“I’m investigating Atlantean shipwrecks,” I bluffed. “It’s fascinating.”
“Hm.” Jaymin scribbled something down on her clipboard. “Very interesting.”
Yeah, go ahead and research that dead end.Hopefully it would mislead her and the Warden for a few weeks, at least.
“What have you learned?” Jaymin asked, breaking me out of my relief. “Anything useful?”
“Um—” I started. I was a bit rusty on mermaid lore. I tried to gather my thoughts, but Jaymin cut me off.
“You’re the subject of a prophecy, aren’t you? A chosen one. The Warden told me about that,” Jaymin said cheerily. “You must be doing something to investigate what it means.”
My entire body went cold, and I forced an impassive look on my face. “I’ve been leaving it up to fate, mostly. I don’t care to keep looking into it, seeing as how it caused an entire city to go up in smoke.”
Jaymin gave a bemused smile. “But there must besomethingyou know. One tiny piece you’ve worked out?”
This woman wasn’t going to stop pressing. I tried to think up excuses, but Charlie broke in before I had to come up with another lie.
“Aren’t we supposed to be talking about our feelings?” he asked. “I mean, that’s what therapy is, right?”
“Therapy is whatever you want it to be, Charlie,” Jaymin said, scribbling more down on her clipboard. She was ignoring Charlie entirely, like she didn’t think he mattered. It was ableist, but her discrimination was also a benefit. She didn’t think a blind person was capable of anything extraordinary, and thought the only avenues worth pursuing were the three of us. Her ignorance would help disguise the fact that Charlie had Elf blood that much longer, buying us time.
Rishi meowed. He crawled toward Jaymin’s high heel, sniffing it like he smelled something rotten. He batted at the toe, yowling at Marcus.
Jaymin reached down to try and shove Rishi off her, but the cat didn’t move. “The point of these sessions is— ugh! Get off me, you ugly thing.”
Jaymin kicked Rishi across the circle. The cat hissed. Marcus bent down to pick him up, looking horrified.
Jaymin took a quick breath. “As I was saying, the point of these sessions is to lift the burden from your shoulders. You know you’ve done wrong, and that youdeserveto be here. Think of me as a diary, one you can tell your deepest, darkest thoughts to without any fear of consequences.”
“Gods, lady, we’re criminals, that doesn’t mean we have to feel bad about everything we do,” Kallie said. She’d let her thoughts slip. Kallie immediately flattened her lips together once she’d realized her mistake.
Jaymin blinked. Her voice was cool as she replied, “Be that as it may, you all know, deep down, that your punishment is justified. I think you may evenwantit. And maybe, just maybe, we can turn you into a good person again, one whom people can love and accept. That is, if you’re willing to confess to whatever bad you might still be doing. With a little hard work, anything’s possible, hm?”
The guilt trip wasn’t going to work with this group. Most of us already figured we were too far gone, and those that hadn’t didn’t care for acceptance either way, because we knew we weren’t going to get it. We didn’t owe this woman anything.
I think Jaymin realized that, because she switched tactics. “I’m sure, like the other inmates, the integration of the Elves into the student body has uprooted your lives. Is there anyone acting strangely among you, someone who just might sympathize with these new arrivals?”
“Why does that matter?” Charlie spat. He crossed his arms, clearly losing his temper. As painful as it was, I reached across our bond and nudged him, telling him to calm down.
“Because the Elves are a lower supernatural race, who need to be taught how to integrate into modern society,” Jaymin replied, as if she was explaining something simple to a child. “They’ve been gone for a hundred years. They don’t understand the ways of civilized culture. It’s up to us to teach them. We don’t need anyone telling them that their ways of being are acceptable in today’s supernatural world.”
“What are you talking about? The Elves are the most powerful supernatural race there is. They can take magic from others and break bonds. They had the most valuable city in the world, until the Warden took it over,” Charlie responded.
He was dangerously close to exposing himself. Kallie, Marcus and I looked between each other, not knowing what to do, before Jaymin responded, “The Elves earned their wealth and power through criminal ways. They stole everything they gained and manipulated others to do it. They have to be trained.”
“Trained?” Charlie asked, disgusted.
“Of course. Everyone knows that the average Elf brain is much smaller than any other supernatural’s, even a merperson’s,” Jaymin replied. “It’s common knowledge.”
Charlie’s mouth had fallen open in shock, and Jaymin took that as an excuse to keep talking. “The most highly spiritual and powerful individuals were able to be masters over the Elves, because the Great Spirit and the other gods made it so. Their sin is even shown in their ears, which are pointed like a devil’s, and different from all the rest.”
Marcus put a hand over his mouth, like he couldn’t believe how offensive Jaymin was being. Kallie had ducked her head, as if she was embarrassed the fae had treated Elves so poorly.
I could feel the rage pouring off Charlie as he fumed, “That’s a lie.”
“You can’t ignore history, Charlie. When the Elves were enslaved during the Great Supernatural War a hundred years ago, it was a good economic stabilizer. It created wealth for the other races to share. Slavery is a just punishment for lower supernatural life forms, which the Elves are,” Jaymin replied.
“There’s no excuse for slavery, ever,” Charlie argued.
