Valona smiled. “I’ll miss you when you die.” As the two of them went inside, the lizard slid down their side of the wall and followed them into the house.
Immediately, Mekos held Aradella and they soared to the ground.
“We have to find him,” Aradella said.
“Yes.” Mekos’s ears twitched, he breathed deeply, and he squinted his eyes as he looked about.
Aradella saw three birds in a tree. “Help us find him. Please,” she said urgently.
The birds swooped down, went under low-hanging leaves, then to the ground.
Mekos pulled the plants aside to expose a thick spider’s web. In the center was the tiny, unconscious man. The lower half of his left leg was gone and the stump was thickly coated in webbing silk. The bleeding had been stopped. To the side was a large black spider, hiding and watching.
“Thank you,” Aradella said to the spider, then she reached down and carefully lifted the little man.
“He’s a Never,” Mekos said. “He—”
“I know. We must tell Arit. She’ll know what to do.”
“How do you know—?” he began but stopped, then said, “Arit! I need you.” There was no response. He grit his teeth. “She is bonded to my father and she thinks I’m useless, so she rarely obeys me.” He spoke more urgently. “I know you’re not needed by my father right now, and I’ve found a Never who needs help.” They waited but nothing happened.
Aradella said, “He’s amaleNever.”
Instantly, the air fluttered and tiny Arit appeared. This time, she had on a pink dress, her long hair glistening. She stared atthe man lying on Aradella’s open palm as though seeing something she didn’t believe existed.
“Is there something that can heal him?” Mekos asked. “If it’s here, Aradella can find it.”
“Toris berries,” Arit said.
“I saw them!” Aradella slipped the man into Mekos’s hand, then ran deeper into the garden. In seconds, she returned with a handful of the black berries.
“Are they poisonous?” he asked.
“Not to touch, but for humans to eat, yes.” She looked at Arit, who was standing on a foxglove flower with its bell shape.
“Would you mash them?” Arit asked.
Aradella didn’t trust any plant in that garden not to kill whatever it touched. Her dress had been repeatedly snagged so she tore away a strip and rolled the berries inside it.
“Put him on the cloth.” Arit looked at Mekos. “Can you call the birds?” She sounded doubtful.
Mekos gave a quick eye roll. “I’m not my father but I believe I can manage that. Come,” he said as he gently placed the man on the big berries on the fabric. Four birds arrived. He and Aradella watched as Arit mounted a bird and the other three carried away the wounded Never in the package.
When they were alone, Mekos looked at Aradella. They didn’t need to speak to know that they wanted to get out of that garden. He clasped her to him and they soared over the wall.
They’d barely touched the ground when Mekos said, “She wants to make a magic cream out of you.”
Aradella shrugged. “The very definition of a princess is that someone is always trying to kill us. But it’s usuallyafterwe marry them.”
Mekos frowned. “This is not a joke. We need to stop this. We have to tell people what’s going on.”
“Tell them that the old legend is true? That Valona is making a beauty cream that keeps her young forever? You don’t knowwomen. They’d probably offer their daughters in exchange for a pot of that cream.” She turned away, walking rapidly, and Mekos followed her.
“Kaley might know about this,” he said. “She knows stories that happen here. I think maybe they’ve already happened on Earth, but I’m not sure. Get down!”
The two of them flattened themselves on the ground. Aradella heard nothing, but Mekos’s ears were alert.
“It’s that lizard,” he said. “He’s searching for the Never and he smells it on us.” They wiped their hands on the grass but they knew it wouldn’t be enough. “That thing will stalk us. I’d like to catch it, but those claws are too much to deal with. Oh, for a bow and arrow. If only I had something to throw over it, I could get it.”
