Fablehaven Oneshots

Cognitive Dissonance

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Set during
Dragonwatch-ish
⟢ Kendra/Ronodin ⟣
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Ronodin uses his new found powers to call Kendra to the Fairy Kingdom. However, he wouldn't have done it if he knew there was going to be a radius tying her to him.

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Rated Teen for Explicit Language.

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The healthy dose of cognitive dissonance that held Ronodin's reality together didn't seem all that bad until it was violently ripped to shreds in front of him.

Ronodin didn't have anyone to fault for that, either. He had called Kendra here himself.

Having the handmaiden under his beck and call had seemed like a positive to usurping the Fairy Queen. Now, Ronodin was close to putting it in his cons list. Pretty hard to maintain his whole hero thing when one of his victims was yelling at him all the time. Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't maintain it—just that it was hard.

"Kendra!" He barked.

"What? You called me here, away from my family. You get to listen."

Now, normally he would just throw her in the dungeon. Three problems.

The Fairy Kingdom didn't have a dungeon. The only rooms were residential—it wasn't like he could throw her in a castle bedroom and lock the door.

The second problem hinged on the magic he was using to keep Kendra here. He was able to call the handmaiden but the radius in which the magic kept her here was quite small. And he was the node.

Three: imprisoning the handmaiden wouldn't go over too well with the populace if they found out. Not that he cared particularly, of course.

"I will gag you." His pen broke under his teeth and the ink spilled down his chin.

"Looks like you need a napkin."

"You are infuriating. Will you let me explain my cause?"

"Your cause was tainted the second you kidnapped my brother, murdered people I love, imprisoned people I love, and imprisoned me with you."

"It's starting to feel like I'm the one stuck with you." He grabbed a napkin from the fairy queen's desk and wiped his face. Well, from his desk, now. It's funny how the writing utensils the former Fairy Queen had used to sign his banishment were the same ones sitting in his desk's pen cup. "The ends justify the means."

"No, they do not."

"What, did you expect me to usher in a revolution with hugs and kisses?"

"A little less bloodshed."

"It has been little!" Poison dripped off his words. He shifted as he tried to contain himself. Kendra tested his nerves. "It is nothing compared to the savagery inflicted between you humans."

"A war? Are you talking about a war? No one wants them for a reason. And you are initiating one."

"It's been boiling for a while."

"You didn't need to boil it over! You could've at least waited until I was dead."

"We could speed that death up if you'd like."

"Why'd you call me here if you were just going to threaten me?" Kendra stopped pacing.

Ronodin clenched his jaw. He would not deliver a convenient little monologue. How she'd ever think he'd lay his reasons out plainly was beyond him. "I enjoy your company."