I fell behind Grey as we walked into the room, not especially eager to meet Chevelle again so soon. I was staring at Grey's feet, keeping as close to him as possible so that Ruby could not grab me for an inquiry, but my head jerked up when I heard Junnie's voice.
She'd been in the midst of a conversation with Chevelle when we entered and they broke off, turning to greet us. She gave a slight nod and then nearly smiled. "Freya, you look well." She glanced at Chevelle and asked, "Have her faculties returned?"
His eyes met mine as he answered, "Her memories are fractured but her powers are much improved." I flushed and found my feet again.
I could feel the questions linger so I swallowed hard and raised my head as if I were not mortified. It was harder to pull off than I'd expected and I found myself talking without cause. "Have you found Fannie?"
Junnie seemed surprised at the directness of my question but only hesitated a moment before shaking her head. "Merely signs of her."
Signs. "Animal attacks?" I asked.
She nodded and I could see Chevelle become uneasy beside her. "I understand you have seen such evidence yourself," she said.
A vision of the human carcass returned to me and I had to look away from Junnie. I scanned the room for something else to focus on, finding Anvil and Rider were staring at me with concern. I was still nodding.
Ruby wound an arm around my waist and I forced myself to focus on that while their conversation from earlier resumed.
"I have since located only carnage and two stillborn," Junnie explained. "In addition to your most recent find, have there been any other indicators?"
"Three servants for certain," Chevelle said, "and four others that could not be verified."
"We have removed those threats," Rider added. "No others remain within the walls."
I floated away from the terrible exchange, mindlessly scanning the patterns on the edge of a wall hanging. From there, I traced the lines of stone as they spoke, their words merely background noise as I found an interesting design on the floor and followed it through the room. I tracked it until it ran under someone's boot and I trailed up the boot to pants, unthinkingly upward, over a shirt, slowly reaching a strong chin, lingering on lips that I knew, upward still, finally reaching his eyes, sapphire.
Sapphire. Suddenly, it was right there, the name I'd tried so hard to recall, Chevelle's mother. All that struggle and there it was, so simply. I laughed out loud.
And they all turned to stare at me warily. I attempted a sheepish grin but that only seemed to make it worse. A minute gesture from Chevelle and I could feel Ruby pulling me from the room. I hadn't realized how heavily I'd been leaning on her.
When we were nearly to my room, she asked, "Are you going to pieces, Freya?"
"No," I answered, but I didn't recognize my own voice.
We turned through the door and she led me to the bed, sliding a chair to sit beside me. "No need to worry, you are in good hands."
Ugh, hands again. I forced myself to concentrate on something else, but my mind didn't get far from the scene before my mouth opened. "Ruby, why would Fannie do such a terrible thing?"
She knew what I meant somehow, but her reply surprised me. "Is it so terrible?" I stared at her, stunned. "I cannot say that I'm not satisfied that it is done." She could see that I was lost so she clarified, "Fannie is merely removing the... foul," she was struggling, hesitating as she searched for useable terms, "... things that Asher is... producing."
I considered that. I couldn't argue that it didn't make some sense, to Ruby at least, but it was so hard to think of without seeing the bloody mess in the hidden chamber and knowing what had been before. I felt my eyes flutter so I moved forward with the conversation, or at least sideways. "Why did Fannie go to council when she discovered my mother's plans?" I asked.
Ruby looked puzzled. "I thought that was explained to you?"
I nodded. "But why council?" I thought of how much I loathed them now, how they had hunted me down, though it was apparently only part of them. I noticed Ruby was waiting as I reflected so I continued, "Why would she think they would help her?"
I could tell she was deliberating whether or not to tell me. Finally, she answered in a careful tone, "You don't understand that Grand Council is a birthright." I stared blankly at her. "Oh, you are missing so much," she sighed. "Fannie didn't trust that council would help her, she knew that by rule they must defend her." My vacant expression only slowed her words. "The laws of council have been in place for centuries, there was no foretelling of such a problem arising, no one could have imagined. But your Vita was a member of Grand Council, as was her family before her. Therefore, by default, Fannie, and your mother, were also components."