Chapter 24
Stella
It was another two days before we met Nell. During that time, I’m embarrassed to admit that I mostly slept. In a strange twist, I felt more protected held captive than I had out on the open road.
It wasn’t that I believed the Revvers themselves to be safe. The guns and the glamorized zombies were threat enough without the addition of the warnings and Alphie’s general agitation.
But the walls and locked doors assuaged my fear enough that I could finally close my eyes and breathe.
So that’s what I did. Those two days passed in a blur of fitful naps and muted conversations.
Fae was largely occupied by the spectacle outside our windows of the zombies in their colorful garb.
Sometimes, I awoke from a nap to the sound of her laughter as she danced in the sunlight slanting in through the windows.
Occasionally, Boden and Fergus would quietly strategize in the corner, their voices low but urgent, while Alphie paced anxiously or sat in the corner.
We hadn’t heard from the Revvers since the first day, and we were left on our own in the barracks with enough rations of canned beans, uncooked potatoes, and water to sustain us a few days.
On the afternoon that the Revvers finally returned, I was awake. Fae was on my lap, watching out the window. A few others were napping, while Fergus and Leandro played some kind of game they’d concocted using dried beans.
Boden was up, standing by the windows staring out at the zombies. That was how he spent most of his time here. Silently standing vigilant against a threat he didn’t know how to prepare for.
The metallic rattle of keys drew all of our attention. Fergus shook his brother awake, and Alphie scuttled to the far side of the room, standing with her back pressed against the wall and her brown eyes locked on the door.
Benedict – the taller guard with the sunflower eyepatch – was the first to enter the room, ducking as he did. Behind him, a rather unassuming woman followed. Once she was in, Dusty came in and closed the door behind them.
The woman was short, maybe half-an-inch shorter than me even, and she looked to be in her early forties.
Her long hair had the appearance of dry straw bleached nearly white by the weather, and her eyes were the color of old bruises, gray and yellowed at the edges.
In a plain way, she was pretty – her features soft, delicate, and symmetrical, but also faded and unremarkable.
The clothes she wore were in stark contrast to her understated appearance. They were layers of robes made of gauzy, flamboyant fabric draped all over her petite frame. She was bone thin, with bracelets and bangles clattering on her narrow wrists.
“Hello,” she greeted us with a warm smile and a voice like honey. “My name is Cornelia Mahler, but most folks here call me Nell. I am the Allmother of the Reverence for the Revenant.”
“And we’re some people passing by,” Boden said. He was standing in front of us all, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Now, that isn’t exactly true, is it?” Nell asked, her pale eyes flicking over to Alphie.
“I only tried to help them find their way around your territory, so none of us would be a bother to you,” Alphie argued in a tremulous voice.
“We really don’t mean you any harm,” Edie added from where she sat on her cot beside mine. “If you just let us go, we’ll be on our way.”
“What do you know about the Reverence for the Revenant?” Nell asked, ignoring both Alphie’s and Edie’s comments.
“Not much,” Leandro answered.
“A rumor or two’s made the rounds, but I wouldn’t believe the half of it,” Fergus said, and his lip was still swollen from Benedict hitting him with a stick, adding a touch of irony to his smirk.
Nell gave us all a placid smile that never quite reached her eyes.
“We protect the ones who walk between worlds, and those who join us find a purpose they cannot find elsewhere.” She paused, bracelets clinking as she folded her hands in front of her abdomen.
“Not everyone understands our ways, but I promise you, everything we do is for the greater good.”
“Okay,” Boden said uncertainly. “What is that you plan to do with us exactly?”
“It takes time to make a decision,” Nell explained. “First, I need to see that you are healthy, and it seems that not all of you are.”
“Aye, boyo,” Dougal agreed tiredly. He was sitting up thanks to Fergus’s help, and he was noticeably pale and sallow. “I’ve been feeling rough, I have. But it’s no virus, or I’d already be out in your courtyard, dancing like gobshite in rainbow pantaloons.”
“We have ways to help those who are unwell,” Nell offered. “Do you wish to recover?”
“Sure I do,” Dougal said with an uncertain glance to Fergus.
“Benedict will take you to our Wellness Center,” Nell said. “You can begin your recovery there while a decision is made, and I will take the child to the nursery.”
“No,” I said instinctively, and my arms tightened around my daughter on my lap.
Edie stood up, and Boden dropped his arms and widened his stance. But Benedict and Dusty loomed over Nell, their rifles in their hands.
“You’re a bit like a cheeky fairy tale witch, so you are,” Fergus commented, slowly getting to his feet. “Coming in here, bold as brass, demanding a baby.”
“I have been called a white witch before,” Nell admitted, sounding amused. “But you misunderstand my intentions. Yes, I demand the child, but only to keep her safe and healthy.”
“If you took her, what would you do with her?” I asked.
Nell stepped closer, and Boden moved back slightly so we could look more directly at one another. “Is she your daughter then?”
“Yes,” I said. “And I’d rather not be apart from her.”
“We have a nursery here, where our children are safe and nourished, both body and mind,” Nell assured me in an oddly serene voice. “She will be cared for and protected as if she was born here.”
“She is safe and nourished with me,” I insisted.
Her expression turned to one of pity. “You are exhausted and filthy, and I know what exists beyond my territory.”
“She’s not lying about the nursery,” Alphie interjected. She was still standing at the back of the room, her arms hugging herself tightly, and her eyes on the floor. “The children are well cared for, and she’d never hurt them. Nobody here would.”
“Perhaps Alphie’s assurances will soothe your worries, but truly, it is no matter,” Nell went on. “The child is not contagious, so the barracks are no longer the best place for her. She will be placed in our nursery, with or without your compliance.”
“You can’t really expect to come in here and rip a child from her mother?” Boden asked, his words hard but calm.
Nell stared up at him, nonplused. “I have done it before, when necessary. But please know that defiance always reflects poorly when it comes time for me to decide.”
“We keep hearing that you’re going to decide,” Leandro said. “What does that even mean? What are you deciding, and why are you the one who gets to decide?”
“I did already tell you, but it seems that you need me to expound further.” Nell stepped closer to us, speaking louder and more authoritatively. “I am the Allmother of Fort Lately, and I command over armed Sentries. Under my care, I have hundreds of Reverent and twice as many Revenant.
“The world beyond these walls is sick and hostile, and to keep all of my loved ones safe, I am forced to make difficult decisions,” she continued. “When it comes to dealing with the un-Reverent, there are only five options: Exilation, Execution, Expiation, Exaction, Exbindition.”
As Nell went on, she made sure to look between each one of us, as if forcing us to weigh her words more heavily. “So, outsiders are quarantined while I watch and wait and commune. When I am done, I decide.”
The sickening horror that there was nothing we could do to stop Nell from taking Fae moved into cold certainty. They were going to take my child from me. What mattered now was keeping Fae happy and safe and ensuring that I would be reunited with her again.
I stood up with Fae still cradled in my arms. I kissed the top of her head and walked slowly toward where Nell stood with the guards. When I reached Boden, I stopped and he gently ruffled Fae’s soft hair.
In a low voice, he whispered to me, “We can fight, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s not what’s best for her,” I insisted quietly. Gunfire and getting ripped screaming from my arms sounded far worse than handing her off.
He frowned, then bent down and kissed Fae’s cheek. “We’ll see you soon, kiddo,” he promised her thickly.
I went up to Nell when everything in me wanted to run the other way.
“Her name is Rafaella, after her grandmother,” I explained as tears welled in my eyes. “But we call her Fae. If she gets fussy, she’s hungry, or she wants you to sing to her.”
Nell reached for her, and it took all my will to release her, to actually let go of Fae.
“Nice to meet you, little Fae,” Nell cooed at her with an affectionate smile. “You’re going to have so much fun and make so many new friends.”
As soon as Nell looked up from the baby, her smile evaporated. She ordered the guards to lead her and Dougal out of the barracks. After a brief goodbye between the brothers, Dougal, Nell, the guards, and Fae went out the door.
When the locks clicked shut, I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming. Boden pulled me into his arms, and I sobbed into his chest as he stroked my hair.
“We’ll get her back,” he promised me, and I believed him, because it had to be true.