Copper Ravens (21 page)

“Keep them away from my children!”

That last cry was little more than a sob, but Mike, and the rest of the crowd, had heard it clear as day. She was probably a plant.

“I know your pain,” he said, now staring right at the woman in the crowd. Yep, definitely a plant. Mike stretched his arm out behind him, beckoning. Seeing her cue, Juliana staggered to her feet.

“This is my niece, Juliana.” Juliana stumbled, but Langston steadied her with a hand on her back and guided her to the front of the stage. A murmur rode over the crowd; evidently, this wasn't the first time she'd joined in on Mike's theatrics. “As you can see, she isn't doing very well.” Mike made a show of whispering into Juliana's ear, as if he was asking her approval to tell her story. She nodded slightly, as if she'd had any other choice.

“Elementals ruined her,” he said, with a pointed glare directed at the women in the crowd, just in case we didn't know what he meant by ruined. “Luckily, there was no permanent damage, not that the bastard didn't try.”

Realization dawned on the more thick-headed in the crowd, and we were surrounded by shouts and gasps. Mike gave them all a moment to settle down before he continued. “You see, that's what they want. Elemental men set out to impregnate normal, healthy girls. That's how they plan to spread their foul race across our country.”

“Was he executed?” someone called out.

“No,” Mike admitted. “He escaped and remains at large.” The crowd went deathly silent, eyes darting at their neighbors, as if the Elemental in question would leap out and abscond with their daughters at any moment. “But if you elect me, and grant me the resources to combat this evil, I will make sure that what happened to my dear Juliana will never happen to your children.”

“What will he do with—” I stopped short when Max coughed, and I chose a different word. “All the Elementals. Will he imprison them, deport them, what?”

“Who cares?” grumbled a man at my left.

Another said, “He means to use them.”

That had our attention. Max and I turned to look at the speaker; it was the Mirlander candidate, none the worse for wear after the cabbage incident. “Use them for what?” Max asked.

“He wants to dissect them, determine the origin of their abilities, and replicate them,” the speaker replied.

“That's stupid,” Max said. “Why would a man that hates Elementals want to make more Elementals?”

“Does he hate or is he jealous?” the man countered. “Read up on your history, kids.”

With that, the speaker melted into the crowd. I was shaking, not trembling but actually shaking, as if I was outdoors in a blizzard. While I accepted that most Mirlanders were nuts (why else would you join the losing party?), what he'd said hit too close to home. No matter what Max had said about the Institute not always being so bad, based on the state I'd found him in, he'd only been a day or two away from dissection.

“What will happen to her?” someone called out, and I was glad, not only for the distraction from the Mirlander's conspiracy theories. I wanted to know the answer to that, myself.

“Langston here has been kind enough to care for her,” Mike answered, giving his assistant a hearty clap on the shoulder. “Juliana is a lucky girl.” Juliana nodded weakly, and Langston drew her to the side of the stage. Our side of the stage.

“Aww,” murmured a woman beside me, “they're such a cute couple. Aren't they?”

I realized she wanted my agreement, so I nodded. “Yeah, they look like they belong together,” I murmured. If you overlooked how Juliana shrank away from Langston's hands, and how Langston stared at her like she was a juicy pork chop, they looked like the King and Queen of Hearts.

“I read that they'll marry in the spring,” the woman continued. “Isn't that sweet?”

“Mmm.” I would have said more, but Langston and Juliana had stopped directly over us, so close I could touch their feet. Langston whispered something in Juliana's ear, to which she glared and looked away. And right at me.

We both went stock still, our gazes locked together. I couldn't risk running, not while she was staring at me; my only hope was that Juliana would keep her mouth shut. Then, her gaze moved to slightly above my left shoulder, and she gasped.

“Max,” she breathed. Too late, she clamped a hand over her mouth. Langston had heard her, clear as a bell.

“Why did you—” he began, then his gaze shot out over the crowd. “He's here, isn't he?” When Juliana didn't answer, he grabbed her arms and forced her to face him. “Isn't he?”

Max's hold on my arm had become like a vise grip, and for a moment I thought he was going to leap onto the stage and deck Langston. I grabbed the back of Max's shirt, whispering for him to calm down, but just then Mike said something that made the crowd cheer. At the same time, Juliana's refusals had gotten to Langston, and he started shaking her.

“Where is he? Is he with the rest?” Langston demanded. “Tell me now!”

Juliana looked over her shoulder and scanned the crowd, then she indicated an area about thirty feet behind us, more toward the center of the stage. “There,” she said. “Behind the people holding the banner.”

Langston released Juliana as he barked orders to the guards, so abruptly that she fell to her hands and knees. Max reached forward, as if he was going to help her up, but Juliana shook her head. “Go now,” she mouthed, then rolled out of the way as Peacekeepers leapt off the stage and into the crowd.

Langston had taken over the microphone and was ordering everyone to remain calm, despite the fact that Peacekeepers were detaining everyone within a twenty-foot radius of that banner. Taking what might be our only chance, Max and I slipped out of the audience amidst the ensuing uproar, and once we found an alley, we portaled back to the Whispering Dell, this time to the edge of the manor's gardens. As soon as we were safe in the Otherworld, my mouth started running.

“I can't believe she saw us,” I muttered. “So much for your fancy disguises.” Max snorted. “And she just
had
to say your name.”

“She also distracted them,” Max pointed out. “She gave us time to get out of there.” Now I snorted. Since I didn't want to discuss any possibly noble acts committed by Juliana, I changed the subject.

“Is that really what they think Elementals do?” I demanded. “Run around kidnapping Mundane women, making little Elemental babies?”

“It's one of Mike's scare tactics,” Max answered. “Sometimes, he accuses us of stealing all the good jobs, all the good food…You know, whatever people are upset about, he blames on Elementals.”

“Like we have nothing better to do than be his lousy scapegoats.” Max grunted in agreement, and we walked in silence for a time, which was just as well. I still couldn't get the image of gaunt, sickly-looking Juliana out of my mind. Or what Mike had insinuated.

“Hey, do you think Juliana really was sleeping with an Elemental?” I asked suddenly.

“Didn't you hear Mike? He said she was.”

“Better an Elemental than shacking up with a Peacekeeper,” I continued. “And that Langston, what a creep. What could she possibly see in him?” I recalled the guys Juliana had dated in the past; all of them had been athletic jock types. She never would have fallen for some nerdy creep like Langston. Then again, I was pretty sure that she hadn't been dating Elementals while we both worked at REES. Although, the way Langston had yelled at her, treating her like she was his property rather than his partner, made me think he wasn't exactly in love, either. And Max seemed to think that she was being punished…

“I wonder who knocked her up,” I mumbled.

Max stopped short. “What?”

“You heard Mike,” I explained. “He said that Juliana was ruined. When a girl gets pregnant and doesn't get married, they say she's ruined.”

Max was staring at me, eyes wide and brows nearly touching. “I…I have never heard that expression.”

I shrugged. “I guess it's not that outdated.” Max nodded, and we resumed walking.

“Hey,” I asked suddenly. “Was Juliana getting it on with one of the Elementals at the Institute?”

“Leave it, Sara,” he warned. I noticed his clenched jaw, his hands balled into fists. Both signs meant that Max knew much more than he was telling.

“She was!” I squealed. “Did you know him? Was it an air man? Or water?”

Max stopped just ahead of me and spoke over his shoulder. “Honestly, I know nothing about Juliana being with any air or water Elementals.”

He walked off toward the orchards, which is where he retreated to when he wanted some alone time. It was typical Max; he willingly thrust himself into all these volatile situations, but he couldn't admit how shaken up he got. I mean, it was nothing to be ashamed of; anyone would feel a little off after being surrounded by thousands of people calling for your head on a platter.

Since I wanted to give Max time to decompress, I went inside. To my surprise and relief, Micah was back from the Golden Court, safe and sound.

“I missed you,” he murmured as he folded me into his arms. “I take for granted that you will always be here, waiting for me when I return.”

“You didn't miss me nearly as much as I missed you,” I mumbled into his shoulder. “Did you talk to Oriana?”

“I did.” Micah held me for a moment before he continued, one hand stroking my hair. “I asked her, bluntly, if she knew of anyone who might want the Ravens separated from others of copper. She countered by asking me what evidence I had. I then made the mistake of mentioning the boggart.”

“Mistake?”

“It seems that our queen is not fond of boggarts. She immediately ordered her guards to search the court, to ensure none of the creatures were skulking about.” I felt Micah's shoulders quiver and tipped my head back. He was desperately trying not to laugh.

“The Gold Queen is frightened of boggarts?” You'd waste less energy being scared of wallpaper, most of the time. I raised my eyebrows, and that was more than enough to set Micah's laughter free.

“She went so far as to stand on her throne, as if one would bite her toes,” he said. I laughed with him then, at the image of the crazy queen squealing at shadows.

“Suffice it to say,” he continued, wiping his eyes, “I did not learn much this afternoon. However, what I observed leads me to believe that Oriana is not at the center of a plot against you.”

Yeah, she was the wrong sort of crazy to be an evil mastermind. After a few more comments at our gracious queen's expense, Micah asked me where I'd been earlier.

“I went to the Mundane realm, with Max.” I hadn't meant to just blurt it out, but my words came out in a rush, faster than I could check them. In a short time I'd told Micah everything, from the press of the crowd, to how they had shouted for all Elementals to be imprisoned or banished, to Uncle Mike's speech about Elemental babies. I even mentioned how Juliana had been on stage beside him, a haggard shadow of her former self. I left out how Max and I were spotted, and how Juliana might have helped us escape.

“It's bad, Micah. Really bad.” We'd made it as far as the kitchens, and the silverkin served us tea and quiche, along with a side of grapes. How I loved these little guys. “I mean, there's always been anti-Elemental factions, but not like this. This hasn't happened since the wars ended.”

“Do you think this is related to what you did at the Institute?” Micah asked.

“It must be,” I replied. “How, I don't know, but it must be.” I left out that Juliana's punishment, whatever it was, also seemed to be my fault. Now, I'm not saying she didn't deserve it, but we were friends once (well,
I
was
her
friend), and for a long time, at that. Sometimes, you just can't help the guilt.

“You and your family must be much more important to your government than you realize,” Micah said softly. I began to protest, but he continued, “Your sister is the Inheritor; you and Max are powerful in your own right. Maeve—”

“They don't know about Mom,” I interjected. “No one did, except for Dad. He didn't even tell Meme Corbeau.” Hell, Mom's own kids hadn't even known about her royal status until recently.

“Then it is you, Baudoin's children,” Micah said. “Your government wants the three of you found, and, from what you have told me, they will exhaust their resources to do so.”

For a long time, I was silent. First I examined a fingernail; then I picked at the table's edge, and ended up staring into the bottom of my teacup. All the while, my mind was churning with the life I once knew in the Mundane realm, coupled with what Uncle Mike wanted the world to be.

A world with no place for Elementals.

A world with no place for me.

“We can't let him get elected,” I said at last. “He'll ruin everything. For all of us.”

Micah grabbed my cold fingers and squeezed. “We won't.”

19

A
s it turned out, our plans for overthrowing the Peacekeepers would have to wait, since the next few days at the Silverstrand house were spent in preparation for Oriana's debut. While “debut” wasn't exactly the proper Otherworldly term, I thought it fit the situation quite well. I suppose I could have called it a coming-out party, but Oriana didn't strike me as a Southern belle. Although I once had a coworker who had told stories about his wacky Southern aunt, who used to sit on the front porch, rain or shine, drinking beer and yelling at the songbirds for making a ruckus. That, I could see Oriana doing.

One of Micah's and my biggest worries was abated when Sadie readily agreed to attend. Even better, Max was fine with staying home. We probably could have kept Max out of trouble for the evening, or at least pretended that we didn't know him, but I don't think even Micah was suave enough to explain away the lack of the Metal Inheritor's presence. Being that Sadie was finally starting to make an effort here in the Otherworld, I guessed I'd have to pick up something nicer than the fairy necklace for her birthday.