“Um, a few days,” my mother replied, looking to me. “Does it matter?”
“That’s why we don’t have to worry,” Kye turned to me. “She’s been hiding out for days. She’ll keep hiding until July 8th. Logan won’t ever be able to find it because your mother will never tell him the truth.”
“Tell who?” my mother asked.
“It’s important that you never tell a single person when you actually arrived here and that you stay hidden as long as you can. After we leave, take the stone and make it into a necklace. Coat it with this.” Kye took fingernail polish that was sitting on the messy desk. “Logan will never find the stone and that still gives us time.”
Fingernail polish was all that it took to keep the stone hidden. That seemed odd to me.
“If he can’t touch it, he won’t know it’s one of the stones unless someone tells him,” Kye explained. “We feel the pull of the goddess power by touch.”
“And this Logan is a bad person?” my mother asked.
“Not bad,” I began to reply, but Kye stopped me once again.
“We can’t tell you anything about the future because that might change things. All I can say is that it’s important that no one ever knows where the stone is, even Mari. One day you’ll give her the stone but still don’t tell her. Do not tell her about time traveling or anything else. She will find out all of this on her own,” Kye added. Why did he get to tell her about the future and not me?
My mother stood tentatively and walked near me.
“Are you really her?” she asked, rubbing her belly.
I swallowed and nodded. This was way too weird to actually get words out to confirm it. All I really wanted to know was what my mother was thinking. I could barely understand all of it; it had to be just as bizarre for her.
“You’re beautiful.” My mother reached up and touched a loose red curl of mine. “I can’t wait to meet you all grown up some day.”
I smiled. It was strange to see my mother now. I had never thought of her younger, because she always seemed young compared to all the other mothers. Right now she was younger than I even was, yet she was older than me in her mind. I knew that they grew up fast in the past, but her motions and words told me it was true. My mother may have been only fifteen, but she was much older than I was at eighteen.
“We have to go,” Kye told me. “We don’t want to draw attention to this time. Do you understand what you need to do?” He looked to my mother. She nodded without breaking her eyes from me. She was taking in every little piece of me as much as I was trying to memorize her.
“Mari,” she said hesitantly. “That’s your name?”
“Marcella,” I replied. “But everyone calls me Mari.”
“I like that,” my mother smiled.
She reached forward and brushed her hand on my face as she had done a hundred times while I was growing up. She was young, so not ready to be a mother, yet here she was already being my mother. It was amazing to see. I could finally understand why Kye was certain I had to end up with Seth. Some things were just meant to be. My mother was always meant to be my mother.
Kye grabbed my hand and we faded away before I could say anything more. We were gone instantly. I hated that Kye was a gatekeeper at that moment and could use my stones to make us both travel.
We instantly appeared back in the garden where we had left Seth and Ty. They both looked up at us as we arrived. I wasn’t sure how long we were gone, but it must not have been much time by the looks on their face.
“Did you run into a problem?” Seth asked, full of concern as he looked me over.
“No problems. I got to see my mother,” I answered. I could still feel her touch. “My very young mother.”
“Then you got the stone?” Ty asked. He was looking from Kye to me.
“I didn’t need to. I already had it all along. Well, at least since Logan went back and got it for me when I was his prisoner,” I answered, finally looking at the guys. My eyes strayed to Seth for a moment longer.
Ty’s eyes went wide. “He brought it to the future to you? How didn’t he know?”
“Because Kye here told my mother to cover the stone with fingernail polish,” I replied, shaking my head at the thought. Fingernail polish was going to save me from Logan. That was too improbable to understand, or even believe, but I had the stone now. I had it all along thanks to fingernail polish.
The guys laughed, and I only chuckled along with them a little. It disturbed me that everything was still on track and nothing was changing. For Logan to not have known the stone was blessed, it meant this had to have happened in the past before. Everything was still the same. While we didn’t want to change the future that I’d already lived, we did want to change the future that I still had to live. This wasn’t changing anything, and that worried me.
Chapter 5
Making Plans
After some rest I was ready to continue our wedding planning. Who knew there was so much that had to be put together for a wedding? My mother assured me that I didn’t really need to be there to make decisions, but at the same time, I wanted to be part of it. It wasn’t every day that I was going to get married. Okay, this was my second wedding in the past, but I was pretty sure the first one didn’t count.
We had six days left to get everything together. My mother talked to the seamstresses that were all attentively listening, but not understanding what she was saying. She insisted that I wear traditional Nahrin clothing along with Egyptian clothing to the wedding to signify that I was part of both families. She obviously had a vision in her head on how to combine them, but without her table to draw upon, she was having difficulty telling them. It was funny how much my mother grew into the future she had lived in. She was just as lost as I was at times.
Watching my mother made me think of the younger version of her I met in the future. She must have known she would meet Kye and me at some point, but she still hadn’t said anything.
“Honey,” my mother said as the seamstresses pulled away to discuss things amongst themselves. She came over to where I sat and put her arm around me to give my shoulder a little squeeze.
“Yeah, Mom?”
“You’re bored. I told you. Let me do this. Let me plan all of this. I promise you will like it,” my mother tried to reassure me.
No promises needed. I was completely sure that I would like what she was planning. In fact, I had yet to make any sort of true decisions and had a feeling it would be like that the whole time. But part of me wanted to just stay there and watch her. In the past year I had been spending less and less time with her. Right now, this time spent with her… it was nice.
“Really. I’ll take care of everything. Just go relax with your friends. When was the last time you really got to relax?” My mother was pushing me to stand now.
I thought about it. Life had been busy lately. It kind of had to be with all the time traveling. I really hadn’t been able to relax since the summer before I went off to college. I had taken one last trip with my mother and grandfather. Once I made it to college, it had been a whirlwind.
“You might not get another chance soon. Go take advantage of the day. Have Seti show you around the village. We leave tomorrow to head back to the capital.” Now she was pushing me out the door.
“But…” I went to complain. I actually did want to spend time with her. She was a little hard to get to these days, as my father rarely let her out of his sight.
“When everything works out, we’ll have a whole lifetime to sit around and do nothing. Go have fun now while it’s quiet.” She wasn’t taking no for an answer. That was my mother. I’d never admit it to her, but she did actually know more than me.
I stopped at the doorway and turned back to her. I quickly hugged her.
“I love you, Mom,” I told her.
“I love you too, sweetie, even before you left my belly. I even loved you then.” My mom smiled. That was my mother. She knew I had been in the past already. Somehow, she
always knew everything. “Now tell Seti I said to keep you distracted. You always worry too much when you have to wait around.”
I nodded and turned to walk back to the garden. The guys seemed to have taken over the area. I don’t know if it was because they wanted to lounge around ponds and foliage all day, or if it was because it was one of the more isolated areas of the palace. I had to think it was the latter. We still were unsure if anyone was working for Logan. We had to assume someone was, how else could he enter a party and exit without anyone noticing? He was a prince, after all.
I quietly made my way back outside into the garden. As I neared, I paused to listen to the guys talk.
“It has to be embedded in you,” Kye was talking to Seth. “But you can’t do the whole just stick it in your skin. That doesn’t work with Logan. He will find it and rip it right out of you. It needs to be like Mari’s stones.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Seth asked.
Seth and Kye were getting along? That was new.
“But even if we did know,” Ty chimed in. “We still don’t want Logan to be able to see it. Where would we put it?”
“What are you guys talking about?” I asked as I finally got close enough and was too curious to sit and wait for them to continue arguing.
“Seti needs the stone in him to travel at will like you can,” Kye answered. “Logan knows the key to getting you is to take Seti.”
“If he takes Seti, he will get you too,” Ty commented.
They were both right. Seth was my weak spot, but so was everyone else we brought back. They were all my friends and family. I had to believe my father would protect my mother and neither would leave the borders of Egypt, but what about Seth, Ty, and Dee? Ty was always with me now, and I really didn’t plan to leave the borders, so he would be safe. Dee and Seth were part of the military. Even if I wanted to keep them here, I was pretty sure that would never happen. There were always wars to be fought. What they were saying made sense.
“So how do we put it in him?” I asked. The sooner the better, the way things were going. I had my doubts Logan would wait patiently for me to marry Seth.
Seth turned to me. “The stone is yours. You should keep it. You’re the one that needs all the power.” Seth was eager to give up his chance to permanently time travel.
“No. They’re right. You need to have a stone in case Logan does anything to take you from me,” I replied. It made complete sense to me. “Just where you do you even put it on him. It can’t be out in the open, or Logan will see it. It is something that needs to stay hidden to be effective.”
I looked over Seth. His little white skirt didn’t leave much of his body uncovered. Basically there was nothing beyond what was under his skirt that would stay hidden from normal people in ancient Egypt. Seth grinned as I looked him over.
“And the stone is a blue color, really hard to hide.” My cheeks felt warm. I wasn’t undressing him with my eyes, but it probably seemed that way.
“You can put it just about anywhere. I wonder if you could put it inside him even,” Kye suggested.
“I can put it?” I asked. That wasn’t the conversation I thought I was jumping into.
“Yes, you. Who else has the goddess’ powers now?” Kye replied, shaking his head like I was unbelievable for not realizing that it was me that was going to do it.
This was so not what I thought. It was less than a day that he expected me to be able to trace the stone, and now he thought I could put it into Seth. Kye had such high expectations of me. It kind of made me wonder what sort of mother I was. I doubted I knew everything like he seems to think. Then again, I had no idea how young I was when I had him. Maybe I had lived a few lifetimes and did know much more than now.
“Not the same as the way where it’s just under the skin, though. Logan knows how to get those out of people. You need the dusty tattoo thingy to do it,” Kye continued on, as if I wasn’t shocked by his direction as it was.
“And I can do this, just like I could trace the stone?” I was being sarcastic, but he didn’t seem to notice or maybe just didn’t care.
Kye smiled and nodded. He had such faith in me, but I had no clue how to do any of it. Kye held up the stone, which he had spent the night cleaning. It now had a very vibrant blue shine to it and even standing away from it, I could feel the stone pulse with the energy of the goddess. I had had the stone all along.
“The mom I grew up with could do anything. I know you can too, because it is in you. Some things people are just born with. You were born to be able to do anything. That’s why the goddess chose you. That’s why she never trained you. You have it in you if you just believe that you can do it.”
My heart beat a little faster. After seeing my mother in the future, I knew exactly what he was talking about. My mother was always born to be my mother. That much couldn’t be changed. Maybe Kye was right. Maybe I was meant to be able to do it.
“So, what? I just imagine the stone breaking up into tiny little pieces and put it on him?” I asked.
I loved his confidence in me, but I still wasn’t sure of anything anymore. I looked over at Seth. He had just as much faith in my ability. He smiled at me, and it made me even more determined. He believed in me, too. I had no clue what to do, but I wanted to put the stone in Seth.
“Um, yeah, just like that,” Kye replied, pulling my attention back to him.
I turned back to him and couldn’t stop my mouth from dropping open. The place in his hand where the blue chrysocolla stone had been was now replaced by a mass of blue dust swirling.
“Umm, what am I supposed to do with that?” I asked. I was too shocked to even know how I did it in the first place.
“Well, put it on Seti, would be the logical thing to do,” Kye said, keeping his hand still. I was guessing that he was worried that I would lose my concentration and the dust would fall. That was very much likely to happen since I had no clue.
“Where do I put it on him?” I asked, trying not to panic at the powdery cloud that I was somehow controlling.
Seth took my face in his hands and made me look only at him.
“Mari, this is easy. You’ve got this.” He was being as reassuring as he could be, but I still had my doubts. “Remember how all I had to do was tell you how to do the log run back at college? You could do exactly what was asked, just by believing in yourself. Believe in yourself now. You can do this.”
“Where should I put it on him?” I asked Kye and Ty. “If it’s on his skin, most won’t see it, but Logan will.”
“How about the soles of his feet?” Kye suggested.
“We walk around barefoot a lot. He might still see it,” Ty nixed Kye’s suggestion.
I moved to look at the guys as they talked, but Seth kept my face looking at him.
“In his hair?” Kye suggested.
“Not a problem when I have hair, but if I were to shave it off, Logan would be able to see it,” Seth answered, staring straight into my eyes while talking to the guys.
“I don’t know where I can put it without it being seen,” I replied. Really, Egyptian clothing left very little to hide anything.
“Mari, you’re a natural in this world. You can figure it out,” Seth replied, his thumb stroking my face.
I kept looking into his eyes. I had to figure out some place to put the stone in him. I had to find some place hidden on him. I had to keep him safe, and Kye was right. Seth was going to be a target when Logan found he couldn’t lure me back. I didn’t want Logan to find out we had the stone already. This had to be a surprise.
Seth’s deep brown eyes twinkled as if he could read my thoughts. He had complete faith in me. I stared back at him, wondering what he was thinking. His mouth quirked a little into a smile, but I couldn’t take my gaze away from his eyes. The beautiful brown color kept me concentrating on him as I thought of the blue swirling mist of stone. Slowly the edges of his brown eyes became blue. Startled, I moved to pull back, but Seth held me in place.
<
br /> “Finish it,” he told me.
Finish it? I hadn’t even meant to do that.
“Mari, look at me,” Seth directed me. “Concentrate on me.”
I looked at his eyes and got lost in the new mixture of color. The blue was barely noticeable and only at the edges. It gave an almost hazel look to his already stunning eyes.
“See, not hard,” Seth told me as his grip on my face relaxed.
I turned back to Kye. The stone dust was completely gone. I had just imprinted the stone on Seth without having the slightest clue what I was doing.
“See? You’re a natural at all this goddess stuff,” Ty commented, looking closer at Seth’s eyes.
I may have been a natural at all of it, but I still would have liked to know how I did it and I sure hoped I wouldn’t have to do it again.
It was strange to be sitting in my mother and father’s rooms in the palace. I had thought my rooms were elaborate until I saw where my father actually slept. The light linen was just like Seth’s room back in college, but the large amounts of gold were more than shocking. In present day terms, his place was worth a fortune. I couldn’t even imagine how much it was worth to the Egyptians. But it wasn’t like they cared. He was their pharaoh after all. And this wasn’t even his main palace.
Servants brought food as I sat beside Seth and his father. General Paramessu was busy talking to my father, and I was busy not paying attention. All their politics talk got boring after two minutes. I was learning how to ignore them as they spoke.
“Mari?” my father addressed me, and I realized I should have been paying attention.
“Did finding the stone change anything?” the general asked.
I looked at Seth, and then at Kye.
“Nope, it didn’t,” I answered.
“So Logan can still get the stone and change everything,” my mother asked. She was much better at paying attention or fake paying attention, which ever she was doing. I wasn’t quite sure.
“Oh no, he can’t get the stone. He won’t even know where to find it. But it still didn’t change anything,” I answered. I glanced at Seth with his new blue-rimmed brown eyes. Only people who had time traveled would be able to see it.