Chapter 15 #2
Bree smiled. “Not even Urah’s magic can defeat Aradella. She is an unstoppable force.”
As she went toward the curtain, she turned back and kissed his forehead. “I hope I get to see you again.”
“So do I,” he said. “If it gets too bad, you know where I live.”
Bree took a breath and opened the curtain. She saw Tam first. He was standing apart from Aradella and Mekos and seemed to
be looking for her.
Aradella was talking. “If we don’t find her, we’ll have to—”
Bree moved away from Cappie’s curtained doorway, then said loudly, “I’m here.”
Aradella gave her cousin her usual look of anger. “We’ve had to backtrack to find you. We should be going ahead. If we move
too quickly for you, just tell us.” By the end, Aradella’s teeth were clenched.
“I didn’t mean to—” Bree began.
Tam stepped forward, slightly in front of Bree in a protective way. “This is my fault. I should have stayed with her. Why
don’t you two go that way and Bree and I go this way? This town is small. If we spread it around that we’re looking for Qip,
maybe he’ll be told.”
Mekos looked over Aradella’s head and gave Tam a nod of thanks. Neither man wanted to deal with the animosity between the
women. “Excellent idea.” Mekos put a firm grip on Aradella’s arm. He took out the little bag of endless coins and handed several
to Tam.
The men looked at each other in understanding and the couples went in opposite directions.
“Thank you,” Bree said when she and Tam were alone.
“I saw you come out of the doorway. Who did you meet? Did you wheedle out any secrets like you did from me?”
“You make me sound like a spy.”
“I told you more in one conversation than I’ve told anyone in years.”
“I can say the same about you,” she said. “I work hard to keep my involvement with Reena a secret, but I told you.”
“And you showed me that you’re as strong as a yoke of oxen.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say about a princess!” She was smiling.
“So tell me all. Who or what was behind that curtain that you tried to keep us from seeing?”
She laughed. “I am exposed! I met Cappie.” As they walked, she told him about the meeting.
“Friends with Qip, is he?” Tam said thoughtfully.
They’d left the town behind and were now on the outskirts. Tall trees surrounded them.
“I think we should stop and wait,” Tam said.
“For what?”
“For Qip to find us. My guess is that your man Cappie will reward you for helping him by sending Qip.”
“And here I was hoping for a fire-breathing dragon to kiss Aradella.”
Tam groaned. “You must stand up to her. And do not tell me of your promise. Aradella thinks you’re stupid.”
“And useless.” Her eyes widened. “Isn’t that pretty?”
In front of them was a crystal-clear blue lake. Behind it was a sloping hillside with a flower-covered meadow. There were
no people. “Reena would love this place. She’d want a sample of every plant.”
Tam was pulling his shirt off over his head. “I’m going for a swim, then afterward, I’ll pick them for you. We’ll put them
in Papá’s magic bag that I’m sure he wheedled someone into selling to him. For a good price, of course.”
Smiling, Bree tried to be polite and not look, but the sight of Tam’s nearly naked body was too good to resist. As a woman
with strength, she did love muscles. “Did he pay for items by telling fortunes?”
Tam looked surprised, then smiled. “I think Aradella should be afraid of how clever you are.” He was down to a small garment
about his hips. He stepped toward the water, then turned to look at her. “Join me?”
“I don’t think—” She stopped speaking. That phrase that got so many women in trouble came to her: Why not? She was out of her clothes and down to her two pieces of underwear in seconds.
Tam was in the water and he wasn’t shy in appraising her body. “I can see it now.”
She knew what he meant. Clothed, she looked like her sister. Unclothed, they were different. Bree was sleek, with defined
muscles. At the sight of her unclad sister, Shay would sneer and say, “You look like a boy.”
“Can you swim?” he asked.
“Bet I can go faster than you,” she said.
“You’re on!”
They raced and Tam won four out of the five races.
“Sure you’re not Order of Swans?” she asked as they got out of the water.
“Order of Sight, second class. I can’t foresee anything.”
“You could take your wife’s order.”
“She’s from another island. They have no orders.”
His tone made her look at him. “Do you have cultural differences?”
“Oh yes! Many of them. My wife and I—” He broke off as they heard laughter.
They turned to see three boys and a girl, ten or eleven years old, coming toward them.
“We heard you two were ugly but you’re worse than they said,” the largest boy said.
“And fat.” The girl was looking at Tam.
“Is this what I have to look forward to with my son?” Tam mumbled. He picked up his trousers and withdrew four coins. “Are
these worth anything?”
The way their eyes lit up was the answer.
“These are yours if you’ll pick a sprig of every plant on that hillside.”
Bree, still in her underwear, stepped forward. “We want as much variety of the plants as you can find, but no duplicates.”
When the kids didn’t move, she said, “Like Cappie needs.”
At that, the children’s faces turned solemn. “He can turn you into a bug.”
“Or a lizard.”
“He made me into a bat,” the smallest boy said. “I liked it, but my mother didn’t. She put me in a jar and screamed at Cappie.”
Bree and Tam worked not to laugh.
“We can do the same thing,” Tam said fiercely. “And I can guarantee that you will not like it. Now go!”
The children scurried off and Tam and Bree went to the bottom of the hill. He lay down on the ground, turned his face up to
the sun, and looked up at Bree. “My son will never be a brat like them.”
Bree lay down a few feet from him. It felt good to be near someone who knew her secrets. “I’m sure you’re right. Piks will
be kind and considerate. He’ll never call anyone ugly or too soft.”
They looked at each other and laughed at that absurdity. Piks had already shown that he had a mind of his own.
The sun was drying them off and the children were on the hill behind them, arguing about who already had what plant. Bree
and Tam were so drowsy they didn’t hear the wagon on the hard-packed dirt road.
“Still being lazy, I see,” they heard a voice say.
Bree opened her eyes to see a man sitting on the wagon seat. He was shorter than Cappie and had an ageless appearance. He
could be an old thirty or a young eighty. Like Cappie, he had a remarkable mustache, but his was gray. He wore a flat cap
that covered what appeared to be a bald head.
“Qip!” Tam shouted, joy in his voice. “How good to see you.” He grabbed his clothes, pulling them on as he hurried to the
wagon.
Qip somehow managed to frown and smile at the same time. “Everyone in town has told me that you’re looking for me. Does your
father need help?” He looked at Bree. “I hear you know Reena.”
Bree was scrambling into her clothes. “I think maybe all of Bellis knows her.” The children made a great noise as they ran down the hill. As they passed Bree, they tossed heaps of plants at her. She agilely twisted about as she caught them. The children ran to Qip, looking up at him expectantly.
“You’re going to run me out of my home.” He was trying to look grumpy as he reached into a bag and tossed out handfuls of
what could only be candy.
After Tam gave each child a coin, they took their prizes and ran off. Qip was watching Bree intently. “You’re Sojee’s daughter?”
She smiled. “Do you know my father?”
“Only by reputation. And Vian’s grandson is here?”
“Mekos,” Tam said. “His mother is a Lely. She’s half fox.”
“How very interesting. Are you ready to go to my home? I’d like to hear why you’ve sought me out.”
“We want to know more about Abicis,” Bree said. “Where are the misfits here? We’ve seen no one unusual.”
Qip smiled, showing straight white teeth. “Everything is perspective, my dear. Reality depends on how you see it. Come up
here and sit by me. Tam, get in the back. We must find your lost friends.”
As Bree climbed up, she looked at Qip. “Please call Aradella that to her face. I dare you.”
“Ah, yes. The princess who fights Olina and Urah,” Qip said. “I look forward to meeting her. Cappie says you’re a Book and
you can lift mountains.” He looked at Tam sitting on the back of the wagon. “It seems that you’re the only one who has no
talents.”
Tam laughed but Bree didn’t. “If I put together a spell, Tam can ignite it, and he is an excellent father, and a—” She broke
off as the two men were staring at her.
When Qip looked at Tam, the young man wouldn’t meet his eyes.
Qip drove them back to the town and halted in front of Cappie’s place. He was standing outside. “Where are they?” Qip asked.
Cappie tilted his head to indicate straight ahead. “They’re alerting the whole town.” He leaned to the side to see Bree. “Vomiting all night.”
“You?” Qip asked, alarmed
Bree knew what he meant. “Try dittany of Crete. Is his wife going to have a baby?”
Cappie grinned. “Yes. First one.”
“Give him whiskey. It’ll help with his fear.” She and Cappie laughed.
Qip flipped the reins to go. “He doesn’t like many people.”
“Can’t imagine why. He’s a darling man.”
Qip turned to Tam and, again, they exchanged looks.
Aradella and Mekos were easy to find, and as soon as they came into sight, Bree stiffened into steel. Qip looked at her in
surprise, but said nothing.
Tam reached down to get Aradella’s hand and pulled her up into the back of the wagon. Mekos soared upward, then slowly lowered
himself into the wagon. He was so graceful that his feet didn’t move.
Qip leaned toward Bree. “Every time I see one of them do that, it gives me chills. They are a strange order.”
“Better than being a useless Order of Royals,” she said. There was no humor in her tone and she stared straight ahead.
It took a while to reach Qip’s house. They went past a few nice houses, then the dwellings became farther apart until there