Flecks of Gold (40 page)

“Yes, I do,” I said, trying to get my breathing under control. “It’s because of me you’re here at all.”

“It’s not your fault, sweetie. It’s Kels—Kelteon’s fault. He’s the one who tricked you, and he is the one who brought us here.”

“He didn’t bring
me
here,” I said absently, distracted by the bandage wrapped around her arm. “Do you want me to heal you, Mom? I could fix that if you give me permission.”

Mom sat back and regarded me steadily. “My arm is fine for the moment. I think you’d better tell me what’s happened to you.” So I told her about the first time Kelteon, or Kelson, had shown me lacing magic by making a ball of light, and how it had flashed through my mind so clearly, how I’d stupidly copied the magic to find that I could make the light too and revealed to Kelteon that I could see whole lacings, a feat almost unheard of in Iberloah. I told her how I’d tried to copy what Kelteon had done when he disappeared with her but had gotten the place in Iberloah wrong, making it necessary for me to travel to the capitol for the king’s help to find her.

I skipped as many of the dangerous parts as I could, but I could tell my story was making her anxious by the way she clasped my fingers and unconsciously rubbed her thumb back and forth over the back of my hand. I watched especially closely when I explained how King Verone and Sogran, as well as at least two others, had been to Earth before the traveling lacing was lost to them.

“What do they look like, the training general and the king?” she asked, stroking her thumb faster over my hand.

I placed my palm over hers to stop her from scouring the skin off. “They both have similar looks: tall with cinnamon skin, dark brown hair, and light brown and gold eyes.” She stiffened. I hated to get her hopes up only to have them dashed, and I felt a need to dampen my own hopes for the same reason. “I don’t think we should assume one of them is ‘him,’ Mom. I don’t know when they went to Earth, and others traveled there too. We’re on a whole different world here. It’s bursting with magicians. I’m sure there are people from other countries who’ve also traveled to Earth. For all we know, Dad could still be there.”

Guilt swamped me for being such a cynic to my kind and sometimes flighty mom. I haltingly continued my tale until I concluded depressingly that I was once again a captive in what I assumed was Kerln.

“You’ve been through quite a lot, it seems,” Mom said. She gathered me into a hug again, and we held each other in silence.

Finally I pushed away. “But what about you? It’s been so many days, I’ve lost track. Have you been in a dark room by yourself the whole time?”

“No. I was put in a comfortable room with a light and given regular meals.” She looked around at the small well, no more than five feet wide. “Well, until I was carted out of the mountains in a wooden box and brought here. The biggest problem was the boredom. Kelson—Kelteon didn’t visit often at first, and all he wanted to do was taunt me with hints about capturing you. He also asked for permission to heal me, but I refused. Then he changed from looking like a boy into a man and tried to woo me. But I’ve had enough of men like Joe and Kelson. How could I fall for him when I’ve finally seen what my bad choices have done to you? Joe had to hit you before I realized how abusive and manipulative he was. And worse, you had a crush on the same type of guy yourself. I taught you that,” she said sadly.

I felt indignant. “First of all, okay, yeah, you’ve made a lot of lousy boyfriend decisions, but I’d like to point out what you just told me about being brought here. You aren’t responsible for other people’s actions. And second, I’d like to state for the record that Kelteon was weaving an enchantment on me. I didn’t really have a crush on him. Just so we’re clear about that.”

Mom’s lips curved up slightly, her sad expression morphing into amusement. “Okay, we’re clear. I’m so glad I have such a wise daughter.”

“You’re probably the only one in all of Iberloah that would express that opinion,” I said, thinking of all my stupid blunderings since coming to this alien land. “So are you going to let me heal your arm or what?”

“Oh, it’s mostly healed already. Don’t trouble yourself.”

“Mom,” I warned.

“See for yourself.” She unwound the bandage to reveal a scabbed-over gash. “I only keep the bandage on so the scab won’t get scraped off.”

“I can still heal it completely, scar and all.”

She waved me away, and I gritted my teeth, but let it drop. If she wanted a battle scar, who was I to stop her?

Then I noticed there was bread, cheese, and water in the opposite curve of the well. My throat was instantly parched, and my stomach whined in hunger. “How often do we get food?” I forced myself not to snatch it up.

“Three times a day. Go ahead and take all that. You need it far more than I do.”

Forcing myself to chew each bite ten times before swallowing, I tried to save some of the water for later. But everything disappeared more rapidly than was probably healthy as my hunger overpowered my self-control. Feeling better, I jumped up to look around and to determine the best way to get us out. I paced around the circle, looking up at the small door. It was a given that someone would be guarding above, possibly several people. I’d have to move quickly. Maybe if I got Mom to allow me to put the gecko lacing on her, she could climb as well.

I looked at her skinny limbs pensively, sure that several weeks of inactivity would not have improved her already nonathletic arms. She’d never been one for going to the gym. I’d have to go up myself and find a way to haul her up after overcoming the guards. I didn’t like all the unknown variables.

I became aware that Mom was watching me with a look of pride, mixed with sadness. “You never give up, do you, sweetheart? You’ve always been my little problem-solver, out to save the world one paid phone bill at a time. You’ve been my rock whenever I’ve been weak.”

I dropped to my knees. “You’re the one who taught me to keep trying, to never give in to despair. You may have forgotten to pay bills on time, but you never stopped working, and you never gave up your dream to become a renowned painter, even when your boyfriends or our family told you to get a ‘real life.’ ”

Mom wrapped her arms around me, holding my head against her chest as she smoothed my hair back. “I’m sorry. I guess all this time in captivity’s affected me more than I thought. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my regrets.”

I lay against her chest, feeling guilty and regretful myself. Suddenly Mom got up, and I had to catch myself from falling to the ground.

“So,” she said, looking around the well and placing a hand here and there, hunting for handholds. “How are we going to get out of here? Any ideas?”

I stared at the ceiling. “I had one, but it’s not very good. Kelteon would be expecting it.

“Well, it’s better than nothing” she said. “I’m game.” She turned up the wattage of her smile. Behind her grin I still saw a tinge of sadness, but it was almost wholly replaced by a new solidness and determination.

Mom and I had certainly had our share of battles in the past, but I loved her fiercely. And I knew that just because I was finally with her didn’t mean that I’d saved her yet. A new resolve hardened in my core, driven by the need I’d felt my whole life to protect her.

“Okay, we’ll try my plan. Sit tight and cover your face when I reach the top.” I jumped up and hugged her shorter frame before I began climbing the wall. My muscles still ached, but all the practice I’d been doing lately was making a difference. I climbed to the ceiling without feeling as out of breath or as trembly as my previous expeditions had left me.

At the top, I took a deep breath, changed the solid wooden door to a more brittle wood, and kicked it. Splinters rained down to the floor as the door shattered, but I didn’t have time to make sure Mom was all right. I followed the momentum of my kick and burst out of the opening, hoping to catch the guards off-balance.

I got no further than the well’s rim. A circle of men and women surrounded me, standing shoulder to shoulder, each holding a loaded crossbow aimed directly at my body. I crouched like a cat caught in a car’s headlights, knowing that at any instant I might feel metal-tipped arrows pierce my flesh.

The line in front of me parted, and Kelteon walked through. It was as if my two-dimensional pencil drawing had ripped from the page and gathered to itself depth and color. If I hadn’t known already that Kelson and the man before me were one and the same, I would have thought this man was Kelson’s dad. His ice-blue eyes crinkled, and his lips curled upward in a sharp hook of cruel amusement.

“Really, I’m disappointed. I thought you’d be out much sooner,” he drawled.

“Yeah, well, it’s kind of hard to come up with escape plans when you’re unconscious,” I said, trying to think of a way to overcome thirty people all at once. The situation was definitely looking grim.

He raised his eyebrows. “Such a touching reunion I heard below. I knew you’d like a little time with your mother. As you can see, she’s alive and well, but that can change very quickly.”

I felt a burst of rage at the thought of him listening to Mom and me, but my anger was swiftly overshadowed by fear. “You hurt her, and I’ll—” I prepared to blast them all with hurricane-force winds, but Kelteon held up his hand.

“Think twice before you do anything rash, Mary.” With a lazy flick, he pointed to the roofs of the surrounding buildings. More crossbows peeked over the edges held by men lying flat, nearly invisible.

“Attempt anything, and you and your mother are dead,” he said with languid unconcern. “As juvenile as your behavior is, you have proven to be a bit slippery. I don’t want to take the chance of losing you again.” His grin felt like insects crawling all over my skin. My thighs started to cramp because of my half crouch, but I didn’t dare even twitch.

“I have a proposition for you, which is quite generous, considering everything.” His eyes flicked to his guards. As one, they straightened further and readjusted their aim to point at my head. “Have a seat. That can’t be comfortable.”

I sat on the well’s rim, moving with exaggerated slowness so no bowmen would get trigger happy. I kept my eyes on Kelteon, feeling instinctively that he was a bigger threat than the plethora of snipers.

“What could you possibly want from me?” I worked hard to keep my voice from trembling and my face from broadcasting my fear. Kelteon’s responding smile was sharklike, and I couldn’t stop myself from shivering.

“Nothing so terrible. My proposal is this: you consent to letting me put an enchantment lacing on you, and I will refrain from killing your mother.”

I felt the blood in my face drain away. “Never,” I whispered. My throat had suddenly gone dry.

“Never? I thought you cared more for your mother than that.”

My heart thudded painfully in panic; my mind flicked from one idea to another, as if I were some sort of crazed channel surfer. But I could think of no way to get myself and Mom safely out of Kelteon’s grasp.

“If I let you enchant me, you could order me to kill my mother and there would be no way to stop myself from doing it. Your promise to keep her safe while still imprisoned means nothing.” I tried to say this calmly, but my voice made a betraying squeak at the end.

The sun blazed down like someone pushing on my shoulders. A trickle of sweat slid into my eyes, but I didn’t lift my hand to wipe it away. As the silence stretched, Kelteon regarded me coolly. He wasn’t sweating at all.

“You really don’t have a choice, Mary. You either agree to my proposal, or I kill your mother now.” He signaled one of his bowmen to move to the well’s open hole.

“Stop,” I yelled before the man could take more than two steps. “You come any closer, and I’ll blast you all into oblivion. I don’t care if I’m killed too. And don’t think I can’t do it. I can,” I said in manic fury. Kelteon held up his hand to check the bowman’s progress, and the guard stopped, darting fearful glances my way.

“It appears that we are at an impasse,” Kelteon said in his annoying languid way. No one moved. I blinked rapidly to get the sweat out of my eyes as flies buzzed brazenly around the heads of men and women who would not move their hands from their bows to swat the insects away.

“Send my mother unharmed back to Earth, and I will agree to the enchantment lacing.” My insides wrenched in dread, but I couldn’t think of another way to get Mom safely out of Kelteon’s reach.

“As much as I would love to accommodate you, I cannot. The lacing to your planet was unfortunately destroyed.”

“I don’t believe you.” I was beginning to hyperventilate. I forced the air to move in and out more slowly so that Kelteon wouldn’t know the despair his statement caused me.

“Believe it or not, it is quite true. The traitor who destroyed them certainly discovered the mistake he made in crossing me.” Kelteon smiled again, but the upward hooks on his lips made the gesture a nightmarish parody.

“Then it appears we
are
at an impasse,” I mocked him in an effort to control my fear and hopelessness. Kelteon’s creepy smile transformed to a scowl. I could see crossbows beginning to dip as the bowmen’s muscles strained, and we all quietly fried in the sun for another minute.

“Sitting here doesn’t do either of us any good,” Kelteon snapped. Then he took a breath and smoothed his glower back to icy disregard. “Why don’t we agree to a compromise?”

“I’m listening.” I tensed and readied for treachery.

“King Verone is outside the city with his measly army of goons. I’ll give your mother to them unharmed if you remain with me and submit to my lacing.”

“I have to see her get to them safely. And you have to give me your word that you will never order me to hurt her or anyone else after I’ve been enchanted.”

“Done.”

Kelteon stared at me with lazy confidence, and I realized with a jolt of panic how powerless I would be to enforce my demands once I was under his will. Every nerve screamed at the thought of being in Kelteon’s control, so I tried to focus instead on the fact that Mom would finally be safely out of Kelteon’s hands, even if I wasn’t.

If dying would have won her freedom and safety, I would much rather have died. But even if I managed to kill all the soldiers around me, there were too many others still in Kerln, and Mom would still be stuck at the bottom of a well.