Page 12 of Birthright

I rounded a corner and caught the unmistakable scent of baking bread. Even I could follow that smell. The aroma led me down another long hallway, close to what I thought was the back of the manor, to a swinging wooden door. I pushed it open slowly and peered inside.

The kitchen was large but not extreme, and it looked like a magazine layout. There were pots and pans hanging above a well-used chopping-block table. Cupboards lined the walls and a small stove sat in a corner, next to an oversized lit fireplace with some very large hunk of meat turning slowly, roasting on a spit. The garlic smell of the meat mingled with the aroma of baking bread, making my stomach rumble. The back wall had large, double swinging half doors that I could see led to a larger, industrial-looking cooking area.

Movement on the chopping block caught my attention. A tiny woman was pacing across the wooden table. The hinge squeaked when I pushed the door open a little farther and the woman spun around. She examined me, eyes wide, for just a second before falling into a very formal curtsey.

“I am honored to have you in my kitchen, my lady,” she said, primly holding her arms at her side and keeping her eyes downcast.

“Thank you,” I replied, entering and returning her curtsey. She rose to her full height, which was about two feet. Her hair was a shimmering light green and looked as delicate as spun silk. It was plaited down her back and reached all the way to her thighs. The dainty woman’s face radiated mischief. Her beauty shimmered in the air around her. I had no doubt that she was a very powerful Imp.

I smiled. “I was hoping to find some coffee. If it isn’t too much trouble.”

“Coffee this late, my lady,” she tsked, looking truly concerned. “You need some sleep for your big day tomorrow.” Her nose crinkled as she chastised me.

“It doesn’t bother me.” I slid onto a stool next to the chopping block as she waved her little hand, making a cup appear before me. The kettle from the small stove in the corner floated toward us.

Her face was beautiful. She had bright blue eyes that took up too much of her face and a warm smile with perfect, gleaming white teeth. “Two sugars, I believe.”

“Yes. Thank you.” I put my hands on either side of the cup. “You are?”

“I am Abbey, the keeper of the kitchen here. Kitchen Imp.” She sat down on a wooden box of onions and daintily crossed her legs. She leaned closer, over her knees, and gave me a serious look. “My lady, you must be wary, wandering these halls alone.”

“Please, call me Keena,” I said, and she nodded. “What do I have to fear?” I had assumed myself safe from the Slaugh while in the manor.

Her expression changed from a pretty smile to a worried frown. “Much, Keena.”

I grumbled about being the last one to know everything, and she rolled those big eyes. Lifting her hands above her head, she mumbled a spell I couldn’t follow or fully understand. Her magic tingled, warm and inviting, and a shimmering bubble enveloped us. It was as if a large glass dome covered us and the table, down to the floor. I couldn’t help but reach out a tentative hand to touch it.

“Don’t,” she said. “You’ll break it. It’s a sound barrier. We can talk without being heard…by most, anyway.” I was impressed. I watched swirls of varying shades of blue shift and move within the bubble, like blood moving through a living thing.

She walked over and put her little hand over mine where I held my cup. “Until All Hallows’, you are not safe anywhere, Keena. The Slaugh are very determined.”

“I wish someone would tell me what the hell is going on. I’m really getting tired of Bevin’s half answers.”

“Ask and I shall tell. If I can.” I was shocked. The others, even Manus, seemed so elusive when I asked direct questions. “I’m your servant. I will hide nothing from you.”

“Really? How refreshing. Fine—what do the Slaugh have against me that they keep trying to kill me?”

She sat back on her onion box again and paused as she gathered her thoughts. “The condensed version is this. They, and some of the other Kith, do not mix with the outside world so easily. The human world.” I must have looked confused. She tapped her finger to her head. “Think about a Gnome or Gremlin trying to live openly among humans. And most particularly the Slaugh. Yuck!”

When I nodded my understanding, she went on. “So some of them, especially the Slaugh, would like nothing more than to become the majority species, as it was in the early times, before the human population grew to dominance. In the meantime, some of our races have become very small. Given that we have more power than humans do, many feel that the magical should dominate the earth. Some would see the humans destroyed or, at the very least, reduced to what amounts to slavery.”

“Okay, so they want to wage war on humans. I still don’t see the connection to me.” Maybe I was just thick. I didn’t understand the implications.

“You’re as pure as I’ve been told. I’m happy to see that.” She looked over her shoulder as if to make sure no one was around. “The High Priestess is the leader of the council. Doran has discouraged the Slaugh and others, like the Goblins, from their plans, and though she is not their leader, they must follow the majority. The decisions of the council are binding to all the Kith.”

“A supernatural United Nations?” I had to chuckle as I said it.

Abbey did too. A light tinkling sound filled the bubble. “Similar. The High Priestess’s influence is weakening because she will soon step down. The Slaugh are making sure their cause is taken up by her replacement. The council will look to you or Dema to carry on the traditions and beliefs of the current leadership, or let fate take its due course for the humans. The Slaugh want their influence on the High Priestess’s position. Then they can wreak havoc as they will.” She looked to the tabletop, suddenly finding something interesting on her shoe, then back to me.

“And? I don’t want to sound stupid, Abbey, but I still don’t see—” Understanding hit me suddenly. “You mean that Feldema…Dema… she would allow the Slaugh to do what they want?”

She slightly bobbed her head.

I took a sip of the wonderful coffee and let the implications of what I’d just heard tumble through my mind. I had dealt with the Slaugh more than once now, and had Manus and the others not been there to protect me… The human population would break into chaos if the Goblins and Slaugh and God-knows-what-else were free to start attacking.

The implications were enormous. Doran and Bevin were looking to me to prevent a clash between the Kith and humanity. No wonder they didn’t just come out and say it. I would have cracked under that kind of pressure, what with all the other changes I’d been through in the last few weeks.

I cursed. This still left me with more questions than answers. Why had my mother had two children? Why not just me if Dema was weak or untrustworthy? Had she known this would come?