Fate’s Pawn

Raziel turned and had to look way up to see who was restraining him. Roland towered over Raziel and Hoeru despite being less than a year older than them. With anyone else so large, Raziel might have wondered how he'd gotten behind them without being noticed, but Roland was the quietest person Raziel knew. Roland always moved as though the world around him was made of porcelain.

As he watched the scene between Miles and Lucas unfolding, Roland's face was impassive but that wasn't surprising. Raziel had only rarely seen him so much as smile or frown. His thick jaw and hard, flat features were almost always set in the same bland configuration. Even now his face gave away almost nothing while he looked on. The bullies continued to push Miles to throw one of the books in the fire. Only the way Roland's lips pressed together into a hard line gave Raziel even the slightest inkling that he cared about the proceedings.

Raziel considered pulling away and moving to help Miles regardless of the larger boy. He saw Hoeru glance at him, looking for direction. If it came down to it, Raziel and Hoeru would fight all three of them. But he didn't think it would go down that way. Roland was one of Miles' few friends. There was nothing in Roland's face or posture to imply that he was enjoying what was happening to Miles. What could he want from this? Raziel decided to watch as long as nothing escalated further. Hoeru followed his lead, allowing Roland to continue to hold him back.

Miles stood frozen, staring at the stack of books in Samuel's arms. His face was blotchy red, his mousy brown hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He reached out towards the books. He swallowed hard and put a hand on the topmost book.

"Go on," Lucas said, gleeful. Miles closed his eyes, resolving himself.

Then he grabbed the whole stack from Samuel and tried to run. He didn't get far. Miles' eyes were wide like a frightened horse and his feet moved fast, but he didn't see the curl in the carpet. He slipped and the books toppled out of his hands. Miles tried to catch them but only succeeded in falling to the ground himself.

Raziel expected Lucas and Samuel to move in then, maybe to attack Miles or to grab a book and throw it into the fire before Miles could move to save it. But they just laughed. The sound made Raziel clench his jaw so hard that it hurt. He tried to move forward but the hand on his shoulder stayed firm until Lucas and Samuel moved on, leaving Miles scrambling on the ground.

Only when they had left did the large boy move. Raziel followed, confused. He glanced at Hoeru, but the changeling had no answers as to what had just transpired. There was no way someone so big could've been afraid of those two, was there?

Miles' glasses had fallen off when he'd hit the ground, and while he was frantically searching for them, Roland plucked them off the ground and held them out to him. Miles flinched away at first, but when he realized that it wasn't Samuel or Lucas, his red face flushed brighter in embarrassment.

"Roland?" Miles asked once he could see clearly again.

"You did well," Roland said. Miles scowled.

"Whatever," Miles said as he began to gather the scattered books.

"You didn't give in. That's winning," Roland said, trying to catch Miles' eyes.

"I ran away. I was afraid."

"Doesn't matter. You fought."

Miles didn't reply except to pause for a moment considering what Roland had said. He shook his head, but it wasn't as forceful as his other denials. Hoeru had moved to perch in one of the chairs, watching the humans with confused curiosity while Raziel had begun helping to stack the books. It didn't take long, and Miles seemed grateful for the silent work. Once they'd gathered everything, Miles moved to return the books to their shelves, but after looking at the stack for a moment, he frowned.

"One's missing," he said, looking around. Raziel did the same and saw that one book had slid beneath Hoeru's chair. Hoeru saw where they were looking and hopped out of the chair, picked it up, and handed it to Raziel. It had a map of Arcas on the cover. Suddenly remembering the reason he'd come to the library in the first place, he flipped through the book excitedly.

"What is it?" Miles asked when he saw the expression on Raziel's face. Raziel opened his mouth but was quickly losing his enthusiasm. None of the maps looked like his father's. He tossed the book onto Miles' stack.

"What?" Miles asked again.

Raziel hesitated, feeling self conscious. Instinct said to try to play it off, but as he looked at the stack of books Miles was holding and then around at the hundreds of books filling the library, he realized just how little hope he had of finding what he was looking for on his own. And the forest was so much bigger than this one room library.

He'd never get this done on his own. He had to have Hoeru's help. And for that he had to have Miles' help.

"I was looking for a map like this," Raziel said opening his father's notebook and showing Miles. "I wanted to see if this Dun Mac Tire place was near here."

Miles looked at the map for only a moment or two. Then he looked at the book on top of the stack.

"Well, if you want a map of the immediate area, this is going to be useless. It's all northern geography. You want something more like—" Miles trailed off for a moment as he glanced around the room. He set his stack down, moved to a nearby shelf, and after a moment's perusing selected a book. "—this," he said finally, handing it to Raziel.

Raziel didn't bother moving to the chair; he just collapsed his legs into a cross-legged sitting position on the ground. Maybe he could do this on his own after all. He flipped open the book and began comparing random maps to his father's. Miles tolerated this for all of thirty seconds before he pulled the book out of Raziel's hands.

"Let me see that," he said, pointing to Azariel's book. Raziel held up his dad's book for Miles to see. He glanced twice at the map in Azariel's book as he consulted the glossary in the back. It only took him a couple moments to find the right page.

"There," he said, handing the other book back to Raziel.

"Oh. Thanks," Raziel said, wonder in his voice as if Miles had just done some impossible bit of magic.

The maps weren't exactly the same. The one in the library book was a little bigger, showed a little more, but Miles was right. It showed the area around Peritura in beautiful detail. But Dun Mac Tíre was nowhere to be seen.

"It isn't there," Raziel said, frowning but continuing to search the page.

Miles' brows knit together in concern. "Let me see," he said in a tone that suggested he was insulted by the implication that a book might be wrong. But as he scanned the pages, it became clear that he couldn't find it either.

"One second," he said, standing and striding into the stacks with swift, confident steps. He returned moments later with several more books. He sat down beside Raziel and began to flip through pages of the top book. A minute later he set that one aside for the second. It didn't take long for that one to join the first.

Raziel looked to Roland, who just twitched his shoulders in what could pass for a shrug. By the time Miles had worked his way through his stack of books, he was wearing an expression that wasn't quite anger but wasn't just annoyance either.

"It isn't there. It isn't in any of them. Let me see this," he said reaching suddenly for Azariel's book. Raziel's hand shot out, smacking Miles' away before snatching up the book himself. Miles looked abashed and rubbed at his hand.

"Sorry," Raziel said. He opened his mouth to say more but seemed to think better of it. Guilt tugged at Raziel. This wasn't going to win him Miles' help."It was my father's. It's all I've got from him," he said, fighting with himself about whether or not he should apologize.

"Oh. I'm... sorry."

It took a conscious effort, but Raziel eased the tension out of his shoulders. He could feel Hoeru's eyes on him, knew without looking what the changeling was urging him to do. He knew every logical reason he had to do this, but it didn't help ease the emotional weight of it. Still, he had to do it.

"It's alright. Just, be careful is all," he said, offering Miles the book like he was tearing off his own hand to do it. Miles nodded and took it gently. Raziel had saved the map's place with a finger. Miles looked over the page.

"I don't know what to tell you. Everything else looks accurate. This place just isn't on any of the maps."

"Maybe we're looking at old maps?" Roland suggested.

"No, these two," Miles said, gesturing to a couple of the books in his stack, "were printed in the last five years. Besides, 'Dun Mac Tíre' is a changeling name. Changelings haven't had a strong presence here for a hundred years or more. More importantly, they tend to be pretty nomadic. Why would they have a fort here?"

"Fort?" Raziel asked, confused.

"'Dun' means 'fort' in Changeling."

"You speak Changeling?"

"No, no. I can just read it a little. I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right."

"You are," Hoeru said. Miles gave him a sheepish smile. Hoeru turned to Raziel and lanced him with his eyes. Raziel couldn't understand why Hoeru didn't just go ahead and ask where the fort was himself. It would save Raziel the trouble of trying to explain it.

"Do you think you could tell Hoeru where that is?"

"The fort?" Miles asked, confused.

"Yeah."

"It's... right there." He pointed to the dot on Azariel's map. Raziel barely kept himself from rolling his eyes.

"No like, where it really is. How to get there. In the real world."

Miles blinked a few times and then glanced at the maps.

"I suppose I could. But why?"

Raziel pressed his lips together like it could hold back the words he knew he had to say. He told himself it was the only way.

"Because I need to see it. Hoeru's the only one that can get me there. And you're the only person I know who actually knows how to read a map."

"I... don't know if that's such a good idea," Miles said, discomfort filling his voice. "Have you thought about asking Dominic? Or your grandfather?"

"Seriously? There's no way they'd say yes."

"Then why should I?"

"Because..." Raziel said floundering. "Because, I don't know. Because we're friends?"

That set Miles back on his heels. He squirmed, visibly distressed. Unable to answer the question he turned to Roland.

"What do you think?" he asked. Roland considered for a long, uncomfortable time. Raziel was almost ready to scream when Roland spoke at last.

"Why do you need to go there?" he asked. Raziel bit his lip. This was already so much more than he was comfortable with. But if he was in this deep, he might as well go all in.

"My dad was an archeologist. He studied a lot of old places. He was looking for something and I... I want to go where he went. See what he saw. Maybe there's nothing there. But I think if I go, I'll find something. I just..." He paused struggling to find the right words. "I just have to. And I'll find a way whether you help me or not. But it would be a lot easier if you helped me."

Raziel put every ounce of emotion he could into the words, trying to make Miles and Roland understand just how important this was. Miles wasn't going to answer. He looked away, back to the book that was still in his hand. Gingerly, he leafed through the pages. Raziel wanted to snatch it out of his hands to stop him, but he forced himself to stay still while they both waited on Roland. The silence dragged on and on as Roland considered.

"Roland?" Miles asked finally, his voice hushed. Raziel and Roland locked eyes, Raziel searching for any sign that might tell him what the larger boy was thinking. Roland was still silent for a length of time that was nearly unbearable to Raziel.

"I think he's telling the truth. He's going one way or another. He'll be safer with friends."

Miles winced as though he'd been afraid that was what Roland would say. Raziel could see the hesitation in him. Miles wasn't one to break rules lightly. When he answered, he still wouldn't meet Raziel's eyes.

"Alright. I'll help."