Albína charges in once the door closes behind him. "We're late!"

"I'm not running down there," I snap. "I'm not even sure I want to go. But you pushing me is going to make me push back."

She stops with a few blinks of astonishment directed at me. I've never been that forceful with her. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to face them," I say softly. She frowns. "But I'll do it anyway. I just need to do it at my pace. I promise from this moment forward I'll be working my way there. Just not as fast as you would like me to. If you want, tell them I'm running late but I'll be there soon."

"I'll inform them, but you need to hurry," she says with a scowl.

Does this qualify as our first fight? Is it a fight at all? I'm not a fighter, I'm a doormat.

...Or I used to be. I've been fighting back a lot lately. Maybe I should stop.

She scampers off to her room and since I don't have any reason to hang around here, I might as well go now.

I open the door and jump when I find Dathid on the other side.

He laughs. "Should I apologize?"

I groan. "No. They can just add Frightens easily to the list."

"What list?" he asks as he turns to escort me to the meeting. I guess they got tired of fighting, or Dathid got tired of listening to it.

"My list of failings that the Queen likes to repeat to me every time I'm called to her royal presence. Being human is number one."

"Are you sure? I think it's Friends with faeries."

I smile at that.

"We probably didn't do you any favors by escorting you here. Although once you came through that portal the damage was done. She'll never believe we didn't know about you sooner than we did."

"Yeah, Matban Tadin cornered me after my first lesson with Kyrbast and questioned me about that."

Dathid laughs softly. I'm not sure why that's funny. "I don't know how we can convince them that we didn't know you were on the other side of a portal we can't use."

I don't want to talk about elves and faeries. They'll never trust each other. I came through a portal in Manahata and befriended the faeries first. That's enough of a crime for the elves to never trust me. But then I formed a close friendship with a faerie. And this particular faerie I think is worse than any other faerie, but I'm not sure why. They seem to hate him more than they hate King Ohad. Maybe because their precious Princess was forced to marry him.

"It's so quiet," I whisper when we enter the Temple. "Is the meeting over?"

"It's the Temple. It's always quiet."

He doesn't know that I can hear them without the pareixer. I should've told him, but I didn't think about it when Jonah told me not to tell anyone. Master Sarpedon knows. I think it would be okay if Dathid knew, too. Did Jonah include Dathid in the 'don't tell anybody' rule? I hope not.

Master Sarpedon is sitting in his part of the circle but his eyes are closed. Is he sleeping? Jonah waves us over and we each take a seat on either side of him.

I wrap my hand around the pareixer and everyone appears. They're sitting quietly in their seats while trying to look pleasant. It's almost funny.

"Agatha, thank you for joining us," Jonah says.

They all mumble some form of greeting. It's odd seeing them so contrite. It's so phony. Given the chance, Ekecheiria would stand up and backhand me across the face because of the embarrassment I've inflicted upon her.

"We called you here today because the council would like to address some of your concerns," Jonah says.

"Okay," I mumble.

"Kolomi," Jonah calls.

He stands and the pink glowing ball that translates for him floats in front of his chest. "Agatha, I would like to apologize for my comments during our last meeting. I did not take into consideration the impact those words would have on you."

I find it hard to believe that he didn't know that telling me he wanted to lock me up until I did what he wanted would not have an impact. He fidgets from side to side and I find his awkwardness unnerving. I just want him to sit already and get this over with.

He raises his head defiantly and proudly pronounces, "I am stepping down as a council member." His stance relaxes and he softens his tone. "I will still be available if my expertise is needed. But it has come to my attention that I may not be well equipped to counsel a human."

I don't know what to think about that. His words were phrased weird; he might've been fired. They got rid of him because he upset me. I don't know what to make of that either.

Kolomi disappears and I stare at the blank space in the circle. He got his wish; the council now has seven members. I almost smile at the irony.

Queen Ekecheiria has her head down. She's trying to look contrite, but the rage etched in her face is so remarkable I can see it from here. The others notice me staring at her and join me.

She must have felt everyone's eyes on her because she looks up, surprised at being caught. She takes a deep, agitated breath and stands. She paces the small circle and finally speaks.

"I am obviously outnumbered," she says as she eyes the group. "Agatha, you'll forgive me for my confusion. I find your behavior quite odd considering you seem to adequately handle yourself when we have our little skirmishes."

Yeah, because I do whatever you want. I wish I had the courage to say that out loud.

"You know I have not been a supporter of yours. I still have my doubts. I have had my suspicions about your ties to Manahata and certain individuals." She and Dathid exchange glares. "But I want you to stay here in Cromsmead as my ward. For as long as you wish. I grant you full diplomatic immunity, which means you can never be imprisoned for any reason. Although I ask that you not commit any crimes while you are staying with us."

This would've been more convincing if her expression didn't look like she was eating a cockroach. But she's actually trying to be nice to me. That has to hurt. She must believe on some level that I can do what she needs.

"However, your training schedule must remain as is," she adds. "You are far behind where you need to be to complete your objective."

Well, she had to take at least one shot. Two, if I count the one she took at Dathid.

"Agatha, what have you decided?" Jonah asks.

I stand. I don't want to make any decisions until I have time to think. "I want to thank you all for your support. I will take everything you have said under advisement. I need some time to consider everything. I will let you know what my decision is by the end of the day tomorrow."

The groups takes a communal breath. I guess since I didn't stalk out of the meeting like I did the other day, they must realize I'm wavering. 

Thank you for reading : )