Ian blinked at her. “You do not show this side of yourself to Mekos.”
“I didn’t survive Olina and her mother by being a wimp. Turn around. I’m going to get out of bed and I have no clothes on.”
“I’ve seen—”
“Don’t say it!” she ordered.
Ian turned away.
As Aradella rapidly pulled on clothes she asked, “Do you know how to get there?”
“You can’t take on those women by yourself.”
His words made Aradella think of the reality of facing two extremely powerful witches. She checked that Ian was looking out the window, then she pulled the wooden box out of the bag. She took a heavy cloth off the little table by the chair, then opened the box to look at the knife. She could barely see thepoisonous leaves but they were there. Carefully, she placed the knife onto the cloth, rolled it up, and put it deep into the pocket of her loose trousers. A tunic covered the bulge. “No, but I can watch them and follow them, while you go find Mekos. You can turn around now.”
When Ian looked back, he saw one of the sexless Empyreans. Aradella had put on the mask and she was camouflaged into being one of “them.”
She lifted her hair. “Hide in here and lead me to where they are. Is it far?”
“Not at all. But there are more playboards. There’s also a shop selling little gingerbread houses.”
She was about to leave, but then she pulled the medallion out of the bag and put it around her neck.Urah wanted this, did she?she thought. Maybe she could bargain with it. Or maybe just having it would protect her—or maybe it would turn her into a half goat. She had no idea which.
Minutes later, they were outside Davro’s box house, and Ian knew where there was an elevator—something that was new to Aradella.
Once they were on the street, she kept her head down. For all she knew, the people could tell each other apart even with her mask on and she didn’t want to risk being exposed. But then, the people around them all seemed very busy—and excited. That was understandable since they were on constant holiday and rushing from one ghastly entertainment to another.
Ian, hidden in her hair, buzzed loudly to be sure she saw the gingerbread store. There was a window display. Some of the little houses had candied flames shooting out of them. There were tiny figures of Tanek, Kaley, and Sojee.
“I wish I could get an image of Arit made out of cake,” Ian said into her ear, sounding wistful.
Aradella tried not to look at the brightly lit boards above them. She didn’t mind the ones that were about Earth that made no sense to her, but she hated the others—and fearedwhat she hadn’t seen. Were there pictures of her and Mekos at the waterfall?
“Here!” Ian said.
The building was glass across the front and there were mannequins of the bland Empyreans—or should she now call them Yuzans?—with promises of soft skin, fragrant perfumes, and rejuvenation.
“No makeup but slash and dice your face is all right?” Aradella mumbled. “Gotta stay young or you’ll be sent to Abicis.” She started for the door then halted. “How do I find them?”
“Room 6B. I’ll distract the others while you slip in there.”
She opened the door and went in. It was bustling inside with people in identical tunics of off-white. More of them sat in chairs. For all that their faces were being coated with various colors of creams, the people still looked alike.
“They’re too afraid to stand out,” Aradella whispered to Ian.
“Could I help you?” a person asked.
Before Aradella could reply, Ian flew to a shelf and began pushing glass containers to the floor. In the resulting chaos, Aradella hurried down the hall, slipped into room 6B, and closed the door behind her.
It was an austere room with cabinets and a sink on one side. In the middle was a tall table. Lying on it was a woman-shaped form covered fully with a white cloth. Aradella knew that it was Olina. The height of her was unmistakable.
Aradella put her hand on the hilt of the knife in her pocket. She hoped the poison of the leaves would not come through the cloth.
“Have you come for me?” Olina asked from under the cloth. She sounded amused.
Aradella said nothing, but she moved a bit closer. Outside, she heard more crashes. Ian was still keeping people busy.
Olina sat up, the cloth falling away. She had on one of the Empyrean tunics, and she looked years younger.
