She laughed. It was a harsh sound without mirth. “He would kill you. He’s a large man. Bigger even than Alton. Taller. Broader. He’s grown more cruel each year, as if something drives him to terrorize us as much as possible.”
Dawson didn’t respond. She might be right, and maybe he wouldn’t win a fair fight with the man who’d beat her, but as far as he was concerned, fairness didn’t enter the contest when a man did to a woman what that bastard had done to Selyn.
Calmly, Daws scooped eggs onto a plate, then buttered a piece of toast and set it next to the eggs with a couple of strips of bacon. He put the plate in front of Selyn along with a small jar of jam. Then he put a serving of eggs into a shallow bowl with a strip of bacon crumbled across the top, and set it on the floor for BumperWillow, next to the water he’d put out earlier.
Thank you, Dawson. It looks wonderful.
You’re welcome.
He would never, not ever, get used to conversing with a dog. Smiling, Daws filled his own plate and sat across from Selyn.
She stared at the food.
“Is something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s too right. This is amazing.” When she raised her head, she was smiling again. “It’s too pretty to eat.”
He laughed and put thoughts of killing Birk out of his mind, at least for now. “No, it’s not,” he said, taking a forkful of eggs. “You’re the only thing at this table too pretty to eat, except that’s all I can think of doing with you.”
Oh, crap. I didn’t really say something that stupid … did I?
She paused with the fork halfway to her mouth, cocked her head to one side, and stared at him. “What is it you want to do?”
He felt the blush all the way to the top of his head. She was probably as innocent as a young woman could be, no matter her actual age in years. He shook his head. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “Eat your breakfast.”
She stared at him a moment longer, and then dug into her food. From the hurried yet efficient manner in which she ate, he figured mealtimes in the slave quarters weren’t necessarily a social occasion.
Sadness flowed over and through him, a sense of time lost, of innocence crushed. At the same time, he knew wonder, and the powerful awareness that his life would never be the same again.
Sticking to the shadows, Taron managed to get through the mining level without stumbling over one of those massive guards. From there he climbed more stairs to the main level, and then went straight to his quarters with the ruby sword.
Within a few minutes he’d found his grandfather’s white leather scabbard in the back of his closet. The leather was still supple, the buckles and straps soft and well used, though not badly worn, considering the fact that his grandfather had fought in the DemonWars before Lemuria sank beneath the sea. Though the ruby blade was larger than the average crystal, it fit perfectly into the scabbard. The leather didn’t hide the gold pommel, but at least the unusual crystal was out of sight.
Taron quickly shoved the ruby sword beneath the bed and sent out a message for Roland.
Taron! Where are you?
Roland. Thank goodness! I’m in my quarters. I have something here you have got to see. I need your help.
I’m on my way, Taron. Stay put. Things are beginning to happen. Artigos has been taken. He is on his way to Earth, and Alton is preparing to take over the council. You might not be safe if word gets out about the crystal swords before he’s got complete control.
Taron glanced at his bed and thought of the ruby sword lying beneath it.
Roland, I think the crystal swords might be the least of our problems.
Alton paused outside the portal that led to his mother’s lodgings. Enough time had passed that Dax and Eddy were well away from Lemuria, possibly at Dawson’s by now. At least Artigos couldn’t make contact with anyone, should the trance wear off. Alton knew he’d run out of excuses to delay any longer.
“Alton?”
Ginny’s soft fingers wrapped around his wrist.
“I know.” He took a deep breath. “I’m ready.” He really did not want to have this conversation with his mother. How did one approach a woman who had lived a lie for most of her life? Though her rooms connected to the residence his father kept, that door was kept locked, and his parents had maintained separate entryways to their own rooms since the great move.
Even Alton hadn’t realized the truth—that their marriage was truly a sham.
He thought of how much he loved Ginny, how complete she made him feel, and sadness for his mother’s lonely life almost felled him. What he intended to tell his mother now could very well be the final blow. How much disappointment could a person bear?
Ginny gazed up at him, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him. “I love you, Alton. You can do this.” Then she took his hand in hers and lightly tugged him toward the doorway.
“You’re sure?” He looked down at their fingers, so tightly linked. Of course she was sure. Ginny never doubted herself—or him. Her faith set a high standard for Alton.
She made him a better man than he ever could have been on his own.
“I’m sure,” she said, tugging him closer. Her soft laughter melted away much of the anxiety that had been building since Dax and Eddy took Artigos away.
“C’mon. It’s time to talk to your mom.” Ginny kept her hold on his hand. Alton sighed and pressed a small button beside the door. Soft tones echoed on the other side of the portal.
The shimmering light brightened, and Ginny followed Alton through, into Gaia’s lodgings. His mother waited on the other side with her hands folded tightly beneath her chin. When she saw them, she bowed her head, formally acknowledging the two of them. Then she raised her chin. Tears streamed from her eyes.
“What have you done?” Her harsh whisper condemned them both. “He called to me. He begged for my help, but now I can’t reach him. What have you done to him?”
Ginny shot Alton a quick glance.
Alton froze, obviously stunned by his mother’s accusation. Ginny took one look at his ashen face and stepped forward. “Gaia, Artigos is safe. Everything we’re doing is to save him, not harm him. Remember what you said when we met, that your husband had changed, that he lost his soul many years ago?”
Gaia’s eyes went wide. She shook her head, denying Ginny’s words and her own. “No. No, it was only a figure of speech. I didn’t mean it literally.” She laughed, still shaking her head, but it was a harsh and broken sound. “He has a soul. I know he does. He must!”
Ginny took another step closer and wrapped her arms around Alton’s mother. Gaia felt rigid, almost brittle within her embrace. “We fear it might have been taken from him,” she said, using soft, soothing tones. “Not by his choice. By demon possession. He’s in a safe place, where we can help him. So we can help Lemuria. And you, Gaia. We want to help you, too.”
Gaia’s eyes flashed from Ginny to Alton and back to Ginny. Nervously she licked her lips. “I don’t know.” She practically moaned the words. “I heard him cry Alton’s name in anger, but then he was gone. His thoughts are always with me, even though he doesn’t want to share them. Ever since we wed, he’s been with me. What have you done to him?” she demanded.
“A trance, Mother.” Alton ran his hand over her hair, soothing her as if she were a child. “That’s all. Merely a form of compulsion that will keep him from being afraid until we can help him. You know he’s not the same man he was. You see the difference, don’t you?”
Gaia closed her eyes and turned away. “Many, many years ago when we were still young, we were so much in love. He was a good and kind man, a loving father.” She turned to Alton, raised a hand as if to touch his face, then dropped it heavily to her side. “You remember him that way, don’t you?”
Alton looked absolutely stricken. “No, Mother. Not since I was a small child. Maybe then, but not for most of my life.”
Gaia didn’t appear to hear him. She stared at something. At nothing. “Something changed.” Slowly, she shook her head, still denying the obvious truth. “I thought it was me, that I wasn’t a good wife, that the stress of our world sinking beneath the sea, the move, his father’s disappearance … I blamed so many things for the changes in Artigos. Changes I couldn’t explain.”
Alton rested his hand on her shoulder. “Let’s sit down, Mother. We have a lot to discuss. I know this is quite a shock.”
“Yes.” Trembling from head to toe, she nodded and turned away. “Where are my manners. What would you like to drink? May I bring food?”
“No, Mother. We’re fine. Sit. Please.” He waited until she perched nervously on the edge of a long, low sofa. He sat beside her and took her trembling hands in both of his.
Ginny sat on Gaia’s other side. She smiled at Alton, encouraging him. This had to be so hard for him.
“What happened to Grandfather? I don’t remember him very well.”
Gaia shook her head. “He disappeared during the big move, when the DemonWars were just ending. It all happened so quickly then. Our world was being destroyed. There were earthquakes and terrible upheavals. Huge waves drowned entire cities, and buildings collapsed and fell into great rifts in the earth or were washed away by the seas. Artigos the Just was overseeing the transfer of many ancient records, but he was supposed to meet us here, in our new home. He never arrived. Your father bravely stepped into his place and took on the heavy task of governing our world. Everything was chaos. So many of our people were lost during the chaos of the move, from the horrendous cataclysm, from the war. Terrible times. Just terrible.”
“Is that when Father changed?”
Gaia slowly nodded her head. “I blamed the pressures of the move, the massive responsibility, but it was something more. He stopped coming to my bed. He no longer wanted anything to do with you, his only son.” She raised her head, and her eyes were wide. “He banished the warrior women, the ones who’d fought demonkind so bravely. No one knew what became of them, but I knew. I wasn’t supposed to hear, but I knew when he had their swords destroyed. When he sent them below to work the mines. For all I know, they’re still down there, like a dirty secret. Those brave, brave women.” Her voice broke, and she bowed her head.
Ginny caught Alton’s gaze and almost wept. Gaia had known. She’d known the truth all these years and had never said a word.
“Why didn’t you say anything, Mother? Why didn’t you speak out? What he did was terrible. It was wrong.”
She stared at the floor. “Because I loved him. I still love him. I keep hoping the man I married is in there, that he’s not lost to me, but it’s been so long. So very, very long.”
Gaia pulled her fingers free of Alton’s grasp and clasped her hands together. She straightened her spine and was once again the wife of Chancellor Artigos of the Council of Nine. “Where is he? What have you done with him? What do you intend to do next?”
“We’ve taken him to a safe house where he’ll be cared for. We believe he was possessed by a demon many years ago, one that has influenced his choices throughout his years as leader of the Council of Nine. One of our group will try to remove the demon from his heart and mind. With any luck and a lot of skill, we hope to get him back, healthy and able once again to rule Lemuria, but we need your help.”
She stared suspiciously at her son. Ginny could only imagine how it pained Alton to have his mother’s anger and distrust focused on him. “My help? How? What can I possibly do?”
“You can officially introduce me to the people. They know you as his wife, know you’ve stood by him all these years. They trust you. Tell them I will be temporarily holding his position—the position I’ve been groomed for all my life—until he is cured of an unknown illness. Tell them he’s with healers now. We don’t want people to know we suspect demon possession. That would cause too much fear. An illness would be easier for the citizens of Lemuria to accept.”
“You’ll bring him home when he’s well? When his soul is restored?”
Alton glanced at Ginny. She shrugged. They didn’t know what was going to happen. There were no guarantees, but Alton looked at his mother and said, “We will do everything we can to bring him home. You have my promise.”
She smiled, and it was as if the sun were actually shining here in the depths of Lemuria. “Whatever you want, my son. I will do what I can. Just bring your father home to me.”
Ginny gazed at Alton and opened her thoughts.
I’ll stay with your mother. Go and do what you need to do, but be careful. I love you, and I’m going to be really angry if you don’t come back to me in one piece.
Gotcha.
“Mother, Ginny will stay with you. I’m going to meet with the council and let them know what’s going on. Then I’ll check on Father before I return.” He leaned over and kissed Ginny, patted his mother’s hand, and then he was gone.
Ginny sat there beside Gaia and wondered just how much they could count on a woman who’d allowed so many brave women warriors to die as slaves.