The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (45 page)

“Ok,” this time Justin nodded slowly. “I think I see your point. How do we get Kleth to come to us?”

“First, let me reiterate that I said I had an idea not the answer.”

“Point reiterated. But, you have an idea?”

“We need to provide the right conditions, and I’m still trying to figure out exactly what those are, and then we need to call Kleth to us. For one thing, I think we need to be away from any city. I’m not sure if that’s a condition of if it simply makes things easier, but I think it’s a start. I don’t know if it is need based yet or not. Some people have found it when they weren’t looking for it. However, what were they looking for? Also, we’ll have to be very careful what we call to us. I get the feeling that this place is very fluid and if we think it is inhabited by carnivorous, green giants, it very well might be. We need to think happy puppies or something like that.”

“Happy puppies?” broke in Justin with a grin.

“I’m trying to give examples.”

“Yes, but happy puppies? How would they be able to answer any questions? We need to imagine up someone to answer questions.”

“Ok, happy talking puppies?” joked Lucy and Justin laughed. “I’m not saying I’m sure that’s how it all works. I only know that we keep being warned to be careful of what we look for because we might find it. This idea could explain that too so I’m trying to be careful. Answers often require payment. If we go into this believing we’ll have to give up something outrageous, we might unknowingly put ourselves in a position to do that. Also, we aren’t talking about accidentally calling Kleth to us. We are doing it with intent, purpose, and magic. That might give us the power to alter more than you think.”

“I understand your caution. I really do, and I think you’re right. I was more amused at the thought of telling Gavin he had to hold hands with us and meditate on happy talking puppies.”

Lucy laughed. Justin was right that was an amusing image.

“Gavin is exactly my point though and another potential reason why we need to be so careful,” said Lucy. “Gavin is always looking for a weapons challenge. What if he truly believes he’ll find his match at Kleth? Believing it could cause it to be true. Do you want to lay bets on Gavin winning against the hardest weapons challenge he can think up?”

“I’d rather not be put in that position. Happy puppies it is,” said Justin with a smile.

“Happy talking puppies,” corrected Lucy. “There could be issues with Maya as well. She likes difficult but solvable challenges. How difficult can it be before she can’t solve it? What if there is a potion she can’t make? What if there is a language she can’t translate? If our answer is untranslatable, I’m not sure it does us any good.”

“Again, good point.”

They sat silently for awhile looking at the fish.

“And me?” asked Justin.

“What about you?”

“You have ideas for both Gavin and Maya that make sense. You must fear something I could think up too. What is it?”

“I hadn’t thought about it,” said Lucy evasively. “I haven’t had that much time to puzzle this all out.”

“You’ve had enough,” Justin insisted. He was curious what she might say.

“You have many options.”

“I’m flattered. Give me one.”

“Ok. Basically put, Kleth seems like it has been a minor obsession. If you think you will find all your answers at Kleth, you very well might.”

“How is that a problem?”

“Your answers might not be the answers we need. Also, if you find a place that gives you everything you’ve ever wanted, you might be tempted to stay there,” Lucy looked down at the fish.

“You’re worried I might not want to leave?”

“I’d miss you.”

“I’d miss you, too. How about I promise that won’t happen and that that’s a silly thought. Give me something else.”

“How very placating of you to say,” replied Lucy, but it did serve the purpose of raising her ire and not worrying about that option which was Justin’s intent.

“The opposite is true too. You might be worried that you won’t find answers, and then we won’t, and that won’t help us at all. Or you might be convinced that the price for answers will be too high, and then it will be. If you believe we won’t find the Eye there, we might be looking right at it and never see it. There are lots of concerning possibilities. Not to mention, if anyone lets fear overtake them I don’t want to know what we could imagine. There are nightmares I definitely don’t want realized.”

“So, happy talking puppies that roll the Eye right into our laps while they cuddle up beside us and fall asleep.”

“You’ve got it.”

“This is sounding complicated, but I think you’ve come up with an interesting idea. Let’s go try to explain this to the others. I think it may take awhile for it to get through Gavin’s head, especially if he’s still feeling hung over. Besides, I’m hungry. Let’s collect Maya and go back to our rooms.”

Lucy nodded so that’s what they did. As they left the garden, the bush behind the fountain moved ever so slightly as a large snake slithered out of it. There has been some debate on whether or not snakes smile. This one did.

Maya was easy to find, but not easy to convince to go back to the rooms. She was convinced that she would find something soon and didn’t want to waste precious time eating. Part way through this argument, Gavin came looking for them.

“You got out of bed,” said Lucy.

Gavin smiled in return even though he still looked rough around the edges.

“Are you ready for some food?” Justin asked him.

“I think I’m ready to try some food,” amended Gavin.

“See,” Justin addressed Maya, “this is a great time to take a break, eat some food, and discuss what we’ve discovered.”

“You’ve found something?” asked Gavin looking interested.

“No,” responded Maya looking confused.

“Lucy has a story that led to a thought that’s turned into a possible explanation. It’s going to take some time to get through so I thought we could do it over food,” said Justin.

“Sounds reasonable,” agreed Gavin.

“What about the scrolls?” asked Maya. “We are on a time limit here. Can’t you bring something here that I can snack on while I look through them? I can eat, read, and listen at the same time.”

“I’m sure you can,” said Justin. “However, Lucy’s thought might make any further research obsolete.”

Maya arched an eyebrow at that, but didn’t argue further and allowed herself to be led back to their rooms. Once there, they found Tenna and requested lunch. A variety of fruit, bread, nuts, and cheese appeared shortly after their request. Despite Gavin’s earlier reservations, he dug into the food with gusto and ate more than all of them.

After Lucy had managed to get in a few bites, she began her explanation. It was both harder and easier to explain to Maya and Gavin. It was easier, because she had already tried to explain it once before. This time, her explanation sounded stronger and more cohesive with less pauses for thought development. It was more difficult, because she was explaining to someone other than Justin. Maya found the whole idea not totally believable and was still sure the answers were in books or scrolls somewhere. Gavin simply had a hard time wrapping his mind around the obscure idea. Much to Lucy’s relief neither she nor Justin brought up happy talking puppies. Much discussion followed.

“I have an idea,” said Justin when he felt the same things were being said again and again. “It will take us one more day to go through all the scrolls we’ve already pulled out. I don’t think it would hurt to take one more day to let Maya finish. However, I don’t think we should pull any more scrolls after that. I propose we leave tomorrow afternoon or the morning after that depending on how people feel about it.”

“I might agree to that, but where are we going?” asked Maya.

“I’ll leave that up to you.”

Maya looked skeptical.

“In a sense. You can pick which library or town you would like to head for next. On the way there, once we’ve reached a deserted area, I propose that Lucy is given a chance to try to call Kleth to us. We won’t lose much time and it doesn’t hurt anyone to let her try. If she fails, we haven’t lost anything and if she is successful, we’ll have only lost a day here and I don’t think a day is going to make or break our quest.”

“I’m glad you said that, because if you truly believed a day would make or break our quest, it certainly might,” said Lucy.

Gavin groaned, “And someone was finally starting to make sense,” he joked in mock desperation.

Everyone smiled.

“Does everyone agree to this plan?” asked Justin.

“Sure,” said Maya, “I’ll see you later. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Lucy, but I’ll feel better once I read through some more scrolls, continue to not find anything, and have some time to process your ideas.”

Lucy nodded as Maya walked off to the library once more. Justin glanced at Gavin.

“Lead me where you will. I didn’t come along to read through scrolls or do the heavy thinking. As long as you aren’t planning on taking on an army without my input, I’ll be ready to leave when you are. Although, I think sooner rather than later might be good before Kaliea either gets bored with me or worse, decides to keep me. I’ll check on the horses.”

“And what do you think we should do in the meantime?” asked Lucy.

“I honestly think you’re right,” he began.

“Good, then I might be,” replied Lucy.

Justin smiled, “If you plan on doing that for the next few days, I’d rethink that if I were you.”

Lucy smiled, “I’ll consider that.”

“Good. As I was saying, I think you’re right, and I think any more time spent with those scrolls isn’t going to help us on this. However, the quicker we work through them the sooner we’ll be able to go, so I think I’ll help Maya.”

“You don’t like it here?”

“I’m not comfortable here. It’s too hot, too humid, and I’m not sure what the word is, but almost too ripe? Does that make sense? These people live on the edge of extreme pleasure and boredom. It’s not a feeling I like, and I’ll feel more comfortable away from it.”

“I can agree with that,” said Lucy.

“Besides, I think Gavin has a point about Kaliea. She’s been a wonderful hostess and we should make sure she feels appreciated, but she has taken an unusual interest in Gavin. She’s smart, and I’m not sure that rousing her from her almost bored state or enticing her anger is good for any of us.”

Again, Lucy nodded.

“If it will get us out of here faster, I’ll come help with some of the scrolls. Although, I do want to take advantage of the baths here again before we tramp back through that fetid jungle,” said Lucy wrinkling her nose in disgust at the memory.

This time, Justin nodded in agreement, and they walked towards the library together.

Dinner that night was similar to the night before. Kaliea provided outrageous outfits. Lucy again chose the more conservative style, and Maya was barely decent. The food was much the same and still slightly decadent. Lucy would miss the food. She loved fresh, ripe fruit. Again, the wine was amazing and Lucy drank sparingly. She noticed that Gavin made a point of drinking more slowly than he had the night before and grinned at him over her wine goblet. He returned her grin with a wink.

The musicians warmed up their instruments after dinner, and Maya asked if she could sing. Kaliea looked surprised, but nodded her acquiescence. Maya directed the musicians to play the beat she wanted and began to sing. Lucy had heard Maya sing spells before, but this was nothing like that. This was amazing. Her voice was low, melodic, enthralling, tempting, sad, and provocative all at the same time. Lucy, who could sing a little, but not well, was impressed, and she could tell that Kaliea was too.

“That was beautiful. Thank you,” said Kaliea when Maya had finished. “You honor us.”

“Thank you. It is poor repayment to deprive a fine hostess of such talents as one has. You honor us in letting us stay with you,” replied Maya.

“I hope you will stay with us many days and entertain us with your singing,” said Kaliea.

Maya nodded her head and sat back down. Lucy looked at Justin, wondering if they should mention they were planning to leave soon. Justin squeezed her hand as if to let her know that he knew what she was thinking and he thought it best to stay silent for now. Kaliea implied she wanted them to stay, and Lucy wasn’t sure how she would respond to them leaving soon. The music continued, and the dancing started. Lucy watched Maya get swept up by an appealing looking man. Maya was a novelty to begin with and had shown some talent. There was no lack of admirers, and she danced with one man after another. A few men asked Lucy to dance, but after she turned them down, they assumed she did not wish to dance and left her alone.

“You don’t want to dance?” asked Justin. “I thought you enjoyed it.”

“I do. I don’t want to give any of these men the wrong idea.”

“This place is all about pleasure. You could dance with all of them, go home with none of them, and not offend any of them.”

“It seems safer to sit here.”

“Afraid of getting swept up in the music and doing something you otherwise wouldn’t?”

“I believe that is a completely valid fear in this place.”

“It is,” agreed Justin. “Shall we?” he asked as the musicians struck up a particularly lively tune.

“Shall we what?”

“Dance.”

Lucy looked at him as he stood up and held out his hand.

“You won’t give me the wrong idea,” he added with a smile.

Lucy smiled back and accepted his hand. True, she thought but what about getting swept up in the music and doing something I otherwise wouldn’t? Justin led her to the dance floor. Maya smiled and winked at her as she swept by in the arms of yet another partner. Lucy loved music and dancing. The beat was a fast one, and soon she was laughing and swinging around with the rest of them. The next few songs were also fast, and they continued to dance. Then the music slowed down. Lucy started to walk back to the table to sit down, but Justin grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.

Lucy didn’t really want to stop dancing, but it seemed almost too intimate to dance so close to Justin so slowly. With some guys, you could lean your head on his shoulder or stare at his chest because he was so much taller. Even then, you had to crane your neck to look at their faces and that was less intimidating. Justin was only a couple of inches taller than Lucy. They were face to face, eye to eye, and that was a very intense situation.