Flecks of Gold (28 page)

I walked up to a man watching one of the matches. He was concentrating on the fighters, and even my “excuse me” didn’t merit more than a flick of his eyes before he trained his bug-eyed orbs back on the sparring.

“Could you tell me where the training general is?” I asked.

He was silent for so long I thought he hadn’t heard me. But just as I was about to ask again he said, “He’s gone somewhere with the king. Took a few soldiers with them and gave the rest a half day’s break.” He never took his eyes off the fight.

Weird. I did remember the king saying something about moving the ball up because he had to do something today. But Sogran hadn’t said anything about canceling our practice. I shrugged and watched the fight for a few minutes.

After leaving, I wandered back to my room and plopped myself onto the bed. The sudden absence of activity made me think again of Mom and things I could do to find her. There had to be some sort of lacing I could discover that would help.

A knock at the door interrupted my musings. “The king wishes to see you, Princess,” Sentai informed me. So he was back. I was curious as to where he and the training general had gone. The king had said it was something that could not be delayed, but he hadn’t said what, so I doubted I was on the list of people he would confide in.

I found myself standing in front of the guarded doors of the king’s study once more, but I didn’t have to wait. The two guards swung the door open for me. The smell of old books and dust tickled my nose as I walked past the shelved hallway that opened into the study. The king looked up from a paper he was studying and gave me one of his unreadable looks.

“Thank you for coming, Mary. I think we have solved the mystery of who has your mother,” he said, his eyes intense.

I felt like I was missing something he expected me to know. “Who?” I almost shouted, but managed to keep my voice from rising too much.

“Kelteon.”

Something about that name sounded familiar. It took me a second, but then I had it. “Wait, isn’t that the guy Breeohan told me about who tried to take over the throne but was banished when he failed?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know it’s him?” I still felt like I was missing an important piece of information.

“He sent a letter.”

Now I was really confused, why would Kelson—no Kelteon must be his real name—send a letter to the king about my mother? What did either of us have to do with anyone in this foreign place? A suspicion formed in my mind, but it was too preposterous to be true. Besides, there were at least four people that I had heard of who had gone to Earth and could be my father, and that was only the people from Iberloah.

There was a whole world here. If indeed, as I suspected, my father had come from this world, it was unlikely he was the king sitting so inscrutably before me. Studying my face again, he looked like he was going to add more. But then his eyes dropped to his desk, and he shuffled through some documents until he pulled a map from beneath the papers, set it on top of them, and turned it toward me.

“When Kelteon was banished, we know he went over to the country of Zephti. But my spies lost track of him some time ago. It’s uncertain where he is now, but we will search for him and your mother.”

I stared at the map as if I could get it to tell me where Kelteon was if I just concentrated hard enough. Nothing spoke to me. I sighed and looked up at the king, who was staring at me. It made me nervous. “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing. You can stay here while I send others to search. I don’t want to give Kelteon the chance to get his hands on you.”

I grew a little annoyed. “Why would it even matter? It isn’t like I’m a real princess,” I said, baiting him. “I don’t see any reason why this Kelteon person is even interested in holding my mother and me. It doesn’t make any sense.”

I almost thought the king was going to say something, but we were interrupted by the king’s servant who came through the hall into the study. “Sire, the council has assembled and is waiting for you.”

“I will come immediately.” The servant bowed out again. “I must address the council about this, but we will talk again later. For the present, I would ask that you confine your movements to your room and the training area. It seems you are already making a few especially rigid nobles feel threatened, and I don’t want things to get more disturbed than they already are.” He hesitated a moment, glancing swiftly at me as I seethed with resentment, and then he walked around his desk, past my chair, and out the door.

So now I was a prisoner of sorts. What in the world was going on anyway? When I finally got enough control over myself to huff out of the king’s study, I found the same servant who had led me to it ready to take me back to my room again. I preceded him in huffy silence. Not that he noticed or cared. I felt more lost and trapped than ever. But I was powerless to do anything about it.

In my room I sat at the table and simmered like sauce left too long on the stove. “Sentai, I will have dinner in my room tonight, and if anyone asks, I am not feeling well.”

She must have noticed the storm cloud drooping over my head for she didn’t comment, just nodded and slipped out quietly. I stared at the table without seeing it, thinking about what the king had said. Why was he suddenly restricting my movement, and how had he found out it was Kelteon? Had that been the purpose of his little trip this morning?

Had Kelteon really written a letter, telling the king he had some foreign woman? I couldn’t imagine what Kelteon would say in such an epistle. Something like, “How’s it going, King Verone? I know I tried to kill you, but I just thought I’d write to bring you up-to-date on what’s been going on with me lately. I’ve been busy with my plotting. How ’bout you? Any new schemes in the works? Oh, yeah, I remember you knew something about Earth, so I thought I’d tell you about this lady I recently kidnapped. Aren’t Earthlings funny? Hope to see you six feet under. Sincerely, Kelteon.”

The absurdity of my mock letter made me laugh, and the raincloud over my head lifted a little. I sat up straight. The training general had been acting a little funny last night; maybe they had found something even before today. For the moment I was powerless, so I lay on the bed to rest my eyes while I waited.

I must’ve rested in reality, for when I opened my eyes again, a candle illuminated the dinner Sentai had laid out. She, however, was nowhere in sight. She had an uncanny ability to appear and disappear. I walked through the shadowy room to the door, opening it a crack. Light streamed in, and a man to the side of the door turned.

“Is there something I can do for you, Princess?” he asked, giving me a bow. A sword hung at his belt. I forced a smile as a shiver of fear and rage ran up my spine.

“Yes. Would you be so kind as to send for Zefan Breeohan? I need to see him as soon as possible,” I said.

“Of course, Your Highness. I will have a servant fetch him at once.”

The door slid shut. I stood for a moment getting reaccustomed to the darker shadows of my room before moving to the table of food. So I was truly a prisoner. The guard knocked that truth into me like a sledge hammer in a way the king’s subtle command had not. My insides tumbled with fear and frustration.

Like my shadowy room, I had little light to see by lately. Even though I now knew the name of the person who had Mom, I felt no closer to finding her than before. I had to either get more information, or get out, preferably both. But I needed Breeohan’s help for both these things and considering the state of affairs between us, I wasn’t at all sure I could trust him to help me either.

I chewed my food mechanically, hardly noticing it as I mulled over what I should say to Breeohan. A light tap on the door made me aware that my food was gone.

“Come in.”

The hinge creaked slightly as the door opened to reveal Breeohan’s silhouette. He stepped in, and hesitated to let his eyes adjust to the small candle before sitting opposite me. The tiny flame made his amethyst eyes richer, and I wished for a better light so that I could read his expressions more clearly.

“Do you enjoy being in the dark?” he asked.

“Not at all. That’s why I sent for you.” His eyebrows rose questioningly, but even in the dimness of the room Breeohan was not good at hiding his emotions. I could see he knew something. “What do you know, Breeohan?”

“About what?”

“Please don’t play with me. How does the king know Kelteon has my mother?”

“From a letter.”

“From Kelteon?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes.” Breeohan looked up to the ceiling and performed a fire lacing to light the chandelier above. A dozen candles burst into flame, lighting the edges of the room and brightening the purple of his eyes.

His tactic didn’t distract me, however. “Why would Kelteon suddenly write the king a letter and mention my mother?”

“It was intercepted. It was not meant for the king.”

I narrowed my eyes and studied the set of Breeohan’s jaw. His teeth were clenched though he tried to stare at me innocently.

“I see. And for whom was the letter intended?”

“I don’t know. I only know that the king is sending out men to find him.”

“Did the letter say where Kelteon is?” I asked, feeling excited.

“It didn’t specifically mention the place, but the king was able to determine where the letter came from.”

I slumped back in my chair, thinking. “Something doesn’t seem right about all this. It seems a little convenient. How did King Verone find out about the letter?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t tell me everything, Mary, and I didn’t ask. What does it matter? I would have thought that you would be happy to know we are so close.”

“I am. It’s just . . . Why am I suddenly confined to the palace?”

Breeohan wouldn’t meet my eyes. “The king thought it would be safer for you.”

“To be stuck here where people want me killed? The king is the only one with enough power to stop them from taking me down,” I said angrily.

“That is why you have a guard.”

“Why can’t I just go with the king?”

“He has his reasons,” he said.

“What ‘reasons’ could he possibly have?” I held my breath, waiting to see if Breeohan would tell me anything.

Breeohan studied the table. “That is for the king and the training general to say.” We sat in silence for a while as I struggled to suppress a yell of exasperation. The king and the training general. Again those two. Did that mean one of them was my father or just that they knew something about who my father was? Breeohan knew something, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to say.

“I am glad you called for me. I wanted to say good-bye,” Breeohan said.

I sat up straight. “Where are you going?”

“I am going with the king and his troops.”

“I see. So you’re allowed to go look for my mother, but I’m required to sit here like a good little fake princess.” I barely held my voice below a yell.

“It’s for the best.”

“It is not for the best, and you know it. Please convince the king to let me come. I can’t stay here. I don’t belong here, and with you and the king gone, I . . .” This part was hard. “I’m afraid something will happen to me.” I couldn’t say more.

Breeohan put his hand on mine across the table. I concentrated on not pulling away. “Nothing will happen to you, Mary. The king has made sure you will be protected while we’re gone.”

“The training general is going too? That means the only one left here who knows who I really am will be Rafan.” The thought was not comforting.

“Actually . . .” Breeohan looked sheepish.

“Rafan?” I asked in astonished resentment.

“It’s necessary,” he replied.

“Just let me go with you,” I pleaded, feeling extremely exposed.

“I can’t,” he said.

I pulled my hand away slowly, my head bowed. “I think you should go now, Breeohan.” I watched his fingers curl into his hand.

He sat for a moment more and then finally stood and walked to the door. “Good-bye, Mary.” He waited for a moment but I sat silently until he finally opened the door and left.

I lolled in a muddle of depression, thinking about Mom and wishing I could find her, wishing I could leave.

I got out the map Ismaha had given me and looked it over again, wishing that the intensity of my gaze had the power to pull my eyes to the right spot. The king had said that Kelteon was banished to Zephti, but when I spoke to him as Kelson, he had said he was from Michigan in Iberloah. No, that wasn’t right. When he’d started to say Michigan he’d said it funny before correcting himself. Could he have been saying a name in Iberloah before stopping himself? I started reading all the names on the map, looking for a name similar to Michigan. The place jumped out at me: Mitigan. It was in the mountains before Zephti. That had to be where he was, I was positive. But there was nothing I could do about it.

I went to the window to see how far up my room was from the ground, but found that though I could probably get down without injury if I hung from the window and dropped, there was another guard sitting far too alertly at the foot of my shutters. I went back to the dresser, put on my peasant clothes, and packed one nice outfit in my backpack with my map. I couldn’t bear to leave my backpack behind. Also, it was the only bag in my room. I tied my hair back and took the golden comb on the dresser. I felt horrible for taking it, but I only had a little money left from the sale of my schoolbook to Breeohan. My money wouldn’t last long, and the trip would be a long one. I’d have to pay the king back somehow. Staying here was not an option.

I went to the door and peeked out of the crack. The guard turned.

“Could you send Sentai to me? I need her for something.”

When Sentai came in, I was sitting on the bed waiting. She saw the bag next to me and how I was dressed and immediately pleaded, “Please, Your Highness, don’t do anything rash.”

“I have to, but I need your help. Please? I know I’m asking a big thing of you, so if you don’t think you can, I’ll understand.” My heart was in my throat.

“I will do whatever my lady wishes,” Sentai said in her best neutral servant voice.