cascade | kotlc

5. But I Don't

--- June POV ---

June woke up in her room, buried under her covers. She felt numb. Elwin passed her a vial and she gulped it down greedily. It was a sweet and sticky syrup. June wanted more.

"Don't try to sit up, June, and don't move your head," Elwin told her. You broke your neck and back and both arms when you fell, and your back wound started bleeding again. It was pretty bad, but at least- not as bad as last time."

June almost nodded, but her neck flared in pain. "How long've I been out?"

"Fifteen minutes," Elwin answered. "Apparently Silveny almost killed Bronte, but Sophie managed to calm her down. Hey- watch it!" he warned as June jolted up, and he stacked pillows behind her. She groaned and leaned backwards. Elwin flashed a ball of light behind her and nodded. "The injury hasn't reopened from that jerk, thank god. Don't do that again. You up for visitors?"

She winced. She wasn't sure what to think of Grady after the incident. As much as she hated it, Grady refusing to assist the Council in finding their kidnappers was what really made June lose her cool. And Silveny.

"Has Silveny cooled down?" she asked. "Is she okay?"

Elwin nodded. "As far as I can tell, the alicorn hasn't suffered any injuries, nor was she affected by the inflicting. Do you recall anything about the inflicting?" he asked her. "Helps me understand it better."

"No, I just felt a sharp, stinging pain that hurt, it hurt a lot, and I just blacked out. I didn't even realize Bronte was inflicting on me, it happened so quick, and usually I'm the one making rapid manuevers."

He tapped his teeth thoughtfully. "Interesting. I'll get back to you on that later, but I don't think I'll be able to solve it. It doesn't look like it's left any damage, but I don't know. You might want to get an Empath to check on you."

"I'll get Keefe. And... you can let them in."

Elwin bobbed his head and opened the door. Sophie and Edaline and Grady rushed in. His eyes were filled with a combination of emotions. She felt regret, anger, and also...

Despair.

Edaline brought blitzenberry muffins. They were another one of Jolie's favorites, and one of June's too. She winced when she realized she couldn't actually grab a muffin.

"Here," Sophie said, taking one and putting it to June's mouth. She blushed as Sophie gently fed her the muffin, and she bit into it, reveling in the sweet and smooth taste of the muffin. June sighed.

"They're amazing. Thank you."

"Of course." Edaline turned away to wipe her eyes.

Grady still hadn't said a word, and June decided she was done letting him off the hook. "Are you ready to tell me why you won't help the Council?"

He made a sound that was more of a groan than a sigh and gently brushed June's hair. "I won't help them," he said, "because they don't want to find the kidnappers. They want me to help them find the Black Swan."

"And you don't want to find them."

"Not the way the Council wants to, no. They want to reach out as allies. But if the Black Swan were our allies, we wouldn't have to find them. If they were on our side, they wouldn't be hiding. They wouldn't be leaving secret messages on charm bracelets in the middle of the Wanderling Woods, using young, innocent girls like their-"

"I'm not young, and I'm definitely not innocent," June cut in. "Why don't you- you trust us to be able to manage ourselves?"

Grady tore his hands through his hair. "Because that- it doesn't work like that, you don't understand!"