“No! I adore my wife, my child, and even the new one who isn’t born yet. My point is that if you’re here and you’re going to Abicis, probably to find Qip, then there’s a reason behind it.”
“I’m sure there is.” Bree’s eyes widened. “You have powers. Maybeyoucould go with Aradella. Or your mother’s Book could go. I can pay you. I might be persuaded to sell my soul if it gets me out of spending days with Aradella.”
He frowned. “I don’t mean to ‘take over’ as my wife accuses me, but it sounds like you need to stand up for yourself.”
“No one talks back to Aradella! Even bad-tempered Queen Olina is scared of her. Aradella could make a genius feel stupid.” Bree took a breath. “And I can do nothing in retaliation! Someone saved me from an ultimate humiliation and I promised that in return I’d be nice to Aradella. Nice! I’d like to—” Bree made a motion of twisting and snapping a body in half. But then, she sighed. “I’m sure there’s a good reason for all of this and that I must endure it. It’s as your father said, ‘Everything affects everything else.’ But being with Aradella is a cosmic punishment.”
“And you won’t tell her of your strength?”
Bree’s face seemed to drain of color. “Tell her I am more than just a face? Her words are stronger than my arms! No, I prefer to keep my privacy.”
They heard a bell ring and Bree stood up. “I guess that’s dinner.” She looked at Tam sitting on the bench. “I apologize for complaining. I’m sure your father has a good reason for bringing me here, and I guess I’ll live through it. However...” She gave a wicked little grin. “I know fourteen spells that would help me step out of my body and just be an observer. Maybe I’ll mix one up and you can ignite it.”
“That sounds like fun,” Tam said. “I think maybe I should go. Someone needs to protect the brilliant Aradella from Bree, the powerful goddess.”
The bell rang again and, laughing, Bree stepped back. “Yes! You are needed to protect me from myself. And by the way, your son is a gift and I envy you.” Turning, she ran toward the house.
13
Aradella was standing by the bedroom window looking out at the sculpture of a bird in flight. Mekos said it was the room his father and Kaley had stayed in. He also said that later the house had disappeared.Wonder who the resident witch is?she thought.
She turned to look at Mekos stretched out on the bed. His hair had fallen back and she could see that his ears were still. While they’d been in the cave, his ears had constantly twitched as he listened to every sound around them.
When they’d arrived at the cave, the two guards had stayed outside with the horses while she and Mekos entered. In the outer room, he told her where Nessa had slept, and where Kaley and Tanek had been with her pet tabor.
“Arit showed Kaley the hidden room,” Mekos said as he led Aradella to the back into what appeared to be an area with solid stone walls. If they hadn’t been told there was a door, they wouldn’t have seen it.
Mekos lit a little stick lamp that Zeon had given them. It had an eerie green light that showed the outline of the doorway. They had a bottle of some chemical that they dabbed along the edges of the door that Zeon had sealed.
When the door opened, they stepped inside. The room wasfull of machines such as they’d never seen before. All of them looked as though they’d been beaten with a hammer.
“Kaley said they’re computers and they’re full of information. My—” Mekos broke off because Aradella had turned on an old lantern hanging on the wall. The light was weak but it showed the whole room.
There was writing on the wall in the ancient swan language. “What does it say?” she asked.
Mekos’s voice was so low she could hardly hear him. “R, T, M, I will be with you forever. I will not abandon you, H.”
She didn’t have to be told what it meant. TheHwas Haver,RandTwere for Roal and Tanek, his son and grandson. TheMwas for Mekos. Aradella put her arms around him and held him.
“I was six years old when he didn’t come home. I couldn’t understand where he was. He was as close to the swans as my father is. They loved him, and when he didn’t return, they cried. The sound was horrible!”
She stroked his hair and waited for the pain to lessen. If there was anything Aradella knew about, it was grief.
After a while, Mekos stepped away, wiped his eyes, and looked about. He told her that his great-grandfather’s remains had been found near the far wall. He didn’t go there, but she did. Peeping out from under a long black cord was something small and white. Bending, she picked it up. It was a bone, probably the tip of the smallest finger.The bone of a righteous man.Zeon had said it would be needed. She put it in her pocket.
They didn’t stay in the room for long. Mekos said he wished he had Kaley’s camera, and that set him off to telling the story of taking photos.
Aradella was glad to see him remembering good things.
They left not long afterward and rode the horses back to Zeon’s house. They were told he was still working and wouldn’t be out for a couple of hours.
In their room, they found food and drink. They filled thetub with hot water, took a bath together, then made love on the big bed.
“Thank you,” Mekos said softly as he held her. “I couldn’t have survived today without you.”
Her mind filled with all that had happened since they’d met, then she thought of the mystery of the task they must complete. As they snuggled together, she held on to him tightly. “You’re in this because ofme. You should go home to your swans and your beautiful family. You should—”
“Please stop.” There was no pity in his voice. He pulled back to look at her. “What do you think the people on Abicis look like? Three heads? Six eyes? Are they as big as Sojee?”
