Fey 02 - Changeling (52 page)

"You have no time at all.
 
The mourning period is for peaceable Fey, not for Visionaries and warriors."

"My daughter died," Rugar said.

"And the Shaman says you had a hand in it.
 
Before she died, Jewel came to me wondering if I had killed the Islander king.
 
She said it sounded like a Fey job.
 
I suspect it was.
 
How did the mud get on your stoop, Rugar?"

"Yesterday."
 
Rugar waved a hand.
 
His movements were vague, unfocused.
 
"I brought it yesterday."

Burden shook his head.
 
"The mud's too old for that.
 
And there's none inside.
 
If you had tracked it in here yesterday, it will still be here, like your piss."

Rugar looked down.
 
"I was supposed to have privacy."

"You're not going to get it," Burden said.
 
"You didn't let any of us know that you were escalating the war again.
 
Have you a solution to holy water?"

"If I did, do you think I would have let Jewel die?"

"Then you better have had a damn good reason for killing their king."

Rugar sighed and slumped into one of his chairs.
 
The faint odor of unwashed flesh rose from his clothes.
 
"I have her son," he said.

"What?"
 
Burden crossed his arms.
 
"What good will that thing do us?"

"Not the thing," Rugar said.
 
"It's a golem.
 
Her son.
 
The actual boy.
 
The Wisps stole him when he was less than a week old."

Burden sat heavily in the nearest chair.
 
It had no cushion and the impact stunned his spine.
 
A real child.
 
Not the slow-moving creature that they had all figured to be the product of an Islander and a Fey, but a real flesh and blood being.
 
"What do you expect to gain?" Burden said.
 
"When Nicholas learns this, he will have even more reason for revenge."

"The child is a Visionary," Rugar said.

Burden shook his head.
 
"Now I know you're making light with me.
 
The boy is three years old.
 
To have powers at that age is impossible."
 
Then he frowned.
 
"Didn't the Shaman say the boy was dying?"

Rugar nodded.
 
"I checked on him
 
as soon as I returned to Shadowlands.
 
He had a strange bout, a reaction, I guess, to Jewel's passing, but he's fine.
 
After my mourning, I was to talk with his stepmother."

Burden leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees and wiped his eyes with one finger.
 
A Visionary at the age of three.
 
A child with more powers than the Fey had ever seen.
 
A baby girl with Shape-shifting abilities born to a Visionary.
 
Jewel had been right after all.
 
The union between Islander and Fey made them both more powerful instead of less.
 
Burden pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You ruined Jewel's chances of survival," he said.

"What?" Rugar looked up and blinked at him.

Burden let his hand fall to his lap.
 
"You ruined any chance of that alliance succeeding.
 
If the Islanders had been allowed to see the gifted child born to their King instead of the thing you replaced him with, then Jewel's alliance would have worked.
 
You ruined her from the start."

Rugar shook his head.
 
"I was helping her.
 
I was helping us."

"I don't see how," Burden said.
 
Bile had risen in his throat.
 
He had to swallow to keep it down.
 
Rugar had done more to hurt the Fey than anyone else ever could have.

"A Fey child couldn't be raised in an Islander world," Rugar said.
 
"The moment the boy showed any precociousness, someone would have sprinkled him with poison.
 
You saw what that holy man did to Jewel.
 
Imagine that happening to a defenseless child.
 
As soon as I can, I'll get his sister as well."

"You will not," Burden said.
 
He stood.
 
"You will not interfere any more than you have done.
 
I was there when the Shaman said that little girl should not come to Shadowlands.
 
The Shaman still has her Vision.
 
You do not."

"I have something better," Rugar said.
 
"I have my grandson's Vision."

"Did your precocious grandson see Jewel's death?"

The bluster Rugar had a moment before subsided.
 
He leaned back in his chair and looked at the fire.
 
The flames played across his face, making his features dance.
 
"Yes," he said softly.
 
"He did."

"And you did nothing?
 
You prepared for nothing?"

"He was a child," Rugar said.
 
"It was his first Vision, and it was very confused.
 
I had no idea the mother he saw on the ground was Jewel.
 
I had no idea that what he called yellow people were Islanders.
 
It's only in hindsight —"

"It's not in hindsight," Burden said.
 
"You're just unwilling to admit that you had been warned and did not take appropriate action.
 
Of course you've gone Blind.
 
You never deserved Sight in the first place."

Rugar didn't move.
 
"Say what you want," he said.
 
"I did not know."

Burden paced in the small cabin.
 
He touched the table where Jewel had once sat, fondled the cup she had preferred.
 
He would never see her again, never talk to her again, never have the chance to apologize to her for all the things he said.
 
All the things he had thought.

"It was your mistake that brought us to this place," Burden said.
 
"Your lack of Vision that allowed us to get slaughtered by these Islanders, and your lack of wisdom that prevented you from listening to the others around you."

Burden walked to Rugar's chair, put his hands on the arms, effectively trapping the older man.
 
Rugar turned toward him, eyes dull, and hopeless.

"You're going to listen to me now," Burden said.
 
"We have a responsibility in all of this.
 
But so do they.
 
We have never survived by hiding.
 
We have never made our way in this world by sneaking around and ignoring our Visions.
 
We are a world power because we have abilities that we use."

Rugar didn't move.
 
He was watching Burden as if Burden were a child having a tantrum.

"We also have a responsibility to Jewel.
 
The Black King's granddaughter was murdered when she was operating in good faith with the enemy.
 
We must seek revenge."

"We can't," Rugar said.
 
"Their holy man makes the poison."

 
"You have always been a weak man," Burden said.
 
"It was your weakness, your desire to be something greater than you are, that brought us here in the first place.
 
You never acknowledged your limitations, you never listened to your betters.
 
You just brought us all with you and doomed us to this life.
 
And then, when your daughter tried to improve it, you abandoned her and kidnapped her child.
 
You're not a leader, Rugar.
 
You're certainly not a Visionary.
 
You're a weak and pathetic man who thinks only of himself."

"You have no right to talk to me that way," Rugar said.
 
"I'm in mourning."

"See?
 
Only of yourself.
 
I have every right," Burden said.
 
"There is no time for mourning.
 
We have to make their holy man pay.
 
Once we do that, we will be able to negotiate with Nicholas again."

"Their holy man could kill more Fey by himself than Nicholas could with his guards in a month," Rugar said.
 
"For all we know, the poison is a part of the holy man.
 
Quest died too quickly for us to discover if we can ever get near their holy men."

"Quest," Burden said.
 
He clasped his hands together.
 
He hadn't been this angry in years.
 
"Quest was a Doppelgänger who sacrificed himself for a solution we never got.
 
Then Jewel sacrificed herself.
 
All because of your mistakes.
 
One of your greatest mistakes was a failure to use our resources.
 
Our Warders found a way to slow the effects of the poison.
 
How come they haven't found an antidote?"

"They've been working on it," Rugar said.

"Working on it?
 
For years?
 
If Caseo were still alive, he would be appalled by that.
 
How long has it been since the Warders left Shadowlands?
 
Have they tried other methods of discovering what creates the poison?
 
Did any of them ask for help from the Settlement or from Jewel?
 
Of course not.
 
The one thing that could save us all, and you let the Warders piss the advantage away, encouraging them to hide in here while your daughter sacrificed her life for us."
 
Burden paused to take a breath.

Rugar finally sat up.
 
His face was only inches from Burden's.
 
"We have limited talent among our Warders."

"Of course we do," Burden said.
 
"You cover them with additional excuses.
 
Since Caseo died … or finding a solution is difficult … or we have limited talent.
 
You never look at the situation.
 
Is Rotin still among the Warders?"

"Of course she is," Rugar said, adopting Burden's tone.
 
"We have only lost one Warder."

"And I suppose you still allow her to play with her 'herbs.'
 
How can a drugged mind find any creativity, Rugar?
 
Have you even chosen a leader for the Warders now that Caseo is dead?"

"It's their duty to choose a leader," Rugar said.

"And they always choose the oldest, not necessarily the best.
 
You know better, Rugar.
 
It is our lives you're toying with here.
 
Go in there, discover the best Warder and put that person in charge.
 
Get rid of the drugs, give the Warders a deadline with real consequences, and see if they come up with a solution for you."

"I can't give the Warders consequences," Rugar said, and closed his eyes.

"Yes, you can," Burden said.
 
"If they haven't found a solution by whatever time you set, kick them out of Shadowlands.
 
Make them search for answers on Blue Isle --which is where they should be looking anyway."

"And lose our Warders?" Rugar said.
 
"You're the one who is short-sighted, Burden."

Burden grabbed Rugar by the shoulders and pulled him forward.
 
Rugar opened his eyes, but his expression remained impassive.
 
Burden crouched beside him so that their faces were close.
 
"What have the Warders done for us since we came to the Isle, Rugar?
 
Any new spells?
 
New ideas?
 
If they had all died in the First Battle of Jahn would we have noticed?
 
Yes, they slowed down the effects of the poison, but Jewel died anyway.
 
They have made no difference at all.
 
If you force them to work, they will make a difference."