Chapter 29

29

Kaley was anxiously waiting for Tanek to join them. Nessa was berating Mekos. “Where’s my dragon? What have you done with him? I’ll have my father put you to death.” In between his demands and threats, he was whistling for his dragon but Perus didn’t appear.

“That creature saw his chance to get away and took it,” Sojee said. Both his and Mekos’s only concern was eating the delicious food Zeon had packed for them. When Tanek appeared at the top of the path, Sojee snorted. “Now you can quit worrying. Have some of this food.”

Kaley and Tanek exchanged looks and he nodded at her silent question. Yes, he was all right.

He went to Kaley and held out his hand. She knew what he wanted. She put the Ruger into his hand. He checked to see if it was loaded, then wrapped it in a shirt and put it inside his own pack.

“Let’s go,” Tanek said to them.

Unfortunately, there were more people than there were horses, so Sojee and Tanek took turns walking down the steep slope. The temperature began to drop and the horses wanting to get home to their warm stalls made them speed up.

At the discomfort of it all, Nessa wailed, “Where’s my dragon to fly me away?” in such a pitiful tone that they agreed with him.

“I bet he could carry us all,” Sojee said over the wind that was starting to rise. They were below the tree line and dense forest surrounded them. The jackets Zeon had given them weren’t enough against the growing cold.

It was hours before they reached the site where they’d left Zeon’s castle. The tired, hungry horses pulled on the reins, refusing to go any farther. The riders dismounted, looking up at the sky. It was growing dark; a storm was approaching.

Tanek held up his arms to help Kaley down.

“We should stay with Zeon tonight,” she said. “We’re too tired to go on.”

Tanek motioned for her to follow him into the trees. There was the pillar with the flying bird on top. It looked like the one they’d seen from their bedroom window, but there was no castle nearby.

“He must have several of them,” Kaley said.

“No,” Tanek said. “That’s the same bird.” He motioned around the wooded area. “His castle has vanished, or can’t be seen. Is this like your stories?”

She thought of the illusion Garen had created. Was Zeon a witch as well as a predictor of the future?

“I’m afraid so. Brigadoon comes to mind. We—” The sound of a car horn made her stop talking. She and Tanek hurried toward the sound.

A little way down the path stood Sojee, grinning broadly. Behind him was the Jeep they’d left on the trail coming up. Mekos was walking around the vehicle while Nessa was blasting the horn. “Looks like Zeon brought it here.”

“A truly wonderful man,” Kaley said. “I hope he filled the tank. I’ll get it started and you’ll experience the joy of an American car heater.” She got in the front and started the engine. It did have a full tank. “Thank you,” she whispered, then put the heater on. She looked in the mirror as the men freed the horses of the packs and put everything in the back. The horses ran into the forest, seeming to know where they were going.

Sojee opened the back door for Mekos; Sojee got in and pulled Nessa beside him. The boys nestled on each side of the big man like chicks in a nest.

Tanek opened the driver’s door. “I’ll drive,” he said to Kaley.

“You don’t know how.”

“I watched you do it. If I see a hole, I’m to put a wheel in it.”

“I’m on another planet but I have to put up with woman driver jokes?”

Tanek just looked at her.

Kaley moved across the console to get in the passenger seat. As Tanek had said, he’d watched her enough that he could drive.

“I remember doing this.” He seemed to be puzzled by the memory. He glanced in the rearview mirror. The boys and Sojee were already asleep. Arit had been released from her pouch and was now asleep and nestled in Sojee’s beard. Tibby was flattened on the floorboard at Kaley’s feet. “She said I would remember.”

The car was warm and Kaley wanted to put her head down and sleep, but she knew from experience that a tired driver in a car full of sleeping people was dangerous. “Have you ever done anything like that before? I mean with the two guards.”

“No. Sojee seemed quite experienced, but my grandfather made sure I knew certain skills.”

“That makes sense. Haver’s son had been killed and his home destroyed. He wanted to be sure you could protect yourself.” Kaley was quiet, looking out the windshield and remembering what she’d seen in the cave. Now wasn’t the time to tell him of that. There were snowflakes and the heater was working hard.

“You aren’t going to ask me who the woman on the mountain is?” he asked.

“I figure you’ll tell me if you want me to know.” She felt quite virtuous saying that.

“Then I’ll wait.”

“You’ll what?” she half yelled, then lowered her voice. “That woman looked at you and Mekos like she wanted to carry you off to Rapunzel’s tower. Why did a woman who is higher ranking than a queen show up for you ?”

“That’s better.” He was repressing laughter. “Sure you don’t want to wait until I decide I want you to know?”

“I’m going to get Zeon’s mask and turn you into a frog.”

“Arit told me you like to kiss frogs.”

“Stop it! Who is she?”

“She is my mother.” He easily missed a deep pothole in the road. “And before you ask, today is the first time I’ve ever spoken to her. I’ve seen her riding past, but I’ve never been so close to her.”

“That’s who she looks like! It’s you . When I saw her picture in the schoolhouse I knew she looked like someone. So your father and she...?”

“Yes. It’s just as I said. She came to his quarters one night.” Tanek shrugged as though it meant nothing.

“You just left out that she is one of the Seven!”

Again, he shrugged.

“So the very high-ranking woman seduced your father just like Toki seduced you? Looks like you swansmen just have to exist and women come to you.”

Tanek laughed. “Men in the Order of Swans are known to be fertile.”

She looked at him. “You men do make good children.” She was speaking of Tanek as well as Mekos.

“Thank you,” he said. “Any more questions?”

“Did she show up to rescue us or did she have some other reason?” Kaley held up the pendant of her necklace, letting him know he couldn’t lie.

“She wants us—you, me, Sojee and Mekos—to take the prince to Pithan.” His face grew serious. “She didn’t say so, but I think that if you do this, she’ll see that you get passage home.”

Kaley didn’t say anything, just looked out the window. The snow had stopped falling and the trees were greener. She turned down the heater. “Why is the marriage important?”

“There’s unrest on Pithan. The queen probably thinks that uniting the Old and New Royals will calm them down.”

“But you don’t believe that. Your goal is to get to Empyrea.”

“Yes.” All humor was gone from him.

“Do you think there are more fairy tales on Pithan?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t know there were any on this island.” He glanced at her. “I’m sure you already have enough to write a good story for your teacher.”

“A dissertation,” she said softly. Going home , she thought. Right now Earth seemed far away. Should she go to another island and risk dangers such as being chained in a dungeon? Or should she sit down in the king’s luxurious house and say she wasn’t leaving until she had a ticket home?

“Tell me a story,” he said. “I’d like to hear one about a young man who runs around a village with a bow and arrow and constantly risks being killed.”

Kaley laughed too loud, then looked back at the sleeping people. “You know!”

“I do. So tell me that story.”

“Once upon a time,” she began, then told of the love between Robin and Marian, and the sheriff who was determined to kill the young man.

Kaley was on her third story—Tanek loved Peter Pan , and Arit woke up to listen—when they reached the Mist. She braced herself to go through it. It was possible that it had become the solid wall that they’d first seen.

Tanek checked the mirror, saw that everyone was still asleep, then went down a side road and turned off the engine. When he got out, Kaley did, too. He opened the back doors to the Jeep. “It’s time they woke up.” He started walking up a hill and Kaley followed him. At the top, out of sight of the car, he sat down and she sat beside him.

The landscape was beautiful, really and truly like a fairy tale. The sun was low in the sky and the colors of pink and purple, blue and green, were gorgeous. Below them, right up to the Mist wall, people were walking about. Men carried old-fashioned scythes over their shoulders, and women were carrying baskets laden with perfect produce.

“It’s beautiful,” Kaley said. When Tanek didn’t reply, she looked at him. His face was serious.

He nodded to the Mist. “My guess is that they’ll be waiting for us on the other side. Daln will be there for sure and maybe the king’s guards. They’ll want to take the prince back.”

“Think your mother told them?”

He looked startled at her words. “ My mother. It’s hard to think of her as that. But yes, between her and Zeon and Jobi, I think that now everyone knows where we are.”

“If they do, maybe they know what you’ve been talking to men about. About how you want to go to Empyrea. On my planet, we call it an insurrection.”

“Here, we call it probable death .”

She couldn’t think of anything to say. The thought of him in some to-the-death battle made her feel sick.

He took a breath as though he had something important to say. “What if you’re offered a passage to Earth?”

She thought of her home, of her father and grandparents, of the little stone cottage she’d imagined as being in her future. But she also thought of Tanek’s family’s homestead, and swans and a dodo and a baby elephant. And she remembered Garen’s offer of one year of training.

“Will you go with us to Pithan?” he asked, then said, “Will you stay with us ?”

She didn’t have an answer to that and she wanted to lighten the mood. “You mean stay with you ? To help with the swans and the feathers?” She was teasing.

Tanek didn’t smile. “What is it that angers you about my offer?”

“It doesn’t. It’s just that... Well, love ! That’s what. There was no mention of that. What we’ve been through together is like a lifetime. We’ve come to know each other. I need more than just a roof over my head. It’s not—Oh hell! I don’t know what I mean. We’d better go back. They’ll wonder where we are.” She started to get up, but he didn’t move.

“I offer to share my life with you, to give you a home and protection, but you want words ? Is this common on Earth?”

“Yes, but it’s different. We want it all . Love is very important to us.”

“By love do you mean that when I think of rebuilding my grandfather’s home that I imagine you with me? That when I think of my future children, they have your brown eyes? That I see all of us surrounded by animals because you attract them? Do these things have to do with your love ?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I don’t want part of you. I want all of you. Forever. I’m asking you to choose me over everyone and everything else. In my order, we mate for life. If he dies, she remates, but if she dies, he remains alone.”

She didn’t know how to explain to him what she felt. Everything was strange to her. “What if I asked you to return to Earth with me?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I will go.”

She didn’t need the necklace to know he was telling the truth. He’d leave his son, his family, his plans for the future, Arit, all of it, to stay with her. But was she willing to do the same? “I don’t know,” she said honestly.

He gave a nod, then stood up, held his hand out to her, and she took it. She started to turn away, but he didn’t release her hand. Instead, he drew her into his arms and kissed her.

It wasn’t a kiss between two separate beings, but a union. A blending. It was a transfer of emotions, of feelings—and of lust. Kaley felt herself melting into his big body, becoming one with him. Touching him so intimately let her see deep into him. She felt his fear of what was to come, but it was overridden by his determination to go ahead no matter what the risks were. She felt his deep love for his son—and for her. Soulmate was a weak term to describe what he sent to her. She felt his loneliness, his years of belief that he would always be alone, that he’d never find someone who could fulfill what he needed.

In turn, Kaley knew she was sending him her longing for her home planet, for her family, for a life that she understood, a place where she belonged. She sent him her fears of committing to a man who was so different from her. His ability to command animals with his mind, his determination to change his entire world, excited her, but it also frightened her. She was terrified that if she agreed to stay with him that she’d come to regret it. Would her longing for her home overtake her?

She wasn’t aware of when they began to soar higher and higher into the air, but the bonding and the lightness of her body, of his lips on hers, made her body relax in a way she’d never felt before.

At last, he broke the kiss but held her tightly. She looked over his shoulder. They were several feet in the air and hovering.

“Do you understand now?” he asked.

Nodding, she buried her face against his neck.

“And I understand you,” he said. “We will wait.”

She kept her eyes closed, his skin against her face, and they slowly went back to the ground.

Abruptly, he stepped away from her, his eyes twinkling. “Yes, I’m sure Pithan has your fairy tales, and it’s an island full of women. How dangerous could it be?”

She looked at him in astonishment. “Thousands of women alone and I’m with a bunch of fertile men? They’ll be worse than those Cinderella girls. I will be the one to lose body parts. And I want to say that I do not like you reading my mind.”

He smiled. “But you are all right that I reveal myself to you?”

“Well, yes. But that’s different.”

He laughed. “Let’s go through the Mist and face them. After we deliver the prince to that poor girl, we can talk again.”

He took her hand and they went down the hill.

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