Brendan stared at her in disbelief, then burst out laughing.
57 The Toronto Maple Leafs are the Toronto professional hockey franchise. They are one of the most famous and most enduring hockey teams in the world. Their fans are fanatical despite the fact that, as of this publication, they hadn’t won a championship in over forty years. Their fans are both fanatical and masochistic.
58 Lord Stanley, Governor General of Canada, donated the Silver Cup in 1892 to be presented to the best amateur hockey team in Canada. It later became the ultimate professional hockey prize, going to the winner of the National Hockey League playoffs. The cup has been accidentally left on buses, streetcars, trains; dropped in swimming pools; been lost, found, lost, and found again a number of times. Borje’s claim to have purloined the original cup is not so hard to credit, considering how many times it has gone missing in the past.
59 Borje Salming was one of the first European hockey players to play professionally in North America. A stalwart defenceman, he was a fan favourite for many years. In retirement, he followed many important pursuits, including designing and selling his own line of underwear.
60 Leif Eriksson, or Lucky Leif, is believed to have discovered North America in the tenth century. Accompanied by a group of adventurous Vikings from Greenland (of which Borje claims to have been one), Eriksson made landfall somewhere on the island of Newfoundland. They built some huts, collected some wood and wild grapes, then returned to the Greenland settlement. Borje appears to have been left behind in the New World and is therefore assumed to be the first permanent European settler in the New World.
61 Trolls are a race of mythical beings that originated in the frigid mountains of Scandinavia. They are easily recognized by their characteristic skin: a thick, rough hide with a deep blue colour. Their natural habitat is mountainous terrain where they tend to live in remote caves, though some, like Borje, enjoy living underground. They are incredibly strong and resistant to most magic. And they tend to smell quite powerfully.
NACHOS, MARSHMALLOWS, ANCHOVIES
Kim watched him laugh, wipe his eyes, and wheeze as she calmly devoured more of the nachos. She made a face.
“Do I taste… marshmallow?” she asked in disgust.
“I like marshmallows,” Borje mumbled.
“Hold it,” Brendan gasped after he managed to get control of himself. “Hold it just a second. You’re telling me I’m a fairy? Me? A fairy? Like Tinkerbell?”
“No.” Kim rolled her eyes, picking a stray anchovy off her corn chip. “No. Not like Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell is a total misrepresentation of what Faeries are. We aren’t tiny little things that flit around and wave wands… Well, for the most part we aren’t. There are lots of different kinds but none of them are as silly as that.”
Brendan had finally managed to stop laughing. He stared at Kim in disbelief. “You honestly believe what you’re saying, don’t you. You actually think you’re a fairy.”
“I don’t think,” Kim stated. “I know. I am a Faerie. And so are you.”
Brendan tried to take this in. “And him?” He pointed at Borje.
“No,” Kim said calmly, as if talking to a child. “Obviously, Borje is a Troll.”
“I already told him this,” Borje complained.
“Is there a difference?” Brendan asked.
“A big difference,” Kim answered. “There are a number of different races that inhabit the world beyond Human awareness: Faeries, Trolls, Dwarfs. Look, I don’t have time for a history lesson. We’re safe in here for a little while but the Wards on that door won’t hold in the face of a concerted effort by Orcadia and her helpers. Borje is a Troll and so he is basically neutral. His home is protected under the provisions of the Truce but Orcadia doesn’t appear to respect it any more. She wants you and she’ll stop at nothing, not even the Sacred Truce.”
Brendan held up his hands. “Hold it! Hold it! None of this makes any sense! What Truce? Who is that crazy woman? Why does she want to kill me? I haven’t done anything to her.”
“She doesn’t want to kill you, necessarily. She wants to turn you
… never mind! It doesn’t matter. It’s what you represent. You could shift the balance. There are some Fair Folk who don’t like the status quo. They want to go to war with the Humans. We have to get you to the Swan. We have to get you initiated. Once you’re initiated, you will be in a better position to defend yourself.”
“Initiated?” Brendan couldn’t absorb anything she was saying. “Initiated into what?”
“I’ve already said too much.” Kim wiped her mouth with her sleeve. “Listen, I didn’t ask for this job. I was assigned to protect you. Now that fool Deirdre D’Anaan has ruined everything by breaking the glamour that allowed you to hide in the Human world. The only way to ensure you survive and don’t go over to the Darkness is to get you to the Swan and get you initiated. I intend to do that.”
“Why should I trust you? I didn’t even know your real name until this afternoon. Ki-Mata? Is that even your real name?” Brendan said sullenly.
“Yes, it’s my real name,” Kim said. “At least, it’s the one I share with others. I have another name, a secret name as well, but that is only shared with those I trust. Breandan is your true name. You’ll get your secret name when you are initiated.” She stood up. “I have to get you to the Swan so that can take place.” 62
“So you never were my friend,” Brendan said. “You were lying to me all along.”
Kim didn’t answer. She thoughtfully licked salsa off her fingers. “If it makes you happy to believe that, fine.”
“I want to go home,” Brendan said.
“Whether you believe it or not, that’s where I’m taking you,” Kim said softly, without looking at him. “You’ll go to the Swan and be among your own people again.”
“I’m talking about my mum and dad… and even Delia. I want to go home to my house.”
“Impossible.” Kim shook her head. “They’ll be tracking their way back there now. They’ll be watching for you. You won’t be safe. They won’t be safe.”
He stomped to the door and slammed his fist into it. He immediately regretted it. His knuckles stung but he swallowed the pain. “Open this door right now. I demand that you let me go! This is kidnapping!”
Kim glared at him. “Kidnapping?” She hopped down from the chair and casually pulled the field hockey stick out of her knapsack as she crossed the floor to stand in front of Brendan. He unconsciously pressed his back against the door, shrinking away from her. “I’m tempted to add assault and battery to my list of crimes. But I assure you of one thing, and this you must believe if you believe nothing else. If you do not come with me and do exactly as I say, you will die. Or worse.”
“What could be worse than dying?”
“Do you really want to find out?”
Brendan didn’t know what to say. He looked into her eyes and he saw that she was absolutely serious. Kim put her stick back in her knapsack. “Rest’s over. We have to go.”
“Wait.” Brendan’s voice stopped her. “How can I take you seriously? I mean, put yourself in my shoes. I’m just supposed to believe you and follow you anywhere you say? You have to give me some proof.”
Kim cocked her head and looked at him, considering. “Fine. You had a spiral mark on your chest over your heart. I’ve never seen it but I know it was there.” Brendan’s hand went to the spot of its own accord. She continued, “It’s what we call a Ward, a magical safeguard. A Ward is a kind of magic seal, in your case, a mark on your flesh. A glamour was embedded within just after you were born.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Brendan interrupted. “What’s a glamour?”
Kim crossed her arms, the very picture of exaggerated patience. “A glamour is a magical illusion, a manipulation of earth energy that warps perception. There are many kinds but basically, it makes people see things differently from the way they actually are. In your case, the glamour allowed you to live hidden among Humans without their knowing you were Faerie. It also hid you from Faerie eyes. And now that magic is gone.”