15
In the morning, the four of them were quiet, occupied with their own thoughts about the island they were on. The Empyreans traveled through space, but the ships were often staffed by people from the islands on Bellis. Everyone knew someone who had visited one of the other planets that had the same atmosphere as Bellis. So what did the Empyreans mean when they declared a person a “misfit?” What kind of people were on this island? The two men quietly armed themselves.
The four of them did their best to clear away any sign that they’d been on the ledge, but they didn’t close off the entrance to the opening.
“You can just roll the rocks back into place,” Aradella teased Tam. When he didn’t reply, she looked away, disappointed. Her attempt at friendship had been turned down. Had Bree poisoned him against her?
Zeon had put backpacks in the tapestry bag and they put them on. Mekos showed them the bag of coins.
Through it all, Bree was silent, standing to the side of the others, just watching.
When they were ready to go, Aradella turned to her. “Stay with us,” she said. “We’ll protect you if there’s any danger.Mekos can hear anything and we have the advantage of Tam’s extraordinary strength. Don’t be afraid.” She didn’t wait for a reply before turning away to follow Mekos to the path leading down.
Tam tightened the strap on his pack and looked at Bree. “My great strength will protect you.” He was smiling. “Just so you know, anyone comes after us, I’m gettingbehindyou.” He winked at her.
Smiling, Bree followed him to the path.
For all their bravado, the unknown they were facing made them tense. The path down was steep. The bits of sheep’s wool they saw showed what the trail was used for.
Ian flew ahead, then returned.
“What did you see?” Aradella asked.
“There’s no one like me,” Ian answered. He looked past them to Bree. “There are many like you.”
They turned to look at her, but they weren’t sure what that meant.
Ian would say no more but his laughing manner reassured them.
They came to a crossroads and to the left they could see what looked to be a town.
“I hear people.” Mekos listened. “They’re laughing and talking.” He looked at Tam. “There are children.”
Their pace increased and their fear left them.
The town they entered was clean, well-kept, and busy. There were two-story buildings with shops below. Stands containing fresh food, meat, fruit, and vegetables were abundant. An elegant fountain was in the center and children were running around it. They’d been expecting monsters but what they saw were normal people. Old, young, little, big, they were all there.
The only thing unusual was, as Ian had said, that many people looked like Bree. That meant pretty. Like Bree, they had perfect skin, lustrous eyes, hair that glistened. On Pithan, the Beauty Girls, with their lavish makeup and hair, stood out. Buton Abicis, most of the people were, well, beautiful. Both men and women were exceptionally good-looking. Few of them seemed to have made an effort to look good but appeared to have rolled out of bed looking like that.
“My goodness,” Aradella said, her eyes wide from staring at men who, in normal circumstances, would have women gathered around them.
A farrier looked up from a horse’s hoof. His dark eyes were like burning coals. The blacksmith was enough to make a woman swoon. Storekeepers had chiseled jaws and shoulders as wide as a broom handle.
Mixed with these male and female demigods were people who, indeed, were “different.” There were people with crooked backs, faces with birthmarks, others with obvious mental disabilities. There were people with crutches or in wheeled chairs.
In spite of their differences, they all seemed to be equal—and happy. Smiling, laughing, friendly, they went about their daily business.
As they walked through the town, they asked about Qip, but no one had heard of him—or that was what they said.
The team hadn’t gone far when they began to realize that Aradella was the focus of attention. The other three were barely looked at, but everyone looked at Aradella as though she was different—and highly desirable.
Mekos stepped closer to her. When a man so gorgeous he could have been the model for a deity, halted and stared at Aradella, Mekos put his arm around her and sneered at the man.
Aradella had never experienced anything like that and she couldn’t resist turning his own question back on him. “Tell me,” she said, “are you going to be jealous ofallthe men who look at me?”
Mekos gave her a look that said this was no joke, but Tam laughed.
As for Bree, her steps slowed and the distance between her and “them” increased. That they didn’t notice her absence wasnew to her. All her life, her physical appearance had garnered attention, but now she was being ignored. She saw a woman better looking than her standing over a tub of water. Not one man had so much as glanced at Bree.
