Page 66 of Perfectly Petite Shorts
“How much land are we talking about?” Hamish asked.
“Over a hundred acres.”
“And how much are you arguing tosave?”
“All of it,” I immediately answered. It was beyond important that all the land remain intact.
Hamish shook his head and the little spark of hope I’d allowed purchase was snuffed out. “Clarice v Boise.”
“What?”
“It was a case argued sixty-six years ago. A dryad sued the city of Boise claiming they had no right to the land her roots were born to, considering it would mean her death. Fairy law found in her favor. However, it was deemed only an acre necessary to keep Clarice alive. The city was only required to shift their plans for the freeway, not eliminate them completely. There is precedent, thus your argument would hold for an acre at most. Certainly not more than that.”
“But—”
“No tree, dryad or not, requires one hundred acres ofland. While I will admit that yourloopholehas merit, it will only get you so far and certainly no farther.”
My hands fisted while anger and frustration wared with the heavy weight of loss. “It’s not right.”
“It’s the law,” Hamish coldly stated.
“Fuck the law!” I stood and paced. Pushing my hair behind an ear, small branches and twigs sprouted from my ear edges, my hair hopelessly catching in their twiggy web.
“The law is what maintains peace and order.” Again, there was no inflection in Hamish’s voice. It was simple fact and nothing more to him.
“Why do they get to decide?”
“Who? Jamila’s children?” Hamish asked as he calmly remained sitting where he was. “Because she deemed it so. From what I understand, Jamila left her land to her children, thus, it is their decision.”
I slapped a hand on my chest, my thrumming heart beating against it. “But I’m her child too. She just didn’t know it before she died. I…” Two steps brought me back to the chair, and I collapsed into it. “She loved me. It was her love and magic that changed who I was and made me who I am. How is that any different than her other children?”
Head down, I stared at my fingers. They were no longer humanoid-shaped but twisted branches with delicate leaves. Focusing, I regained control, reforming my limbs into pink flesh. My eyes felt puffy, and my cheeks wet with the tears I hadn’t wanted to shed.
Furiously wiping the wetness from my face, I found the sudden silence irksome. Glancing up, I said, “What? Nothing to say? No sarcastic comeback?”
To my utter surprise, condescension wasn’t the expression twisting Hamish’s dashing features. Instead, there was something else… Something predatory.
“Repeat what you just said,” Hamish ordered.
I stared, lips parted and thoughts jumbled. “Which part?”
“The end,” he quickly answered.
My eyebrows scrunched as I struggled to remember my emotional tirade. “I said Jamila’s love and magic created me.”
“Yes, yes.” Hamish rolled his fingers in the air. “And then what?”
“I…I said how am I any different than Jamila’s other children?”
A wicked smile spread its way across Hamish’s face. That grin looked downright evil, and yet my heart pounded with excitement. That grin meant something. I don’t know how I knew, but I was certain that grin held the key to victory.
“How indeed,” Hamish whispered, his voice filled with anticipation. “How indeed.” Then Hamish said the words I longed to hear. “I’ll take your case.”
Hamish
I’d heard many describe Fairy law as tricky. While I supposed it could be viewed this way, I saw it as a challenge. Its intricacies were a web one needed to navigate and tease their way through. It was a game I enjoyed playing, and right now I was pleasantly immersed in the hunt.
The first step was sending an immediate cease and desist order to the developer. The land sale had already gone through, which would complicate our case, but only a little. If I built Todrik’s case correctly, I’d prove the sale wasn’t lawful, and therefore the land would default back to Jamila’s heirs.
