"Ancients? I thought they were all gone." I had read so many accounts of the ancients in the village during my studies with Junnie but thankfully his words stopped me from going down that path.
"So it is told. Yet you can see their form is not of our own."
"They're elves?"
He smiled gently. "We cannot know. Legend tells the ancients were more powerful than any of record. It is said that upon their thousandth year, they, being too powerful to pass, merely shifted into the minds of the wolves. Others tell that they share the form with the creatures, each together as one."
I felt a crushing pressure on my chest and yet knew it was dulled by wine. "How?"
"It is said they were twin." He had misunderstood my question of course, not known that I spoke of the sharing, the animal mind. But the new information was heady. No twins had been born in the elf nations for generations, yet the power of such a thing was known by all.
"And you believe it, you followed them."
"We do not know, Elfreda. We only accept as truth what can be proven. We are loyal to the wolves because they once did us a great deed. And we are loyal to you because the wolves are so."
The conversation had taken such a bizarre turn, I was self-conscious, embarrassed at their declaration. "But why be loyal to me? You don't even know me, I don't even know me."
Rhys' smile was reassuring. "We do not pledge ourselves blindly, Elfreda."
I fluttered. "Wait, you do know me?"
"We... found out."
"Found out?"
Rider spoke. "While we are faithful to the wolves, we do not offer our lives without certainty. It was a small matter of research."
My head spun. "What do you know?"
"We know of you, Elfreda. We know of your family."
"My family?"
They nodded.
"My mother?" I nearly whispered.
"And the others."
The others. "Fannie?"
"Yes."
The expression on their faces was so disdainful I had to ask. "What about Fannie?"
Rhys answered. "She had been difficult since birth, we are told, a concern from day one. Though her mother tried to care for her, she was a constant disturbance and grew to a troublesome child. Rumors flourished that the lord would give up his plan for union with a light one. But upon the birth of the second child, their father merely exacerbated the problem with Francine, showing undoubted preference for Eliza. After a series of regrettable events and a show of your mother's superior power, Francine was passed over for the line, her sister chosen as secondary. Certainly this enflamed her wrath and after a time, she began to detach from even their mother, Vita."
I was speechless, numb, at the easy flow of words describing the horror, though a similar version I had read gradually in my mother's diary.
"Her mother's death was pivotal, though, and it is thought that she meant to resurface, return as a proper lord's daughter. And it seems likely given that upon finding her sister's plan to destroy him, she went to their father, exposing the entire plot. At first he did not trust in Francine, but when confronted with Eliza's journal detailing the plan, he'd no choice but to see it as truth. However, he did not do as she'd expected. Instead of being horrified with his successor's plan to destroy him, he was overjoyed at her power, a matchless power said to be described in her writings. Francine was confounded as he quickly began to form his own plan, which ultimately skipped over his only remaining daughter. She became incensed. She'd not the power to destroy him and his guard alone, no more than her sister did. But Francine knew Eliza would not accept her now, would not have joined her in his defeat, for she'd warned him. He'd be expecting Eliza, was aware of her entire design. Francine could only think of one other option. Grand Council."
Though I knew I was still breathing, could hear the pound of my heart, I was aware of no other feeling but the crushing pressure on my chest. My thoughts ran wild. I'd never even considered why council had been there. I had merely read that my mother had decided to destroy her father. I knew they were circling her from my own memories, knew that they'd been trying to stop her. I'd never realized he wasn't there in those visions. Asher.
I don't know how long I sat so before I saw Chevelle's face, awash with fury. He tried to compose himself as my eyes met his. He approached us and I could see the unspoken warning directed at Rhys and Rider. I wondered if that was the reason they were so often separate from the group, not because they were better watchers, but because they would tell me whatever I'd ask. I was fearful for them, but also afraid I had lost their openness, that they would tell me no more. My thought must have been obvious, because when they stood in tandem to excuse themselves, they bowed toward me. "We are here but to serve you, Elfreda." I attempted a smile.
I realized then that Grey and Anvil had grown quiet. And that I'd consumed far too much wine. I swayed and then laid my head on the table without another glance at them.
Chevelle was silent as he lifted me in his arms and carried me to my bed. He laid me down, brushed the hair from my face, and then walked wordlessly from the room.