“How are you?” Corvus’ gentle tone contrasted sharply with his serious expression.
“Exhausted—more exhausted than I’ve ever been, even in my sickest moments.” Pushing himself up, he slid his legs over the side of the narrow bed.
“You did well today. They are excited about your gifts.”
Esán took another deep drink from the glass Corvus placed in his hands. “Now they are planning how I can be of use to them.” His tired, thin voice reflected his disgruntled vulnerability.
“For the time being, you must continue to show some resistance, Esán. Learn everything they can teach you. In the end, it will serve you and those you love.” Corvus handed him a round object that resembled a peach with purple skin. “This is steerro fruit. It will restore you and rebuild your natural energy levels. I put more in your bottom drawer. Eat one whenever you feel drained.” He moved to the door. “I must go. Take care, and don’t give up hope.” The door closed with a whisper.
Esán studied the fruit with interest. A tentative nibble tantalized his taste buds. Deep salmon flesh oozed droplets of juice that threatened to escape down his arm. Taking a big bite, he savored the succulent sweetness. Energy like a shock wave rolled through his system. Whatever steerro fruit is, I am sure glad to have it . He popped the last morsel in his mouth, licked his fingers clean, and crossed to the window. The sun hung well past its zenith, scorching hot in the orange sky. I must have slept a long time.
“You did.”
Esán swung around to find Nomed in the doorway. “How long have you been standing there?” Annoyance sharpened the timber of his voice. “And please stay out of my mind.”
“You certainly seem glad to see me.” His mentor sat down on the edge of the bed. “I did rescue you from more tests, you know.”
“I know. Thank you.”
“You continue to surprise me, Esán. And I am not often surprised by anything. Did you know that you could do what you did today?”
“Only some of it.”
“Well, dear boy, you are the talk of the Dreelum. They would like you to join us for dinner.”
“And if I prefer to eat here alone…”
“Wolloh will be most disappointed.”
Esán turned back to the window. Heat rose like a curtain from the red sand. He sighed and faced Nomed. “We wouldn’t want to disappoint Wolloh, now would we? When is dinner?”
“Seval is bringing you new clothes. I’ll be back when you’re ready.” He opened the door to admit the servant, who placed the clothing on the bed. “Seval will help you to dress.”
The door shut. Esán stared at the scarlet robe and frowned.
4
ConDra’s Fire
Myrrh
R ain on the roof accompanied Brie’s random thoughts as she lay beside Ari and watched the slow, steady progression of time on the face of the chronometer on the bedside table. It is so strange to have parents , she mused. We have parents . She and Ari had thought they would never know who their father was, let alone meet him. SparrowLyn had refused to discuss anything even remotely connected to their birth and parentage. They’d finally quit asking.
Ari rolled onto her side, her curls a riot of copper around her face. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking how odd it is to have parents, plural—a mother and father.” Brie sat up and plumped her pillows behind her.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Ari grinned. “If we hadn’t become involved in saving Myrrh and Almiralyn, we might have never found him.”
“Fourteen sun cycles apart,” said Brie, “and he and Mother still love each other so much.”
Ari laughed. “Now they can’t stand to be separated. They’re kinda cute, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, they are. Making up for lost time, I think. It must be nice to be loved.” Brie’s musings made her smile. “I mean…we love Mother, but it’s different. She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her.”
“Don’t you wish Torgin had waited just a few minutes longer to come bursting into the kitchen? Then we would have learned more about her parents—our grandparents.”
“Mother is part KcernFensian.” Brie’s eyes glistened with excitement. “I can’t wait to hear more. Do you think Grana Gerolyn’s husband is really her father?”
“I think there’s some mystery about that. Almiralyn had more to say. Hey, do you think Elcaro’s Eye can tell us anything about this?”
Brie shrugged. “Aunt Mira has been teaching me how to use it, but it has a mind of its own. Although it knows everything, it only tells you what it thinks you need to know, not always what you want to know. Speaking of the fountain…what time is it?”
Ari rolled over and picked up the chronometer from the nightstand. “Five minutes and Torgin will be in the kitchen.” She replaced it and scooted to the side of the bed. Dragging a brush through her curls, she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a blue band, the last remnant of her Idronatti uniform.
Brie followed suit, and soon they were waiting in the kitchen, where the rain pattered on the windowpanes and splashed a constant rhythm on the sills.
“Must be the fourth sun turning of the weather cycle,” grumbled Ari under her breath.
Torgin, who was bunking out in the barn with Major Jordett and One Man—he couldn’t get used to calling him Somay—arrived at the back door, huddled under a large, black umbrella. Closing it and leaning it against the porch railing, he tiptoed into the room. “It’s wet out there,” he murmured and brushed water droplets off his pants. “Hope it stops before I head back.”
“Let’s go,” Brie whispered. “Be careful of the fourth step. It squeaks.”
Only the gentle song of the rain could be heard as they crept up the stairs and into the Guardian of Myrrh’s private sanctuary. In the middle of the room, Elcaro’s Eye rested peacefully on its intricately carved pedestal. From its rounded rim, the kneeling alabaster woman tipped a slow stream of water from the palms of her hands into the waiting bowl.
“It’s so beautiful.” Torgin tiptoed closer. “I can only see water. How do you make it tell you things?”
The twins joined him beside the fountain.
Brie felt a subtle pulse as she rested her hands on the rim. Almiralyn had told her some of its history, an intricate and mystical story cloaked in the obscurity of passing aeons. Created on the tiny planet of Tao Spirian, it had found its way to KcernFensia, where it had eventually been placed in Almiralyn’s care. Vesen, the tall, slender crystal encased within the alabaster pedestal came from the same cavern where Evolsefil and her father’s crystal, Novissi, had been discovered.
She leaned forward and whispered the words her aunt had taught her. Brown eyes gazed up at her. Her reflection only stimulated more questions. Red hair, brown eyes, and dusting of freckles did not remind her of either of her parents. She pushed the thought away and concentrated. “Show me Esán Efre.”
Torgin and Ari gasped as the figure of their friend came into focus. Clothed in a scarlet robe and looking anything but happy, he fidgeted while a boy about his age tied a gold sash around his waist. The image dissolved.
“Well, at least we know he’s okay,” Ari observed.
“Who was the other boy?” Torgin wanted to know.
Brie straightened. “It looked like a servant.” She organized her thoughts and formulated her next question. “Where is Esán?”
The surface smoothed. A turquoise full moon came into focus at the center of the Eye. Its light illuminated a sea of red sand. The image zoomed out showing a butter yellow orb and a milky crescent moon edging their way across the night sky.
“Wow! Three moons.” Ari studied the scene. “I bet that’s DerTah.”
Brie took a breath and exhaled. “What is the best way for us to rescue Esán?” The desert and moons vanished. The still water shimmered in the dim light of the sanctuary. “Will Torgin’s compass help us navigate in DerTah?”
A picture of Torgin with the Compass of Ostrad
io in his hand floated to the surface. On its face was the picture of a sandstone arch in a red desert.
“If Elcaro shows Torgin in DerTah,” Ari mused, “we must get there somehow.”
Torgin frowned. “I’m not so sure I want to go to DerTah.”
Ari punched him playfully on the arm. “You wanna rescue Esán, don’t ya?”
“Yes, but—”
Brie gathered her courage and gripped the rim of the bowl. “Who is our grandfather?”
Ari and Torgin stopped their bickering and stared.
The Star of Truth sent a warning throb of pain up the back of Brie’s neck. Elcaro’s Eye shuddered and splashed dark, frothing water over its alabaster rim.
“I don’t suppose,” inquired a voice behind them, “you considered asking permission to use my fountain?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Brie saw Ari and Torgin whip around. She could not move. The face rising from black, stormy clouds on the water’s surface sent a wave of paralysis shooting through her body. Her mind, clearer than she could ever remember, filled with the piercing, intelligent eyes of a man with flaming hair. She could not tear her gaze away. A foaming whirlpool eradicated the image. But the sinister eyes remained like flares of light in her mind. The alabaster woman spilled droplets into Elcaro’s bowl—the only sound in the room.
The breath she had sucked in as the stranger’s eyes fastened on hers threatened to strangle her. She gasped for air. Her knees buckled, and she found herself sitting on the floor in a puddle of spilled water. A voice, muffled and unrecognizable, pounded against her eardrums.
“Brie!” Almiralyn’s face, nose to nose with hers, snapped into focus. “Shield your mind now !”
Struggling against the vacuum that threatened to engulf her, Brie tried to respond. “I…I…can’t…”
“Brie.” Almiralyn’s hands, pressing firmly on either side of her head, pushed the penetrating eyes away. “Shield your mind!”
Like a guillotine dropping, Brie felt her mind snap shut. “I did it,” she whispered.
“Good girl. I must erase the connection he is trying to forge. Be very still. If he chooses to fight, it may hurt but not for long. Are you ready?”
Brie steadied herself. “Yes, Aunt Mira, I’m ready.”
Inside her skull a pain twisted tighter and tighter. A scream crawled up her throat. She gulped it down and gasped as the connection convulsed. Like a snake slithering into hiding, it was gone.
Almiralyn’s arms supported her. “Breathe, dear one. Just breathe. You’ll be fine. I’m right here.”
Ari knelt beside her. “I’m here, too, Brie.”
Torgin stood looking down at her, his wide green eyes brimming with alarm.
Remorse choked her. “I’m s-s-so s-s-orry, Aunt Mira. I asked about our grandfather. When his eyes found me…” A tear ran down the side of her nose. She brushed it away. “He wouldn’t leave me alone. It felt as if he were dissecting my brain to find out everything there is to know about me.”
“I think we thwarted his attempt, Brie, but now he knows he has a granddaughter.” Almiralyn studied her face and then turned to her twin. “Ari, please go and wake up your parents and Merrilea. Have them meet us in the kitchen. Torgin, fetch the Major, One Man, and Paisley. We have much to discuss.”
After they had darted away, Almiralyn helped her to stand. “I’m sorry I used Elcaro’s Eye without your permission, Aunt Mira. Our grandfather is not a good man, is he?”
“Your grandfather is someone I had hoped you would never meet. Now it is only a matter of time.”
Ari sat next to Torgin, tracing her favorite horizontal figure eight on the kitchen tabletop. Allynae, Jordett, and One Man were deep in conversation across from her; and Paisley sat near the door, leaning against the pale yellow wall. Her mother had just moved over to make room for Merrilea to sit beside her. Ari saw the question in her eyes.
“What were you doing in Mira’s sanctuary in the middle of the night?” Sparrow’s tone held a note of disapproval.
Ari kept her eyes on the pattern of her third figure eight. “We just wanted to know if Esán was okay.” Somehow, the justification sounded hollow.
“You were planning,” Almiralyn said, walking into the kitchen with Brie, “to go after Esán on your own, and now we have a serious situation on our hands.”
Ari felt herself blush. Before she could stop them, angry, defiant words gushed out. “We didn’t do anything wrong.” She glared at Brie.
“Ari…” Sparrow admonished.
“It’s okay, Mother.” Brie slid into a chair next to her sister. “I had to tell her, Ari.”
“It’s not your plan to rescue Esán that concerns me at the moment.” Almiralyn put both hands on the tabletop. “It’s what the image in the fountain learned that has me very worried.”
The sense of foreboding in her voice sent chills up Ari’s spine.
“She saw your birth father, Sparrow.” The Guardian sat down. “And now he knows he has a granddaughter.”
“And who is my birth father, Almiralyn?”
The Guardian hesitated.
“Well?” Allynae leaned across the table. “Are you going to tell us who he is, Mira?”
“He is the Largeen Joram of the planet of RewFaar.”
“RewFaar!” Allynae jumped to his feet. “Are you sure? RewFaar! The Largeen Joram…” He sank onto his seat and put a protective arm around her mother.
Sparrow pressed closer. “I think you should explain, Almiralyn.”
“I suppose I should.”
Ari watched her aunt search for the right way to begin.
5
ConDra’s Fire
DerTah
E sán slipped the scarlet robe over his head. What , he wondered, are they planning for me?
Seval finished tying the gold sash and stepped back to check his handy work. “You look good, Master Efre.”
“Esán,” he snapped, then softened his tone. “Please, call me Esán.”
“It would not be appropriate for me to address a Tyro in that manner.” Seval lowered his eyes respectfully.
“I’m not a Tyro, whatever that is. I’m only in DerTah because my uncle kidnapped me.” The anger in his voice surprised him. “Can you at least call me Esán when we’re alone?” he asked with less bitterness.
“Certainly, if you wish.” Seval opened the door. “Come, Master, the Dreelum await you.”
Master . Esán swept out the door, his long scarlet robe swishing as he walked. I am no one’s master. And I will allow no one to be mine.
Outside the dining room, he took a moment to prepare himself for the tiresome evening. It irked him that everyone inside would be attempting to read his mind the moment he entered, and that they were now, in all likelihood, discussing him. Masking his thoughts and transforming his frown into a gracious smile, he entered the room. All eyes swept his direction. Speculation, greedy interest, fear, laughter—all flashed through the gap between them.
Wolloh welcomed him with a distorted smile. “Ah, our guest of honor. Come in and join us, Esán. We were just talking about you.” A wicked light gleamed in his eye. He reached out his good hand and drew him into the circle of Dreelum.
TheLise flashed him a disarming smile. “You look quite dashing in your robe, Esán. Has anyone explained to you what it means?”
“No. I was just told to wear it.”
Baroh peered down from his immense height. “It is the symbol of power in DerTah, Esán. The gold sash denotes a Tyro.” The words tumbled like pebbles down a steep hill, one dry syllable after the other.
“I would be willing to bet no one told you what a Tyro is either.” TheLise’s teasing smile made the blood rush to his cheeks.
Wolloh cleared his throat and turned the handsome side of his face to TheLise. “I believe dinner is served, Dreelas.” He offered his good arm. “May I escort you to the table?”
Her gray eyes sparkled as she placed a hand on his arm. “I’m always delighte
d to walk by your side, Wolloh.”
“But not,” he responded playfully, “to follow where I lead.”
TheLise gave a deep, sensual laugh. “I am, Wolloh, who I am. Would you want it any other way?”
He patted her hand with his twisted claw. “Never, my dear,” he said and guided her to the table.
Captivated by the exchange, Esán’s eyes followed them as they continued their banter, his thoughts speculative. Wolloh with his distorted features, handsome on one side and twisted on the other, seemed to be two distinct personalities.
Nomed placed a hand on his shoulder. “Interesting, isn’t he?”
Esán moved apart from his uncle. “He is clearly a man of power.”
“Esán.” Wolloh sounded amused. “Please sit across from me so I may…observe you more closely.” He laughed and turned his handsome face back to TheLise.
Esán made his way to the far side of the table. I continue to be under the microscope. So be it…I will also learn much of you, Wolloh. And I intend to learn much from you, as well.
Nomed relaxed in a comfortable chair in his room and reviewed the events of the evening. Dinner had been a pleasant affair. An easy exchange of lighthearted, teasing remarks flowed among the Dreelum, with Wolloh interspersing his wit and intelligence into the mix. Nomed had rarely seen his mentor so engaged or so…charming. Wolloh’s taste for society ran to an occasional meeting with the leaders of DerTah—only when he deemed it necessary—and his work with his initiates. Of those gathered around the table, only he and TheLise had won the attention and respect of the High DiMensioner. Nomed rolled the title around in his mind. DiMensioners coached by Wolloh were much more than the sorcerers of past centuries. The Art of DiMensionery was not about magic, spells, or simple fortune-telling. It went deeper into the innate gifts of man. Esán had already shown an abundance of these gifts. Without a doubt, more surprises would surface along the way.
The UnFolding Collection Two Page 4
