False Moves – 12.3
Author: Wildbow

False Moves – 12.3 | Pale

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“I hereby open the discussion on the matter of Maricica’s exile from Kennet,” Toadswallow declared.  “Maricica has guided stranger Others in past our perimeter, fed them partial information, and those selfsame Others have worked against Kennet’s Others and practitioners.  Maricica herself has worked against Kennet’s citizens, raising suspicion and threatening what our council and collective are trying to accomplish.”

Some of the newly arrived Others were settling in.  Jabber.  Alpeana.  Nibble and Chloe were back, and they’d brought Montague.

No Charles.  It seemed like Edith was being left alone with just the Sable’s binding, which was supposed to be enough.

Even with something as important as the Sable backing the cage, the promise that the binding would hold up to just about anything, and the idea that anything strong enough to break it down could destroy Kennet anyway, it felt bad to Lucy, leaving Edith like that.  Unguarded on a trying night.

Toadswallow looked around the group.  “We must move with care.  The glitterpriss has dealt with all of us and if she is indeed against us, then we have to reconsider every interaction she’s had with us.  But by doing that, we open ourselves up to vulnerability, further manipulation, and schemes.  With your permission, as your elected head, I’ll guide this discussion past that for the now.  This is not a time for condemnation or holding a trial by proxy.  This isn’t a time for panic, or twisting ourselves in knots.  Agreed?”

There were nods all around.

“We hold her in exile until such a time as she brings herself to us for explanation and discussion.  Should she do so, we safely take her into our custody, sequester her temporarily, get the answers we need, and then decide as a group what we’ll do.  If she won’t bring herself to us or tries to approach the most vulnerable of us to win people to her side or twist future proceedings, she has to be considered a danger.  Is there any objection?  Would anyone here, practitioner or Other, wish for different treatment?”

He went one by one, checking with a pointed finger.  Each person murmured a negation or shook their heads.

Avery nudged Lucy.  Lucy followed Avery’s gaze to Alpeana.  The Nightmare looked sad.

Yeah.  Alpeana had known Maricica for a little longer than Lucy had known Verona, if Lucy had her timelines right.  They’d been companions, keeping each other company and sharing a space.  Even a nightmare like Alpeana needed someone to confide in and it sure seemed like Maricica had been that someone.  A big sister figure, maybe.

That was a thing, wasn’t it?  That things were so interconnected that any betrayal, big or small, was something that hit a lot of people really hard.

Toadswallow got to Lucy.  She shook her head.  Avery, to Lucy’s left, said, “No.  I think it’s fair.”

Toadswallow continued, “Then I’ll tell every Other and practitioner here, you should apprehend her without undue violence, and then give her the option of coming to us to explain.  The other option is to offer to bring her to us for discussion, and if she refuses, you may then turn to any necessary violence to apprehend her or drive her back into exile.  Use your best judgment, or the judgment of smarter or senior Others on the scene.  Newcomers, that means listening to those who’ve been around longer, unless you have good reason to believe they’re playing into the Carmine Conspiracy.”

There were nods all around.

“I’ll ask those here for your thoughts.  Guilherme, you knew her best,” Toadswallow said.

“To my detriment,” Guilherme sighed.  “Our newcomers haven’t seen her do much more than humiliate herself and humiliate other Fae by association, and I’m unsure if those of us who have known her since she came to Kennet are especially impressed either.  Maricica’s primary duty has been to deflect, distract, and confound.  On nine major occasions and an uncountable number of lesser ones, Maricica has averted threats that the non-Fae in our midst would have struggled to stop or turn back…”

He paused, looking around to make sure he had people’s attention.

“Yet,” Guilherme put emphasis on the word.  “Each major occasion has left me confident and comfortable in my assertion that it could have been done better, or that she had other goals in mind.  Always insufficient in some way, always subversive, always in ways that test Kennet.  She arranged the final blow to the Witch Hunter, but she guided him toward our more vulnerable Others before that.  Many were hurt, including Nibble and Chloe, and several goblins were killed.  She was wounded trying to stop the glamour-drowned Daniel Alitzer, but I’m of the belief she did this to drop into the background and withdraw her aid, letting her ideological opponents within Kennet’s council do the fighting and tire themselves out, while she maneuvered-”

“I take it you vote for exile?” Toadswallow asked.

Guilherme held up a hand, which made Toadswallow frown, annoyed.  “What comes next is relevant.  A man of unnatural beauty was spotted by Lis, having bystanders do the task of filling up his car and paying for his gas.  The beauty came from a place outside of Lis’s reach, impossible to emulate, so Lis went to Maricica for assistance, Maricica turned the man away.  I do not think this man is gone.”

“Was he the Faerie?” Lucy asked.  “Finnea?”

“Not a Fae.  Some practitioners turn their talents toward refining their selves.  Some do it for longevity, as Matthew’s father did, but others do it for other advantages.  Matthew might know more than I do.”

“We’re getting sidetracked, you oaf,” Toadswallow said.  “The longer you go on and on, the longer Maricica isn’t in exile.”

“If we don’t discuss this now there may never be a more opportune time.  Everyone is gathered.”

“Then pick an inopportune time!” Toadswallow told him.  “Put your thoughts to paper while you’re pinching a log free from between your overly chiseled buttcheeks and then fiercely fart the papers out the window to find their designated recipients.  Find a way, you’re not that dumb.”

“Faerie do not tend to ever pass gas, Toadswallow,” Guilherme said.

“Stuff enough glamour up your arse and I’m sure you can accomplish it.  It might help you be less uptight, if you aren’t packing in decades’ worth of flatulence.”

Goblins in the crowd hollered and shouted encouragement.

Matthew cleared his throat loudly, as he got to his feet and walked to the center of the group, placing himself firmly between Guilherme and Toadswallow.  “I think we’re really getting sidetracked with that.  I’ll be brief.”

“Please,” Toadswallow said, like he hadn’t been contributing as much disruption as Guilherme.

“Practitioners can do what you talk about.  The Hyde types of Alchemist accomplish it with chemical treatments, and then there are Egoists who, like Heartless pare away ugliness or pare away weakness to turn much of their practice inward.  Lis and Maricica told Edith and I about the beautiful man and I checked in on one individual I knew who had apparently interacted with him.  I don’t think he’s human anymore.”

Lucy glanced to her right as Verona put her hand up.

“Yes?” Matthew asked, as Toadswallow sighed in the background.

“Why do you think he’s not human anymore?”

“There’s a tell.  I asked the woman, she comes into my store sometimes, she helped build the addition where we have kayaks and canoes, did she think he could have been a model?  She said he was too attractive to be a regular old model.  Those who find power or beauty or whatever else by practice or by their Other abilities often find innocent things put beyond their reach.  Politics, acting, work that would leverage those traits.  A man this beautiful could, I assume, become the husband of royalty and avoid most public events, existing more as rumor than reality, enjoying the luxury, but he could not easily find the public eye even if he sought it.  Sometimes their beauty is captured in the moment but it curdles in retrospect, sometimes it’s something more specific, like being the opposite of photogenic, appearing ugly in photos and videos.  These things hold them back when circumstances alone aren’t enough to.  In much the same way, a Heartless practitioner that achieves immortality may find that any fortunes tied directly to them age in a way they don’t.  Those fortunes will slip away from them if they have to withstand any scrutiny from innocents.  Heartless will tend to put their fortunes into art collections and obscure ventures.”

He was getting sidetracked by Verona now, Lucy noted.  Not that Verona was complaining.  Even though she looked like she’d just gotten over the flu, Verona was paying rapt attention.

Lucy didn’t want to interrupt but she did want to get home, rather badly.  She felt antsy, as this drew on, and it was weird to be on the same page as Toadswallow.

“Point is, he’s an Other now?” Toadswallow asked.

“Right.  Probably,” Matthew said.  “I think so.  Or he’s firmly in that territory.”

“And he’s around, you think, you glittering oaf?”

“Yes, I’ve seen signs of people who’ve crossed paths with him, I think he’s dwelling in a location a few hours away.  Just far enough he could come if signaled, not so far that our usual patrols or searches would turn him up.  Maricica may have guided him there.  There are others.  Fauna Ephemera.”

Verona’s hand went up.

“Don’t annoy Toad too much,” Lucy whispered.

“It’s better to know now, isn’t it?” Verona whispered back.  “Toad?  A question for Guilherme.”

“Must we?” Toadswallow asked Verona.

Verona nodded.  “What are Fauna Emepher-”

“Ephemera,” Guilherme said.  “Fauna Ephemera.”

“Make it brief, Guilherme,” Toadswallow said, before leaning over to whisper something to Miss.

“Fauna Ephemera are Fae-adjacent works.  Wildlife cultivated to exist for a few glorious years as living pieces of art.  Fae seek beauty and beauty-”

“Is this brief?” Toadswallow asked.

“It will be briefer if you permit me to talk.  Can I suggest, Toadswallow, that you relieve yourself of gas, as you were so recently hinting about, in hopes you mightn’t be so cranky afterward?  And allow me to talk?”

Toadswallow made a face.  The fart came out as a long, high-pitched squeal.

“I meant it as a jibe.”

“Carry on,” Toadswallow grunted out the words, the squeal gaining new dimensions every second or two.

Guilherme opened his mouth to talk, but as he was about to start, the noise Toadswallow was making changed pitch and volume.  Guilherme shifted position, opened his mouth to start again, and the noise changed again, to something staccato.

“Is this productive?” Matthew asked.

Lucy had to hold herself back from flipping out on everyone involved.  Her mom had been threatened, and now this was dragging out in this juvenile way that even Guilherme was absolutely contributing to.

She started counting to ten, picking her words carefully well before saying it, because she was upset enough that she would probably say something regrettable if she really went all out.  The fart was probably annoying her more than it was annoying Guilherme at this point.

Toadswallow, one eye half closed, as if he was in the midst of a stroke, stomped one foot three times against the ground, punctuating the sound.  “Over the long term.  Perhaps I can train Guilherme in matters of- unh.  Brevity!”

Just as Lucy was about to speak up and say something, Guilherme continued, not really rushing, either.  “Fae keep the beasts in gardens and glades.  Occasional beauty to fill spaces where perpetual beauty would be too much detailed crammed into a space.  Fae and the Fae adjacent may keep them as decoration and security.  They may have been tied to Finnea.”

“Finnea seemed more… aristocratic?  Court-focused?  Does that make sense?” Lucy asked.  “A city Fae more than a nature fae?”

“You are very right,” Guilherme said, “but seemed is dangerous when it comes to Fae.  The beasts were crossbreeds between dark summer, dark fall, and the pups had crossbred with mundane earth animals of their ilk.  If they aren’t Finnea’s, whoever owned and nurtured them died and they moved on to new pastures.  Chasing the smell of carmine blood, I imagine.  I sent them scurrying back in the direction of the Faewilds, but after the fact, Maricica made hints she knew about them.”

“You didn’t tell us?” Matthew asked.

“If I was meant to tell you about every arcane hint Maricica left, we could be here all night, and Toadswallow might injure himself.  These are the details and events that stand out in retrospect, with the new information we have about her.  There are others, but I won’t torture Toadswallow any longer.”

Toadswallow wrapped up, terminating the fart with a fluttering, flatulent sound.  “I’m afraid, dear Guilherme, that I’m still cranky after all of that.”

“Alas,” Guilherme said.

Lucy twitched with irritation.  Her home had been violated, her mom had been threatened, and all of this had a way of feeling like salt in the wound.

She just wanted it over with.  She didn’t want to play into it, and she knew that if she responded in a way that drove a wedge in between herself and the Others, it would probably be to Maricica’s benefit more than anything.

“What do we need to know about the animals?” Avery asked.

More questions, more delays, more digressions.

“For animals they are short lived and intense.  They tend to accompany rather than exist independently, which is part of why this group of Fauna Ephemera has multiple species all keeping one another company.  They are happiest and healthiest if there is one Fae they surround and work with, or one magical or important fixture in a location they can frame.  A nature-themed Fae lord may have such animals lounging on and around the throne, for example.  If you encounter them, expect them to be vicious, crafty, and coordinated, with a flair for the dramatic.  Their senses are sharp and penetrate most things like your connection blockers, glamours, and other things that would divert them from their course.  Depending on their caretaker, they may be empowered, augmented, or trained with other talents.”

Avery nodded.

“If she’s sending birds out,” Guilherme said, “I suspect the beautiful man and the fauna emphemera are among the targets.  Or she’ll work with them directly.”

“Alpeana?” Toadswallow asked.  Lucy privately winced, hoping this wouldn’t lead to so many tangents.

Alpeana’s accent was thick, made thicker by the emotion in her voice.  “Och, aye.  Ah’m heartbroken, I considered her a friend.  Ah’m feart ah’ahent much help.  A’ve been too busy tae pay attention ‘n ah’m not th’ type to plook thae things anyhow.”

“Tell us if you think of anything,” Toadswallow said.

“Aye.  I’ll agree tae th’ exile, if she has th’ chance tae make her case.”

“I’d imagine she’d try to reach out to you,” Matthew told Alpeana.

“Aye.  Ah hope ‘n dread it.  Hope tha’ she’s friend enough, dread about wha’ I’d say.”

“Anyone else?” Toadswallow asked.  “Relevant information, before we hold any vote.”

Miss stepped forward, hands in her pockets, foliage blocking her face.

“Miss.  Welcome back, by the by.”

“Thank you.  Toadswallow, you were something of a friend to Maricica.”

“Spurious allegations!” Toadswallow exclaimed.  “I put up with her.”

“More than you’ve put up with others,” Miss said.  “I know she’s shopped on your behalf when you were preoccupied with other matters, and she requested that you purchase a splinter of abyssal wood, which you did, and you were paid for the delivery with a curse that you used to empower one of your creations.”

I’m so not in a mood for goblin and faerie hijinks right now, Lucy thought, thumbs hooked into her pockets, hands balling up into fists.

This is important, she told herself, while goblins hissed and jeered.

“Are you jockeying for my position as head of Kennet, Miss?” Toadswallow asked.

“No, I’m not.”

“You lay these things at my feet, but there was more to it.  Context!”

“Semantics!” Tatty chimed in.

It seemed Tatty was trying to get in Toad’s good books.  Lucy was doing everything short of literally biting her own tongue, while this went on.

“Nonetheless,” Miss said, calm.  “You knew her, you were close to her in a way.  Do you know anything by some odd angle that might shed light on who she is and what she’s doing?”

“Hharrumph,” Toadswallow grunted out the sound.

“I have to ask,” Miss said.

“I’ve dealt with many Faerie,” Toadswallow said, before turning to the goblins who were chattering on the sidelines.  “Dealt with!  Messed up, fought, evaded, confounded, annoyed.  I’ve made many of them miserable.”

“As I can testify.” Guilherme’s voice was dry, idly amused.

Guilherme agreeing with Toadswallow hurt more than it helped, as far as the various goblins and their upset went.  It felt like another second of delay when Lucy wanted to be gone already, already talking to her mom.

“Don’t need your help!  I know Faerie better than a lot of goblins, as awful as it can be, and I use that knowledge against most.  To answer your question, Miss, yeah.  Yeah, I’ve dealt with a lot of Faerie and she’s an odd one.  She’s after something and I don’t know what.  Might be good to search her part of the cave, see if there are any clues.”

“That’s all?” Miss asked.

“She’d ask me for things she couldn’t get so easily when she slipped back home to check in and keep plates spinning.  Here and there, she’d use one thing from some odd realm to mask her trail or bait a practitioner into a trap.  If we search her cave we might find some of that.  If this proceeding doesn’t take too long.”

“Very well,” Miss said.

“Next is-”

“No,” Lucy said, going from leaning against a tree with hands in her pockets to taking a few abrupt steps forward, hands clenched.  Then, because virtually anything else she said might cause problems, she just said, “Please.”

All eyes were on her.

She was tired, upset, she was sore from running around, and she was sweaty.  Her mom had been threatened and she still hadn’t gotten the full story.

“Please… can we move this along?  I want to check on my mom,” she told the assembly, trying to keep her voice level.

“Any further input that is especially relevant?” Toadswallow asked, grumpy.  “No?  Then we’ll vote.  One by one, state your names clearly, your nature, and your vote clearly.  I, Sir Toadswallow, goblin, vote for exile.”

Lucy retreated, leaning against the tree.  Avery gave her arm a rub.

“I, the Lost who many of you have known for years as Miss, who has no true name, will vote for Exile.”

“I, Matthew Moss, host of the Doom of Edith James, vote for exile.”

“I, Alpeana, nightmare, vote for exile.”

Verona looked over at Tashlit and then at Montague.

“I, John Stiles, dog of war, vote for Maricica’s exile.”

“I, Nibble, original name forgotten, ghoul, vote for exile.”

“I, Chloe, ghoul, abstain.  My thoughts aren’t clear enough, can’t vote.”

“She put us in the line of fire,” Nibble said.  “Right?”

Guilherme nodded.

“I shouldn’t,” Chloe said, quiet.  “Go ahead.”

“Very well,” Toadswallow said.  “A non-vote doesn’t stop this from being unanimous.  Next.”

Eyes went to the radio Montague inhabited.  It crackled, buzzing.  “A pretty face –kkt– must go!  Clearan–”

“A vote for exile from Montague,” Toadswallow verbalized.

The votes continued.  Guilherme and two-thirds of the goblins took a turn, unanimous.

“I, the Oni who is currently going by Crooked Rook, will vote for exile.”

“I, the piecemeal person known going by Reggie, also Reagan, also Collins, also Gabriel, vote for exile.”

Tashlit.  She tapped Verona’s hip and Verona passed her one of the elemental Dropped Knives.  Tashlit pricked a thumb, then gave the thumbs down.

“Exile?” Toadswallow asked, as the blood welled.

Tashlit nodded.  The droplet fell to ground.

“So accepted.  The blood is Tashlit’s, god-begotten.”

“I, goblin, current name Bluntmunch, sanitized for children, vote for exile.  I’d rather do worse to her.”

“Exile for now,” Toadswallow said.  “A band-aid over the damage and some minor safeguards.”

“Gashwad, goblin, exile,” Gashwad snarled.

“Cherrypop, goblin, get ‘er gone!” Cherrypop piped up.

“Snowdrop, I’m not an opossum spirit or boon companion, I’m not a part of Kennet, I can’t vote for Exile.”

Peckersnot was on Verona’s shoulder, wheezing periodically, still cut up from head to toe with claw marks.  He nipped his thumb and gave the thumbs down.

“Verona Hayward, practitioner.  Exile.  Sorry we couldn’t get her.”

“We couldn’t get her either, and we had her surrounded,” Toadswallow said.

“Lucy Ellingson, practitioner.  I vote for exile.  As one step in a process, I hope.”

“Ideally,” Toadswallow grunted.

“I, Avery Kelly, Finder, vote for exile.  Let’s keep protecting Kennet as best as we can.”

“Protect all of us,” Toadswallow said.  “The terms are set, the deals arranged.  No succor-”

Goblins giggled.

“-no hospitality, no support or refuge.  She doesn’t belong here any more.  Who has tonight’s patrols?” Toadswallow asked.

“We did our afternoon patrol earlier,” Lucy said.

“I do,” Guilherme said.  Nibble and Chloe raised claws.

“Tell the spirits at the shrines?” Toadswallow asked.  “Montague, we’ll have you give the barrier a jolt.  A bit of a kick in the pants for any intruders.  Try to get a feel for things, report back to us about the barrier’s nature?”

“I’ll have to leave before then,” Miss said.  “Can we arrange a strict schedule for Montague?  I’ll leave Kennet while he works, time patrols and diversions for then.”

“A strict schedule ties our hands,” Toadswallow said.

“I’ll put in the effort to try to compensate for that, finding potential intruders drawing closer, spying on them, finding ways to move them on their way,” Miss said.  “I’m good at this, Toad, you know this.”

“I do,” Toadswallow said.  “But that’s focused on the outside.  Inside, the wraiths and spirits keep appearing.  Sometimes it’s easier to push the innocents indoors and churn up the immaterial landscape.”

“You are the head of Kennet,” Miss said.  “If that’s your decision-”

“It’s not,” Toadswallow said.  “But be aware.  We’ll all have to work harder to keep the town safe.”

There were nods of heads and agreements.  Lucy couldn’t help but notice the new Others were a little less sure.

They didn’t know Miss, so they didn’t know what she brought to the table.

This felt shaky.

“Lis,” Toadswallow said.

“Can we make this fast?” Lucy asked.

“Same terms.  She can come back, but only if she faces us and answers questions.  She may be innocent, but she has to testify and explain what she knows.  We know she worked with Edith and kept secrets on her behalf.  We suspect but cannot one hundred percent verify that she was working with Maricica as well.  Her sponsors were Maricica and John.  Maricica is gone.  John?”

“She did good work as a protector of Kennet, as far as I saw.  We got along but she still chose to associate with Edith and Maricica more than with me.  I don’t know if it was because I remind her of parts of herself she dislikes, or if she was going to Edith because Edith was one of the heads of Kennet at the time.  I’d vote for exile, as long as she has room to return by coming to us and explaining.”

“The sponsors were always meant to know the new Others best.  Their time here was looser and less formalized,” Toadswallow said.  “If there isn’t a resounding outcry, we’ll take John’s recommendation.”

There wasn’t a resounding outcry.

“Do you have the writ of invitation?” Toadswallow asked.

“I do,” Matthew said.  He opened a binder and pulled out a piece of paper.  It was marked with a signature and blood at the bottom.

“Writ of invitation rescinded,” Toadswallow said.  “By the rules set by our council.”

He tore the paper, then let the two halves drop.  As they settled on damp mud, they absorbed the mud and damp faster than even paper towel would have.  They quickly disintegrated to nothing.

Lucy prepared to go, picking up her bag where it sat by her feet.

“There’s also the matter of Cig,” Toadswallow said.

Lucy stopped.  Right.  Cig.  Frig.

“Bound,” Verona said.  “Same suspicions as with Lis.”

“We haven’t questioned him or anything yet,” Lucy admitted.  This was annoying, because she knew that it was wrong to keep him confined in an unjust way, but also- she didn’t want to be here right now.  She was spent, she wanted her mom, her patience was thinner than anything.

“Sponsored by Edith and myself,” Matthew said.  “Would you release Cig into my custody?”

It would be so easy to say yes.  It felt wrong to say yes, just like that.

“We could release him into the custody of Kennet as a whole,” Lucy said.

“You don’t trust me?” Matthew asked.

Lucy shook her head.  Her emotions were in the way of her thoughts, for once, and she had to take a few seconds, staring at the ground, to form the response.  She hated taking those seconds.  “When we bound him we did it with permission, but we also took responsibility for him.  I think it’s best if we act with as much caution as possible.  It’s not that I barely trust you, but I barely trust anyone all on their own to take care of him and keep him secure.  Someone like Maricica could swoop in or try something, or stuff could go wrong.”

“Right,” Matthew said, in a tone that made her wonder if her intentions had come across the way she’d wanted.

“Miss?” Avery asked.  “Toadswallow?  Would you two join Matthew in looking after Cig?”

“What’s the long term plan?” Miss asked.

“Questioning him takes time, doesn’t it?” Verona asked.

“If it isn’t yes or no answers, yes,” Matthew replied.

“Plus we’d need to draw a diagram if we’re moving him out of the bottle.  Is it okay to keep him confined for tonight?  And we handle that tomorrow?  Then decide?”

“If we must,” Matthew said, as Miss said, “Yes.”

Toadswallow followed up with a, “Yes.”

Okay, good.

It felt better that three people were making the call than one.  Lucy wasn’t sure why that was so important.

“That handles the things I think we need to handle promptly,” Toadswallow said. “We should make sure we’re all on the same page, discuss plans and priorities for the coming two weeks-”

“Fuck.  I want to check on my mom, Toadswallow,” Lucy said, more insistent, patience wearing thin.  “Please.”

“Of course,” Toadswallow said.  “Of course, yes, that’s your prerogative.”

“It’s not a prerogative!  It’s basic decency, I’ve held back, I’ve asked politely, and you’re ignoring it-!”

Avery touched Lucy’s arm.

Lucy held herself back.

“I’m sorry,” Toadswallow said, ducking his head down.  “We’re a largely motherless lot, us Others.  It’s easy to be insensitive, I’ve fallen into that trap just now.”

“I can stay,” Avery said.  “I don’t really want to go home right away anyway.  I’ll report back, if that’s okay?  If you guys trust me to mostly handle what you would, if you were here?  You guys go.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said.  “If that’s okay?”

“More than,” Toadswallow said.

Lucy nodded quickly.  “Thanks for the backup, guys.  Sorry this Maricica thing was a bust.”

“Be well, we’ll be in touch.”

Lucy nodded quickly again.

She escaped the scene, striding away, an ill Verona following.

So much bureaucracy and decision-making, so much crap.  Frig.

Fucking going on forever, putting her and her wants secondary, when she’d been in the midst of it, when they’d been dealing with that, feeling like they were on the wrong side of everything, while some creepy otherworldly naked lady was doing something to her mom and she couldn’t do anything.

Fuck!  fuck!  She clenched her fists until her wrists and forearms hurt.

Verona trudged beside Lucy.  Lucy forced herself to slow down, seeing how Verona was.

“You okay?” Lucy asked.

“I’m freaking gainsaid for a big chunk of our very limited two weeks before the big deadline,” Verona said.

“But are you okay?”

“I guess?  Ugh.  I feel like I was just starting to get my momentum.”

“Okay.  Still on that.  But you took some alchemy and that affected you and-”

“I’m going to try something else next time.”

“Alright,” Lucy replied, feeling like she wanted to say a lot more.

“My muscles hurt, my stomach hurts, my brain hurts.  I’ve got to figure out a treat to give to the spirit of Long.  I wonder what he’d like.  Super-long spaghetti noodles?”

“Maybe.  Are you making noodles yourself?”

“I guess!” Verona replied.  She bumped shoulders with Lucy.  “You okay?  You seemed pretty ticked back there.”

“I just want to check on my mom.”

Verona nodded.  “Don’t walk slow on my account, then.  I’ll try and deal.”

Good enough.  Lucy stopped slowing down, striding forward.  She checked her phone, and there were six messages from her mom she hadn’t replied to.  She took the time to send something back:

Me:
On my way.  Sorry sorry sorry.

The reply was almost immediate:

Mom:
Where are you?  I’ll drive to pick you up.

Lucy hesitated, then provided the information.  By the river, west of Avery’s.

They hurried to get there, then waited.

“Two weeks,” Verona said.  “Avery said Ray wants to come see Charles.”

“We’ve got to talk to Charles.  I hope we’re not super grounded.”

“I guess we don’t need to catch and bind him, since he’s kind of bound anyway.  But yeah, that’s a thing we need to figure out,” Verona said.  “Would be weird if we’re like, hey, yeah, Ray, come on by, also, we arrested Charles.  Might get awkward to arrange if we’re grounded, too, and Ray can’t enter town.”

“Frig, my mom’s going to be so mad,” Lucy muttered.

“I’m figuring if I’m gainsaid and practice doesn’t work so hot, I’ll dig deep into the reading and stuff.  I figure Ave’s going to handle staying in touch with others.  Big things are maintaining the shrine visits and checking in with the other Others.”

“Can we not dwell on this?” Lucy asked.  “After tonight?  Feeling overloaded.”

“Okay,” Verona said.  “I- sorry.  Figured you liked being on task, you’re usually the mission person, so I thought that’d be good.”

“Not right now,” Lucy told her friend.  “No practice stuff, no deadline stuff?  At least for tonight?”

“Okay,” Verona said.

It felt like five minutes passed, but it was probably closer to one or two.  They didn’t talk.

Lucy couldn’t think of much to talk about that she wanted to talk about, and Verona wasn’t volunteering anything.  They sat on the grass by the sidewalk, heels dug into grass a bit down the slope, the river burbling, water level perilously low.  Sweat prickled on Lucy’s skin, even now that it was dark out and cooling off.

It was like all the alarm and intensity was dying down and her body could remind her about basic functions again.  Prickly skin, she had to pee, and emotions that weren’t the handful of ones she’d needed to hold onto to stay strong were creeping in.  Doubts, fears, feeling distracted, her disgust with the humid heat, the little annoyances.  A lot of those emotions were settling onto other thoughts, like her mom, and knowing she just wanted to go to her room and crash, and when she did it would be messy because Verona was there, and she loved Verona, really truly, but just thinking about that alone made her want to scream swear words at the night sky.

“You know your mom’s great, right?” Verona asked.

“What?  Yeah.”

“I mean like, she’s super, she’s cool, she might get mad but it’s a healthy mad, I think?  At least from the times she’s showed it.  My mom doesn’t show it and you know my dad, you know?”

“I still don’t want to upset her,” Lucy said.

“Neither do I!  I really don’t, I love your mom, she’s super, she- there have been times the alarm goes off and I’m like, ugh, I don’t want to hike it all the way to the shrines, but then your mom is like, one part of the reason I go, you know?  To protect Kennet’s people, because your mom is one of those people.”

“It’d be cool if she was someone you thought of first, instead of practice stuff.”

“The practice stuff is me thinking of her, I want to get stronger and better so I can help her and fight- I thought you didn’t want to talk about this stuff.”

“I don’t!” Lucy replied.

“Okay!” Verona replied, loud, exasperated.  “Sorry!  I don’t know what to do or say.”

There was another silence.  Lucy felt like she had a responsibility to fill it in.

Except she couldn’t figure out how, and then her mom arrived, headlights illuminating the slope.

Lucy got to her feet, helping Verona up.

The car door slammed, Lucy’s mom rounded the car, and Lucy collided with her as much as anything, hugging her tight.

“Are you two okay?” Lucy’s mom asked.

Lucy nodded, tearing up, face rubbing up against her mom’s ribs.

“Not feeling super hot,” Verona said.

“What part of you isn’t feeling well?”

“Stomach.  Headache.”

“Your usual stress stuff,” Lucy’s mom said.

Lucy didn’t hear a response, and wasn’t breaking the hug to look, so she had to assume Verona nodded.

“Why weren’t you answering your phones?”

“Phones weren’t working for a bit, and other stuff was going on?” Verona tried, sounding unsure.

“Really?  The phones weren’t working?” Lucy’s mom asked, voice hard.  “Why is Lucy this upset?  Why are you this stressed?”

“I don’t- I’m,” Verona stuttered.  Lucy couldn’t see Verona but she could imagine Verona withering.

“Well?”

“Stuff,” Verona said.

“Stuff?  What stuff?”

“Mom,” Lucy said, hugging tighter before releasing a bit.  “Can we go home?”

“In the car.  Come on,” her mom said, breaking the hug.  Lucy looked up and saw her mom searching her with a gaze, studying her.

They climbed into the car.  Lucy in the passenger seat, Verona in the back.  Her mom started it up, but before shifting gears, said, “I want to know what happened.  I want to hear your version of things first, because I have a number of things to say but I can’t even begin without making sure you’re okay.  Because that’s my priority, understand?  Everything else comes secondary to that.”

Lucy nodded.

“We heard, um, through people, that apparently you were calling around?” Verona ventured.  “About some stranger?”

“That’s an adult thing, Verona,” Lucy’s mom said.  “Don’t worry about that.  Right now, the number one thing is… why is Lucy crying?  Why are you stressed?  Are you hurt?”

“Not really,” Verona said.

“No,” Lucy answered.

“Were you attacked?” Lucy’s mom’s voice was softer, worried, and that was worse.

Lucy couldn’t find the words.

Softer, more worried.  “Did anyone touch you?”

Lucy shook her head.

“Not like that,” Verona said.

“Like what, then?” Lucy’s mom asked.

“We- we called someone out, for being problematic,” Verona said.  “And it turns out we weren’t exactly right, and… stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“It all got out of control, bunch of other people joined in, they wouldn’t let us leave.  We couldn’t call you, if we could’ve we would’ve,” Verona said.  “It was pretty scary.”

Lucy sighed, a shuddering breath.

“Lucy?”

Lucy nodded her confirmation, then looked at her mom, and saw the upset, the anger, the worry, and a whole mess of other emotions.

She wanted to tell her mom.  Show her.  So this wouldn’t be lies.

She wanted to let her in, and explain everything, and she knew that would mean she’d have so much less power and control over things and she might not even be able to participate in the end of summer if her mom didn’t let her, after that.

And she was a little bit okay with that, after everything tonight.

She couldn’t.

Not if it meant bringing her mom into it.  Not if it meant that the two worlds bled in together and she couldn’t escape from it and go home.  Every step of the way, for all of her life, as bad as things got, with two exceptions, she’d been able to face anything so long as she got to go home.

Except when her dad had died, and she barely remembered that time.  And when Paul had left.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she looked away, out the window, out over the dark river of Kennet.

“Can you talk to me, Lucy?”

“I screwed up.  We screwed up.  I overstepped, I was overconfident, we shouldn’t have picked that argument, tonight, called that woman out.  I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“What on earth did you call her out for?”

“Hurting this red canine,” Verona said, “or helping to hurt it.  Resembled a fox or a dog.  We didn’t see directly, she-”

“We overdid it,” Lucy told her mom.

“She made all these accusations of us and people were chiming in and stuff, crowding in, and we asked if we could leave,” Verona said.

“You said that.  Who were these people?”

“I don’t know,” Verona said.  “But she pretty much accused us of being racist, which-”

“That wasn’t a big part of it,” Lucy cut in.  “It came up briefly, but it wasn’t- don’t make that out to be a big part of it.”

“Sorry,” Verona said.

“For accusing her of hurting a dog?” her mom asked.

“For general stuff,” Lucy said.

“They went off on us, for everything, being dishonest, and not trying hard enough.”

“Which doesn’t matter, because what matters is I thought I was doing the right thing by calling her out and it all went upside-down and…” Lucy trailed off, before wiping at her cheeks.

“You’ve always had too much of a sense of justice,” her mom said.  “You shouldn’t have picked an argument with a stranger, you-”

“I know!” Lucy told her mom, with enough emphasis that tears squeezed out.  “Believe me!”

“But this short older guy told us we shouldn’t waste any time,” Verona said.

“Why didn’t he handle it?”

They stopped talking over one another.

“I don’t know,” Lucy said.

“Well, if that isn’t a telling sign,” her mom said, shaking her head.  “You shouldn’t have picked that fight-”

“I know.”

“-and you shouldn’t have been out, after the curfew I set, without letting me know where you were.  Was Avery involved?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said.

“Okay.  I’ll talk to her dad.  I have to let your mom and dad know what happened tonight, Verona.  Especially with the way word gets around about these things.  Setting the record straight.  So if either of you are stretching the truth or if there’s anything you’re leaving out…”

“Can we go home?” Lucy asked.

Her mother shifted the gears, then pulled onto the road.

“Were you drinking?” her mom asked.  “I have to ask, because it’s one of those things-”

“Only water,” Verona said.

“Drugs?”

“Not my thing,” Verona told her.

“Was anyone else involved?  Anyone we know?”

“Someone we know.  Liberty, this girl from camp, Avery was in touch with her, she came into town.”

“How old?”

“Fifteen,” Lucy said.  “She was cool.  A little wild, which might’ve helped the situation get worse-”

“She helped save us,” Verona said.

“Yeah.  Or if we’d done it her way and been upfront maybe it wouldn’t have been a misunderstanding,” Lucy said.  “Ugh.”

“Okay.”

One curt word.

The car went over the bridge, past the convenience store, past Verona’s house.

Turning the corner.  Into the driveway.

Maricica was here earlier.

The Others had apparently been ready to fight her, surrounding her, before she’d escaped.

The car hummed, engine idling, as Lucy’s mom sat there, looking out the window.

Lucy imagined that was how she’d looked earlier.  Just barely holding back.

“I cannot express to you two,” her mom whispered the words, barely audible over the car.  “How terrified I was.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said.

“When I couldn’t get in touch with you?  I was asked to call you and I couldn’t?”

“Sorry,” Verona said.

The inside of the car was dark, and most of the light on them was from the headlights reflecting off of the garage door and back on them.  It left much of Lucy’s mom’s face dark, but made the tears very bright.

“All I ask is that you let me know where you are and what you’re doing.  For just this reason.  I had no idea what happened to you two, if you were hurt, if you were taken, if- whatever happened out there tonight, I’ve talked to you about this, Lucy.  The system isn’t always friendly.  If that woman had brought the police into the picture, there’s nothing guaranteeing that those police officers would be fair or neutral.  They’re people, and people can be good and they can be awful.  Some of the awful ones will take any excuse, even fabricated ones, to turn something that should be open and shut into a nightmare.”

Lucy nodded, glum.  It hurt to see her mom crying.

“You talk about not knowing, Lucy,” her mom said, making brief eye contact.  “Not knowing if someone’s being rude because they’re a jerk or if they’re doing it because of your skin color.”

“Yeah,” Lucy replied.

“And when you don’t know, it’s somehow all bad?”

Lucy nodded.

“When I can’t get in touch with you, it can be the same thing.  When I don’t hear from you it’s not me sitting on the fence between ‘she’s probably alright’ and ‘she might be hurt’.  It’s me bracing myself for you to be hurt, or worse, or for you to be in trouble, or any number of things- all of those things at once.”

“Yeah,” Lucy replied, breathless.

“Verona?” her mom asked.  “Honey, I love you dearly, and it goes for you too.  You’re in my care.  That means you have to meet me halfway, let me care for you.  Follow my rules.  They exist for good reasons.”

Verona nodded, silent.

“Oh, this is hard,” Lucy’s mom said, wiping the tears from cheekbone and cheek.  She turned off the car and everything became dark, the only real light from the streetlights outside.  “I was so scared, I’m so disappointed…”

“Sorry,” Lucy said.

“I’m not in the best mental state to be handing out punishments, so I want to be clear, this is subject to change, understood?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said, because it was almost too dark for her mom to see her nod.

“One week of grounding for going out after curfew.  One week for not being available by phone.  This is preliminary, so I might tack on more time after I calm down, think on it, and check in with Avery.  I’m not sure how to process what you’ve described about the event with the woman, but I’m suspicious you’re sufficiently spooked and have learned a lesson.  I’ll have to decide if you’ve learned your lesson.  Depending on my feeling, later, it could be more of a grounding.  I want you to do what is right, but rushing into something that got that out of control… that’s absolutely not okay.”

“Makes sense,” Verona replied.

“And Verona, you won’t be in my custody after those two weeks, but your parents will have some input.”

“My dad?”

“Yes, even your dad.  He’s still your parent, he and your mom agreed together to let me look after you for the rest of this summer.  If they want you grounded for longer, if they want any other punishments, then I will listen to them, understood?  That might mean your mom asks you to come stay with her.  It might mean your dad revokes his compromise with your mom.  If it comes to that, it will be up to them to work out a new compromise or agreement.”

“Urgggh.”

“Believe me, honey, I feel very much the same way,” Lucy’s mom said, her voice sad.

“Lucy’s got that date with Wallace,” Verona said.

“It’s fine,” Lucy said.  “It’s okay, I can postpone it for a few weeks.  It’s not that important.  Grounding is very fair.”

“Um, can I-” Verona stopped herself.  “I feel sick.  Can I-?”

“You’ve got a house key, right?”

“Y-” Verona made a half-syllable of a sound and was out the door, running for the house.  The door swung closed but lacked the velocity to properly close all the way.  It left the car lights on and the door beeping audibly.

Lucy’s mom got out of the car, and Lucy followed her cue, pulling her bag around from being on her lap to being behind her.  She shut the door while her mom shut her own door and Verona’s.

“I love you, you know that?” her mom asked.

“I know.  Same.  Really,” Lucy replied.

“Did you already arrange the date with Wallace?”

Lucy shook her head.  “I was going to this week, once we knew what our plans looked like, but I can put it off.  It’s awkward, but we already had that first conversation, and if I can get through that I’m pretty sure I can call him and ask him to wait an extra two or three weeks.”

Her mother touched her shoulder as they walked up the little path that cut across the lawn to the front steps.

“Look after Verona?” her mom asked.  “I don’t know… was I too hard on her?  Too upfront about her parents getting involved?”

“I don’t think so.  That’s just… reality, I guess?”

“Maybe I can talk to Dr. Mona about it.  I’d like to talk to Dr. Mona with you beside me, if that works, to go over tonight.  Maybe an extra couple appointments.”

“Okay.  I’ll email her.”

Her mom kissed the top of her head as they reached the front door.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Good.  I’m glad.  I think I’ve said what I needed to say, so get ready for bed.”

“Um.  Would it be at all possible for me to squeeze in a bit of extra work, homework, any house projects, to get just a bit of time off at the end of summer?  It’s when everything’s happening.”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, after I’ve given everything some thought.”

“Okay,” Lucy replied.  “I’ll go look after Verona.  Do we have any ginger ale?  I know she likes to have flat ginger ale when her stomach acts up.  Or peppermint tea.”

“I’ll look.”

“Cool.  Thanks.”  Lucy headed up the stairs.

She was most of the way up when her mom called up, “Lucy?”

She stopped, looking down.

Her mom stared up at her for a few long seconds, then looked up at the ceiling, drawing in a breath and heaving out a sigh.  “This is hard.  I know I told you I have the right to change my mind about things, but this is not the sort of thing I can change my mind about, without coming across as unfair.  I want so badly to not be my parents, but… I worry about going too far the other way.”

“Changing your mind?  About the grounding?”

“No.  You are definitely grounded.  Make your plans with Wallace.  Dress up, do your hair, I can help with that if you want.  Go on your date.  It’s too important that you have that moment to socialize, be a young teenager, connect.  I don’t want you to miss a shot at something good.”

Lucy swallowed hard and nodded, revealing a tentative smile.

“Curfew in strict effect, and it has to be a group date.  You look after each other.  Two other couples your age.  You get dropped off and picked up.  Can you figure that out?”

“I’ll try.  I’ll run it by Wallace.”

“Okay.  Keep me informed.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, love you,” Lucy told her mom.

“You’re still very grounded!”

“I know!” Lucy called back, as she escaped upstairs.

She dropped off her bag in her room, and did a careful walkthrough.  Avery had had the tip about glamour, flicking lights fiercely on and off, and Lucy did that in her mom’s room, then her room.  She checked everything with Sight and more, checked her posters with the alarm and found them loose, a smudge of green-black dust across one line, and wiped it up as best as she could, spitting in her hand for a bit of goblin flavor and then using her palm to wipe at it.

The letter she’d hidden for her mom, placed in the midst of a stack of albums, so it would only be discoverable in a situation where her mom was tossing her room, untouched.

That done, still uneasy, she went over to the bathroom, where Verona was sitting in front of the toilet, slumped over at a diagonal, head resting against the cool tile of the bathtub.

“Texted Avery the bullet points about what happened,” Verona said, without lifting her head.

“Okay.”

“Sucks not telling your mom the whole truth.”

“Really does.  I almost told her.”

It was very quiet.  Verona had put the fan on, probably anticipating the smell, and it hummed.

“Want a cool cloth or something?”

“Please.”

Lucy found a clean washcloth, soaked it in cold water, then wrung it out.  It still dribbled cold water down the back of Verona’s shirt as Lucy laid it across her neck.  Verona squirmed, got the cloth, and wiped her face before pressing the other side against her forehead.

“Mom okayed the date.  I’m ungrounded for the date only, has to be a group date, still has curfew.”

“Group date?  Succccccks,” Verona said.

“I’m okay with it, I think,” Lucy said.  “I hope Wallace is.”

“You’re really attractive and stylish and cool.  I bet Wallace would be cool with a date of sitting on nests of fire ants if he got to do it with you.”

“Thanks, I guess.  Want to come with?  My mom might okay it.  You and Jeremy?”

Verona shook her head.

“It’d be really nice, really cool, Jeremy and Wallace get along, and we’re okay, and we could see how our dynamic meshes with theirs.  It’d be a really cool thing to bring into the fall semester.”

“Would you- would you ask Avery to go on a date with a boy, to help you out?  Wait, no, that’s a bad example, because she might, just to be nice.”

“Could you?  To be nice?  If you explained to Jeremy…” Lucy tried.

“I think he’s in love with me or something.  That’s already hard enough, but if we do something like this?  It’d be… mean.  It’s too much of what he wants and it’s not at all what I want.  I don’t want to break his heart.”

Lucy wanted to argue, wanted to say more.

Verona felt very far away.

All the talk about practice earlier, even if it was to distract herself, when Lucy had just wanted support.  Then there was the drug Verona had taken.  That had pretty much been a lie when she’d negated it in front of Lucy’s mom.  Not the kind that got her gainsaid, but… it felt bad.

They’d had practices they had been afraid to dive into.  Goblin stuff and aggression for Avery, along with the glamour.  Lucy with the cursewright stuff.  Verona with the halflight stuff.

Except Avery’s thing had been, like… external.  It had been her not wanting to hurt Pam, or hurt others.  Lucy’s thing was about Paul.

But Verona’s thing, the big thing that had steered her away from the halflight stuff, when she was into it, was Lucy.  And as much as it had been important to tap into the things that were very them while still being unfamiliar and unusual enough to throw the Faerie for a loop… it felt like a betrayal, that Verona had gone straight to this.

Maybe it wasn’t fair or right.  Maybe it was more than fair or right and Lucy’s instincts were flashing alarms at Lucy, while she desperately tried to dim them and silence them.  Maybe this was a moment she would wish she’d spoken up or said something.

She sat on the floor next to Verona, her back to the tub.

Would she remember sitting here, a year down the line, when she no longer recognized her best friend?

Was she not showing enough trust in Verona?

“I know you said you didn’t want to talk about practice stuff,” Verona said.

“It’s okay, now that the mom thing is out of the way.”

“You know Maricica wanted to pull this, to mess with us, tie our hands.  Get your mom looking at us in a different way.”

“Yeah,” Lucy replied.

“We’ve got so much to do and we’re super grounded.”

“We are.  We’ll probably figure something out,” Lucy told Verona.

“Okay.”

Lucy leaned over, and laid her head on Verona’s back.

She felt Verona sigh.

“Wallace is kind of friends with Amadeus.  I think Mia and Amadeus are together-ish,” Lucy said.  “I could ask them if they’re down for a triple-date.”

“That’d be super cool.  You should do that,” Verona said, perking up a bit.  “Mia’s alright.”

“The power of being the most popular girl, and she uses it for good, mostly,” Lucy mused.

“Yeah!”

“Except she was a bit evil in middle school.”

“Wasn’t everyone?”

“Mmm,” Lucy said.

“Lemme know if you need help with anything for that.  I know I’m being a bad best friend by not breaking Jeremy’s heart for your sake-”

“Nah.”

“But if you need help with clothes, shopping, you could really milk this, you know.”

“I’m not going to milk it.  My mom’s already being ten kinds of cool, considering.”

“Yeah,” Verona said.

“There is one thing, though.”

“Whassat?” Verona asked, twisting around a bit, not that she could really see Lucy’s face, with Lucy resting her head on her back.

“I really, really need to pee, and you’ve claimed the toilet.  Can you give me a bit?”

“Urrggh.  Use the sink.”

“Gross!”

“Or the tub.”

“Who does that!?   No!”

“What if I lie down?  I’m tired, I can close my eyes and cover my ears.”

“Out!” Lucy said, straightening up a bit and sticking her knee into Verona’s butt, then lower back.  Verona squirmed but refused to move.  “Out!  Out!”

“Arrugh.”

“Go to our room and clean up your stuff!”

“You’re worse than your mom.  So mean!”

“I am so much worse and so much meaner than my mom.  She’s making you peppermint tea-”

“Ooh.”

“-And I’m ready to roll you down the stairs.”

“Whee.”

Every attempt at getting Verona to move only got Verona to flop or squirm a bit in the direction of the door.  Once Verona was mostly on the bathmat, Lucy grabbed the end and dragged her friend out.

Lucy shut the door, then took a minute to do the necessary.

After washing her hands, she wiped them clean, then washed her face, fixing up her hair, but stopping short of preparing it for bed.

What the heck were they going to do?

She walked over to the window, and opened it.

“Alpeana, Alpeana, Alpeana,” Lucy called out to the darkness of Kennet at night.

She took the time to prep her hair, wrapping it in silk and clipping it, then headed to her room, pausing halfway to hug her mom and say goodnight.

She entered her room, and Verona was sitting at the desk by the window, pointing.

Lucy shut the door.

Alpeana sat outside, edge of her behind on the one inch of windowsill, dark hair swirling around her.  Rather than turn her head, she let hair cover her face, then had her face emerge from the morass of matted, damp, gritty hair, out of alignment with neck and body, dark eyes wide.

“Can you help us arrange some meetings by way of dreams and nightmares?” Lucy asked Alpeana.  “We’re grounded for the time being, and there’s a lot we need to sort out.”

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