How (Not) to Amuse a Muse by Elizabeth A Reeves

Author:Elizabeth A Reeves
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2016-06-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

I tried to return to my stew. It was good enough to deserve my full attention. Instead, I kept noticing the way that my hostess, and the other patrons of the inn, kept glancing at me, and then away, as if not wanting to get caught looking at me.

I could understand being recognized. It was kind of difficult to hide hair like mine, even in Faerie, and Timothy and I had been in the newspapers of the Outside world a lot during the Barrier War and after. Weird as I still considered it, my face was well known, in and out of Faerie.

No, what I didn’t understand was why they felt they needed to reassure me that I would be safe.

That had to mean that the me in this Path wasn’t safe, which was the opposite of reassuring.

That was going to make my journey even more difficult, if it was true.

But, what was the issue? I couldn’t exactly open my mouth up and ask why they were all acting so strange, or why it had to be a secret that they knew who I was. I couldn’t sit down and try to explain about the Paths and why I was ignorant of what was going on in this one.

I didn’t have the time to explain.

And they wouldn’t believe me, anyway.

Somehow, I had to find out what was going on, without making it obvious just how ignorant I was.

As a straight-forward person, I preferred the direct approach.

Under the table, my leg began to bounce. The fire in the hearth had done its work and dried my clothes, and me, though my cloak was still soaked through. I was no longer cold, and I was no longer hungry.

Which meant that I could focus on worrying instead.

It was frustrating to know that I was sitting at a table in Faerie, but that I didn’t know what face Faerie might be wearing, because I didn’t know what Path I might be on at any given moment.

I’d already seen dragons attacking humans, and dragons hurt or killed by humans in return—something that didn’t feel even remotely possible in my world. The dragons and the Fae, even the humans, were on good terms in my world.

How could anything have devolved the situation so badly that it had come to that kind of bloodshed?

I tried to choke down a wave of hopelessness that threatened to swallow me whole. More and more, this task of mine felt impossible. How could I ever make it to the tree—and back—in time to even be able to help Dynatótita? At this rate, she would be dead, and the world with her, before I even made it halfway to the castle.

What was I going to do? I couldn’t give up. That wasn’t an option. But, to fight so hard, knowing that losing was inevitable…

How could I go on carrying that knowledge?

No, I had to believe. I had to trust that the one Path the Muse had seen was achievable. If she had seen it, that meant that it was possible for me to do it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.