Keeva reached down and petted him. “Neither are ye usual, my fine ginger moggy. Dinna be gettin’ all jealous and hissy about it.”
“Sounds like a visit to the bookshop is in order.” Excitement growing, Lexi smiled as Keeva joined her. This had to be it, the ability to communicate with animals, and their willingness to do as she asked. Why else would Keeva suddenly be all smiles and ready to join her rather than try to escape?
Aylryd trotted along beside her, acting extremely pleased with himself as well, but when they reached the bookshop, he leapt up onto the wooden bench out front and stretched across its dark green seat, obviously declining to go inside.
The bell above the door jangled a cheery greeting, making the enormous black cat that was asleep on the counter barely crack open an eye and yawn.
“Be right with ye, me loves,” called out a happy, trilling voice from somewhere among the amazing clutter of bookshelves and display tables. Stained glass wind chimes hung from the ceiling, gently turning as if gazing around the room. Pots of bright red geraniums filled the windowsills. A pot-bellied stove painted a startling shade of aqua squatted in the corner. Couches with comfortably saggy cushions surrounded it. “If ye would be so good as to let Mr. Midnight know what ye might be looking for,” the chirpy voice said, “I’ll set to finding it for ye.”
Lexi approached the sleek, panther-like feline and felt an indescribable need to curtsy. She didn’t, but she did offer him a gracious nod. “Hello, Mr. Midnight. I’m Lexi Vine, and I’m not really looking for a book. I’m mainly looking for answers, a confirmation, if you will.”
“’Tis about time ye came to see me. I had begun to doubt the good I’d heard about ye.”
Stunned into silence, Lexi blinked. Had that rich, deep, cultured voice actually come from the cat?
“Well, of course, it is my voice. What did ye expect me to sound like?”The feline shifted with a heavy sigh, then stretched into a more comfortable position on the counter.“I had truly looked forward to this conversation, but now, I wonder why. Not everyone can hear me, ye ken? I’d held high hopes for yerself.”
“There’s no need to be insulting. The past day or two have been a little rough.”
Midnight blinked his great, golden eyes and looked insufferably bored.
Lexi waited for him to continue the conversation, but he appeared to be finished. There was nothing to do but ask him, no matter how foolish she felt. “Is my superpower communicating with animals, and them being willing to help me?”
“Yes, Ms. Vine, and now that ye have finally come to realize that it is within yerself and not merely an extension of Pegasus’s powerful mark, I suggest ye hie yerself to Mairwen so the pair of ye may visit the mothers. The creatures of the Seventh Realm cry out for yer help and leadership. Ye are sorely needed to end the war.”
“Is Jeros safe?”
Midnight slowly blinked again and flicked an ear.“He lives. For now.”
“For now?” She gulped in a deep breath and nearly choked on it. “He lives for now?”
“Sevenrest is surrounded by the Fifth Kingdom. The Seventh Realm has fallen. King Salfan and Queen Nyna have been executed. As have Prince Jeros’s brothers.”
“I have to get back there. This minute!” She blew out of the shop, running hard to the meeting hall. “Mairwen! Mairwen! We have to go now. I know it’s the animals. My superpower is communicating with animals!” She burst into the building to find Mairwen calmly sitting at the head of the long council table as if waiting for her. “Did you hear me?”
“I believe all of Scotland heard ye,” Mairwen said as she drew her tarot cards out of her wide sleeve and started shuffling them. “And how is communicating with animals a superpower?”
This was a test. Lexi could smell it. “I can get them to help by talking to the enemies’ animals. I can have them refuse to engage in the war. The animals and I can stage our own revolt!”
Mairwen’s faint smile convinced Lexi she had gotten the answer right. “Let’s go,” she urged. “Sevenrest is surrounded. Midnight said so.”
“We canna pass through the mist until the mothers grant us permission to do so.” Mairwen dealt the tarot spread as if this day were no different from any other. Without looking up from her cards, she asked, “Do ye think yerself ready to meet with the goddesses? To plead yer case with Bride, Cerridwen, and Danu?”
“I’m ready to plead my case with whoever it takes to get me back to Jeros.”
Pausing with her hand hovering above the deck, Mairwen lifted her gaze to hers. Her expression twisted Lexi’s heart. It was not one of good news. “The mothers could refuse us, child. There is always that possibility.”
“They can’t.”
Mairwen tipped a stern nod her way. “They could. Never assume anything when it comes to the goddesses.”
Lexi clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles popped. The goddesses would grant her entry to the Seventh Realm, or they would regret it. She didn’t know how or what she would do, but she would become their worst nightmare. Seems like she’d read a myth or story somewhere long ago in college. A story that what the gods and goddesses feared most was being forgotten. She’d also read that Cerridwen had a pet hen and a sow. Or maybe it was that she had turned into a hen and a sow. Lexi couldn’t remember for sure. Either way, if there were any animals present, she’d do her best to coerce them into helping her, and if that didn’t work, she’d swear to spend the rest of her life convincing all of mankind that the gods and goddesses were nothing more than fairy tales that were better off forgotten.
“When do we leave?” she asked. “As my grandmother always said, ‘Times a wastin’.’”
* * *
It had been a long time,longer than this particular age, since Mairwen had escorted a mortal to an audience with the mothers. As they walked, she arched a brow and gave Lexi a stern look, hoping the lass would remember all she had told her.
