Rue

Chapter 6

I shoved my hand under the chicken, no longer caring if it spooked the bird. Its wings flapped; the feathers seemed to slice through my skin. Retreating from the wolf-scented stranger in the coop, the chicken fell to the ground. I collected the warm egg and added it to my basket.
Henri had asked that I gather the morning eggs, but I needed to do more to keep my mind busy. Part of me wished I had been woken up to join the wolf hunt, but by the time I woke up, the party had already left. Lore stood at the door, her hand on her hip. She tapped her foot, and like me, the chickens avoided her at all costs.
“You’re useless,” She muttered. “Henri at least tries to care for the chickens. You just give them heart attacks.”
I glanced at her, smiling. “Another insult like that and I would have cut your hair off while you slept. Seems someone beat me to it,” I jested, poking fun at her short bob.
Her hands flew up, touching the waves in her hair. “I’ll have you know this is all the rage in America. I am an independent woman—”
I thrust the basket into her arms. “Miss Independent, could you take this to Aunty? I have to carry in firewood with August.”
Lore stuck her tongue out but left the coop and headed towards the house.
I worried about the Faerie.
August had abandoned the top half of his clothing. An axe swung over his shoulder, slicing through a log with ease. Both halves toppled to the ground.
“Need help?” I asked, gathering up the logs.
August smiled, shaking his head. “The most you can do is carry them inside. I don’t think your scrawny arms can handle the real work.”
His tone was jocular, but the comment struck. August was only a year younger than me, stronger than I was; and he knew he could point it out.
I stacked three logs on my arms and ran inside. My chest heaved from the exercise. My arms were sore, and I would feel the burn later on after resting. Running through the woods after a Faerie was nothing compared to carrying things while half-jogging. I repeated the action several times, sweat pouring off my forehead. I dragged my sleeve over it to wipe it off.
August swung the axe over this head, the blade falling into his chopping stump. His lip curled up into a smirk, probably silently mocking me for being weak. I lowered my gaze as he jogged towards me. We walked back to the house in silence. August seemed surprised when I followed him to the dining room. The smell of eggs and fresh bread filled the air.
It would be my first time in years eating breakfast with my relatives. My belly went empty until well after noon each day. I hoped Uncle would realize that if I was well fed, I would not have to eat when I escaped. He didn’t seem to understand. He just hoped the escaping would stop. Performing Henri’s chores sent my stomach growling.
Uncle’s eyes darted towards me as we walked in. His gaze never left as I dropped into my chair. Aunty beamed. She stood abruptly and left the room. With his wife gone, Uncle’s frown deepened.
“What do you think you’re doing, Felken? I did not give you permission to eat with us.”
I lowered my gaze, remembering the words Henri had told me.
“I worked hard covering for Henri. I deserve to eat something.”
I could feel the glare reaching me, but so long as Aunty returned before he lost his temper, I would be enjoying the fresh eggs, toast, and sausages made of the moose caught the last full moon.
“What did you say, boy?”
My eyes flickered up. My cousins stared at me as if I had grown an extra eye. I had never talked back to Uncle before. My heart pounded in my chest; the blood rushed to my face. His own face grew red; his top lip seemed to curl up into a snarl.
“I said I’m hungry and I deserve breakfast.”
I let out a sigh as Aunty returned and dropped a plate in front of me.
She smiled. “Is this going to be an everyday thing, Felken?”
I nodded my head, not looking to see Uncle’s reaction. If I had known the way to get fed more was to ensure Aunty was present each time, I would be plump as a pigeon by now.

I wanted to wander into the woods, but while Henri and the men of the village attempted to hunt the wolf pack, it was a silly idea. I wanted to find the Faerie and make sure she was alright, but I had yet to hear a single gunshot. Until I did, I had to assume she was safe.
I was sure she could take care of herself; how long she had been living in those woods was a mystery. My own life span was double that of a human’s, but a Faerie would simply never die. It was strange thinking that the petite girl could be ancient. They had a few things that would harm them—all I knew was iron was one of them.
I dragged my pencil across my notebook, sketching out a crocus. I figured since it seemed to be her favorite flower, I would draw her one as a thank you. I wasn’t sure if a thank you was appropriate, but she did let me out of my concrete prison and let me join her pack despite the trouble we caused for the villagers.
Shading the edge, I darkened the outlines to make the crocus stand out. Drawing had become increasingly difficult as my pencil became shorter and shorter. It was down to about two inches, forcing me to hold it in an awkward way.
Frowning, I scribbled in some details, snapping the book shut after. If I could demand breakfast, why couldn’t I demand at least a new drawing pencil? At the very least I’m sure Henri had an extra one lying around somewhere.
“Cousin!”
I jumped; throwing my hand out to balance myself as I almost fell off the chicken coop roof. The birds cried out, fleeing from Henri into their house. I swung a leg over the shingles, dropping to the dirty snow.
“Any news?” I closed the pen gate behind me.
Henri smiled, shaking his head. “Not a foot print, not a paw print. We saw some fat birds, but nobody listened when I suggested we take them as our prize instead. Much tastier.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “No wolves at all? Not even a white one?”
Henri tilted his head, curious. “Nothing. We ventured to where the woods get too thick, and many of the men lost their wits. They claimed they felt as if they were being watched—had to turn around empty handed and starved for dinner.”
I let my own face reveal a grin. “I’m excited for dinner. Two meals in a single day? Pinch me! I am dreaming.”
Henri slapped my arm. “Father let you join the family for breakfast, then? Fabulous. Before you know it, you’ll have the same rights as I do.”
I nodded, looking at my cousin. The smile on his face never left; under it lay a beast that wanted to murder his own father for the crown.
Was it worth it? Asking his father may not have worked, but resorting to killing for the status of king was simply going overboard.
“Something wrong?” Henri asked.
I shook my head. “No,” I lied.
For now I would have to just be grateful Henri was willing to keep my secret about escaping. Uncle had his doubts, but with Henri’s word backing me up, I had a better chance of survival in the long run. Being executed because I revealed the existence of our world was the last way I wanted to die.
I thought of my mother. If she lived, she would have been killed by the Council. She was shot as a wolf just at the end of the night as a human witnessed her change. The slight trace of silver in the bullet was enough to stop her wounds from healing quickly, and she bled to death. It had been a large-scale mess to clean up. The human man had to be hunted down, and by the time one of the Council members reached his village, half of them had been told of what he saw. All had their memories wiped, and the man was killed just in case. At the time, I could not have cared about the human man or his village. I lost my mother. In the end, humans always had the last laugh.
Nobody mentioned her anymore.