“Who was he?” Isa realized she was leaning forward in anticipation.
“My father.” Without another word, the woman reopened the hole in the ceiling and swam out. Isa followed at a much slower pace. They didn’t speak again until Isa was returned to the island.
“I will come get you when it’s safe,” Sacha told her quietly before turning and walking back into the water.
It had been such a strange meeting. Genny immediately put Isa to work shaping a baby doll out of sticks, but Isa couldn’t focus the way she knew the little girl wanted her to. Somehow, she had come back from the swim with more questions than answers. The woman’s heart had been heavily guarded, but Isa couldn’t know for sure whether or not that was simply because she came from another world. Perhaps hearts didn’t work the same way for this people. But was the woman trustworthy? And why, if the tear had been present for years, were the children only being drawn here now under the guise of a house of sweets?
Tomorrow, she thought to the Maker, she would get some answers. But most of all, she prayed, let me get them home!
CHAPTER EIGHT
Torn Worlds
“How old are you?” Isa asked the little girl as she helped her skip rocks.
“Henri says I am four summers,” Genny replied as she heaved another pebble out into the pond. “But Henri is more. He says he has nine summers.” She stopped and looked at Isa, her clear blue eyes wide. “How many summers are you?”
Isa laughed. “More than that.” For the thousandth time that day, she looked out over the rolling hills they were now occupying and wondered if Sacha would come. It was Isa’s third day in the Fae world, and each day, the woman had snuck over to tell Isa that she was not yet ready to look for a way to send the children home. While they’d waited for the right time, Isa had noticed at least ten more children arrive.
As Genny had predicted, each day had brought new surroundings as well. The sea and islands were gone the morning after Isa stumbled into the Fae world, and instead, she and the children had awakened to find themselves atop a cliff so high that they were hidden within the clouds. Throughout the day, the wind blew enough of the clouds away to reveal the other children on little cliffs of their own. If Isa hadn’t known they were encaged, she might have collapsed from anxiety. The day after that had been a vast desert with yellow, blowing sand. At least today’s surroundings weren’t as hot as that desert had been.
Standing up, she walked casually over to the edge of their little spot, where Genny played and Henri sat against a rock. It hadn’t worked yesterday or the day before that, but she might as well try. Raising her hands ever so slightly, she pressed into the air that surrounded them. At first, she met no resistance. But the harder she pressed, the greater the force that came back to meet her. Even when pushing her hardest, Isa could move her hands no more than a hand’s span deep into the invisible wall. Frustrated, she let her hands drop once again.
“Your Highness.”
Isa looked up to see Sacha hiking down the hill towards them. She wore the same simple violet work shift she’d worn every time she had come to see Isa, but her blonde hair was pulled back tightly against her head this time. She glanced at Isa’s hands, which, to Isa’s embarrassment, were still in the air from her experiment. “I’ve found a place we can begin searching where they shouldn’t see us. Are you ready?” the woman said, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“Of course,” Isa said as she joined the woman. Sacha paused briefly, Isa guessed, to unlock their invisible door.
“You’re leaving?” Genny cried. And to Isa’s satisfaction, even Henri stood up, a slight frown on his face. She hadn’t been sure whether the boy had really come to trust her yet or not, as quiet as he’d been, but it seemed that perhaps he was on the way.
“She will return, I promise,” Sacha smiled sadly down at the children, her gaze lingering on the girl for a long moment. Then she turned and led Isa out. Up and down hills they went, toward the edge of what looked like a distant wood. As they walked, Isa wondered at how real the grasses felt as they brushed against her legs. The sky here was blue, as skies generally were, unlike their sky of orange from the day before.
“I apologize for taking so long,” Sacha called back in a low voice as they moved briskly toward a thick line of trees. “The children have continued to arrive, and I haven’t been able to get away much.”
“How many Fae do you have?” Isa looked around at the other little pods of children that were scattered over the gently rolling hills.
“Around two hundred. Our people are not numerous, nor do they prefer to bring many children into the world. Now, this is it. If you would be so kind as to feel around here for the break in the air. I’ve felt it here before somewhere...”
Isa froze as Sacha continued to search. How did this woman know she could feel such changes in power and worlds? In a previous meeting, Isa had told Sacha of her name, but not her abilities. Her heart thumped wildly about in her chest, but Isa decided it would be best to go on as usual, and to try not to reveal her surprise to the woman. As Ever always said, keeping her own knowledge secret might teach her more than asking many questions.
With her hands raised and her eyes closed, Sacha looked different than she had before. When her eyes were shut, it opened up her face, making it look more youthful and less austere than it had before. Slowly, Isa raised her own hands and began to feel around for a disturbance the same way Sacha was. Though she had never dealt with tears in realms before falling through the one in the cabin, she had been at the Fortress long enough to know what it felt like when power was interrupted. And as she moved along now, she could feel the ripple somewhere nearby, although where it came from exactly, she couldn’t say.
“What will we do once we find the tear?” Isa asked. How glad she would be to get back to her world where oceans didn’t move and invisible walls didn’t keep her holed up like an animal. And what she wouldn’t give for a bath.
“We’ll mark it so that we can find it again tomorrow. I’ve planned a disturbance that should keep my people occupied for a few hours. Enough time to get them out. As soon as you are all gone, I will seal the tear from this side. I’m assuming you can help them once they are returned to your world?”
“Of course,” Isa said. “Actually, my husband and some of his men are waiting there now.”
“Your husband?” The woman turned to look at Isa, her eyes suddenly burning with an excitement Isa hadn’t yet seen in her solemn face. Then she paused. “I feel the pull a bit stronger over here to the right. Let’s move that way, and perhaps you can tell me a bit more about your husband.”
Isa must have looked surprised, for the woman let out a short chuckle and closed her eyes again.
“My people don’t keep one partner for life, the way my father told me most humans do.” She smiled, almost shyly. “Please, if you wouldn’t mind, you could tell me about him while we work?”
“He’s a good man,” Isa began, but as she spoke, a little wind moved within her, and Isa knew immediately that the Fortress was warning her to be careful. “He is from a long line of respected protectors of our people.” She tried to sound casual. “We live together in our home on a mountain.”
“Oh, surely you must have something more to say about him!” The woman pressed just a little too enthusiastically, pausing her search efforts. “Is he an avid rider? Does he enjoy executions? Come now, you can surely spare a few more details.” She laughed, but Isa suddenly felt nearly queasy with angst. How did this woman know so much about their world? Had her father taken her there? And why was she so interested in Ever?
By the grace of the Maker, Isa’s arm went through a hole in what should have been an ancient, gnarled tree. “I’ve found it!” she cried, leaning over to stick her head through to look. Before she could, however, the woman grabbed a handful of her dress and yanked her back.
“No! You must wait until we are all ready! If you go through too soon, you may cause the bridge between
worlds to collapse, and you all will be stuck here!”
Isa had not appreciated the yank, but what the woman said made sense, so she held her tongue.
The woman removed a red jeweled pin from her hair. “This,” she waved at the hills behind them, “will have changed again by tomorrow morning.” She drove the pin into the side of the soft wood of the tree, a few feet below the hole. “We will use this to mark the place. It is from your world, a gift from my father. So when this wood changes, the pin will remain. Now,” she turned to Isa, her gray eyes gleaming again, “would you like to help me bring the children a little treat?”
Isa needed to learn as much of this world as she could before returning to the cage, but she couldn’t help feeling confused at Sacha’s sudden changes in mood. For all of her trepidation and solemn words on that first day, this quick light in her eyes didn’t fit with the person Isa had believed the woman to be. If only she could see into her heart more clearly!
As oddly as her host was behaving, Isa had to admit that she did enjoy their next activity. The woman, apparently, had learned to bake a little from her father, and deep in the forest, in a place Sacha claimed she had created that would be hidden from the others, she had prepared mountains of cookies for the children.
“I get little chance to practice my baking,” Sacha said as she handed Isa a cookie that was larger than the others. “Hopefully, it’s not terrible.” She chuckled to herself, then sighed. “I know my people have caused the children much fear, but I hope they will go home to happier days.”
When she was finally returned to her own little spot with Genny and Henri, Isa laid back against a large stone, just as Henri had been doing all day. As the children devoured their treats, Isa turned her own cookie over in her hands, wondering if it were real, or just another illusion. So many illusions here, and not one of them could be completely trusted. And though Isa still couldn’t see into Sacha’s heart, she could sense the presence of half-truths. Half-truths were the worst.
Isa put the cookie in her mouth and was surprised to taste its warm, buttery sweetness. If this was an illusion, it was a masterful one. Everything about it felt and tasted perfect. And yet, so had the tree and the ocean and the desert and now the hills. How was one supposed to find truth in a land of so many false appearances? It made Isa’s head hurt.
That night, when one of the Fae came to deliver their simple supper of bread and cheese, Isa dared to move more closely than she had before to study the otherworldly creature. It appeared to be a woman, but as Isa searched for details in the being’s face, she realized it was almost impossible to find them. When she saw the woman out of the side of her vision, the face appeared to have two eyes that slanted out, a nose, and a mouth. But every time she tried to pick out any more individual features than that, it was as impossible as focusing directly upon a star. The eyes and nose and mouth blurred into an oblong face, something vague and strange.
Finally, Isa and the children prepared to sleep. During her first night in the Fae world, Isa had awakened to find Genny burrowed into her side as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Henri had kept to himself, but as the days had gone by, he had stopped watching Isa as though she might eat his little sister. Tonight, as it was unusually cool, Isa gathered a few sticks and grasses and started a tiny fire in their circle, one that would be easy to put out, should someone object. No one came, though, and as had become her habit, Genny happily settled herself in Isa’s lap and promptly fell asleep, while Isa and Henri stared into the little yellow flames.
“She calls out for her mother at night.” Isa finally broke the silence, hoping not to scare the boy off with too many questions. “Was she close to your stepmother, or does she remember your real mother?”
Henri scoffed, his thin face scowling into the growing dark. “No. Our real mother was gone before Genny reached her second summer. And Helaine never liked us. She made me learn to dress and feed Genny and brush her hair so she wouldn’t have to.”
Isa looked down at the little girl laying in her lap. How one could reject such a child was beyond her. No wonder Genny was so desperate for love.
“Why then,” Isa croaked, trying not to cry in front of the boy, “does she cry out for her mother?”
“She thinks our mother is coming back for her one day.” Henri shook his head, then brushed a patch of his yellow hair out of his eyes. “I told her that our mum was coming back one day. I only did it so she’d stop crying one night after Helaine grew angry with us. I didn’t think she’d remember the next day, but she’s done it ever since.”
I’ll need to have his hair cut when we get back to the Fortress, Isa thought to herself. Then she realized what she had just assumed, and somehow, what she had been assuming all along.
Can I take them back with me? She looked up at the false sky as she begged the Fortress, suddenly desperate for a reply. Somehow, in the last three days, she had come to assume that they were hers. Isa didn’t know when it had happened, or how she had begun to believe she could keep them, but now it was as plain as day. Isa had undeniably begun to think of the children as her responsibility. Surely it wasn’t her fault, she argued with herself. No one could leave them all alone, particularly as their parents had just died. That would be irresponsible, and Isa had more than enough resources to keep them well and fed until they could find someplace else that was suitable for children.
But then again, for the truth still reigned in her heart, Isa really had no desire to find someplace suitable, either.
CHAPTER NINE
Objections
“Someone is coming!”
Ever leapt to his feet at the sound of the soldier’s cry. He and his men fell into a semi-circle around the front door of the cottage.
“Hold for the signal,” Ever reminded his men, looking in particular at Eloy. The young man seemed particularly jumpy today. Not that Ever could blame him. The four days they’d waited had been more than enough to try his own patience.
The shudder of power that came from the cottage was nearly enough to knock Ever off his feet. Acelet gave him a questioning look from across the half-circle, but none of the other men seemed to notice his trembling. Ever shook his head at his general, and turned his attention back to the door. Some great power was moving within the old house. He only prayed that it was his wife returning, for he could allow himself to imagine possibilities no further than that.
The ripping sensation continued, and yet, no one appeared. What was taking so long?
“The children are coming!” Acelet called. Sure enough, dozens of children came pouring out of the little cottage, two by two. And they continued to come. Ever couldn’t believe how many children there were. It seemed as though more might have been added right under their noses! But where is she? he asked the Fortress. Then, to his great relief, Isa appeared at the end of the great throng of children, holding the hand of a small girl. Never had Ever felt more relieved.
After giving the nod to Acelet, who set the men to the task of rounding up the children, Ever ran to Isa. Before he got there, however, she stepped back and peered into the cottage.
“What is it?” he asked as he came to stand beside her.
“I was wondering if she was able to seal the tear,” Isa said absentmindedly, still squinting into the dark, musty house.
“Who?”
“Sacha, the woman who helped us.”
Ever strode into the dusty room once more. The shuddering he had felt was all but gone. Whatever tear Isa spoke of, it certainly wasn’t here now. The feeling of evil that had pervaded the little place was gone.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” he growled, stomping back out to Isa and taking her by the shoulders. “You frightened me!”
“I’m sorry, Ever. I didn’t mean to rush off like that. But...” She looked down, and Ever realized the child was still clinging to her hand. “I heard them calling for help.” She looked back up into his face, her midnight eyes probing his. “I couldn�
��t leave them like that.”
“I know.” He pulled her into a deep hug, only to be interrupted by a shout from one of his men. They turned to see Eloy chasing a boy no taller than his knee.
“Come back! You must stay here!”
Isa gave Ever a knowing smile and bent down to the little girl and a boy, whom Ever had not noticed earlier. “I need to help with the other children. You stay here with my husband until I come back.”
The little girl looked up at him with the biggest, bluest eyes he had ever seen in such a small person. Isa smoothed the girl’s hair and then smiled at Ever once more before heading off to help his men, who seemed completely inept at getting the children into any semblance of order.
“Who are you?” the boy asked, taking the girl’s hand and pulling her closer to him.
“I am the king.”
The boy’s eyes grew even bigger before he ducked his head down and whispered something to the girl, who giggled and shook her head.
Ever looked for Isa amidst the chaos of soldiers and children. He had brought twenty-four men with him, but even so, the children had them seriously outnumbered. How did Isa do it, calming the children and organizing them so? And what did she expect him to do with these two?
“So,” he cleared his throat, “where do your parents live?”
“They’re dead,” the boy said.
Well, this was going to be more difficult than he thought. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“They didn’t want us anyway,” the boy responded, watching Isa as she moved the other children into groups.
How did one respond to that? Ever sighed. Leave it to Isa to find the most pathetic, lonely children in the land. And then hand them to him to take care of.
An eternity later, Isa had not only rounded up the children, but matched their names to the lists of the missing. Then she’d placed them in groups that needed to be returned to different parts of the kingdom. There was also a group of children that were neither on the list nor did they know where they were from. That bunch would be taken back to the Fortress to be sorted out and delivered home with the help of Garin and the runners. After instructing both the children and the soldiers on how to behave, Isa sent them in their prospective directions, and it was just Ever, Isa, three guards, and the last batch of twelve children.
Beauty Beheld: A Retelling of Hansel and Gretel (The Becoming Beauty Trilogy Book 3) Page 6
