Qip said that no one knew the medallion was worth anything. Maybe it was a cheap metal but held magic, which people couldn’t see. The window was open and she heard the clash of swords. Would one of the men die today? Lose a limb? A hand? An eye?
There was a mirror on the wall and Aradella paused to look in it. She still wore the stage makeup, still had on the dress. She’d spent years of her life making herself as unattractive as possible. But here she was on an island where they thought she was beautiful. “Aunt Olina wouldn’t even recognize me now.”
She turned away from the mirror but then looked back at it.Beauty!How may hundreds of times had she seen the beauty of her cousins turn people into doddering idiots?
When she walked with her cousins, people fell over themselves asking to do things for the beautiful twins. Aradella remembered a handsome young man getting water from a well and presenting it to the twins. After they’d had a drink, he handed the bucket to Aradella and said, “Put it back.” She’d experienced that kind of thing over and over.
“What can beauty do?” she asked her reflection.
The answer, based on a lifetime of observation, came to her.Anything!
On the bottom shelf beside a tortoise carved out of green stone, was the little bag that produced an unlimited number of gold coins.
“Between gold and beauty, I candosomething,” she said. “I can change things.”
She didn’t allow herself to think too much, but ran from the house. She’d heard Qip’s horses but hadn’t been to his stables. It was easy to find. Like everything else, it was clean and tidy. She walked along the stalls and the big gray horse nudged her affectionately. “Like to go for a ride?”
Minutes later, she was on its back and riding toward town. She was going to stop this fight!
19
“Where is she?” Mekos asked again. “Is she safe? She took a horse. Why didn’t she take Ian? Her chip has gone dead. Where is she?”
I wish someone would love me that much, Bree thought. She was sitting on the wagon beside Qip, wearing her trousers and shirt, the magic bag hanging cross-body on her. Zeon said the contents would be needed so maybe now was the time. Qip was frowning so hard his forehead was deeply wrinkled. Earlier, he’d voiced his worry. “I don’t know where Aradella is. This is not part of the plan. She shouldn’t have left here. She...” He didn’t finish his sentence.
Tam suggested sending Darr to look for her, but Qip shook his head at that. “He frightens people.” And Ian was to stay with Darr. In the play, they’d seen what the sight of him caused so they didn’t want to risk that again.
When they got to the arena, it had been cleared. The long, three-stage building was now far to the side. There was a big dirt-covered area, and the stone seats were filled to capacity. Word was that the play had been so good that everyone on the island wanted to see this afternoon’s match. The people were talking excitedly about what they were going to see.
“This isn’t good,” Qip mumbled. “Something is wrong.” He drove the wagon to the back of the arena. The thick, enclosing wall was stone, with several hollowed out areas that had iron bars for doors. Men were working in the area, preparing for the coming show. They were all smiling. “These people are too happy. They’re up to something.”
“Are those cages?” Tam was unloading weapons from the back: swords, knives, even Mekos’s bow. The seriousness of what they were facing was beginning to hit the young men. “Maybe Aradella didn’t want to see this.”
Mekos snapped, “She rode a wolf and stabbed a woman. Aradella isn’t afraid of anything.”
“I never meant—” Tam didn’t continue.
Bree had been silent since they’d found that Aradella wasn’t there. She wasn’t sure but she had an idea that her cousin’s disappearance had something to do with what had been said that morning.You put the entire island in jeopardy, Bree had shouted. She’d blamed Aradella forallof it!
A young man saw Bree and stopped. “It’syou! You’re the ugly maid.” He turned to a couple of men who were tying ropes down. “Now we have both of you.”
Bree was about to ask him what that meant when Qip said, “I don’t like the attention being on you. Here!” He grabbed a smelly old blanket off a hay bale and tossed it to her. “Stay covered and out of sight.”
She put the blanket over her head and stepped back into one of the cages. Minutes later, Tam joined her.
“I don’t know what will happen today,” he said softly. “My father warned of a death that is wrong, so maybe...”
As she looked at him, so much went through her mind. From the moment they met, she’d felt close to him. It was as though sheknewhim. The hours they’d spent in Qip’s garden had been divine. For the first time in her life, she’d beenfree. She could display her strength and talk about her time with Reena—things she’d had to keep secret. Later, in Zeon’s garden, he’d laughedat her stories about preparing concoctions for lovesick girls, and of sharing joy with women who—thanks to Reena—were now expecting children. She told Tam of the “forget everything” spell they’d used more than once on Olina’s overzealous guards. Talking to him made Bree aware that she’d had so much bottled inside her.
Now, looking at him, she knew it would soon be over. Whether they succeeded or failed today, they’d separate. Tam would go back to his family and Bree would go... Tears came to her eyes. Back to her life of secrecy, of always pretending she wasn’t what she was.
For the first time, she slipped her arms around him and put her head on his chest. “Don’t say that. You are needed. You and I are...” The tears were coming stronger.
He held her tightly. “I know. I’ve felt it too. If I live through this, you and I must talk. Maybe we can—”
“Tam!” they heard Mekos call.
Reluctantly, he released her and stepped away. “Something is wrong. I can feel it. Maybe I did inherit some foresight from my father.”
