The Source: Book III of the Holding Kate Series (36 page)

She ripped her hand out of his and brushed against a crystal dish that went crashing to the floor.

She snapped her gaze to the royals. They smiled mercifully in her direction, then suddenly the smiles drained from their faces and King Taraj stood from his throne, his brow creased in anger and shock.

“Oh dear God
!” Kate thought she had done something terrible the way he scowled. Queen Tripka’s gaze was fixed on Kate. Her mouth hung open.

Queen Krysallis went to her father and spoke softly to him as the orchestra started another song. A servant came to Kate’s side and cleaned up the crystal shards.

“Thank you, I am so sorry,” Kate apologized as she watched the servant girl quickly brush the slivers into a dust pan and whisk them away.

“I am sorry, Gregory.” That seemed to be all she could say tonight. He acted as if he didn’t hear her, his attention was averted to something over her shoulder. He reached for her hand and held it tightly, too tightly.

Kate started to turn her head to see what he was so focused on when he pulled her to her feet. He whipped her around to face the Emeritus King, Emeritus Queen, and Queen.

“Sire,” Gregory spoke and bowed, pulling Kate down into a curtsy.

“Welcome,” the old king’s voice crackled.

Kate chanced a glance at him and saw that his face hung in wrinkles, but his eyes were bright and intelligent, set deep within his prominent brow. Something familiar about his gaze struck her.

“Sire.” Her voice shook, barely audible. “I am so sorry about the dish.”

“Don’t think on it another second,” the Queen Emeritus exclaimed.

Kate turned to her and saw that she too, was bright and wise beneath her sagging face and drooping skin. Kate wondered how old these two were and what wonderful stories they could tell. She immediately liked them.

“May I introduce myself?” Gregory asked.

The king turned a disdainful gaze to Gregory. His eyes returned to their fiery intensity and he gave a curt nod.

“I am Gregory Matthews of Dragon Castle on Dagan Island and this is Kate, my wife.”

The elder queen’s hand flew to her face. Her eyes snapped to Kate’s. “Wife?”

Kate started to speak and shook her head when the King interrupted.

“May I have the pleasure of a dance with your wife?” He practically growled out the last word.

“Of course, Sire.” Gregory released Kate’s hand and she rubbed the life back into it.

The King held out his arm. Kate looped her wrist into it, and they moved to the center of the dance floor. The other couples gave them a wide berth.

The King wrapped his hands around Kate’s waist. “It’s been a long time. You will have to forgive an old man’s tottering,” his crackling voice explained.

“No, Sire, I am sure it is you who will have sore feet by the end of this dance.” Kate laughed.

“It wouldn’t be the first time you danced on my toes, Katie girl.” He pulled her closer and pressed his cheek to her ear.

Kate stilled. The room seemed to spin around her, and it had nothing to do with the dancing. What was he saying to her? Was he senile? Did he really think they had danced before? And why did he call her Katie girl? No one called her that but…

He whispered in her ear, “How long have you been here, Kate?”

“Thirteen years,” she whispered back. What was going on? Did he know she was from a different place?

“And you thought thirteen years was enough time to get over Corey, did you? How long did you wait before you married his mortal enemy?”

Kate drew in a sharp breath and stepped away from the King, searching his eyes. He grabbed her and pulled her back into the dance. “Steady there, Katie girl. You’ll give us away.”

Her knees buckled, but the King held onto her tightly until she could regain her strength.

“Trip?” she whispered, searching his eyes for some sign of recognition. “Is it you?”

“In the flesh, or what is left of it.”

Kate looked around him to the Queen Emeritus. Her lavender eyes sparkled with tears as she watched Kate dance with the King. Kate’s voice shook with emotion. “Is that Tara?”

“Yes, we have been here eleven hundred years.”

Kate let out a strangled cry. “Eleven hundred—”

“We can talk about all of that later. Kate, are you safe with Gregory?” His eyes bore into hers.

A day ago she would have said yes. Today she wasn’t so sure. “I…I…think so.” She bit her lip. “He loves me.”

“Of course he does, Kate. There isn’t a man alive who doesn’t love you.”

She looked into the face of the ancient man in front of her and finally saw her old friend. It was there in the intensity of his feelings toward her. “Trip.” She sighed and put her head on his chest, swallowing the lump in her throat. She felt as old and decrepit as he looked. What a pair they made!

He chuckled. “I can have him put in the dungeons.”

“What? No! He saved my life. I owe him everything.”

Trip stiffened and Kate lifted her face to his. Sorrow poured out of her being and a longing for a different life, an alternate reality, seeped out of the corner of her eyes.

“This isn’t how I thought things would work out. I thought—I thought—” What did she think? That Corey would suddenly get tired of his exotic and sexy mistress and come chasing after her? The gut wrenching pain was coming back and she couldn’t face it, hysteria was coming on and she pressed it down to obedience. She hated this girl. She couldn’t even form a sentence. Enough! She clamped a vice grip down on the old Kate. She had surfaced far too often today. Immediately her spine straightened and her chin lifted.

“Thank you, Sire, for the dance. I should get back to my—my—to Greg.” She stepped away from the King and curtsied, then walked across the floor to stand beside Gregory. She leaned into him, and he wrapped his arm around her protectively.

Queen Tara, or whatever her name was, arched a brow at their display of affection. What did they think? That she was going to pine away after her cheating, betraying hus..husband? Her mind tripped over the word.

“Your husband was just telling me how much you adore dragons and horses.” The Queen Emeritus addressed Kate. “I would love to show you around the stables, Kate. I could even arrange for our Head Dragonere to give you a tour, Mr. Mathews. How does that sound?”

“You are too kind, Milady.” Gregory bowed.

“Wonderful. I will have squires come to your chambers at daybreak to escort you to your tours.” Her lavender eyes locked onto Kate’s. “I look forward to speaking with you.”

She turned and joined her husband on the dance floor.

Kate’s stomach lurched. “I’m not feeling well Gregory, I am going to our chambers. Stay and have fun. Meet some new people.”

“Kate.” Gregory’s eyes peered into hers. “You aren’t going off to have a tryst with the King Emeritus are you?” He was teasing, but Kate felt the sting of his words.

She glared at him, “Good night.” She turned on her heel and stalked out of the ballroom.

COREY SAT ON
the sofa in First Cabin, staring at his tennis shoes, stretched out on the ottoman. They had jumped to all of Gregory’s sites, but found nothing. No sign of Kate. Most of them had been dead ends. It appeared that Gregory used the sphere as a sight-seeing tool. He had visited worlds and dimensions, historical events, and strange lands with stranger creatures. They jumped all morning, but saw no sign of Kate in any of them.

An urgency began to grow inside of him and he couldn’t stop thinking of Trip and Tara. If twelve hours equaled two hundred years how long would pass there if he waited three days? Just how old could they get in the jumps before their bodies died of old age? He decided he wouldn’t wait three days. That could be too late and he needed them to help him get through this.

Of all the Keepers and Cheleuthi friends he loved and depended on, they were the two he most wanted by his side to help him find Kate. Tara knew him inside and out, she had shared two centuries with him. As far as time went, he only knew Trip a few months, but the connection they had made over keeping Kate alive inured Trip to Corey. They shared a bond that was unbreakable. They had both loved Kate. Corey knew some part of Trip still loved Kate, though he had moved those feelings aside at her request. Trip and Tara were the two people he trusted above all others.

No, three days was too long. He would go for them tomorrow night, if he could wait that long. Another twenty four hours seemed an eternity.

He heard the shriek of a sphere coming from the boathouse, leapt from the couch, and dove out the screen door. He ran into the boathouse. Starlythe and Staid stood on the launch pad.

Starlythe turned to him and beamed. He ran to them and embraced them both. “Did it work?”

She nodded. “It worked perfectly.”

Donnie and Mel hurried down the stairs in their pajamas. Corey turned to them. “It worked!” He tucked Starlythe and Staid under his arms and led them to the door. “Come to First Cabin, tell us everything.”

They sat around the living room in rapt attention as they listened to the story of Starlythe and Staid.

“We settled in Livingstone,” Starlythe began. “The vaccine was not readily accepted by the people in there. But in the Darchewud, we were met with wide acceptance. They swallowed the vaccine as soon as we mentioned it and told the story of the coming plague. They said because we were Cheleuthi they would believe us. Evidently we have made a reputation for ourselves over time for having good magic and healing secrets.” She smiled at Corey. “You will be pleased to know that the hospital is still going strong, there. The memory of the Cianti Todura lives on.”

Corey wished Eunavae were there to share his pride.

“We ran into difficulty in Livingstone. The ruler of that time, Nadira, would not accept our story. She and the Amhra’n, Kentwood of Slywka, were unable to fathom that the dragons would turn on the people. Kentwood was a dragon rider and his great beast, Slywka, lived at Watshfeau with him. They simply would not accept our story.”

“What did you do?” Mel asked.

Staid chortled. “We became merchants. We opened a shop in the middle of Livingstone and sold our magic elixir to any and all who would dare to try it. Since we were the picture of health, people bought it by the caseload.”

“We were quite successful. Our magic potion was purchased faster than we could package it. The demand was high for the potion that could cure illnesses from the future as well as change your body to fight disease. It was rumored that its healing properties were even passed on to your offspring.” Starlythe laughed. “It became a fad to buy it as a wedding present and have the couple drink it on their wedding night.”

“Starlythe is a genius at trade. She marketed the stuff so that it was irresistible.” Staid squeezed his wife’s hand.

“I am sure some of the potion made its way into Watshfeau. It was very popular.”

“Kentwood of Slywka has an awakening in his future. He was from Lumisfere, you know, the exact image of Trip. I believe he was Trip and Tara’s grandson, you sent them there didn’t you? They are evidently doing quite well populating the north, though they go by a different name I believe.”

“So I’m guessing something went wrong with their remote if they were still around in the time period you were in. I sent them back a thousand years earlier.” Corey furrowed his brow.