Footprints

Ten Years Old

By the time she was ten years old, Jessie was living in the Day Court with her parents full time. She knew it was because her dad and her were family to the High Lord of the Day Court, her grandpa.

They went to her Auntie Feyre and Uncle Rhys' house one day, so the grownups could talk. Jessie went looking for her cousin. Nyx was twenty now, but he still made time to play with her when she visited.

She couldn't get in trouble, because she was looking for Nyx, and the grownups were talking really loud. But she stopped outside the door they were in, and heard that Azriels spy's were starting to hear her name, and it was worrisome enough to tell her parents.

They were scared for her. It was her they were talking about. She would have kept walking, looking for her cousin, if she hadn't heard that whoever these spies heard, could use her and hurt her to scare her dad, or her grandpa. Now she knew why she wasn't allowed around for 'grownup talk.' It was scaring her.

Jessie nearly jumped out of her skin, when the door opened and her uncle Rhys was looking down at her. He told her to come into the office, and with a quick look at her parents, Jessie knew she very much did not want to go into that office. She'd been listening to their conversation, and she had been caught.

Her dad looked angry, while her mum looked upset. Her auntie Feyre looked serious. She was just about to ask her uncle Rhys if she had to go in there, when he dad interrupted her.

"Jessie Day Archeron, you get in her now."

Jessie was a mischievous kid, and got into her fair share of trouble. More than she would admit to. But she almost never heard her dad get that angry, but when he did, she knew she had to do as she was told, or she would be in big trouble.

So she took a deep breath, and went to step into the room. But realized quickly after hearing the door behind her close, that she had no idea where to stand. All the adults looked angry on some level, and she did not know who was safest to stand close to.

She decided her mum was the safest choice, and went to stand beside her.

Her uncle Rhys was just sitting back down in his chair behind his desk when she asked "Am I in trouble?"

Her uncle had gestured to her parents, so Jessie chose to look at her mum, waiting for an answer.

"Well, Jessie, that depends. What have your father and I told you about eavesdropping?" Her mum asked, taking her hand.

Jessie looked down, not wanting to look at anyone now. "Not to do it."

"And what were you just caught doing?" She heard behind her. Jessie turned her head, to look at her dad, and saw the anger in his normal eye.

"Eavesdropping." She answered, not wanting to look at her dad either, but she kept going. "But I promise I didn't mean to! I was just looking for Nyx, and I heard my name and got curious so—"

"Jessie." She knew she was in trouble then, and had started to get nervous, so her dad stopped her, in the middle of her explanation.

Jessie ended up looking down. "Sorry."

Her uncle then said that they should save this conversation for when they got home, then asking Jessie how much she heard, and remembering what had her stop and listen in the first place, what she heard.

Jessie then looked to her mum, scared for a different reason, and not able to stop the tears filling her eyes as she said "I don't want to be taken. I don't want to be hurt." She was shaking her head franticly, as she felt her dad take her hand. She turned to look at her dad, and saw that the anger in his normal eye had gone away. Now he looked sad and scared. "Why do people want to take me?"

That was the day, that Jessie learned just how important her role in the Day Court was. That was also the day she learned that she, along with her parents, would be moving fully to the Day Court the following week.

Looking back, Jessie knew her dads scary anger wasn't because she was eavesdropping, but because of the fact that people would be willing to use her.

That didn't stop her from getting in trouble though. Jessie wasn't allowed to leave the house for the rest of the weekend, and instead of playing, she had to help clean.