Jethro pursed his lips. “I’ll consider your suggestion. Say nothing to anyone about this until I have decided.” He continued his slow walk along the path.
“C’mon, Seth, let’s follow him,” Erin said, grabbing his freezing cold hand. “I want to hear what happens.”
But they had only gone three paces when Jethro and the path were snatched away from them.
* * *
The overpowering scent of acacia flowers welcomed Seth and Erin as they landed on a tree-studded island surrounded by sparkling lake. All around cicadas vibrated and birds chattered in the leafy canopy. Winter had passed, and spring lay hot and heavy, even under the trees.
Seth heaved a sigh of relief. His icy dread had gone as suddenly as it had appeared. “It’s a pretty place,” he said, grinning at Erin. “But why are we here?”
“Did you blackout, Seth?” Erin said, not knowing what to make of his sudden transition. She touched his arm. It felt warm. Normal. “We were following Jethro, remember? Then the Stone flew us here.”
“Erin, you make me sound like I’m a dull child. One that you have to speak really slowly and clearly too so I’ll understand. I know we were following Jethro. But I don’t see him. Do you?”
If the icy Seth had spoken to me like that, Erin thought, I’d have had a lot to say to him. But it wasn’t the icy Seth speaking; it was the real Seth, and he was looking at her with a mildly amused expression. And, to make it even worse, his eyes were dancing. She turned away, unsure of what to make of him.
Seth grabbed her hand and headed for the closest pathway, but Erin pulled away without saying a word. He shrugged and they walked in silence.
Erin was trying to remember a story her father had told her when she was little – something about wicked hobgoblins who had found a mirror that made everything look ugly. They had wanted to take it to heaven to mock the angels, but the higher they flew, the heavier the mirror became. Finally it fell from their hands, shattering into millions of pieces when it hit the ground. Two friends, a boy and a girl – she couldn’t remember their names – were playing together when shards of glass pierced the boy’s eyes and heart. From that moment he turned to ice. Erin wished she could remember how the story ended, because something seemed to whisper to her that it carried a message for her about Seth.
“Hey, can you hear the music?” Seth asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Let’s follow it.”
They entered a large, airy house, unlike any other Seth had ever seen before. Built from reeds, it used the living trees as support. It was furnished with comfortable wicker seats, plump with silk cushions. They followed the music into a courtyard in the centre of the house where a bubbling fountain tumbled into a fishpond, bright with silvery fish. A bare-footed girl wearing a pale green silk dress was sitting on a stool in the shade; her chocolate brown hair brushed her fingers as she strummed at a lyre. It was Sophia.
Seth’s face burst into a wide grin. “It’s pay-back time! And she doesn’t know we’re here, about to start reading her mind.”
“She’s younger than she was at Vukani’s house. About my age, I guess.” Trying to hide her envy at Sophia’s looks, Erin added, “She’s stunning.”
Sophia wasn’t alone in the courtyard. Talitha was also there. Pale-faced, dark rings under her eyes, she was hunched on a stool, cradling a baby.
“She looks terrible.” Erin crouched at her feet. She put her hand on Talitha’s, but her friend clearly had no idea she was there. “What’s the point of being here if they don’t even know we exist? I need to talk to her, to comfort her.”
“I know how you feel.”
Erin spun round. “Do you? Do you really, when half the time you’re so frozen I hardly even know who you are?”
Seth took a hasty step back. “Yes, Erin, I do care. I see Caleb’s face in that baby and I want to tell him that I think he’s a complete jerk. That the least he could have done was to try and speak to his father. It wasn’t that much to ask. But I can’t tell him anything even though he’s as tied to me as my own skin. And you know what else really freaks me out? I still don’t even understand why I’m here, caring about all these dead people.”
Erin dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry, Seth. I had no right to attack you.”
He had a wry smile at the ready. “Chill. I know I’m not always the easiest person in the world to be with. Especially not now.”
She tried to return his smile, but her face wouldn’t cooperate.
“Come, Sparkles,” he cajoled. “You can do better than that.” He offered her his hand, which she took. “Like Gideon said, we have to stick together on this. That’s the only way we’ll prevent ourselves from going mad in this place.”
She wanted to yell at him, to tell him to stop being so icy and then so warm. But she didn’t. Instead she cracked a smile, showing her dimples. “I think we could do with a Guardian to explain a few things.”
“Good luck with getting any straight answers from the dead people.”
“I’ll just ignore that comment, Seth.” Two gleaming feet appeared, followed by a leg, half a body, and then a head. It was Kate. She ran her hands through her spiky hair, igniting the tips.
Erin giggled. “Come to cheer us up.”
“Yep,” Kate replied as the rest of her shimmered into being. “There’s enough sadness around here without you two adding to it.”
Erin flashed a look at Talitha. “What happened to her?”
Kate sat at Talitha’s feet and patted the ground next to her. “Sit. It’s a long, miserable tale, with no happy ending in sight. Just the kind I hate.”
Erin and Seth sat next to her in the dust, waiting while Kate looked at her fingernails – painted with neon green nail varnish. Erin recognised the colour and smiled. This cheeky angel must have raided my toiletries bag, abandoned back at Gideon’s campsite! Kate smiled guiltily and Erin knew she’d guessed right.
“Talitha hid the pregnancy from everyone, because in our age girls who fall pregnant out of marriage are stoned to death,” Kate said suddenly.
“And the boys who impregnate them?” Erin demanded. “What’s their punishment?”
Kate gave a non-committal shrug. “As you know, the Shenayans invaded Ammarod, searching for the Cosmic Predictor, killing everything that drew breath–”
“What’s a Cosmic Predictor?” Erin interrupted.
Kate looked at her blankly, and then pointed to the sky. “A machine that predicts things . . . in the sky.”
“I think we guessed that much,” Seth muttered.
Kate ignored him. “The Ammarod Family Patriarch ordered Namar – he’s Talitha’s father – to go into hiding with the machine. So he and the surviving Ammarods escaped out west.” She looked at her fingernails again as if they were truly fascinating. Erin was about to jog her to continue when she said, “As luck would have it, Talitha chose that moment to go into labour. Her mother stayed to help her with the birth. But of course that was when the Shenayans decided to break down the door.” She paused. “I won’t go into the gory details. But Talitha’s mother is now learning to be a Guardian.”
“So how did Talitha and the baby survive?” Erin watched Talitha nurse her child, wondering how different her life would have been if Caleb had been true to her.
“Elizabeth. Her name’s Elizabeth. Named after Talitha’s mother.” Still sitting cross-legged, Kate floated up and stroked the baby’s dark curls. “There are some decent Shenayans in the world. An officer who recognised Talitha from her visit to the Fortress disobeyed the execution order. He even helped with the delivery.” Kate smiled lovingly at Talitha. “We can be very proud of her. She refused to tell him where her father and the other Ammarods were hiding. He tried to get it out of her, of course, but in the end he gave up. Then he dumped her and Elizabeth on a boat headed for Norin.”
“He obviously didn’t try that hard,” Seth said, thinking of the archery practice they’d seen at the Fortress. “A well-placed arrow would have got most peo
ple talking.”
A gleeful chattering burst out behind them. Turning, they saw a girl with sandy brown hair slouched in a chair, entertaining herself by feeding scraps of fruit to a vervet monkey.
“Kezeah,” Kate announced.
Bored with her game, Kezeah dropped the monkey onto the ground. Screeching in indignant rage, it bolted up a nearby tree, disturbing a family of squabbling starlings.
Kezeah stood up and wandered over to a trinket-box on the table next to Sophia. Watching Sophia out of the corner of her eye, she lifted the lid and sneaked out a gold bangle. She was about to slip it on her wrist when the music stopped. Sophia snatched the bracelet from her hand. “No, Kezeah. That’s mine. Lorick gave it me for my birthday. And I’ve told you a dozen times already, you can’t have it.”
“Like everyone else in this family, Lorick thinks the sun shines out of you.”
Sophia dropped the bracelet back into the box and slammed the lid shut. Just then Jethro, Lorick, and a woman Seth and Erin didn’t know, entered the courtyard. Jethro’s and Lorick’s faces were dark with concern, and the woman had obviously been crying.
“That’s Miriam,” Kate told them. “Jethro’s wife. This isn’t easy for her.”
Two Guardians stepped out of the Fourth Dimension and positioned themselves behind Sophia and Kezeah.
Out of the shadows, a hollow voice spoke, “I’ll take bets on which of these silly girls cries first. Five nights haunting Talitha’s dreams says it’s Sophia.” Seth and Erin looked around to identify the speaker. A Gefallen swathed in a black cloak was circling the courtyard.
“Never. Kezeah will howl first,” said a second Gefallen. She swirled possessively around Sophia.
Erin glanced at Seth. His face was changing as she watched him; it was almost as if she could see him frosting over. She checked to see if he was shaking, but he got up and walked across to the other side of the courtyard. Arms folded, he slouched against the wall, staring at everyone through narrowed eyes. It was terrifying how rapid and absolute the change had been. Clearly, Gefallen have a very negative effect on him.
Sophia’s worried voice caught everyone’s attention. “Father, why’s everyone so sad? Has someone died?”
Jethro lowered himself onto a sofa. “No, Sophia. But I do have the very worst news for you.” He patted the seat next to him. “Come, sit. You too, Kezeah.”
Recognising the emblem on the scroll Jethro was holding, Sophia stopped. “Oh no! Tell me it’s not happening.”
Jethro tapped the scroll against the palm of his hand. “Sophia, my dear, it is indeed happening. You have been summoned to the Fortress to marry Caleb.”
“I – I never really believed it would ever happen.” Sophia collapsed down onto the sofa beside him.
Although it was Sophia who had received the bad news, it was Talitha’s frantic thoughts that spilled out around Seth and Erin. Please no! She can’t marry him. Even after everything, I still love him. He’ll always be mine. Talitha buried her face in her baby’s blanket, now so grateful she had refused to tell Sophia and Kezeah who Elizabeth’s father was.
Jethro’s voice pulled them away from Talitha. “And I’m sorry, Sophia,” he was saying, “but Marlthas has refused to allow your mother and I to your wedding. You will go to Shenaya alone. Well, almost alone–”
“Almost alone?” Kezeah asked. “Who else is going with her, if not you and mother?”
“After much bitter negotiation, I finally managed to persuade Marlthas to let Grace and Leticia go with Sophia. My ambassador, Previs, will meet them there. Previs, Grace and Leticia will attend the marriage sacrifice. The Norin Family witnesses, so to speak. Then Grace and Leticia will return home.”
“But Leticia is my lady’s maid,” Kezeah replied. “Why would she go?”
Jethro took Kezeah’s hand. “My child, your mother and I cannot risk sending Sophia to Shenaya alone.” He looked at her, his eyes pleading for understanding. “We’ve therefore decided to send you too. Marlthas has agreed that you will marry his younger son, Daniel.”
Kezeah burst into tears. Her Guardian brushed aside Sophia’s smirking Gefallen (who had won the bet), and draped her arm around Kezeah’s shoulders; but Kezeah stormed across the courtyard, throwing herself down next to the fishpond. “But I’m not part of any oath,” she sobbed.
“Kezeah, my darling.” Miriam moved across the courtyard to comfort her.
“No Mother!” Kezeah shouted through her tears, pushing her away. “Don’t ‘darling’ me. Sophia is all you care about. All you’ve ever cared about.” She hit her hand against the pond rim, oblivious to the stab of pain shooting up her arm. “So it’s tough for her that some meaningless prophecy says she has to marry Caleb. But why punish me?”
Erin couldn’t resist looking at Sophia. She was sitting silent and forgotten on the sofa, disbelief, anger, and frustration blazing on her face. But before Erin could delve into her thoughts, Lorick spoke.
“Kezeah, Daniel is Marlthas’s son! You’ll have money, respect, fantastic clothes. Trust me, you could do far worse than marry him.”
Kezeah glared at him. Her Guardian leaned over and whispered in her head, “Daniel is everything you’ve ever dreamed of, Kezeah. He’ll make you very happy. If that’s what you choose. Ask Talitha about him, she knows.”
Kezeah wiped her nose on her hand and looked up at Talitha. “So, this Daniel. You met him, what’s he like?”
Talitha’s eyes widened. “Daniel? He’s . . . good-looking. Tall, dark-haired, well-built, and he has the most expressive golden–” she hesitated, knowing it was really Caleb she was describing. She forced herself to remember Daniel’s face, “Daniel has gentle brown eyes.”
“You see, Kezeah,” her Guardian whispered. “You know how much you long to be married. To leave home. To be free. This is your chance. And you may never get another.”
Kezeah flicked her hair over her shoulder. Never marry, while Sophia has children. I couldn’t bear that. Hiding her desperation, she asked in a falsetto voice, “Father, if I go, will I get new clothes? Something to make it all worthwhile?”
Erin and Seth felt Jethro suppress a sigh of relief. “Of course, Kezeah, we can hardly send you to Shenaya wearing old dresses. You’ll have a chest filled with new ones.”
Kezeah was about to open negotiations on those dresses when Sophia sneered, “I thought the Shenayans dressed in skins and loin-cloths – like the animals they are.”
Kezeah looked at Sophia to check if she was joking, but humour wasn’t one of the emotions racing across Sophia’s face. She turned to her father. “Skins! You want me to wear skins? Like some primitive.”
It was Lorick who answered. “The finest, softest leather, embroidered with diamonds, and about a dozen other gemstones that I can’t even think of right now. And as Daniel’s wife you’ll have the best of the best. I think you could probably get used to that, Kezeah.”
Kezeah’s eyes filled with tears. “You’ll say anything to get rid of me, won’t you? But just know, Lorick – I hate you too.”
“Kezeah, I don’t hate you–”
But Kezeah wasn’t listening. She stood and walked over to Sophia’s trinket box. “I will go to Shenaya to hold Sophia’s hand, but it comes at a price.” She snapped open the lid and pulled out the bracelet. “This is now mine.”
Sophia’s blue eyes hardened, and her jaw clenched into a determined line as she stood to face her sister. “Thank you, Kezeah. Giving you that is the very least I can do.” She looked across at her family, stopping for a moment to drill each face. “But, I promise you, I will never wear hides. If a Norin girl is good enough to marry the Shenayan Shadow Lord, then the Norin culture and dress must be good enough too.”
Jethro held up his hands, his face aghast. “Sophia, no! Understand something about the Shenayans. Only their nobility – they call themselves Defenders – are ever permitted to wear the trophies from the hunt. Those hides and skins you so disparage are the mark of their virility and
prowess.”
Sophia pulled a scornful face. Miriam touched her blue silk dress, running the material through her fingers. “Sophia, Defenders would never stoop to collect, spin and weave the cocoons from the Acacia tree silk caterpillars as we do. It would be considered beneath them.”
Sophia gave her mother a disdainful look and opened her mouth to speak, but Jethro interrupted her, “My child, listen to me. No one in Shenaya is more highly praised and valued than those who succeed in the military and in the hunt. Everyone who fails as a soldier or a hunter is considered an Outcast. And in Shenaya, Outcasts are slaves. What message would you send if you arrived in a silk dress?”
“I think you’re worrying unnecessarily about messages, Father, because I’m not going to Shenaya.” Jethro closed his eyes. Miriam wrung her hands. Sophia’s Gefallen jeered in delight, while her Guardian sighed. “You see, just because that ancient oath said that I have to marry Caleb, it doesn’t mean that I agree with it. And I don’t, so I’m not going.” Sophia glided down next Kezeah and trailed her fingers in the fishpond, her actions clearly saying that the matter was now closed.
“I would have expected nothing less from you, Sophia.” Jethro stood up. “But there’s still so much you don’t know about that oath and the curse that inspired it. I have no doubt that greater understanding will change your view. Now wait here while I get something to show you.” Jethro walked out of the courtyard.
A movement in the Fourth Dimension attracted Seth’s attention. Gideon was standing there, holding the veil that divided that world from the living. It was the first time he had seen him since leaving the Mists of Time. “Why’s Gideon watching all this?” he asked Kate, who had chosen that moment to join him.
“Because Gideon always comes when Reuel’s descendents are taught about Reuel’s Curse and Gideon’s Prophecy.”
Seth looked around, wondering if Reuel also took as avid an interest in his descendents’ affairs as Gideon did; but he couldn’t see Reuel and his Lightning Bird among the wraiths swirling around them.
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