“And the girl…is a Druid?” Benjamin nodded at Lucy.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“It wasn’t truly a question. Her power is as obvious as it is troubling.”
“Hey,” Wyatt protested. “She just saved us.”
“That may be, but her presence has also doomed us all,” Benjamin said.
“Wait,” Ms. Abagail said, stepping forward. “How do you figure? Look, I don’t know much about what’s going on here, but we’re trying to fix things. Give us a break. We didn’t ask to come here, it just sort of happened. If Lucy can figure out how to better control whatever it is she can do, things will work out. We’re the good guys.”
Wyatt smiled at that. Benjamin, however, frowned. “Trust me when I say that the free people of Sanctuary are entirely faithful to the Mother, and by extension, her Druids. And while we have prepared for this day to come, you must forgive me for fearing the outcome.”
“Outcome of what?” Wyatt asked.
Benjamin looked to the other Representatives, clearly confused by something. “Surely you three cannot know so little?” he asked, turning back.
Wyatt bristled and took a step forward, but Ms. Abagail halted him by grabbing his shoulder and giving him a look that stunted his impulse. “Let’s just say that we don’t know,” Ms. Abagail said. “And keep in mind that we do want to help set things right.”
Benjamin sighed, walked back to his chair, and collapsed atop it, rubbing at his temples. “Please, sit,” he said.
Returning to the same positions they had all occupied a few moments prior brought with it a sense of déjà vu and dread. Wyatt couldn’t help glancing at Lucy, wondering if her amulet would spark to life again, bringing with it an endless loop of unpredictable terror.
“The Druids are a beacon,” Benjamin said when everyone had settled into their seats.
“Of hope?” Ms. Abagail asked.
“Well, yes,” Benjamin replied. “But that’s not what I am getting at. They are also beacons for the Regency.”
Wyatt nearly fell out of his chair. “What?” he shouted.
“The Regency,” Benjamin continued. “Their use of the Mother’s dark gifts allows them a certain…ability…to discern the Druids, should any exist in the Realms. Unfortunately, none have existed for many generations, and while that eliminates potential targets for the Regency, it also allows them to rule unchecked.”
“The Regency can track Druids?” Wyatt asked in disbelief.
Benjamin nodded. “And vice versa. The Regents and Druids are two sides of the same coin. Two edges to the same blade.”
Wyatt fell back into his seat, stunned into silence. So that’s how they always found me. That’s how the Regency found Rozen and Athena. It really is all my fault.
“And so now you see our dilemma,” Benjamin continued. “Since its founding, Sanctuary has been the only place the Regency has no knowledge of. It has been a place where the once enslaved can be free. But with you here…”
“The Regency knows where we are,” Ms. Abagail said. “And where you are.”
Wyatt shook out of his stupor. “I say let them come. You said yourself that you’ve been preparing for this day. Well, then I think we’re right where we need to be.”
“To what end?” Benjamin asked.
“It’s why we’re here,” Wyatt said. “Defeating the Regency is our mission. And if they know where we are, then all the better.”
Benjamin stared back, fingers twisting the ends of his mustache like a cartoon villain. “You are either very brave or very foolish to invite such evil.”
Wyatt stood. “I’m both,” he said defiantly. “I know it doesn’t make any sense. And I can’t explain it all. I’m just asking that you trust us. We can help protect you.”
“While I can respect your voracity, we need more than idle boasts and promises. You’re asking us to stand against the Regency,” Benjamin said, standing as well.
“You don’t have a choice,” Wyatt spat back.
“Wyatt!” Ms. Abagail shouted.
Benjamin waved his hand. “He’s right.”
“So, you’ll fight with us?” Wyatt asked, feeling a familiar confidence build within him.
“No,” Benjamin shouted. “Sanctuary will fight to protect its own. It is you that I would ask to fight with us. Druid or not, you three do not command here. We are a city of equal voices and unimpeachable free will. Your being here threatens that, and the people of Sanctuary will die before that is taken away.”
Wyatt looked around the table and sat, pressed down by dozens of fiery stares.
“What can we do?” Ms. Abagail asked.
Lucy stirred at Wyatt’s side and he turned his attention to her, putting an arm around her. Lucy resisted at first, but then shifted in her chair to slide closer to Wyatt. The warmth from the towering metal rose did little to rid him of the chill he felt.
Benjamin cleared his throat. “To business, then. You can be sure that the Regency will pursue your Druid, and finding Sanctuary, will seek to kill two birds with one stone. It will be too much for them to resist. We should expect their full force. Which is a bit of good news for us.”
“And how’s that?” Ms. Abagail asked. For once, Wyatt was happy to sit back and let someone else play the fool. “Not to sound like an idiot, but I don’t get it.”
“It takes time to gather and march a full army. And knowing our location will do little to make the route any more hospitable. The snow and mountains will delay them for quite some time. How much will depend on their current location. We have many spies in many places, and should get a report in a few days should they commence the journey.”
“But we know where the Regency is,” Ms. Abagail said proudly. “They’re in our world. Earth. Well, sort of. I think. Right, Wyatt?”
Wyatt sighed and looked at Benjamin. “Yeah, sort of. The Regency army is in the Gazaria. The plains, I guess. And the Gazarian plains are in our world. Or were. Hard to explain.”
Benjamin glanced around the table. The Representatives broke their usually stoic facade for hushed whispering among each other. Benjamin pounded the table and looked back at Wyatt. “Very good. The Gazarian Plains lie many leagues from here. It would take a full army at least four score days to cover that kind of distance. And not without severe losses.” Numerous heads nodded in agreement. Benjamin smiled. “That will allow enough time to properly prepare our defenses. More than enough, in fact.”
Wyatt looked at the rest of the Representatives and saw smiles spreading. He looked at Ms. Abagail and saw confusion on her pale face. He turned back to Lucy and saw weariness unfitting of a child. He cleared his throat. “If the worlds stay as they should,” he said slowly. “And there is the matter of the Regency having my…uh, well, they may be able to shorten that distance quite considerably.”
Benjamin’s smile melted like the snow that dared fall too near the fiery metal rose. “You’re saying the Regency has the ability to enter Sanctuary much as you three did?”
Wyatt tightened his hold on Lucy, hoping to derive some strength from their closeness. “I don’t think so. At least, not like we came here. If they could, I think they would have already. They would have dropped right on our heads back at Greenwood. And hopefully Lucy can…well, do whatever she did before and keep the worlds separate.”
“What are you saying, exactly?” Benjamin asked. “We need hard facts, not postulation.”
“I don’t know for sure. This is new for us, too.”
Benjamin nodded slowly. “Well, that will have to be enough. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have much to confer on, and much to call to vote. Including what to do with the three of you.”
“Hey—” Wyatt said.
Ms. Abagail grabbed his shoulder tightly and cut in, saying, “We understand. Is there…we’ve been through a lot tonight, and well…”
“You will be shown to quarters of your own and afforded every bit of hospitality Sanctuary has to offer. For now.” Benjamin stoo
d as he spoke and nodded at the stairwell.
“Thank you,” Ms. Abagail said.
She elbowed Wyatt in the side. He jumped at the strike, but recovered quickly and added a dry, “Thanks.”
“All right,” Ms. Abagail said, standing and leading Wyatt and Lucy from the table. “Let’s get Lucy into bed. Something tells me we’re going to need our rest.”
“You are very wise, milady,” Benjamin said.
Wyatt felt Ms. Abagail falter at his side, but found it difficult to think of anything else but the imminent doom he was certain to have brought down upon a city set on peace and freedom. Was it not enough that he had destroyed Ouranos? Was it not enough that the elven city in the Gazarian Pines burned to cinders? And there was still the matter of finding Athena, Maia, and Rozen. And they had to find some way to destroy the Bad Man. He and Lucy had figured it had something to do with the memory of how their parents died, but was that it? Wyatt knew they were killed in a traffic accident and he had reunited with his forgotten sister, but nothing had changed. Or at least, nothing had improved.
“This is far from over,” Wyatt said to himself.
Chapter Four
MS. ABAGAIL WAS pacing. Wyatt was sitting on the edge of Lucy’s bed, watching the young woman walk back and forth across the small room, fussing with the stripe of pink in her hair and muttering to herself.
“You’re starting to lose it,” Wyatt said. “You’re gonna burn a hole in the floor if you keep that up, and another hole in the floor is the last thing we need right now.”
Ms. Abagail increased her pace, nearly running now. “Well, excuse me, but this is all a bit much. Maybe you’re used to this, but I’m not. I mean, one minute we’re at Greenwood running from some flying fire things and then we’re falling into a freakin’ castle in the middle of the mountains! And then we’re talking with the rulers of this place about a war with the Regency like it’s just another day. And Lucy goes all magic and—”
“Ms. Abagail,” Wyatt said sharply.
Ms. Abagail stopped for a moment, looked at Wyatt, and shook her head, saying, “This is nuts. Just plain nuts.”
She started to pace again, though slower this time, and without the muttering. Wyatt sighed and looked back at Lucy. She was snoring softly beneath the heavy blankets, looking wholly at peace—a sharp contrast to Ms. Abagail. Wyatt wondered if she was dreaming and what that would mean for them if she was. Strangely, he felt a swell of pride in the moment. Lucy was the Druid now. With power far beyond anything he had before. And, most importantly, she was his sister.
After leaving the Observatory, the trio had been led to a simple suite and given clean clothes. Wyatt and Ms. Abagail helped Lucy get changed, and once they got her into bed, she passed out immediately. Ms. Abagail had begun pacing soon after and hadn’t stopped.
“That’s not helping, you know,” Wyatt said after a while. He stood and looked over the clothes folded on top of the bureau. He set aside those intended for him and picked up Ms. Abagail’s. He stood in front of her and held them out. “You’ll feel better with clean clothes.”
Ms. Abagail took the clothes with shaking hands. “Yeah, sure, but I doubt it will change anything.”
“Sure, it will. You’ll be clean and warm.”
“How can you be so calm about all this?”
Wyatt glanced at Lucy and then looked back at Ms. Abagail. Her hair had dried, but was still plastered to her face. Mascara and eyeliner had long ago turned her cheeks black, and even her eyes appeared to be shaking. “I’m not calm,” Wyatt said. “This is all my fault, remember? And we’re miles and miles from Athena. And who knows where Rozen is? I’ve done nothing but let down everyone who counted on me. And now I’m doing it all again, this time putting you and Lucy in the crosshairs. And I don’t even have my power anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing, but I don’t know. I have to find Athena and Rozen. And I have to stop an entire army from destroying everyone here. And on top of all that, I have to face the Bad Man and the Lord Regent, all while trying to remember everything I forgot about my past because somehow that’s at the root of all of this.”
Ms. Abagail set aside the clothes she was holding and hugged him. She didn’t say anything, and neither did he.
Finally, she let him go and took a step back. Wyatt wiped at his tears. Ms. Abagail did the same, shaking her head. They stared at each for a long time until Ms. Abagail let out a nervous laugh. Wyatt frowned. “What’s so funny?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. Everything. I don’t know. Maybe we should just get some sleep.”
Wyatt nodded and looked again at Lucy. “I still can’t believe I have a sister,” he said.
Ms. Abagail laughed. “Really? That’s what you can’t believe?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s just one thing on a long list for me. But I’m going to get changed and try and get some sleep. Maybe things will make sense in the morning.”
“They won’t,” Wyatt said, forcing a smile. “But maybe we’ll be able to handle it better.”
“Wonderful,” Ms. Abagail said as she left the room. “Goodnight, Wyatt.”
“Night,” Wyatt said.
Once Ms. Abagail was gone, Wyatt changed his clothes. Then he found some extra blankets and laid them out on the floor next to Lucy’s bed. He lay atop them and stared at the stone ceiling. Though his mind was still racing, his body was battered and weary, and eventually sleep won out, dragging Wyatt into the depths of uncertainty.
* * *
Wyatt woke up in a bed he didn’t recognize, staring at a ceiling that was even more foreign. Light streamed in through a window, warming his face and rousing him. Wyatt sat up despite the protesting of his stiff limbs and looked around.
“Well, this is interesting,” he said aloud.
Instinctively, he grabbed at his chest, expecting to find the amulet that had made a habit of sending him between worlds at random. But he found nothing. No amulet and no explanation. Maybe I’m still dreaming, he thought as he climbed out of the four-poster bed and stood on a carpeted floor.
He was in a bedroom, but one that looked decidedly like it belonged on Earth. There was no stone here, just blue walls and cherry-red carpeting. He spun slowly in place, desperately trying to discern if he was looking upon reality, a dream, or something else entirely. The only other piece of furniture in the small room was a dresser. Wyatt opened the first drawer and starting laughing.
“What’s so funny?” asked a voice from behind him.
Wyatt whirled around to see Lucy standing on the opposite side of the bed, rubbing her eyes. She was wearing plaid pajamas, but that wasn’t the strangest thing about her.
“Lucy?” Wyatt asked.
Lucy frowned at him. “Where are we?” she asked, looking around the room.
“I don’t know,” Wyatt said, still fixated on the small girl standing across the room from him. “Uh, Lucy…”
“What?” she asked, wandering around the bed, eyes still roaming.
“You’re…well, young.”
Lucy stopped and stared at him. She scrunched up her face. “Well, so are you.”
Wyatt shook his head. There was no doubt that the girl frowning at him was his sister, but she was younger than he knew her to be. The Lucy standing before him now could not have been more than five, though her voice and mannerisms remained as they had been.
“No,” he said. “I mean you’re younger than you were before.”
“Yeah, and so are you, dumby,” she quipped.
Wyatt recoiled and looked down at himself. He was wearing a matching set of pajamas, and he knew at once that Lucy was right. He was younger, too. Or at least smaller.
“So, what was so funny?” Lucy asked, walking over to the dresser and looking into the open drawer.
“Aren’t you concerned about any of this?” Wyatt asked, examining his hands.
“It’s just a dream,” she said. Then, pulling out a padded bra from the drawer, laughed. “This is not min
e.”
“The dream?” Wyatt asked, slapping aside the bra as Lucy waved it in his face with a grin.
“No, the bra. Even before, I wasn’t old enough to wear one. Is it yours?”
Wyatt grabbed the bra from Lucy and stuffed it back into the drawer. He shut it and leaned against the dresser. “So, this is a dream?”
“Isn’t it?” Lucy asked, moving to the window on the far side of the room.
“You tell me. This has never happened before. I mean, when I had my amulet, I would bounce all over, but never like this. I never got younger, or whatever. Where are we?”
Lucy pressed her hands and nose to the window. “There’s nothing out there.”
Wyatt raced to her side. “What do you—” He stopped, silenced by the view, or to be more precise, the lack of a view. “It’s just…”
“All white,” Lucy said. “Weird.”
Wyatt turned from the window and rubbed his eyes. “This has to be something you’re doing.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’re the one with the magic dreams or whatever.”
“Not like this,” Lucy replied. “I only dreamed about the Realms. And you broke that, anyway.”
It was strange hearing Lucy speak like the nine-year-old he knew she was, though she was clearly in the body of a much younger version of herself.
“Well, wake us up,” he said.
“Wake us up?”
“Yeah, we don’t have time to be messing around here—wherever here is. We should be worrying about the Regency and how to find Athena.”
Lucy shrugged and walked to the closed door, shouldering Wyatt out of the way as she did. “You can’t just wake up because you want to. That’s not how magic dreams work.”
“So, this is a dream?” Wyatt asked, following after her.
Lucy grabbed the doorknob and looked over her shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Wyatt returned a wry smile. “Fantastic,” he said sarcastically.
“Yep,” Lucy said, pulling the door open. “Oh!”
The Druid's Guise: The Complete Trilogy (The Druid's Guise Trilogy) Page 64
