Of Fate and Freedom

Chapter Eleven

At 9:09, Aedan and the other younger Sentry, Sage Cameron, come chatting and laughing lightheartedly through the door. Sage is a few years older than him and has greyish-green eyes framed beautifully by sharp cheekbones and perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her stick-straight, platinum blonde hair is pulled back into a sleek ponytail at the nape of her neck. Like the other Sentries, she’s in a formal travel uniform similar to that of our training gear: grey slacks made of a durable yet comfortable material, a matching soft shell zippered jacket with our Clan Seal stitched in scarlet thread on the left side, and a collared scarlet button down. She introduces herself to me cordially but with more personality than Kieran had, much to my relief. I'm not sure if Aedan warned her about my aversion to my title or if she's just more laidback, but I definitely appreciate her friendly demeanor.

A couple minutes later, the last Sentry appearing to be about forty or so enters, and somehow he's even more taciturn and stuffy than Kieran has been. He introduces himself as Scot MacNeil, bowing to me slightly before taking a spot beside Aedan and takes on the qualities of a statue, fixing his gaze on the door he came through and remaining completely motionless until the rest of my family arrives. I'm honestly not even sure I see him breathing at this point. It's a bit unnerving, but I do my best to put it out of my mind.

Finally, at 9:15 on the dot, Mother sweeps gracefully into the garage with Moira, Beta Nessa, and Isleen filing in behind her. Mother’s in a white pantsuit with a modern, flattering cut for her figure and a silvery silk satin blouse. Her pearly hair is pulled perfectly into her usual sleek chignon, and her makeup is light and natural, making me wish that I’d taken the time to at least apply a little concealer and foundation of my own. Her eyes scan briefly over each Sentry before giving me a quick once-over and nodding to me, seemingly pleased at my choices of either Sentries or my wardrobe. After we've gathered in a loose circle, she addresses us all about the itinerary for today's trip.

"Good morning, everyone. Sentries, thank you for committing your time to ensure our safety today. Our travel should be somewhat brief and relatively uneventful in regards to our safety, but we must be nonetheless proactively in remaining vigilant against any potential threat. Until our return, Beta McCarthy will assume my duties as leader of this clan, so she is here to be made aware of our travel arrangements, both to and from the Academy.

"In keeping with official Clan procedures, our convoy — consisting of myself, the Heir Alpha, my daughter Moira, and Miss McCarthy — will travel in two separate vehicles, with myself in one and the Heir Alpha in the other so as to prevent anyone wishing to fell our leadership in a single targeted assault. I leave the delegation of protective roles to my daughter, as she is the one who has gathered you all here today. Saoirse?" she finishes, turning to me.

I snap back to attention when she mentions my name. As with almost every other time my mother starts speaking with her Alpha undertone, I'd begun to tune her out. No other conroicht in our Clan can do this aside from my grandmother, because Alpha undertones are meant to claim the attention of subordinate Clan members so they don't work on other Alphas. She gives me a stern look, but I shake it off and turn my attention to the expectant faces surrounding me, doing my best to recall what she just said.

"Uh, right. Yes. Like my mother said, thanks for being here. Since she and I can't travel in the same car now that I'm Sealed, I'll be splitting you into two teams for today's trip," I start. Looking at the guardians, it takes me only a split second to decide who's going with who. MacNeil looks like he's never smiled a day in his life, and Kieran seems almost scared of my family. I won't be able to avoid being around either of those guys on campus, so since Sage and Aedan seem to get along well, I'd much rather have them with me in the car. I refuse to be miserable on this trip, so if I have to have protection, they may as well be able to have fun.

"Sentries MacNeil and Stovall, you'll be in charge of transporting my mother and sister. Sentries Hughes and Cameron, you'll take myself and Isleen, and we'll take point to the Academy. Mother's car will take point when we come back," I state, remembering vaguely from lessons with my mother a few years ago that the Alpha's vehicle never stays in the same position when traveling in a convoy. "Does that work for everyone?"

The Sentries nod silently, and Aedan flashes me a mischievous look and winks at me, seeming to understand my train of thought. Mother fishes out a couple pair of keys from the key locker to our Land Rovers, handing a pair to MacNeil and another to Aedan. Beta Nessa waves us goodbye and heads inside as we break of into our groups and load into the cars, with Aedan at the wheel, me in the passenger seat, and Sage and Isleen in the back.

We pull out of the garage and head down the road leading out of base, passing by a couple of wolves headed for a perimeter check. I'm not sure who one of them is but I recognize the other one, his near-black eyes and matching pelt identifying himself to me as Uncle Alistair. I smile at him and wave as we pass and he dips his head to me. After a couple minutes, we reach the front gate and I settle into my seat as we turn onto the main road that leads towards Cape Denia.

"So what's this all about, Saoirse?" asks Aedan, seeming laidback but eyes fixed intently on the road.

"What's what about?"

"This trip, idiot."

I can just barely make out Sage letting a small gasp out over Isleen's snickers from behind me. "Aedan, don't call her that," Sage scolds.

I turn back and smile humorously at her. "He's called me worse things in more formal settings. You can relax, Sage; you're in the Fun-Vee, not the Hum-Drum-Vee behind us with Mr. Stiff and The Boy Who's About to Cry Wolf," I laugh.

She smiles back at me graciously — and a bit embarrassed — and visibly relaxes. I turn my attention back to Aedan and respond, "One of the Great Elders said a professor of ours we had as first years might be able to lead us to some answers. Some ancient fairy witches or something. They're called the Sìthe, if I remember correctly."

"The Sìthe, really?" Sage pipes back up.

"Yeah, you know about them?"

"Well, not a lot, no. But my great-grandmother was a Rogue before she met her husband and he brought her to our Clan. Apparently they don't much care for the Clans anymore since we can protect ourselves, but Gran-Gran said they helped set up wards around the house her family lived in and help them stay undetected by the humans and Clans."

"We still have Rogues in Ossory? I thought they all... well, died out," says Isleen, a curious tone to her words. She adds sheepishly, "No offense to your Gran-Gran."

"None taken. And Gran-Gran's from a northern Barmston town, but as far as I know, they've been... wiped out in both regions. Gran-Gran only had one brother, but he died a couple years after she got married, and her parents moved over to that human city, Nairn, that sits a bit between our Clan borders and the Ceallachs' so they could be closer to her. They kept quiet there for a while, but they were drawn out and killed by the Ceallachs a couple years after I was born," she recalls, a bitter edge to her voice when she mentions our rival Clan.

"Why?" I ask.

This time it's Aedan that answers. "The Clans of Northern Ossory got together and signed an accord to hunt down and eradicate all the Rogues in the country back when your mother first became Alpha."

"Mother signed that?"

"Yeah. Apparently the Rogues were killing off any other conroicht they came across. No one's really sure why. The Róisín didn't really participate, though. There weren't a lot in our territory from what I understand, but the Ceallachs... well, you're aware of their reputation. There's a reason their Seal is a jagged sword."

"That's terrible," I murmur, not sure if I'm more upset about the murdered conroicht or Mother signing an accord agreeing to participate.

"It wasn't without provocation, Saoirse. They were killing us; Alpha Conall had to act. Your father was in support of it, too," he adds, knowing full well the extent of my loyalty to Father. "It was for the good of the Clan."

The car falls silent. Sage has a distant, somewhat scornful look on her face, and in the side view mirror, I can see Isleen fidgeting with the collar of her coat nervously, obviously made uncomfortable by the conversation. Aedan begins absentmindedly drumming up a rhythm with his fingers on the steering wheel, lost in thought. I turn towards my window, musing over the information I've just received. "Guess this isn't the Fun-Vee after all," I mutter.

* * * * *

Near the end of this depressing car ride, the rural hills that make up the vast countryside of Northern Ossory finally begins giving way to urban makeup of Cape Denia. It's only been a day, but it feels like forever since Moira and I were last at home, I think as we pass the street to our house near campus. As if somehow clued into my thoughts, my phone vibrates, signaling that I've received a text. I pick it up to see a message from Will on my screen:

Skipping class today?

I type out a quick response as the familiar medieval style wrought-iron gates of the main entrance to campus comes into view:

Long story. Let me know what I miss.

Soon after, we pull into guest parking at the administration building to pick up our parking passes and guest credentials for Mother, Isleen and the Sentries. To my surprise, the other group exits their car lighthearted and laughing about heaven knows what. Even my Mother is smiling, though it's still the same elegant, pleasant type of smile that you'd probably expect from someone who's all business. We gather on the sidewalk near the hoods of the two vehicles in typical protective Sentry formation: the Sentries position themselves at the four points of a square and the rest of us form a diamond within it. Mother tells us to wait outside while she picks up the credentials, but MacNeil — ever diligent, it seems — insists on accompanying her on the twenty pace walk to the building.

Aedan shifts his position a bit, forming a triangle around the rest of us in the center and immediately goes into Sentry mode as we wait for Mother to return. We stand there a bit awkwardly as a couple of students and faculty members pass us, giving my group annoyed glances for taking up an entire section of the walkway. Moira and Isleen are oblivious to this, though. My sister is typing rapidly into her phone, and my best friend is staring wide eyed at the grey and beige stone brick buildings of our campus and the faces drifting by.

After about a minute, she turns back to me. "Well, I can see why you never come home," she says.

"What do you mean?" I ask quizzically.

"I mean, aside from campus being beautiful, look at all these people! I know you, Saoirs," she replies, placing a hand on my arm and looking me in my eyes. "You've always been drawn to exploring the world but you've never been able to because of your duty. But, being here probably gives you some semblance of what you want, at least as far as the people go. I mean, there's conriocht from all over the world here, not to mention the upir and svetocher that I spotted, and I'm sure there's other supernatural strains that I haven't seen yet, too. The world kind of comes to you here, and I know that has to be a big draw to why you love it here."

"Huh. I never thought of it that way, but you're right."

"Always am," she beams.

I pull my eyebrows together in a show of thoughtfulness and let her words sink in. Truthfully, I hadn't thought about it that way, I realize. I'd mainly just come here to escape from my future, even just for a little while. But, as I consider her analysis, I find myself realizing that the world really is at my fingertips here. Even though most of my classes now are specific to conroicht, my first two years were spent around members of the entire supernatural community. I suddenly look around at the Academy grounds with new appreciation for it.

We fall into a bit of easy small talk as we wait for Mother and Sentry MacNeil to return with our credentials. Aedan and the others still quietly stand guard, but they seem to have relaxed enough to occasionally react to mine and Isleen’s conversation. Moira eventually puts her phone away and joins in, animatedly helping me answer Isleen’s questions about the Academy.

Finally, the rest of our group returns, and after placing the temporary parking licenses in the windows of our vehicles, we head off to Professor Sutter’s office on the far side of the grounds. We assume the square and diamond arrangement from before, with MacNeil, Mother, and Aedan on the front row, Moira and Isleen in the middle, and Kieran, myself, and Sage at the rear.

All of a sudden, Sage roughly grabs my arm and yanks me towards Isleen, with Aedan moving similarly with my Mother. The other two Sentries converge in a protective stance in front of Moira and push her back towards us, bracing themselves for an attack. Just now, I start to hear heavy footsteps and can just barely make out a figure charging towards our group.