“Hepa,” I spat out. My mother was the only one I knew, and if I said her, maybe this lady would direct me to my mother.
“Hepa?” the lady questioned, raising her eyebrows.
“Yes,” I squeaked and looked back at the floor. I needed this lady to believe me.
“In that case, we should wait with Lady Saska,” the lady replied with a smile that was not friendly in the least, and I didn’t understand why. There was some joke to her words that I didn’t get.
The lady moved around the edge of the courtyard, and I followed. I had to hope she would lead me right to my mother, and this Lady Saska would be with her. As we made it to the edge nearest the columns that led out, I still didn’t see my mother anywhere. I continued to gaze about and barely stopped in time to not step on the lady’s clothing in front of me. I hadn’t notice her stopping.
I looked up in time to see we were right next to the lady that had been squealing for the guards earlier. She was the one that saw me spying into the courtyard. This wasn’t good. I needed to get out right away, but noticed that the tips of the lines on my arm were faded. When I jumped into the courtyard, I did it out of instinct and used up some of my time traveling. I’d have to wait to do it again. I was stuck, and my mother was nowhere in sight.
“Lady Saska,” the woman who had been leading me called to the ornately decorated woman.
Lady Saska was inches taller than the rest of the women and had hair that was a rich chocolate brown. It cascaded in curls down her back and not a strand looked out of place. I could tell now that I was closer, she was the most ornately dressed of all the women, and had jewelry dripping off every place you could put it. Her hair had jewels, her throat had multiple necklaces on it, her wrists chimed with every movement due to the amount of bracelets. Even her dress had stones sewn into it.
Lady Saska turned to the voice of the woman who spoke.
“I found this trash hiding around the back. I thought maybe she was the one you were looking for,” the lady replied.
I sucked in a breath. I had been caught and not even realized it. I had walked right into this trap. I was unsure now that my mother was really around these women. I let my instincts kick in and messed up again.
Lady Saska turned her icy blue eyes on me. She scowled and looked closer at me.
“Yes, she looks about the right height,” Lady Saska replied. “Guards,” she called to the men standing just outside the columns. “Take this servant away to be punished.”
Two men stepped only feet into the open room. They grabbed my arms roughly and pinned them behind me. I didn’t struggle as I had no clue what was going on. I could leave soon, anyway.
“Yes, my lady,” one of the guards replied. “How would you like to be her punishment?”
“Ten lashings should do, and then make sure she spends a week down in the dungeon,” Lady Saska replied. “We can never be too safe in these difficult times. She might be a spy.”
“I’m no spy,” I answered before one of the guards hit me across the face. My lip cut on one of my teeth and blood pooled in my mouth.
“Only royalty can address our future queen,” the guard huffed. Lady Saska smiled sweetly at the man, like he had just protected her honor.
“I’m no spy,” I repeated, this time to the guard. I stared at his eyes, challenging him to hit me again. I didn’t address their future queen, but I was sure she had heard me.
“I think she was sent here to take Lady Hepa away,” the lady who found me told Saska.
Saska’s smile temporarily fell at my mother’s name. She looked at me and glared. “I take that back. This one has to be a spy. Lash her until she tells you who she is working for.” Her voice was laced with anger. I thought maybe this lady was really trying to protect her women, but now something broke through her perfect exterior. My arm tingled with that feeling of love again, and I knew my mother was nearby.
“Hepa is my mother,” I declared. I still felt like my mother was around somewhere. I couldn’t see her, but she was there.
I needed to stall the men from taking me away to be able to see her. My travel powers would be back soon, and I would free her. The Lady Saska that stood before me was no one that I wanted my mom left around. My mother was a kind, gentle soul. There was nothing kind in this woman even if what she called me could be true, in a way. Perhaps I was a spy after all. My plans were to free my mother, but I’d never admit that. The women had stopped their talking and all stared at us as we spoke with the guards. Now they all whispered between them.
“Impossible,” Lady Saska replied. “I see we need more punishments to teach her not to lie.” Lady Saska tapped her lips as she thought.
“My mother is Hepa,” I repeated as some of the whispers grew louder. Many of the women seemed to think I looked like her.
“Hepa has no children,” Lady Saska repeated, like saying it would make it so. Maybe in her book it did. “Send her to the guard’s quarters first. Maybe you guys can convince her to tell the truth, and if not, then you can just have some fun with her.”
My mouth dropped. This lady was truly evil.
The warm tingles in my arms increased. My mother was around somewhere close.
“Mom,” I yelled over the murmur of the women. They seemed to be just as shocked as I was. “Mom,” I yelled again, as loud as I could.
The guards weren’t waiting for Lady Saska to order us away. They had already begun to drag me out of the women’s courtyard. This time I struggled. My mother was near. Someone pushed aside women in the crowd that were all standing and watching me. The person came closer, and I smiled in relief. I had found her. It was my mother.
Chapter 9
A World I Wanted to Avoid
“Mari?” My mother asked, looking at me closely. I’m sure the hair threw her for a loop. It stunk, too.
“Mom,” I replied, trying to pull my arms from the guards. They were not letting go.
“Release the girl,” a regal lady said from behind my mother. She had followed my mother through the crowd.
“Our orders,” one of the guards complained. He seemed the most eager to drag me away.
“Are not my orders, and I’m the one in charge,” the older lady with my mother said to the two guards. They let go as they were reminded. Lady Saska didn’t look too pleased with either being upstaged by the older lady, or that I truly was my mother’s child, maybe both.
My mother ran over and hugged me. It was strange to see her made up in the same garb as the rest of the women, long tunics that were embroidered, and in the case of Lady Saska, covered in jewels of various colors. My mother looked out of place not being in her normal business skirts that were all in various dull colors. This time seemed too colorful for my mother. My mom pulled me away from Lady Saska and her friend, and down to the other regal lady of the room.
“You can’t just take her word on that,” Lady Saska complained while the guards left. “You know Hepa would lie to save a slave. This is a matter that must be determined by my husband.” Lady Saska’s hands were on her hips as she complained like a spoiled child.
“You forget that as long as my husband is alive, this is my part of the palace. You are merely a guest here, Lady Saska. You may be the mother to my grandchildren, but you are still a princess. I am a queen. It would do you well to remember that before deciding how anyone is punished. I might just decide you should have the same punishment to learn a lesson,” the older lady replied, turning to me.
Lady Saska turned a bright shade of red either from embarrassment or anger. I had a feeling that girl was used getting her way. She huffed a little as she stood in her place, and the older lady ignored her. I wanted to laugh at the jeweled lady’s little fit. It was rather comical.
The older lady looked at me. Stepping closer, she gently took my face in her hands. She turned my face left and then right as she studied me before looking to my mother.
“I don’t doubt this child is Hepa’s,” the older lady said. “Now
let’s go get her cleaned up before we present her to Prince Saru.” Lady Saska glared at me in anger now. I had a feeling she already knew that I was my mother’s child, and was trying to punish me anyways.
My mother wrapped her arm around me as we followed behind the older lady. The crowd parted for us as we walked further into the courtyard. Women stared and some whispered. It looked like I was the new bit of gossip. When we were sufficiently away from the groups of women, who were slowly going back to their spots around the room, the older lady spoke.
“Dear child, what were you doing sneaking in the palace? Hepa said you were safely away,” she told me. “Didn’t Hepa tell you to stay away from here?”
I looked at my mom, and then the older lady. My mother never told me anything, and I sure didn’t know that I was to stay away. My mom shrugged and I was unsure what game we were playing now. Did my mother tell anyone the real truth? What was the lie she told? What should I say or not say?
“This is my aunt, Queen Juni,” my mom explained, interrupting the questions I was asking myself.
“Why would she tell me to stay away from here?” I asked, looking to my mom.
My mom looked to her aunt and shook her head no. My aunt shook her head back. There was an answer there, I was sure of it. They weren’t telling me something.
“This, my dear, is our bathing room. We need to get you cleaned up and that muck out of your hair before you see my son. Once your red hair is present, Saska will not be able to deny that you are Hepa’s child,” Aunt Juni explained. She had seen through my disguise.
I looked at the large pool she referred to as a bath. It wasn’t a bath, exactly, it was a swimming pool, maybe even Olympic-sized. There were attendants standing alongside one of the walls holding various objects like towels or bottles I assumed had soap, but otherwise there was no one in the water. I looked over to my mother. It was ridiculous to call it a bath. It was skinny dipping if you asked me.
“The water is warm,” my mother told me.
I looked back at the water. It seemed a little excessive to me.
“And you don’t just have a tub-sized version of this?” I asked my mother. She smiled and shook her head. I nodded. Of course they didn’t. I went from using a bowl to a swimming pool to clean myself. I had a feeling my life would be ever changing like this.
“I’ll help you get that stuff out of your hair,” she offered.
I stripped out of my clothing and hopped in the water quickly. I was warm for being in such a large body of water. I had expected it only to be lukewarm. I dunked my head under the water and watched it turn the water a black color. When I came back up, I made my way over to my mother at the edge. I pulled my head far enough out of the water that she could kneel on the side while she used some sort of soaps in my hair. I silently sat there while she scrubbed my hair clean. I waited for her to say something, but she said nothing. By the time my hair was clean, I was turning into a prune from being in the water too long. I climbed out to be wrapped in a towel before being taken to a lounging chair near the water. The servants were working at rubbing some sort of perfumed oil into my skin while trying their best to dry my thick hair. When they finally finished, I did feel refreshed and clean, but the smell of the oils was a bit much for me. I wasn’t one to even use perfumes daily, but I couldn’t complain. It was good to get the dirt off me.
Sometime during my bath, my clothes disappeared and so did Aunt Juni. My mother led me back through the halls, near the courtyard that all the women were in. Instead of entering the courtyard, she led me down an adjacent hallway to a bedroom. She picked out a dress and handed it to me.
“What are you doing here?” she finally asked as she shut the door and seemed sure we wouldn’t be overheard.
“I came to get you,” I replied, just as quietly. I had no clue what was safe and what wasn’t in the place.
“Oh, honey.” My mother bumped her forehead to mine. “You can’t save me. This is my life.” She stated it like it was obvious that her fate was already determined. I hated when my mother sat back and let life pass her by like that. I knew where I got my fight to change everything from- it had to be my father.
“It doesn’t have to be,” I replied. I needed her to see the truth. “I’ll take you back with me.”
“For how long?” She sighed, wrapping her arms around me like I was a little kid again. “Eventually I have to be here. This is where I was born, and this is where I will die,” she replied, just as the goddess told me. She had accepted her fate.
“Why?” I asked, pulling back from her and finally started to get dressed in the clothing that was lying out. I needed away from her comforting hugs. She was trying her best to hug me into acceptance of her fate. “Why does it have to be that way?”
“Because that’s how it works. We can’t change time,” my mom replied. “The goddess gave me way more than I ever expected to get. I got nineteen years with you. I got to watch you grow up. You’ve turned into a beautiful woman. But I need you to leave after meeting Prince Saru. You can’t stay here.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” I replied stubbornly. And I wasn’t. She was going to married off to a man with eleven wives. I was saving her.
“You can’t take me with you. I no longer have the goddess stone,” my mom explained, blowing off my stubbornness. That’s when it hit me. Logan never gave me Ty’s stone. It didn’t matter completely because I could always get my mother home with the stones on my arm, but I did find it strange. Either he was setting me up to fail, or he had noticed the chrysoprase on my arm.
“But I do,” I replied and pointed to my arm. My mom squinted in the dim light and pulled my arm closer to the only window in the room.
“What is this?” she asked. She never was a fan of tattoos. I kind of wanted to tease and tell her it was a college rebellion thing, but we had limited time.
“Those are a blessed carnelian and chrysoprase in my arms. They work just like if they were whole stones. I can use them to go through time, Mom. I can save you. If you look here,” I pointed to the lines that ended at my forearm, “there is a little missing. Once it’s full and comes to a point, I can travel anywhere in time. I can take you home. I have two stones. Please let me save you.”
My mom smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was a patronizing smile, and I knew what she was going to say. She had believed and trusted the goddess completely. My mother wouldn’t go willingly to the future.
“Honey, this was always meant to be my destiny. I was born to be a pawn by being female,” she replied. “Use your stones to get free of here. Live the life I wanted for you. Please don’t make me watch you become subjected to the same fate I have been. Go, live, find love, be happy.”
“I can’t leave you here unhappy,” I replied. “If you won’t leave to come the future, let me take you to Dad. Tell me who he is and I’ll take you to him.”
My mom rearranged my clothing and hugged me close.
“I can’t let you do that either,” she responded. “I’m in the same spot I was years ago. I have already been given to someone else. If you take me to your father, a non-royal, then my cousin will be mad. I can’t bring that upon your father now. Besides, I don’t even know if he’s alive in this time. He was part of the military. They tend to not have a long life.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” I added obstinately. It didn’t matter what she said. She was coming home with me. I didn’t find her living happily in the past, which meant she was going to the future.
“I know that. You’re as stubborn as your father. You didn’t get that from me,” she answered, shaking her head. I was driving her as nuts as she was driving me.
The door to the room opened and Aunt Juni walked in. Several maids dressed the way I was before entered with her. I now got the whole who are you assigned to thing. Funny how no one was assigned to my mother. I had to wonder what that meant.
“My son would like to see you both,” Aunt Juni told me as she shared a
look with my mother.
“What?” I asked. Something was up. They kept talking with just their eyes.
My aunt shook her head, indicating the women standing right behind her. No wonder my mother was quiet while bathing me. While I didn’t really notice the servants, they must have been noticing us. It seemed I had a bit to learn about this family I never knew.
I followed my great aunt out of my mother’s room and the women’s courtyard. After leaving the entrance hallway I already had seen, we moved further into the palace. Soon we entered a large room with extensive artwork on the walls. Drawings and tiles lined every open space, from the bottom to the top of the walls. People milled about the large room, as if waiting for something.
My aunt paused after we entered. She was looking around and saw something. I noticed what she was looking at. Lady Saska was across the room with a bearded man that wasn’t quite as tall as her. He wore as many jewels as Lady Saska did. I kind of got the feeling they were a matched pair. And if that was true, it didn’t bode well for me. I had guessed that Lady Saska might be the wife of my mother’s cousin, but the people standing there now basically confirmed what I expected. When Lady Saska finally noticed us, her cheerful smile immediately disappeared and her face turned to disgust. The man with her noticed us and abruptly turned. He followed the narrower hallway at the back of the hall, past the ten-foot-tall statues. I had no idea what animal they were.
Aunt Juni took the man’s move as a lead to follow. My mother looped her arm in mine and led us behind her aunt. People in the room talked amongst themselves, yet many snuck glances at my mother and me. I wondered if my mother’s new husband was in the room. Everyone looked like they were elites.
“No matter what happens, don’t speak unless I say it’s okay. Follow my lead,” my mother whispered in my ear. “And don’t mention that your father is Egyptian.”
As we passed the large statues my mother straightened up, like she was preparing for a battle. We rounded the corner, and I saw the battlefield. There were two large thrones sitting at the end of the smaller attached room. Lady Saska was sitting in one and the man with her was in the other. He was no doubt my mother’s cousin, Prince Saru.