“Mekos is leaving,” he said.
She listened but heard nothing. “You’re sure?”
“With a child who is a quarter fox, I had to learn to hear him even when he made no sound.”
Kaley started to get up, but he caught her arm.
“This is something he has to do on his own. A very heavy burden has been put on him.”
“They killed Valona on their own and that was a mistake,” she said. “They should have come to us.”
“It’s what you and I did. We killed your gingerbread witch.”
“But they did it on a much bigger scale.” She pulled back to look at him. “You’re proud of him.”
“When I see my son becoming aman? Yes, I am very proud.”
She snuggled in his arms and they were silent for a moment. “I have a confession to make. I thought maybeyoumight sneak away, so I put that box of magic items that Garen gave me in Perus’s saddle.”
“You mean the box that youstole?”
“Tomato, tomahto.” She shrugged.
“More Earth humor.” He could tell that she was worried and he wanted to distract her—and himself. “I was thinking that we should tear this whole place down and start fresh. We’ll take everything to the ground. Flatten it all.”
“What?!” she said too loudly, then quieted. “That’s a horrible idea.”
“Is it? Tell me why.”
Not far from them, Sojee smiled. He was glad that his three children were daughters. Girls tended to stay where he could keep an eye on them. Well, maybe not his eldest, but that was adifferent matter. At least Shay and Bree were safely tucked away, their minds full of dresses and who their father would choose to be their husbands. Sojee had a couple of good men picked out. Solid, reliable, prosperous. He knew there was a “problem” with Bree since she could probably beat any of them at arm wrestling, but a wise and patient man could overlook that.
Smiling, he rolled over and went back to sleep.
“Do you know the way?” Aradella asked as soon as they were out of sight of the Homestead. They were still over Selkan and heading north.
“Kaley told me about it, including how to get there.”
“The Great Storyteller.” She looked ahead. “What is that?” It looked like fog but it was so dense it appeared to be solid.
“The Mist.”
She could feel his heart beat faster, as though he sensed danger. “Do we go through it?”
“Sometimes it’s easy to get through, but sometimes it’s a stone wall.”
“Can we go above it?”
“That’s what I’m going to try to do. Hold on.”
She clutched him hard as Perus went straight up. It took all her leg muscles to stay on. It was cowardly of her, but she closed her eyes, too afraid to watch. It seemed as though it would go on forever, but suddenly, they leveled out. She opened her eyes and looked behind them. They were past the Mist and gently going down.
“That was the best!” Mekos said. “Didn’t you think so?”
“Delightful,” she murmured. “Look at that! Are they real?”
Below them were farms but they were too perfect to be genuine. At home, farms were full of manure, piles of rubbish, and burned areas. But these were perfect, green and fertile. The houses were immaculate and the people were like moving statues.
“Kaley’s mother said they’re called Obeyers. They’re undersome enchantment and they’ll do anything you tell them to do. Papá said it was the scariest place he’d ever been.”
