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  Wren pursed her lips in disgust, but didn’t say anything more. This was her test, and she had to pass it – but she didn’t have to like it.

  With her lips tight and a dead thing in each hand, she moved down toward the spring, where the water would wash the blood and entrails away. She fumed silently at them all, but she would do what she had to.

  “Hey, what happened to the room?” she heard one of them say as she was leaving the den.

  She was too annoyed with them to answer.

  2

  It took Wren a while to figure out how to go about her task. None of the others helped her, only lounged about, and she saw them periodically as she moved through the underground, getting knives and surfaces she might use to put the meat on. Aside from her frustration toward them in the beginning, she found that she couldn’t blame them for leaving her to it. They had already done their part, after all.

  Plucking the bird had not been easy, and cleaning the rabbits had been even worse. She hadn’t even know where to start with that, but she did get a bit of help from Toss, who indicated to her how she should do it – that she should hang the rabbits up and skin them from the feet to the head – but he didn’t engaged her directly, as if he didn’t want the others – or Rifter – to know that he had helped.

  The others stayed clear of her for the most part, though Finn came snooping around a couple of times to see how it was coming along. She guessed he was getting hungry again. Sly was reading from a perch in the den, and Nix had gone outside, perhaps to avoid seeing her. The twins had retreated to their room to hold a secret meeting between themselves. Wren did not know where Rifter was, but she could hear the music from his flute drifting through the tunnels and to her ears. Somehow, the notes made her feel more at ease.

  When she had finished, she hadn’t come away with a lot of meat, especially for feeding seven hungry boys. In order to cover that up, and also hide her mistakes, she decided to make a stew. She chopped all the vegetables, adding them to thicken the mixture. She tested the herbs that they had brought, finding that many of them were fragrant and strong. She chose the best of them and seasoned liberally.

  After a couple of hours, it was all ready. She called them in and was glad to see that by that time, most of them had changed their clothes and cleaned up enough that she didn’t have to smell that terrible stench they’d brought back with them.

  When she was ready to serve it to them, she was surprised to see that they all had their own dish, which they brought out from their own rooms instead of storing them all together. Toss’s dish was made of hammered metal, and she guessed he had made it himself. Sly’s was made of clay with etchings around the rim, and it looked like some sort of ancient relic. Perhaps it was something he’d found. Rifter’s was made of gold, but she wasn’t sure why that astounded her.

  He gets all the best things.

  Wren was given a wooden bowl to use for herself, but she was too nervous to eat before they had tasted it. They gathered around the table and she was holding her breath as they took their first bites.

  The boys ate greedily, without caution – and even better, they seemed to like it. They hummed and nodded as they stared down at their platters, completely absorbed in the meal. Seeing this, she was brave enough to taste it herself, and her eyes lit up in surprise. It was good. In fact, it was delicious! She was proud of herself, especially since she had been working with meats and herbs that she hadn’t understood.

  Perhaps this was her calling after all.

  Even Nix ate it without complaining, and when Finn reached to steal some when Nix was turned to talk to Mech, he was quickly caught with a knife tapped across his wrist. It was a swift chop, but it drew blood, and Finn got the message.

  “What the hell!” Finn protested, looking down at the shallow gash in his skin as red liquid rose to the top.

  “You ate your own. Stay away from mine,” Nix warned him with a smile. It was another vicious game. Strangely enough, the idea that he was defending what she had cooked flattered her – until they started flicking the blood at each other.

  “Stop!” she gasped, appalled by their behavior.

  All of them, even those not involved, looked up at her outburst. She was keenly aware of the number of eyes looking her way, but she did not back down. This was too gruesome. She wouldn't allow it.

  “Not at the table,” she insisted, as if it was alright for them to do it elsewhere.

  “Sorry, Wren,” Finn said, easily defeated. He sat there quietly, wrapping a cloth around his bleeding wrist. Nix glared at her a moment, but didn't speak.

  She glanced over at Rifter, who was smirking for how she'd put them in their places, but she was only wondering why they didn't have better sense than to engage in such behavior. It was blood, and they were treating it like water! How could they think that was sanitary? She was asking them before she had told herself not to.

  “How can you all deal with blood so casually? Aren’t you afraid of some disease?”

  “Oh, we don’t get sick,” Finn said helpfully. “Well, not that way at least. I guess we’d get sick if we were poisoned or something.”

  She wasn't sure what she'd expected them to say, but this nearly knocked her over.

  “You don’t get sick? Not at all?” She imagined all the times she’d comforted the others at the orphanage when they’d gotten an ear or toothache – and those were some of the minor things. What a blessing it would be to never have to worry about such trifles again.

  “We have aches and pains from battle, of course, but the Vow puts us in a state of being unchanged, like time is standing still,” Sly spoke up. “We don’t age; we don’t decay at all. It’s very fascinating, isn’t it, Rifter?”

  “You think everything is fascinating,” he said, and Wren could tell he found it all tiresome. She also thought that Sly knew he would react this way, and that he had done it only so she would see it.

  She had more questions, but she knew that Rifter wasn’t interested in that. But it really was fascinating. She imagined being unchanged, not having to worry about what would happen in the future, or what would become of her when she grew up, because she never would – if she was allowed to stay here. She supposed that was still undetermined, but decided to probe for an answer.

  “So, if it is alright for me to stay here, I will take the Vow as well?” She asked it in Rifter’s direction, and he lifted his head to look at her.

  She wasn’t sure what she saw in that gaze. He was terribly hard to read sometimes.

  “Come with me,” he said, rising abruptly.

  At that, Whisper came out of her grotto in the wall and went to sit on his shoulder. Her light was much dimmer than usual, flickering like a lamp that needed more oil.

  “You shouldn’t come. You’re weak,” he scolded her, but she was not so weak that she didn’t fill his ear with viscous accusations.

  “Fine. Have it your way,” he snapped. “You are the most insufferable thing there ever was! I don’t know how I keep company with you. …No, you shut it.”

  He carried on with her as he walked away. This suddenness caught Wren off guard. Beside her, Mach gave her a little nudge and she finally reacted, rising up from her seat to hurry after him.

  Am I going to take the Vow right now? Will he send me home? What about my brothers? I can’t agree to stay here without them. No – no, I won’t.

  Her mind was full of questions, but she managed to keep them contained as she followed Rifter down the tunnel and out into the forest.

  Chapter Thirteen

  1

  The day was slowly fading, giving way to pink and amber hues. The afternoon sun had already passed behind the trees, cutting off most of the warm light. There were a few hours of daylight left, and Wren wondered what they would do with them as she followed Rifter outside. She kept her curiosity contained for as long as she could, but finally she had to ask for instruction.

  “May I ask what we’re doing?”

  He
stopped to face her when she had finally caught up to him, and the look in his blue eyes shot straight through her.

  “I was thinking about you again,” he said, and this time she didn’t know what he meant.

  “Oh?” She wasn’t sure if she should be hopefully or wary.

  “I want to be honest with you,” he began. “Though you probably already know it, this place is not always safe. You've already seen some of the ways that it isn't, but if you're going to stay here, you need to see the rest. Nevermor can be a wonderful place, full of freedom, but you have to know how to handle it. I’m a little torn. I feel that since you're here, it's my job to keep you safe, but I can't hide you from it. So are you willing to go further?”

  Wren thought about what he was saying. Before she had come here, she might've said yes without thinking – she had. Then, in the first hours, she had been assaulted by a shadow, nearly ravaged by pirates, and almost devoured by a nightmare – not to mention the many times that Whisper had tried to kill her. But after what she had been through so far, how could the rest of it be worse?

  It is still better than the factory. It is much better than the loneliness.

  “Some of the others don’t think you should be here,” Rifter went on. “Do you still?”

  He gazed at her neutrally, as if he wouldn’t judge her one way or the other, but this opened up a new conflict in her own mind.

  You could say no right now, and he’ll take you back. No more nightmares.

  What good would that do? I don’t want to go back.

  “What do you think?” she asked finally. She needed to know his opinion. He must have asked because he was also beginning to doubt whether she was fit for this world. Somehow, she didn’t want to accept that, even if he was right.

  “I think you’ve proven yourself well enough,” he told her, and to hear his approval made her feel like floating off the ground. “You’re different from the rest of them, and not just because you’re a girl. I feel—”

  He hesitated, and she waited for what he would say, her heart speeding.

  “Well, I feel that I want you to stay,” he said finally.

  That gave her hope, even though it hadn’t been entirely what she was looking for. Nix’s comments about her being killed simply dissolved. If Rifter believed she wasn’t worthless, then she was able to feel better about herself.

  Wren didn’t even realize how she was smiling at him until he returned it with an incredulous laugh.

  “Come on then,” he instructed her, starting out. She’d forgotten that he hadn’t told her where they were going.

  They walked side by side through the trees, with Rifter keeping an eye on the world around him and with Wren wondering what he was looking for.

  “Now we begin your education,” he said. When he spoke again, she hadn’t been expecting it. “If you’re going to stay here, there are things about this world that you need to know, and the nightmares are just the start. There are creatures and peoples that you must be extremely cautious of if you value your life.”

  Like the pirates, she guessed. And Whisper. Possibly Nix… She nodded to show she was receptive.

  “There are some beings that you should never involve yourself with, under any circumstances, unless death is what you’re looking for. Some are obvious – they look like monsters. Others are not so easy to pick out. The first of these is the fairy wisp.”

  He said this in front of Whisper, who was sitting there on his shoulder, and she didn’t say a word to it, though she did stare at Wren with a hateful gaze. Wren had about ten questions that battled for a place in her mouth. He didn’t give her an opportunity to ask them.

  “Don’t be fooled by the light or the attractive appearance. The wisps are quite dangerous. I’m going to show you how to recognize that you’re in their territory before it’s too late.”

  “Too late? What would they do to me?”

  “One fairy alone? Maybe not much more than lead you off to a monster if you try to follow it. But in a large group? They’re like tiny witches. They could curse you, turn you to stone, burn you alive, pull you inside out… That kind of thing.”

  Inside out?

  Whisper took to the air finally, drifting ahead, and Rifter started off again, but how could Wren leave it at that?

  “I guess I can take it that these wisps don’t generally like humans.”

  “Not at all,” he assured her.

  “If that’s so, then why does one go about with you?”

  He shot her a quick glance and smiled, shaking his head at her. “You know, the others before you never asked questions like this. They’ve always been content for me to tell them what they need to know.”

  “They must not have been very smart then,” she countered.

  “I like to think it’s because they were able to look and listen without having to ask,” he retorted playfully.

  Wren wasn’t willing to believe that. There was nothing wrong with being curious, despite what Sly might have told her.

  “I just like to know the reasons for things,” she said to defend herself.

  “You mean girls do,” he corrected.

  “Not all girls are the same, Rifter,” she replied indignantly.

  He smiled a little when she said that, and she wondered what he was thinking.

  “I guess that’s true,” he agreed finally.

  “Besides, why don’t you like questions? Do they intimidate you?” she teased, trying to get back at him.

  Rifter turned and gave her a long appraising look as they walked, but he was not angry. In fact, he had a smirk on his mouth.

  “Did you just challenge me?”

  If it will get you to answer. “I suppose I did,” she said with an air of pride.

  “I guess now I have to prove you wrong,” he guessed. “So go ahead. Ask me something difficult.”

  “Anything I want?” she asked, liking the idea what she had won this opportunity.

  “Better think of something fast before I change my mind.”

  She pretended to give it serious thought. There were many things she could have asked, but Wren went for the thing that was currently in the front of her mind.

  “Why does Whisper like you if the fairy wisps don’t like people?”

  Rifter sighed, but he was smiling, as if he had caught her at her own game. “That, I can’t answer.”

  “Oh? Why not?”

  “I suppose if you want to know that, you’ll have to ask her. She’s never told me why she saved my life.”

  Wren’s ears perked up. She had instantly become as an alert animal who’d heard a telltale snap in the brush.

  “She saved your life? Well, you could begin with telling me about that,” she suggested.

  He was quiet a moment, and she began to think that he wouldn’t tell her.

  “You don’t want to talk about it? I would think you’d like to talk about yourself. You must have had some great adventures for all the time you’ve been here.”

  “It was a long time ago,” Rifter said as a defense. “Sometimes I…”

  He stopped talking, shaking his head. Don’t ask him about anything he might not remember. Sly had told her that. Wren wondered if that was what she had done, and even though she’d been warned, she couldn’t help but wonder why she shouldn’t do it. And why couldn’t he remember things? Maybe that was the biggest mystery of all.

  When he began to tell her the story, she wondered if it was simply to steer the subject away from the last thing he’d said.

  “I was wounded, alone and bleeding. I remember seeing the darkness closing in around me – and then I saw a bright light. I thought I was dead, but it was Whisper instead. She gave up a portion of her life to save mine. She’s been with me ever since. I’m a part of her, and she’s a part of me too, I guess.”

  Wren felt that explained why Whisper did not like her, and she guessed it was reasonable. The glowing orb – who seemed very much like a woman now – felt that another girl
was moving in on the boy she’d laid claim on long ago. Wren wondered if that made her feel guilty for wanting to be closer to him.

  “Is your bond with her the reason you can fly?” she asked. She thought he’d said something like that before.

  “That’s right. Otherwise I’d need a blessing, which is only temporary. Such as it is, I don’t need one.”

  A blessing… That was what she gave the boys last night. It made them light as air, but they didn’t quite fly.

  “Oh! There is another important thing, while we’re at it,” Rifter said. “Do not, under any circumstances, try to memorize a fairy blessing yourself. Their language was not meant to be spoken by humans, and if you do, you’ll die.”

  Wren had never in her life imagined that fairies might be as dangerous as he made them out to be, but if she was to judge from what she had seen of Whisper so far, then she would believe it. She knew that the pixie had tried to kill her when she had first met Nix in the woods. The ordeal at the factory was still debatable, but she had seen the way that the little beast had looked at her. There was hatred there.

  Presently, Whisper came back to land on Rifter’s shoulder, and it did not go unnoticed that she had lighted on the side nearest to Wren, as if to get between them.

  “Most wisps love areas with lots of trees, though there are some that dwell near water as well,” Rifter said, stopping. “They usually live in colonies, but sometimes go off on their own. They are always looking for mischief, so don’t trust them if you are alone if you don’t have to.”

  Yes, I’ve already learned that lesson, Wren thought, eyeing Whisper, but the lovely creature was making such a fuss near Rifter’s ear that she didn’t even notice. He sighed.

  “Whisper insists that not all fairies have evil intentions, and I suppose that’s true. She’s different from them because of me; she feels human emotions, unlike the others. Perhaps they are not all evil, but I find it works best to warn against them. You shouldn’t go on the assumption that just because Whisper can be trusted, others of her kind can be trusted as well.”