Cold horror spilled through me as I stared at the irate-looking Tua. Broghan was hisson? By Magorah, I was insomuch trouble. Anxiously, I called for the shape-shifter in mindspeak again, but he didn’t answer. What the hell had happened to him? Was I going to be held accountable for hisdisappearance?
“He was visiting with two of his cousins when he vanished,” R’gaolar said. “Right around the same time that this frail mortal of yours”—he flicked a hand at me—“came to visit. Perhapsyouknow where he is?” he asked, looking pointedly atme.
“I am sorry that he is missing,” Ta’sradala said, and I could have sworn I heard a hint of fear in her voice. “But I truly have nothing to do withthis.”
“Forgive me if I find that hard to believe,” R’gaolar said. “It is too much of a coincidence that you sent a mortal into our realm,unsanctioned,and then my son vanishes right after. I have spoken with Nalan and Alara, and they confirmed that she visited them. The Creator only knows how this outsider may have corrupted their young minds with her strange notions andvices.”
I wanted to protest that insult but decided to keep my mouth shut—the last thing I needed was to get myself into more trouble. I hoped that Nalan and Alara weren’t getting any flak for helping me out—did R’gaolar even know how much knowledge they’d given me? I assumed neither he nor Ta’sradala would be happy if they knew I now had the power to travel between the two realms. Not that I would risk it again without Broghan to helpout.
“Is this how you repay our hospitality,” R’gaolar hissed, turning the might of his piercing regard fully toward me now. “By stealing myson?”
My stomach clenched with fear, and I forced myself to relax. “I didn’t steal him,” I said, as calmly as I could. “It’s not like I could control a Tua. He hitched a ride with me when I came back to Recca, and I didn’t realize it until after we arrived. He said he wanted to see our world for himself, and he was with me on my last…adventure,” I said, infusing that last word with sarcasm. “But he didn’t come back with me when Ta’sradala yanked me back here, so I don’t know where hewent.”
“I see,” R’gaolar said softly. The look in his eyes told me that there would be hell to pay if Broghan was harmed in any way, and I started to sweat a little. The Tua made a complicated gesture and spoke what I recognized to be some kind of searching spell, thanks to my recent mastery of the Tua language. There was a loud POP, and Broghan came tumbling out of my sleeve in baby dragon form, landing in a heap on my half-eaten plate of food. The little scamp had been here all along? Hiding from Ta’sradala, I presumed, who had to be hisaunt.
“I should have known,” R’gaolar said dryly, no longer looking quite so angry now that his son was recovered. He switched to Tua. “Clean yourself up and stop playingabout.”
Broghan chuffed, then flew to the ground. There was a flash of light, and I blinked as he morphed into a young boy, similar in coloring to his father, though he only stood about eight feet tall. “I am not ready to return home yet,” he said, a bit petulantly. “You never let me havefun.”
“You are far too young for this particular kind of fun,” R’gaolar said firmly. “What were you thinking, coming to this realm without so much as leaving a note? Everyone is out searching foryou.”
“I wanted an adventure,” Broghan said defiantly, “and I got one. Besides, I was worried that Sunaya might not make it back in one piece, so I came along to make sure she arrived safely in her world. It’s a good thing too, because she nearly died, and neither of you would have wanted that on your conscience, would you?” He met Ta’sradala’s gaze, and she scowled and averted her eyes. Of course that was just what she had hoped for, but she knew better than to say it out loud, especially rightnow.
“While I’m sure the mortal appreciates your heroics, it was not your place to play knight in shining armor,” R’gaolar growled. “You should not have run away. You know the punishment for disobedience.” Huh. I wondered what kind of punishments Tua meted out to rebelliouskids.
“I am still glad I came here,” Broghan countered easily, not at all intimidated by his stern parent, “and I shall come back whenever I please, no matter how much of a fuss you all make. This realm is far too fascinating to leaveunexplored!”
R’gaolar made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat, then grabbed Broghan by the arm. The two of them disappeared in another flash of light, leaving the rest of us staring at the spot where they’d vanished. The silence stretched on for several seconds as we tried to collect ourselves from the shock. Even Ta’sradala seemed shaken, with good reason—she’d just dodged a major bullet, thanks tome.
“Now that you’ve seen what comes of engaging in such reckless acts,” Iannis said, finally breaking the silence, “it is really time that you let us go home, Grandmother. The wedding is mere days away, and we have much to preparefor.”
“That is not my problem,” Ta’sradala said stiffly. “You have offended this family by not consulting us before tying yourself to this mortal, and there must beconsequences.”
“If thereareto be consequences,” Iannis said heatedly, “then you should punishme, not Sunaya. She is entirely blameless in thissituation.”
“Iannis!” I protested, but he didn’t look atme.
“You’ve already put me through hell and back,” I snapped at Ta’sradala. “Don’t you think you’ve doneenough?”
“Please,” Deryna said. “Let this go,Ta’sradala.”
“Sunaya has proved her loyalty and devotion to Iannis,” Ennartha said. “I give my blessing to her, and you should too,Mother.”
Ta’sradala stared at us for a long moment, her face a stony mask. I could scent the strength of her hostility and convulsively gripped Iannis’s hand under the table. Should I ask him to use the gulaya now, before she could open her mouth? But I didn’t know if he would be fast enough—I certainly hadn’t been, and now mine was sitting in my magical sleeve, dead anduseless.
“I cannot deny that you have somehow made it through my challenges,” Ta’sradala finally said, a crafty gleam in her eyes that made my stomach clench with apprehension. “But the true test of a marriage comes when a couple is forced to face adversity as one. I shall set you one more challenge that you two must complete together. If you survivethat, you shall have myblessing.”
“Why you—” I snarled, but the old Tua waved her hand before I could finish my sentence. The world began to spin again, and I grabbed Iannis tightly, terrified that we would be separated. Where was that old bitch sending us now? And would we be able to survive this finaltest?
17
“Great,”I muttered when the world had finally stopped spinning. “This is just fuckinggreat.”
“I see my grandmother was particularly inspired with this locale,” Iannis said dryly as we looked around. We stood in the middle of a vast desert, with absolutely nothing but red sand dunes and valleys as far as the eye could see. The sun blazed overhead in a yellowish sky, and the clouds were some kind of noxious green color. There were no signs of life, not so much as a single cactus jutting up from the sea of reddeath.
“Yeah, well I guess she thought I had it too easy with the underground caverns,” I said. “At least that place had water, even if it wascold.”
“Underground caverns?” Iannis raised an eyebrow. “That almost soundsexciting.”
