Pieces of Eight (The Frey Saga, #2)(4)

“Oh," he replied casually, "I’ve named her Elfreda.”

I blushed. Well, blushing was putting it mildly. He smiled through tight lips, trying not to laugh. Ugh. Who had told him that I’d named my horse Steed? Probably would have given that a second thought if I’d known how things would turn out.





The way was rough and I found I’d liked riding up better than down. Maybe it was only my nerves, but leaning back all day to avoid being tossed over the horse’s head while being jostled around wasn’t exactly fun. And we had not, as far as my poor directional skills could tell, swung back around toward the south side of the mountain. The stones were darker here, less traveled, and, well, eerie. We finally stopped for the evening and I slid down off the horse, walking around a bit before the dinner around the fire I was eagerly looking forward to.

There seemed to be a conversation I wasn’t expected to be a part of, planning no doubt, so I busied myself by checking out what Ruby had packed for me. When I opened the first bag, my stomach knotted at the disturbing sight. It was full of weapons. I told myself they were for training, not for what lay at the end of our journey. I pulled out some knives. The blades were shiny and sharpened to a frightening degree. I gingerly slid them back in the bag to one side and took out a less offensive-looking weapon. Two sticks were connected end to end by a metal chain. It looked fairly harmless. I was satisfied with my find as I stood to try it out. Much safer.

I had a hand on each end and gave them a pull, as if I were testing the chain. I wasn’t sure what I was doing but it probably looked cool. You know, check out your… what was this weapon… before using it. It seemed to be pretty sturdy but I couldn’t decide how to use it in both hands so I went with one. I’d seen Grey spin a staff so I thought I’d try that method. I held the end of one stick in my right hand and swung it around carefully in a circle. It worked out nicely so I swung it in a figure eight that wrapped around my sides. I found that it worked better with momentum so I sped up a bit.

I really liked it. I got brave and tried out some new moves.

Thwack!

I tried not to grab my face as the free end cracked me on the bridge of the nose. My eyes were watery but I risked a glance at the group, desperate to see if they had noticed. Ugh. To their credit, they were trying to hold back their laughter. They were strong but it didn’t matter… they’d seen the whole thing.

I’d save the embarrassment for later, my face hurt too bad right now. I plopped down on a rock and used the base of my palm to apply pressure to the bone between my eyes. I scowled behind my forearm when I heard a chuckle. Probably Steed.





I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I knew I was dreaming. I knew because I was that other Elfreda again. I was younger and braver and though I couldn’t lose the confusion even when I was dreaming, I was in control. We were outside, but the ground was rocky and the trees were low and spiky. We were hiding as we waited, pleased with ourselves as we watched our plan play out perfectly. Aunt Fannie had found our decoy. She was younger, too, but this old me still held strong negativity toward her. She’d spotted the scroll and checked to see that she wasn’t being followed. She’d not seen us. Her eyes widened at the words on the page before she softly whispered them aloud. Beside me, I heard a stifled chuckle as he worked his magic, burning the lines into her palms. She dropped her prize and her face froze as she took in the image on her skin. A map. A false map that would lead her in circles for days and give us time…





I jerked from Ruby’s touch as she tried to wake me. It was dawn. I was covered in sweat and muddled, confused. Had it been a dream? Had I taken the memories of the map that I had found, the map that had led me north, led me here, and combined them into a dream with these rocks and… Chevelle.

No, no, I couldn’t believe it. It must have been a dream. How would he? Why?

I shook my head and hastily grabbed my things to mount as the others were leaving. No. Impossible.

But the images nagged at me all day, they would not be quieted even as we rode down the mountain, further and further from the castle.

I tried to remember the words. I was almost certain of them; it had been such a shock at the time. When I couldn’t fight it any longer, I held back from the group as we rode and nervously whispered the spell.

Nothing happened.

Maybe I’d used the wrong ones. No, I was sure. Well, maybe a spell only worked once, though I’d never heard of that. But I didn’t know much about spells. Maybe I was already here so there was no reason for the map to appear. No, to burn into my palms. But I wasn’t here when the lines disappeared. I was riding into the village where we had met Ruby. When Chevelle had nodded at my hands. My mind returned over and over to the idea that it was a memory, not a dream. But I held fast to the one shred of evidence I could muster. No one has the power to heal.





We were stopping before I realized it was evening. I was exhausted from worry. Ruby could tell something was wrong; she tried to act cheery.

“Ooh, you should have put some snow on that,” she giggled, pointing to my black eyes from yesterday’s self-taught sticks-on-a-chain lesson.

I managed to glare at her but it hurt more than it was worth.

We sat as Chevelle lit a fire and I tried not to eye him suspiciously. I’d once marveled at how good he was with a flame. Maybe he had a reversible burning power. Okay, now you’re just making stuff up. I thought back to the incident again, to his explanation later. His sincerity when he’d said he had to take me north, now that I’d seen the map I’d have to. His regret, how he should have been paying closer attention. His confession… I’m sorry, Freya. I let you down.