Page 42 of Compass Points
She stopped tracing his palm and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers.
His lip turned up at the corner as their hands locked, and she plunged into his memory.
She fell into an overly plush library. One that she happened to know well. She looked around to orient herself on the outskirts of the filled circular Compass Point table. She was sitting in the Suden Point seat. The face sitting directly across from her was also one she knew too well. His fair skin and light brown hair a consistent part of her childhood memories. It was Aiden, the Norden Point.
She felt a swell of her own emotions rise up at the sight of him. He shuffled the papers before him, raising his blue eyes to meet those at the table. He didn’t yell about an intruder in the group, so she assumed in the memory all others saw the Suden Point in her stead.
“We need to confirm the allocation of the joint tax resources for the year. In the last meeting, we discussed funding a new fae training program focusing on magical weaponry.”
Her hand rose, and she flipped through Luc’s folder automatically. She must be mirroring Luc’s actions in the memory. He said this was his first meeting, and she wondered if he was nervous. Her gaze shifted between the Osten and Vesten Points to see if they objected to this declaration. Neither moved.
“I thought the funding was supposed to support training and education in fae farming techniques for humans.” Her voice was Luc’s, his tone even. The Norden Point barely lifted his eyes as he replied.
“Yes, but as there has always been some fae training program offered with the allocation, we didn’t see the harm in offering a new focus this year. Shake things up a little bit. Shall we vote?” the Norden Point casually suggested, as if this was an insignificant decision.
She replied as Luc again, “Though a fae training, yes, magical agricultural techniques are heavily used by human farmers. Humans rely on that program and the learnings and improvements it provides for their crops. It also fosters continued collaboration between human farmers and fae of all courts.”
Rose, as Luc, looked around again at the Osten and Vesten Points for support.
The Osten Point met his gaze with pity in her heavily coaled eyes. She’d been a Compass Point the longest among them. He must seem like a young pup to her, too eager and energetic to understand the demands and decisions of this position. The Vesten Point looked less sure. His shaggy brown hair fell into his eyes as he looked down at his notes. He was heavily tanned due to all the time that the shifter leader spent outside. His appearance made him look like he had not a care in the world, but his body language told another story altogether. His shoulders seemed to hunch up to his ears as he continued to ignore Luc’s attempt at eye contact. When his gaze found the Norden Point’s, his posture changed, straightening, regaining its focus.
“I think we can vote,” the Vesten Point announced. “We can’t remain stagnant. We can reassess the program’s success next year and return to the agricultural offering.”
The vote proceeded—three to one.
Rose shook herself free of the surge of feelings that seeing Aiden, even in memory brought forth. She turned her attention back to Luc, and the event he’d just shown her. “So the Compass Points let the funds be diverted to training that had no current benefit for humans? And by doing so, took away resources that did.”
“Yes,” Luc said, his eyes not meeting hers. He held her hand tightly as if willing her to understand. “I voted against it; I even worked on a rebuttal after that, proving the need for the magic education for our current agricultural practices to persevere, but the others barely reviewed it. They said my earth magic was biasing me.” He finally met her eyes. “The Norden Point holds too much sway. After that initial decision, I started trying to figure out what he had on each of the Compass Points and how he could hold such influence. Still, there is a legacy of distrust between us, so no one is very welcoming with information.”
He wiped his hand down his face. “But since then, it’s been more of the same, small changes in a few places. The changes could be seen as an investment in experimentation for the future, but done with no consideration or thought for how to replace what’s been reinvested.” Every inch of his body begged her to understand that he’d been fighting this death by a thousand cuts without declaring an all-out war within the Compass Points. All the changes were passed legally, even with his dissent.
“Funnily enough, investing in things like research for magically imbued weapons seems to have led us to a need for magically imbued weapons. As you may be able to guess, based on my attempts to persuade you to help, they haven’t made much progress.”
She thought about that. It’d been eight years since that first change, and he’d still come looking for her. Not just looking, but threatening, to get her help.
“They’ve come up with nothing from that program in the last eight years?” she voiced aloud.
“Not a thing.” He sighed. “I’ve met with multiple researchers after the first year of too-optimistic progress reports. They don’t seem to know where to start. They’ve got half-fae from all four courts running tests with different materials, but the most they’ve accomplished is a blade that doesn’t require sharpening.”
Rose made a grunting sound of acknowledgment.
“So when I came across a rumor in my travels of a weapons master at the Lake of the Gods that could make custom magical weapons, I had to see at least if it was true. Little did I know that I’d find you or that you’d be exactly what I needed.” His cool demeanor slipped as he tripped over the last word. Realizing what he’d just said, he coughed as he continued, “What the Compass Points needed, I mean.”
Apparently, he decided that the conversation was over, standing and straightening himself again. “Unless you’d like to tell me why your magical weapons are so different?”
She wasn’t even sure she knew the answer. She knew her magic was different, but was that the missing piece? She shook her head at him.
“Then I suggest we head down to dinner.”
She took his offered hand, letting him pull her up from the cozy seat she’d sunk into. She gave the library one last, longing glance before she let the door fall shut.
Chapter Twenty-Five
10years ago - Compass Lake
She stared around the scattered and destroyed room. Chairs and tables flipped, lamps broken, the dinner table settings strewn and cracked across the floor. That wasn’t even close to the worst of it.
Her family.
