“You are the bravest girl I know,” he whispered into my hair as he took my hands from his neck.
“Is she overly drained?” came Sylvan’s voice through the black fog that was in my mind. I was weary, as if awakened from a deep sleep. In the distance I could hear Sean speaking, but the words were garbled.
The guards’ response was indistinct.
Once again I could make out Sylvan’s voice. “Who are you to take the energy of the Lady Darcy and the House of Beck? Who are you to fall through onto Beck territory?”
“I am Lord Sean, the Sworn Asset of the House of Picard. This is neutral territory between the Great Houses of Beck and Picard, so I have every right to be here. The Lady Darcy and I ask for the protection of both our Great Houses. We ask that you intercede with His and Her Majesty on our behalf.”
Sylvan’s long, narrow face hardened. “You and the Lady Darcy caused the wall between the Beck and Picard territories to come down when you touched this Earth morning. The previous generation of Sworn Assets has died because of you two. How dare you ask for our protection?”
Sean got to his feet and lifted me with him. I swayed as if drunk and Sean’s arm circled me protectively. My muscles seemed discombobulated as if they weren’t sure how to function together. I could feel within me Sean’s masculine vitality. It stirred my pride and I forced myself to stand solidly on my own power.
“Lady Darcy and I couldn’t help that, my lord,” Sean said. “The Lady Darcy’s shaman and mine disappeared before they could teach us the ways of the Original People. In our ignorance we touched. We fell through into Geminay in the hope that our Great Houses would protect us and explain to His and Her Majesty what has happened.”
Sylvan wasn’t convinced. “Why should the House of Beck do anything for a Picard? Your coming here is an act of war.”
“Strictly speaking, this is neutral territory, my lord.”
“Our Sworn Enemy is right on that count, my lord husband,” said a woman who had ridden up on one of the strange mounts. She slipped from the saddle and came to stand next to Sylvan. “In this situation diplomacy may provide a better result. His and Her Majesty will hear how the shamans abandoned their charges and caused this breach of the Treaty.”
Naomi, the Lady of the Great House of Beck, regarded Sean and me with her green cat’s eyes. She was as slender and tall as Sylvan. Her tunic was a mixture of chocolate diamonds and rubies, glittering like flames when she moved. So much did she look like Sylvan they could have been brother and sister. One long lock of black hair fell over her shoulder and the rest was around her head in curls and braids. Her brows were low over her eyes, making them almost like rectangles. She seemed younger than Sylvan, though every bit as self-assured, as if she had grown up used to being obeyed.
“The Lord Sean and Lady Darcy should be taken back to the palace, my lord husband, so we can continue this discussion,” Naomi said smoothly as her eyes traveled up and down Sean and me. “They appear well enough to travel. Lord Judah can escort them.”
Her words alarmed a redheaded soldier who had accompanied her. Somehow I could feel the clenching of his stomach. I wondered if I imagined the sensation.
Judah, the man she had mentioned, gave a slight bow. “My lady, His and Her Majesty may have sent more assassins. Some may be missusans. If we’re set upon by them, what are your orders?”
“I wouldn’t worry about that, my lord,” Naomi said with a knowing smile. “His and Her Majesty only have four missusans at any given time, and word has reached my ears that the Lady Darcy here has already extinguished three of them. If the last missusan appears, I’m sure she will have no trouble dispatching it.”
“Maybe the House of Picard should be informed that I’m going to the House of Beck,” Sean said.
“That’s a discussion best held in the palace, my lord,” Naomi said.
“Many would say a neutral place would be the best one for such a discussion,” Sean replied.
Naomi gave Sean a wan smile. “You don’t trust me, my lord?”
“We’re Sworn Enemies, and the Lady Darcy and I fought off three assassins this morning, my lady. We aren’t in a trusting mood.”
“The Lord Sean is looking for assurances,” Naomi said to her husband. All the while she kept her turquoise eyes on Sean. “Lord Sean, if you wish to go to the House of Picard, no one will stop you. However, if you hope to avoid the assassins of His and Her Majesty, you may want to stay with the Lady Darcy. She will defend you against them.”
A soldier brought up one of the thin-legged animals, this one with a magnificent saddle. Its appearance didn’t comfort Sean. I didn’t want Sean to leave me, but I could understand why he would want to.
“Your own House will be happy to have its creation back,” Sylvan said. “You may leave us, of course, but you would be leaving Lady Darcy here with us.”
Sean’s uncertainty was very clear to me. If he stayed, it would be for my sake and not his. Deep down inside I knew he should leave, and selfishly I wanted him to stay. I thought that if he came with me, it would be because I had saved his life. At this moment, it would be enough for me. Sean didn’t speak. He took the reins of the animal that a servant had been holding out to him. The tension dropped around us, especially in the soldiers who had beaten and dragged Sean. They bowed and quickly and quietly melted into the others. Sean swung himself into the saddle.
“I request that word be sent to the House of Picard,” he said.
“We will send an emissary to the Picards and to His and Her Majesty.” Naomi’s lips curved upwards. “We will need their permission to have contact with you once we leave the neutral zone between the lands of the Great Houses because you are a Sworn Enemy.”
“They already know about us?” Sean said.
“Every Original Person on this Earth knows the two of you broke the Treaty,” Naomi replied. “Your touch extinguished all the previous generations of Sworn Assets. The Discards panicked and ran. Some went mad and tore down this wall. There is a reason we keep Sworn Enemies apart. You may go to our palace with the Lady Darcy if you wish, but only with the permission of His and Her Majesty.”
“We regret all the harm our touching caused, my lady,” Sean said. “And I will remain in the neutral zone until I have His and Her Majesty’s permission to leave.”
Naomi nodded. “As you say, my lord.”
Sean reached down his arm to pull me up to sit in front of him. I was glad to share a ride with him, for I was still dizzy and wasn’t sure I could stay in the saddle. My legs quivered and tingled with weakness, and if Sean hadn’t been there to lean against, I would have fallen off with the first step the animal took. Judah rode next to us, and four armed riders followed. I could sense Judah’s nervousness, as if he were afraid something would happen. He didn’t miss Sean’s protective embrace of me and seemed both attracted and shocked by our bare arms. As I rode comfortably in Sean’s arms, I noticed how Judah’s long red hair was braided in front and hung long and loose in the back where it flowed over his golden armor. Judging by his splendid clothing and weapons, he was someone important.
“What do you call these animals we’re riding?” I asked Judah, hoping that speaking would distract me from the dizziness that was making me queasy.
“It is called a blump, my lady.”
“A blump?”
“Yes, my lady. The blumps were brought with us from the Original World. All the flora and fauna you see here were.” Judah gestured to the forest. “The Great Mechanic Ratanga believed that the welfare of the Original People would best be served by recreating the Original World on Earth as best we could. It is known. This is your first time in Geminay?”
“Yes,” I replied, tactfully saying nothing more.
“How do you find this place, my lady?”
“The sky is beautiful, but down here it’s a bit violent.”
Judah slowed his blump. “I apologize for that, my lady. Please believe me when I tell you that it’s been thousands of Earth years since the Great Houses have raised arms against one another to this extent.”
“And we caused it?” I asked.
“Yes, in your ignorance you and Lord Sean did, my lady.” He smiled at me. “You must have so many questions. When we get back to the palace, you will have your answers.”
I doubted that. The next few miles we rode along in silence. Away from the battle, this world was quiet and shades of red beyond description. The air here smelled earthy, humid, and primordial. The trees and grass were a saturated purple and lilac, dark almost to the point of being black. There was no green anywhere. All the leaves and stems were stiff, thick like pancakes, and so glossy they seemed like pools of blood. I reached up and touched one, curious to see if it was wet, and it trembled, straightened, and grew. Its color darkened even more and the little flowers near its thick stem opened and bloomed. The blossoms were fluorescent.
“Don’t do too much of that,” Sean said softly. “They’re taking your energy.”
“The plants are taking my energy?”
“We Sworn Assets are like batteries around here. We can give energy to people or to plants and probably this blump. The Original People created us to bring them the energy of the sun they wouldn’t otherwise have. Our yellow sun is too bright for them, so we Sworn Assets filter the sunshine and bring it to them.”
“Is that why Sylvan called me a creation? Because they think they made us?”
“You are a Sworn Asset, my lady,” Judah said. “You were created here.”
My heart sank at hearing that, and I wondered if Judah felt that, because he turned and gave me a long look. Above us the planets moved across the false pink sky. Streaks of blue, green, and yellow formed and reformed around them. I wondered whether they were a type of projection humans hadn’t imagined yet.
“How are we seeing a sky if we’re under the Earth?” I asked.
“The Mechanics reproduced the sky from the Original Home,” Sean replied. “That’s what they told me at the House of Picard. The ceiling of this cavern is about half a mile above us and it’s covered with a sort of paint that’s programmed to change colors.”
“I love it.”
The foliage was thinning, and just before we came out of the woods, three men mounted on blumps rode up to Judah. They bowed to him, spoke quickly, and rode off. The blump Sean and I were riding pranced, as if it wanted to follow them, but Sean easily kept it under control.
“You have permission to enter the House of Beck, my lord,” Judah told Sean.
We came out of the woods and the blumps’ cloven hooves now crunched along on a road of white gravel. In the distance the palace seemed as welcoming as a gravestone. A stone monolith, windowless and imposing, it was surrounded by a glossy wall embellished with sparkling gems that made it shimmer in the pink light. I could see only one opening in the endless wall, a delicate, beautiful gate. A driveway of crushed white stones led from that gate to the palace doors.
Between the palace and the wall was a sort of English garden of enormous trees with wide, gnarled trunks and round leaves the size of dinner plates. Gravel paths of red, blue, green, and yellow stones wound their away around the flower beds. Scattered all around were patios furnished with chairs, tables, and sofas. The air was perfumed by plants laden with scarlet, trumpet-shaped blossoms. Gazebos and arbors lifted up flowering vines whose leaves quivered in the steady breeze. Several fountains sprayed water into the air and little animals that looked like hairless otters played in the spray.
“My lady, this is your new home,” Judah said to me.
I sensed that saying this didn’t make him any happier than it made me, and I wondered why.
When it came to comfort and beauty, nothing inside these palace walls had been overlooked. Filmy curtains fluttered in the ever-present breeze. Sofas, lounge chairs, and ottomans covered in thick velvet and silky brocade were scattered around the rooms and courtyards. Tables covered in gold leaf and encrusted with gems had been placed near the arms of all the furniture. Fountains like waterfalls trickled, gushed, and splashed in the corners of some rooms and the centers of others. The floors shone with glittering mosaics. Some of the tiles were as tiny as my fingernail and others were the size of my hand. An indescribable array of colors and shapes had been designed into unearthly landscapes and heavenly bodies.
So beautiful were the palace rooms and courtyards that it took me a while to realize just how long Sean and I had been walking. Each room or courtyard, many as large as a gymnasium, seemed to be separate from the others, each its own little oasis of luxury. Some hallways led to dead ends, while others stretched on forever, so far that I couldn’t see the end of them. We walked from room to courtyard to room to atrium, sometimes under the halo of lavish ceilings and sometimes under the pink skies of the courtyards. I looked behind us once, well aware that if Judah ditched Sean and me, the two of us would never find our way back to the palace’s entrance.
“Where is everybody?” I asked Sean.
“They’re hiding. I’ve seen a few people looking at us from around corners.”
“How many people live here?”
“If this palace is like the House of Picard, then there are hundreds, even thousands. It’s hard to say because I never saw everyone gathered together in one place.”
“The windows don’t have glass or screens.”
“And you won’t see any heating, lighting, or air conditioning. The temperature is always the same and the sky is always red. It never gets dark here.”
“That must save on electric and gas bills.”
Sean smiled. “If this palace is like the House of Picard, they don’t use electricity or gas. I don’t think they even use money. And you won’t see any computers or cell phones or cable television.”
“There has to be something around here,” I said, puzzled. “Otherwise this place functions like the Dark Ages, you know, like the 1950s. Where is all the equipment that makes all this possible? Is it hidden like at a theme park?”
“I asked Whitlock and he said that things are the way they are.”
“My mom would call that a non-answer.”