Keelie stepped back. She realized for the first time they wanted very different things. She hadn’t really accepted yet that she would live a far longer life span than a normal human. And she was sixteen. Driving was new to her. Children? Heck no.
“I haven’t really thought about kids yet, but I hope my child would choose to do the right thing, and would come to the aid of whoever needed him or her-whether pureblood elf or not,” Keelie said firmly. “I have done everything I can for the elves, and still you mistrust me. I restored the Dread. I saved the Redwoods, too, yet now I’m accused of being a traitor because I’m open-minded.”
“You’re not the only one who has made sacrifices, Keliel. I stood up to my father for you,” Sean’s eyes darkened. “Now he won’t even speak to me, other than to give me orders.”
“Your father has been plotting his return to the elves. He must have scurried up to meet with Terciel right after we left the Northwoods. Notice how he didn’t meet with Norzan. Terciel hates me. Heck, he doesn’t even like Elia, his own kin, because she married Uncle Dariel after he became a unicorn. Not elf enough for him.”
“My father’s heart was in the right place. He wanted to save the elves, but chose the wrong way to do it, and he’s paying for it.” Sean stopped walking and looked at her earnestly. “Father thought one unicorn horn would save all the elves of the Dread Forest. But you want to sacrifice the elves to help the goblins.”
“Goblins are part of the Other Realm. They serve a purpose. Didn’t the rift in the Earth, the crack in Gaia’s dome, prove that we must keep a balance in magic, in nature, and with the Earth? We can’t exterminate goblins as if they were bugs.”
Sean shook his head. “We’d be doing the world a favor if we did. You need to get your priorities straight. You’ve already lost one of our greatest treasures to the goblins, and I will not lose you as well.” Sean’s ear tips grew red.
Outraged and indignant, Keelie had to try twice before she could form words. “The Compendium was lost in the fire. The fire that destroyed everything I owned. I tried to go back for it… ” Anguish rolled over her as she recalled the acrid smoke, the screaming trees, and the blistering heat. “My priorities? Didn’t you learn anything at the High Court?”
He pointed his finger at her. “I learned to protect my own.”
“Well, you don’t have to protect me. I’m not yours.”
“You never were, and now I think you never will be.” Bitterness and sadness filled Sean’s green eyes.
“You want me to be the good traditional elven girl, and that’s not me.” Stunned, Keelie realized her words were true. “Is this it?” she asked.
They stared at one another, at an impasse. Who was supposed to say the next word? Make the next move?
At last, Sean nodded. He reached out and touched her cheek. “We’re too different, you and I.”
Keelie blinked back tears. First, Heartwood, and now she was losing Sean. Maybe she’d already lost him on the plane ride from the Northwoods.
He took a deep breath and straightened, his austere elven expression replacing the sweet Sean she had thought she loved. “You say you don’t know where the goblins are, but you have ways of finding out. Your pet goblin, for instance.”
“He’s a baby. Tell the elves to figure it out for themselves. I don’t know.” Heat crept up her body and into her face as anger flowed through her.
“Keelie, before this is finished, you will come to me for protection.” Sean turned and strode away, leaving her alone on the path.
She watched him march toward Water Sprite Lane, his back stiff with hurt elven pride.
Keelie tried to examine her feelings, but her heart and mind were in a confused jumble. She turned her steps back toward the Green Lady Herb shop. She heard Sir Davey’s deep voice in conversation inside, but she wasn’t ready to speak to him or to anyone else. She hadn’t had time yet to mourn the loss of Heartwood, and now of Sean. And she couldn’t answer the elves’ questions-she just didn’t know.
Keelie felt her dry cheeks. She wondered if it was her dark fae blood that was keeping her from falling apart even though her heart felt like a shattered mirror, all the brightness broken forever.
When she’d been in school at Baywood Academy in California, she’d gone running whenever she needed to shake off bad feelings. Before she knew it, she was racing down Ironmonger’s Way. She didn’t even look toward the jousting field. The very thought turned her stomach. Freedom. She wanted the sweet freedom that running gave her.
She wondered what Sean would tell the elves.
Did they think she’d armor up and join this goblin army that she supposedly knew the location of? But what if it wasn’t an army? Peascod had recruited his fighters from urban streets-hungry, solo goblins. Alone, they were no threat to anyone. If she ran into a few goblins making their way through the faire’s trash bins, she wouldn’t tell, not even Dad.
If they were armored, like Peascod’s fighters, then she would tell her father and let him make the decision. Dad would take her information to the Council, and it would come under debate-or would it? The elves would more than likely go immediately into defensive mode. The goblins could even be killed.
The elves still didn’t trust her, and she didn’t trust them, either.
Thomas the Glass Blower waved as she sprinted by his smoking kiln. She lifted a hand in return. Humans were friendlier than elves, and right now she preferred their company. The mud men pretended to jump out of her way, with exaggerated movements, as she passed them on King’s Way. “Make way for the lady in a hurry!”
Keelie noticed the flickers of sympathy in their sun-wrinkled, mud-encrusted faces.
At least humans, or most humans, were more accepting of each other. Differences were celebrated. Elves-it was their way or nothing. You were shunned for being different.
The Birds of Prey show wasn’t too far ahead. She thought fondly of Ariel, the Cooper’s Hawk who had once been part of the show and was now free in the Dread Forest.
She slowed a little, her muscles fatigued more quickly than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t run in a while. She’d let her workouts slide because she’d been so busy with her tree shepherding duties.
The Birds of Prey area was open, but Keelie didn’t recognize the costumed workers. Cameron was probably cleaning cages in the back. She should stop by and visit with her soon. With Heartwood gone, she might have time to help feed the birds.
She ran past the candle shop, where Trixie, the round, sixtyish owner, waved as her daughter, Karen, as spindly as her mom was robust, smiled. She returned the friendly gestures but didn’t stop. The Horne Shoppe’s owner, Elizabeth Hawkins, smiled at her as she stocked her displays of faux devil horns, unicorn horns, and fairy wings. Her cat Luci was asleep in the shop’s gutter, paws dangling. He was probably recovering from a Knot-induced bender.
Ahead, Keelie saw the tall front entrance of the faire, which looked like a castle wall, and the tarot shop in its shadow. The shop was little more than a deck with a roof over it, the sides hung with colorful draperies and twinkling glass ornaments that twirled with every breeze that billowed out the silky cloths. It looked as if Sally had a client, and Keelie would recognize that mane of red hair anywhere. Finch.
She needed to ask the faire director why she’d encouraged Vangar to ask her for help clearing his name. Maybe the answer would anger her, which might numb the hurt of her breakup with Sean. And she needed something to do since Heartwood was no more. Finch might give her a job.
Keelie pushed aside a vermilion curtain covered in tiny embroidered mirrors and stepped up onto the wide-planked floor of the booth.
“Busy?”
Finch lifted her upper lip in a snarl. “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you’re having your cards read.” Keelie sat down on the fat purple velvet cushion that covered the wooden bench and the faire director scooted over to give her room.