Bloodfeather

Chapter Two

"Yeah, and it's been a long three months." Kail said, running his fingers through his hair, which was noticeably longer.

                "What do you mean?" I asked him, frowning.

                "A lot's happened in three months, Avery. I mean, the secret of your identity is probably what kick-started everything, thanks to Alise. When you died, Alise made sure everyone knew who you were and what you had done. We couldn't kill the Queen, Alise couldn't kill her mother and I was with you, so she's still in power. Then the riots started. People wanted her off the throne, or at least wanted to acknowledge what she had done. But she was having none of it. In less than a couple of weeks it had become illegal to support you, even though you were dead, and it was punishable by death. All those people you saw out there? They're the ones who escaped. Whole families driven to the forest where the Queen has no power. This forest is ruled by dryads, and as peaceful as they may be, Maelene won't tango with them.

"Then Maelene disowned Alise. That was two months ago. The human city has become a sort of no-man's land. A month ago it was taken by Alchemists, who noticed the unusual activity regarding the flower Fae. The FBI are trying to handle things, but they're not having much luck. Not when most of their Supernatural members are some of the most powerful of their race, and are therefore at the top of the Alchemist's most wanted list. We go to the human city when we can, but we're always careful." He explained.

"That's horrible!" I cried. "All these people are here because they're supporting me? But I was dead!"

"That didn't matter to them. You were the rightful monarch, and they said if they couldn't have you on the throne, then they sure as hell didn't want Maelene on it. Not after everything she'd done."

I thought about that for a moment. I didn't actually want to be Queen. Too much responsibility. But people had been driven from their homes for me. Sure, it didn't make sense, I mean, they didn't even know much about me, but they had put their lives on the line in my name.

"I'm guessing she isn't taking the news so well." said a voice behind me. I frowned. The voice sounded familiar...

I turned around to see a young woman, with black hair that shone with a tint of green in the light. It was long, too. Even braided it hung almost to her knees. Her eyes were green too, and shone with kindness, but her skin was pale. I almost didn't recognise her, the last time I had seen her she was naked and now she was wearing long jeans and a tee-shirt. Both were torn, but she still looked a lot more civilized than when I last saw her.

"You're the dryad! But you should be dead, I cut down the beanstalk. I mean, I did cut down the beanstalk?" I turned and looked worriedly at Kail. He nodded.

"It's not coming back." He assured me. I sighed a breath of relief. I turned back to the dryad.

"But then how are you alive?" I asked her.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think that when you destroyed the beanstalk, you attached my life-force to yours. I know that doesn't make sense, but I think you were always destined to come back to life, and so it worked. By the way, they call me Murphy now." She said with a rueful grin.

"It's because of her accent." Kail whispered in my ear. I frowned, before realising she did had a soft Irish lilt when she spoke.

"You're Irish?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Or, I was. Before I was bonded as a dryad to the beanstalk, I was human. But I was caught in Jack's magic, and it changed me."

                Well, that made so much sense. Not.

                "I've never heard of anything like that happening before." I said suspiciously. What if the beanstalk wasn't really gone? I didn't think I could go through that again.

                Trust me; my life force is linked to yours. You die, I die. That's why I can communicate with you like this. Before, I was using the beanstalk to talk to you, but now I have a direct link. It was Murphy's voice, in my head. It felt strange, almost wrong. When Kail spoke to me telepathically, it was different somehow. More pure. But Murphy's was almost invasive. I shuddered. Kail's voice in my head was different to the one he used aloud, but I could still tell it was his. But Murphy's was exactly the same as her normal voice, and it un-nerved me.

                "This is all so wrong." I whispered to myself. This never should have happened.

                "What was that?" Kail asked me, apparently hearing me. I shook my head.

                "Nothing." I told him. "So, what now?" I asked him.

                "Now we introduce you to the troops."