Tab Bennett and the Inbetween (13 page)

He took the crown from me and returned to his seat behind the desk where he set in gingerly inside its box and closed the lid. Pop looked at Francis, inclining his head ever so slightly toward the door.

Francis took his cue. “I’ll let you two talk. Tab, let me know when you’re ready to go home. Good job today, by the way.”

“It’s the role I was born to play, Frannie.”

He was laughing as he left, closing the door softly behind him.

Pop beamed at me from the other side of the desk. “It is you know. The role you were born to play. I don’t think you fully appreciate what you’ve accomplished today. Estella wields a great deal of power in the Inbetween. Having her support will mean a great deal. A great deal indeed.” 

Apparently, not everyone back in fairyland was busy baking a cake for my homecoming party. I guess they thought the idea of putting a for-all-intents-and-purposes-human woman with little or no knowledge of her people and no idea how to run a country on the throne was ridiculous. I could see their point. But Pop and Francis were determined that I would, that I must reclaim the throne.

“When your mother was killed and then the Council of Our Mothers was taken from us so soon after, we had no choice but to create an interim council to rule the Inbetween until you were of age. The group consisted of me, five Generals of your army, and a few others who would see to affairs of state until such time as you could return to the Inbetween and manage things yourself. Each was chosen for their bravery, valor, and loyalty to your mother. Unfortunately, in the last twenty years or so some of the members of the interim council have forgotten their place and their purpose. They have begun to think of their positions as permanent. The number loyal to you is still in our favor—but the margin is close. Estella is likely to be the one to turn the tide. Somehow, even as things have become quite contentious amongst the council members, she has managed to stay completely outside of the fray. She takes no sides, states no opinion. I believe she was waiting to see you; to discover if you were more human girl or Elvish Queen. In your conversation with her today you proved yourself more than Elf enough. With Estella on your side the others will fall back in line. I predict we’ll all be home by Christmas.”

I guess it didn’t occur to him that I was home, there at Witchwood Manor, and that maybe I didn’t want to leave.

“Maybe she should be queen? Estella? She’s already powerful and influential. She probably wouldn’t be terrified at the very idea of it and I definitely am. Also she looks great in that helmet, doesn’t she? I’m not really a hat person.”

Pop frowned at me. “That cannot be. You are queen after your mother and someday your daughter will be queen after you. That is simply the way the magic works, irrefutable and eternal.”

“Then why all the dissent in the ranks? If I’m queen even if I don’t want to be why would they fight it?”

“Because Elves, like men, can be very stupid sometimes.” Pop looked everywhere but at me and I’ve found shifty eyes are never a good sign. He put the crown away in the drawer of his desk and then very deliberately looked directly at me. “No matter. What is will be and there is nothing the foolish or the pigheaded can do to stop it.”

I wondered which group he put himself in, foolish or pigheaded. 

“Thank you for stopping by.” He smiled and clapped his hands together lightly. I was dismissed.

“Before I go, something seems wonky with the enchantment.”

Pop raised an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. “Go on,” he said. He folded his hands together and leaned back in his chair. He had the ease of man used to power, used to listening to complaints and settling them. I didn’t know if that came from raising seven children or from ruling the Inbetween. Either way, I wondered if it would be hard for him to give up his power too, when the time came.

“Just now in the dining room, when Alex and I were alone together we couldn’t seem to tell each other anything but the truth. Even when I really tried to stop myself, I couldn’t. I just said some things I’m really going to regret later, things I definitely wouldn’t have said on my own.” I pictured Pop’s dining room table and blushed. “So did he. You need to fix it.” The last thing I needed was to start saying everything I thought about Alex every time I thought about him. None of us needed that.

“Alexander came here after he left you. He was upset about your exchange as well. The enchantment is certainly, wonky, as you say. I don’t know why the magic has been so unreliable….” His voice trailed off as he considered the problem. The look on his face told me he had a theory. “I am working to correct the problem but there is only so much I can do.”

“Yeah well, it’s super inconvenient and it needs to be fixed or he needs to leave.”

I didn’t clap or anything, but I was done with him.

Pop waited until I was almost to the door before he called me back. “You might consider your own behavior in this. Is it possible that you might have done something to inflame the enchantment? Perhaps it felt a need to push you and Alex together, to let you speak frankly about your attraction to each other because it sensed a threat to the destined union between the two of you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just say what you mean Pop. I’m not in the mood for riddles.”

He smiled at me, a genuine, grandfatherly smile. It’d been a while since I’d seen it. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Allow me to unravel this riddle for you, Tabitha, my girl. Keep your pants on and act like a lady and I’m sure the enchantment will leave you alone.”

Weeks passed without They of the Dark creating so much as a molehill-sized disturbance in the front yard. Instead of finding this comforting, Pop took their lack of aggression as proof that They were up to something. Something BIG. He put the cottage on lock-down and established a twenty-four hour a day, two-man watch to protect me from whatever the dark elves were planning in the mischief and murder category.

I was safe, but bored.

One afternoon when George and Matthew were guarding me, by which I mean laying on my couch watching televised sports, Alex came to see me. He opened the door and brought in a swirl of snowflakes and cold air that sent a tingle of longing up my spine. In his black coat and aqua scarf, with snowflakes melting on his eyelashes and clinging to his gold hair, he was at least partly responsible for the tingling.

“I didn’t know you were coming today.”

Or I would have brushed my hair.

“I came to see you. Can we talk for a minute?” He looked around the small room before adding, “Outside?”

“Outside?” I said, not even trying to keep the excitement from my voice.

George turned to look at us.

“Just on the porch,” Alex said.

“Francis said she’s not allowed outside.” Matt turned off the television and stood up. Something about the look on his face made me think he was looking for a fight. George must have sensed it too, the tension and anger rolling off of Matthew. With a sigh, he stood up and moved a little closer.

“They’ll just be on the porch,” he said. “It’s not a big deal.”

 “It was an order.”

Alex shrugged, but somehow the little shoulder movement conveyed his feelings perfectly. “I don’t take orders from Francis.” 

“You are putting her at risk,” Matt said, his voice just on the edge of yelling.

“I’m making her happy,” Alex replied evenly, “which is my right and privilege as her future husband and your future king.” It wasn’t a subtle reminder, but it did the job. Matt gave a shallow bow and stomped into the kitchen. We heard the back door open and then slam shut.

Ever the peacemaker, George said, “Matt’s been a kind of keyed up since, well, you know with Rivers and everything. If you’ll be all right here, I’ll go get him and bring him back.”

“We’ll be fine.”

George made a face which I’m pretty sure was trying to be a smile but ended up more like a grimace. “I won’t be gone long,” he said before following his brother out the back.

“Ready?” I asked.

“We don’t need to go outside now. There’s no one here but us.” He smiled and reached for my hand, probably hoping to distract me.

I pulled away. “I was promised fresh air and you can’t go back on that now.” 

“Just for a minute,” he said. “We’re coming right back in.”

I waited while he went out first, his eyes sweeping the tree line and the long grassy slope between the cottage and the manor. Standing there, utterly still and completely aware, he didn’t look human. He poised on the balls of feet, light and agile, all long, lean muscle. Ready to jump if necessary. For the first time since I met him, it was easy to believe that he was something else entirely.

He turned back to me, smiled his beautiful smile, and crooked his finger in invitation. The rush of air and sunlight as I stepped onto the porch felt like heaven. I took a deep breath and leaned over the porch rail to see the sky. With no walls or windows between the world and me, I felt calm for the first time in weeks.

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“For this.” I gestured to the sky and the woods.

“You are of the Light. You can’t be truly happy unless it shines on you from time to time.”

He smiled and took my hand, drawing me close to him so that my body was pressed along the length of his. I stared up at him with the enchantment swirling and shining around us like fireflies. He kissed me, very softly, then he stepped away from me.

“I have to return to the Inbetween for a time.”

Leaving? I was bereft, devastated, at the idea of being without him – the enchantment made sure of that.  “Don’t worry about me,” I said, hoping to sound plucky. “I can take care of myself.”

 He didn’t look reassured. “I do worry about you. I’m concerned about the unnecessary risks you will take when I am gone.”

“I think I’ve given you the impression that I’m taking this whole murder plot situation lightly, but I’m not. Staying alive is one of my top priorities.”

“And yet you let me bring you out here into the open even after Matthew wisely objected.”

He had me there. “Only because it was you asking.”

He tried to look stern, but I could tell he was pleased with my answer. “What would you do if They came for you now? If I was somehow incapacitated how would you defend yourself?” He closed his eyes and answered his own question, “They would take you, Princess, and you would die.”

I wanted to disagree, but he was right. I really had no idea how to protect myself if I was attacked. I was tired of being the kind of girl who screams and prays for rescue. I had enemies, dangerous ones, if I wanted to stay alive, I had to be able to rescue myself.

“You’re worried because I don’t know how to defend myself – so teach me. Teach me to fight.”

He looked at me for a moment, considering. “Even with an army around you, there’s no guarantee They won’t get to you somehow. If that happens, the proper training could mean the difference between life and death.”

He was thinking about it, which I took as a good sign. “I’ll bet Gwen knew how to protect herself, didn’t she?”

He nodded, “She did.”

“Then I should too. I mean, I can’t lead the Inbetween if I’m always standing behind someone.”

He studied me, head tilted to the side, a small smile teasing at his lips. When he spoke, I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was proud. “You are your mother’s daughter after all.” At first, I wasn’t completely sure he meant that as a good thing. Then he said, “Forgive me, your Lightness. I’ve been treating you like a fragile child when you are a queen. When your training is complete, you will be as your mother was, as your grandmother was, fierce and strong and beautiful. You won’t need to hide from They of the Dark. They will hide from you.”

Up until then, no one had ever told me that I could be formidable, that I could play with the boys and win, that I could be strong. That sounded right to me. That sounded like the person I wanted to be.