Chapter 3 The Choice
CHAPTER THREE
THE CHOICE
ADELINE
“Hold up,” Eiras calls out after me, “I said, hold up! I’m coming with you.”
“Quit following me.” I open my stride, the satchel swinging from my shoulder. “Go back home.”
“Gods, you’re so prickly.”
“Only with you,” I inform him. “Otherwise, I’m sweet as pie.”
He laughs, and I grin back, unable to help myself. My annoyance with him is fading. How is this fair? I can’t hold onto it, not even for a day.
My sunshine brother. He’s all charm and light, and I’m a black cat, bitey, like he said, and constantly annoyed.
“Come on, then,” I mutter. “But hurry up. You’re delaying me.”
“Am I, now?” He falls into step with me easily and runs a hand through his pale hair, tucking it behind his sharp-tipped ears. “Try and keep up, sis.”
“What business do you have in town anyway?”
“Oh. Nothing.” For some strange reason, his cheeks turn pink. “Nothing at all.”
That’s highly suspicious. I study him as we wind through the narrow streets, his easy gait, his bright eyes. That lingering flush.
“You’re looking for trouble,” I finally say, “and then you complain about me.”
“I complain about you stealing. You should stop, you know. If you want attention, there are other ways.”
“Attention?” I shove at him, he shoves me back, and we knock into a wall. Horsing about as per usual. “From whom?”
“Our parents. Me.”
“What in the hells?” I all but growl. “It’s not like that.”
He tugs his hair off his face again, studying me. “How is it, then?”
“You really think the coin you bring every time is enough?” I blurt out, pushing off the wall and straightening the satchel strap on my shoulder.
“What’s that got to do with it? Besides, Mother says it’s enough. And if not, how about you get a proper job instead of thieving?”
“You think this is my choice?” I protest. “That I have many work options, apart from becoming a maid in a rich house? If I’m gone from home, who will look after Naida and Brogan then? Who will help Naida with her herbs and her clients, clean the house and cook?”
His brows bunch together. “Aline…”
“In any case,” I say with a huff, “Naida won’t let me work as a maid.
I asked, you think I haven’t? Do you really think I’d rather live in uncertainty and get chased down dark alleys every day for stealing some bread or a rotten pie?
I’d much rather be a maid, but she says she’d rather starve than have me at the mercy of some greedy, handsy lord. ”
His frown deepens. “She never mentioned any of that. Father, either. Which I can understand, they are too damn proud… But why didn’t you tell me anything?”
I shake my head and swallow hard. “What help would it be? You’re doing everything you can already, and so am I.”
He’s quiet after that as we walk down the streets I raced through yesterday, heading down to the small market square. I nod at our neighbor’s twins who are playing with a piece of rope, and then at the milkman’s sister who often shares the job with him.
Occasionally, I glance sideways at my brother, catching his pensive profile.
My handsome brother. He has that fae beauty that, for us humans, can be as fatal as an arrow to the heart.
Delicate, yet symmetrical and strong, pale yet golden.
The fae are like the sleeping gods, like half-forgotten dreams walking among us, they—
“Hey.” Eiras grabs my arm and saves me from colliding with a tall fae man wrapped in a dark mantle. “Careful, Aline.”
“Yeah, watch where you’re going, human.” The thin-faced fae shoots me a murderous look as I sidestep him and walk away. “Or you could get into trouble.”
Eiras snarls, starting after him. “I’ll beat him black and blue.”
“No, Eis.” I grab his arm and yank. “It’s fine.”
“He has no right to talk to you that way.”
“Your kind has always looked down on humans,” I whisper, “but right now things are quiet. Let’s not shake that peace.”
He grumbles under his breath but agrees to let it go and we resume our way toward the market square.
This area of the city is mixed, with both fae and humans living here, as well as the occasional finnfolk inhabitant in the river.
Yeah, not many mermaids and sylkies in our river.
Let’s be honest, who in their right mind would want to live in that water?
It’s too damn filthy, full of shit and trash, and too many boats traverse it.
Lesser fae, small, capricious creatures, haunt the woods and caves in the hills around here, occasionally venturing into the city and playing cruel pranks on us.
As for the high fae, the Gentry, as I said, they aren’t feared anymore now that their magic has faded so much. Yet, two hundred years ago, we wouldn’t be living side by side in peace. Back then, we were enslaved to the fae and they killed us for sport.
I think about this as we approach the square. It’s been two hundred years since King Rouen of the Fae was dragged off his throne in an unexpected twist which left him transformed into a tree, played by his own magic, and burned to ashes.
Two hundred years since the powerful fae who followed him were hunted down and imprisoned by the humans he wronged. The fae who escaped punishment fled to the black mountains and beyond, to the rim of the world.
The fae who remained among us were those who hadn’t sided with him and whose magic is gentle and safe, and even that power has been diminishing, turning into a faint echo of its prior strength, mostly used to help crops and forests grow and winds circulate inside our hollow world…
or occasionally resulting in curses and ailments, like the one that most likely struck Brogan.
Unless that had been a lesser fae, whose magic is wild and malicious. If he stepped by mistake on one of their dancing rings…
“I don’t remember you so quiet,” Eiras says.
“I’ve changed since you last saw me,” I quip.
“It’s only been a couple of weeks.”
“Exactly. So… are you going downtown to meet a girl?” I take a shot in the dark.
He starts. “How did you know?”
I tap the side of my head. “I have the brains in this family. It’s easy to see we’re not related.”
“Ouch.”
I elbow him. “Who is it?”
The blush returns to his cheeks. “The blacksmith’s daughter. The oldest.”
“Wait…” I wrack my brain for the name. “Are we talking about Leena?”
His gaze goes dreamy. “Isn’t she pretty?”
“She sure is. Oh my Gods, you’re so smitten, big brother.”
“Shut up, brat.”
A young fae woman carrying a bundle of clothes in her arms slows down and gives Eiras a sideways look and a winsome smile as we enter the square.
Eiras doesn’t even notice her and continues on, oblivious. More women eye him as we walk the streets. He’s a handsome fae, but although we share no blood, I can’t see him as a man. He’s my brother, a lovable idiot who gets on my nerves all the time.
Another woman, a human this time, winks at him.
This time he notices and stares after her, then shakes his head, blond hair flying. “What’s wrong with her?”
Snickering at his cluelessness, I adjust the strap of the satchel on my shoulder and brush by a couple carrying baskets filled with fruit.
No market today, only people crossing the empty space among the buildings, going about their business.
Mules, donkeys, horses and small carts jostle for space with the pedestrians.
The stink of manure and urine laces the air.
I’ve only taken ten steps into the square, when a male voice whispers in my ear, “So... your name is Aline, then?”
I gasp, whirling about. “Who’s there?”
“Come on,” the voice goes on. “Talking about cluelessness...”
“Who is this?” I turn again, but nobody is close enough to be whispering in my ear. “Where are you hiding?”
“Aline, what’s wrong?” Eiras has stopped and is scowling at me. “What are you doing?”
“Listen,” the disembodied voice says now, “your magic is of a kind I have never encountered before. Are you fae?”
“No, I… Who are you?” I demand. “Where are you?”
“I’m Olm, have you forgotten already?”
“Olm?”
“Who in the hells is Olm?” Eiras asks. He has gripped my wrist, I realize, and I didn’t even notice. “Aline, come on, people are staring. They’ll think you’ve gone crazy.”
Haven’t I? Why am I hearing voices? It never happened before last night, and the only thing that’s been different since yesterday is…
The satchel.
The book.
No way.
“The book, yes.” The voice sounds pleased and kind of smug. “I told you that last night but you obviously forgot about—”
“No.” I yank my wrist free and turn my back to my brother. “Gods, I remember now, you told me to take the book—”
“To the palace, yes. You really hadn’t realized who was speaking to you?” The voice’s smugness increases. “That’s all right, not every book can do that. You obviously have no experience with magical tomes.”
“Aline!” Eiras barks. “Come with me. Now.”
Grabbing my wrist again, he drags me across the square and into a narrow alley.
I stumble along, the voice going on and on inside my head about how the royal palace is the perfect place for a book, the royal library being the most beautiful in the world, made of stone and ever-lasting nightgold, and how he doesn’t want to end up among monsters.
That there has been a mistake. That he’s harmless.
“Oh shut up, Olm,” I finally tell the voice and throw the satchel to the ground. The thud echoes in the alley. “Just shut up.”
Olm’s voice fades and I draw in a deep breath. That’s it. It’s over. Not picking that book up again. All we have to do now is walk away.
Only, Eiras bows, lifts the satchel and swings it over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.” He adjusts the strap again, as if surprised by the unexpected weight of the thing. “What was that about? You’d better start talking, sister. You…”
He trails off.
“Eiras?”
He’s gazing into the distance and I turn to follow his gaze, only to find he’s staring at… nothing? Or the wall across?
Fear curls around my spine like an icy fist. “Eis? What’s going on?”
“We have to go to the palace,” he whispers, his blue eyes wide but kind of empty. He sets off toward the exit of the alley, moving at a brisk pace. “We have to leave now.”
“What? Eis, no. Wait!”
But he’s already marching away, and I have no choice but to run and keep up with him. “The palace,” he’s muttering. “Yes, the royal library would be perfect for this book. Easier to reach, too. Most definitely.”
“Eis! What in the hells?” I finally reach him as he turns a corner and I push him, knocking him against the wall of a house. Then I grab the satchel strap and pull it with all my might. He tries to resist but he seems confused, as if caught in a daze, so I finally manage to yank it off him.
Stumbling back a few steps, clutching the satchel to my chest, I lift a forbidding hand between us. “Stop right there, Eis.”
He stares at me. Then he glances around him, pale brows drawing together. “Aline? What’s going on? What are you doing?”
“Me? You decided to take the book to the palace! Did it… Eis, did it speak to you?”
He frowns harder. “I heard a voice. It was telling me that taking the book to the royal library would be the best course of action. The librarians there would know what to do with it.”
“Oh Gods.” I can’t catch my breath. The implications are terrible. “We’re not going to find the woman who dropped the book, are we? Either she didn’t want anything to do with it anymore and dropped it on purpose, or the book spoke in her head and told her to leave.”
Olm whispers in my ear, “No, it wasn’t my doing. I don’t know why she left me here. I think she became scared.”
“Of you?”
“I’m not sure. There’s only so much you can figure out when you are inside some moldy pages.”
“Is he talking to you right now? What is he telling you?” Eiras is white as milk. “Aline, talk to me.”
I clench my jaw. “It doesn’t matter. I have to take the book to the Areon.”
Eiras shakes his head. “No, you can’t go. It’s dangerous. We’ve established that.”
“And what other options are there? This book can’t stay here.
It will keep talking to whoever holds it, Eis!
Using its magic on us, to convince us to take it to the palace, the Gods know for what nefarious reason.
Somehow its magic doesn’t work on me, and I managed to stop you from doing its bidding, but imagine if anyone else gets it.
They’d take it to the palace immediately, and then… ”
“Then what? What will a book do there?” He snorts, though he’s still too pale. “It’s just a book. It can’t grow arms and legs. Can’t wield a sword or a dagger.”
“Keep laughing. You heard what Naida said.” I glance down at the satchel I’m pressing to my chest. My knowledge about magical books is limited, but Naida did say over and over that they’re dangerous. “What if a monster escapes and eats everyone? What if it eats the fae queen?”
He’s quiet for a while. Then he says, “What if a monster escapes and eats you on the way?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That won’t happen.”
Now he’s the one glaring at me and I wince. Yeah, why wouldn’t it? I can’t have it both ways. Either this book is dangerous or it isn’t.
“You’re not going,” Eiras says.
I glare right back. “Yes, I am. Or do you see any other solution?”
He sighs. “Then I’m coming with you.”
“No, Eis. You have to stay with Naida and Brogan.”
“Look, I can’t stay anyway,” he says. “I have to find more work. You were right, what I brought won’t last long. It never does.”
Now I’m regretting my complaints to him. “Eis…”
“I’ll accompany you to the Library of Areon. Naida and Brogan will be fine. I’ll leave them all the coin, and I will come back. Both of us will.” He gives me a cheeky grin, all bravado and optimism. “We’ll just drop the fucking book off and return. How hard could it be, huh?”
With my luck? I don’t even want to weigh my odds, yet it seems I’m the chosen one for this mission, like it or not…