Ashes to Ashes

[JewellRavenlock]

There were three bodies on the ground, covered in blankets. Jewell lifted the edge of the one, and dropped it back down again with a scowl.

Death did not suit Theo.

She lifted the other two blankets, but those faces were unfamiliar. Faces without names. Faces without distinction. Dead faces. The only things she was sure about were that they were not the men who had attacked Lirssa and that she had never seen them before.

The pieces were right here in front of her, but she couldn’t put them together. It was frustrating beyond belief. She stood back up, brushing dirt from her knee, and looked at Ishmerai. This was not Jewell the sweet socialite who would mourn the loss of another dear employee. She was The Empress now. A faerie born cold. “Where’s Margo? Have you spoken with her?”

“Briefly. Samantha brought her to Meric and Rosemary. She was injured, but it did not seem to be a mortal wound, so I spoke with her first.”

She nodded curtly. “Aella,” she called to the nearest House of Summer girl, “stay with the bodies. I don’t want anyone but our people touching them, understand?” When the girl gave her a nod, Jewell stepped away from the bodies on the ground and the growing crowd. By the time she had arrived on the scene, there had already been a few dozen people there. It was too late to cover anything up. Instead, she would take the matter in hand shortly.

But first, she needed to know what she was dealing with. “What the hell happened here, Merai?”

The knight frowned, glancing back towards the bodies before looking down at the petite woman in front of him. “They were returning from dinner. Two men approached them asking for directions. The one tried to grab Margo. Theo stepped between them to defend her, but they cut him down. Margo killed the one as he was finishing Theo. She got the other on her own. She used the knife you gave her. She wanted you to know that. When Samantha and Haizea arrived, she was cradling Theo’s body and both attackers were already dead.”

“Shame that.”

“I know. She kept apologizing. She said she did not mean to kill them. I told her it was well done.” He touched her arm, “Perhaps Janel can still find something with the bodies.”

Jewell nodded, her teeth working furiously on the inside of her cheek. “What did they want? Money? Her?”

He hesitated, admitting reluctantly: “She said they did not ask for anything other than directions.”

She nodded slowly. “All right. Go get Janel and send the girls out, and make sure they take care of the bodies. I have to go speak with the press.”

She turned to walk away, but the hold he kept on her arm stopped her. “Wait, Mira. You must know. When they asked for directions, they were asking for directions to you.”

[JewellRavenlock]

As dawn ushered in a cool and cheerless Wednesday, and the sky changed slowly from a dark, foreboding gray to a moody, light gray that whispered of rain, Jewell sat slumped on her couch and worked her way towards the bottom of a bottle of Dragon Fire.

It was a special liquor distilled beyond the veil; one of the most expensive items she had in her inventory. An actual dragon breathed fire on every batch of the stuff before it was bottled. Jewell had seen it made once. She had stood on the edge of a precipice, peering into a the cave below as fire filled the world.

Other places made poor imitations of the stuff. They were bespelled and magicked to produce the swirl of living colors (red, orange, green, and blue), but nothing in the multiverse was like real Dragon Fire.

It was strong enough to kill a mortal man.

It was strong enough that it could get her well and thoroughly drunk with just one glass (she had consumed at least three now).

It was the only thing strong enough to momentarily free her from her crushing, debilitating guilt.

The Empress had kept it together for so long last night. Too long.

She had kept it together long enough to have the bodies carried off to be examined by one of her people; to give statements to the different members of the press lurking at the scene; to double the security on the neighborhood; to sit down and write to Theo’s family who lived outside of RhyDin in the country; to send Ishmerai to deliver that letter personally; and then to sit with Margo, holding her as she cried, until the draught Rosemary had prepared for her carried her off into a dreamless sleep.

By the time she had returned home, she had been shaking, trembling uncontrollably, but she did not touch the draught that Rosemary had handed to her when she departed the apothecary.

There would be no dreamless sleep for Jewell.

That would have been too kind.

Far too kind for the woman responsible for the death of Theo Nolan.

For the death of Lirssa al Amat.

No, Jewell deserved to burn.

[JewellRavenlock]

She sat back against the bathroom wall, breathing heavily. Her hand shook as she tried to brush her hair back off her face, but her skin was slick with sweat and some strands were hopelessly stuck to the drying blood from the cut on her forehead, a token from when her face met the ground about an hour ago. Her attempts pulled and tugged at the wound, provoking a whimper of pain.

Giving up on that task (and everything else), she let herself slink down until she was curled up on the floor, her flushed cheek pressed against the cool tile. That was better. Much better. She closed her eyes, blocking out the lights that made her head pound and vision blur.

Maybe if she just rested for a little while, everything would stop hurting.

She was in Eva and Mason’s kitchen, telling the couple about the bad news all over again. Their untouched breakfast of bagels and coffee sat on the counter between them, growing cold.

Eva looked over at Mason a moment. Then she looked back at Jewell. "So it was an accident?"

Her jaw tightened, teeth grinding together. "No. Someone was chasing her."

Mason turned back towards them quickly. “What?”

"Someone was chasing her." Her eyes darted over to Mason and then back to Eva. "I don't know who or why. I tried to find out, but... I've got nothing still."

“What was the job she was on?” Mason asked.

She shifted her hold on her coffee mug nervously. "It was for me. She's been working for me for months. But it was a luxury cruiser. She was just finalizing a contract for me, so nothing should have gone wrong. It was 100% legitimate."

He growled or sighed in response; it was hard to tell. “And who is after you?”

“Mira. Wake up.”

Who is after you?

“Nngh!” Jewell flailed wildly, eliciting a grunt of pain from Ishmerai when she hit him in the leg.

It had been the same last night when Noah tried to help her.

“Stop stop!” The knight urged, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder despite her swinging arms.

She opened her eyes at the shout, realized it was Ishmerai, and breathed a sigh of relief before immediately settling her head back onto the floor. Even that little bit of motion was disorienting. Her brain exploded inside of her head, her stomach flopped over on itself, and her mouth tasted like the attractive combination of last night’s alcohol, blood, and vomit.

Consciousness was a bitch today.

She didn’t bother with an apology; she just flopped her arm in the knight’s general direction. “Go ‘way.”

“No. Time to get up. I need you to be done wallowing. We have work to do.”

“Not wallowing,” she objected pathetically. When he didn’t leave her alone to die in peace, she pushed herself back up to sit against the wall and immediately regretted it. The world spun. She groaned and covered her face.

Letting Sal beat the hell out of her had sounded like a good idea at the time. Now, she was seriously reevaluating her decision making abilities.

“Right. Well then when you are done feeling sorry for yourself, we can start figuring this out.”

She lowered her hand to scowl at him, eyes red and squinting. “I don’t feel sorry for myself. Stop--” she struggled to find the right word. Her thoughts moved like molasses but then slipped away like water. “Just stop.”

He didn’t though. “How about you stop punishing yourself?” Her eyes darted down to study her bruised shins. “Mira,” he softened his tone, “I understand why you feel guilty--”

“They’re killing them, Ishmerai.” Her throat and chest locked up as the panic and anxiety that had been chasing her since Tuesday night finally slammed into her. It made it hard to breathe. “They’re killing them just like they killed everyone else. Because of me. And I didn’t even see it. How didn’t I see it?” She wrung her hands in her lap, fingers knotting together and tugging apart. They were looking for something to hold on to. “They tried to get Sapphire first.”

He nodded, confirming what she already suspected. It seemed obvious in hindsight that Sapphire had been the first target. Lirssa was the second. Margo was supposed to be the third.

Who would be next?

“How many more people have to die because of me, Merai? I just…” she ran her hands up into her hair, digging her fingertips into her skull. It wasn’t the pounding headache she was trying to stop. It was the other pain. “I can’t handle it. I physically can’t handle it. I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. I’m already losing my mind. There’s a pressure on my chest--” She let one hand fall, placing it over her heart. It felt like it was going to burst. The blood was running too quickly through her veins.

Everything was spinning out of control.

He crouched down in front of her so they were at eye level. “None of this is your fault, Mira.” He reached out to take her hand, forcing her to release the death grip she had on her stained and bloody dress. He didn’t wait for her to offer up whatever excuse she had ready, “But it will be if you do not do something about it now.”

[JewellRavenlock]

“I just don’t know if my uncle would go this route, you know?” She shifted the bag of ice away from her eyes and back onto her forehead. Stupid thing kept sliding down. “And our friends have seriously lapsed on their watch if he’s organizing something on this level.”

“I hope that is not so.”

“Me too.”

“I doubt that is so.”

“Yeah.” She tapped her foot against his leg. “Unless Lorelei has been compromised.”

Ishmerai frowned. “Do you think that likely?”

Jewell shook her head carefully. Anything more made her vision spin. “No but I think it’s worth looking into.”

“I will look into it then.”

“Who else?” she asked as she blindly reached for the box of truffles Val had brought her. The knight nudged it closer, and her next question was asked through a mouthful of chocolate: “Any word on the Sidhe Syndicate?”

“There has been some movement from a few, remaining, lower ranked members. No one of any particular note.”

She chewed on another truffle as she thought about that. “I’m gonna visit Gulshan this week. It’s been too long.”

“We will visit Gulshan this week.”

“Right. We. Though, you’d think with what I pay those people, they could at least tell me if someone in there was out to get me.”

[JewellRavenlock]

Everywhere she went these days, she was shadowed by someone. It was for her safety. She knew that. Ishmerai insisted upon it, and Jewell was done arguing with him. It was obvious that no one was coming after her directly, not yet at least, but it made her knight feel better to know she wasn’t alone.

Happy knight, less miserable lady.

The only time she insisted she be left alone was when she was at The Line. No one was to wait outside for her there. “I’m the ******* Overlord of the ******* Duel of Swords! Kalamere can try to kill me if he really wants to.”

So anywhere but The Line, they were there. Ishmerai waited upstairs during her Overlord challenge. Haizea stood at the door of her office. Samantha lingered at the entrance to the Mills. They took turns camping out in her living room. They followed her on the rare occasions when she walked Mr. Fitzy. And there was a girl waiting outside of Summerlane right now to walk her home when she was done telling stories to the kids.

It was one of the only things she was really good at aside from making sure all the houses were taken care of financially. Ishmerai had encouraged her to give up on her mission and just hire more help. Jewell had responded by hiring more help and continuing to try to fill Lirssa’s shoes. Unfortunately, she could not cook, change diapers, or clean (so she said!).

On nice days, she was willing to teach some of the older ones fighting techniques in the yard or give basic magic lessons. She could sing to them; dance with them; and on rainy days, she told them stories.

The wind drove the water against the window panes, but inside it was snug and warm and the faerie made visions dance in the air with her glamour. The kids gathered all around her. One of the little ones had even climbed into her lap. She went rigid when the little girl’s head rested on her shoulder, the sensation familiar and strange and heartbreaking. Instinct had eventually overcome distress, and her arm was wrapped around the little girl now. “What story do you all want?”

“The day the faerie princess rescued her knight!”

That was a particular favorite of hers.

“No no. I wanna hear about the lady of the sea.”

Before they could start to bicker, one of the little ones at her feet spoke up loudly. “I want to hear about a Knight Named Lirssa!”

Jewell smiled. “That is a good one. Let’s see, how does it go again? Ah yes, there once was a young girl named Lirssa born on the streets of this very city…”

[JewellRavenlock]

“I didn’t even like him.”

“I know.”

“But that doesn’t mean--”

“I know.”

“No one--” her petite frame trembled. “No one is safe around me.”

“Mira…” Ishmerai sighed out her name as she buried her face against his side, forcing him to wrap his arm around her. He ran his hand along her spine soothingly as she cried, overcome by the composite of emotions warring for dominance: guilt, anger, fear, and exhaustion.

He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know if there was anything to say. There was another young person dead. Apparently, even a tenuous connection to The Empress and a strong dislike wasn’t enough to keep someone safe.

The knight wanted to offer her some comfort in light of what she had learned tonight, but he had none to give. The situation was bad, and the road ahead seemed to be getting darker every day. Their path was obscured. He did not know what was waiting for them just beyond the bend, but the tension was building like a strong storm offshore.

It was coming.

He could remind her that she was strong. Stronger than anyone he had ever met. He could tell her that she would survive this like she had survived everything else that had come her way. She had bent but had never been broken. She had stumbled but had never stayed down.

For all Ishmerai knew though, this could be the trial that finally broke her. He certainly hoped not, but even Jewell was only so strong.

In the end, the knight didn’t offer her empty words of reassurances or promises that she would survive this too. Instead, he stroked her back until her crying quieted and then he asked, “Would you like me to read to you from the book?”

“Uhuh.” Her reply was muffled against his ribcage.

He reached towards the side table, careful not to jostle her, and grabbed the book he had purchased for Sapphire when she had been hurt.

They had been through the whole series at least once already this summer.

The knight’s voice was deep and calming as he began to read where they had left off last. “‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.

‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’”

They were on their way to Rivendell when she finally fell asleep. Ishmerai set the book aside and easily scooped her up off the couch. He carried her upstairs to tuck her into bed, adeptly releasing her fingers from the death grip they had on his shirt. When her brow furrowed in distress, he spoke softly to her until a sleepy smile smoothed it away. He pulled the blanket up to her shoulders to keep her warm on this cool October night and kissed her brow.

Then he took a seat at her bedside to chase away any nightmares that might trouble her. She deserved a few hours of peace.

She needed it while she could get it.