AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kieran had a deeply hurt expression. Brigid was biting the inside of her cheek as if she could not believe the betrayal. Fiona was angry to the brink, and Dearen looked frustrated at my stupidity.
“No,” I replied. “I’m sorry.”
And before the girl could stop me, words spilled from my mouth. “She is inside my mind. She can do things. I do trust you, but you should not trust me, not completely.”
What did you do?
I ignored her. I felt her reaching inside my mind to stop me, and I used all my will to push her back as I continued. I had to get this out before she resumed her control of my mind. The barrier she had put in my mind to prevent me from telling the others that I was slowly turning into a monster remained. It did not seem like she needed to be fully in control to prevent me. I could not change that, so I focused on all that I could relay on my friends before she regained control.
“She will make sure to send away any monsters on our path,” I told my friends. “She has that power, and she will use it. But don’t think she is doing this for us. The only reason she has our backs is to make sure we save her. Only then she will reveal to us where the queen’s weapon is and how we can destroy it.”
“She is messing with your mind?” Kieran asked, concern seeping through his distant expression.
The girl’s power was slowly consuming my will to speak.
An affirming nod was all I could get out.
I wanted to tell them to keep an eye on me. To trust each other rather than me and be weary of anything out of the ordinary that I might be doing.
But the girl had regained her grasp on my mind. She stopped me before I could reveal her tools.
“I want to believe you’ve changed,” Kieran said, meeting my eyes as the haze of the girl’s control took over my mind. “That you would have told us if it weren’t for her... I want to believe that you trust us.”
I knew what he was saying. It hadn’t been long since I’d gone behind their backs to speak with the monster in the dungeon. I hadn’t told him about the dreams the dark-eyed girl had been forcing on me to make that happen. I hadn’t included him in my plan to break into the dungeon. That had been me long before the dark-eyed girl had started messing with my mind.
“I do,” I replied. “I know it was wrong that I chose not to come to you when I wanted to speak with the monster in the dungeon. And tonight, I thought I did not have a choice. But I think she made me act independently instead of asking for your help and counseling you.”
That’s a lie... The girl said.
I know.
***
THE MAIN ROAD ENDEDabruptly, but that was the only sign of the change as we left the lands of the Unseelie to step into the in-between.
We paused briefly on the road, staring ahead and remembering all the horror stories about the in-between realm and its dangers. But birds were chirping on the other side as much as they did behind us, and the forest looked very similar. It felt as though the change was only in our minds.
Dearen was the first to grab his stallion's reins and move. The rest of us followed.
The town we had just visited was very close to the in-between realms. When we reached the end of the road, it was still early in the morning. We decided to travel during the day and rest at night. Now that we were in the unoccupied lands of the in-between realms, we did not have to hide.
How long will we travel through the in-between realms? I asked the girl.
Oh, you’re talking to me now? She asked sarcastically. Is it because your friends don’t want to talk to you?
Instead of responding with my words, I imagined a frustrated sigh. She felt something at that, but I could not put my finger on it.
Should take you about two weeks on horseback,she replied.
So you’ll be sending away the monsters constantly for two weeks?I asked. Don’t you have anything else to do? I mean, won’t your captors get suspicious that you are always occupied?
I felt her giggle. Do you think talking with you is all I’m doing?
Isn't it?
Of course, not, she replied. I’m conversing with others as we speak. I do my tasks, and I even sleep.
Confusion rose in me, which prompted her to go on. Mind magic is a complex thing. I assume you started learning about it only recently. You will see for yourself once your powers improve.
