Chrysoprase (The Chalcedony Chronicles)

by B. Kristin McMichael

  “Mari,” Seth said quietly.

  I hurried to the door and opened it. Seth was carrying more food as he entered. I shut the door behind him and waited for Seth to set the tray down. I didn’t even care what it was this time, I was too hungry. Hot food smelled delicious to me. I wasn’t cut out for his time period and the lack of nutrition. Seth set the tray on the bed and the burning candle he brought with him onto the bare nightstand. He used the candle to light the lamp that I had no idea how to use. I felt helpless in this new time.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Eat first,” Seth ordered. He handed me a dish of something but took none for himself.

  I shoveled the mush and chunks of who knows what into my mouth and stared at him. He took one of the glasses. I couldn’t tell by the dim light in the room, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t water. Seth stood by the window and looked outside as I ate in silence. When the food was finally gone, I waited for him. He didn’t say anything or turn around. I stood up and walked over to him. I placed a hand on his shoulder. He covered it with his own larger hand.

  “Prince Saru has agreed to the Hittite King’s request of your mother,” Seth told me.

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “In three days, your mother will be shipped north to marry the Hittite king as his twelfth wife,” Seth answered.

  I sat back down on the bed. That wasn’t supposed to happen. My mother was meant to be happy in the past. The goddess sent her back. She said my mother belonged here. My mother didn’t belong in a place that traded her like cattle. She was a person, not an object. Why couldn’t these men see it that way?

  “What can we do?” I asked as Seth sat beside me.

  “I don’t know, Mari,” Seth replied while putting his arms around me. “I really don’t know.”

  That was answer enough for my earlier question. The general hadn’t agreed to Seth taking my mother back by force. I had no doubt that Seth’s order was for him to return back to the military with or without my mother. General Paramessu was a smart general, and not one who would place such a risk on his country or his son. I hated, but respected, that.

  “It’s not fair,” I said, trying to hold more tears at bay. I had cried enough over and for my mother. “She ran away from a life of being sent off as a bargaining chip between nations. The goddess even helped her. But where is the goddess now? Why is my mother being forced to live the life she tried hard to avoid? We have to do something.”

  “I know,” Seth replied, pulling me to his chest. “I know. Just give me some time. We’ll think of something.”

  I sniffled and cuddled into his arms. We had to think of something, and we had three days. I looked down at my arm. The lines were almost full again. I would be able to travel with her, but now I was unsure how to even do that. I was nowhere near her, and Seth didn’t want me near the palace because of who I was. I was stuck.

  Seth picked up my arm and looked at the lines. He turned my arm around and traced the lines with his finger. He was as amazed by them as I was.

  “They really are growing, aren’t they?” he said.

  He had seen the lines the day before, but they weren’t much beyond a single swirl around my wrist and few up my arm. If I hadn’t let go of Logan, they would have been full and ready to travel like we had planned. Oh well. I enjoyed my time letting them grow back. They now stretched up my forearm.

  “They still have a little to go, and then I can travel again,” I replied. Seth nodded and traced the lines with his fingers back down to where they started.

  “This will take some getting used to,” Seth replied, looking closer at them.

  “For you, but not anyone else. Only people who have time traveled before can see them,” I explained. “They’re almost full. That means I can travel and take someone back with me. If I can get close to my mother, I can take her back,” I added before Seth could change the subject off my mother completely.

  “No,” Seth replied. “I’ll talk with Dee. We will find a way that doesn’t involve putting you in the middle of it. I need you safe. I have no idea what I’d do without you, or if you got hurt.”

  “But I’ll be safe. See the lines? They prove it. If I get stuck, then I can just travel away,” I explained. “Superhero powers. Trust me. I can do this.”

  “No,” Seth said with more finality to his voice. “I’m not letting you go off and potentially get taken away from me. These last six months have been torture, never knowing when I’d see you again. If you step foot in the palace, they will keep you from me, whether you want to be with me or not. I’m only a soldier. Royalty marries other royalty. I can’t have that, time travel or not.”

  I couldn’t agree with his assessment that my new traveling abilities wouldn’t help, but I could agree that it was torture. And I didn’t want to torment him, he deserved that much.

  “But I thought your father agreed to us being married,” I replied. “They would have never accepted that.”

  “Well sometimes they are forced to accept marriages,” Seth cryptically replied, looking back to the window and not meeting my eyes.

  “How?” I asked. I was a bit suspicious, but more than that, was wondering if he knew something that could help my mother.

  “If you were with child,” he replied.

  “But that didn’t work for my mother,” I answered, completely glazing over the fact that he admitted his father wanted him to knock me up that day they found me.

  “Because she was still here and promised to someone else. If you were with my people, and protected by them, your cousin would have no choice but agree to the marriage or disown you. Your mother’s problem was that no one would have protected her. Her own people wouldn’t have wanted you born, and my people would have seen it as a sin to dirty the pharaoh’s future wife. You wouldn’t be in the same position with me. My father would protect us, and I would protect you.”

  “This world is messed up,” I added, and shook my head. Love was love, and no one could control who they fell for.

  “Don’t worry about your mother. Let me do this. Let me save your mother. Let me protect you,” Seth begged. I couldn’t say no to that.

  I cuddled close to him as he dimmed the light in the room. Everything was so messed up, and it was all my fault. The wheels turned in Seth’s head. He was planning something, but he didn’t realize that putting himself in danger was also torture to me. He wanted to protect me, and I wanted to protect him. I wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch him get hurt. This time period was dangerous, and I was sure he was planning something risky. As much as he wanted to keep me safe, I wanted the exact same for him.

  The next two days were slow for me, but quick for Seth. Dee came by each morning and tried to come up with ways of getting to my mother. There was nothing they could agree on and nothing really seemed feasible actually. My mother was left in the palace, preparing to go off to be a wife to a man she didn’t love. It wasn’t fair.

  By afternoon, the guys both left me alone as they scouted out the city. They were trying to find a way as best they could, but it was failing. They didn’t have many options since they weren’t in their own country, and my mother was heavily guarded. After her last disappearance, it seemed that the Nahrin weren’t taking any chances this time.

  When the third day came, the last full day my mother would be in the city, I had to take things into my own hands. Seth was trying his hardest. He wanted me to stay in his room all day and be safe, but she was still my mother. I had listened to the guys plan and throw out options. They were nowhere close to saving her. There would be a dinner tonight, and she would be given away first thing in the morning. Time was running out, and they couldn’t stop my mother’s fate. I trusted Seth to try his hardest no matter what, and knew he would do everything in his power to save my mother, but sometimes trying hard wasn’t enough. Sometimes it took more than you could give. Sometimes, someone else had to help.

  I waited until the guys were
gone out into the city again before I made my move. I couldn’t delay any longer as she was soon to be moved out of the city. I had no clue where to find her beyond the fact that she was in the large palace not too far away. If they took her, it would be even harder for me to find her, and you never knew what could happen on the way. It seemed like it wasn’t uncommon to kidnap a princess, I learned this after I listening to Seth and Dee throw out ideas. They could be ransomed for large amounts to various countries. If she left now, it might be close to impossible to ever find her again. I had to try to rescue her. I could send her home and come right back to the room where Dee and Seth would be waiting for me. We’d need to leave quickly since the Egyptians would be the first people they would blame for her disappearance, but that’s where Logan would come in. I tried several time to tell Seth of my plan, but he wouldn’t listen. He refused to allow me near my mother. I checked the door lock a second time before speaking. My plan was solid, and this time I wasn’t going to deviate from it.

  “Logan,” I called. He said he would be watching me. I hoped that was true.

  Logan appeared before me. It was strange to see him dressed in the rich tunics of the wealthier men around the city, as I had grown accustomed to seeing Dee and Seth in barely anything. Relief lined Logan’s face.

  “Thank the goddess you called for me,” Logan said, coming over and inspecting me. “I have been looking all around the city for days, but couldn’t find you.”

  “I’ve kind of been here for days,” I added, motioning around the room.

  “That was a very smart decision. They would have hauled you off to the palace by now if anyone knew you were here,” Logan commented. “How’d you get into a room like this?” I had no money either, so it would seem strange.

  “It’s Seth’s room,” I replied before I realized that maybe his wasn’t the best name to mention. Anger flashed briefly across Logan’s face before he was back to normal. I don’t think he thought I saw it, but I did. My being with Seth angered him. Maybe calling to him was a bad idea after all.

  “And yet you call for me,” he commented, his cocky self easily returning.

  “I need help,” I said, only further boosting his arrogance that I’d come to him over Seth. “I want to get into the palace to take my mother home like we planned. Seth doesn’t think it is safe for me to be there.”

  “It isn’t, but didn’t you tell him about being able to time travel?” Logan replied. He wasn’t immediately telling me no like Seth had.

  “Yes, but Seth still doesn’t think it’s safe. I just need to get in and get close to my mom. I have to save her. I can’t let her be sold off to the highest bidder. She’s my mom,” I explained. “Once I get her home, I will come right back here for Seth and Dee. We can take them home also.”

  “The plan is your mother, and then get the guys out right away?” Logan asked.

  “Yes, can you help me get to her, and then come back and tell the guys what the plan is?” I asked. I would have left Seth a note if they had a pen and paper in the room. One more thing for my list of things the past was annoying about.

  “Yes, but what will you do then?” Logan replied. “You need a stone to send her into the future.”

  “Which you have, right?” I asked, not giving away the second line on my arm. I had a feeling from his look not even moments ago, that he would not come back for Seth if he had the choice.

  “I don’t have it on me,” he replied. “I’ll have to go get it, and some sort of disguise that will allow you to get close to your mother.”

  “Fine, but come right back. I don’t know how long Seth will be out with Dee,” I replied. Logan was already fading away. He wasn’t gone for more than two seconds before he returned with clothing that he handed to me.

  I took the lighter dress and over tunic. I indicated to Logan to turn around. I wasn’t dressing in front of him, friends or not. Logan complied, but gave me a suggestive smile first. That was exactly why.

  I got the clothing on quickly with my back turned to Logan. While I was completely comfortable with Seth in the small room, I wasn’t with Logan. He still made me wonder about his motives. He was doing exactly what I asked, but I still was unsure. Something just didn’t seem right. He didn’t even try to bargain, or ask for something in return.

  “Now we need to fix your hair, too,” Logan said, stepping closer with something in his hand. He had something dark-colored and stinky. I didn’t ask what, and got the hint at what he was going to do. I stood still as he applied the powdery substance to my hair. There was no mirror in the room, but Logan was happy with the results.

  “Then you’ll take me to her? This sounds like a good plan?” I asked.

  Logan hadn’t tried to talk me out of anything like Seth did. It was strange. I knew Seth’s intentions were to keep me safe, but Logan was a mystery. He claimed to still love me and want to help me, but had no objections to what I suggested. Maybe Seth was just being overprotective and Logan was not. Maybe my plan was exactly what we needed to do. I couldn’t be sure, and I couldn’t read Logan’s face.

  “I promised Ty that I’d help you, and I don’t break promises. I can take you inside the palace, as close to your mom as I can get. You’ll have to do the rest. There are female servants all over the women’s wing. You should fit in fine. Just find your mom and get out of there as fast as you can,” Logan said, offering me his arm.

  “And then you’ll get Seth and Dee out of here?” I added the second part of my plan.

  “Yes, I’ll get them both home as soon as I see your mother there,” Logan answered.

  I took his arm, and we immediately were inside a building. Logan disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, and I was left alone. I didn’t even look around much as I moved quietly down the empty hallway to a place where I heard talking. As I neared a corner, I looked around it carefully. Beautiful arches led into an open courtyard. Women and children of all ages were sitting or running around. There was a pool or fountain of some sort in the middle of the open-roofed room, and several children were playing in it no matter what the mothers yelled to them. Plants grew around the courtyard, and the scent of flowers came from the slight breeze. Outside the arches, just down the hallway from me, were several soldiers walking around with swords hanging from their belts. There was no way I was going to be able to walk by them and not be noticed.

  I hid back around my corner. My mother had to be in there somewhere. It was almost like how I could feel Seth; I could feel her now, too. I had the same sort of tingles in my arm, but this time instead of excitement, which was always with Seth’s, I felt more at peace, more like love coming from the carnelian and chrysoprase lines. She was in that room, but so were at least six dozen other people, too. And they were guarded, whether to keep people out or in, it wasn’t a good situation for me. I heard walking down the hallway from behind the guards and snuck another peek. Two women dressed like me entered the open courtyard. Maybe they would just allow me in. I waited a few more minutes because I still wasn’t sure. I needed to see more people enter dressed like me. I needed to do exactly what they did.

  Leaning against the wall, I tried to decide what to do. I could just walk past the guards and pretend I was there for a reason, but I was unsure what the women were even doing who were coming in and out of the courtyard. I’d need to know more.

  I looked around the corner again to see two more women walking past the guards. It looked easy enough, but that wasn’t necessarily a good sign. They were all going in pairs of two. Unless I found someone to go with, I would stick out. I glanced around the courtyard. It was enormous, and I wasn’t sure where my mother was in the gaggle of women. I pulled back to think more about what to do when I caught a flash of fabric coming around the corner behind me. Someone appeared and squealed at my presence there.

  I didn’t even think, but just time traveled between my location and into the courtyard. I ended up in the dark corner that I had been thinking would be a good hiding spot once
I was able to get there, but I didn’t intend to just travel there. Most of the women looked to the open arches toward the squealing woman that entered through it. I couldn’t see a single face to look for my mother. The guards had yelled for backup and more men arrived. They stood just outside the arches as the woman calmed down and finally talked to the guards. The room went back into their normal chatter.

  The distraction, which I unintentionally caused, gave me time to look around the courtyard from a new perspective. A group of younger women sat the closest to me. I saw all their faces and knew none were my mother. The rest were more confusing as I couldn’t see their faces well enough to even guess which one was my mother. Most of the women had a dark brown color for their hair, but many others had the same red sheen to their brown hair as my mother did. I could see now how Seth said I’d be considered family to these people that I knew nothing about. Several of the women from my view could be my mother, but I wasn’t sure.

  “What are you doing here?” a shrill voice asked me from behind. I guess my hiding spot wasn’t as good as I thought.

  “Nothing, miss,” I replied, trying to be the dutiful servant. “I’m new here.” I hoped that would be enough of an explanation.

  “Where is your trainer, then?” the woman asked, eyeing me over. With the commotion and me being alone, I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb.

  “They just left me here to wait for them to return,” I replied. It did seem like a good explanation.

  “Then I guess I’ll wait with you,” the lady suggested, not believing me. I now saw exactly how this plan wouldn’t work. Even though the women sat around and didn’t seem to notice the working women that came and went, that wasn’t the case.

  “Who are you working for?” the lady asked casually.

  I didn’t understand the question. Did she think I was a spy?

  “Which lady were you assigned to?” the lady repeated more slowly, like I was dim-witted and didn’t understand her question.