AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alys beamed as though my approval meant the decision was made. A slight jolt of disappointment rose from them, but most of them quickly accepted what I’d said as fact.
I did not like how quickly they’d changed their mind to fit mine.
“Maybe we can ask the conjurers and the earth elementals to build some structures,” I added. “It wouldn’t be as bad to leave them behind even if we have to move. Or we could just destroy them before we left.”
A murmur of agreement traveled over them.
“Savior,” Nessa got up. “We should also distribute some tasks. For now, everyone is doing what they can whenever they can, but our numbers are growing and soon some things will eventually be forgotten in that chaos. I was thinking Alys should teach whoever is interested how to use the bow. And we can cut some trees to make new bows too. Conjuring items is temporary which means...”
“We should give her some more time,” Collin warned her. “The liberator just woke up and...”
“Also, could you not call me that?” I asked. “Just call me Jasmine, please. Not liberator. Not savior. ”
Collin seemed taken aback, and I felt bad about reprimanding him in front of the others.
Still, he nodded.
“And for everything else,” I continued. “I think you guys should choose someone to organize all that. I mean someone who knows how to lead.”
“We are choosing you,” Nessa said. “Isn’t it obvious?”
I had met Nessa when she burst into my room yesterday morning and introduced herself as I was washing my face. She was a young girl with blonde hair, who had turned into a monster only last year, right before the trials. She was the excited type, which made me feel stiff in comparison.
“I am not sure if I’m the right person for that,” I replied. “I know I transformed you back to fae, but that was just luck. That doesn’t mean that I know the answers to everything. You should come together and make those decisions for yourselves.”
Unlike other fae, their thoughts were on the surface of their minds. It was as though as each and every one of them wanted me to hear their thoughts, so no matter how much I wanted to ignore that, I knew how they felt.
Nora was certain I would lead them into greatness. Alys was a bit more suspicious, not because she did not trust me but because she could not be certain that the task was achievable. Aigneis wanted us to settle on a new land and Muir was already imagining what to do once we reached wherever that was. Collin felt my discomfort and wanted to help.
“And we appreciate that,” Collin said. “I think we should let her be for now.”
“You are right,” Nessa said. “We should be thanking her for saving us.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. The monster folk were constantly in hiding. They rationed food and could only live in a certain area for a few days before they had to move again to keep the queen from finding them.
It didn’t exactly feel like they had been saved, at least not completely.
I nodded.
“I should get going,” I mumbled before turning away from them.
As I walked away, their thoughts were with me. But for now, I had to push them away.
I needed to talk to Amarra.
The tent they kept Amarra in was on the other side of camp, as far away from my tent as possible.
It had been two days since Amarra walked into my tent and woke me up. There was no question about whether it was her who had finally managed to pull me out of my slumber when so many had failed, including Cari, who was the strongest mind magicker I had ever known.
Amarra was a mind magicker too. But she did not seem to be using her powers to try to escape the tent she was kept in as a prisoner. Her seeming surrender and disinterest toward leaving convinced everyone by the second day that she was telling the truth about being my mother.
I did not know if I wanted her to be lying. The queen’s armies hadn't arrived after Amarra discovered our location. We knew they were looking for us since every monster who came to camp told us that they had to hide from her soldiers to be able to reach me. So the fact that they weren’t here yet told me that Amarra did not work for the queen.
Still, as I approached her tent, the urge to go in and talk to her dwindled. I paused before stepping back into the torchlight, leaning against a tree beside the forest to gather my thoughts.
I wasn’t sure how long I stayed there, but until I felt someone behind me, I did not even move an inch.
“I never knew my mother,” Dearen said, taking a step forward to lean against the tree and look toward Amarra’s tent like I had been doing.
