by Anne Bishop
“I don’t know. It just is.”
It was astonishing to discover incubi could be…What was the phrase she’d heard Sebastian mutter on occasion? Prissy prigs. Yes, that was it. Prissy prigs.
Maybe in another day or two she’d see the humor in that.
“What are those?” Jeb asked as they approached four large, shaggy, horned creatures standing just beyond a courtyard filled with tables and chairs.
“Bull demons,” Teaser replied, then added, “I hope William Farmer brought eggs in that last wagon of supplies.”
Before Nadia could ask what eggs had to do with such dangerous-looking creatures, Teaser raised his voice and said, “This is Sebastian’s auntie, who’s come for a visit and a bite to eat. So you just find a table and wait your turn—and don’t go bellowing and give her a sour stomach.”
The shaggy creatures stared at her.
“Om-e-let?” one rumbled.
“She doesn’t want your omelet,” Teaser said. “Just go sit down.” He pulled out a chair at an unoccupied table and smiled at Nadia. “This is a good spot.”
For what? she wondered, noticing the closest statue. And also noticing that Jeb’s face was turning bright red as he looked around. The carpetbag slipped from his hand and landed on the flagstones with a thump.
Nadia set her basket on the table and just stared at the statues. All those years when Lee had come to the Den and had laughed at her concern that he might be too young…
Mother, if I wanted to be wild and wicked, I wouldn’t go to the Den. Sebastian’s worse than a spinster aunt twice over when it comes to my doing anything you might disapprove of.
She should have known a son would be less than truthful about things like that. And it didn’t look like a young man of tender years would have to do anything but look around in order to have an interesting education.
Dark. Decadent. But…
Her heart jumped into her throat when a bellow was abruptly cut off. “Oh, dear. That bull demon just smacked another one on the nose.”
The people at the other tables tensed, ready to flee at the first sign of a fight breaking out.
Then Lynnea stepped out of a doorway. Four shaggy heads turned and stared at her. She held up four fingers. Four heads bobbed up and down.
“How did she do that?” Jeb asked.
“She won’t make them omelets if they don’t behave,” Teaser replied, raising a hand to catch Lynnea’s attention.
When she turned and saw them, she darted between the tables, her face lit with delight, her hands reaching out to grasp Nadia’s.
“You’re here!” Lynnea said. “I’m so glad!” Then the delight changed to concern. “Is everything all right at home?”
“Everything’s fine.” Nadia gave Lynnea’s hands a friendly squeeze before letting go and turning toward the basket. “I just wanted to bring you a few things. I would have left them at the cottage, but it seemed…unoccupied.”
“Oh. Yes. Sebastian thought it would be safer to stay here for a while. There’s been a bit of trouble, you see, and—”
“How’d you get here?” Teaser said, focusing on Jeb.
“Took the bridge that crosses over in the woods behind the cottage,” Jeb replied.
“But how did you get here?”
“Walked.”
“What’s wrong?” Nadia asked when Teaser started swearing and Lynnea looked upset.
“Sebastian’s going to have a thing or two to say about that,” Teaser muttered.
“Why should Sebastian have anything to say about it?” Nadia said, irritated. If she dismissed the sculptures, shaggy demons, and the fact that it was middle-of-the-night dark instead of morning sunshine, she might very well have stepped into some squabble in her own village. And to her way of thinking, the only thing worse than getting caught between two sides of a family squabble was being one of the participants.
“He’ll have a lot to say about it, you being his auntie and all,” Teaser said hotly. “Besides, he’s the—”
“Here now!” A round man with receding dark hair hurried over to the table. “Teaser, let our visitors sit down and have some refreshment before you start jawing at them. And, Lynnea, darling…” He tipped his head toward the bull demons. “There’s an order waiting for your attention.”
“Yes, Philo, you’re right,” Lynnea said. Then she added in a rush, “Nadia, Jeb, please stay. I’ll get you something to eat, and you can catch your breath. And Teaser? Don’t be a moron.” She wove through the tables and dashed into the building.
“How does being concerned about Sebastian’s auntie make me a moron?” Teaser shouted, causing all the people in the courtyard to turn in his direction.
Siblings of the heart, Nadia thought, feeling the sting of sentimental tears. Lynnea was blooming here, changing from a frightened girl to a strong-minded woman. And the baffled, annoyed young man standing beside her was part of the reason for that change.
“Aunt Nadia?”
Turning, she felt her heart jolt when she saw Sebastian.
He’s changed.
Maturity cloaked him like a new coat that needed time to become a comfortable fit. But it was more than that. There was a feeling of strength in him, of…power.
“Justice Maker,” Nadia said.
His body tightened, as if bracing for a blow, while he inclined his head slightly to acknowledge the truth of what she’d said.
Wizard. Justice Maker. One was supposed to be the same as the other, but they weren’t the same. Sebastian’s father, Koltak, was a wizard. But Koltak’s brother, Peter, the husband of her heart and father of her children, had been a Justice Maker. She thought if Peter had survived, he would have understood Sebastian far better than Koltak ever could.
“Is the Justice Maker embarrassed to give his aunt a hug in public?” Nadia asked, pleased to see Sebastian relax as he walked up to the table and enveloped her in warm, strong arms.
Teaser snorted. “This is the Den. There’s nothing you do in public that will embarrass us.”
Sebastian eased back but left an arm around Nadia’s shoulders. “Jeb is the man who made that puzzle.”
“Is he?” Teaser’s eyes lit up. “I’ve had a couple of thoughts that could bring in a few coin.”
“Then why don’t you take Jeb over to another table while I talk to Aunt Nadia,” Sebastian said.
Just that simply and quickly, Teaser led Jeb to another table, Nadia was seated with Sebastian, and a youth who didn’t look old enough to know about the Den, let alone live there, took the carpetbag and basket, saying that Philo would tuck them out of the way. Before Nadia could catch her breath, Philo was filling the table with dishes of food, two glasses of wine, and two cups of koffee.
“Looks like Philo wanted to give you a sampling of his specialties,” Sebastian said. “There are Stuffed Tits, Phallic Delights, and olives.”
Nadia picked up a roll, realized how it was shaped, and dropped it.
“It’s just bread, Aunt Nadia,” Sebastian said.
She wanted to smack him for looking so amused.
“Here.” He took another Phallic Delight, broke it into three pieces, and put it on her plate.
Nadia narrowed her eyes. “Are your hands clean?”
“Yes, Auntie, my hands are clean. And I still remember to wash them after I pee. Most of the time.”
She laughed. How could she not laugh? “All right. So you all think I’m being foolish.”
Sebastian smiled as he dipped a Delight into the melted cheese. “You’re a first-timer. It would be a keen disappointment to all of us if there wasn’t something in the Den that shocked you.”
Nadia picked up a chunk of bread and dipped it in the cheese. “This is just a strange little village, isn’t it? It’s wicked with a sense of humor, naughty for the fun of it.”
“Yes, exactly.”
She set the bread and cheese down without tasting it. “Then the Den isn’t the problem. May the Guides of the Heart forgive me
, I had hoped it was.”
He tensed. “You came to check out the Den?”
“Yes.”
“You think it’s the weak spot in the landscapes Glorianna holds?”
“No, Sebastian. I think I’m the weak spot.”
A long silence. Then Sebastian said gently, “Drink your koffee. It’s getting cold.”
Obediently, she pulled the cup and saucer closer—and noticed that he reached for a glass of wine.
“A few days ago,” she began hesitantly, “the resonance of a town within one of my landscapes changed, became discordant. I couldn’t tell if that discordance came from some hearts that needed to move on to a different landscape or if it was a change in the town overall. So I crossed over to the marketplace in that town.
“Uneasiness and worry resonated from many of the people who went about their daily business, but it was the malicious glee of a few, thinly disguised as shock and disgust, that disturbed me. Even in the daylight landscapes, there are hearts that are nourished by dark feelings. They’re like weeds in a flower bed, except they can’t be plucked out. It’s more like they get trimmed back so that the good plants around them grow strong enough to overshadow them.”
“I understand that, I guess. If you sent everyone who had cheated or lied or had done something spiteful at some time in their lives to a dark landscape, there wouldn’t be anyone left in the daylight landscapes.”
“Exactly. The heart is capable of the most noble feelings and the most vile. The possibilities are inside each of us. It’s the feelings we embrace, as well as the ones we turn away from, that shape who we are.”
“So what happened in the marketplace that disturbed you so much?”
Nadia sipped her koffee. “Stories about bad things happening in the next town over. A boy killing his younger sister with an ax, screaming that she turned into a big spider at night and crawled on him while he slept. A man beating his wife to death because she’d been late serving his dinner. Whispers about families having a run of bad luck. It felt like the words had smeared something vile over me, and when I left the marketplace to find a quiet spot where I could resonate with feelings that belong to the Light, I realized I was resonating in tune with that vileness. I was reinforcing it, helping it become stronger.”
Sebastian put his hand over hers. She held on to that warmth, that connection.
“The dreams began that night,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Not dreams in the usual sense. Almost like someone whispering in the dark. But I didn’t want to listen, and the one image I can remember from those dreams is me pushing and pushing a heavy wooden door, fighting to get it closed and lock out whatever was on the other side. Except I’d lost the key, so the door wouldn’t stay closed.”
Sebastian sat back, picked up his wine, and drained the glass. “Sounds like something is trying to reach you through the twilight of waking dreams.”
“The what?”
He gave her a grim smile. “That’s how the incubi and succubi hunt their prey most of the time. We don’t have to cross into another landscape, don’t need physical contact. Oh, we like real sex, but it’s the feelings we feed on. So we send out a tendril of our power, searching for a receptive mind, and we weave a fantasy—or participate in a fantasy. We’re dream lovers who can make a dream feel so real there’s physical gratification.”
Nadia cleared her throat. “I see. I never…I never asked you about that part of your life.”
“And I wouldn’t have told you even if you’d asked.”
“I think…I’ve been contaminated. Maybe by a Dark Guide. Maybe by the Eater of the World. That’s why I’m here, Sebastian. I never doubted Glorianna’s reason for shaping the Den. Until these dreams started.”
“What do you feel compelled to do, Aunt Nadia?” Sebastian asked, his voice stripped of all emotion.
Nadia shivered. “Go to the wizards and tell them how to find her. Take them to Sanctuary—a place none of them have been able to reach on their own.”
“But you didn’t.” Now his voice was sharp, alarmed.
“No, I didn’t. Instead I came here. Glorianna can do things no one else can. She embraces the Dark and still walks in the Light. I needed to see this place…to reaffirm my faith in Belladonna.”
Sebastian took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Let me tell you about the dreams Lynnea’s been having lately.”
She could feel the heat rise in her face. “Oh, no, Sebastian. I don’t think that’s—”
“She’s been rearranging furniture. Or I should say, she’s been pointing and I’ve been rearranging furniture, hauling things I couldn’t possibly lift in the real world. And it’s a mix of furniture, some from our room at the bordello, some from the cottage. So I’m moving the bed and the couch and tables and chairs while Lynnea keeps saying, ‘No, that’s not the way it should be.’ Each morning she wakes up and looks at the furniture with this gleam in her eyes, and I wake up with a sore back.
“Last night I was rearranging windows. I’d grab the wooden frame and lift the whole thing out. There wouldn’t be a hole in the wall where it had been, and every time I pressed it against the wall, a hole would open exactly the right size for the window.
“But Lynnea kept saying it wasn’t where it should be. Then she wanted me to put it against an inside wall. I argued that we wouldn’t see anything but the person in the next room, but it was her dream and I was just the labor, so I did what I was told.”
Nadia tipped her head to the side. “And did you see into the next room?”
“No,” he replied softly. “I couldn’t see anything. The window was full of sunlight. The room was washed in it. And when I looked back at Lynnea, it was Glorianna standing there. She smiled at me and said, ‘Yes. Now it’s where it should be.’”
He reached across the table, picked up her glass of wine, and drank half of it. “I don’t know what it means, or even why I told you this now.”
“I know why you told me,” Nadia replied softly. “You believe in Glorianna—and you trust Belladonna. I’m going to fight very hard to do the same.”
Sebastian pushed his chair back. “Come on. Teaser’s had enough time to make Jeb blush right down to his toes, and I think it’s best if you went home. And stayed home.”
Nadia shivered. “You think I’m a danger, don’t you?”
“I think you’ve been poisoned.” He tapped his chest. “In here.”
He was right. She could feel the resonance of his words and knew he was right.
“Yes, we should be getting back.” She squared her shoulders. “And the walk will do me good.”
Sebastian draped an arm over her shoulders. “That’s too bad, because you’re riding back on the demon cycles.”
“Demon…Oh, no, I…”
Paying no attention to her protests and blustering, he rounded up Teaser and Jeb, gave her a moment to say good-bye to Lynnea, and had her riding behind him on something that was a combination of a thick bicycle with no wheels and a demon with lots of sharp teeth and wickedly curved claws.
It wasn’t too bad while they were on the Den’s main street, but once they reached the dirt lane that led to the cottage…
“You can let go now, Aunt Nadia.”
That was what he thought. She felt him patting her hands and trying to loosen the fists that had a death-hold on his shirt.
“We’re not moving anymore.”
“Then I’ll just wait for my insides to catch up with us.”
Sebastian laughed. That wicked boy actually laughed. Which annoyed her so much she managed to let go of his shirt and get off the cycle.
Jeb, she noticed, didn’t seem the least bit shaken. She couldn’t see him clearly, since there was only starlight, but he was rubbing his chin in that way he had when something had caught his interest.
Teaser grinned at Jeb and cocked his head.
“I’ll think about it,” Jeb said. He walked over to her and cupped her elbow in one of his big, s
trong hands. “Come along, darling. I’ll make you a cup of tea when we get home and you can have a bit of a lie-down.”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m old and decrepit,” Nadia snapped. Since the demon cycles had brought them right to the edge of the woods behind Sebastian’s cottage, it was no more than a few minutes’ walk before she’d be home.
She looked back at Sebastian. “The next time you come to visit, I hope Sparky poops in your hair.”
Jeb’s chuckles didn’t cover up Sebastian’s sputters. That made her feel better, so she hooked her arm through Jeb’s, and the two of them followed the path that led home.
Sebastian stared at the dark path in the woods, his heart aching.
“Do you want to check the cottage while we’re here?” Teaser asked.
He shook his head. “No one has been around.” He was certain of that because he stopped at the cottage each day when he checked the bridges leading to the Den. “Let’s get back.”
“Jeb said he’d think about my idea.”
“Where’s he going to find an artist to paint erotic pictures to make into a puzzle?”
“Well, he did say that might be a sticking point.” Teaser paused, then asked, “Who’s Sparky?”
On the way back to the Den, Sebastian thought about Nadia. Why would she have doubts about Glorianna now? Why would she consider telling the wizards where to find Belladonna? Unless, as he’d said, she had been poisoned by a mind strong enough to plant doubts and thoughts where none had been before. How was he supposed to tell Glorianna and Lee that something dangerous might have been locked in Nadia’s landscapes when Glorianna had altered Ephemera to isolate those places and keep her mother safe?
And how was he supposed to tell his cousins that their mother could no longer be trusted?
Shadows in the garden.
It is the hardest lesson for a Landscaper to learn.
The gardens are not just access points put together in a pleasing manner. They also reveal the heart of the Landscaper, the signature resonance that will overlie the landscapes in her care. It is a reflection of who the Landscaper is, and her innermost self will be manifested into plants and stones and water for everyone to see.
