pursue it, but thought of another tactic with all the leading off and no one answering kind of conversation to avoid telling me things.
“Very well. Pike is good at handling things.” I nodded at both of them. I turned and left and went to go find Danella releasing myself from the Pike spell that seemed to consume me lately.
***
“Danella, I want you to find out what Pike knows about Kin. They are not telling me something. For my own good, I presume. To protect me, I presume. But this is my mother and father. I want to know what they aren’t telling me for my own good.” I waved my fingers in the air.
“But miss. I can’t. It’s traitorous.”
“Immune. I’m the queen and my…’protectors’ are keeping me too well protected from even the Intel needed to protect my parents.”
“But my lady…”
“No. Go!” I growled sternly.
Danella bowed and left.
She returned only minutes later as I worked on the tangles my hair acquired from the day. The wind was howling something terrible since yesterday. I don’t remember any weather since I’d been here until the last few days.
“Well?”
“I’m deathly afraid to tell you, my lady.”
“Immune, remember? Just spill.”
With reluctance, Danella kept her eyes closed and said as fast as she could, “Kinsler has men all around your house. There are twelve in all. Two are staying on the back porch. Pike is weary of one of them being a rebellious one because Kin ordered to remove some of the plants and destroyed some property in the process. Pike fears they will move soon but I don’t know that meaning.”
So he kept it from me because he only thinks he might move . Move what and where? It was enough to come into the court to tell Ian. Not that he seemed to leave court lately but everywhere I was. Maybe I could look myself.
“Thank you. I trust you will be silent and I as well.”
Danella nodded, but weariness filled her head with dread no doubt thinking me as the queen might just be the downfall of the court.
I headed to my room, gathered my dagger, changed into my traveling attire including the horrid armor Ian insisted upon because he would insist if he knew where I was going, and set out to the edge of parents’ property line. I traveled alone. Ian would flip when he found out, but I had to know.
The spring night was cool, but fresh in a scent and languor, quiet like a slow rain, and the opposite of the windblown morning. As I traveled, I wondered where the strange weather went and how it disappeared so easily. Like on command. I moved quickly keeping low to not attract unwanted attention. I didn’t have time to waste if I wanted to return before I was noticed missing. The dagger in my side stayed firmly in my grasp. My mouth was dry, but anticipation kept my tongue flickering side to side in nervousness. These are my parents and I wanted to protect them.
I was close enough now I watched every direction for movement. As I inched closer to my house, my eyes darted to the sound of spit flying from my left. My hearing was good, but not trained. I forced myself to stand as a statue so my body would feel my surroundings and search for the source. Ian had taught me to close my eyes and feel the movement in the forest. He’d made me do it at times when there was nothing, and times when even the slightest flutter of a birds’ wings could be heard above. We’d done this as far back as fifth grade on the playground at recess. Still, I had to close my eyes to do it.
I eased a bit closer to the “spitter” and heard it again. There were two of them. I could just make out two Nym shaped figures standing on the tree line close to the gazebo around two hundred feet to my left. One of them was as tall as me. I wanted to get closer, but saw someone really tall and broad like a football player in the light of my backyard to the right
“Very well. Pike is good at handling things.” I nodded at both of them. I turned and left and went to go find Danella releasing myself from the Pike spell that seemed to consume me lately.
***
“Danella, I want you to find out what Pike knows about Kin. They are not telling me something. For my own good, I presume. To protect me, I presume. But this is my mother and father. I want to know what they aren’t telling me for my own good.” I waved my fingers in the air.
“But miss. I can’t. It’s traitorous.”
“Immune. I’m the queen and my…’protectors’ are keeping me too well protected from even the Intel needed to protect my parents.”
“But my lady…”
“No. Go!” I growled sternly.
Danella bowed and left.
She returned only minutes later as I worked on the tangles my hair acquired from the day. The wind was howling something terrible since yesterday. I don’t remember any weather since I’d been here until the last few days.
“Well?”
“I’m deathly afraid to tell you, my lady.”
“Immune, remember? Just spill.”
With reluctance, Danella kept her eyes closed and said as fast as she could, “Kinsler has men all around your house. There are twelve in all. Two are staying on the back porch. Pike is weary of one of them being a rebellious one because Kin ordered to remove some of the plants and destroyed some property in the process. Pike fears they will move soon but I don’t know that meaning.”
So he kept it from me because he only thinks he might move . Move what and where? It was enough to come into the court to tell Ian. Not that he seemed to leave court lately but everywhere I was. Maybe I could look myself.
“Thank you. I trust you will be silent and I as well.”
Danella nodded, but weariness filled her head with dread no doubt thinking me as the queen might just be the downfall of the court.
I headed to my room, gathered my dagger, changed into my traveling attire including the horrid armor Ian insisted upon because he would insist if he knew where I was going, and set out to the edge of parents’ property line. I traveled alone. Ian would flip when he found out, but I had to know.
The spring night was cool, but fresh in a scent and languor, quiet like a slow rain, and the opposite of the windblown morning. As I traveled, I wondered where the strange weather went and how it disappeared so easily. Like on command. I moved quickly keeping low to not attract unwanted attention. I didn’t have time to waste if I wanted to return before I was noticed missing. The dagger in my side stayed firmly in my grasp. My mouth was dry, but anticipation kept my tongue flickering side to side in nervousness. These are my parents and I wanted to protect them.
I was close enough now I watched every direction for movement. As I inched closer to my house, my eyes darted to the sound of spit flying from my left. My hearing was good, but not trained. I forced myself to stand as a statue so my body would feel my surroundings and search for the source. Ian had taught me to close my eyes and feel the movement in the forest. He’d made me do it at times when there was nothing, and times when even the slightest flutter of a birds’ wings could be heard above. We’d done this as far back as fifth grade on the playground at recess. Still, I had to close my eyes to do it.
I eased a bit closer to the “spitter” and heard it again. There were two of them. I could just make out two Nym shaped figures standing on the tree line close to the gazebo around two hundred feet to my left. One of them was as tall as me. I wanted to get closer, but saw someone really tall and broad like a football player in the light of my backyard to the right
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