Chapter Five - Rumors
Finger combing the end of her hair with her good hand, Jade answered, “No, I don’t think asking him will help. He wasn’t even aware my spirit was injured until I told him. Tadashi though…he might be a possibility. Now that I think about it, he smelled whatever it was when they first arrived too.” She paused, then shrugged slightly. “Either way, I think I need to wait until we’ve all had more time to cool off.” As much as she wanted a solution right now, it was better to hold off until she could get better results. Pushing someone when they were angry wasn’t a good way to get what she wanted.
Still, the thought that Tadashi might be her way out was heartening. He’d been far more reasonable to speak to. Camille nodded in agreement. “That’s probably for the best. And who knows? Maybe we’ll think of something else in the meantime.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” Her voice didn’t hold much hope, but she was trying to be positive. Glancing at the door, she asked, “All right. Moving on. Are we waiting for the youngins to wake up or should we get going?”
Standing up and straightening her clothes, the princess answered, “We can go. As long as we leave a message, they can find us. The question is, where do you want to go?”
Carefully stretching as she got to her feet, she readjusted her own outfit as she thought about it. Her new library card was like a siren’s call, but she also wanted to see the zoo, plus she needed to spend some time estate planning while she had Camille’s help. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided, “Dracona. I know the Earth Guard is still in Mianach currently, but I want to check if any of the zoo enclosures are ready and maybe do some work on them.”
Camille looked surprised. “Really? I thought for sure after dad gave you that card you’d want to go to the library.”
Smiling wryly, she acquiesced, “I do, but the books will still be there whenever I go. However, the sooner the zoo is done, the less time my fellacai’s flock need to spend in a cage, and then Jessica and Kaylee won’t have to look after the Beann I captured either.” She should grab them before she went, now that she thought about it. Well, as long as she finished their space.
Then again, she’d proven that she could leave living creatures in her ring with the fae, so it wouldn’t hurt to put them in stasis for a bit. Nodding to herself, she said aloud, “Yeah, let’s go grab them from the roof first.”
Shrugging, Camille suggested, “Why don’t we stop by the kitchen first. If we’re flying over, leaving from the roof is easier.”
That made Jade pause. The logic was sound, but she hadn’t intended to utilize her private sky path. She’d wanted to pick up some more dots on the off chance that she could raise things to a level where it would make a difference…but there wasn’t much left of that. Siphoning barely made a dent in any of her advanced skills, and the last combination she could figure out was weapon-based, and therefore of no use to her charred spirit.
That was not considering that she had a royal tagalong and she really shouldn’t be brushing up against people with her bad arm. If they went through the streets, she’d also have the guard squad breathing onto her neck because of the princess. Letting out a small, disappointed sigh, she agreed. “Fine. Kitchen, then roof.”
“Try not to sound too happy about it.” Cami teased gently, opening the door for her. Jade held her hand out over her desk, depositing her dirty clothes and armor before she stuck her tongue out at the girl, preceding her into the hallway. Her little ones followed her out with happy squeaks, settling onto her hair and shoulder. She sent them a mental wave of thanks, knowing they were protecting her in their own way. After the door closed, she was too lazy to pull out her key, so she waved a magic string of metal at the door, locking it effortlessly.
She followed the blonde down the stairs, taking a second to marvel at how shiny her hair was, even in the dim hallway. It was like she spun the morning rays of sunlight into silk and then gave it a little wave. It looked effortlessly beautiful, though she knew her routine was actually meticulous. It made her grateful that just boosting charm was such a cheat and gave similar results. The thought of the amount of time Camille spent on upkeep was daunting. There were so many other things to do, so thankfully, she could cut corners!
The low murmur of conversation slowly came to a stop as they entered the common room, until it was broken by an enthusiastic shout from Jackson, “Jade! You’re back!”
“And I’m invisible…” She vaguely heard Camille mutter as a bunch of people stood up, waving or trying to put things down so they could greet her. Individual words were lost in the sudden cacophony as a half dozen people tried to speak at the same time. She stepped forward, half intercepting Evanna’s weight as the girl threw herself towards them in a hug.
The normally cheerful young woman’s eyes were red and puffy, a clear sign of crying jags. She’d started sobbing again, and Jade held her with her good arm while Camille carefully kept her off of her bad shoulder. Over her head, Jade shot a confused look at Chloe, who kept pace, but was standing back and patting Evanna’s back consolingly. At Jade’s look, she simply mouthed the word ‘Mianach.’
And that was all it took for her memory to catch up. Evanna was a talent student from Mianach…the city which just experienced a massive casualty count among the commoners. Hesitantly, she looked at the girl in her arms as she started softly, “Your family…” She stopped, because the words prompted a fresh wave of sobs.
Helplessly, Chloe was the one who answered quietly, “They lived…close to where they said the portal opened. They were going to move to a better part of the city at the end of the month.” No one knew better than her what that meant. There were no survivors close to ground zero. Her stomach sank as she tried to pat Evanna’s back despite the awkward angle.
Not knowing what else to do to alleviate the situation, she called on her life magic, spreading out an aura of calm soothing and relaxation. Through her fingers, she sent a pulse of healing through her friend, reducing the puffiness and fatigue, easing her tense muscles as the girl practically became boneless. They helped her sit down on a nearby bench, and Jade sat next to her, her good hand moving up as she soothingly finger combed her hair.
She didn’t know what to say, and the only words felt pathetic, but they still slipped through her lips. “I’m so sorry…”
Hiccuping as Jade’s aura went to work, Evanna’s sobs slowly subsided, a circle of friends watching silently as she pulled herself together. Shaking her head slowly, she finally met Jade’s gaze as she asked in a stutter, “No, y-you did your b-best. D-did you r-really challenge the whole c-city?”
Smiling sadly, she nodded. “Yeah, but it isn’t as impressive as it sounds. It still wasn’t enough. I’m sorry I couldn’t save your…”
“No! Don’t s-say that! Y-you did everything you c-could.” Evanna interrupted her, and there was no judgment in her eyes. Just a lot of sadness.
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Jackson added quietly from the side, “From what we’ve heard, you saved more than half the city. I don’t really think you could have done more.” He paused, then added hesitantly, “There are rumors you were dying.”
“What? Why would they say that?” Camille asked almost defensively.
Taken aback by her vehemence, he shook his head. “I’m not totally sure, but I heard it when I was helping the healers.
Jade barely raised her left hand, tugging on Camille’s sleeve as she sent her a look that said calm down, before she turned to the group and gave them a weak smile. “That would explain it then. I got…injured four times, and a different healer helped me every time. It probably just got exaggerated in the retelling.”
It was the truth, albeit not all of it. She could see how such a rumor would start though. Plenty of soldiers saw her covered in blood surrounded by hundreds of monsters. More people saw her vomit black blood when she absorbed the dark seeds. There was also the fact that she passed out after growing the funeral basaigh. Then yet another healer had to tend to her after Xuxianara savaged her shoulder. She wasn’t exactly low-profile, so people probably got to talking. Maybe they bragged about helping the traveler. Ironic, that none of the things she saw a healer for were what she was actually still sick with.
“Wait, four times? Did you run into other monsters after the initial attack?” Evan asked curiously from behind Jackson.
Letting out a soft sigh, she faltered as she tried to explain, “There was…a lot of things happened.” She paused, trying to figure out what she should or shouldn’t say, before shaking her head as she said in an ironic tone, “As you might have noticed, I tend to attract everything dangerous within the general vicinity.”
“But you’re okay now?” Adam seemed to be studying her, because he added, “No offense princess, but you’re being really protective for trying to pretend she’s fine.” His eyes were pointedly staring at Camille as she half shielded Jade from everyone else, and she jolted further away from her somewhat guiltily, as if trying to proclaim her innocence.
Lowering her head, Jade rubbed her fingers from her nose to her temples, trying to relax the tension in mild frustration. She didn’t blame Camille, but this was going into territory she really didn’t want to answer.
With another sigh, she raised her head, looking from one person to the next. Evanna, Chloe, Jackson, Evan, Adam, Ian, and Jeremy all looked back at her, waiting for answers. Camille was avoiding her gaze as she stared at her hands guiltily. Giving her arm a small pat, Jade looked at the rest of them again and replied, “There were some complications. I’m fine.” They made some noises of protest and she interrupted, “Really. I’m not a hundred percent better, but I’m not in any danger and it’s not getting worse. I would appreciate you keeping that information to yourselves, however.”
“Obviously.” Chloe muttered in assurance.
Evanna looked on the verge of tears again. “Are you s-sure you’ll be okay?”
Smiling, Jade patted her knee and nodded, but also took a moment to strengthen the soothing aura she was putting out. “I’m positive. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m just going to take it easy for a few days and I’ll be right as rain.”
“Right as rain? What does that mean?” Evan asked curiously.
Jade stared at him, blinking. “You know, I…don’t even know. It’s something people always said, but I honestly have no idea where it came from.”
“Weird.” Evan muttered, but it broke the gloominess of the room.
“Speaking of weird, did you actually talk to ghosts?” Everyone looked at Jackson again, and he shrugged. “What? There are all kinds of crazy rumors going around.” He started ticking them off on his fingers, “She talks to ghosts, fire demons burned down half the city, she recruited an army of fellacai, invisible monsters kidnapped people, a stampede of bunnycorns burrowed into the mines, an ice prison trapped half the guard, she kidnapped dragon babies, she grew a giant glowing rainbow tree, the sky rained sparkling rocks, she guarded the west wall by herself, there’s an open portal to the forest in the middle of the city, she’s going to marry A’Udar Faris, Prince Lochlann, or run away with some handsome stranger she met in Mianach. Some say she challenged Ancestor Aylin to a duel, and others say she killed a noble family who didn’t agree with her, and she might have adopted four kids.”
He took a deep breath before shrugging. “There’s a ton of crazy stories getting passed around.”
Jade just stared at him blankly, while Chloe muttered, “No wonder you spent so long helping the healers. You were getting all the gossip.”
He nodded in acquiescence. “It’s where you get the best information, because it’s usually firsthand.”
“Do you work for Stephen?” Jade blurted out the question before she could stop herself, then quickly shook her head. “Never mind, that’s not important.” She ignored several of the confused looks she got, though not before noting that Jackson had carefully controlled his expression when she asked. In order to divert some of the attention back to her, she started issuing corrections.
“I didn’t adopt anyone, but I did help out with a woman giving birth in the streets, so that’s probably where that started. I sort of did recruit a fellacai army, but they’re staying back to protect Mianach and I bonded a bunch of queens to different people, which is probably where me fighting the nobles came from, given that I might have offended a few. I’m on good terms with Aylin, so no clue what’s going on there. The raining sparkly rocks…is also my fault, but that’s…let’s not talk about that. I slept that first night at the wall, definitely didn’t defend it by myself. I’m not running away or getting married to anyone, but the guy they’re talking about was a dragon and I may or may not have been babysitting his siblings for a few days.” She held up a hand to forestall Chloe, given that she’d opened her mouth to speak, “I really don’t want to talk about the dragons. It’s a bit of a sore point right now, some other time.”
Trying to get her thoughts back on track, she continued, “I don’t know anything about the bunnycorns, invisible monsters, or ice cages, except that I killed a bunch of monsters that would have been responsible, but I don’t know what else they might’ve done before that. There were fyrfae, and they burned down a good chunk of the library, but not half the city. There was a portal to the forest, I closed it. And yes, I grew a basaigh tree that has rainbow leaves and glows like a giant beacon for the mass funeral, where I also spoke to the spirits of the dead and recorded their messages.”
She paused as that started to sink in as she continued, “Again, I would appreciate you using your discretion with that knowledge.” She met Evanna’s hopeful gaze, trying to figure out why she was looking at her like she was the last piece of pie and she was starving, but then it hit her.
Holding up a finger, she mentally reviewed the messages she’d recorded, grateful once more for her improved recall. Finally, she used a bit of illusion magic to bring up an image of a couple and their son before asking softly, “Is this…them?”
Evanna was already crying again as she stared, so Jade quickly took out a crystal, imprinting their message on it before handing it to the girl. “If you insert a bit of mana, you can watch it as much as you want. Sorry. I should’ve thought of it earlier, but they called you Evie, so I didn’t make the connection.”
“Thank you.” She was sobbing again, although this time Chloe fully intercepted her, letting her cry into her shoulder.
“That’s… wow.” Jackson finally spoke again, breaking the silence made awkward as it was punctuated only by sobs and vague comforting noises.
Shrugging her good shoulder, Jade agreed, “Yeah. Like I said, a lot happened. But…” Getting to her feet once more, she gestured to the kitchen. “We need to grab some food and then get going.” She hesitated, looking at Evanna, but the girl looked up with watery eyes and waved her on.
Smiling wanly, she nodded again. “Right. So we’ll see you later. Stay out of trouble.”
Jackson rolled his eyes as he muttered, “I think that’s what you need to hear.”
Camille let out a muffled laugh as she waved and walked towards the kitchen. Jade gave her a look, and she murmured, “Well, he’s not wrong.”
Sadly, he really wasn’t. She could feel a headache coming on as she thought about the very active rumor mill. It was still really weird to her that entire cities were gossiping about her actions. Living through it was bad enough. Maybe she could take a page out of Taylor’s book and put all her anguish and heartbreak into a song. If they were going to talk about it anyway, she might as well match her reputation to a catchy tune.
To make a long story short, she had survived. For now, that was good enough.