Chapter 10 #3
She held on to Mekos, her head nestling against his back. Seabirds that she’d never seen before came toward them and they
were drawn to Mekos. One pretty blue-green bird landed on Perus’s broad head and looked at Mekos as though to ask who and
what he was.
He leaned to the side so she could see the quizzical creature. In the next moment a flock of tiny, iridescent birds encircled
them. Then all of them flew away in a dazzle of colors.
“Arit and Ian could ride them,” Aradella said.
“Perhaps they do.” He nudged Perus to go down, closer to the water. “Take it off. Now. Forever.”
She knew he meant her wedding robe. She had no idea what the future held, but it was for sure that what had been was now gone. There was no going back.
It was a joy to slip out of the heavy robe. She started to drop it, but then she remembered that Hale had sewn a leather purse
inside the garment. It contained the poisonous plants that Aradella had collected from Valona’s garden. “I don’t need that!”
she’d said, but Hale had ignored her. “You don’t know what you’ll need.”
Aradella pulled the purse loose and shoved it between the blankets on Perus’s saddle. When Mekos tilted the dragon, she dropped
the robe. They watched it fall down toward the water—but then three enormous eagles swooped down and caught it. They latched
on to it with their talons and carried it up and up. They saw the birds fly into the distance where they could barely see
what looked to be the top of a mountain.
“They’ll use that thing for their nests.” Mekos nodded toward the mountain. “That’s Selkan and the Homestead.”
“Is that where we’re going?”
“Yes.” He twisted about and grabbed a handful of one of her pads. “You have anything on under that?”
“My training garb. I thought you’d be the one to see it.” She meant their wedding night, after Mekos had been revealed as
her husband.
“Someone told Olina what we were planning.”
“But who? We told no one.” They hadn’t even confided in people who could help them.
Mekos’s answer was to shrug. He had no idea. “There’s that thing.”
They could see the machine in the distance. “What is it?”
“My grandmamá travels in it,” he said. “It’s called a hell.”
“It’s well named.” She tightened her arms around him. “What now?” she asked softly, knowing that he’d hear her.
“You will be disinherited, the men will be sent away, and Olina will rule forever. Nothing will change.”
She didn’t comment. It wasn’t the revolution they’d hoped for, but at least they’d come out alive.
For Aradella, she was relieved that she’d realized who she was marrying before the vows were said.
She was glad she wasn’t clasped to Prince Nessa.
The question was, Would Olina be satisfied with her win or would she demand punishment?
Unfortunately, she knew the answer. They would never be safe.
They said no more as she removed the hated pads and dropped them into the water below. No birds came after them.
They rode in silence. Aradella, with her cheek against Mekos’s back, looked ahead to see the place where his family had once
lived. Her father had told her about the heroic Haver Beyhan’s place. It was sealed off and private. “Not even I am allowed
to visit,” her father had said, laughing at the idea.
“Who’d want us when they have swans?” her mother asked.
“It’s the blue swans that you like,” her father teased.
“Young Roal is indeed a sight to behold.”
Aradella had adored hearing her parents’ loving wordplay.
She and Mekos watched the hell machine land. He held Perus back, hovering above as the passengers got out. Aradella looked
down at what had once been a magnificent place before the bombing by the Empyreans had forced them to abandon it.
To the left, down a wide road, was what had once been a village. She knew it was where the workers, the swansmen, lived. There
were open areas with covered pavilions where the valuable swan feathers were processed. The feathers were made into cloth
and medicine. There were even lotions that were said to slow the signs of aging.
To the right, at the top of a low hill, was what had been the home of the Beyhans. Most of the roof of the sprawling estate
was missing, but it was obvious that it had once been beautiful. She saw flashes of blue tiles in what was left of the walls.
There was a crystal clear lake for the swans, empty fountains, and broken stone structures.
“Look!” Mekos was excited. Below them, too far away for her to see clearly, were two men. “It’s Daln and one of Collan’s sons. They’re returning!” His voice rose. “And there!”
She didn’t know what he was seeing, but then she saw a little shadow that was moving quickly.
Mekos dipped Perus down so sharply that Aradella almost fell off. When they got closer to the ground, he let out a high-pitched
call that she’d never heard before—at least not from a human.
Tanek heard it and looked up at his son. Mekos pointed and his father turned toward the village.
“Is that a—?” Aradella’s eyes widened in fear. Hurrying down the path was a tabor, a small animal that could kill a bull.
They were very dangerous creatures!
Tanek yelled, “Kaley!” then stepped out of the way of the animal.
“It will hurt her!” Aradella cried, but then she remembered Valona’s lizard.
Kaley opened her arms and the fierce little creature leaped into them. They snuggled and caressed, both of them looking like
they were crying.
“Your stepmother is strange,” Aradella said.
“Said the princess to the fox,” Mekos replied.
“I bet Kaley already has a story about us.”
“I hope it has a happy ending.” He’d meant it as a joke, but it was too real for them to laugh. “Let’s go down and talk to
my grandpapá. He’ll know what to do now.”
“I’m afraid of what they’ll say,” she said honestly.
He reached back and took her hand. “It will be all right. The worst is over now. We’ve escaped. We’re free. There is nothing
but good in front of us.”
“I doubt that my aunt agrees with that,” Aradella mumbled as the dragon headed toward land.
Everyone was waiting for them in the big, open courtyard, the ruins of the house curving around it. Aradella could see fresh signs of restoration and she wondered if that was what the swansmen were doing there.
Roal, who she hadn’t seen since the swan show when she was young, was talking to Vian. Aradella was curious about her. She
was Tanek’s mother, but she was also an Empyrean. Those people were spoken of often, but rarely seen. There were rumors of
what they looked like. The talk ranged from their being giants to having snakelike tails and two heads. The more beer that
was drunk, the wilder were the descriptions.
But Vian looked like the women on Pithan, tall, handsome, slim.
Still holding the tabor, Kaley and her grandparents were standing in front of the silent flying machine. Kaley’s parents were
absent and she hadn’t seen them at the wedding. But then, they hadn’t seen each other in many years. Is it waterfall time for them? Aradella wondered as she smiled in happy memory.
Far from the others, Tanek and Mekos were in deep discussion about something.
Are they discussing what Mekos and I tried to do at the wedding?
What we failed at? Aradella asked herself.
Will I be forced to marry Nessa? Or can we find a place to hide—and for how long?
She knew the four islands that were under the control of the Empyreans, but the planet of Bellis had more islands, large
and small. Were they also controlled by the Empyreans? Would she and Mekos be sent away to one of them? To forever live in
exile?
As though he knew what she was thinking, Mekos gave her a smile of reassurance. Then Perus lowered his big head and nudged
her. She put her arms around his head and her face against his cheek. “I know I’ve caused problems. But what was I to do?
Marry Nessa? If I had, would everyone have been pleased? Except for Mekos and me, that is.”
Perus nuzzled against her as she watched Roal go to Tanek and say something. Tanek nodded, then Mekos returned to Aradella.
“We’re meeting in the egret room. My grandmamá wants to talk to the four of us.”
She knew he was excluding Frank and Rita. “Is this going to be good or bad?”
“I have no idea. I don’t know what she’s like, but I hope she’s going to thank us.”
Aradella liked his positive attitude and hoped he was right.
They held hands as they walked through a hallway that was half destroyed. “Kaley wants to put this place back together,” Mekos
said in an attempt at small talk.
“It would be a big job,” she murmured.
They stopped in a room that still had most of the ceiling. Through the missing part they could see a roofless, second-story
room above. The walls were tiled with pictures of egrets. Their long legs and plumed heads were striking. Four chairs had
been set in a row, and standing in front of them was Vian, with Roal a few steps behind her.
Aradella couldn’t help being awestruck. Vian was one of the Seven, the rulers, the lawmakers. She was higher than all the
kings and queens of the islands. And she was number one in the Order of Sight.
The only person who didn’t look as though she was attending a funeral was Kaley.
“Your father is gorgeous,” they heard her say to Tanek. “Think you’ll grow up to look like him?”
That Tanek made no response to her joke took away her smile.
They sat down on the chairs, the two women in the center, with father and son on the ends.