Free Fae by Emily White

flame bloomed
next to Red's face.
    And then someone cleared
his throat. It was so soft and unassuming, but everyone
froze--including Lastrini--and turned around.
    The boy I'd met yesterday,
the one in the golden tunic and pants, the one with the watery blue
eyes and soft voice, stood just inside the doorway.
    "Please forgive the intrusion," he
said with his gaze on the floor. "The Emperor has sent me for the
girl.
    No one said anything as a
hush settled on the room. Ripped guy still had me in his arm,
dangling at his side. The chain's glow weakened and then went
out.
    "What does he want with her?" Lastrini
finally asked, his voice pinched with frustration.
    "It is not my place to question the
Emperor." The boy lifted his head to stare directly at the Base
Commander. "Nor is it yours."
    There was another tense
pause as his words sunk in. This boy spoke for the Emperor and no
one better think twice about obeying him.
    I watched as every muscle
in Lastrini's body tensed, as his fists clenched. Ripped guy's arm
tightened around me and I knew he was preparing to fight for me if
that's what his leader decided.
    But Lastrini took an
audible breath, and his whole body relaxed. "No, we wouldn't want
to do that. Never question our dear, wonderful emperor." And then he
pushed past the boy and glided out of the little room. Red followed
close behind while Ripped Guy dropped me on the floor and went
after them. I landed hard on my hands and knees and winced as pain
shot up my legs. The dress may protect from energy weapons, but it
didn't do much for blunt force.
    I waited for the spike of
pain to subside and their footsteps to have long since faded before
I picked myself up off the floor and smoothed out my dress and
cloak. The flame that had bloomed by Red's face bounced next to me,
waiting. I snuffed it out with a thought.
    The boy watched me
silently, looking up through his lashes. He had such a breakable
quality to him with his shoulders all rounded forward and his face
down like he thought if he stood up straight, someone might yell at
him, or worse.
    "Thanks," I
said.
    "For what?" His voice was
all innocence and curiosity, his head tilted to the side, like a
little pet in front of its master.
    I leaned against the bed
and sighed. "It seems like I always need someone to step in to save
me from becoming a monster."
    "I hardly think you need
to be saved from that."
    I rubbed my knees, feeling
the tender skin where bruises waited to surface, and chuckled.
"Don't I?"
    His eyes stayed on me in
their tentative way, and I grew uncomfortable. I looked away and
pushed myself off the bed. "Well, thanks again. I guess you
probably know how to get out of here?"
    He nodded, his eyes still
on me. Bright blue and piercing. So much more focused--intent--than
his passive movements and stature suggested. Instead of looking
away again, I matched his stare. My blood pressure rose and I felt
my heart beating in my eardrums, pounding away at my skull. I don't
know why, but I felt like I shouldn't blink first. That if I did,
I'd fail some test and the boy in front of me would leave, never to
be seen again.
    A smile spread across his
face. "Would you like me to show you the way out?"
    I blinked, unsure if I'd
just won a small victory or imagined the confrontation
altogether.
    "Sure," I said.
    He turned around without a
word and limped through the doorway and into the empty corridor. I
followed at his side, wondering what had happened to make him so
broken. And how did such a young, passive introvert end up with the
authority to speak for the Emperor?
    "Do you have a name?" I
looked him straight in the eye and smiled to realize he was the
first person I'd met who I could actually do that with. Everyone
either towered above me, or in the case of Ranen, only came up to
my shoulder.
    "First," he
replied.
    I waited, thinking he
wanted to tell me something more important before he told me his
name. When he didn't continue, I laughed. "First? Your name