Jurdan in the Mortal World

Bryern, Bryern, Bryern.

(A/N: hiiii. i'm just over here, on lockdown, getting bloated in my room because my singular source of exercise is forced PE laps. i mean, i exercise. i just don't like to. y'see?

i'm writing a story with a plot, i know. crazy. i'm going to start writing more on my OTHER account, so...yeap. i'm thinking of writing a rowaelin thingy. whatchamacallit. thing. yeah. i'm great with talking and socializing, if it wasn't obvious yet. um, do whatever there is to do (like commenting etc), but like, it's not urgent. my life does not depend on writing and reading. at all. totally not. bye.)

Bryern. He could sneak back into Faerie, couldn't he? He could bring up Madoc's army again, the faeries that don't respect Cardan or I and like Madoc a little too much to let him go. We could be looking at a whole different battle. Not one with Madoc, but one with Madoc pulling the strings. One with the crown not involved. One out of spite and revenge.

Could they really take us over? Could the stray rebels and the remainders of Madoc's to-proud army really bring down Elfhame, or at least strip the throne from people who would treat it well, into Bryern's hands?

With a jolt, I realize that this could be me and Cardan 2.0. If Madoc is manipulating Bryern into taking over the throne, Madoc could control Bryern into shaping Faerie the way he wants it.

But why would Bryern want to associate himself with Madoc? For sheer power? He didn't seem to have a problem with his life in the mortal world. 

Of course, on the High Throne, even while being controlled by Madoc, Bryern could have far more. Riches. Debaucheries. Food and wine and gluttony. Servants at his hands and feet. Power. 

Power like I wanted, and got. Power like Madoc wanted, and got exiled for. Does Bryern want this power so dearly, so dearly that he would risk his job and safety to bargain and play around with Madoc?

I pick apart my mind, trying to figure out whether I did tell Bryern about Madoc, and vice versa. But it wouldn't have even been so hard for Madoc to find Bryern on his own, would it? Would it really be so hard?

Well. Too late now. I let my guard down, and I will pay.

Now to find them and find exactly what they're up to. I wouldn't be surprised if I was being weird and paranoid, but paranoia is my expertise.

Better to be safe than sorry...right?

I still can't see any of them though. Maybe it's because I'm stuck between two wasted vendors with a very winded-looking Cardan by my side, but I don't know where to go, where to start. 

Oak is gone. Bryern and Madoc might, might, be working together. Thanks to my unending paranoia, I've whipped Vivi and Heather up into a very hysterical panic. I have no idea where Madoc has disappeared to, or if Bryern is actually helping him or not.

"Jude," Cardan is saying, "Jude. Snap out of it. Right now. We need to go find somewhere high."

Right. Even though his voice is echo-ey and very far away-sounding, we need to go find something high to stand on.

Much-needed adrenaline flies through my veins, filling my body with a vibrating hum. I grab his hand and sprint out of the alleyway, glaring at anyone who looks at me as if I'm crazy. I don't have time for their mortal innocence. 

I whip my head around, looking, looking, looking for something, anything where I could have a higher vantage point. 

The Ferris Wheel.

I point at it wordlessly, and I nod at Cardan. Heather would definitely give up this rule in order to have Oak back. He...does whatever he does, and when we run towards the very front of the line, jostling and pushing everyone out of the way, no one complains or shouts. Instead, they move out of our way, bodies pliant. Just another reminder of how powerful Cardan is, even off his throne.

But I don't have any time to dwell on little jealousies and pouts. I race into a carriage, Cardan following. Every second counts. Every second could be a second where Madoc finds Oak, where they torture him into speaking about the guards and security, a second where Bryern manages to sneak into our castle or somehow get someone to glamour our armies...

Stop.

Thinking.

After that, I go into autopilot mode, mind racing through the mental map I have of the amusement park, until we get to the top. 

As soon as I get there, I know it's a waste of time. It's two o'clock in the afternoon, on a sunny Saturday. It is jammed and there is no way in hell or on Earth or in Faerie that we'll be able to find Oak, a scrawny little boy who blends in perfectly.

"Jude." Cardan's voice is close to my ear, and I flinch, shying away as far as I can in a three foot carriage. "Jude. Don't look for Oak. Look for Madoc." 

Right. Madoc is the real danger. I'd much rather know where Oak is, considering a normal packed amusement park is dangerous for a young boy, but one with four different Fae in it...oh god. Stop. Stop. Stop.

I run my eyes over the crowd, scanning right and left, up and down. Some part of my conscious tells me that the Ferris Wheel has stopped. Cardan. I squeeze his hand once in thanks, then keep looking. I think I see a green-skinned being, but it ends up being a god-damned dinosaur plushie. Oh god. 

I about bust my eyes open looking for Madoc. Then Cardan taps my arm. "Jude." He says, voice urgent. I whirl my head around, heart still pounding. He points to a figure in the distance, clothed in leather and armor. Flashes of green. Madoc. 

Wait. Two figures.

I hate that I'm correct right now. Cardan starts up the ride soundlessly, me trying to find a way out the carriage and down the Ferris Wheel. I know, not a good idea, but I don't want to waste a minute slowly inching down to the ground. I drum my feet against the metal and drum my fingers on my knees. 'Hurry, hurry, hurry," I chant. 

Before I know it, the carriage is almost to the ground. I jump off once I can see every wooden plank separated with another, about ten feet away from the ground, and I jump. 

I take most of the impact into my knees and rock back on my heels. The Ghost did help me. Even though he perpetually betrayed me. Sounds like a sister I know. I take off at a sprint in the vague direction I remember seeing Madoc and Bryern, pushing people out of the way and knocking funnel cakes and cheese-dipped pretzels out of clean, no-blood-spilled hands. I hear cries of protest but they are so, so far away. 

Every other time I schemed and planned and deceived and betrayed, it wasn't for someone else. It was for me, and my potential power I could hold in my hands. Knowing that it's for someone else makes me feel human and makes it so much harder.

Eventually, I find myself lost in the midst of people chatting and laughing and leading on their normal lives. 'Find a way out, find a way out'

A hand grips my wrist, and yanks. Hard. 

"Cardan-" I sigh in relief and agitation. "Help me find Madoc."

The hand turns my head around. 

"You're looking right at him." A wicked smile, revealing too-sharp teeth.

Well, dammit.