Chapter 20 — Retreat

  "I have found friends, and I have made foes. Never have I known a friend who was perfect in every way, nor foe in whom I could see no redemption. Let them come and define themselves for me, as I do them. In due course will each make clear their own alignment; I take judgment only upon their actions. And if you declare yourself my foe, be wary: I will shield myself with every power at my disposal. Magic is but one of these."

  ~Cinza, the Rallsburg Diaries

  Tyler glanced down over his cards, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed.

  Come on, come on. Attack it. Natalie could barely keep a straight face. She held up her own cards in front of her mouth to try and hide her excitement. She'd bet a lot on this one forest. Tyler could attack the larger stack at the village, where she'd dumped a bunch of pretty worthless cards… or he could hit the forest, where she'd set up the real trap.

  It's the shorter path to my castle, it has less stuff, and you already scouted it two turns ago. If you don't attack it, I get to make free elves there next turn. It's a no-brainer, Tyler.

  "Nebelf— Nebelt—"

  "Nebeltheim," supplied Steven, sitting next to Tyler and watching the game intently.

  "Nebeltheim casts winter chill," Tyler finished, pointing at her forest.

  Oh. I forgot he could do that. Nebeltheim Eisterben, the Frozen King. I gotta learn the rest of the generals. Natalie nodded. "So none of them can move for a turn, right?"

  "Yeah." Tyler moved the fur-coated, skull-masked Nebeltheim forward to his fort in the middle-front of his kingdom, and tossed two cards onto it from his hand, face-up. "Two berserkers and I end my turn," he added, spending a pile of resources to do it.

  Natalie frowned. Okay, so my turn's kinda wasted. Linnethea's stuck in the winter along with all my best cards. At least she's still hidden. All I can do is… oh, wait. I still have all those cheap cards on the village, and now they're in range. I can do this.

  She drew two cards using her rear territories, which meant her queendom deck was getting scary low, but she got one of the specialist cards she was looking for—the siege engineer she'd bought super cheap early in the game and dumped right into her deck. It'd make her attack that much more effective.

  "Siege engineer on my village and I bombard your fort," she said, tossing it out with a bit of a flourish. She showed off a little, making the card zoom forward in midair and land perfectly where she wanted it to. It was subtle enough that no one else in the cafeteria would notice, so Natalie didn't think much about doing it, but up close it was obviously unnatural.

  Steven grinned. "That's so cool."

  "What's so cool?" asked Mitch, sliding onto the bench next to him. Steven looked around with a shock, as did Natalie. Neither had noticed him walk up.

  "Where were you guys?" Tyler asked, annoyed.

  "Principal grabbed him and I went along with so he wouldn't do something stupid," said Kelsey, taking a seat near Natalie. Not next to her, but one away.

  Never next to her. Natalie sat against the wall, and the seat beside her stayed totally empty. Always.

  "What did she want with you?" she asked, curious.

  "Hey, you're not the only one who gets in trouble," Mitch shot back.

  "You say that like it's a good thing…" Steven muttered.

  "I don't get in trouble," Natalie pointed out, feeling indignant.

  "Yeah, yeah, whatever. It was about you anyway." Mitch thrust a folded slip of paper across the table. "Apparently you got a phone call."

  And our school blocks cell phone service inside… "From who?"

  "I dunno, I didn't read it."

  "You didn't?" asked Tyler.

  "It's for her, moron!"

  Natalie took it, unfolding it curiously, while Tyler and Mitch launched into an argument about whether or not it was okay to read notes from the principal. She wouldn't really have cared if Mitch had read it—she doubted anything important was going to be written in a note sent this publicly. It was handwritten with the principal's name and the school's name printed at the top.

  Call me at once. We need to talk. —Lily

  "So what is it?" asked Mitch as she folded it up.

  "Nothing." Whatever it is can wait til tonight. I'm finally feeling okay again. I'm not gonna ruin that by talking to Lily and Kendra. "It was Lily. Just something for later."

  "You can just ignore a note like that from her?" Mitch whistled. "My mom would be so pissed off."

  "Has your mom ever called the school to send you a note?" asked Steven.

  "Nah. She just comes in herself and yells."

  Natalie giggled at the image. "What, like right in the middle of the hall?"

  "She hasn't done that since like third grade, but yeah. She once just came straight into class and dragged me out by my ear."

  Natalie tried to change the subject, not really wanting to think about the Laushires anymore. She turned back to the game. "I bombard your fort with a siege engineer and two catapults," she repeated. "Four guys, I get to choose two."

  Tyler held them up, and Natalie picked four out. To her dismay, they were all weak normal soldiers. It didn't even matter which two she destroyed. Even worse, the conversation hadn't shifted in the slightest.

  "What did Lily say when she saw that scar, anyway?" asked Kelsey, looking over even though she couldn't actually see it. Natalie was sitting up against the wall so that the her left side faced away from the room. She still hadn't gotten used to it, or the endless stares she got from other kids and even all the adults. Her teachers did their best to treat her normal, but it was pretty clear they were all dying to ask. She assumed the principal told them not to.

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  Even her friends couldn't help looking at it over and over. She had to remind herself constantly that it wasn't their fault, and it wasn't her fault either — but every single time someone looked at her, that brief flutter of pity and fear made her heart sink a little more.

  "Nothing really. Just asked what happened."

  "What happened?" asked Tyler.

  Mitch punched him in the arm, reaching over Steven to do it. "Jenny doesn't want to talk about it, remember?"

  "What did you tell her?" said Steven quickly.

  "That I was out in the woods and got cut by some broken glass." Natalie shrugged. "I don't think she bought it but she had some important meeting to get to, so she let it go pretty quick."

  "Yeah, because broken glass is gonna make a crazy spiral," said Mitch, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, Jenny, but you gotta make up a better story than that."

  "Like what?"

  "...I dunno, but something."

  Steven nodded. "We'll figure it out."

  Thanks for not telling them, she said silently. Steven was fully aware of where the scar came from, even if the others weren't.

  She'd asked him for more advice a few days ago, finally working up the courage since Quinn was still gone in San Diego. Steven had mostly echoed the same advice as Quinn — be careful in Seattle, don't go to certain places, don't ever talk to anyone with face tattoos or other scars like hers or anything else that seemed even a little sketchy. She had a whole list of areas of the city to memorize, but even then, Steven warned they were probably out of date. He didn't live there anymore.

  "I think it looks cool," said Mitch, not for the first time. "Makes you look awesome and scary."

  Is scary supposed to be good? Natalie didn't answer, trying again in vain to go back to the game.

  I can't attack, I didn't do enough damage. Those guys were worthless. My best people are all still stuck in hiding 'cause of the winter. Unless I draw something really good, like an ambush card or a lightning spell. Something that'll completely surprise him. Gotta go for it. "I use my farm to draw an extra card," she said, pointing at one in her back row.

  Tyler looked surprised. Yeah, no kidding. I'm almost out of cards in my deck. Drawing more right now is crazy. A card floated off the top of her deck into her hand a few inches away. Okay, so I'm just doing magic to make myself feel better now. Especially since this card sucks. Stupid potioneers. Why do I keep buying these? "Your turn," she added, frustrated.

  "Did you say something?" asked Kelsey.

  "Huh?"

  "Just now, when that card moved."

  "Oh." Natalie shrugged. "Yeah. That's how I cast spells. Well, sometimes."

  "Magic words?" asked Steven.

  "I guess so. I don't always have to say stuff. I think it depends on what kind of magic it is." Natalie glanced up at Tyler, who was biting his lip looking over his cards. Everyone else complained about how slow his turns were, but she didn't really mind. She was okay with slow. It gave her more time to think, and she hated feeling rushed.

  "So if I said the same thing, would something happen?"

  "No… I don't know why."

  Tyler drew two cards using his own farms. He smiled. Oh no. He only smiles when he's about to win. "I make two more berserkers," he added, putting them onto the same fort as his general and the others. "Then I sacrifice all of them to Nebeltheim. Ice Storm on your forest."

  "Not the village?" she asked, trying to distract him. It made sense, too, since it was the much bigger stack. The storm would do more damage there.

  He shook his head. "Your forest for sure."

  "Hey Jenny, can you make giant icicles fall out of the sky?" asked Mitch.

  "No…" Natalie said, slightly annoyed. "How much does it do?"

  Tyler glanced down at the card, adjusting his glasses slightly to read it better. "Anything two or less dies. Higher than that, flip a coin."

  "Shit," said Mitch. "Seriously?"

  "Yeah, four berserkers divided by two. So two strength."

  "...Everything there is two strength," Natalie muttered.

  "Everything?" Tyler asked, smiling slightly.

  Natalie slid the stack of cards out with a glance and another murmur, flipping them over to lay flat across the table. The only survivor was Linnethea, with a strength of three, but the storm automatically revealed her anyway.

  "That's like… every best elf card in the game," said Mitch.

  "Pretty much," agreed Steven.

  Natalie dropped them into her discard pile, leaving Linnethea alone in the forest, facing down the small army Tyler still had waiting across the divide with only the wolf in her artwork at her side.

  I'm gonna lose…

  The bell rang. Not the end-of-period bell, but the actual end-of-the-day bell. Natalie looked up, confused.

  "Huh?"

  "Oh, it's a half-day today," said Steven.

  "Why's that?"

  He shrugged. "'Cause Sunday's a holiday, maybe? I'm not sure."

  "And since we're third lunch, we just leave from here," added Kelsey. Sure enough, most of the students were already carrying their backpacks in the cafeteria, a detail Natalie somehow missed coming in. They were already milling about, heading toward the buses or out the doors if they walked home.

  "We gonna finish this?" asked Tyler smugly. He knew he was about to win. Natalie had nothing left in her deck that could stop his army, unless she could lure him into some really good ambushes. And even then…

  She was saved by a teacher wandering by, who told them all that they had to leave. The buses would be heading out soon, and everyone except Natalie rode the bus home. If they didn't get moving, they wouldn't have a ride.

  "So Jenny stays undefeated," joked Mitch.

  "Only because we never finish our games," Tyler pointed out, annoyed. "She's never beaten me either."

  "You guys gotta settle this," said Kelsey. "So Tyler knows who the real champ is."

  "Me, right?" said Mitch, elbowing her.

  "Nah, it's me for sure," Kelsey shot back. "I'm totally undefeated against everyone."

  "Because you've never played a single game!" said Tyler in protest.

  "No duh." Mitch rolled his eyes. "Calm down Tyler, we all know you're the best at this."

  "Are we hanging out today?" asked Steven. "We should figure that out before we get on the wrong bus."

  "You guys just get on whatever bus you want?" asked Kelsey, surprised.

  "Yeah. All our parents gave them the okay. As long as we're going to one of our houses."

  "It's your place this time, right?" Mitch asked Steven.

  "Sure. No one's home right now. Should be okay."

  "Steven's place!" said Tyler excitedly. "Let's go!" He started for the buses. Mitch went after him, rolling his eyes and shouting something sarcastic.

  "You two want to come?" he asked, and it was the first time Natalie noticed him actually nervous. He was usually so much calmer than the rest of the group.

  "Sure," said Kelsey. "I gotta call my mom first, but I can be there. I don't have practice today." She pursed her lips. "Actually, if I run, I bet I can get permission to ride the bus with you guys." She sprinted away, prompting a few yells from a teacher about running in the building.

  "Jenny?" Steven asked, turning to her.

  Way better than going back to the house. Percy might get confused… but he'll be fine. I'm having fun. I've got friends now. Plus it's Steven's place. He's cool. "Yeah. I'll come too."

  "I don't think they're gonna let you on the bus though," he added, glancing out the windows toward the front of the school. The buses were just starting to pull up. "They're pretty strict about it."

  Natalie frowned. "You just need permission, right?"

  "Yeah, but—"

  She pulled out the note from Lily, which she'd folded and put into her bag. Her habit of never crumpling up paper, in case she wanted to doodle on it or something later, was finally paying off in a useful way.

  Very carefully, murmuring as quickly as she could, she reached out for the ink on the page with her mind. She'd already been practicing moving tiny things around thanks to cleaning under her bandages, plus the other cleaning she'd started doing with the same basic theory. This was just another version of that.

  The ink began to move around on the page. With the precision she'd learned cleaning out her wound, she could actually pull the stain apart from the paper, leaving it perfectly clean again. Natalie lifted up and removed everything but Lily's name, then pulled out a pen that was about the same color as the original. Doing her best to match the handwriting, she wrote out a new note:

  Jenny is allowed to ride home with Steven Chau. -Lily

  "Look good?" she asked, presenting it.

  He nodded, smiling. "It's on the principal's special paper too, and no rips or anything. Should be fine."

  Natalie grinned. "Let's go."