Frey by Melissa Wright

  ~

  I received a visit from my mother’s sister today. News of the child had reached her and she felt she needed to call on me, now that my mother was not here to guide me.

  I was in my room when she arrived. I heard the two quick raps and then one loud knock from her visits during my childhood and instantly knew it was her.

  “Aunt Junnie!” I gushed as she came in. She wore a simple hooded cloak, seemingly unafraid as she passed the guards at my door. She walked as though she ruled the castle, not as if she were a light elf in the center of a dark lord’s rule.

  She confessed to me a secret her family held, a power I had not known from my mother. They had kept it from my father, though he had stolen her after hearing a rumor of it. She passed to me many details of her sister, of the family… my family. She’d risked so much by coming here, to help me, to help my child. I would owe her.

  I had to stop reading as betrayal ripped through me again. Junnie.

  Ruby laid her hands on mine, which were trembling now, but I would not take the dust again.

  Tears streamed silently as I drifted, the ache in my chest only dulled by exhaustion. I felt weak when I woke, but I was silent about the pain as we continued the journey. Yearning to avoid my thoughts altogether, I spent much of the day in the mind of my horse.

  And the day passed.

  It was evening again when we stopped. I barely noticed the group’s mood; though quiet, they seemed anxious and kept the perimeter close. Ruby brought me the book again and I took one long, deep breath before I started back.

  Freya is growing and strong. She has amassed a following of sorts, though I suspect it is somehow connected to her frailties. There is something endearing about it, but some of it worries me. She doesn’t seem to be able to hear as well as she should through her rounded ears and her voice is oddly alto. She is a beauty, though, her unusual features earning her extra attention. The elders express their anxiety again that the humans will consume us, but my father is already discussing arranged marriages, even mentioning Rune’s son, of all people. He’ll do anything he can to gain power from her.

  It was hard to read, this diary. My mother’s diary. Her writings went on until they became more erratic, answering questions I didn’t want answered.

  My father has taken Freya from me. He has assigned her tasks, Rune watching over her, testing her. It’s just as Junnie feared—just what he’d done to my mother. I will find a way to stop him.

  ~

  The elders are keeping Freya now. Guards have been assigned to me. Like a prison.

  ~

  I killed three guards to get to her. We only had a moment before I was torn away from her, yet I feel I got the message through.