It takes twelve minutes to get to Mrs. Shephard’s office. The door is open and she’s pacing inside in front of her desk. Her relief at seeing us is obvious as her whole body sighs.
“All of you, come in and sit down,” she orders. This is a different side to her than I saw when I first arrived here just days ago. Her spine is rigid and her words are clipped.
The four boys squish up on the couch while I take the armchair. Mrs. Shephard stands in front of us. I think she’s too angry to sit down. She’s not hiding it very well.
She eyes all of us. “Do you realize what could have happened tonight? The princess could have been killed or kidnapped. We have certain protections in the main circle but you know they don’t extend to the senior corridors.”
Reuben, Doug, and Crestley, all stare at the ground. Not Brad though. He looks Mrs. Shephard square in the eyes. He’s also the first one to speak. “We didn’t think the Dark Fae would be here so soon. We can’t keep the princess caged up like an animal.”
“The princess needs advisors that are going to do what’s best for her at all times,” Mrs. Shephard replies through gritted teeth. “If that means she misses out on some parties, then so be it. I’d rather that than have to explain to the palace how we allowed her to die on our watch.”
They go back and forth like that for several minutes. I can’t listen to it anymore. It’s like they’ve forgotten I’m actually in the room.
I stand up. “That’s enough.”
All eyes turn to me, startled. Maybe they really did forget I was here.
While I have their attention, I storm onward. “I’m old enough to make decisions for myself. I’ve been doing it just fine for the last nineteen years. It’s none of these guys’ fault. I have a mind of my own.”
Mrs. Shephard pulls her sweater tighter around her shoulders. She takes a step back to lean on the edge of her desk. “You are still my responsibility, Miss North. Your parents have entrusted your care to me and I take my duty seriously.”
“If they care so much about me, then they should come here themselves.” Anger swells in my chest and I’m not sure who I’m madder at—my birth parents, the principal, or the Dark Fae that caused all this. I guess it could be any or all of them.
My words seem to have silenced them.
While I’m on a roll, I may as well get it all off my chest. “Nobody has said a thing about what I can and can’t do here. I have literally been pulled away from my life and shoved in this academy with just the tiniest bit of information. I have no idea what is expected of me and there has been no indication that my birth parents even care that I’m here. If I’m not supposed to go to parties, then someone needs to tell me that. I can’t keep going on with no idea of what the hell I’m doing here.”
It feels good to finally have those words out in the open. Maybe I’ll be able to feel like I actually know what I’m doing here after all this. A girl can hope.
When Mrs. Shephard speaks, it’s with a much softer tone of voice. “I didn’t know you were struggling like that. Perhaps we need to have some more discussions about this in the morning.”
“That would be fine,” I reply, still irked. I don’t really want to be spending time with the principal but I will do it if it means I get some answers.
“It’s late,” she says, turning her attention to the boys. “Can I trust you to ensure Miss North is returned to her suite safely?’
They all nod and reply in unison, “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Good. Go now. Miss North, I will see you in my office at nine a.m. tomorrow morning. Bring a notepad, we’re going to go through a lot of things you’ll want to remember.”
We scurry away like chastised children. The guys take the same formation as before and we head for my suite. I can’t help but think Mercury is going to be pissed at me for getting into trouble.
Nobody says a thing the whole way.
When we arrive, the guys insist on coming in with me. They discuss a schedule between themselves and refuse to leave me unguarded for the night.
“It is our duty,” Crestley assures me. “It is also our privilege. Sleep well, Princess. You won’t even know we’re here.”
I’m tired of arguing with them. “Can I at least get you some pillows or anything?”
Reuben shakes his head. “We have everything we need. Get some rest.’
The others all agree. I guess there’s not much else I can do tonight. And truthfully, if the Dark Fae are still roaming about, I’m glad to have them here. They do make me feel much, much safer.
I go to bed with Mercury following me. She jumps up and makes herself comfortable while I crawl underneath the covers.
After staring up at the ceiling for a solid ten minutes, I sit up. “Merc, you awake?” I whisper.
The cat opens one eye and stretches. “I wasn’t. What’s up?”
“What do you know about the Dark Fae?”
“I’ll tell you in the morning.”
“Please?” She yawns. “Come on, I’ve cleaned out your kitty litter tray for most of my life. Surely you can tell me about them now.”
She gives me a look which is pure contempt. I know that look well, I just never realized that I was right about it before she could start talking.
I give her a pet and she leans into the palm of my hand. She starts purring. I think she’s forgiven me for waking her up.
She sits back and gives me her full attention. “The Dark Fae have existed for as long as the Light Fae have. The legend goes that the Goddess Luna had two sides to her personality. She could be kind and bright and happy one minute and then sad and mad and uncaring the next. She confused her worshippers because they never knew which version of her they would receive at any moment.”
Sounds like people I know.
Mercury continues, “So her people all got together one day and asked her how she could be so different from one moment to another. She didn’t know so she couldn’t answer their question.
“Goddess Luna was so distraught that she decided to do something about it. She couldn’t have her people suffer and she didn’t know how she could control both sides of her personality.
“So she split herself in two. She became the Goddess of Light and the Goddess of Dark. Every generation after would worship only one. And that’s how we still have the two kinds of Fae,” Mercury finishes. She yawns again, probably hoping I don’t have any follow up questions.
She’s going to be disappointed. “If there are clearly two sides, then why are we still fighting? If she accepted there were two, shouldn’t we just live and let live?”
“We could…if there were two thrones. But there is still only one and two sides. As long as one reigns, the other will always want to take back control,” she patiently explains.
I can’t believe she was so full of knowledge all this time. I used to talk to her in baby language. I’m surprised she didn’t smother me in my sleep years ago.
I wrinkle my nose. “Why don’t the two sides just live in their own country? Then they can do whatever they want and not bother the other.” Makes perfect sense to me.
“Because there is only one Fae Kingdom. To separate it would be like trying to cleave a house into two pieces. Some bits might work but it would lose everything that makes it a home.”