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Tarynn Kerr

Cover design: Tarynn Kerr

Stock photo: © Bezimeni Bezimenkovic

First edition published 2015

Copyright © 2015 Tarynn Kerr

The author reserves all rights. No form of reproduction may be used, unless prior written permission has been obtained from the publisher, excepting the use of brief quotations within critical reviews or articles. Reproduction encompasses any and all methods, present or future. In addition, no part or parts of this book may be used, unless under the same conditions of prior approval.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, and events are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity or resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, or situations is entirely coincidental.

Any scanning, uploading or distribution via the Internet or any other form of technology without the consent of the publisher is protected by law, and will be considered illegal and punishable by law. Please respect these rights and laws by purchasing only authorized electronic or printed editions, and we request that you will not participant in encouraging any form of piracy of copyrighted materials. The author truly appreciates your support of their rights and legacy.

***

# Other Books by Tarynn Kerr

Lure

Enthrall

***

# Prologue

#

"What's funny?" David asked when I snorted at his naiveté. Tova and Eric have 'gotten used to each other.' Riiiiight. "And are you ever going to tell me what's going on between you and Tova? I know there's something."

Ah, if he only knew. Not that I was going to tell him. His reaction when he inevitably found out about his brother will be so much funnier if he knows nothing. I wasn't going to tell him about that either. It will be comedy defined when he finds out.

Maybe once it's out in the open I'll tell him my side. I'm a much better storyteller than Tova anyway. Her 'story' will most likely consist of only "It happened. It was stupid. Now let's all just forget about it." No excitement, no flair. She'll throw in a few good death glares, of course, but that was just her face at this point.

I set down the ingredients for the mysterious human recipe called 'pizza' and told him, "I prefer _listening_ to gossip." That was mostly true. I did listen more than I talked. You had to wade through quite a bit of useless chatter in order to get to the useful bits. It was only those useful bits that I talked of eventually. That and the wildly entertaining. The story of Tova and me had the potential to be quite entertaining, but it needed to stew a little longer. So instead I told them a folktale, starring the one and only Cearo, while David made his strange bread.

The folktale turned out to disturb them more than I expected. That was alright though. Tales of Cearo could have that effect. She was quite terrifying. At times I wondered if we should wake her up or if that was an absolutely terrible idea.

Yes, we should, I decided. If I helped, she would have mercy on me. Plus it would be the story—no, epic—of the century.

After sampling the pizza, which was not mind-blowing, but I had faith in my new human friend, I took a detour to the library on my way to the servants' quarters. David's dreams were strange. I wondered for this reason, and many others, if Cearo and David were truly connected. Ideally, I would examine Cearo and attempt to glean an explanation based on her state. However, since I was as hindered as David at getting to her, I had to settle for speculation. There were many possible causes of strange dreams. I swiped a book on poisonous flowers, another on far darrigs and maras, and one on the aftereffects of wisp trances. I had found out about the wisp incident soon after they arrived. I snickered to myself. That was a long shot as David had been fine for weeks since his initial recovery, but you never know. Of course he could just be crazy. Honestly, that was the most likely. But I would look into it anyway. Better to be informed.

I headed for the servants' quarters with only one more stop along the way. Madame Beaumont's door was closed when I passed by, but it did not entirely muffle the sounds of passion coming from within. Her husband or the stable boy?, I wondered. I settled on the stable boy. The lady's cries sounded much too blissful to have been solicited by the unsightly Sir Beaumont. I wasn't sure what I would do with this information of Madame Beaumont's affair, but they were a powerful couple, and I was sure this would come in handy at some point.

I arrived at my cot and slid under the threadbare blanket. The servants' quarters were hardly more glamorous than the dungeons with the thin cots and cold, dank air. There were a dozen others crammed in here as well, but it was alright. The body heat helped keep the room warm. After listening to the chatter for a minute, I decided none of it was interesting, so I let my mind wander. It landed on Tova. I laughed silently, remembering her as a little girl, always picked on and always making the bullies pay. Even back then her signature glare was starting to take form. I practiced how I would eventually tell our story as I drifted off to sleep.

Once upon a time there was a tiny red-headed and red-eyed girl that punched a much bigger boy in the face when he tried to take her doll...

***

# Chapter 1

#

My mum gave me a wooden toy sword and pushed me out of the house, telling me to go play. I turned back to object, but the door shut in my face. I slumped in defeat. I studied the toy in my hands. A sword, she'd actually given me a sword. What was I supposed to do with it? Sword fights were boring. They were even more boring when the opponent was air. Not an air fairy, I mean actual air because none of the other boys ever wanted to play with me. They thought I was weird. I thought they were dumb.

I heaved a bigger sigh than any eight-year-old ever should and trudged over to the usual play area, dragging the sword on the ground behind me. Maybe I'd draw in the dirt with it. I didn't really need it, since I'd been practicing with my earth abilities, but I guess the elemental could use a day off.

All the children in the village played in an area where we could practice with our elements if we wanted. Most of it was grassy thanks to the natural landscape and the disproportionately large amount of earth fairies. I heard my parents say once that earth fairies were common here but the Seelie had more of the other kinds. The play area also had a fountain for the water fairies. They liked to make it splash over to create tiny streams across the ground. There were patches of dirt scattered around from the fire fairies burning the grass away. I assumed air fairies could play here too, but we didn't have any air fairy children in the village at the moment.

I plopped down on one of the bare patches that the fire fairies had moved on from and started carving my picture. I was drawing Cearo and one of her storms—or I was trying to anyway. The toy sword was too long for me to use it comfortably as a drawing tool while sitting. I was better with my earth ability. I tossed the useless sword away in frustration.

I used my elemental to etch lines in the dirt like I would with my fingers. When Cearo's body and head were done, I made some grass grow to make her hair. I laughed at the picture and imagined the real Cearo—because she was real, I was certain—with grass for hair.

My concentration was broken when feet ran right in front of me, trampling my work. An older boy, maybe ten or eleven, was laughing, but not at me. He was laughing at the little girl chasing after him. I remembered hearing about her. She was the youngest fairy in our village so all the adults doted on her. I thought she was five now. She was crying and yelling at the boy and jumping for the doll he held over her. Her eyes blazed red through her tears, already fierce even though she was just a little kid.

The boy was a lot taller than her, so I didn't see how she was going to get her doll back. I decided to help her. He and his friends picked on me too. I stood and was just about to run over when I noticed my toy sword on the ground. I guess it would come in handy after all. Picking it up, I was charging over there, ready to impale him, when the unexpected occurred. The boy had bent over the girl to get in her face with his taunts and she punched him. Hard. Right in his stupid nose.

The bully and I both froze in shock for a moment. I recovered first. I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard I fell to the ground.

"Stop it! Stop laughing!" he said, holding his nose. "I'll hurt you!"

It was too late for that. My sides were already hurting from laughing. It didn't deter me though. I couldn't stop. That was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. The little fire fairy was my hero. Finally, he dropped her doll and ran away, wailing.

She picked up her doll while I calmed down. She walked over to me. Still splayed out on the ground, I gazed up at her, meeting her glare with a smile. "That was amazing!" I told her. She didn't look like she believed me. "Really, it was! I wish I could do that."

"Why can't you? You're a boy. Boys get to play fighting games." I didn't really know what to say to that. I lost her attention when she saw my toy sword on the ground. "Is that yours? I want to play!" She didn't wait for me to answer. She just grabbed it and began thrusting it at an imaginary villain.

She dropped her doll on the ground and forgot about it as she fought her make-believe battle. I picked it up and sat it down next to me so we could watch her. I drew a picture of her and the imaginary foe she battled. Soon it wasn't just one in my picture, but a whole army of monsters against her. And still she was victorious.

When the sun started to set, her mum called her to come in. She came over to me. She saw my latest picture of her standing over dead monsters, holding her sword up in triumph, and said with absolute confidence, "I could do that, you know."

I smiled at her and replied, "I know."

At that, she returned my smile for the first time. She gave me my sword back and took her doll. "I'm Tova. What's your name?"

"Randolph."

"See you tomorrow, Randolph." She ran off, and I watched her until she disappeared around a corner.

Only eight years old and I was a goner.

The next day, my mum made me take the sword again and go play. I'd give it to Tova again, I guessed. She wasn't there when I got to the play area, so I sat down to wait. I was relaxed, just picking at the grass and then making it grow back, when someone kicked me in the back.

I had a feeling I knew who I'd see when I turned around. Ah yes, it was the bully from yesterday glaring down at me. He had two friends with him too. I sighed, waiting for their attack to begin.

"Where's the little girl? Not here to save you today?" He sounded odd because his nose hadn't healed yet.

"So you admit she got the better of you?" I asked. I immediately regretted it. He was probably going to hurt me even more now.

"She got lucky," he sneered. He moved closer to me and looked down with disdain. "You shouldn't have laughed."

I scrambled away, dodging his kicks. I got to my feet and ran, but he caught me after only ten steps and pushed me to the ground. His friends surrounded me so I couldn't get away. I braced myself.

"AHHHHHH!!!" A shout sounded from behind us, getting closer. I peeked out from between my arms that were shielding my face to see Tova running toward us with my sword pointed in front of her.

The bully's friends ran away in an instant. The bully looked around wondering where his back-up had gone. His confidence died quickly without them. At the last moment before contact, he dodged to the side.

Tova, realizing she'd missed and was about to trample me, skidded to a halt. She threw a glare at the bully who picked himself up and ran away. "Told you I could do it," she said.

I thought she meant defeating monsters, like in my picture yesterday. That boy definitely was one. "I never doubted you."

She smiled at me and her eyes glowed brighter like sparking flames. "Want me to show you how?"

Not really, but I liked spending time with her. "Alright. Show me your best moves."

Tova twisted and lunged, bringing the sword down on more imaginary enemies. She started to move through the field, chasing them as she fought. Abruptly, she stopped and turned back to me. "Aren't you going to copy me?"

Somewhat reluctantly, I replied, "Alright."

I did the best I could. I watched her and tried to move exactly like she did. But apparently my body didn't understand these movements. I fell on my butt several times. Every time Tova's eyes would flick to me, and I'd turn away sheepishly while I got back on my feet.

Minutes later, I tripped over a weed and fell forward, smacking my chin on the ground. This was probably my hundredth fall. The air was knocked out of me, and Tova's left her in a heaving sigh. "You're really bad at this," she said.

"I know," I sighed, flipping onto my back. I was scared that she was about to reject me like all the other kids, so I met her eyes nervously.

She was looking at me just as uneasily. "Do you want to stop?" She kicked the ground at her feet like she was already disappointed.

"Yes," I told her honestly. Her shoulders hunched, disappointment confirmed. "But you should keep going if you want. I'll watch."

She shot up out of her slump and looked at me surprised, like she expected me to demand she stop too. "Really? Okay! You should pay attention. You can tell stories about my victories. I'll be as feared and famous as Cearo!"

And that's what I did every single day. Tova wielded the toy sword against countless evil villains and monsters, and I drew it all and told stories of her greatness. We got so used to great, terrifying monsters that we weren't bothered by the bullies anymore. After all, if Tova could beat a kelpie—even an imaginary one—what couldn't she beat? She fended off the bullies with little more than a look, and I spun tales of their weakness for days.

A few years later, Tova was practicing a strike she had seen a guard make on Seelie invaders. "And then he did this!" She spun wildly away from her just-defeated enemy to the new one at her back. I thought the guard must have done it with much more finesse or he would have been gutted during the turn. But for an eleven-year-old, she was pretty good. "And then drove it right through his belly!" She thrust the sword to the place the enemy's pelvis would more likely be, but she'd learn to compensate for her shortness eventually.

She held the pose for a moment before she relaxed out of it. She breathed heavily from the exhilaration and smiled at me. "Amazing," I told her. "I wish I had seen it myself." I had actually, but I didn't want to ruin her fun. Especially since we wouldn't get to do this as often after today.

She sat next to me, and then we both collapsed onto our backs. She stared up at the sky while I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of the grass and wildflowers. Starting tomorrow, I would be an apprentice to a local craftsman. I'd be sitting in the back of his shop all day, not speaking to anyone, and trying to make things from wood. I didn't have a particular skill for it, but since I didn't have any real skills, my parents said I was lucky the craftsman was willing to take me on and maybe I'd pick it up with time. I wasn't as optimistic, but like them, I didn't see what other option I had.

Tova was to start training as a maid like her mother. As much as I wasn't looking forward to my apprenticeship, I felt even worse for Tova. She was not made for that life. It would bore her to death. I only hoped it wouldn't smother the fire in her.

"I wish today would keep going so we'd never get to tomorrow," Tova said.

"Me too."

"Tell me one of Cearo's stories."

I opened my eyes to peer at her. "Why? Surely you don't want to spend our final afternoon of freedom hearing about her evil deeds."

"But she's invincible!" she said. Then quieter, she added, "She wouldn't be stuck as a maid."

I then told Tova all the Cearo stories I knew.

***

# Chapter 2

#

The routines of our working lives latched onto Tova and I like leeches, unwanted and sucking all our energy away. We worked sunup to sundown and usually went straight home, too exhausted to stay out.

When we did see each other, I never left feeling reassured that she'd be alright. It seemed like every time, she was more crestfallen. I sometimes asked her if she wanted to talk about it, but the answer was always no. Other times I'd run home first and grab the toy sword I still kept for her. I'd offer it to her, and at first she'd take it with a glimmer of excitement shining in her eyes. But lately she'd been rejecting it. "My hands hurt. I can't get a good grip," she'd say. I'd look down to find her hands so chapped from doing laundry all day that they cracked and bled in places. I'd set the sword down and massage her hands instead.

Last night had been one of those nights. She hadn't even glanced at the sword before shaking her head. She'd looked off into the distance and hadn't seemed to hear me at all as I told her one of her favorite Cearo stories. My heart ached seeing her that way. Tonight I wanted to change it.

I had been working on something secret when the craftsman, Harold, wasn't watching, and earlier today I'd finally finished it. It was a new wooden sword. This one was larger, like a practice sword for adults, since Tova looked silly now with my toy one. It was smooth and perfect. The last thing I wanted was for Tova's already hurt hands to get splinters. Which was why I'd also saved my rare tips to buy her a nice leather glove and some good salve.

Harold was up front, speaking with a customer. I took the second to stare at the sword and admire my work. It was the best thing I'd ever made.

My parents and I had been right years ago when I took this apprenticeship. I didn't have a particular skill for it. But I was good enough to get by, and Harold said he didn't want to train another.

This sword though...it looked like a real craftsman had made it. I hoped it would bring sparks back to her fiery eyes. I was about to run my finger over it and confirm its smoothness when Harold walked in. I scrambled back to my stool and bent over the tiny hob chair I was working on. That's what I worked on most of the time here: hob furniture. I wasn't anywhere close to as good as Harold at fae sized items, but he didn't have the best eyesight, so I could do these tiny things better.

"How's it coming, Randolph?" he asked me.

"Very good, sir. Nearly finished."

"Hmph. Well, try to pick up the pace. You've been working on that one chair all afternoon." He gave me a look that said 'how can you be so slow?' and then got back to work on his own piece, a side table that he'd started an hour ago and was already almost done with despite frequent interruptions from customers.

"Yes, sir," I replied. We worked silently, the only sound the scraping of our blades against the wood. This is what I hated most about working here. "Sir?"

"What, boy?"

"Have you heard the tale of Cearo and the fox? It's quite interesting. She was traveling, you see, wreaking havoc as usual, when she came upon a town that was bizarrely unafraid of her. It was because the town was already being tormented by a most vile fox. It was constantly stealing their food, scaring their livestock, and even attacking their children. They hadn't had any luck in capturing or killing the fox, so they'd started to think it was no normal fox. They thought it was an evil, immortal spirit.

"Anyway, they had enough on their hands with this fox, so they barely paid Cearo any mind. She was offended by their lack of respect, so she destroyed the village with a single flick of her wrist.

"The fox was both sad that he no longer had a village to torment and impressed with Cearo's power. He decided to stick with her from then on. Cearo tolerated his presence, especially when he helped her rain down terror on new places. Then one day, when they were—"

"Stop, stop, stop," Harold cut me off. "Why would I want to hear one of those nightmare stories? Just get back to work."

I frowned and slouched over the hob chair. I tinkered with it even though I'd finished it around the time that Cearo had destroyed the fox's village in the story. I wished he had let me finish. There was a point to that one. Sort of. I thought he would like how it ended. It started with Cearo terrorizing people, but all of them did. This one was one of the few that didn't end that way as well.

One day when Cearo and the fox were setting fire to a village and stealing grain and livestock, the fox found itself trapped. These villagers had heard Cearo had a new companion, and they thought they'd at least be able to take a fox out. So they waited for it to enter a chicken coop, and then a man made a false attempt on Cearo's life before running toward the coop to hide from her. Cearo blasted the man and the coop with her flames. The man died, but he was alright with that because the fox was trapped in there with him.

After the village had been reduced to ashes, Cearo waited on the edge for her companion to join her. When he failed to show, she went looking for it. She finally found its bones buried in the remains of the chicken coop.

Cearo was saddened by the loss of the fox. She'd grown to enjoy its company. She liked its intelligence and admired its trickery. She had hoped it really was immortal like the villagers where she'd found it had thought, so it could stay with her forever. But it was not.

She said her final goodbye to the fox, but before moving on, she broke off a piece of wood from a tree just outside her ring of ash. Before she forgot its face, she carved the piece of wood into its likeness. She has carried it with her ever since.

Even the mighty Cearo carved wood. I thought Harold might like that. I did. Tova had been the one to tell me that story. She'd told it after I'd had a particularly bad day here when Harold had been out on errands all day and customers were upset over my comparably shoddy work. I had truly hated woodworking that day, and Tova wanted to show me that even the greatest of fairies did it. Maybe she'd made the whole thing up just to make me feel better. It didn't matter. I still liked that story.

I fled the shop as soon as soon as the sun began to set. I'd swiped the sword from its hiding place as Harold was closing up in the front. Now I was practically running to Tova's in my excitement.

When I got to Tova's door, I heard clanging from pots and pans inside. With the sword behind my back to keep it a surprise, I knocked hard to be heard over the din. A few shouts came from within before the door flew open to reveal Tova's mother. "Oh, hello, Randolph," she smiled at me. "Would you like to come in and sit? I'll have dinner ready soon if you'd like to join us."

"I was hoping Tova could come out with me," I said. She hesitated at that. On the one hand, I think her parents liked me, but on the other, they knew Tova often used her time out with me to practice sword fighting, which they despised. I added, "I've been cooped up all day in the shop. Maybe we could take a picnic."

"Oh, well, that seems alright. Come in for a moment while I put something together for you." I obliged but left the sword outside so she wouldn't see it. Tova abandoned the laundry she was elbow-deep in as soon as she saw me. She wanted to get out as bad as I did. "Tova, finish the wash. You can join Randolph when you're done," her mother told her.

"I've been at it all day. Why can't the Bowens do their own laundry anyway?"

"Because it's not their job. It's yours. Now finish it."

She stomped petulantly back to the basin and resumed washing. "I don't see why I have to have this job," she muttered quietly. "I could do better things. More exciting things."

"Tova, I don't want to hear it," her mother reprimanded. "I don't want you speaking anymore nonsense about being a guard or playing with swords. It's unladylike, and I won't have it."

Tova gave her mother a scowl that would kill a lesser being. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, knowing what I had stashed just outside the door. I tried to paste on a normal looking smile as Tova's mother bustled over to me with a basket of bread, cheese, and fruit. "Here you are, dear."

"Thank you, ma'am."

I waited as Tova rushed through the rest of the laundry, then she bolted for the door without even drying off her hands. I followed quickly, wanting to cover the sword before she saw it. Should I give it to her knowing how much her mother would disapprove? I was unsure, so I decided to wait a little while.

"Come on, usual spot," Tova said, glancing back at me.

I kicked the sword down to the ground as fast as I could and prayed she hadn't noticed it. "Alright, lead away," I told her.

Tova was bouncing on her toes by the time I caught up with her. We were on the edge of the field where we used to play as kids. There hadn't been anymore children since Tova—since fairies lived so long, we tended to take breaks between generations—so now this place was empty but for the two of us. The moonlight shined down on Tova, lighting up her smile as she waited for me. I hadn't seen her smile like this in a while. I was glad she was in such a good mood, especially after she'd seemed so hopeless last night.

"What are you so excited about?" I asked her as I spread out a blanket on the ground.

"You know how last night was terrible?" she said leaning toward me.

"You could say that."

"Well, afterward, I was lying in bed thinking about it. Actually, it was mixed in with dreams, some about Cearo, some about when we were kids—remember when I defeated that whole herd of lake kelpies?!" she said, referencing one of her more impressive imaginary victories.

I chuckled. "Yes, Tova the Great slaughtered all of the mighty kelpies but one—the leader of the herd. That one Tova the Great made her steed."

She laughed at the memory. "When we were little, I never let anything stop me. Why should I let my mother's stupid rules stop me now?" She became serious and looked at me in question.

I didn't know what to say. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Did she actually want to be a guard? I always thought the toy swords were just a fun way for her to let out some of her energy that she had an endless supply of.

"Do you have the sword?" she asked, the smile coming back to her face as she resumed bouncing impatiently.

"The what?" I blurted, coming unfrozen. How did she find out about my gift?

"What do you mean what sword? The one you bring every time we come here. I want to get stretched out."

Oh, right, obviously. "Uh, no, I forgot to bring it. But why don't we eat? Besides, your hands..." I pointed to her hands that were in as bad shape as they were last night. Fortunately, I had not left the good salve behind with the new sword. I pulled it out and showed it to her. "I got this for you."

Her eyebrows rose. "Randolph, how much did that cost?"

"Nothing I couldn't afford. Come here, give me your hands."

She walked over somewhat reluctantly. "You really forgot the sword?"

I shrugged. "I guess I was so anxious to get out here it slipped my mind."

"Oh." She slumped in disappointment.

"Hey, your hands are looking better already," I said after applying the salve. "Let's eat and I'll put some more on later. You'll be good as new in no time."

We ate in near silence for a time. Tova was descending back into the hopelessness from last night. I tried telling her stories, but nothing made her feel better. I felt terrible.

She hadn't said anything in a while, and it made me uneasy. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going? Should we call it a night?"

"No, stay here. I'll be back in a minute." I ran to her house. I tiptoed the last bit so her mother wouldn't hear me out here. I carefully retrieved the sword I'd made and ran back to Tova as fast as I could. I hoped she'd stayed.

I was beyond relieved when I saw her still sitting on the blanket. She didn't turn to face me though, so I came to a stop right in front of her and waited for her to look up. When she finally did, I said, "I got you a couple other things." I pulled the gloves from my pocket and held them out to her.

She took them slowly. "Gloves?" she asked, confused. "They're nice, but it's not like I can wear them when I do laundry."

"That's not when you'll be wearing them," I said. Then I pulled out the sword from behind my back.

Her reaction was instant. Her eyes were huge as she stared at it. "Where did you get this?"

"I made it. At the shop. I thought you could use one that isn't child-sized."

Her smile returned even bigger than it had been at the start of the evening. She shot up into a standing position and pulled on the gloves. "This is the best gift I've ever gotten!" She took the wooden sword by the hilt and ran into the open, already spinning and slashing and thrusting it at the air.

I smiled as I watched her. I didn't care that her mother didn't approve of this, that she might not approve of me if I kept enabling it. It was worth it to see Tova this way.

I started up with the narration when I could finally focus on putting words together. It became just like old times. When the village behind us had gone to sleep and Tova was finally exhausted, having defeated twenty—or was it thirty?—enemies, she headed toward me.

"Thanks, Randolph."

"It was noth—" I was cut off by her kiss.

***

# Chapter 3

#

Tova had kissed me. She'd actually kissed me. I used to think about it sometimes, but I never thought it would actually happen. I wasn't strong enough for her. But she kissed me! Of her own free will!

I stayed in bed an extra few minutes the next morning, replaying it in my head. Mum had to shout at me to get my attention. "I'm up, I'm up." She kept shouting for me to wake up and get going. "And I'm leaving. Bye!" I slid through the door without grabbing breakfast and the shouting cut off abruptly.

My good mood was not lessened in the slightest. I practically bounced to the shop. Even Harold noticed. I could tell because he looked at me like I was insane all day. That's similar to how he usually looks at me, especially when I try to tell stories, but I hadn't done that today.

I met up with Tova again that night. This time she slipped out of the house before her mother could pester her. She'd kept the sword with her even though it made me nervous that her parents could find it. She'd stashed it around the side of the house behind some planters. She grabbed it from there, and we went to our place in the field. She kissed me again that night. I still couldn't believe it.

There were a few weeks of bliss, and I savored every minute of them. I'm not sure if Tova told them or they figured it out on their own, but her parents found out about our relationship. They were thrilled. Tova seemed to think it was awkward, but I didn't mind. Eventually she got over it, and we started openly acknowledging it. I could see her mother's mind at work, already planning our engagement party and wedding. Again, I didn't mind.

I was having dinner with them one evening, and her mother was chattering away. "Oh, and the Dahl's are having an engagement party for their son, Felix, and his fiancé—Hannah is her name—you do know them, right? Anyhow, you two should come! Oh, it will be delightful. Dancing and drinking and it'll be wonderful for you to be friends with them. Both great families, the Dahls and Evans, and maybe they'll even have some tips for you two when you get engaged. Oh, it'll be so wonderful..." And on and on she went, so happy.

I smiled at Tova across the table. She looked bored by her mother's ramblings. "That does sound nice actually. We should go," I said quietly. Not that I needed to because it didn't even cause her mother to pause.

"Really? I know Hannah. She works for the family next door to Bowens and every time I've said hello to her, she turns her nose up at me." Tova rolled her eyes. "As if she's better than me. She's a lowly maid too."

"Maybe she won't be so bad if we get to know her." That was a lie. I knew Hannah and Felix too, and I already knew we'd hate them no matter how much we socialized with them. But still, I wanted to go. I wanted to show off this couple status any chance I got now. I couldn't say that though. Tova stared at me like I was dim. "And if she is that bad, we'll have new villain material for your battles." I winked at her, and she snorted in laughter.

"Alright, you and Mum win."

Her mother somehow heard that part. "Oh, lovely! I'll let them know tomorrow. I'll pick out something decent for you to wear, and Randolph, try to find something of your father's perhaps?" And her rambling continued.

It was the night before the party that things took a turn for the worse. It had started out normal enough, with Tova's mother's excited chatter. When dinner was finished we would normally go to our field (or 'take a walk' as her parents thought). But tonight, the meal had been so filling that I slouched in my chair sleepily. Even Tova, usually bursting with energy, slowed down and suggested calling it an early night.

We were all settling deeper into our seats when a crash sounded outside the window. "Oh, what's that racket?" Tova's mother asked.

"Would you like me to investigate?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Randolph. Tomas will go." Tova's father perked up slightly when he was called upon. He got up and tiredly made his way over to the window.

He opened it and sighed. "It's only a gnome," he said. They found their way into town from time to time. They weren't much danger; they just liked to irritate fairies, usually by breaking their things. They'd get bored when no one reacted though. We all relaxed again, choosing to ignore it. But then Tova's head shot up from where it was resting on the table. She looked at me wide eyed. I didn't understand, so I met her gaze with a questioning one. "You know what? I don't want a gnome to make more chores for us. I'll go take care of it."

What? Why? It wasn't a big deal. I didn't want to ask though because I didn't want to blow whatever she was up to. I didn't know if I should follow her or stay, so I shifted in my seat strangely.

"You don't need to, honey," her father said.

"But I will. Then we won't have to deal with this in the morning."

"If it bothers you that much, let me," he countered.

"No, no. I've got this."

"Tova—" Before he could finish, she was out the door, and he was following. I heard some banging and breaking pottery. "Tova," he tried again.

"I'm fine. I can handle this. Go back inside with Mum." I heard him sigh, probably deciding she was in fact fine and about to leave her to whatever it was she was doing. But then the gnome screeched. She must have made it mad.

Tova grunted, and the gnome shouted at her in its odd language. Her mother and I ran to the window. Luckily, the gnome was running away. Tova was holding her sword. That must have been why she went out there. She didn't want the creature to damage it.

I glanced over at her mother, expecting her to share my relief that it hadn't gotten out of hand. But she looked furious. Her eyes flicked between Tova and the sword and the neighbors next door that could see them through their window. As if he could feel his wife's anger, her father took her by the arm and pulled her into the house. Her mother shut the curtains on the window and faced Tova. She gestured to the sword. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It's a wooden sword," Tova deadpanned.

" _Why do you have it?_ "

Tova only looked at her mother defiantly. She didn't tell her that I gave it to her or that we went out almost every night so she could practice. She didn't implicate me, but her mother got it anyway. "Your father and I thought you'd finally come to your senses. We thought you were out being courted like a good girl, not doing this again."

I jumped to her defense. "That's not a lie. We are together, and I do love her."

They didn't listen. "Mum, what is so bad about this?"

"What's bad is that it's unladylike! You need to grow out of this phase of pretending to fight and acting like a boy! You need to become a respectable woman!"

"Why?! What if this isn't a phase? And what if I don't become your idea of a respectable woman? I like being this way!"

"It's unacceptable, Tova! You'll never fit into society this way!"

"I don't care about fitting into society! I don't want to be a maid for the rest of my life!"

"That's your lot, Tova! Why can't you accept that?! There are many worse things to be stuck as!"

"But I won't be! I refuse! I'll be what I want to be!" And with that she stormed out.

I was about to follow her when her mother grasped my shoulder. "I'm sorry you had to overhear that, dear," she said completely calmly as if she hadn't just been screaming at her daughter.

"Uh..." I thought she'd be mad at me too, since I'd given her the sword in the first place.

"Could you try talking some sense into her?"

"Um..."

"Surely you understand. You have a normal job, and it's great"—she really thought that?—"and she'll listen to you. You can convince her to leave this silliness in the past." I still didn't respond. "I just want my daughter to have a normal, happy life."

She led me to the door. I didn't have time to protest before I was pushed outside. I looked at the closed door and sighed. I found Tova in our usual place. In her anger, she was thrusting the sword harder and faster than I'd ever seen. I approached slowly to avoid being impaled.

She stopped abruptly at the sight of me. I opened my mouth but nothing came out because I still hadn't figured out what to say. "Don't tell me to stop, Randolph," she said, pointing the tip of the sword at my heart.

Footsteps came up behind me, and Tova's gaze momentarily left me to take in the newcomer. It was one of the neighbors from next door. A man, I think his name was Florian. He stopped at my side and looked at Tova, who glared at him, daring him to say something. "Your skills are quite impressive for one with no formal training," he said.

My eyebrows shot up. Tova's did too, all the way up her forehead. She sputtered for a second. His words were not something she'd prepared for.

"Have you considered joining the guard?" he asked.

"The guard?" Tova responded.

"You know, the guard, the fae who protect the city."

Obviously, we both knew what the guard was. We just hadn't expected this. "Women can do that?" Tova asked in amazement.

"Yes. It's not common, but women are allowed. My partner is a woman. Rasa, you may not have seen her since we work almost exclusively in the castle."

Tova and I were both dumbfounded. When she failed to say anything after a minute, he said, "Here, let me give you some pointers. We'll see if you'd fit in."

The moon had nearly made a full arc across the sky by the time they finished. He taught her how to keep her form better and a few new ways to strike.

I sat back and watched it. I wasn't as impressed with Tova's skill as I was riveted by the change in emotion I saw in her. She went from being furious to uncertain to joyful by the end of the night. She wore one of her rare smiles.

The guard left us, seeming pleased with the night's outcome, and Tova came to stand before me. She was starting to look uncertain again, still expecting me to try to talk her over to her mother's side. Her mother told me she wanted to Tova to have a happy life. Well, I did too. But I knew a 'normal' life would never get her that. This though...fighting, protecting, being a guard...that could.

Tova stood taller and met my gaze straight on. "I'm joining the guard."

"Good." I smiled at her. Her relief was instant, and she pulled me in for a kiss.

***

# Chapter 4

#

I have never experienced anything like Tova's mother's wrath. I occasionally forgot she was a fire fairy, despite her red eyes, because she rarely lost her temper the way most fire fairies have a tendency to. Their argument last night was nothing compared to the one that occurred when Tova told her she was joining the guard. The whole house nearly exploded in flame.

"TOVA, I FORBID IT! NO DAUGHTER OF MINE WILL DISGRACE MY FAMILY THIS WAY!" Sparks flew from her and caught on random items. In that moment, my biggest wish was that I was a water fairy. I did my best to smother the sparks before they turned into roaring fires.

"YOU CAN'T FORBID IT! IT'S HAPPENING!" Fire shot out of Tova as well. She didn't use her elemental much, preferring her sword, fists, and feet. With so much untamed power, she was close to losing control.

"THEN GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! OUT!"

Tova left, slamming the door. Her father and I shared one last sympathetic look. He was as unprepared for this as I was; he just so happened to be an earth fairy too, though Tova didn't inherit any of that. Then I left after Tova, barely escaping without burns.

I caught up to Tova as she stomped through town toward the castle. "Where are we headed?" I asked her.

"To the guard compound. I'm signing up right now."

"You're not worried about being kicked out?" I wasn't trying to change her mind. I just didn't know where she'd go, and I couldn't let her be on the streets at night.

"The guards have their own barracks. Florian told me. I'll stay there. I belong there anyway."

I nodded and followed her right up to the building. She stopped and stared at it. I glanced back and forth between her and the building. "What are you waiting for?" I asked.

She shifted uncomfortably. "What if they don't want me?" she asked quietly. She looked more nervous than I'd ever seen her.

"They will," I reassured her. "How could they not? You're tougher than all of the other UnSeelie combined."

It didn't seem to be working. She was still staring at the building and not going in. Then she turned her pleading eyes on me. "Come with me."

"What? I—"

"Please. Do this with me."

I don't think I'd ever seen her scared before. I couldn't say no. "Alright." I held her hand, and we walked the rest of the way together, only letting go once we walked through the door.

The area we entered was small and sparsely furnished. There was only a chair and a small table. A thin boy that didn't look like he belonged in the guard at all—probably why he's here instead of outside, now that I think about it—sat there looking bored. "Can I help you?" he asked.

He directed it at me, but Tova answered. "We're here to enlist."

The boy's eyebrow quirked up like he didn't really believe it. "You're a girl," he said.

I couldn't help but say, "astute observation," while I rolled my eyes.

She elbowed me to quiet me. "Women are allowed in the guard. Officer Florian told me so."

He still didn't look like he was buying it. "Wait here," he said before trotting off to an adjoining room. We could barely hear voices, so no way could we make out what they were saying. I was pretty sure there were only two. When they were still talking after a couple of minutes, I got sick of waiting and straining to hear, so I crept closer. Tova tried to pull me back, but I waved her off.

"You're going to allow a girl to join, when you keep me in there doing clerical work?"

"You had your chance to prove your fitness for the guard, and you failed."

"But a girl?!"

"Women are able to join as long as they can prove they are as fit for the tasks as men."

I assumed the second voice was from someone higher up in rank. He was willing to give Tova a chance. I smiled and nodded at her to let her know the conversation was going in her favor.

A door opened and closed from the other room and a third voice joined in. "What seems to be the problem?"

"A woman wants to enlist," the second voice said.

"He will take a girl over me!" the boy exclaimed.

"Who is this woman?" the newcomer asked.

"Why does it matter? She's a girl."

"Answer me, boy."

"I didn't get her name yet. She's a fire fairy. About this big. She won't even be able to lift a sword!"

The newcomer laughed. "Trust me, boy, she's already much better with a sword than you ever were." Footsteps moved closer to the door I stood next to. I rushed back to Tova's side before it opened. Through it came the guard we met last night. He smiled warmly at her. "Tova, I'm glad you decided to join us. And is your friend joining as well?"

"Yes," she answered for me.

"Great. You're right on time to begin today's training. Just sign your names here." He pointed to a scroll on the table. We both went to sign as the boy sat back down, giving us a dirty look. We didn't pay him any attention. When that was done, the guard gestured for us to go through the door. "This is Philip. He'll be training you. I'm off to the castle now, but it was nice seeing you both."

"Thank you, sir," Tova said. Then she faced Philip. "Where do we start?"

He looked delighted at her readiness. "Right this way."

He led us to a large, open field where about two dozen other fairies were gearing up. "If you pass the initial training, we'll have you fitted for armor and weapons. For now, we'll just have you practice with extras." He pointed to a pile of leather armor and told us to find whatever fits.

Putting on the armor was harder than it looked, especially for Tova. I was thin, but at least I was the right height. She was tiny, so nothing fit her. I tied it up for her the best I could, but it still bagged on her. She looked like a kid playing dress up. She glared at me like she knew I was thinking that. I attempted to wipe my smile away. I knew how badly she wanted to be taken seriously. If I laughed at her, everyone else would too.

By the time we were headed over to join the group, Philip was walking back to us, carrying two swords. The gleamed in the sunlight, and Tova stared at hers with awe and eagerness. Philip said, "You can take your places over there." He pointed to the front line, and the recruits shuffled over to make room.

Philip handed the swords over to us. I grabbed the hilt of mine and nearly toppled over when Philip let go. Snickers came from behind me, and when I looked up, even Philip had laughter in his eyes. "Careful now," he said.

"Real swords are heavier than I realized," I muttered, not that it made it any better or less embarrassing. I glanced over at Tova to see if she was having the same problem. She was looking back at me with a slightly worried expression, her grip on her sword casual as she leaned on it, tip in the ground. I guess I was worried for nothing.

We took our places in line and training began. We started with basic posture. I thought I'd be alright at this, but alas, no. I could barely lift the metal sword, which weighed a thousand times more than the wooden one I'd made. Tova did better, somehow prepared for the weight. When Philip moved onto strikes, I was done for. The others made it look easy, as if their weapons were lighter than air and their armor wasn't the least bit constricting. Tova wasn't quite as smooth, but she knew how to move her body. She was just getting acclimated to the weight and the ill-fitting clothes. I, on the other hand, could not balance for the life of me. I fell face-first several times, luck alone saving me from impaling myself. The quiet snickers from before turned into full-blown laughter.

"Alright, calm down, soldiers. Let's break for a meal," Philip said hours later. When most of the others had wandered off toward the kitchens, Philip and Tova came over to help me up.

"I'm terrible at this," I said, staring at my feet.

"Ha!" Philip clapped me on the back so hard I almost fell again. "Yes, you are! For now. Don't worry though, lad. A lot of the merchants' kids are bad at first. You just need to build up your strength."

"Really?" I looked at him, unsure. Tova appeared hopeful at his words though.

"Really," he answered. "Give it a few weeks. You still won't be great by then, but you'll improve."

Tova was nodding at me. "Alright," I said.

I gave it a few weeks. And a few more after that. I did not improve. Tova did though. Her sword became an extension of her arm, and she wielded it with a ferocity I'd never seen before. I spent most of the training sessions watching her. It made me fall on my face more, but that was going to happen anyway.

If only the rest of the recruits saw her the way I did. They picked on her even when she was doing better than them—maybe _because_ she was doing better than them. They would spar with her, and she'd beat them. Then they'd roll their eyes and laugh, saying they let her win. But I saw the frustration, desperation, and occasional fear in their eyes during the fights. They just wouldn't admit it.

I was proud of her. She was as perfect for this as we'd always pretended. I could tell she liked it here despite the attitudes of the group, and I was too for the simple fact that I was with her.

One evening, we were walking to the barracks. We'd been taught a new move that Tova was very excited about. She'd mastered it, and I'd been horrible as usual, but her enthusiasm was infectious. She talked on and on about it, and I smiled as I watched her. She was demonstrating it, spinning and swinging an imaginary sword, and nearly hit Philip in his face.

Tova's eyes widened as she realized what she'd almost done. "Sorry, sir, I didn't know you were there."

He laughed good-naturedly. "Now don't waste all your energy when you should be going to sleep. Training begins again bright and early tomorrow."

"Yes, sir. Did you need something?" she asked. We'd never seen Philip at our barracks before.

"I only wanted a word with Randolph," he replied.

My brow twitched up in curiosity. Tova looked between us and said, "Oh, alright. Goodnight then, sir."

"Goodnight, soldier."

Normally she would kiss me when we parted, but it felt inappropriate in front of the instructor, so she nodded to me awkwardly.

Alone now, I asked, "What did you need to speak with me about, sir?"

He shifted uncomfortably, like he wasn't sure how to start. "There's one week left before we start the second stage of training."

I didn't know how he was expecting me to respond to that, so I stayed silent.

"I'm going to be brutally honest with you because I don't think you truly care much... You haven't improved as much as I was hoping."

Oh... "I'm aware of that, sir." Honestly, I was surprised he'd waited this long to kick me out. I was wasting his valuable time.

"You need to get better quickly if you want to stay. You have one week."

I nodded. "I understand, sir. Thank you."

"Good." He nodded to himself as he thought about something. Then he looked back at me and bid me goodnight.

As he strode away, I slipped into the barracks and over to Tova's bunk. She was wide awake. "What did he say?" she whispered.

"He's going to cut me in a week if I don't get better."

"No! He can't!"

I studied her expression, anger mixed with sadness. "It's no surprise. You see how bad I am at all this. It'll be alright. I'll go back to the woodworker's shop—if he'll have me, I suppose. I'll still cheer you on."

"How? You won't be able to see me. No, you have to stay. I'll help you. We'll train more. One on one. You'll get the hang of it if you just try." She didn't give me a chance to argue. She turned away and settled back onto the bed.

I tried to stifle my sigh. I knew it was probably hopeless, but I'd try for her.

***

# Chapter 5

#

Tova was a harder trainer than Philip. When regular training was done for the day, we'd stay in the field, and she'd make me do what we learned over and over. That part wasn't so different, but she'd also watch closely and critique every tiny movement. It was strange being the one watched. I was used to watching her so that I wouldn't miss anything when it came time to tell of how great she was. It was unnerving switching roles, especially since she wasn't watching in order to praise me. She only pointed out mistakes.

"No, Randolph! Pay attention. Like this," she snapped before demonstrating.

I was paying attention, but I couldn't move like that. She tried to help by moving my limbs into the proper position, but on my own, I couldn't achieve better than an approximation. "Can we move on to something else?"

She sighed. "Fine. Let's try some defense. You aren't as bad at getting away from an opponent."

She walked a few steps away from me, and then faster than I could blink, turned and came at me with her sword. I dodged and ducked to avoid swing after swing. She was right. I was better at getting away. The only thing I'd really improved on in my time here was my stamina, so I could run circles around my opponent all day.

I ducked to the ground as Tova's sword traveled through the air. Before she recovered from the momentum of the swing, I slinked behind her. I lept onto her back and grabbed the hand holding the sword so it couldn't move toward me. We fell onto the ground. I rolled off of her and sat up, leaning on my elbows. She looked genuinely surprised. I smiled wide.

"Good job," she said. It was the first time I'd ever beaten her, even if it had been unconventional. "But not everyone is going to be as small as me. And it probably won't be one on one, so that strategy isn't going to work very often," she reminded me. "You still need to be able to do other things."

That was all I got before the attacks started again. She didn't let up all week, and by the end, it had paid off. At least, it seemed to when Philip said all of us, including me, were moving on to the next stage.

After the announcement, everyone filed out, excited to celebrate. Philip pulled me aside. I waved at Tova to let her know I'd catch up, and she smiled and nodded before heading out with the others.

Philip had watched the exchange intently. Then he faced me and said, "I want to be brutally honest again."

"Go ahead, sir. I wasn't offended the first time."

He nodded. "Alright then. You're still terrible." He looked me dead in the eye as he said it. "Barely good enough to get by, and I'm not even sure of that."

"So why...?"

"I have a feeling that if I cut you right now, I'll lose her too," he motioned to where Tova had been. "She's one of the best in the class. I want her to stay."

"I agree, sir. She belongs here."

He paused for a moment to decide what he wanted to do about me, since I definitely did not belong here. "As I said, I'm keeping you on...for now. As soon as she's comfortable enough that I'm not worried about her following you out..."

"I'm gone," I finished for him. He nodded. He had said he was being brutally honest, but he still wasn't speaking the full implication. Tova would outgrow me. I'd known it in the back of my mind for a long time. Neither Philip or I wanted to voice it though.

So we didn't. "I'm glad we understand each other," he said. "I hope you don't take it personally."

"Not at all, sir."

I decided not to tell Tova the details of the conversation. I was going to enjoy the time I had with her since I may not get much more. I also thought about how I might still visit her even after I went back to town. I could sneak along the sides of the compound to this building and let the darkness shield me. There was a lot of open space though, so getting across the gaps would be tricky. I could try tunneling in. Philip had said the second stage of training would involve using our elements along with our weapons. I might actually be good at that. I enjoyed working with my element. I doubted it would work for sneaking in though. This compound surely had obstacles in place for each type of fairy in case of Seelie attack.

When I got to the dining hall, Tova was talking with one of the other recruits. I think his name was Niklas. He frequently challenged her, and beat her about half the time. He'd rub it in her face when he won, and make excuses to save his pride when he lost. I didn't like him. Neither did Tova—at least that's what I thought until I realized she was not arguing with him. She was laughing. And not at him, at something he said. Were they actually getting along and joking around? It was strange.

I went over to join them, and the laughter from him and his friends tapered off. Tova held on a little longer, but eventually hers ended as well when she saw that everyone was staring at me. "Hello," I said to the group at large. It seemed their newly friendly manner did not extend to me.

"Let's get some food," one of Niklas's friends said. They all wandered off toward the serving table. Except for Niklas, who said, "Tova, you should join us." He looked right at me as he said it, making it clear he meant Tova and _only_ Tova should join them.

Tova turned to me, looking worried. Before she said anything, I asked, "Do you want to go with them?"

She looked at her feet. "Yes. I know it's odd, but they actually aren't so bad once you get to know them." I didn't point out that five minutes probably wasn't long enough to get to know them. "I think they were just joking around before, since I was new and all." I also didn't point out that I doubted that was true. "Anyway, it'd be nice to have more friends here, don't you think? I'll try to convince them you're alright."

"It's fine, Tova. You can go with them. Let me know if they give you trouble."

She nodded and bounded over to them. "You're outgrowing me faster than expected," I murmured to myself.

Over the following days and weeks, Tova pulled away from me. It was gradual. So gradual that I didn't think she noticed. She would deny it when I said anything about it. But I sensed it. She spent more time with Niklas and his friends, and of course, they never accepted me. I didn't want them to.

Too soon, we only saw each other when we were falling asleep on our bunks that were still right next to each other. "Tell me a story," she whispered to me.

"Which one?"

"I don't know. Any," she said through a yawn.

I gave it a moment of thought. "Once there was a lakeside town that was being decimated by a herd of kelpies. The leader of the herd was a giant, green beast with teeth as sharp as knives and enough anger to destroy an army. The town chieftain had tried everything to rid his home of the deadly monsters, but nothing worked. The kelpies could overpower ten fairies. Weapons would slide off their slick coats. Not even the elements could hold them back, because this was a lake town full of water fairies, and the water elementals obeyed the kelpies too. The chieftain had run out of ideas. He needed a hero.

"By some miracle, his prayers were answered. One day, a powerful fire warrior strode into the town and saw the predicament. She decided to be the hero they so desperately needed. She met the kelpies at the edge of the lake, and they attacked, not realizing what she was. She countered with a burst of flame as tall as the beasts, and they reared back in surprise.

"The kelpies tried to subdue her flames with splashes of water, but she was a master of fire. She merely made it spring back up hotter, turning their splashes to steam. Then, keeping her body within the protection of fire, she swung her sword through the flames at the nearest kelpie. Heated from the fire, the blade sent more steam up from the kelpie's body and burned its flesh.

"Again and again the fire warrior swung. The kelpies' slick bodies were no longer helping them, but hindering them. The burns sent several running for the lake. The warrior was smart though. Before they could reach it, she sent another burst of flame just above the waters edge, blocking the kelpies from retreating.

"There was no escape for the kelpies, and the warrior didn't let up on her attack. She slew every last one of them...except the leader. When none but the great, green beast remained, she stared it down through the flames.

"'You are no match for me, kelpie. But I will spare you if you surrender to me.' The kelpie considered. Truthfully, it respected the warrior's strength. And without a herd, it needed a place to go. Why not with the fierce warrior? Slowly, the kelpie bowed to her.

"She declared him her steed, and rode through the village proclaiming her victory. The townspeople cheered. She was indeed their hero, and happiness reigned from then on."

I finished the tale with a flourish, thrusting Tova's arms up as if she held a sword up in victory. She giggled. "I haven't heard that one before," she said.

"What do you mean? We used to play that all the time as kids."

She thought about it for a minute. "Oh, right, I remember now." She smiled as she reminisced.

It bothered me that she'd ever forgotten, but I didn't want to dwell on it. Instead I chuckled and asked, "What was it you named the kelpie once he became your steed?"

She laughed so hard for a second that I thought she'd wake up the rest of the recruits. She clamped a hand over her mouth to silence herself. Once she could whisper again, she said, "Horacio. What a name for a kelpie."

I laughed silently along with her.

It was the following day that it became clear she no longer needed me. We were fighting in pairs. We were armed with daggers, but we were only supposed to use them in defense. We were to attack with our elements.

I was paired with some guy I never got the name of. He was a fire fairy, which was a huge advantage over earth, since he could just burn up whatever I threw at him while I could do nothing but dodge his attacks. Still, I was holding my own. I was good at getting away. I didn't know how to disable him though, so I was mostly making the ground shake to throw him off balance.

He threw a fireball at me, and I dropped and rolled. I came back up to see him running at me full speed. I shook the ground for the thousandth time, and he stumbled. Philip came up behind me, and I jumped when he spoke. "You two are at a stalemate. It's going to come down to who gets tired first. Unless you do something more," he said, raising his eyebrows at me.

He moved on before I could ask for a suggestion. When I looked at my opponent again, he was too close. I panicked and shook the earth much harder than last time. Thin cracks formed beneath my feet. That gave me an idea.

I concentrated and directed all of my power to the spot directly beneath my opponent. Cracks branched out from underneath him. It was working. I kept going until finally the earth cracked open. He dropped into the hole.

I wanted to jump for joy. I'd won! I'd actually won. It was the first time I'd beaten anyone and probably only the third or fourth that I'd lasted more than five minutes. "Yes!"

My victory was premature. I walked over to the hole to help him out. I was a few steps away when suddenly he swung himself up and out. He tugged his daggers from where they were dug into the dirt, and ran for me. He looked enraged. I desperately tried to stop him with a few roots around his ankles, but he burned them away before they could grab hold of him. He tackled me. He growled in fury and raised the dagger over me, ready to bring it down on my throat.

I scrabbled on the ground, but it was no use. He was heavy and had me pinned down. "What are you doing? Stop!" I was about to scream for help, not caring about my dignity.

Someone flew from the side and knocked him off me. It was Philip. "What are you doing, soldier? You're supposed to disable. You're _not_ supposed to actually kill anyone!"

He didn't respond. He just grunted and glared at me before stomping off.

Philip shook his head and turned to me. "Well, cracking the earth, that was good. It was what I was hoping you'd do. I know you were being a good sport, but maybe next time don't approach the downed enemy."

"Yes, sir."

"Anyhow, sorry about that. I'll talk to him. You're done for the day."

"Thank you, sir." I walked away toward the dining hall. I passed a few other pairs who were still fighting, but Tova wasn't among them, so I figured she was already getting dinner.

As soon as I walked in, I saw her surrounded by her new friends. Niklas was talking to her loudly. "You need to leave him behind. He's weak, and he makes you weak too."

"He's my friend," she said quietly. "More than that. We were supposed to get married...I think. It was before we came here. I don't know if that's still happening."

"It's not. And that's a good thing for you. You don't want to be dragged down by him."

She looked upset by his words, but didn't argue with him. I stood there for a few minutes, unable to move. Finally she noticed me. Her eyes widened in fear, and I knew she was wondering how much I'd heard. I nodded ever so slightly to tell her that yes, I had heard.

She left the group and came over to me. Staring at her feet, she mumbled, "I'm so sorry."

"Do you believe them?" I asked. "That I make you weak?"

She looked up at me, shaking her head, but not actually able to say no. She only stuttered random sounds.

"I do," I said.

"What?"

"I believe them. That I make you weak."

"You..."

"I do. I've never been anywhere near as strong as you, and I hold you back by making you help me and defend me all the time," I said. I honestly believed that, even if I didn't want it to be true. I gave her a sad smile. "It's alright."

I'd never seen Tova cry since that first day I'd met her, and those had been angry tears. Sad tears were something that didn't fit her at all. I didn't think she would allow herself to shed them if she was left with this crowd, so with a barely audible 'goodbye,' I slipped out the door.

I was going to go to Philip and tell him it was time I leave. He would understand. He'd probably be glad to finally be rid of me.

I'd crossed the field and come to the building Philip would be in. I was about to knock on the door when I heard sounds from around the corner. Everyone should be inside the dining hall or barracks by now. I silently slipped along the side of the building and stopped at the edge to listen.

"...like this for you too. Just wait," a low voice rumbled. I didn't recognize it.

"I'm not doing so badly," a higher voice replied. That one sounded sort of familiar, but I couldn't place it. It was probably one of the others in my group, someone who never talked to me but maybe I'd heard around. That didn't actually narrow it down much. "At least I'm better than that one guy I told you about."

Were they talking about me? It didn't matter. I wasn't offended even if they were. I shook off the thought and tuned back into the conversation.

"It doesn't matter," the low voice said angrily. "You'll end up right where I am. Or worse."

"I think you're exaggerating," the high voice said.

"Doesn't matter. I'm right. You'll see."

They paused long enough that I thought the conversation was over. I was about to leave and forget the whole thing, when the high voice started talking again.

"Even if that's the case, what are you going to do about it? All you're doing now is whining."

There was some unintelligible grumbling. Then, "Gregor is planning something. He'll get Philip back for all of us."

My eyes widened for a moment. Who was Gregor and what was he going to do to Philip?

I crept away from the voices slowly. I passed the door without knocking or entering and headed back to the barracks. Maybe what I'd heard was nothing to worry about, and they were just letting off steam. But maybe it wasn't that simple. Maybe they were really going to do something to Philip. Until I found out for sure, I'd stay.

***

# Chapter 6

#

A couple of days passed without anything unusual happening to Philip. At times, I was almost convinced I'd imagined the whole exchange. I hadn't been able to figure out who either of the voices belonged to.

Granted, I hadn't been trying particularly hard. I had kept my ears open while everyone else talked, hoping one of the voices would reveal himself. I hadn't had any luck though, so it was time I start being more proactive. I liked Philip, and if he was in danger, I wanted to help.

And it wasn't as if I had anything else to do. Tova had been speaking to me less and less. This morning, I'd only gotten a quick 'good morning, see you in the dining hall' before she left. And she'd literally only _seen me_ in the dining hall. She hadn't talked to me, hadn't waved, just a quick glance confirming my continued existence. It bothered me, especially when she chose to have her meals with Niklas, but I tried not to show it.

I needed something else to focus on. I thought about the conversation. Not about the getting back at Philip part, but what came before that. The high voice had told the low voice that he wasn't doing that badly, better than someone else at least. I couldn't be positive, but I was fairly certain that I was the person he was better than. I was the worst in the class. There were other classes, more advanced than mine, but I didn't think they were talking about someone in one of those. The people in them couldn't be too horrible or they would've been kicked out by now. Also, I could've sworn I'd heard his voice before, so it had to be someone here that I'd overheard. Someone better than me, but still pretty bad at all of this.

I paid greater attention during practice. I watched everyone closely and put them in order from best to worse at our latest task. I picked the bottom five and decided to watch them for a day each to see if they'd do anything out of the ordinary.

The first one I almost ruled out immediately. I'd gone to the dining hall right behind him, and as soon as we entered, he said hello to his friend. His voice was much too deep to be the high voiced person I was looking for. But I stuck with him on the off chance that he was the low voiced person. I hadn't recognized the low voice at the time, but maybe he'd been in my class all along.

I ate breakfast at the table with him and his friend. I found out their names were Edmund and Pascal. Pascal barely escaped my bottom five, but maybe he was worth looking at too, so I considered myself lucky that I could observe them at the same time. They didn't seem to mind my presence. Neither spoke to me, but since they were near the bottom of the class as well, they didn't poke fun like the others. I was able to merely listen in on their conversation, which seemed completely normal. Were they really innocent or simply saving the more distasteful conversations for a more private setting?

At practice, I made sure I got both of them as partners at one point or another so that I could keep watching. I made sure to note their words and actions toward Philip as well. At the end of the day, I had nothing. Neither of them seemed to have any problem with Philip, or anyone else for that matter. They went straight to sleep after dinner, so there was no more to observe from them that day.

I was mostly sure they were innocent. I wasn't disappointed. What were the chances that my culprit would be the first person I looked at? I went to sleep, ready for suspect number two the next day.

The boy I watched on day two was a loner. At first, I thought that was promising. He didn't seem to have any loyalties, so perhaps he wouldn't feel guilty about hurting Philip. The problem was that was all I had. There was nothing else that led me to believe he was the one. While he wasn't very talented, he was the picture of the perfect student in regard to effort. He really listened during practice and only seemed eager to improve. In the dining hall and barracks, he would stare off apparently at nothing, but I could see his muscles twitch like he was still practicing. I couldn't even confirm whether or not his voice matched because he didn't speak once all day. Finally, I got frustrated, so at dinner, I casually asked him, "What rank do you think we have to be before they start feeding us the good food?"

He looked at me blankly, clearly not getting the joke. I held out hope that he'd at least say something, but he just shrugged. I blew out a loud breath. I got up and waved him off like he was a bother even though he wouldn't understand why.

Just like the two from yesterday, I didn't think the high voice belonged to him. I let it go for the time being, vowing to look at him again if I found nothing else.

On the third day, my focus was on Alfred, an average looking boy with below average combat skills and way below average elemental skills. I found that out during our practice fight pretty quickly. He was a water fairy with the least amount of control I'd ever seen. He was trying to make the ground underneath me slippery, but instead, he created a rainstorm over both of us plus a few groups to either side. The field became so wet that all of us were slipping and sliding through the mud, including Alfred, who I was then able to catch in a net of roots.

I didn't go over to him immediately. I remembered what happened when I tried to help that other guy out of the trench I'd put him in. But then Alfred looked over at me despondently and called, "I yield."

I went over to help him for two reasons. One, he looked so sad that I could tell I wasn't in for a repeat of the scene with the trench guy. And two, that voice... It sounded like the high voice.

"Alright there?" I asked as I approached.

"I suppose. Can you help me out of this?" It was definitely him. I had to stop myself from jumping for joy.

"Sure." I made the roots retract back into the ground and held out a hand to help him up. Before I could say anything else, Philip was there, giving us tips and pairing us off with others for more practice.

I did not let opportunity pass me by at dinner though. I sat across from him. "How'd the rest of practice go for you?" I asked.

The corners of his mouth turned down in a frown as he thought back on it. "About the same. You could likely tell. Wasn't it my rain that helped you win against that fire fairy?"

"Oh, yes, thanks for that." A couple of hours after our fight had finished, I'd been paired with Tova. She always tried to go easy on me, but she still won every time. Today, I'd only won due to Alfred's accidental interference. She'd been more annoyed at my winning than I'd expected, but I didn't give it much thought. "We'd make a good team," I said.

"Ha! Sure, but only if we make it past the bottom ranks." He looked genuinely pleased at the thought until his expression turned as despondent as it had been when he was tied in my roots. "My brother says that will never happen."

"Your brother?" I said it quickly, giving away too much of my interest. Perhaps he was the low voice. I kicked myself and tried to recover. "Why would your own brother say something like that?"

I needn't have worried about giving myself away. Alfred launched into the story without anymore prompting as if he was happy just to have someone to talk to. "My brother, Erwin, enlisted three years ago. He was alright at this stuff. Not as good as Niklas and Emil, I mean," he gestured to the guys that always made fun of me. Tova sat with them, and she was staring at me. I didn't know why, so I smiled at her and then refocused on Alfred. "But better than me or you." He paused for a second to glance nervously at me. I nodded, fully aware of my lack of skill. Looking relieved, he continued, "He was expecting to be placed as a castle guard. Not one of the king's personal guards, of course, but one stationed around the grounds, still somewhat prestigious, you know. But instead, they put him on reserve for the scouts! He's meant to be one of the fae patrolling the forests and fighting the beasts—a lot of the scouts get eaten, you know. So he's one of the lowest of the low, the expendables! And not even one of the head scouts, but a back-up!"

He stared at me, waiting for me to share in his shock. "Wow, I'm guessing he didn't take that well."

"He did not. He's still angry about it. And he blames Philip for all of it. Says he'll do the same to me."

"What does Philip have to do with it?"

"He says Philip could have recommended the other officers to put him at a higher rank—Philip has done that for other recruits, he says—but Philip knows where he was placed and didn't do a thing."

"Perhaps Philip has his reasons, and they should discuss it."

"They should, but I doubt my brother will say anything."

"You don't think he'll do anything at all?"

"No, he is too passive. He won't stop Gregor from doing something though." He mumbled the last part, and when I looked up to try to catch what he said, he clammed up for the first time.

"Gregor? Who is he?"

Alfred was already shaking his head. "I really shouldn't say anything. It's none of my business. I don't even really know what's going to happen."

I tried a few more times to get anything else out of him but to no avail. Still, this was better than I could have hoped for. I knew where I could find his brother, and whoever Gregor was, it sounded like they were friends, so I should be able to find him too.

When I got to the barracks, I was already planning on sneaking over to where the reserves stayed when they were on rotation. I had to put it on hold though, because as soon as I walked through the door, Tova was there to ambush me. "Oh, hello," I said as I stopped myself before I walked into her.

"Hello," she said. She waited a beat before speaking again. "I see you're branching out."

"What?"

"You made a new friend. At dinner," she clarified. My mind was still elsewhere.

"Oh, Alfred, yes. He's quite nice." I realized as I said it that I actually meant it. I did like him. I'd just make a point not to tell him any secrets because it was way too easy to pull information from him.

Tova nodded slowly. "Well, that's great for you," she said, though she didn't sound all that happy. Her mood today was confusing.

"Yes, I suppose." I didn't know what else to say. "How are your new friends?" I asked.

"Fine. It's great." Again, her tone failed to match her words.

I could only nod in response. "Well then...I'm going to get some sleep. Goodnight." I inched around her, but stopped when she spoke again.

"Do you want to have breakfast with me tomorrow?"

I tried not to let the surprise show on my face. This was the first time she'd wanted to spend time with me in days. I wanted to get to the bottom of this thing about Philip, but I couldn't pass this up. "Sure."

When everyone had fallen asleep, I crept out of the barracks. It was a long shot that I would find anything tonight, but Erwin had already shown that late night meetings were something he did. I hoped I'd get lucky like I had with Alfred.

To my disappointment, everyone was sound asleep in the reserve bunker. I didn't have to check the area to confirm Erwin was in there as well. His bunk was right up against a window, and in the moonlight, I could see the resemblance to Alfred. I waited a little while to see if he'd come out, but I knew he wasn't going to tonight. I went back to my barracks and tried to squeeze in some sleep before breakfast with Tova.

In the morning, Tova was acting as strange as she was yesterday. We made awkward small talk for a little while. She kept looking over at her new friends a few tables over while they sneered at me.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" I asked her.

"Yes. I thought you were my friend," she snapped.

"I am." I didn't say that she hadn't been acting like mine lately. I didn't ask when we'd stopped being more than friends.

"So where did you go last night?" she asked. She was failing miserably at looking casual.

I was a little surprised by her question, but I didn't try to deny it. "How did you know I was gone?"

"I woke up and you were missing. At first, I wanted to go after you, thinking you needed help, but then..."

"Then what?"

"Do you have a new girl to go with your new friend?" she whispered.

I was taken aback. "No. Tova, no." Truthfully, I didn't know why she cared, but I still wanted to reassure her. And maybe I should tell her what I was doing. I thought she liked Philip. Maybe she'd be glad that I was trying to help. Maybe it'd fix things with us. I told her the basics of what was going on. "Today I'm going to see if I can sneak away for a while to watch Erwin, hopefully figure out who Gregor is."

"Getting away always has been your strength. I suppose sneaking around and spying is a natural progression," she muttered, not sounding as happy as I'd hoped.

"What's the matter, Tova?" I asked, exasperated.

"You beat me yesterday. And now this. It's like you don't need me anymore." She spoke quietly and wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I could say the same about you." She looked up at me, hurt. "But I don't because, to me, our relationship has never been about one of us needing the other. I thought we simply liked each other."

She didn't say anything after that, but eventually she nodded. She'd get out of her bad mood and come around soon enough. If I can help Philip, maybe she'll even be impressed.

I snuck away from the group around midday when we were switching weapons. We were all crammed inside a building trading one type of sword for another. I still didn't know the difference.

I went over to the reserves' barracks and hid behind the nearest building. There were a few of them milling about, and I definitely wouldn't blend in, so I needed to stay out of sight. I didn't see Erwin, and I was going to start peering through windows to see if he was inside, when he came out. It was my lucky day.

He nodded at his fellow troops but didn't join their conversation. He was walking across the grounds toward the front buildings. Philip wasn't there at the moment, but his office and living quarters were. I needed to go after him. But how to get there without notice?

There was a lot of open space between here and there. Someone would see if I just followed. If I took the long way around, I could lose him if he wasn't going where I thought he was. I stared at the ground for a moment. I was still convinced that they must have some type of trap or barricade to prevent tunnelling here, but now was the time to test it.

I dropped through a hole I'd made and let the ground enclose over me. I started tunnelling. I almost thought I was going the wrong way due to the lack of obstacles. I opened up a hole above me ever so slightly so I could take a look and be sure. I was halfway across, and I could see Erwin still walking in the same direction.

Just as I closed myself back in, something ran into me from the side. Dirt was flying every which way, and someone was coughing. When the dirt settled, there was a man I'd never seen before glaring at me. I was caught.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, I'll go—"

"Stay on course," he said.

I didn't have a chance to get my question out before he was tunnelling again. He hadn't apprehended me, so I suppose I could get on with my goal. I made it to the other side of the field, and looked around as soon as I was above ground. I saw a crowd of troops in the distance, more joining them as they popped up from the ground. Oh, I must have walked through their training course. No wonder there were no obstacles in this section. I quickly found Erwin as well. He made a series of quick knocks on the door to the frontmost building of the compound. It was where Tova and I had come through when we enlisted. A few moments later, the thin boy we'd met when we first arrived came outside to meet Erwin.

"I found out I have to go into the forest on the next round," Erwin said in the same low voice I'd heard the other night.

"Why?! You're too valuable for scout duty! This is insane!"

"I agree. I shouldn't have been placed here. Now I've got no choice." Erwin sounded resigned.

"It's all Philip's fault," the boy said furiously. Could this be Gregor?

"Have you thought more on your plan?" Erwin asked. "If I have to face possible death out there, I want the man who put me there to pay."

"That's what I wanted to hear," the boy said approvingly. I had no doubt now this was Gregor. "And yes, I've got the poppies. I'm doing it tonight."

I was shocked. I nearly made a noise and gave myself away. I thought they were going to try to make Philip look bad or maybe even put him out of commission for a while. But poppies could kill him.

After a few more exchanges, Erwin left and Gregor went back inside. I wasn't sure what to do now. I went back underground. That should be safe while I thought. I dug out some space to pace, but hit a solid wall. "There's the blockade I expected," I said aloud to myself. I studied it for a while. It wasn't visible from above ground, so there must be some space above it. I found that space, about an arms length from the surface. It was low enough that no one would know it's there from above ground, but high enough that anyone climbing over it in a tunnel would be noticeable.

I followed it with the tips of my fingers to see if it went under the building as well. I came to an odd place. There was a sharp turn in the stone wall, leading up. It went right up to the floor of the building. "Interesting..." I mumbled. I thought I knew what this was. This was not only a blockade, but it was hollow, thereby doubling as an escape route.

Gregor had said he was going through with his plan tonight. It was still early. I should have enough time to find a way in.

I found the way out sooner than expected. I wondered if the higher-ups in the guard knew it was this simple and counted on the Seelie not realizing this was an escape tunnel. They really needed to make this more complicated. Ah well, it was making my life easier for now.

I very carefully climbed out of my tunnel and into the stone escape route. I was fairly certain no one had seen me. When I got back to the building, I was met with a ladder leading to a door in the floor. I pressed my ear up to it and listened for several minutes before I got up the courage to lift it a tiny bit to peek out. No one was in here. It was an office, likely belonging to Philip or one of the other leaders that stayed on the compound.

Staying as quiet as possible and keeping to the shadows, I left the tunnel to have a look around. I only wanted to know where Gregor was and where he would be likely to plant the poison. The place appeared mostly deserted. Gregor was here doing the menial tasks while everyone else had important things to do outside. I couldn't say I entirely blamed him for being unhappy in his position, but it was still no excuse for what he was doing. I found him in another office counting money.

I quickly went back the way I'd come and decided to hide for the time being. I couldn't search the place for the poppies. It was too quiet, so any noise I made looking through things would be obvious. I'd have to wait for him to move.

It wasn't until the sun began to set that anything of interest happened. Then a knock came at the front of the building, and I heard a muffled exchange before Gregor entered the hallway carrying a massive amount of food. It must have been delivered for the officers. This was the perfect time for him to act.

Gregor dropped off food in each of the offices, not staying long in any, except the last one. I crept to the door, staying low. Gregor was pouring wine into a goblet. When he finished, he pulled a sack out of his pocket. It contained a powder the same color as the wine. He sprinkled it in. He'd ground up the poppies' blossoms. A dose of the poison that concentrated would certainly kill Philip.

I'd seen enough, so I raced back to my hiding place before he turned. When I heard the door close between the front room and the hallway, I came back out. All I had to do was dump Philip's wine.

Just as I made it to Philip's office, the door leading out to the rest of the compound opened. I shut Philip's door as fast as possible and hoped with everything in me that it would go unnoticed. And that it wasn't Philip that had come in.

A door down the hallway closed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Only it was too soon. I had the goblet in hand and was moving over to a potted plant in the corner when Philip's door opened.

"Randolph? What are you..." Philip's gaze drifted down to the goblet of wine in my hand. His expression changed to a mix of disappointment and carefully contained anger. "What's in it?" he asked.

He knew there was poison. Perhaps he was aware that some people were unhappy with him, and this was the only conclusion he could come to in this situation.

"I admit I didn't think you would be the type to do this. When you weren't around this afternoon, I assumed you'd deserted. I thought you would have talked to me first, but I could also understood why you may not have wanted to. I did not expect you to do this. I thought we understood each other after our previous talks. So, tell me why."

"Sir, I was dumping this. I know you have no reason to believe me, but that is the truth."

"You're right. I have no reason to believe you. Are you going to give me one?"

Should I tell him it was Gregor? No reason why not, I suppose. "There is ground poppy in this," I said as I poured it out. "You might want to check what your desk clerk has on him before he leaves."

He eyed me, unsure. "How will I know you didn't put it on him?"

"He hasn't seen me today," I said.

With a nod, he said, "I'm going to lock you in here."

And so he did. A few moments later, I heard a conversation coming from the front room. I couldn't make out the words, but I assumed Philip was requesting Gregor turn out his pockets. It turned to yelling soon, and then a door slammed. Philip entered the office shortly thereafter.

He threw the sack of ground poppy onto his desk. "He didn't even mention you," Philip said. "Not once did he try to blame you, and I know that little rat would have if he'd seen you in here at all. So how'd you manage that?"

"I did not put it on him, sir."

"I know that. How'd you get in here without him noticing? That's the one thing he's good for. As soon as anyone he's not expecting comes in here, he makes a fuss, a loud, irritating fuss. There's a reason he's not in the guard, you know. We don't take children."

I couldn't help but smirk.

"Back to my question. How'd you get in without sounding the alarm?"

"The tunnels, sir."

He nodded. "I've been telling them for years they need to change that, make the system more like the one under the castle. It's a maze down there...but you didn't hear it from me."

"Yes, sir." I knew I should probably go at this point, but there was one last thing. "Sir, when I heard about his plan, I had actually been on my way to see you and request dismissal from the guard. I stayed until I could stop this. But now I think I should ask to be dismissed."

He didn't say anything for a minute. Then, "No. Your request for dismissal is denied."

I was confused. "I thought, sir, that we understood each other, as you said. I am not fit for this."

"Do you have anything important that you must attend to outside the guard?"

"No, sir."

"Then I'm keeping you a little longer. Go back to your barracks."

"Yes, sir."

***

# Chapter 7

#

When I arrived at the barracks, everyone was still at dinner. I slipped into the dining hall to grab some food and took it to my bunk. I pondered what would happen when everyone found out that I'd gotten Gregor permanently dismissed.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone entering the otherwise empty barracks—make that two people. It was Luca and Regina, and they didn't acknowledge me as they were too busy ripping at each other's clothes. They were both in my class, though that wasn't how I knew them. I knew them vaguely through my parents. I also knew that Luca was currently engaged to Camilla, another friend of the family.

The couple was fast. I didn't have time to decide whether or not to alert them to my presence, let alone do it, before it was too late. If I cleared my throat now, I'd have already seen too much. As silently as possible, I rolled out of my bunk, crawled along the side of the room, and slipped out the door. My exit wouldn't have been stealthy enough to fool most people, but these two were too preoccupied to notice.

With nothing else to do, I started walking with no direction in mind. I wondered if I should say anything about the infidelity I'd witnessed. My mother would enjoy the knowledge. She would whisper about it with her friends. It would certainly be the most interesting topic of conversation for a good while. Camilla and her family would likely be shamed though. I had nothing against them, so I'd say nothing for now. I'd store it away in case it ever became useful.

I was wandering behind the main compound. The sun had set, but the moon was bright. I waved my hand to make some flowers bloom. The bright red petals spread like fire in curving lines around the field. I felt as if this was the first time I'd truly relaxed since I came here. I smiled and breathed in the scent of my blossoms as I continued meandering along.

There was a copse of trees ahead. That was as good a place as any to not be bothered. I sat and leaned against a tree. I listened to a nearby stream. Right as I relaxed, I heard a light voice. It was too quiet to make out the words. I was curious as to who else would be here, so I got up and moved toward it.

The stream became visible as I got closer. It cut through the trees here, making it a perfect place for water fairies to practice without being seen. Or for Seelie water fairies to hide before they attacked. I quieted my steps just in case.

When I peered beyond the next tree, I saw a man in the same armor as I wore during practice. He's UnSeelie then. But I was still worried when I saw what he was doing. There was a small kelpie standing in front of him, and he was reaching for it instead of making the intelligent choice of running away. He must be in a trance. That was pathetic considering we are taught to resist trances from the time we're born. Most of us wouldn't have any problem with a baby kelpie like this.

Rolling my eyes, I called out, "Put your hand down unless you want to lose your fingers."

The man turned to me, his blue eyes surprised and confused. Even more pathetic that he's a water fairy and can't resist a baby kelpie. And he didn't seem to be listening to me. His hand was still stretched toward the kelpie, and since his eyes were on me, he didn't see it move slightly closer to its meal. With an exaggerated sigh to let him know just how idiotic he was, I jogged over and stepped between him and the kelpie. A baby kelpie couldn't take on two grown fairies, so it stepped back. I shooed it away, and the tiny kelpie trotted off down the stream.

"What'd you do that for?" the man said from behind me. That wasn't the 'thank you' I was expecting.

"Did you want to have your fingers ripped off?" I asked as I faced him.

"He wasn't going to rip my fingers off, you imbecile."

"Really? Because you were reaching your fingers toward it, and its mouth was getting awfully close to said fingers."

"It was coming to sniff me. It wasn't going to bite. It knows better."

"It knows better?" This man was clearly insane. Maybe I should leave him to it.

"Yes. I'm taming it. It knows not to bite me."

Oh fantastic, he was one of those people. Kelpies are predators. We are prey to them. Yet there are a few dim-witted fairies that hold the ridiculous belief that they can tame kelpies. "I know that there are folktales about that kind of thing—trust me, I love those stories, even made up a few of my own—but they aren't real. You can't tame a kelpie. That one would have taken a bite out of you if it could have."

"You mean _you_ couldn't tame a kelpie. I'm a water fairy. I know what I'm doing." Before I could argue again, he said, "Leave me alone and mind your own business." Then he stormed off in the opposite direction the kelpie had gone. Since he wasn't going after it, I didn't go after him, instead heading back to the barracks.

The next evening, I saw him walking to copse of trees and the stream again. I think I audibly groaned. If only someone else had found him, then he'd be their problem. I followed, since I couldn't just let him die. Fortunately, his little kelpie never showed up, and he left after a while.

He went everyday, and I kept an eye on him from behind a tree so I wouldn't have to argue with him again. On the fourth day, his kelpie came. He started coaxing it toward him as if it needed any coaxing to approach its food. When it got close enough to swipe at him, I came out from behind the tree to go save him.

I didn't have the chance to get to him though. Hooves pounded on the bank of the stream before splashing across. A full-grown version of the baby kelpie, likely its mother, was racing toward the stupid water fairy, ready to teach her baby how to kill.

The water fairy didn't rear back. He was probably already in the mother kelpie's trance. They could be hard to fight off, especially if they take you by surprise. I wasn't affected though, so I didn't think she had noticed me. I used the opportunity. As fast as I could, I made the branches of the trees nearest them stretch out and wrap around the two kelpies. The mother was able to break through the first ones, but lucky for me, there were plenty of trees to use. I kept at it until the branches held tight.

I approached slowly in case the mother kelpie was able to break free. Once I was close, I could see I'd caught her in the nick of time. Her razor sharp teeth were less than an arm's length away from the water fairy's head.

"You again," he snarled at me. Once again, not the 'thank you' I was expecting.

"Yes, me again. You're welcome again."

"I told you to leave me alone. I know what I'm doing."

"If I'd left you alone, you'd be dead. So once again, you're welcome."

"I'm taming them! And you're messing me up!"

"They are not tame!" How was he not understanding this even with a kelpie this close ready to bite his head off? "They might have left you alone, since you're a water fairy, if you hadn't bothered them. But you've gone and tried to harm her baby, so of course she's going to hurt you."

"I'm not harming the baby!"

"Do you really think kelpies, headstrong as they are, enjoy being tamed? She probably considers taming a form of harm. And she won't let you do it to her baby."

"He's right," a new voice called from behind us. We both turned our attention to it. It was one of the other commanders on the compound. I hadn't met him, but from the look on the water fairy's face, they knew each other. "I requested your presence in my office an hour ago. You failed to come because you were attempting to tame kelpies?" He rolled his eyes exactly like I had.

"Sir, I—"

"I'm going to be rethinking your position here. What you've attempted is extremely dangerous—"

"Sir, I had it under control. I would have succeeded if he hadn't—"

"If he hadn't saved your life? And don't interrupt me. Even if you had appeared to succeed, we would not allow a kelpie into our ranks. They are unpredictable and dangerous." As if to emphasize the point, the mother kelpie made another attempt at breaking her bonds. That seemed to remind the commander that it would be better to have this discussion elsewhere. "Let's head back to my office." When the water fairy reluctantly began walking, the commander asked my name.

"Randolph, sir."

"Thank you, Randolph. That was quick thinking and good work there. I'll be sure to remark on it to your commander."

"Thank you, sir."

Days passed uneventfully. The only acknowledgement I received from Philip that might have been about the kelpie incident was a small nod. And I could have imagined it. I decided to try talking to him again about being discharged. Everything was back to normal, which meant I was doing terribly at training once again. When everyone went to the dining hall that evening, I caught up with him as he walked to his office.

"Sir, can we discuss my leaving again?"

"You're still staying," he said.

"Alright, sir. But why?"

He stopped and faced me. We weren't at the building yet, still standing out in the open, but he glanced around to make sure no one was there anyway. Lowering his voice, he said, "I know about the kelpies."

I still didn't think that was enough reason for him to waste his time training me with swords. I quirked an eyebrow in question.

"The kelpies, the poison... You may be hopeless with a sword, but you're smart. That's why I'm keeping you. For now."

I nodded slowly, trying to understand if there was a deeper meaning there. When I couldn't decide, I had to ask, "Are you expecting that to come in handy again soon?"

He looked at me intently, but then he only shrugged. "You never know."

He was lying. He did know. He was expecting trouble, and he was keeping me around so that I could find out about it. I nodded more confidently that time in attempt to show that I had received his message. "Alright, sir." And with that, we parted.

Nothing of much interest had happened recently, but I listened closely to the conversations I heard. I watched for little signs. It paid off a few weeks later.

I'd started noticing little things happening between Tova's friends, Niklas and Emil. There were little looks of hostility, a few comments passed off as jokes or muttered too low to hear. Taken individually, it would have been easy to assume they were meaningless, merely two strong men jostling for power over their little group. But all together, I was getting the idea that the animosity between them was real.

Emil especially was becoming more aggressive. When he fought Niklas during training, he wasn't just practicing different strikes. He was throwing killing blows, and it was fortunate Niklas was so quick to respond, because Emil was not pulling back. Philip must have seen it, as he permanently separated them after breaking them up for the sixth time.

Sadly for me, I was paired with Emil for the rest of the day. We switched from weapons to elements, and I had a feeling Philip had done that on purpose, since I wasn't quite as hopeless with my elemental power. I survived for a few minutes each time we fought. Emil wasn't trying to kill me. He was also distracted. He was still trying to hurt Niklas even while he was paired up with me.

Emil was an earth fairy, like me, and quite good with it. With the tiniest of gestures, he would create small fissures or bring up roots right underneath Niklas's feet. The hazards were so small that they could have been there all along, and Niklas had failed to notice them until he had nearly sprained both ankles tripping over them. I only knew them for what they were because I knew what to look for in Emil's movements. I had a similar style.

That evening, I watched as Emil followed Niklas out of the dining hall. I knew Emil was going to confront Niklas, and while I didn't much like either of them, I also knew I shouldn't let it get out of hand if I could stop it. I decided to keep an eye on them and intervene if Emil started trying to kill Niklas again.

They were right outside the door when I came out. I thought they would have gone farther so as not to be overheard. They cut off their conversation abruptly when I came out, and they stared me down as I quickly redirected my path to avoid bumping into them.

"Sorry, boys. Good evening," I said casually. I made my way to one of the side doors to the barracks that they couldn't see and opened and closed the door so they'd think I'd gone in. Then I silently moved back to the side of the dining hall. The noise from the dining hall was loud, but I could still make out a little of what they were saying.

"...won't let you ruin this..." came Niklas's rough voice.

"...too late...kill you before I let..." answered Emil.

"No, you won't." Niklas was louder now, not afraid of being overheard, and his voice had taken on a mocking tone. "You can't. I'm where I am for a reason: I'm the best here."

Was that really all this was about? Emil was jealous that Niklas was top of the class? What a ridiculous reason to kill someone.

I heard a slam, so I peeked around the corner. Niklas had pushed Emil against the wall and leaned over him threateningly. I expected one of them to start throwing punches now, but the door opened from inside the dining hall.

"What are you two doing?" I recognized Tova's voice.

"Nothing. Emil just tripped," Niklas told her. I doubt she believed that, and I could picture her rolling her eyes.

"Stop being stupid. Come on," she said.

I heard Tova and who I presumed to be Niklas walking in my direction. I took a few steps back and tried to melt into the shadows. They passed and headed to the main door of the barracks, but not without Tova flicking her eyes right to me. Thankfully, she said nothing to Niklas.

I peeked back around to see if Emil was still there. He muttered a few things that I couldn't understand as he dusted himself off. Then he went back into the dining hall.

I couldn't go into the barracks now. Niklas probably already thought something was amiss due to my absence right now. If I went in now, he'd know I'd been listening.

I took a walk to the copse of trees and the stream even though there was nothing interesting there to see tonight, before finally going to the barracks. When I got there, Tova immediately said, "See, he's right there. He went for a moonlight stroll. He does it all the time because he's strange that way."

Niklas was eyeing me. I'd been right. I smiled at him to acknowledge his gaze and didn't say anything to either of them. That would have added to the strangeness. I simply got in my bunk and went to sleep.

At practice the following day, Niklas was paired with Tova. I was not paired with Emil. Nevertheless, I stayed as close to him as I could because I could see that he was pulling the same tricks as yesterday. His attacks were becoming so frequent that they were actually starting to take a toll on Niklas. Niklas was getting sloppy, throwing fireballs everywhere.

I didn't want to intervene here. It was too risky. But finally I had to.

One of Tova's fireballs was coming for Niklas. It would have been easy to dodge, but before he could, Emil trapped his ankle in a crack and tied him down with a root. I saw a moment of panic in his eyes as the fireball soared toward his head.

A second before it hit, the ground reared up in front of him. The fireball crashed into a wave of dirt and grass. It didn't touch Niklas. I sighed in relief and let go of the power I held over earth. The ground went back to normal, only now it was burnt.

When I looked up, everyone was staring at me. Most people appeared confused. Niklas and Emil looked furious. Tova was scared. She was probably thinking I was done for. I gulped.

Philip tried to distract everyone for the rest of practice with new, complex sword techniques. Sadly, it could not last forever, and soon I was inching toward the dining hall. Before I could walk through the door, Emil stormed out and slammed right into me.

He pushed me down to the ground and growled at me, "You're going to regret this." He kicked dirt in my face, but then left with nothing more. I'd expected more, but maybe Niklas would make up for it.

Niklas was, of course, waiting just inside the door for me. He and his friends immediately surrounded me.

"I knew you hadn't gone for a walk," Niklas said darkly.

"Shouldn't you be glad that I saved you?"

"I would have been fine. That idiot couldn't hurt me."

Riiiiight. I probably shouldn't press that though. "Well, either way you're fine and no harm done." I tried to step past him, but he grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back.

"You interfered. You still need to pay for that."

"Why? If anything I helped you. Emil is likely being discharged as we speak, and you are not to blame for it. You're welcome." I tried to walk away again, but this time he slammed me backward all the way to the wall.

"It doesn't matter. He was mine to deal with. You should not have eavesdropped." He said the last sentence slowly to punctuate every syllable while also moving closer and closer to me until I could feel his—very bad—breath on my face.

I tensed and braced myself for his first blow. Right before his fist made contact, I dropped to the ground. I slid between his legs and out the other side. This made him very angry.

"You can't get away. Stay still," he growled.

Instinct wouldn't let me. He threw several more punches, and I danced away from them all. His friends started grabbing for me, but I slipped between their fingers. I had learned one thing here. I could get away.

I felt like I was dodging for hours even though it only lasted a few minutes. Niklas and his friends grazed me a couple times, but they didn't catch me...until I got to Tova. I froze as I met her worried eyes, and Niklas was able to grab me. He got in two good punches, one to my nose and one to my stomach, before Tova intervened.

"Stop, Niklas, stop!"

"Quiet!" he snarled at her.

I wanted to take a turn with the punches. He couldn't talk to her like that. She got between us before either of us could do anything though.

"He was right at the start," she said. "He saved you, both from the fireball and from any blame in this situation. You should be thanking him."

"He shouldn't have gotten involved. He needs to know what happens to people that get in my way."

"You got in a couple shots. You're done now." Her tone left no room for argument.

He paused for a minute. Then, "Why do you keep defending him? You did it that night when I first suspected he knew something. You're doing it again. I thought you'd figured out that he's weak, that he's not worth your time. Unless you want to be weak too."

She hesitated. "He's still my friend."

"Is he? You've barely spoken to him in weeks."

I hated it, but he was right. Tova and I could hardly be considered friends anymore. I could see it in her red cheeks that had nothing to do with her fire and all to do with her embarrassment over having me in her life.

A side door was just behind me. Everyone's focus was on Tova as I slowly backed toward it. When I opened it, Tova was the only one who noticed at first. Her gaze was sad and resigned. We both knew my time was up here.

"Farewell, my fire warrior." I gave her the most honest smile I could before slipping out.

I heard Niklas and a couple of the others shout from inside. I decided to tunnel to Philip's office. I was closing up my hole when Niklas managed to burst out, ready to chase me. But he couldn't when I was down here.

I tunneled to the escape route I'd used to break in before. I entered through the same trapdoor I'd used last time and gave the officer in that room a scare.

"Don't mind me, sir, just passing through."

I think he was too confused by my sudden presence, so he didn't say anything as I left the room. I gave a quick knock on Philip's door and opened it without waiting for a reply.

"Good evening, sir."

"Evening, Randolph. I must say, I expected you to look worse."

"As did I. Either way, I think we are in agreement this time."

He nodded, but didn't actually say it yet. "You know you made a mistake, don't you?"

"It was a mistake to save his life, sir?"

"He wouldn't have died. At least, I don't think he would have. But you revealed that you knew more than you should have. Now you won't be able to take this any further."

"Why do I need to?"

"I told you I wanted you to keep an eye out for something."

Well, he didn't really tell me. He just sort of implied it. "And that wasn't the something, sir?"

"No. That wasn't it. I'm not sure if it's related, but it doesn't matter now. I can't find out now that you'll be gone."

I felt bad now. He had confirmed that I'd be gone, and not only was I worthless in combat, I hadn't gotten to fulfill my usefulness in another way yet. "I'm sorry, sir."

He waved me off. "Too late now. You are discharged." He handed me a paper and sat back in his chair with a sigh.

***

# Chapter 8

#

My parents hadn't been too surprised to see me back. I'm sure they'd known I wouldn't make it in the guard. But they were surprised that Tova wasn't with me. I told them she was happy there and that she deserved to stay, since she was easily the best in our class—even better than Niklas in my opinion. They seemed to find that hard to believe, but that was nothing new. No one in the village had ever given Tova the credit she deserved for her ferocity. That included her own parents whom I thankfully did not have to explain the situation to; I convinced my mother to do it for me by telling her it'd be great gossip.

The day after being discharged, I was back at the shop with Harold. He had accepted me back, though I didn't know why. He didn't seem to want me there. I was betting my father had bribed him.

Either way, my days were long and boring again, and I didn't have Tova to brighten my nights. I was getting antsy, and I missed Tova. I started making any excuse I could to walk by the guard compound even though I never saw her from there.

One day, I was passing by and noticed a girl burrow underground at the corner of the compound. She wasn't Seelie was she? I knew first-hand how ironically bad the underground security was there despite protection being the guard's function.

I burrowed as fast as I could and made my way over there. I was hoping she'd been stupid enough to leave a tunnel that I could follow. I collapsed mine as I went along so no one would know I'd been there. Unfortunately, that included me. I searched all around for a trace of the girl, but I couldn't be sure I was in exactly the right place, and I couldn't tell where I'd already checked.

I guessed she hadn't left a tunnel though. I thought about where she would have gone from here. There was a blockade around the whole compound, but since it doubled as an escape tunnel, it had outs at various places. She was most likely to enter the buildings from one of those.

I tunneled straight until I hit the blockade, then I had no choice but to pick a direction and hope that was the same way she went as I ran along the side. I didn't even know if I'd catch up to her before she made the jump, but if she was careful enough not to leave a tunnel, maybe she'd be extra careful not to be seen when she came above ground, which meant she'd have to do a lot of waiting around for the coast to be clear.

I was not even halfway to the nearest opening by my estimates when I hit open air followed quickly by a body. With identical 'oomphs,' me and the girl fell to our tunnel floor.

She recovered first. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Didn't seem like the typical Seelie question, but I didn't let go of my suspicion just yet. "I could ask the same of you."

"You haven't figured that out?"

"Should I have?" Although now that I could see her up close, she did look vaguely familiar. "Wait, Theresa?"

She made what I thought was an affirmative sound.

"What are you doing tunnelling around?" I knew her—well, knew _of_ her. Her parents were Lord and Lady Serafim, very high class, wouldn't be caught dead getting dirty like this.

"I'm an earth fairy. I happen to like being in my element," she said snootily. I could tell that wasn't it though.

"So why here? There are safer places with less possible repercussions for security violations."

"Look, if you don't tell anyone I was here, then I'll help you sneak in to do whatever it is you're doing."

"Oh, well, I—" I stopped myself from continuing. Yes, initially I'd only been following her because I wanted to make sure she wasn't Seelie, but a new idea came to mind. Clearly, she'd done this before. She knew how to get in and out with ease. She could show me, and I could see Tova. I could talk to her, and maybe we could mend our friendship. "Deal."

Theresa took us to a place in the blockade that she said was weak. "Reach out with your element. Earth will feel it."

I tried but I didn't succeed. I had fairly tight control over my element, but I had never had the kind of relationship with it that a few people had where it felt like the element had its own sentience. It didn't matter though. When I shrugged, Theresa didn't press it. She put her hand over the weak area and focused her power. The stone of the blockade crumbled away, allowing us in. On the inside, the rest of the walls were cracked as well, so when she closed the hole back up, it didn't look out of place at all. We went down the tunnel a short way, and she did the same thing to let us out.

"We're in the compound now. Be on your way," she said.

I wanted to roll my eyes at her dismissal, but refrained. You don't do that to someone of her status.

We went our separate ways, and I headed for the barracks. She'd either be there or at the dining hall. When I arrived and poked my head through the ground, I was surprised to see Theresa there. I must have been right behind her, unbeknownst to both of us, the whole way. She tapped lightly on a window, and a moment later, one of the recruits from my former class emerged. I hadn't gotten to know him at all. He was in the middle of the pack, so I hadn't paid him any mind. The two of them kissed quickly and dropped back into Theresa's tunnel. Interesting.

I shook my head and refocused on my task. No one was around on this side of the building, so I pulled myself up and took a look inside the barracks. Tova was there. She was sitting on her bunk by herself. I couldn't see her face to tell if she was sad, but I couldn't think of another reason she'd be sitting alone.

I moved to a closer window and tapped it like Theresa had. It got her attention, and Erwin's, whom I hadn't noticed before. Tova silenced him with a few muffled words I couldn't understand. He backed away from her fearfully. He had a history of saying too much. I hoped he would be too scared to say anything about this to anyone else.

Tova climbed out the window and crouched so we couldn't be seen from inside anymore. "What are you doing here? You were discharged."

"I know. I just wanted to see you."

"Why?"

"What do you mean 'why'? I miss talking to you. Do I need more reason?" Of course I did. Her look said just that.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Then she said, "Randolph, you can't do this again."

I nodded solemnly. "So we really aren't best friends anymore."

She clarified, "No, we aren't friends at all anymore."

It was the first time either of us had said it out loud. I was surprised with how sad I was to hear it even though I'd known for quite some time.

Sounds of chatter came from the other side of the building. "That's Niklas. I have to go," Tova said. She climbed back through the window and shut me out.

I tunneled away to I wasn't sure where. I wasn't paying enough attention. When I eventually came back up, I was in the field behind the compound. I could see the copse of trees in the distance. I sat down to sort my thoughts out.

I felt consumed by my thoughts, however they were evidently not enough to keep me from getting distracted. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. It came from the trees. I squinted for a better look, but I was too far to pick out anything out of the ordinary.

I was getting to my feet when a blur of movement shot across the field. It was a black mass heading straight for the barracks. It had better not be what I thought it was. I jumped underground and rushed to the barracks. I hoped I'd beat it there.

I burst out of the ground just in time for the animal to trample me. I knocked me down and kept going for a moment, but then it stopped when it realized what it had hit. The red eyes of a hungry hellhound appraised me. Deciding I would do for its next meal, it abandoned the barracks and came straight for me.

I launched myself to the side, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws. It stumbled at the edge of my hole but caught itself before falling in. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away.

I had gotten away from a kelpie, but I had no idea how to save myself from a hellhound. The kelpie had been far away and not focused on me. This hellhound was on my tail and gaining. Think, think, think.

I was running past the weapons building when I changed course. I went around and threw myself through the door. I went to slam it closed, but the hellhound's nose poked through. I rammed it again and again in the hopes that it would either get out of the way or that I'd manage to injure it.

"Is that a hellhound?" a voice said from behind me.

I turned my head slightly to find three men standing there. They looked to be cleaning the weapons. "A little help, please?" I said.

One of them came over to help me keep the door from flying open and letting in our doom, while the other two grabbed the largest swords in the room. They took position on either side of the door. The man helping me said, "On the count of three, take your weight off the door. The hound will charge in, and they'll slice it."

"Are you sure that will work?" Hellhounds were large, muscular animals. You'd have to hit the exact right place if you wanted to kill it with one blow. And if you missed, it could do a lot of damage between blows one and two.

"We've done this before," the man assured me. I wasn't sure if I believed him, but he was already counting. "One, two, three."

He jumped to the wall, pulling the door and me with him. The hellhound barrelled into the room, and the swords came down on its back and neck. Just as I'd thought, it wasn't enough. The hellhound was still up and running, snapping at the two men, with no fear of their blades.

I tried to help. Unfortunately, the floor got in the way of my attempts to manipulate the earth underneath. I broke several of the floorboards, but the hellhound always had ample time to get away before my roots had the chance to wrap around its legs.

Swords kept clanging, and soon we had all joined in. We were attempting to surround the hound when the door opened. I watched from the corner of my eye as several fairies streamed in. They shouted warnings to each other about the hound. I recognized Tova and Philip's voices along with more of our classmates who must have been in the barracks while the hound was on its way. They grabbed weapons off the wall and joined us.

Now the hellhound was nervous. This was too many fae for it to handle on its own. We cornered it. It lashed out at our weapons, but it didn't do any good. Finally, someone struck. The sword came down on the hound's neck and sliced all the way through.

We let out a collective sigh of relief as the hound's head rolled. But then the foul smell of its blood made us all gag. We filed outside.

"Alright, everyone, don't leave yet," called Philip. We all gathered around him. "Good job killing it before it could hurt anyone. But how did it get here in the first place?" He met everyone's eyes, but most of them only shrugged. When he got to me, he quickly hid his surprise, and allowed me to melt into the group. I wasn't supposed to be here. I felt grateful that Philip wasn't suspicious of me.

"No one saw it?" he asked. He flicked his eyes at me, and I gave the smallest shake of my head. It had come from the copse of trees, but I had no idea how it'd gotten there without notice. The field stretched on in all directions from there. Most large animals didn't risk the lack of cover. "Oh well," Philip continued, "whoever's idea it was to lure it into the weapon's building, good thinking. I doubt that was its original destination."

"It was probably just lost and wandered in there," said Niklas. When did he get here? I was sure he hadn't been part of the group fighting the hellhound. He was standing off to the side of the group, but trying to inch closer. He'd just arrived, but wanted everyone to think he'd been here the whole time. Why?

After a minute, Philip responded, "Sure. Alright, back to your barracks everyone."

I slipped away into the darkness and out of the compound. I'd be back though.

***

# Chapter 9

#

I'd never liked Niklas. I'm sure that was obvious to anyone who bothered to look. He was an arrogant bully. But I hadn't considered that he might be anything more than that.

I wondered what he could be up to. I wondered if Emil's attempts on his life had anything to do with it. And I wondered if I had made a mistake in stopping them.

I went into the compound every evening for a several weeks. I used the way in that Theresa had shown me. I saw her occasionally, and the few times she noticed me, we acknowledged each other with small nods.

Nothing much happened in those few weeks, but I didn't let myself be fooled into thinking there was nothing happening. It was difficult, though, to keep going back. Most of the time I saw Niklas, he was with Tova, and she appeared to very happy in his presence. I missed her, and it hurt sometimes to think that she probably didn't miss me.

One evening, I was sitting behind the barracks and pointedly ignoring them even though they'd never know. I was pulled out of my brooding by an extremely strong earthquake. I dove away from the barracks, expecting roof tiles to come loose and rain down on me. I did my best to counter it, but it had taken me by surprise, so the damage was most likely done.

It slowly shuddered to a stop. I waited a moment to be sure before moving back to the wall. I peeked around the building and saw people coming over from other parts of the compound. The quake had been felt all over. I could see several large faults in the ground, rippling out from a center point that looked to be in front of the dining hall. I wonder who created it and why. They must have been very mad to lose control that way.

I was about to investigate when a movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. Something was moving in one of the rifts in the ground. I ran after it. I went partially underground so that I wouldn't be seen running through the field, but I could still keep my head up to see the crack as I followed. The earthquake had made that crack large enough to function as a tunnel. I was sure this wasn't an earth fairy I was chasing or he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of creating the earthquake.

We ran all the way to the forest. I was out of breath by the time I got there, but I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't give myself away. I heard the fairy in the tunnel call for help out. It was Niklas's voice.

I got as low as I could while still able see somewhat and went perfectly still. Another fairy appeared in the forest and helped Niklas out of his tunnel. This far away from everyone, they didn't worry about being overheard.

"Finally," said a voice I didn't recognize.

"I would have been able to speak with you sooner if you'd let me go with this plan in the first place," Niklas said. "I told you the hellhound was a stupid idea."

So Niklas was responsible for getting the hellhound onto the compound. I was positive he'd had help, but I didn't care about that right now. I wanted to know what was so important that he had to talk to this man in secret.

"It doesn't matter," the unknown fairy snarled. "Tell me your progress."

"Emil is gone. I didn't even have to do anything, so that worked out even better than expected," Niklas replied. He sounded smug. I wanted to kick myself for helping him.

"You said he wasn't the only problem. What about the others?" The unknown fairy didn't sound as pleased with Niklas's update.

"I have an idea actually, a proposal, if you will. There's only one more person who could be any danger to me. The fire fairy, the girl, I told you about last time."

He was going to do something to Tova. No, no, no, I would not let that happen. Tova may have decided not to be my friend anymore, but I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Even if I had to barge over there right now and stop this.

I couldn't actually do that though. I was sure it wouldn't end well for me.

"I thought you assured me she wasn't going to be a threat."

"She's strong. No match for me, but Philip favors her anyway. I'd rather get her out of the way, just to be sure."

"Then what's your proposal?"

"I was thinking I'd give her to you."

The alarm bells in my head got even louder. Who was this person Niklas wanted to 'give' her to? What was he going to do to her?

"Why would we want her?"

"As I said, she is fairly strong. I'm sure after some time with you, she'd come around to your point of view and be of some use."

This was sounding worse and worse. They wanted to use Tova's strength for something terrible. It didn't matter what it was; it couldn't happen.

They went back and forth a little more, Niklas trying to convince him that taking Tova would be worth his while. Finally, he agreed. "Fine, but you better have a plan to make this happen quickly. King Aodh is getting tired of waiting. We need a spy in the castle guard now. Do what it takes to get in there."

I smothered myself in the earth to prevent myself from audibly gasping. This was worse than I thought. As bad as it possibly could be. Niklas was selling Tova over to the Seelie. She would never submit to them. What would they do to try to make her though?

Niklas told him his plan to get her here where she could be taken. I committed it all to memory. His idea only worked if it could be carried out in secret. Now that I'd heard it, it no longer was.

I tried to warn Tova the next day, but she ignored me. She instead paid all her attention to Niklas. And as part of his plan, he returned it. She had essentially taken over Emil's role in the group and then some. He was trying to seduce her, and sadly, she was falling for it—for him.

It was upsetting to watch. Many times, I had to turn away or leave entirely. But then I'd remind myself of Niklas's end goal. Tova seemed to admire his strength and fighting skills more than anything, so I tried to show her a different side of him. I wanted her to see the insecure boy he was that caused him to be so cruel to others. He'd been that way when he tried to hurt me. Tova seemed to have forgotten. But I still saw it frequently. The times when Tova wasn't around, he would scare or injure anyone that received praise from Philip for improvement in their combat skills. Niklas was determined to be the only successful student, and anyone who thought they could compete with him wouldn't even get a chance.

I attempted to lure Tova to him in these moments. I left trails; I found a note Niklas had written and imitated his handwriting; I even asked Theresa to give her a message once. Nothing worked. Niklas either escaped from the scene before Tova arrived or he had an excuse at the ready.

Tova was completely enamored with him in only a few short weeks. I was running out time. Niklas had started bringing up marriage and the future whenever they were alone. Normally, it was not approved of to get married while still in training. Furthermore, I knew Tova's parents wouldn't approve of the match regardless of timing. Tonight he was going to suggest they do something about this.

As soon as I heard him say "We should marry in secret. I know the perfect place and a good man that will officiate," I couldn't control myself. He was leaning against a wall outside the dining hall. Like a child, I caused a tremor underneath him so that a loose tile from the last earthquake fell on his head.

"Ow, who did that?" I heard him mutter.

"It was probably just someone inside messing around. Don't worry about it," Tova answered.

"Right, well, what do you say? We could elope tomorrow night."

Then I left without listening for the answer.

I returned the next night. I had to. This was my last chance. I didn't stick to Tova and Niklas though. After confirming they were about to leave for Niklas's secret place, I used the escape tunnels to break into Philip's office. I was expecting him to be gone for the day and that I'd have to find his sleeping quarters, but I got lucky.

"Evening, sir."

He jumped practically to the ceiling. "What are you doing here? And knock next time."

"Noted. I am here because Tova is in danger." I quickly explained what was happening and where we would find Tova and Niklas.

"What kind of fairies are we dealing with?" he asked.

"I am not certain as Niklas merely requested that the Seelie bring those they think capable of capturing her, but I'm going to assume they'll have at least two water fairies."

"Alright, well, that can work in our favor. And once she figures out what they're trying to do, we'll have a fire fairy on our side. Let's go."

I was pleased that he so easily trusted me and offered me assistance. He was a good ally to have. Perhaps he suspected the Seelie were trying to infiltrate our guard. I'd have to ask when we'd finished dealing with this mess.

Before we went to save Tova, we stopped at the weapons building. He tossed me armor and a couple of long daggers. "I know you're not great with them, but just in case. And maybe they'll make you look more intimidating," he said. I don't think either of us really believed that last part, but I took them anyway.

We found their secret location right where Niklas had said it would be. We were in the forest, not too deep but far enough that the compound was no longer visible through the trees. It was the middle of the night, but I was getting used to spying in the moonlight. I saw Tova and Niklas meandering through the forest and talking quietly. I wasn't really interested in hearing what was said, so I looked to Philip to see where he wanted to go from here.

He tugged me down into our tunnel, and the ground covered us so that no one would hear. "We can't just barge over without knowing what we're up against. I want to watch them until the Seelie reveal themselves."

"Agreed," I said.

"Good. After that, I'd like to surround them with a hollow tunnel. Make the ground on top thin, but try to keep it from moving at the surface if at all possible. Then criss-cross it. Make sure it doesn't cave in immediately, but has the potential. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes, easy."

"Perfect, but depending on how the Seelie reveal themselves, you may need to work fast, alright? Then I'm going to go up there and try to get Tova out of the circle. Once I have her, we'll collapse this area into a pit and hopefully catch ourselves some Seelie bastards."

We watched them for a few more minutes before a third figure finally joined them. Niklas greeted him and introduced Tova. I wanted to get closer so we could see him better, but Philip wouldn't let me. There were more Seelie around somewhere, and there was no telling what direction they'd come from. Better to stay far off so we'd see them first.

It took longer than I expected. I was growing bored staring at the newcomer who didn't seem to be doing much, so I looked elsewhere. I noticed a movement up in the trees. There was a fairy up there. Actually, make that two. They moved together, but there were definitely two of them. I pointed them out. Philip looked around and quickly found another pair and then a third.

Each pair consisted of one fairy who seemed to glide from branch to branch as if weighing nothing. Interesting, I thought. They'd brought air fairies. There weren't a lot of them, so I didn't know much about how they used their element and what it could do against fire.

Fog started to roll in around the trio on the ground. "Each pair is an air fairy and a water fairy," I whispered.

"I think so too. Tova's not going to be much help after all. But that means Niklas won't be much of a threat either. We know where they are now. Start digging and maybe we'll have the trap set before they even hit the ground."

I set off immediately. Philip stayed to keep an eye on them and emerge when the time was right.

I was nearly finished when that time came. I was starting my last line within the circle when he said softly, "Be ready." As he disappeared through the hole, I quickly finished up the pattern and made a new hole on the opposite side of the circle so I could see the progress.

For a second, everyone was confused by Philip's appearance. The air and water fairies hadn't made it down yet, but I could see them hanging on their final branches. Tova hadn't noticed them yet.

"Hello Niklas, Tova, Seelie," Philip greeted them in a warm voice. "Tova, I'm going to have to ask that you come with me."

"What?" she said.

"She's already taken," the Seelie said. Then the air and water fairies dropped to the ground, and the fight was on. They all ran for Philip and Tova. Tova must have been extremely confused because she didn't do anything. When Philip got to her, she allowed herself to be tugged between him and Niklas. As the others converged, he struggled to keep them off. I wondered if I should help, but I didn't know what I could do. I was still no good at combat.

I heard Philip yelling things at Tova in an attempt to fill her in. Finally, she came out of her stupor and started fighting. The only problem was she wasn't sure who to fight. She still didn't seem convinced that these were Seelie, so she fought Philip too. She broke free of all of them and ran for it.

I sprinted through my tunnels to catch up with her. She'd just made it out of the circle when I popped out of the ground. I grabbed onto her and pulled her to a stop. She spun and punched me in the face. "Ooph." I caught myself from falling.

"Randolph?" She looked from me to the fight to her escape route and back. "What is going on?"

I had to sum it up fast. "Those really are Seelie, Niklas is a spy for them, they're trying to kidnap you, and Philip and I came to stop them."

She was still wide-eyed and confused.

"Tova, please. You know I wouldn't lie to you. Philip is fighting eight of them over there."

"Randolph!" It was Philip. "Do it now!"

"Do what now?" Tova asked.

I looked back at the fight. Philip was still fending off several of the fairies in the middle of the circle, but two had come after us. They were almost outside the circle. Philip will be fine. He can tunnel out. At least I told myself that when I said, "This."

I made the earth shake as hard as I could. The tunnels collapsed into a pit exactly like we wanted. I started to cover the pit while everyone inside was still disoriented. I worked fast and soon had a hill taller than two of me on top of the pit. That should hold them for a while, if not forever. I had faith that Philip would be able to get out of there though.

"Impressive," Tova said quietly from behind me. I beamed. I didn't get to revel in her praise long though. The two fairies that had come after us weren't buried as deep, so they were able to burst out of the edge of the mound.

"Run," I said. I grabbed her and pulled her along even though I didn't think she was questioning me anymore.

Tova threw a few fireballs back at them, but they were water fairies, so they took care of them easily. She cursed and kept running.

"Got any other ideas?" I asked her between panting breaths.

"I thought you were the creative one who knows how to escape anything."

"True. I just thought you might like a turn."

"Funny," she said with not even in a pinch of amusement in her tone.

The exchange gave me a chance to think. And what came to me was so obvious I didn't know why I didn't do it from the get go. Large, heavy branches reached down and slapped the water fairies away from us. They landed with thuds, and we slowed our pace to catch out breath.

"Good, but that one is already getting back up," Tova said, pointing. Indeed, one was stirring. The other seemed to be unconscious. When the former got to his feet, I sent the branch over to knock him down again. He dodged. "Don't think he's going to fall for that again. We should run."

"Wait." That wasn't the only thing I'd thought of. Thick roots broke through the ground and waited for my command. I had them each tie themselves around one of my daggers. "Alright, now run."

I looked back as we ran away. The roots were fighting the remaining water fairy. I wondered how long I'd be able to keep control over them.

Suddenly, I heard my name being called from behind us. It was Philip. He'd made it out of the mound and was coming around the water fairy. I paused to let him catch up. When he saw what I'd done, he smiled and brought up several more roots to join in and encircle the water fairy. "Good one. Why didn't I think of that?" He laughed and clapped me on the back as he reached me.

"Think that'll hold him for a while?"

"Oh, yes, that'll work. Even if you can't keep yours up, I've had practice working from a distance. He'll be in there at least until we get back to the compound."

***

# Chapter 10

#

And the roots did hold him—I assume. The water fairy never caught up to us. We went to Philip's office, and he left Tova and I there while he went to alert his superiors of the attempted Seelie kidnapping.

I collapsed onto the floor and caught my breath. "Well, that was fun."

Tova was staring at me like she didn't know what to make of me. "How?" she finally said.

"I listen to people," I said. "All the time. And watch. It's quite interesting actually. Did you know that Theresa is having a secret romance with the earth fairy that sleeps a few bunks down from you? Don't tell anyone. She's quite nice, and I wouldn't want to ruin it."

Tova's expression didn't change. It was as if she hadn't even heard me. I suppose that lessened the chances of her spreading the news. "Why?"

I didn't think she was asking why I spy on people. She was still asking about this particular event. "I decided that I'm still your friend. I'm going to make you mine again."

She flinched like I'd hit her. I heard her mumble, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Tov—"

"No," she said louder. "I'm sorry...and thank you for saving me...but I still think going our separate ways is for the best. All of this," she gestured to take in our entire situation, "it's going to make people angry eventually. If I want to make it in the guard, people have to trust me. They won't if I'm with you."

I tried not to let my shock show. I started to reply, even though I didn't know what was about to come out of my mouth, when Philip returned.

"A team has been deployed to search the area and apprehend any unknown fairies," he said. He was completely oblivious to the tension in the room. "Tova, you can go back to the barracks. Randolph, stay here a moment."

"Yes, sir," Tova said. She walked out, head bowed.

When the door closed behind her, Philip spoke again. "What have you been doing in town?"

My brows quirked in confusion. Why did my activities in town matter?

"You know, for a job? Anything you need to go back to? Or would you be open to a change?"

"Oh, uh, yes, I would be open to a change." I doubted Harold would care if I didn't come back.

"Great, because I got you a job in the castle."

My mouth dropped open. "In the castle? Doing what?" I would never be a castle guard. It was not possible.

"It's only a servant's job. Nothing glamorous, but it could be the perfect place for you."

It was the perfect place for spying. All of the important things happened in the castle. If I worked there... "I accept."

"Perfect."

I started the very next day. And so did the interesting conversations. On the first day, I learned that Gerald Dunst was warming the bed of Leopold Berg's wife. On the second day, I learned that unbeknownst to either of them, she was also warming the bed of Roan De Vries. She was determined to get her way in the arena that was the UnSeelie court.

Over the months and years, I also watched as one member of the guard rose quickly through the castle ranks—not Tova, although she did come to the castle later. This man's name was Jarek. He reminded me of Emil because he was always going after whoever was next in line above him. The difference was that he was much better at it. I didn't even catch on for quite some time. I still couldn't figure out his reasoning either. He was extremely tight-lipped.

I had learned an important lesson from Emil however. If I had let Emil go, Niklas may not have come so close to hurting Tova. Perhaps Jarek had good reasons for his actions. I wasn't going to act until I figured those reasons out.

Later on, when Tova joined the castle guard, I sought her out. Constantly. Despite her repeated requests that I stop. I never bothered her at a time when she was busy with anything important though, so I did not understand her complaints.

"Randolph, I told you, go away."

We were in a hallway outside a conference room. She was standing guard while a meeting was held, and I was not dusting the sculptures that lined the hallway. I was chatting away to her instead. I had nearly gotten to the climax of a certain tale of deceit and sabotage when she so rudely interrupted me. "I was just getting to the good part!"

"I don't care about the 'good part.' Go away."

"Need I remind you that it is my job to be here."

"You're not even doing your job."

"That is a minor detail."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "What do I have to do to get you to leave?"

As it turned out, she didn't have to make me leave at all because a moment later, the meeting adjourned, and Tova was required to follow one of the court fairies as he left. I heard her sigh in relief as I pretended to dust.

Tova was the last to go, since she had to leave a respectable distance between the court fairies and herself. Just before she walked away, I stopped her. "What do you want, Randolph?" she hissed at me.

I looked at the backs of the court fairies as they moved farther away. "They're not looking, you know."

"It doesn't matter."

I sighed. "You really didn't like the story?"

"Is that it? No, I didn't. Goodbye, Randolph."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Randolph."

"One day. One day I'm going to tell a story you'll like as much as the old ones. I'm going to make you my friend again. You'll see."

She didn't look at me as I said it. But she hadn't started walking either until after I'd finished.

***

# Epilogue

#

And that's the end. For now. The conversation in the hall happened a week before she left to find the UnSeelie princess and all this human business started.

It's been years now, decades, but time passes slowly for us fae. I may not have succeeded in making her my friend again yet, but the key word is 'yet.' She would come around.

Meanwhile, I've been happy here. Philip had been right. This was the perfect place for me. I don't relish the menial servant tasks, but I don't mind them given what it meant I can see and hear. I'm still trying to figure out Jarek—I've never met anyone so hard to crack—and the arrival of Princess Willa, Cearo, and the humans has been the most exciting thing to happen in my entire life.

The five of them flitted through my mind as I held on to my last bit of consciousness. I wonder how Cearo would react when she woke up. Would the laws about humans all change when Princess Willa rose to power? That would be excellent, because I quite enjoy the one named Sid. I like David as well even though he obviously didn't reciprocate. Eric was one to watch. Not in a bad way, but in a potentially-exciting-story way. Tova liked him. Maybe he would have better luck with her than I did. I hope so.

I have a good feeling about the future.

***

# Acknowledgements

Thank you to my family and friends for all your encouragement and excitement about this project even though it is a bit different. I've had a lot of fun writing this, and joking with you about it even when you didn't know what I was talking about. This should give you some context now.

Thank you to Bezimeni Bezimenkovic a.k.a. Moonkeys for the beautiful image that I have turned into a cover. Your work truly inspires me.

And of course, thank you to all who read this. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had creating it.

***

# About the Author

Tarynn Kerr has a degree in psychology but probably should have gotten one in mythology instead because that's way cooler. She lives in southern California where she works a boring day job and covertly writes down her daydreams when her boss isn't looking. Aside from writing, she enjoys reading and eating enormous amounts of mac 'n' cheese. _Entangle_ is part of her fae series that also includes _Lure_ and _Enthrall_.

Connect with her on twitter and wordpress.

<https://twitter.com/tarynnwa>

https://tarynnkerrauthor.wordpress.com

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