What is Best

“I’m going to erase your memories and take you back to the human world.”

When John said these words, I realized that I was being dragged down a shiny hallway by a madman. I dug in my heels and we skidded to a stop. “When did that become a good idea?! Besides, aren’t all the gates shut?”

John tried to tug me forward again. “There are other ways to get there.”

I resisted. “How will this solve anything? You at least have to explain your logic!”

“No, I don’t. You’ll just forget anyway.”

“Let go! I’m not moving until you explain!”

“This is for your own safety! You should never have been brought here.”

I finally broke my hand out of his grip. He looked so unfamiliar in that moment. His abundant hair probably had something to do with it. Deciding what was best for me so suddenly and inconsiderately was just like him, though. 

“So... you were one of those faeries that thought I shouldn’t have been allowed to remember anything?” I felt betrayed.

John frowned at me. “Don’t be dramatic, Ashlyn! We don’t have time for this.”

“No, you stop being dramatic! You always think that going over the top is the best way to do things, and you’re wrong! I’m not going to go back until this is over!” I argued.

“It will be over for you: you’ll be safe and sound on the other side. This is the only thing I can do to help you.”

“It’s not helping me!” I tugged on his long sleeve for emphasis. There were some other faeries nearby; we could hear them talking. John pulled me around the corner, and behind a statue.

“Look, I can’t fight against Brand.” he whispered. “I can’t even stand up to him. There’s a slim chance he’ll forgive me for this, since it’s what he wanted in the first place. Ciaran and the new king will come back, and this will work out somehow, but I can’t let you be used as bait. I don’t want to see you get caught in the crossfire!”

“Why not? You tried to get me to believe that letter from Brand was real a few days ago. I would have been in the same situation anyway. Why does it matter more now?”

“Brand is more desperate now. He’s more unstable. You don’t understand, this man will do anything to get what he wants!”

“I understand! So hide me, that’s fine! But don’t take me away completely.”

John rubbed his forehead, as if I was giving him a headache. “Ashlyn. I’ve been here for years. I’ve seen so much injustice, like that half-goblin getting blamed for all those murders when the evidence was so clear. I was a soldier here until the old king promoted me, and even after that promotion I was powerless. I couldn’t help the man wrongfully in prison, I couldn’t help the old king when he was sick and possessed by a demon, and I couldn’t help the new king when he needed my support. This is the only thing I can do.”

John had been that soldier who had come to see Jinge in prison. John had looked after me all those years, without being able to tell me who he really was.

“But, John,” I pointed out. “Donal and Ciaran are sure to come looking for me. What if the time they waste looking for me messes up their plan? What if there is something I can do to help them? If I can distract Brand at the right time, they can defeat him! I have to stay and do what I can, or else... I’ll be powerless too.”

John took both of my hands and sighed, bending his tall head down until it bonked into mine. “You are such a child.”

From the way he said this, I think it was supposed to be touching, but I was kind of insulted. He leaned his head back again, and I looked up to meet his eyes.

Bad idea. His gray eyes were curiously strong-- almost intense.

“Forget it, Ashlyn.” John said.

Crap. Panic crumpled up in my chest. “Stop it!” I protested, but I could feel that intangible link Ciaran had told me about forming between us. I tried to break free, but he held my gaze and my hands tighter.

“It’ll be okay. Just forget all about this.” John repeated. “Forget and go back to where you were before.”

“No!” I wanted to shake my head, but felt paralyzed. I had to do something! I had to stop the spell. This idiot was going to ruin everything!

"Just let it go, and forget." John slowly released one of my hands and reached up to touch my forehead, the same way that Ciaran had when we had first met, before I had even known his name. I wouldn’t remember Ciaran’s name now that I did know it. I wasn’t supposed to remember him. As he let go, one of his fingernails tapped lightly against the ring around my thumb-- the black ring Jinge had given me. John’s hand was millimeters away from my head when I reached my middle finger over my thumb and spun the ring around it.

I felt no different, but John’s hand froze, and from the look on his face, something was wrong. I jerked my other hand away from his, and he staggered, reaching out like he’d lost his balance.

“Ashlyn?” he called uneasily. “What have you done?”

Trying not to make a sound, I stepped back, going further into the shadows of the corner we were in.

“This won’t solve anything, Ashlyn.” he was starting to sound like one of those insane ax murderers from a horror film. “If I don’t find you, Brand will.” He tried looking into the dim corner where I was with and without his glasses.

Since I was cornered, I decided to try creeping around him, although he might see me in the torchlight coming from the intersecting hall. Just as I was stepping around him, he swung his head in my direction, and reached out. I ran down the hall, away from him.

John sounded really annoyed now. “Ashlyn, this is pointless.” A ball of light appeared in the palm of his hand, and started to grow larger and brighter. “You can’t hide in the shadows if there are none, so come out now!”

Footsteps were approaching. Someone was running towards us. John extinguished the ball of light and stood at attention with his hands behind his back. It was Emilia, holding her skirt away from her feet with one hand and looking beautifully distressed.

“John, John!” she cried. “Where is Ashlyn? She’s not in her room!”

“What? How did she get out?” John demanded, in a flawless performance.

“I don’t know! I thought you would.”

“No, of course not. Pull yourself together, we’ll find her.”

“It’s not just that. John, they’ve found him. He’s here in the castle. I think Brand’s going to kill him!”

“Who?”

“Prince Ciaran! He came charging at the castle gates, demanding that Brand return Ashlyn, and they’ve captured him.”

What the heck?! I made a face in the dark. That didn’t sound like Ciaran at all, unless Jinge’s death drove him crazy.

John exclaimed something similar. “Why would Brand kill him?”

“Because! Prince Ciaran challenged him to a duel! They’ll start fighting any minute!”

A duel?!

“I was ordered to bring Ashlyn there at once! Where could she have gone?” Emilia wrung her hands.

Huddled against the wall, I felt frozen. Maybe it was part of some plan, and maybe I was supposed to go witness this duel so they could rescue me. It sounded more like Ciaran had gone insane, and that he was going to die recklessly on purpose. This made me very mad.

            John turned to where he estimated I was, and started to say “Well?” but I already running past both of them and back to where the duel would be. I didn’t know where it would be held, but there were so many faeries rushing around, and all heading to the same place. I followed them while half-invisible: my green skirts flying, and my fist ready to break up the fight and punch Ciaran in the face before he dared to die uselessly.