Refuge
Diana crouches down next to me and peers under the bed.
The Selkie is lying listlessly on her side, a glazed look in her eyes.
“I can smell her fear,” Diana observes. “She’s in shock. And she’s soiled herself.” Diana stands up and crosses her arms in front of herself authoritatively. “Elloren, go get your new violin.”
I’m deeply rattled and thrown by how unrattled Diana is. Yvan’s gone to get food for the Selkie. It’s best that he left, as the seal-girl was in such a panic to get away from him, she scrunched herself up far under my bed. She’s obviously terrified of men.
I peer up at Diana, my brow knitting together in puzzlement. “Why?”
“Selkies love music. I read it somewhere once. It may calm her.”
I get up and shoot a skeptical look at Diana. Trystan and Rafe recently gifted me with a second-hand violin, the only instrument they could afford. It was a touching gesture and deeply appreciated, but the instrument’s wood is slightly warped and it can barely hold a tuning.
Initially, I sent word to Uncle Edwin, asking him if there was a spare violin that could be sent, since mine was destroyed. I received a prompt response from Aunt Vyvian, who has taken over my uncle’s care and evidently his affairs as well, his mail now rerouted directly to her.
My Dear Niece,
I would be happy to send you the finest violin Valgard has to offer. I have friends who play in the Valgard Symphony, and I’m sure they could procure a brand-new Maelorian violin lacquered in the color of your choice. How does that sound?
You have great musical talent, just like your blessed grandmother, and I want nothing more than to help foster it once you are fasted to Lukas Grey.
Please let me know when that happy event has transpired.
With Affection,
Vyvian
Resigned to a substandard instrument, but bolstered by the fraternal affection it represents, I fetch the coarsely-made violin.
After what the Selkie’s been through, I doubt a little off-key music will make it all better. Still, it’s worth a try.
I sit down on the floor and begin to play, the music enveloping the room. Ariel watches us suspiciously from her bed. Wynter hops down from her usual perch on the windowsill to the surface of my desk.
“Keep playing,” Diana directs. “Her fear is lessening.”
After an hour my fingers are beginning to hurt, my neck starting to ache, but the Selkie remains decidedly under the bed. “It’s not working,” I say, turning to Diana.
Wynter unexpectedly opens up her wings and hops down from my desk to land lightly on her feet. She crouches down, then closes her eyes as if deep in meditation. Finally, she raises her head and begins to sing. She sings in High Elvish, the words smooth and graceful as flowing water, winding around the room.
“Elloren,” Diana breathes.
The Selkie’s blue-white arm appears from beneath the bed and reaches out toward Wynter. Wynter continues to sing as she takes the Selkie’s hand and leads her slowly out until the seal-girl curls into a ball and hides in the shelter of Wynter’s wings.
Wynter strokes the Selkie’s hair as she continues to sing her mournful song, a wet trail of urine now streaking the floor.
“We should get her cleaned up,” observes Diana, wrinkling her nose. “Ariel,” she orders, “go heat up the bathwater.”
“Do I look like your servant?” Ariel snaps.
“No,” replies Diana, “but we could make use of your abilities. Don’t you like starting fires?”
Unable to resist playing with fire, Ariel stomps off toward the washroom, muttering to herself darkly.
* * *
Wynter and I manage to get the exhausted Selkie into the washroom as Diana goes downstairs to fetch a bucket and mop. Wynter cradles the Selkie and sings to her as I gently help her out of her clothes. The Selkie doesn’t struggle. She just looks at us with wide, sad eyes, her body limp as a rag doll. As I pull her tunic over her head, I gasp, my hand involuntarily flying up to cover my mouth in horror. Wynter stops singing.
The Selkie’s entire body is bruised and beaten. Bright red lash marks crisscross her blue-white skin.
Diana walks in, swinging a large, wooden bucket full of soapy water in one hand, a mop in the other. When she sees the Selkie, she freezes, her mouth falling open. She quickly collects herself and sets the bucket neatly on the floor and the mop carefully against the wall.
“I’ll be right back,” she says, her voice pleasant. “I’m going to go kill him now.”
Her tone is so nonchalant it takes my mind a few seconds to process the meaning of her words.
“Wha...what?” I stutter as Diana turns on her heel to leave.
She stops and turns to look at me like I’m daft. “The man who did this to her,” she explains slowly, as if I’m a child. “I’m going to snap his neck. He deserves to die.”
I spring up, my hands flying out to caution her. “Wait, no, you can’t!”
“Of course I can,” she says, annoyed. Her expression turns thoughtful. “No, of course you’re right, Elloren.” I breathe a sigh of relief. “Snapping his neck would be much too quick and painless.” She nods matter-of-factly. “He deserves to suffer for this. I will beat him first. And I will mark him like he marked her.” Diana’s eyes momentarily take on a wicked gleam. “Then I will tear his throat out.”
Panic mushrooms inside me. “You...you can’t kill him!”
“Why do you keep saying that?” She looks offended. “Of course I can kill him.”
“You’ll get in serious trouble!”
She shoots me an incredulous, disgusted look. “With who? Not with my people. If my mother was here, she would have already torn this man to pieces.”
“At least wait until we’ve spoken to Rafe,” I plead.
She places a hand on her hip and glares at me with exasperation. “Oh, fine,” she relents. “I can smell your fear. It is completely unwarranted, but if it will set your mind at ease, we will speak with Rafe first.”
Diana directs Wynter to go and fetch Rafe, and to my surprise, Wynter leaves to get him without hesitation.
“Your brother will agree with me,” Diana assures me as she kneels to wash the wounds on the Selkie’s back with a soft cloth. “And then I will kill this man. And after I kill him, I will rip his head off and bring it back to the Selkie. It will bring her much comfort to know he is dead.”
* * *
A few minutes later Rafe and I sit on the stone bench in the hall, watching Diana pace angrily back and forth, Wynter having taken over the Selkie’s care.
“Diana, quit pacing and sit down.” Rafe’s voice is quiet, but there’s an undercurrent of authority that’s unmistakable.
Diana stops moving and faces him, hands on her hips. She shoots him a defiant look, which he calmly meets.
“You can’t kill him,” Rafe says, keeping his tone neutral.
“Of course I can,” she snaps. “Your people are weak.”
“Yes, I know you could kill him quite easily and effortlessly,” he replies, his voice firm. “But you shouldn’t.”
“Why?” she demands, raising her chin.
“Okay, Diana,” Rafe says. “Let’s say you go out and kill him. Then what?”
“Then I bring his head to the Selkie woman so that she can see that she is now safe.”
“All right, then what?”
She huffs at him impatiently. “Then I toss it back into the woods for the scavengers to eat.”
“And what happens when the University investigates and finds out what happened? They will notice that their groundskeeper is missing.”
“They can hire someone new.”
Rafe sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. “They’ll arrest you, is what they’ll do.”
Diana snorts. “I’d like to see them try!”
“They’ll fine Elloren for theft and they’ll throw you in prison for murder. And they’ll send the Selkie back to the dealer he bought her from and sell her to someone else, potentially someone worse.”
“You are being absurd. Once we explain what happened, how he was treating her, they will understand. The proof is all over her body!”
Rafe shakes his head in disagreement. “You’re wrong, Diana. According to them, this man did nothing unlawful. Repugnant, maybe, but not unlawful. You two, on the other hand, have already broken multiple laws. Do you really want to throw murder on top of that?”
“So we keep her hidden,” Diana says stubbornly. “No one has to know who killed him.”
Rafe screws up his face in disbelief. “Diana, your kind are seen by my people as uncivilized, violent savages. You and your brother would be immediately suspect. And, if, by some miracle, they didn’t figure out that you were the culprits, they would assume the Selkie found her skin and killed him. There’s talk of shooting all of the Selkies in captivity. Were you aware of that? The Council is pretty evenly divided on this. The murder of the University’s groundskeeper would easily tip the balance in favor of a mass execution. Do you really want to be responsible for that?”
Diana leans toward Rafe, undaunted. “Then I’ll kill him and take her with me. To my pack. They’ll know what to do. They’ll save all the Selkies.”
“So you’ll leave the University?”
“Yes, if necessary!”
“And Jarod? He’d have no choice but to leave, as well.”
“He’d leave,” she says with smug assurance. “He’d understand.”
“So, let’s say you and Jarod take her back to your pack,” Rafe calmly postulates. “You do realize you’d be plunging your entire pack into a potentially dangerous political situation.”
Diana snorts at this. “Dangerous for your people, maybe. Not for ours.”
Rafe exhales sharply and shakes his head. “Things are very tense between your people and the Mage Council right now, Diana. Our government considers your land rightfully ours. There’s talk of sending the military out to force your people—”
Diana huffs impatiently, cutting him off. “Your military is no match for my pack. You know that as well as I do. Your magic is useless against us, and the weakest of our kind is stronger than your strongest soldier. If your people were stronger, they would have stolen our land long ago, just as you’ve stolen land from everyone else around you.”
“Think how this would be written up in the arrest warrant,” Rafe continues. “‘Lupine Girl Kills University Groundskeeper...’”
“‘...Who Horribly Abused Seal Woman!’” Diana finishes for him.
“That part won’t make it in, Diana. Selkies are like a dirty little secret no one wants to talk about. No. It will be seen as proof that Lupines are dangerous, bloodthirsty monsters who should be eradicated. Do you really want to be responsible for throwing your pack into this?”
Diana throws up her hands like she’s throwing sand into Rafe’s face. “This is nonsense!”
“No, Diana, it’s not! Do you really want to be the one to make this decision? Without speaking to your pack first? Without speaking to your alpha?”
Diana freezes.
There, he’s done it, I realize with relief. He’s finally found an argument that registers with a Lupine.
She stands, staring at Rafe with a fiery glare.
Finally, she lurches forward toward Rafe, fists clenched. “I’m going out!” she snarls. She whirls around and heads for the door.
Rafe is on his feet in a flash. He strides forward and grabs Diana by the arm.
“To do what, Diana?” he demands.
Diana’s arm tenses and her fist clenches sharply like his hand on her is a challenge. She shoots him an incredulous look and glances down at the hand that attempts to restrain her, staring at it like she can’t quite believe that he would dare to be so bold. I wonder myself if Rafe has temporarily taken leave of his senses.
The tension in the room has suddenly become unbearable—and dangerous. Very slowly, Diana raises her head, her lips pulling back into a threatening grimace, a deep growl starting at the base of her throat as her amber eyes take on a ferocious glow. She takes a sudden, threatening step toward Rafe, and I flinch. He knows as well as I do, as well as Diana does, that she could rip his arm clear off without so much as breaking a sweat, and there’d be nothing Rafe or I could do about it. I’ve never thought of Diana as frightening before, but I realize now, for the first time, that she’s truly dangerous.
“I asked you where you’re going,” Rafe repeats, his jaw tensing, his tone unyielding, as he ignores her threatening posture completely.
Diana’s lips pull back farther into a full-blown snarl. “I’m going deep into the woods,” she growls, her voice low, her eyes two enraged slits, “where no one can see me. Where I can strip naked without offending the very delicate sensibilities of your most morally upstanding people. Then I will Change. And I will run. For a very long time. Because if I stay here, I will ignore all reason, and I will kill him.”
Rafe nods and abruptly releases her arm. She shoots him one last vicious look before storming out.
I start to breathe again as Rafe stares off in the direction she’s exited.
“Do you think she’ll kill him?” I ask, my voice almost a whisper.
Rafe places a hand on one hip and turns to me. “No,” he says, his lips tensing. “She just needs to blow off some steam.”
“She’s right, you know. He deserves to die. He’ll probably just buy another Selkie girl to abuse.”
“Probably,” Rafe agrees. He walks over to the window that overlooks the large open field leading to the edge of the wilds. I follow and can see Diana stalking toward the wilderness at an angry pace, the late-afternoon sun sending a soft, gentle glow over everything, making her golden hair appear as if it’s on fire.
* * *
Later, after leaving the sleeping Selkie under Wynter’s care, I set out to find Andras Volya, ready to beg, if necessary, to convince him to keep our secret.
As I walk along the upstairs hallway, I hear my brother downstairs talking to someone and pause.
“Hello, Diana,” Rafe’s voice is low and wary.
For a moment there’s silence, and I feel a tremor of nervousness for my brother’s safety.
“You were right,” Diana blurts out, her voice uncharacteristically strained. “You were right about everything. Everything you said was true.”
“I’m glad you’ve calmed down,” Rafe says patiently.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I got so angry at you.”
“It’s okay, Diana. Apology accepted.”
There’s another uncomfortable silence.
“And I’m sorry I thought about tearing your arm off,” she says.
I creep to the doorway and peer through the slit where the door swings away from the wall.
Rafe stands facing Diana, his arm on the stone wall next to them. He looks down, collecting his thoughts. Then he glances back up at her, a small smile on his face. “Thank you, Diana. Thank you for not ripping my arm off.”
“It’s just that... I...I have no experience with...with this level of cruelty,” Diana explains haltingly. “I’ve just never seen anything like it.” Diana looks up at Rafe, her face distraught. “Rafe, her whole body...he must have beaten her repeatedly...”
“I know.”
“She’s so scared. So broken. And her eyes...her eyes...” Diana’s voice breaks, and she begins to sob.
My brow flies up in surprise. Diana is so strong and sure, never ruffled by anything. My own sadness for the Selkie wells up inside me, hearing Diana cry so.
“Shhh...” I hear Rafe say. “Come here.”
Diana’s sobs become muffled as Rafe pulls her into a tight embrace.
“I’m so sorry!” Diana cries. “I wasn’t thinking! I could have caused so much trouble! My first real test...and I failed!” Her words come out in a tangled rush. “I’m a disgrace to my pack!”
“Shhh, Diana...you’re not,” Rafe whispers into her hair. “They’d understand. You’re not a disgrace.”
“Yes, I am!”
“No, you’re not. Stop. Look at me.”
Diana raises her tear-soaked face, amber eyes now red and puffy.
“You are not a disgrace,” Rafe insists, his voice full of kindness. “You are brave and kind. You’re just a little...impetuous.” He smiles and reaches up to gently wipe away some of her tears.
Diana nods and manages a reluctant smile in return. “You’re just being nice to me because I let you keep your arm.”
Rafe laughs. “Maybe so.”
They’re both quiet for a moment, their arms loose around each other.
“Rafe,” Diana finally says, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “I’m falling in love with you.”
Rafe’s face immediately grows serious, and he inhales sharply. “Oh, Diana,” he breathes as he reaches up to cup the side of her face, “I’ve already fallen...” He pulls her toward him and kisses her hair, her arms twining around him. He brings his mouth to hers and they kiss, gently at first. Then Diana moans and presses herself into him, their kissing quickly becoming passionate.
I pull away from the door, heart thumping, a pang of distress spreading through my chest.
My brother, the Gardnerian, and a shapeshifter. All my suspicions about them completely on the mark.
Sweet Ancient One in the Heavens Above, what a mess we’re all in.
I’ve stolen a Selkie. Yvan’s plotting to steal a military dragon. Both Rafe and Aislinn are in love with Lupines, and I’m becoming increasingly close friends with a shunned Elfin Icaral.
This has actually gone way beyond a mess. We’re all treading on increasingly dangerous ground.
What on Erthia are we all going to do from here?