Chapter 3
As they approached the house, they saw Kaley sitting at the big table in the open area. She was eating from a plate of food
that looked like it could feed a dozen people.
“Don’t tell her so much that she’ll guess the truth,” Mekos said.
“Lie, then cover it with more lies?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life,” she said.
“Hello,” Kaley said when she saw them. “I don’t know why I’m so hungry but I could clear a Thanksgiving table by myself. I
guess it’s all the hiking Tanek and I have been doing.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” Mekos said.
Kaley looked at Aradella. “Sorry. I’m forgetting my manners. There’s a lot of food here. I’ll get plates and you two can—”
When she stood up, she saw that Mekos was holding a big white bundle that was moving. “What’s that?”
“A gift for you.” He lifted the cover—which wasn’t easy considering that it was trying to get out by clawing him to death.
“We saw it and I knew you’d like it, and . . .” He paused for drama. “We thought maybe you’d tell us one of your Earth stories.
I told Aradella how great they are.”
“How nice of you.” Kaley put her empty plate on the counter so the big table was clear. “Let’s have a look.”
Mekos, with Aradella behind him, put the animal on the table but kept a firm hand on its back.
Kaley lifted the padding to the lizard’s face. “How pretty you are,” she said.
Aradella gasped when Kaley reached out and touched the lizard’s nose.
But Kaley was smiling. “Come on, let me see all of you.” While she untied the padding, the lizard was very still. When it
was free, it leaped onto Kaley.
“No!” Aradella yelled, but Mekos just smiled.
The lizard hugged Kaley like it was a human infant.
“His name is Borel and today he ate something that tasted very, very good and he wants more of it. He’s set himself a quest
to find it.” She looked at them in question.
“No idea what that is.” Mekos and Aradella shrugged, looking innocent.
Kaley sat down, holding the big lizard to her. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”
Mekos and Aradella sat down across from her and he looked at the princess.
“An old woman kills a girl then takes her youth and beauty,” Aradella said.
Kaley was stroking the lizard who looked so content it was falling asleep. “That’s the basis for many fairy tales. There’s
usually a beautiful, but evil, queen who will do anything to keep her beauty. Often, she has a stepdaughter, probably a princess,
who is more beautiful than she is. The queen believes that if she, well . . . takes the girl’s heart, she’ll get the girl’s
beauty. Is that what you mean?”
“Maybe it’s not just a princess but a beautiful girl every year,” Mekos said.
“That’s a popular variation.”
“Could she make a kind of youth cream from the sacrifice?” Aradella asked.
Kaley shifted the lizard on her shoulder. “Whatever he ate, he’s dreaming of it. Do you know what it was?”
“No!” Mekos and Aradella said in unison.
“The cream?” Mekos asked.
“Oh yes. It sounds somewhat like ‘Snow White.’” She was looking at Aradella’s pale lashes and brows. “The evil queen put Snow
to sleep with a poisoned apple.”
“Then what happened?”
“There are variations on that. Some stories say her casket fell over and the apple fell out or she was awakened by True Love’s
kiss.” Kaley was thoughtful. “True Love’s kiss often does it. Unless you’re poor Sleeping Beauty. Her rescuer ‘gathered the
first fruits of love,’ meaning that nine months later the unconscious girl gave birth to twins.”
Mekos was frowning. “If the girl is put to sleep, is there no other way to wake her up other than . . . ?”
“Rape?” Aradella asked.
“We broke the gingerbread witch’s spell by killing her,” Kaley said.
“Death,” Mekos said. Under the table, he took Aradella’s hand and squeezed it.
Kaley was looking at them hard. “Is something going on that your dad and I should be told about?”
“No, nothing. Not at all,” Mekos said quickly. Kaley’s tone reinforced their decision to not tell what they’d heard Valona
say. If Olina had sent Aradella to them once, she’d do it again. They needed to find a way to stop Valona!
“I haven’t heard any stories here on this island,” Kaley said.
Without a hint of humor, Aradella said, “I would imagine that you’ve been busy. It’s a pretty island and there’s much to see.”
Mekos gave a cough to keep from laughing. “Does a person of royal birth have more value?”
“Oh yes,” Kaley said. “All the stories agree on that. Royalty has special powers. Some say royals can heal people or that the ability to rule is transferred. There’s always something evil people are trying to achieve.”
Aradella said, “Have you ever heard of the sea mango?”
Kaley looked surprised. “Yes. It’s one of several plants called a suicide fruit. Have you seen such a tree?”
“Jobi gave her Earth books about plants, so Aradella knows a lot. We’ve been identifying them.” Mekos knew he was talking
too fast.
Kaley was looking from one to the other. “I think you need to talk to your father. He—”
At that moment, a sleepy-looking Tanek entered the room.
Instantly, Mekos stood up. Talking faster than an Empyrean ship could go, he said, “I’ve been explaining Lelys to the princess.
She thought they were bad but I said we’re just people. We have to go.” He grabbed Aradella’s hand and they ran down the stairs
and were quickly hidden by the forest.
She jerked out of his grasp. “You made me look like an idiot, and what you said had nothing to do with anything.”
Mekos smiled. “That was a good save, wasn’t it? We can fool Kaley but Papá knows when I’m hiding something. If he thought
something was wrong, he’d have us out of here before you could put on clothes that fit you.”
Aradella grimaced. “But it was at my expense in front of him! I never thought Lelys were bad!” She sighed. “But yes, it was a good diversion.”
Coming from the direction of the house, they heard Tanek say, “We have to get rid of that thing.”
“But he’s so cute!” Kaley replied.
“He just set fire to a chair. Out! Now!”
They heard doors shut, then voices came from the other side of the trees. Tanek said, “I’m not carrying it and you can’t release
it here. It might go after the kids.” Their footsteps faded away.
Aradella said, “He’s kind of bossy, isn’t he?”
“The worst,” Mekos answered. “I don’t think Kaley is going to be able to stand him.”
“Then maybe I could still make him a king.”
“You won’t get that wish,” he said. “Come on, we have things to do.”
She turned away, but when Mekos went back to the house, she followed him. “What’s your plan?”
He looked her up and down. “You can’t wear that. It looks like a ship’s sail on a rowboat. It’s good that Kaley had the lizard
to distract her or she would have started asking questions.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed. “Maybe I can repair the pads.”
“That lizard ripped them apart. You need to—” At the look on her face, he stopped talking, then sat down beside her. “Are
you afraid Olina will hear the truth about how you look?”
She nodded.
He reached out and took her hand. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in fear every day. But we do have things to do.
Did you forget that Valona wants to make you into a pot of face grease?”
She grimaced. “I’d rather be made into beauty cream than spend my life as Nessa’s wife.”
Mekos squeezed her hand. “I would feel the same way if I had to live with someone I didn’t like.” He stood up. “Wait here.
I have an idea.” He left the room and a few minutes later, he returned with some of Kaley’s clothes over his arm. “I can’t
tell under that tent you have on, but I think you two are the same size.”
“I can’t take Kaley’s clothes. She needs them. She—”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You’re right. The last thing she needs is clothing. But then, she’s with Tanek.” Aradella gave an exaggerated sigh.
“That’s better.” He tossed the clothes to her. “Get dressed, then let’s eat. I want you to tell me all about what training
you’ve had and who helped you.”
It took her a moment to realize what he was saying. Reveal her secrets? Tell someone the truth about her life? “I don’t . . .” she said softly.
Mekos seemed to understand her reluctance. “I’m a swansman, remember? Valona and her maid said I’m worthless, therefore I’m
completely trustworthy.”
“Worthless? Trustworthy? How do those two go together?”
“Who knows? Get dressed. I’m starving.”
Aradella clutched the clothes to her. “You always are. Like the night of the dance. You never looked up from the table. You—”
At his look of impatience, she ran to the bathroom. She was taller than Kaley, so the pants were ankle length and the top
wasn’t long enough to hide much. But they were certainly better than the big dress. The Earth clothes were strange to her
but she liked them very much. When she walked, she didn’t have a big skirt against her legs. Wouldn’t my cousins be jealous, she thought.
When she stepped into the bedroom, her breath was held. What would he think of her dressed like this?
Mekos was looking out the window and when he turned and saw her, he gasped, his eyes wide. But he made no comment.
After a moment, he got himself under control. “Food!” He led the way to the kitchen.
It looked as though the kitchen had recently been restocked. There was bread, butter, eggs, fruit, and little bowls of food
they didn’t recognize.
Mekos was the chef. He told her to sit on a stool on the other side of the high island as he began assembling everything.
He expertly lit the little wood-fed grill and began cooking meat and a concoction of batter that he poured out of a bowl.
As he worked, Aradella told how Hale came into her life. “She was my punishment and I hated her at first, but . . .”
“You had no one else except Sojee’s daughters for friendship,” he said. “I thought one of them was going to attack me when
we were on the platform.”
“That’s Shay. She’s only interested in beauty and which man her father is going to get for her.”
“What about the other one?”