Chapter Twelve: Louisa Endless
2421 Words
CHAPTER TWELVE
LOUISA ENDLESS
In the fall, the gateway was quiet. Few faeries did any traveling, but I was somehow unsurprised to see the new King of Faerie step through the door as I made my early morning rounds of the estate. “Clark!” I hugged my adopted brother, pulling him in close. He was so different from the reserved, uptight young man that I had known before.
In faerie, his red hair was longer, in a vikingesque way. He wore golden armor, and he looked like a medieval knight prepared for battle. “Louisa,” he said with a smile, “you look well. Nia sends her regards, by the way.”
“Are you here to see Emma?” I asked.
He blushed, and I knew there was still a hint of the boy I’d know my whole life in there. As long as Emma Endless existed, Clark would always be the little boy chasing after her. “I miss her,” he confessed, “and faeries not the same without everyone to keep me company. I thought…I thought we’d be ruling it together.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder, the metal of his armor cool to my touch. “Come on. You look as though you could eat. Let’s get some breakfast, or at the very least some tea.”
We walked together, inside. I thought of telling him about Ben and Emma, but I didn’t know if it was my place.
“Stop that,” he said sternly.
“Stop what?” I asked.
“Looking at me like you’re about to tell me that you ran over my puppy. I…I already know.”
I paused, there in the hallway of the estate that we were now in. “About Ben and Emma?”
“Emma and I agreed to keep things…. casual. Those were her words, not mine. I was worried about her thinking that I was like Oberon, so I agreed to honor her wishes. She loved Ben enough to marry him, she has a right to explore that relationship. I’m fine with it…well, as fine as I can be. What about you?”
“M-m-me?” I sputtered.
He looked directly at me, his gaze probing. “I know that there was something going on with you and Ben Taylor. Everyone knew. It was so very obvious. You don’t have to hide it.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, “besides I…. I don’t have the luxury of being in love, Clark. I have to take things seriously. I don’t know who I can trust, or who might use me to get to the gate.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to be alone,” he said softly.
“No, but it does mean I have to be careful. I can’t fall for people who don’t take me seriously, and I don’t…. I don’t think Ben ever took me seriously.” I swallowed. “Come on, let’s go get some tea.”
I took him to the kitchen. Although we had a dining room, we did keep a smaller, informal, dining room table in the kitchen. I grabbed some mugs, the blue tea kettle that had once been our grandmothers and set to work making us something to drink.
“Are you keeping me busy because she’s with him?” Clark asked.
I sighed and leaned against the table. “I’m sorry. I thought I was being better at hiding it. They’re not together, together, but I did see them head out to the village early this morning. I’m not too sure what they’re doing though.”
“Never should have helped him get the sight,” Clark grumbled, “he’s got that ring now, he won’t forget everything once the estate….”
“The person you should really be worried about is Bradley,” I told him.
Clark frowned. “Bradley? Why?”
“Well, he’s finally admitted Adelaide March is his mate. He’s trying to get her to be with him, gave her the necklace he got to give her the sight and everything. If she’s not with him…. I…I think it might break him. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
“Perhaps I could give him a distraction,” Clark offered.
“What kind?” I asked.
“If Emma does not wish to be my Queen, I don’t know that I’ll want to continue to rule faerie. I have reason to believe my mother is awake now that Oberon’s dead. I want him to bring her back from Brooklyn, where he had her kept. I’m not fit to rule faerie, not on my own.”
“How do you know? You haven’t even really tried. The first week there, it was all tours of the place. You were a lawyer Clark. Ruling a realm can’t be that much different than doing law. Know your right from wrong, and what’s best for the people. You’re the most mild-mannered person I know, the most caring. If anyone can rule, it’s you.” I reached out and squeezed his hand.
Clark smiled. “You always know the right thing to say.”
“We’re Endlesses. Words are our thing,” I replied, “but, if you wish, I’ll send Bradley to Brooklyn to retrieve Tatiana. I suspect you’re right about her being free of Oberon’s curse now that he’s dead. I had been meaning to ask him about that, since he was the one keeping her hostage, but I didn’t know how. He’s not quite in his right head at the moment.”
“Well, the sooner we figure it out, the better.”
The door to the kitchen opened then. In came Ben, followed by Emma, both oblvious to us.
“I’ll get you something to drink, then you can take the test,” Ben said.
“Thank you,” said my sister, looking at Ben with adoration in her green eyes, “but I think I’ll be fine. Um, I’ll be back in just a minute----”
She pulled a small, white thin box with a pink stripe on it out of a plastic bag. I glanced over at Clark, and watched as he stood, his fists clenched. “Emma,” he spoke her name as if it were a plea.
Emma glanced over at him, her eyes widening. “Clark!”
“f**k,” Ben hissed, his face going pale as a ghost.
“Clark, what are you doing here?” If Ben’s face looked white, Emma’s face made it look like she was going to be sick.
“I came to see you,” he said, “Emma are you….”
She bit down on her lip. “I might be.”
I glanced over at Ben. “Come on Taylor,” I said, “let’s give them some privacy.”
I got up from my seat. Emma gave me a pleading look, but she was no longer the little girl that needed to be rescued. It was time for her to fight her own battles. I shook my head at her, to let her know she was on her own, then dragged Ben from the kitchen, closing the door behind us.
“What the hell did you do that for?” Ben demanded.
“Those two have to talk,” I said.
“You know she hasn’t just been with him. She’s been with me too, and there’s good chance the baby is mine,” Ben said.
“I guarantee you, the baby is not,” I told him, “Emma and Clark have been written in the stars since they were kids. She might be figuring things out right now, but it’s always going to be him, Ben. Even if you are the father by some chance, Clark will claim that child as his.”
He frowned. “You don’t know what we’re like, together. Louisa…. it’s not just physical between us.”
I shoved my hands into the pockets of the leather jacket I wore. “I never said that it was.”
“I know, but I didn’t want you to think that. The whole reason this thing started was because of the nightmares.”
“Nightmares----” I started to say, but from within the room, I could hear the shouting between Clark and Emma start.
“I THOUGHT YOU f*****g LOVED ME, AND NOW YOU’VE BEEN SCREWING HIM? I DID THIS FOR YOU, EMMA!”
“I DIDN’T ASK YOU TO!” she shouted. “I DIDN’T ASK TO BE SAVED. I…. IF DYING IN THE TOWER MEANT THAT I COULD SAVE MY FAMILY, I WOULD HAVE DONE IT. BUT YOU JUST COULDN’T LET ME GO, CLARK. NOBODY ASKED YOU TO BE THE HERO.”
I winced, as did Ben. “Well…she’s not wrong.”
Ben frowned. “Shouldn’t we do something? I mean, he’s a faerie King and she’s---”
“Could turn a frying pan into a weapon,” I assured him, “Emma only looks helpless. She’s actually quite capable of protecting herself, the problem is everyone always thinks they have to save her.”
“I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN LOVE WITH ME, I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY MATE. EMMA, IT’S KILLING ME RIGHT NOW. AND THAT BABY IS MINE! YOU SHOULD BE WITH ME.”
To our surprise, Emma stalked from the kitchen, slamming the door behind her. Clark followed, and it was like watching a row between a Medieval Times wannabe and one of the most unattainable girl in the world.
“f**k you, Clark!” she hissed. “This is my life, my choice. Do you know what happens if I’m pregnant with your child?“ Her face was flushed, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.
His face fell. “Emma….”
“I’m trapped, all over again,” she sobbed, “like I was in that tower, like I’ve been my whole life…. I’ll be a pawn. The Kings Bride. Just waiting for someone else to use me. Or someone to use the child.”
“You’ll be safer in faerie,” he insisted, “I can take care of you there. Please…. please, Emma.”
“No, Clark,” she said firmly, “I have a year. Child or no child, I have a year. Now please, leave me alone so I can do this by myself.”
Clark’s narrowed gaze landed on Ben. “He’s here.”
“He’s a friend,” she replied, “we were never friends, Clark. I was always just the girl you wanted, some prize to be one if you could defeat Oberon. Well, I’m not a prize Clark. I’m a person.”
“Emma, I love you, and I want---” Clark started, but I stared at my sister, and realized she was shaking.
“Clark,” I said coldly, “it’s time for you to go.”
He clenched his jaw. “Very well.”
His armor clanked as he left. When he was gone, I walked over to Emma, wrapping my arms around her.
She looked up at me in surprise.
“C’mon,” I said, “let’s go take the pregnancy test.”
She bit her lip again, the way she always did when she was nervous. “You’re not going to make me go with him?”
“I’m the gatekeeper. I protect people from faerie. And vice versa. Including my sister. Come on.”
We walked into the kitchen, to the nearest bathroom. “I’ll be outside,” I told her.
Emma grimaced, and with the pregnancy test in hand, she went into the bathroom. I heard her shuffling around, and as she did, the tea that I had originally started for Clark began to whistle. I took the kettle off and poured two mugs for the two of us.
After a bit, when Emma still hadn’t emerged, I knocked on the door. “Emma?”
“Come in,” she croaked.
Emma sat on the white, tiled floor, tucked in between the toilet, her knees scrunched up as her arms wrapped around them. Her face was red, and splotchy.
“Emma?” I whispered.
“I’m pregnant,” she mumbled.
I didn’t know what to do or say. Instead, we sat on the bathroom floor, and I comforted her as best as I could. “I’ll send word to the Godmother. We’re going to need protecting, I think.”
Emma sniffed. “Alright.”
“C’mon,” I said, “let’s get you up, and we’ll go have some tea.”
I took her hand, pulled her off the floor, then we went out to the kitchen. Emma sat at the small, dining room table. I grabbed us our drinks.
“Whatever you decide,” I told her, “I’m here for you, alright?”
She took a sip of her tea. “Alright,” she whispered softly, but her green eyes, which normally sparkled so bright, seemed to have lost their shine to them. My normally stubborn, defiant sister was crumbling.
And I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit.
- Writer
