7 An Indecent Proposal (1/2)
So it was true. There was another world out there beyond the reach of human hands, and that's where Luca was. Honestly, I didn't really believe it until she said it out loud.
”All right, this makes things simple. You bring Luca back and I'll go to the Fayne in his place,” I said.
”It's not simple at all,” Aurana's shoulders slumped. Her mask of passivity had fallen. ”In fact, it's impossible.”
”But, why?” I felt my calm shatter in the face of rising anger. ”It's equivalent trade!”
”The Rule of Equivalent Trade doesn't work that way… A deal made cannot be unmade!” she explained, the frustration clear in her tone.
”I'm talking about a new trade,” I countered.
”A done deal cannot be overridden by another one either,” she fired back.
Aurana's own calm evaporated. She was all fire now, and deep in the recesses of my hormonal brain, I found aggressive Aurana to be kind of hot. This unnecessary mental admission allowed me to calm down long enough for an idea to pop into my head.
”What if we didn't use your rule?” I asked.
Her eyes narrowed. ”Then how could we guarantee that neither of us would betray each other?”
”We just do. We trust each other. It would be a real partnership. One with no magical strings attached,” I offered.
There was another pause. Aurana seemed deep in thought, no doubt weighing the options in her mind. Her eventual response was, ”What do you have in mind?”
”That depends on why you wanted me? Because I assume you did. You wouldn't have gone through the trouble of setting up last night, otherwise,” I deduced.
”Need I remind you that it was wasted effort on my part,” she rolled her eyes. ”Things would be much simpler if you just chose to help your mother.”
She was right. Things would be simpler that way. However, there were a lot of people trying to help mom, but no one was there for Luca—no one except me.
”Luca needs me more,” I said, flatly. ”So… why do you want me?”
”Well… I want you to use your big brain to help my clan,” she admitted.
Aurana's explanation was brief but it did provide me with much-needed insight into the situation of the Fayne. After the last fairy king died five hundred years ago without a successor, the twenty-two fairy clans who served under him went to war with each other for the right to become the next monarch. As one of the weaker clans, Aurana's Trickster Pavillion was in danger of being conquered or annihilated by their bigger rivals.
”I believe you possess the potential to help us become the victors in this war,” she confessed.
That was really high praise I wasn't sure I deserved. Yeah, I was considered smart for my age, but I didn't think I was smart enough to win a war in another world. I admitted this to her.
”Because we live such long lives, fairies have become rigid in our thinking. We don't adapt quickly enough to changing circumstance,” Aurana explained. ”You don't share this… weakness. Your mind is supple and open to trying things most people wouldn't to get what you want.”
She gestured to the circle of salt between us.
”This out-of-the-box thinking is something my clan desperately needs to become stronger.”
”I'm sorry,” I raised a hand, feeling bewildered. ”Why do you have such a high regard for me?”
”Because I've been watching you this past year, and I saw more potential in you than your brother.”
Aurana admitted that her clan had been monitoring Luca to ensure he grew up healthy and strong. Her discovering my talents was just a happy coincidence.
”Luca's growth satisfied the elders. They believed he would make a good soldier. I argued that your intellect would be far more useful to us, but my opinion was disregarded,” she said.
My eyes narrowed at the thought of my little brother risking his life in some fantasy world. He was fourteen. He shouldn't have to be anyone's soldier. Being the big brother that I was, I told Aurana how wrong it was that they forced him into such a life.
”I don't expect your sympathy, Dean, but my people are dying, and unless the war ends, more of your people will die too,” she said.
I sighed. I knew there was no point arguing about this. Her beliefs and mine were just too different, our worlds too alien from each other. So, instead of whining about the unfairness of it all, I asked her how this would help us both get what we wanted.
”I don't have the power to break Luca's slave mark but my older brother, Auren, is the current clan patriarch… he might… if he were to become the next fairy king,” Aurana suggested.
”Equivalent trade… right,” I agreed. ”And he needs to be king to do this?”
”Slave marks are powerful old magic. Only a fairy wish could break it, and only the monarch can grant those,” she explained.
”So if I helped him get the throne…” I began.
”Then granting you a wish would be an appropriate reward,” she finished.
Aurana raised a finger to my eye level.
”However, you need to be the one most responsible for our victory. This will ensure no one in the clan will object to your wish.”
”Become the hero, huh?”
”As I said, you're a smart guy, Dean. You catch on quickly.”
Aurana and I were staring into each other's eyes, our smiles wide and mischievous, and it was only then that I noticed how she was an inch and a half taller than me. This slightly depressing thought nearly dampened my excitement at the plan we cooked up.