"No," she snapped. "That is not how my gift works. I can only see the ones I care about. I can't see any of the others."
I shrugged, not having anything to say to that.
"Sweet heart, we have been over this and over this," Brick said and wrapped Star up in his arms. He gave her the comfort she needed and she took it. She snuggled into his embrace and buried her face in his neck for a moment.
I sat silent in a room full of strangers. What was I doing there? Discussing the past was a waste of time, I decided. It wasn't something any of us had the gift to change and it brought so much sadness. What was the point?
I had just decided to say my goodbyes when Star sat up and said, "I need to tell you the rest."
"Okay." That didn't sound good.
"You cried right after your mama died. It was like you knew, and it broke my heart. It also made me angry. I can't tell you how devastated I was that your mother died. I…I hated you for it. I decided then and there that it was all your fault. That if it wasn't for you, she wouldn't have died. I know that's not true now. I was grieving and frightened, suddenly alone and on the run with a baby. Anger was how I got through it."
I sat numb with the confession she was giving me, maybe a bit sad too.
"I found a man and woman and watched them for about a week. I gave you to them with a heavy heart. I had promised your mother that I would keep you safe. Instead, I gave you to someone else and washed my hands of you. I didn't want to look at you. Every time I did, all I could think about was your mother, dead.
"After I had given you away, I couldn't live with what I had done. I had let you down, and I had let Arianna down. She had trusted me with her most precious thing in all the worlds and I had just tossed you away."
I wanted to be mad. I wanted to hate her for it, but I couldn't. I had been given to the best parents in the world. Yes, a little over bearing and protective, but they loved me. Loved me no matter what.
"I hadn't eaten in days and I couldn't sleep. I was letting myself die. It was a selfish thing on my part, but what else did I have to live for? I had nowhere to go and no one to go to. I couldn't go home, as everyone knew I had vanished when the queen had. The last thing I could do to protect you was to vanish completely. I thought that meant death like Arianna.
"I phased over to the Fire Realm and wandered the land waiting to die. When I was too weak to walk, I sat against a rock and watched the red sky. I remember closing my eyes and expecting to never again awake. I was sad and relieved at the same time.
"But I did," she said and looked again to Brick.
He smiled at her so gently and ran a hand down her face in a caress. A touch, I knew was familiar and often done. "I found her," he said. "There she was, this beautiful girl, pale skin like I had never seen. Hair the color of golden brown that danced loose around her face. I saw that she was still alive, but barely. The problem was her wounds were not ones that I could heal."
"I lifted her and took her home. I wanted, needed to see her eyes. I had to know their color. They fluttered open the moment I laid her down on a bed. They were a color I had never seen before. I know it now to be blue, but it is not a color of the fire people. The moment I saw them, I knew she was going to be mine and I wasn't going to allow her to die."
He laughed out right then. "It was a battle too. I forced food down her throat. She fought me the whole way. She has a temper like I had never dealt with in a woman before. She screamed and fought and it was wonderful. So much strength in her that I knew she wasn't going anywhere.
"As you see, I was right," he said.
Star shoved him playfully and said, "Yes, you were right. I love you for it too. I didn't then," she said to me. "I hated him. He was messing up my death. But then, one day I stopped being angry."
She looked at Brick and he nodded at her as if giving her a go ahead. I knew then that the next part was important.
"A few years and a few children later, I saw you. In my mind, I mean. I was not doing anything special really, just laundry and I wasn't trying to see anything, but suddenly there you were, all grown and lovely in the Fire Realm. I knew it was you as you look just as your mother did. Just like her. I looked forward then and saw the coming battle. I saw that your army was small and although trained, not as powerful as the king's. I also saw another army, small but also powerful in its own way. You would need us."
"Why would you help me now?" I was asking why now and not back then. What had changed?
She didn't answer the way I thought she would. She said, "Because if we don't, you will lose and Acadia will be destroyed."
What! Losing was not an option. "There aren't that many fire people though," I said. Even though the room we were in had lots of people, it wasn't enough to do my army any real good. "How will a handful of people help?"
Several people including Brick and Star laughed. Brick answered my question though. "This is not all of us. This is only my family pod."
Pod?
"There are hundreds of us that are ready to fight."
"How can you be ready to fight?" I asked.
"Since Star saw you and the coming battle, we have been preparing. We are ready."
"I don't understand. Why would you help me? Help Acadia?"
"Because Star asked us too. She has a powerful gift and we respect what it tells her. If she thinks we should fight in your war, then we will."
I still didn't get it. They didn't know Acadia or me. Finally, I stared at Star and asked just her, "Why?"
She shook her head and said, "It's all I can do for you. I failed you when you were a baby, and so I failed Arianna. This I can do. I can help you now and get you back to where you belong. It was what was planned from the moment of your birth. You will take back your throne. You will rule. You will put Acadia back to the way it should be."
"I understand why you would help me, Star, but not the fire people. Why would they risk their lives and the lives of the ones they love, for me? For a realm that they can't even get to on their own. This battle doesn't affect them at all. Why?"
"I can answer that one," Brick said. "No, we can't get to your realm, but your people can get to ours. If one man can seize control of an entire world, what's to stop him from trying to take over others? Star has seen that too. He thinks about it and plans. We have to stop him while we can. If that means we go to war with you, then that is what we do."
I sat quietly for a moment as I took in all that he had said. I looked up at Star then and asked, "So the blue fairies are gifted as seers, right?"
"Yes," Star said. "Why?"
I kept seeing the king's desk in my mind from the vision the blue fairy had given me. The blue map…was that a map of the Ice Realm? Was that what they were trying to make me see? Did the fairies already know that Gideon was coming?
"I think they know," I said out loud. I looked up then at all the red faces around me and said, "The fairies showed me a vision. I didn't understand it at the time, but now I think they were trying to show me that he was coming for the Ice Realm. They were asking me for help."
"You met the blue fairies?" Star asked. "But they are mean and evil."
"I went there to ask them for help. They said no," I replied. "But they asked me for help. Why wouldn't they help me then?" Then an idea hit. "Can the blue fairies not live outside the cold?"
Star turned to Brick, who shrugged his shoulders and said, "I have no idea. Never seen a blue fairy."
"They are known actually as Ice Fairies," Star finally said. "Maybe you are right and they can't live in the warmth. They can't come to Acadia to help you, but they know that you can help them stop Gideon."
Acadia wasn't enough for Gideon anymore. I suddenly knew that he wanted all the realms, and that scared me. If I didn't stop him, who would? Who could?
"I have to get back. I need to talk with my people. See what to do from here," I said. "I'll be back. I promise."
Chapter Ten
After I said quick goodbyes and promised aga
in and again that I would be back as soon as I could, I phased to Acadia. I hadn't even had time to drop the shadows completely when a pair of strong hands grabbed my shoulders and shook me several times.
"Where have you been!" Gabriel shouted.
"Stop shaking me and I'll tell you!" I shouted right back.
By the look on his face, he didn't even realize he was doing it. He quickly let go and stepped back. "Where were you?" he growled.
I rubbed my shoulders where his hands had gripped me. Ow. "I'm not certain what exactly happened, but I think Jack and I got separated during a jump and I ended up somewhere else."
"Where?" he demanded. He stood right in front of me, his eyes glared daggers as if it were my fault I ended up separated from the group.
"Maybe we should do this with everyone. I don't want to go over it fifty times," I said, quite used to Gabriel and his gruffness.
"Fine," he said. Then he did an about face and walked to the castle.
I sighed. I was suddenly so tired. It had been a long day. My stomach growled nosily reminding me I was also starving. Why no one ever thought of food around here was beyond me.
I trudged my way behind Gabriel to the great room. After the rest of our group had been called in and told I had finally been found, and after I had been fussed over a bit, by Lucas mostly, but the others as well, I sat down and told my story.
"He can't do that!" Simon said when I had reached the part about Gideon possibly going after all the realms.
"Obviously, he can," I replied. "And it seems we are the only ones that didn't know it too. Why didn't we think of it?"
"Cause no one goes to the other realms," Jack said.
"But they do. They have been going to the Water Realm for years looking for me, remember?"
"Oh," Jack said and shot a look at Austin.
"The rebels didn't think about it either," Austin said. "At least, I never heard it mentioned."
"I agree, I never even thought about it before now," I said. "We have to stop him. We have to."
Gabriel had been relatively quiet throughout my telling. Finally, he said, "How can these fire people help us?"
"They are healers, for one. That is a huge advantage on our side," I said. "Also, they appear to be pretty good sized. Star and Brick both said they have a trained army of several hundred soldiers."
"How will we get them all over here though?" Lucas asked.
That was a good question, which also led me to another issue. "We need to figure that out, but I also want to make sure we are all very careful when we shift realms. Any change in focus and you end up in the wrong place. I did it twice today and it was not fun."
That also reminded me, "Hey! Why were you all in such a hurry to leave the Ice Realm anyway? They weren't doing anything."
"Not to you, they weren't," Lucas said, and then he laughed. "It's funny now, but man, at the time…not so much. The fairies had barricaded us in a circle. There were thousands of the little buggers. You were talking to the one leader fairy thing, and the next thing we all knew the wall of fairies around us attacked. Lord, they swarmed around our faces and bit and scratched and suddenly it was chaos all around us except for you. You were just standing there, calm as could be, a little fairy perched on your finger and it was like you were in a trance or something. We were yelling for you and you didn't hear us."
"We finally jumped back to Acadia and Jack was screaming that he'd lost you," Austin said. "Then you didn't come back, and we didn't know where you ended up or if you were hurt. Talk about chaos."
"I am very sorry about that, my Lady," Jack said and lowered his eyes from mine.
I decided not to even bother with the 'my Lady' comment. It seemed to be a waste of time on my part anyway. They all insisted and I was too tired to fight about it right then. "Jack, it was an accident," I replied. "Look at me, please."
When he lifted his head and met my eyes, I said, "You have never tried to shift with another person, and I wasn't going willingly anyway. It was a bad time for both of us. It was my fault as much as yours, so I'm sorry too."
Then, changing the subject, I said, "So anyone have any ideas on how to get them all over here? They can't shift themselves here, and I can't go back and forth several hundred times. None of us can."
Gabriel turned and addressed Austin directly. "How many do you think we could shift at one time?"
Austin thought about it for a moment before he replied, "I don't know. But we can start with two or three and just keep adding on until we can't anymore. There are enough of us that can shift over there now that if we can get groups of five or more over at a time, it won't take all that long."
"And if we get them over here sooner, rather than later, we will have time to rest from the jumping back and forth before we have to worry about going into battle," Jack said.
"So, we should start bringing them over as soon as possible, is what you're saying?" I said.
Gabriel glanced at me and arched an eyebrow. He wanted to know what I thought of the plan. "I think that will work. Let's see who all is interested in helping us shift over some fire people."
"Okay," Gabriel said. "It's a good plan."
"One more thing though," I said. I was a little iffy about mentioning it, but it needed to be put out on the table anyway. "Do you think we should go to the rebels and see if they would be willing to join us? I mean, in the end, we do want the same thing, right?"
Austin was already shaking his head at me before I had even finished. "No. We don't want the same thing as them anymore."
"I know what you are saying, Austin, but can't we try at least?" I asked. I felt like after all that had happened and all I knew that we owed it to ourselves to at least try. We needed as many soldiers as we could get.
"We can try, Sunny," Austin said. "I just don't want you to get your hopes up."
"You also should go with plenty of backup," Lucas said. "Your last meeting with Leif didn't go so well, remember."
Yes, I remembered.
~ * ~
"Okay," Gabriel said in his stern commander voice.
I smiled. I couldn't help it. He just didn't scare me anymore.
"This is serious," he growled.
"Yes, I know," I replied and tried to wipe away my smile, but all I could do was tone it down to a grin. "Go ahead."
"We go. We meet with Leif. If there is any funny business, we come right back here," Gabriel said. Then he added, "No side trips this time."
"I'll do my best."
Four of us were going to the rebel camp; me, of course, along with Lucas, Gabriel, and Jack. We decided against having Austin come along. It seemed a little like rubbing salt in a fresh wound.
"We are phasing to a small spot along the creek bed that I found last spring," I said. "I am going to take Gabriel over first then I am going to come back and try to take you other two in one jump." I looked around at their faces. "We good?"
At the affirmative nods of everyone, I latched quickly on to Gabriel and said, "Are you ready?"
He closed his eyes and took in a really long breath. Then he said, "Yes. Go."
So I did. I shadowed us and then phased as quick as possible to the spot where I had once met the king. We popped perfectly to the spot. I lowered Gabriel to the ground where he could catch his breath and settle his tummy. I didn't giggle at his aversion to phasing to different places, at least not in his presence anyway. I waited until I was back with the others to let it out.
"Didn't go so hot?" Lucas asked and grinned right back at me.
"You could say that. I swear he was as green as the grass," I replied. "Let's get back there quick. I hate leaving one person by themselves out there."
We all linked arms and held tight. "Ready?" I asked, just to be sure.
They nodded and I pulled us quickly to where I had left Gabriel. Phasing with two people didn't feel any different than phasing with one. It just seemed to take more shadows. I'd think about that later, though. We had other things to do right
then.
Gabriel looked better all ready. He was up on his feet, stance wide as usual, with his arms crossed over his chest, as usual, and of course his customary frown…as usual. "So, where to?"
"As long as they haven't moved camp, they should be just over that ridge," I said.
He nodded in the direction I had pointed and said, "All right then. Lead the way."
We crested the hill, and down over the ridge I saw that the camp was still there. What was left of it anyway. I felt a pang in my heart at the sight before my eyes. What had once been rows and rows of brightly colored tents, with people milling around everywhere, was now a small group of dull rags and empty to the eye. The cheery little tent fires were nowhere to be seen. The packs of children that ran wild were absent as well as their laughter and ruckus.
I quickly counted what I could see. There were maybe twenty tents, and they were all ragged and dull. Where was everyone?
We entered what was left of the camp and still saw nothing. I turned and shrugged at the others and said, "I don't know what to do."
Gabriel said, "Let's look around and see what we can find. Maybe there is someone around that can direct us."
"Nice place," Jack said snidely. "No wonder Austin high-tailed it out of here."
"It wasn't like this," I said. I couldn't believe how far it had come down in the six months since I had been there.
We quietly walked down one of the roadways. I was trying to peer inside one of the tents when a small and warm little body rammed into me with a force that about knocked me down. I would have screamed, but the jolt of the hard head slamming into my stomach took the breath right out me.
I grabbed a pair of skinny shoulders and held the wiggling form away from me. "Carrie?" I said. "What are you doing here?" She was filthy in a pair of tan pants way too big for her and what I assumed used to be a white shirt and bare feet. Her hair hung down to her waist in a yellow cloud of tangles. She was a sight, but one I was so happy to see.
"I live here," she replied snarkily. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, widened her stance and frowned fiercely at me. She could have given Gabriel a run for his money with that look.
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