Chapter 4
Mekos was on his stomach in the tall grass, so flattened and still that he could hardly be seen. He watched Valona mount her
horse and ride away.
Ian flew to land near him, but Mekos didn’t move. “How are they?”
“Arit gave the princess a drink that calmed her. They’re planning dresses for both of them.”
“Good,” Mekos said. “I don’t want Aradella worrying. She—” He became alert. “There she goes!” The maid was leaving for her
daily trip to the market. “Are you ready?”
“I’ve said my prayers and written a note of apology to my sister. Yes, I’m ready.”
Mekos gave a half smile. “Kaley told me that in her stories, Nevers are always happy.”
“My sister is a prisoner, I work for two evil women, and a lizard found my leg so delicious that he’s stalking me so he can
get more. My apologizes for not being full of joy.”
“Kaley would love to hear your story.” Mekos rolled to his back and slipped on the mask. He closed his eyes and concentrated
on looking like the maid. When he opened them, he looked at Ian. “Did I do it?”
“You are extraordinarily ugly.”
Mekos lifted his hand to feel the wrinkled skin. “Indeed, I am.” He got up and in spite of how he looked, he fluidly moved
toward the big house. That Valona had no human guards stationed about showed her true power. No one dared threaten her. But
he was sure that if he tried to enter as himself, it would be the last thing he ever did.
Once inside the house, Ian led them through the rooms. There was little furniture and almost no decoration. It seemed that
Valona didn’t allow competition from a painting or a pretty cabinet. The only glory allowed was Valona.
The bedroom was at the back of the house and the door opened easily. It was an austere room, just a narrow bed and a table.
No pictures were on the walls. There weren’t even any windows.
Ian flew to the far wall. Hanging there was the only other furniture. It was a small cabinet with a locked door. It looked
so insignificant that no one would guess it was of any importance.
Ian landed on top of it and Mekos nodded to him. Yes, open it, he was silently saying.
The little man flew down and looked in the keyhole, then pulled back. He held up six fingers to show that there were six tumblers
in the lock. He waved his hand toward the door. Was anyone there?
In spite of how he looked to others, when Mekos pulled his hair back, his pointed ears moved in a circle as he listened. He
shook his head. They were alone.
Ian quickly moved two tumblers, but the third one gave him trouble. It was an old lock and hard to turn. When it finally moved,
he backed out. There was blood on his hands from all the pulling and pushing. He took a few deep breaths, wiped his hands
on his bloodstained trousers, then went back in.
When the fourth tumbler moved, he felt Mekos’s fingertip on his remaining foot. He backed out.
Mekos pointed toward the doorway and put his finger to his lips. Someone was coming.
Arit was looking at Aradella as she yawned for the third time. Mekos had told her to keep the princess quiet while he and
Ian . . . Annoyingly, they’d refused to say where they were going or what they planned to do. But she knew where and that
it was dangerous. “Dumb, dumb, dumb,” she muttered.
“What?” Aradella murmured. “Where’s Mekos?”
“Practicing his bow and arrow,” Arit said quickly.
Aradella smiled sleepily. “For the Reaver. He’s very good with a bow and he’s beautiful in his black costume. Don’t you think
he’s beautiful?”
“He’s a poor copy of his father,” Arit said. “But he’s all right. Why don’t you sleep and I’ll look for them?”
“Good idea,” Aradella said. “Then the Reaver will come and I’ll kiss him again. One more kiss before I die.”
Arit rolled her eyes skyward, then back. She was glad she wasn’t a princess!
Aradella went to sleep as soon as she closed her eyes, and Arit flew out the door. She had no doubt where the two stupid men
had gone, alone and unprotected. She didn’t know Ian very well, but she’d known Mekos all his life. He’d always believed he
could do anything. She’d seen Tanek pull his son out of a well, release him from a trap, and twice he’d caught him as he fell out of a tree.
One time, Tanek ran into a building on fire. He came out carrying his limp five-year-old son over his arm.
So now, Mekos was no doubt yet again in a mess. She was tempted to tell Tanek what was going on, but she didn’t want to see
him up against a nasty creature like Valona either. Tanek could handle any weapon, but magic was something different.
Arit got to the big house just as the old maid was entering it.
Since her shopping basket was empty, she’d probably forgotten something and had returned for it.
Arit was sure the men were inside, so she needed to distract the woman.
The maid was just inside the door when Arit began buzzing around her head.
Round and round and as loud as she could make herself vibrate.
The old woman swatted at her, but Arit easily avoided her. The maid kept walking—and Arit heard a clunk sound. She knew it
was Ian slithering inside some lock to find . . . She didn’t know what.
The maid kept walking toward the room at the back.
Arit knew how to annoy humans. She’d learned how when Tanek was a boy and she wanted his attention. Buzzing loudly, she flew
past the woman’s eyes, her feet grazing her lashes.
The woman shook her head to get away from the pest.
Arit went to her ear and let her wings flutter against it. The woman hit at her, almost striking Arit. She encircled the woman’s
head, entangling her feet in her hair.
With a screech, the woman ran back up the hall, away from where the men were. But the second Arit quit buzzing, the maid started
back down the hall.
“What the fark?” Arit muttered. She knew what she had to do.
With a sigh of resignation, Arit got in front of the woman’s face and let herself be seen.
“You!” the maid gasped. “You dirty little creature. Valona needs you.”
When Arit flew backward, the woman followed her out of the hallway.
“I’ll get you!” the maid said.
Arit wanted to fly at the woman and put her feet on an eyeball. Instead, she landed on a table—and stood there waiting. The
old woman took what seemed like hours, but she finally put a glass goblet down over Arit.
“Now I have you!”
Arit obligingly pretended to be helpless and afraid as she put her hands against the glass.
The woman tipped the goblet to the side and slid her hand under it, seeming to trap the little Never inside.
Arit disliked standing on the woman’s hand. “Mekos!” she muttered. “And Ian! You two owe me in a very big way.”
The woman was smiling, proud of herself, and Arit had to endure the humiliation of being carried through the rooms. At least
she’d done what she meant to. She’d distracted the woman from whatever Mekos and Ian were doing.
Mekos waved his hand to let Ian know that the woman was gone. A minute later, the sixth tumbler moved into place and Ian scooted
back out of the keyhole. He sat on Mekos’s shoulders while he opened the cabinet.
Inside was just one item. It was a beautiful knife. The blade was crystal and the handle was gold set with blue stones.
They didn’t take time for more than a cursory look. Mekos shoved the knife into the band of his trousers and left the room.
When they heard someone in the distance cackling in triumph, Mekos stepped back into a doorway. The sound faded as the person
moved away.
“What’s that?” Mekos whispered.
Hanging on the wall was a framed piece of old and stained paper. At the bottom were smears as though someone had dragged two
bloody fingertips across it. The gold writing on it was clear.
Double royals. Fair by day. Dark by night.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Ian said, “but it scares her. I’ve seen her shiver at the sight of it.”
Mekos took the document, frame and all, off the wall and put it inside his shirt. “If it says royal, I’m sure it means Aradella.”
A minute later, they were outside the house and Mekos said, “Hold tight to me.” He moved swiftly through the trees until they
reached the house where the women were.
As soon as Mekos stopped, Ian said, “Arit isn’t here.”
Mekos snorted. “My father probably called her to scratch one of the ridges on his back.” He looked at Ian. “You should know
that if he calls her, she’ll walk into a volcano for him.”
Ian sighed. “She won’t ask my opinion. She has little use for me.”
Mekos cocked his head as he looked at him. “Arit is pretty, isn’t she?”
“She’s like the stars and moon had a child, then they put sunlight in her eyes.” Ian looked embarrassed at that, but then
he said, “And what do you think of the princess?”
“Completely different,” Mekos said. “The sun is in her hair, and the moon in her eyes.” He shrugged. “But the rest is the
same.”
Ian’s mouth twitched to keep from laughing. “Will you go to her wedding?”
“I do plan to be there, yes.”
Again, the men exchanged smiles of understanding, then Mekos said, “I have a plan that I think will work. Can you get me something
to put Aradella to sleep? I want to take her to safety, then I’ll—” He didn’t finish telling his plan. That would come later.
First priority was getting Aradella away from danger.
Aradella was dreaming. She could smell the fresh air around her and snuggled by her were little furry animals. They smelled
a bit like Mekos so that made her smile.
“You must wake up!” said a female voice. “We have to do something.”
Aradella snuggled deeper in her bed. Whatever was near her was so warm and cuddly.
“Wake her!” the woman ordered.
In Aradella’s dream, the little creatures around her came alert and began nudging her. “Go away,” she murmured. But one of
them sank its tiny teeth into her arm. “Ow!” she said and opened her eyes.
It was dark but she could see the most extraordinary creature standing over her. It had the face of a woman, but it also had
the look of a . . . Aradella blinked. A fox?
“Get up. We have to go to my son.”