“She’s killing them off piecemeal.”
I knew I needed to ask why but I couldn’t get my voice to work.
Ruby could see my questions. She continued in a softer tone, “She was bound, the same as you, Frey.”
Pain racked my mind but I tried to stay focused as she recounted the binding. “She was not considered guilty as your mother was and she was allowed to live, though bound tightly and under watch. Freya, when we fought them before, as we tried to release your bonds… we released some of hers as well.”
I felt a harsh intake of breath but I couldn’t convince myself it was real, I couldn’t believe her. “How do you know?”
She looked at me like I was missing something. I didn’t see it. “Junnie.”
Junnie. I’d never even wondered why she’d come, what she’d spoken to Chevelle about in such a rush before… before she’d seen the girl.
I still couldn’t speak.
“I’ll let you rest for a bit. Are you going to be okay?”
“No," I begged, “please, Ruby, tell me more.” She didn’t think I could handle it, I could see that. If I were honest, I probably couldn’t but it didn’t stop me. “Please, Ruby. I need to know.”
She hesitated. And then, “What?”
I didn’t know what to ask. My mind was swimming in a current too strong to conquer. “Why?” She waited for a more precise question. “Why did she destroy the village?”
“We think that she blamed them for the binding. Or maybe she just hated them.”
“… why would she blame them?”
“She had some breaks, or leaks. Somehow, she’d gotten parts back and she was confused, though she knew that she’d been bound.”
I thought of all my years with Fannie. “How long?”
“We don’t know. She was secretive. Probably didn’t know who to trust. We don’t think she knew of Junnie’s involvement though.” Ruby looked sorry that she had mentioned Junnie. “But she did seem to know you were bound as well. At least at the end, just before you… left the village.”
“How?” I hadn’t even known then.
“We aren't certain. But the documents you found, they had been taken from council. And the ones that you,” there was really no other way to say it, “stole, they had been tampered with.”
“Tampered with?”
“Mixed up, at the least. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a good look at them before…”
“Before I burned them.”
“Yes.” She tried a timid smile.
“So, you think Fannie used me to get the documents? Or do you mean she tried to frame me, to get me into trouble with council?” I could hear my voice shake.
“There is no way to know what she was thinking, Frey, what she was after. But from what I understand, there was no love lost there.” A sympathetic hand touched mine.
I struggled to remember but it seemed so far away. And none of them were memories I’d wanted to cherish. Something came to me and I couldn’t help but ask now, now that Ruby was finally being open with me. I pushed down the thought that was trying to scream maybe she wasn’t being honest, maybe it was more lies. But I couldn’t entirely deny that feeling, after so much betrayal. So, instead of asking directly about the spell that placed the map on my palms, I took a side route. “Ruby, what about the pouch? Did she know I had that?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know much about that Frey. But I do know one thing… the silver medallion, the one that you found inside, it seems to match those that Fannie had secured from the human site, the place you read about in your mother’s diary.”
I swallowed hard. I wondered when Ruby had seen the medallion. In the castle probably, maybe one of the many times I’d been unconscious, it was impossible to know. I’d had no idea what the symbols meant but I’d never made the made the connection to… it was still hard to think… humans. I closed that line of thought quickly and pushed on to the first thing I could think of. “And the ruby?”
She seemed almost embarrassed as she answered this time. “Yes. Frey, that was payment. But please understand, that was before I knew you.”
“Payment?” I was incredulous. She nodded. “Payment for what?”
“Securing some items, helping you, gathering the guard.”
Bitter resentment wanted to rise, fire was waiting in my palms, the ache was heavy in my chest, but I kept them all still. Some part of me needed the secret, in spite of everything. But I hadn’t forgotten her words from just moments ago. I do not work for anyone.
Lies.
She could see that I’d had enough for now. She moved aside as I rolled away from her, curling to a ball.
And, after a few hours of mental torment, I fell asleep thinking I had reached my limit, feeling certain I was now beyond surprise.
Chapter Five
Stalker