Illusions

Chapter Sixteen

“I DON’T KNOW WHY THIS THING IS BOTHERING ME so much this year,” Laurel said, hiding behind David’s much-larger frame to adjust the sash around her blossom in the hallway.

“Maybe it’s because you didn’t get to keep it free on Saturday,” David suggested. “Kinda like muscles being sore if you don’t rest them, or something.”

“Maybe,” Laurel agreed. “And this weekend isn’t going to be any different.”

“Do you need to skip the dance?” David asked, hiding a smile. “I wouldn’t mind.” David hadn’t been entirely pleased to hear that they were going to the dance with Tamani — though, on hearing that Yuki would be Tamani’s date, his attitude had improved. Marginally.

“I know you wouldn’t,” Laurel said, “but Chelsea would. She needs this. Especially after last week. It will be a good night for her and Ryan.”

“You’re sure I can’t just deck Ryan?” David growled. It was interesting to watch how protective David was of Chelsea. Laurel knew their friendship went back years, but when she’d told David about Ryan’s SAT scores, she’d half expected him to come to Ryan’s defense — after all, David and Ryan were friends too, and Chelsea still refused to ask Ryan for an explanation.

“There will be no ‘decking,’ David,” Laurel chided. “Of anyone.”

“Yes, Mother,” David said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, and Tamani wants us to meet up before the dance — you and me and Chelsea.” He’d dropped that on Laurel in Government class, with scant explanation. “Strategy meeting or something, I guess. He says it’s important.” Laurel rubbed at her temples. The stress of Yuki was almost worse than having trolls lurking. At least with trolls, you knew where you stood. Trolls liked treasure, revenge, and tearing people limb from limb. For all Laurel knew, Yuki and Klea were valuable allies — but then, they might be busy engineering her death, or worse. Laurel suspected it was that uncertainty that had been bringing on these crippling headaches lately.

“Is it bad today?” David asked as he ran his hands over her shoulders and bent a little to touch his forehead to hers.

Laurel nodded, a tiny movement that didn’t jostle David’s forehead from hers; she liked the feel of his face so close. “I just need to go outside,” Laurel said quietly. “Get out of these halls.”

“Hey, Laurel.”

Laurel looked up to see Yuki. Smiling.

At her.

Her eyes went to Tamani, who was standing just behind Yuki. “Hey,” Laurel answered, a little nervously.

“Listen,” Yuki said, “I wanted to thank you for coming by the other day.”

“Oh,” Laurel said, finding herself at a loss for words. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s got to be weird, being somewhere totally new.”

“It can be. And…” Her eyes darted up to Tamani and he smiled his encouragement. “I haven’t been super-friendly and you were really nice.”

“Really,” Laurel said, feeling awkward now. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“So, do you mind if Tam and I eat lunch with you? You guys always eat outside, right?”

“I like it there,” Laurel said, feeling vaguely defensive. “Um, sure you can join us. If you want.” This is what we’ve been working for, she reminded herself.

Tamani and Yuki went off to get their lunches and Laurel turned back to her locker. Her headache was getting worse. She was glad it was lunchtime. Getting out of the school for a few minutes usually helped.

“You okay?” David asked, locking his locker, his lunch tucked under his arm.

“She’s going to notice how I eat,” Laurel said. “Why didn’t Tamani stop this?” But she knew why. It was worth the risk. Probably.

David didn’t answer, just put an arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the doors.

Chelsea and Ryan and a few of the other regulars were already sitting and pulling out their lunches when Laurel and David arrived, moments ahead of Tamani and Yuki. The group hardly looked up when Tamani and Yuki sat down; they often had people come and go. Yuki sat down right beside Laurel. Tamani sat next to Yuki.

So much for low-key, Laurel thought. Three high school students sitting in a row, eating nothing but fruits and vegetables. Perfect. That shouldn’t draw any attention at all. Laurel hesitated before opening her salad. At least she’d had some extra time this morning to make her lunch; her colorful salad looked more like a meal than the usual half cup of spinach with a couple strawberries, or piece of fruit and small bag of carrots. She pulled out a can of Sprite and made a bit of a show of opening it and taking a long swallow.

Yuki didn’t seem the least bit self-conscious as she pulled out her own lunch. Laurel couldn’t help but stare at the small Tupperware containing a pale, oblong, sandwich-sized mound with dark green strips tied around it.

“What is that?” Laurel asked, hoping it sounded like a friendly question.

Yuki looked up at her. “Cabbage roll,” she said simply.

Laurel knew she should leave it alone, but she had never eaten anything resembling the thing that Yuki was currently biting into and her curiosity overwhelmed her caution. “What’s that stuff wrapped around it?”

Yuki looked over at her in surprise. “Nori. Um, seaweed, basically. You’ve probably seen it on sushi.”

Laurel turned back to her own lunch before she drew too much attention to their meals. She felt suddenly lonely as she watched Yuki, eating her cabbage roll and drinking her cold green tea. What would it be like to have a faerie friend who lived in the human world? Someone who could swap camouflage secrets and lunch recipes? She realized just how well she and Yuki could get along. If only she could know Yuki wasn’t a threat — to herself or Avalon.

“Aren’t you eating?” Yuki asked.

Laurel looked up, but Yuki wasn’t talking to her — she was talking to Tamani, who was sprawled casually on the grass. He shrugged. “I’m fine. I usually go out, but I wanted to keep you company today,” he said with a winning smile, touching her knee.

Laurel turned away from Yuki, her warm feelings melting away.

“Do you want some of mine?” Yuki asked.

Laurel didn’t turn, but she listened, wondering how Tamani was going to get out of this one.

“Oh, no thanks. I’ll be all right. I don’t really like green stuff.”

Laurel almost choked on her Sprite. She saw that Tamani was watching her with laughter in his eyes. She placed one hand on David’s thigh and looked pointedly away from her impish guardian.

Tamani felt uncomfortably like a teacher as he stood in front of Laurel and her friends before the dance. He’d asked them to come to Laurel’s house early, while Ryan was still at work, so that they could all talk freely. “First, I wanted to warn you guys about the troll we found—”

“Laurel said it was a dead troll,” Chelsea interrupted, her face paling a little.

Tamani still wasn’t quite sure what to make of Chelsea, but she seemed to have her heart in the right place. “By the time I was done with him he was dead, yes,” Tamani confirmed.

He nearly smiled at Chelsea’s satisfied head-nod. He’d never talked to her specifically about her experience last fall, but he suspected being kidnapped by trolls was a pretty traumatic introduction to the supernatural.

“But there was one that got away. And the fact that we found them at all is a clear sign they are either getting sloppy, or bold. Either way, we need to be very careful tonight. Especially with Yuki and Ryan along.”

“Have you seen Klea yet?” Laurel asked.

Tamani pursed his lips and shook his head. “No, but Yuki mentioned seeing her the other day. So there’s a possibility that either Yuki is slipping away from her sentries — which doesn’t seem likely — or Klea is sneaking past them — which seems even less likely. Probably Yuki is just lying, but I don’t know why. I don’t know what to think there.”

“Forgive me for pointing out the obvious,” David said in a tone Tamani didn’t much like, “but couldn’t we just call Klea? I mean, Laurel’s got her number. Hell, I’ve got her number.”

“And say what?” Tamani asked, admittedly glaring a little. “That she should come join us for tea?”

“We could make something up. Pretend Yuki needs her.”

“And then she would arrive, discover that Yuki is not in need of assistance, and ask why we lied. Then what?” He paused only long enough to highlight that David didn’t have an answer before continuing. “As concerned as I am about Klea, I’m more concerned about Yuki at the moment. Once we discover how dangerous she is or isn’t, Klea goes instantly back to first priority.”

“I’m working on it,” Laurel said, sounding forlorn. “I cut off a little piece of my blossom and put it under the globe in some sugar water. When I added the phosphorescent it lasted a couple hours, so I think the globe is working.”

“And that’s what you wanted it to do, right?” Tamani asked. Much of Laurel’s Mixer work confused him, but he loved watching her thrive in her fae role.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how much that helps us. I’ve tried it on my skin and it does react and glow for a while, but it could be different on hair or some drops of sap, or something else entirely. What I need is some kind of sample from Yuki so I can use the same sample from myself and really compare apples to apples.”

“I’ll do my best to get that from her,” Tamani said, trying to think of a way.

“I’ll bet you will,” David said under his breath.

Tamani just glared.

“Guys…” Laurel said in a warning tone.

“Sorry,” David muttered.

Laurel looked pointedly at Tamani, but he said nothing. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I also wanted to talk about security,” Tamani said, turning away from Laurel. “I want to keep us all together whenever possible. Trolls have tracked Laurel by scenting her blossom before, and we’ll be out after sundown, so we need to stay alert and stick close. Hopefully it will be a very uneventful evening.”

“Cheers,” Chelsea said, rolling her eyes.

“Good uneventful,” Tamani said, cracking a smile. He was starting to like the human girl. He pulled out his phone, checking the time. “I have to go pick up Yuki in about fifteen minutes.”

“And my mom will be home any time to help me put together some fae-friendly appetizers,” Laurel added.

“Then we’re all ready,” David said, stretching his arm across the back of the couch and settling it around Laurel’s shoulders.

“Do we get to play twenty questions now?” Chelsea asked.

All eyes turned to her.

“Not you,” Chelsea said, then pointed at Tamani. “Him.”

Tamani stared at her for a long, silent moment. “I’m afraid I don’t know that game.”

“Oh, it’s easy,” Chelsea said. “You play it with Laurel all the time, but she never asks you fun questions. Although she did tell me about a bunch of Shakespearean plays being faerie legends. I’ve been waiting for ages to ask you the really good stuff!”

“Um, okay,” Tamani said, not sure what Chelsea considered “good stuff.”

“So is it only Shakespeare, or are there more stories that exist in both cultures?”

“Oh!” Tamani said with a laugh. He sank into an armchair close to Chelsea. “There are lots. In Avalon, we love stories. The Summer fae dedicate their lives to telling stories, through dance or music or painting. But humans are endlessly inventive, always coming up with new ways to make the story interesting by telling it wrong. Nonetheless, a lot of your stories have faerie roots.”

Chelsea was undeterred. “Cinderella.”

“No,” said Tamani. “I mean, faeries don’t even wear shoes most of the time. And finding someone based solely on shoe size? That doesn’t make sense for humans or faeries.”

“What about the faerie godmother?” Chelsea asked.

“Unnecessary. We can make pumpkins grow that big without magic. And even a Winter faerie couldn’t turn a mouse into a horse.”

“Beauty and the Beast.”

“Story of a faerie who fell in love with a troll. Scares the wits out of most seedlings. The troll never turns out to be a handsome prince, though.”

“Rapunzel.”

“Growth tonic gone terribly wrong.”

Chelsea squealed. “Thumbelina.”

“That’s just basic anatomy misinterpreted. We are born from flowers, but we’re never that small. Mischievous Sparklers were known to have encouraged tiny-faerie misconceptions, though.”

“Tell me one that would surprise me.”

Tamani thought for a moment. “Do you know The Pied Piper of Hameln?”

Chelsea looked blank for a minute. “You mean Hamelin?”

“That sounds right. That one’s not a story, it’s true,” Tamani said, very seriously. “And it has scarcely been distorted at all. The Piper was a very powerful Spring faerie. Most of us can only Entice one or two animals at a time, but the Piper could Entice a whole city. He was eventually executed for that stunt.”

“What did he do with the children?” Chelsea asked.

“It’s kind of a long story. Ultimately, though, he marched them off a cliff. Killed them all.”

Chelsea and Laurel were both silent, staring at Tamani in horror.

“Perhaps not our happiest story,” Tamani said awkwardly.

“What about the Camelot legends?” Chelsea said, recovering first. Her eyes twinkled in a way that told Tamani this was really what she’d wanted to ask all along.

“What about them?”

“Laurel told me the parts that you told her, and that King Arthur was real and everything. But what about the rest? Lancelot? Guinevere? The Round Table?”

Tamani hesitated — he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell this story, especially not with David around. But it would look even stranger not to tell it now that Chelsea had him on a roll. “Laurel told you about the Unseelie, right?”

“Yeah,” Chelsea said, rapt.

“So you know the Seelie allied with King Arthur?”

“Queen Titania arranged it.”

“Yes. And in human fashion, the alliance was sealed with a marriage.”

“What, like a human and a faerie?” Chelsea asked.

“Yes, just like that,” Tamani chuckled. “Guinevere was a Spring faerie, like me.”

Chelsea’s eyes widened. “But I thought the point of alliance by marriage was to produce an heir who could rule both kingdoms—”

“It’s not clear if the Seelie knew that Guinevere couldn’t have Arthur’s children. We were all a lot less sophisticated, in those days — but it’s possible they did know, and simply… neglected to mention it to Arthur.”

Chelsea’s jaw dropped.

“There were many fae in Arthur’s court, including Nimue and her son, Lancelot. Lancelot was Arthur’s friend, but he was also Guinevere’s Fear-gleidhidh.”

“Her what?”

Tamani felt a strange sense of pride that Laurel had not shared that phrase with her friends. “It means watchman. Guardian.” It meant more than that, but Tamani was already feeling a little exposed.

“So Guinevere married Arthur, and when her faerie guardian stuck his nose into things and stole her away, that was the end of Camelot?” Everyone looked up as David spoke.

“Twist it how you want,” Tamani said, his voice steady, “but Lancelot was the least of Arthur’s worries. When it became obvious that King Arthur and Guinevere could not produce a child, many of the human knights cried witchcraft. Guinevere turned to Lancelot for both love and safety. But things in Camelot were already going badly, and let’s just say Guinevere was almost burned at the stake before Lancelot rescued her and took her back to Avalon.”

“So what if Lancelot hadn’t been around at all?” asked David. “What if Guinevere had really had a chance to make it work with Arthur? It still sounds like Lancelot was to blame for the whole thing.”

Tamani saw Laurel and Chelsea exchange glances. It was obvious that no one was talking about Lancelot and Guinevere anymore. Not wanting to distress Laurel, Tamani pretended to check his phone and stood. “Maybe,” he said. “But Arthur was a great king, especially for a human, and if you ask me, he’d rather lose a challenge than be handed an easy victory.” He gave David a long look then smiled. “I’ll be back soon,” he said, spinning his keys on the end of his index finger. He left the room, closing the door behind him without looking back.