Grey tried to shush me anxiously. But I couldn't be calmed. That crazy bitch was hunting me down in beast form to kill me? That thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Punish yes, some form of prolonged torture probably, but kill? And then a hysterical laugh escaped. For the throne. Grey glanced nervously toward the others. They’d not want me to know this, my fragile brain couldn’t take it.
"Wait, wait, wait." I tried to push past the anger and hysteria for just long enough to understand. "This doesn't make any sense. It's not in line. Why am I even leader?" In my rush, I forgot that I hadn't spilled my complete knowledge of the situation to anyone. "Why isn't Asher?"
Grey looked back at me, entirely astonished. He started with a stutter and then avoided my direct question by answering in general. "It… it doesn't work that way, Frey. The leader can choose the next in his line but... in a conflict... power is the deciding factor."
I was lost. Again.
He knew it, and he threw another quick look at the others before he continued in a hushed tone. "Fannie is not as powerful as you are, Frey. You would have to be... out of the picture... for her to rule."
"She's stronger than Asher? I'm stronger than Asher?"
"She's counting on council disposing of him." I didn't miss that he'd avoided my part of the Asher question again.
My hands were shaking, I tried to calm myself before the blackness came. Grey waited, uneasy.
"Why am I the leader? If Asher is alive, why would I be ruler?" I looked directly at him. "Am I stronger than Asher?"
His tone was severe. "No one is stronger than Asher."
That threw me. "Then why?"
"It's very complicated, Frey. Grand Council intends to take him out again-"
I cut him off. "Again?"
He was frustrated now. "Frey, just..."
Grey trailed off as he heard someone approaching and then abruptly concocted a new conversation. "So you'll want to try and anticipate where I'll strike... oh, hey Ruby. Ready to go?"
I had to work to conceal my growl of irritation. Ruby eyed me suspiciously.
We rode late into the evening and the group was silent as darkness fell. We were deep in a forest when we finally stopped. I slid down from my horse and found a downed tree to lean against. Ruby brought me a blanket and then cornered Grey, something I was sure she'd been dying to do since the afternoon's practice.
I had started to doze off when Chevelle sat on the tree beside where my head rested and I immediately sat up, alert.
"Sleep, Frey."
Yeah, right. I sighed and tried to settle back in to the comfortable spot I'd had before.
It wasn't happening. I had to work to keep my thoughts from returning to questions about Fannie and Asher. About me. That was possibly the most disturbing part. It was starting to sink in that I was expected to be a ruler, and that it was something people wanted. Enough to kill me for. I had always disliked Fannie but it was still hard to believe she'd be so selfish, so... evil. Not that I hadn't wished her dead a few times, but geez. And if it was so important, why was Asher not the one? At least he had his mind, for Elvin's sake.
But no one knew I didn't. My guard had kept it a secret. For my protection.
Dawn came unexpectedly early. Not that it was any earlier than usual, just that I was surprised at it. I was wrapped in a blanket on the same tree, Ruby urging me awake with her foot. "Come on, Frey. Time for practice before we move on."
I groaned. But practice was brief because it was only a short time before they were mounted, ready to set off.
We rode too fast, in and out of patches of hot sun and dense forest. The plots of forest were becoming longer though and by the evening of the second day, I began to complain about being smacked in the head by so many limbs.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to walk?"
"We are conserving energy," Grey answered in a low voice. I looked back at him and he could see he would have to explain more thoroughly. Don't know why they haven't caught on to that yet. "The horses spare us the energy we would have used running. We are taking every precaution."
My horse ran into the back of Anvil's as we stopped unexpectedly. I gave him a sheepish grin. He didn't seem surprised that I hadn't been paying attention.
As we stepped down off the horses, Ruby caught a glance of all the scrapes and scratches I'd gained from the day's ride. It felt like every branch had hit my face. "You look like shit, Frey."
It seemed to make her day.
Several hours later, she tired of making repairs and gave up on me, admitting defeat. "I shouldn't have let it go so long," she sighed.
Grey had been watching her toil and laughed lightly as she sauntered off on some other venture.
I took the opportunity while we were alone. "So, how long have you known about Fannie?" I asked, indicating the group. He just looked back at me. "I mean, how long has she been stalking me?"
"Not so long," he answered in a hushed tone.
He was glancing around, placing the others I thought, so I lowered my voice as well. "Is she only using cats?"
"I wouldn't know, Frey. We are just being... over-cautious."
My brow knitted.
"Is there something else?"
"It just bothers me. The cats, I mean."