. “Alright. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” Crimson squeezed Finn’s hand in support and went downstairs. Finn put the kettle on.

“It seems we have quite a bit to talk about, you and I,” Tabor said. Finn gathered his courage and began.

Amiee was fading fast. She hadn’t felt this weak since before the spell. It was all she could do to keep the car on the road. She knew she couldn’t go far, so she checked into a cheap hotel in Astoria to regroup. She had underestimated Crimson. It had hurt her, but she was not going to give up and allow this to happen to her. She had been the one in control for so long. She had made a vow long ago that no one would ever have power over her again.

Lying on the scratchy bedspread, her thoughts wandered back to a remote village in the Scottish highlands. She was in the first blushes of womanhood. A wife and mother of a cheeky little boy and a baby girl. She was happy with her life. The air was clean, the work was hard, but she was happy. She cherished the day that Duncan had stumbled, lost and cold, into the Draakki settlement where she grew up and spirited her so far away to his home. One of five girls, her Draakki powers almost nonexistent, she had always felt overlooked and alone. Duncan had rescued her. Life among Humans was a welcome escape. But it was not meant to last.

Her husband was away with the sheep when the soldiers came. They ransacked the village, killing and burning. Her son died on a soldier’s sword, her baby girl dashed against the wall of their stone cottage, and Amiee was brutalized. Duncan returned home to find her huddling naked in a corner of their cottage holding her dead children. The man she loved couldn’t even look at her. He blamed her for not protecting the children. He told her he could never have a wife who had allowed herself to be used by another man. The villagers shunned her as bad luck and turned her out into the cold. She left with only the clothes on her back and her children’s baby blankets that she had made in secret as they shed their Draakki skin.

Scared and alone, she wandered for days. When she came upon a lone cottage, she hoped she was saved. The old woman inside gave her food and let her sleep in the hayloft. When her strength returned, she did chores for the woman—brought in water and wood, swept the cottage, trivial things, but it helped to keep her mind from her grief and pain. She stayed for a year, hiding each time someone came to visit the old woman.

The woman was a hag, a wise woman, practitioner of the dark arts. People came from all over the countryside for potions and spells, bringing her their prized possessions and begging for help. They were simple people and Amiee hated them all. They were the same sorts of people who had turned her out. Her anger and hatred grew every day.

The hag was old, but canny. She had known from the start what Amiee was. She knew what her precious blankets were made of and began to scheme ways to get them for her own. She bided her time and never missed an opportunity to foster Amiee’s growing rage. She put a powerful talisman strategically on a shelf where Amiee would see it and dropped hints about its power.

Amiee fell for her tricks and soon was obsessed with the talisman. She begged to know more. The hag doled out information in fits and starts, but it only fed the flames. When she had Amiee right where she wanted her, she offered a trade. Amiee never even hesitated. By now, her anger had consumed so much of her that she had begun to hate even her lost children, thinking of them as part of the world that had scorned her. Giving up the skins was nothing compared to the power she would gain.

The hag warned her that with the power, came consequences, but Amiee was beyond caring. The spell was cast, and Amiee knew power like she had never known. Her Draakki powers were unleashed at last, but she also had gained an unnaturally long life, and a power over men. She would never be a victim again. The last thing the hag told her was that the spell must be fed. When she asked how, the hag just cackled and told her when the time came, she would know. Amiee didn’t care what the price was, she was finally free.

The first thing she did with her powers was destroy her once beloved husband. Then she set out for home, determined to show her family her worth and make them pay for slighting her. Her unsuspecting family welcomed her with open arms. One of her sisters took her in to live with her and her new husband. Amiee set her sights on the young man and he was soon under her spell. As the spell first destroyed his mind and then his body, Amiee basked in her power. She never even tried to hide the affair. Her sister, heavy with child, grew more and more afraid of her. Then the young man died, leaving her sister grief stricken.

At the young man’s bedside, Amiee felt an urge come over her. She suddenly knew what the hag had meant about feeding the spell. She grasped her sister by the neck and drained her of her will to live. Amiee felt her power grow and rejoiced. Her sister, empty eyed and lost, hung herself that very night. Once again, a village rose up against Amiee and drove her out. But this time, Amiee didn’t care. She was powerful and free and left willingly to find her fortune.

She wandered for years, taking man after man, occasionally draining a young girl when she felt the urge come upon her. She travelled the Human world and the other realms freely, her destruction unchecked. Then she settled herself with Jared Oak. When she became pregnant, she felt a moment of nostalgia for her long lost children. She tried to stay and be a mother to her daughter, but as Jared started to decline, she saw the writing on the wall and fled. She laid low for awhile, barely escaping Kate’s pursuit for years, but eventually, she learned to hide.

She made the Human world her hunting grounds because it was easier to hide. She covered her tracks well. She never stayed on one place for long, she had learned that lesson well. She hid her feeds by selling the poor girls to Rickon. Then the rumors of the prophecy reached her. Something inside her knew that the warnings the hag had given were coming to pass. She felt her powers diminishing. She had to know more.

Now she knew it all, what was happening to her, and how to stop it. Her only hope was to drain the life from her daughter and destroy the child before it could take all of her power. But she didn’t know how to do it. She needed help. She pondered her dilemma long into the night, finally sleeping out of pure exhaustion.

After a few hours of fitful sleep, her eyes snapped open. She had a plan. She knew her powers would never work on her daughter’s lover, but she knew someone she could get to help her, his uncle. She left the motel and portaled to the other realms, satisfied that she had victory in her grasp.