Hated

Part VI | There's A Line

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?"

I jolted upright, shocked out of sleep. The roar cut through the sweet morning air, drowning out the birds and making everything go quiet.

I dressed quickly, selecting a pair of jeans that could stand some wear and tear and an airy, light blue polo shirt. I remembered to grab shoes this time and sprinted out into the hall.

"DID YOU THINK I'D LET THIS HAPPEN?"

I headed for the great hall, though I was pretty damn sure there was a fight, or an argument at the very least. I opened the door to find everyone standing against the wall, watching Fi yell at a man I'd never seen before.

He was clearly an elf, with Tatai's silver eyes and light brown hair, but the green glow in his eyes made him seem almost feral. His jaw was set and he looked tense, every move Fi made putting him more on edge.

"What did you expect me to do?" he shouted back. "You said no!"

"Because I'm not an idiot! Because I'm not getting involved in another war! Because I have to remain neutral! Because I still haven't healed from the last battle!" Fi poked him in the chest with every sentence, the yellow circle in her eyes flaring to drown out the blue. "Because of all the reasons I told you before and because I didn't think you would actually be this stupid!"

"Me?!" The man sounded furious. "This was not my—"

"Don't you even try that on me!" She shoved him, making him stumble back. "Don't you dare say it wasn't your idea! Nothing happens in this damn kingdom without your permission and I should know. You stole a kid, didn't give her a chance to say no, and then you went ahead and changed her! You forced the change in someone who never even asked! It doesn't matter that she accepted it, she didn't want it! Really, Faiolyn?"

Lo-Lo stormed forward and roared. His form stretched and contracted, fur rippling out until he became a full-grown Siberian tiger. He snarled at the elf— Faiolyn.

But I wasn't watching Lo-Lo. I was watching Fi. Her arms crossed protectively over her chest, she huddled behind her cat. He wasn't attacking Faiolyn— he was protecting Fi. The electric yellow in her eyes receded to a faint glow around her pupils and I recognized the expression on her face.

Hurt.

She looked like an avenging angel, but she was torn, using anger to fight back against the pain. Somehow, Faiolyn had hurt her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she dashed it away with the back of her hand. Faiolyn took a step forward, stopping at Lo-Lo's threatening hiss. "Fiona..."

"No." Fi took a shaky breath. "No. Don't say my name like that. I have values and morals and principles and ethics. You know where my lines are drawn and you crossed one."

Exasperation replaced concern and Faiolyn rolled his eyes. "You can't possibly be this stupid. So we changed a girl. We didn't kill her, did we?"

"No." Her voice was wary. "If you're going where I think you're going, Faiolyn, heads up: back. The hell. Off."

"If we didn't kill her," Faiolyn forged on, "why do you have a problem with it? At least she's old enough not to give us all the hell you did!"

Fi flinched. In that instant, the image of her tall and angry flickered, revealing a cowering child, holding her hands up to her chest as she hid terrified blue eyes behind her hair. It was only there for an instant before Fi stood in its place, hugging herself tight as if she'd fall apart if she let go, looking away from Faiolyn to hide the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her lower lip trembled between her teeth and she took a step back. Two.