Ah! Finally, they had a name and a face for the Master Gardener. Except the Ixians were the only ones who looked happy about it. Nutty wilted, and Yelena fidgeted with the fabric of her tunic.
“What about the other person with Oran?” Onora asked Nutty.
“Can you describe him?” Esau asked.
“Her,” she corrected him. Then, sounding doubtful, she said, “I can try.”
“It’s just like when you’re clinging to the very top of a tree when on expedition with me,” he said. “Just describe the parts, and I’ll work on putting it together.”
“Okay.”
As she worked with Esau, Ari leaned close to Janco. “I hope she’s better at description than you are.”
Janco made a rude noise. “Forgive me for not being perfect at everything.”
When they finished, Esau showed them the picture. The woman had blond hair and large oval eyes. Pretty and pale like an Ixian, she appeared to be in her late thirties. Janco didn’t recognize her.
Yelena cursed. “That’s Selene Moon.”
“Who’s Selene?” Janco asked.
“Owen’s wife. She was born in the Greenblade Clan but took his clan’s name when they married. I don’t remember her file saying anything about her being good with plants,” Yelena mused.
Oh. “Hasn’t she been incarcerated in Dawnwood prison for her role in Leif’s kidnapping a few years ago?”
“Obviously not anymore.” Yelena fisted her hands and pressed them into her lap. “She’s a powerful magician. That’s bad enough, but now I’m wondering who else Owen rescued from prison.”
Janco groaned at the prospect of dozens of murderers and criminals helping Bruns and company. Bad enough that they had magicians on their side. Oh, yeah. This just kept getting better and better.
16
YELENA
My heart twisted at the thought of Owen rescuing his wife, Selene, and other criminals from the Sitian prisons. With close to four years to pick and choose who to release, and with Loris’s and Cilly’s magic to help alter the correctional officers’ memories and implant new false ones, he could have recruited a small army of professional delinquents. If Owen hadn’t rescued his brother from Wirral’s maximum security wing, we might never have discovered he was still alive. Good thing Owen made mistakes. Those would, hopefully, lead to his defeat.
We all sat around the campfire, lost in our own thoughts. The logs snapped and crackled as the flames licked at them with greedy orange tongues.
“Now we know that either Oran or Selene is the Master Gardener. How does that help us?” Janco asked.
I considered. “We could kidnap Oran and find out where all the other glass hothouses are located. Cutting off the Cartel’s supply of Theobroma would be a major blow.”
“Would he tell us?” Onora asked.
“Unless he’s immune to goo-goo juice, he should.”
Onora crinkled her nose at the mention of the juice.
Janco rubbed the scar where the lower half of his ear used to be. “Wouldn’t that tip the Cartel off to what we’re doing? If it was me, and one of my expert green thumbs disappeared, I’d triple the guards around all those hothouses and Theobroma factories.”
He had a point. I borrowed one of Valek’s tactics. “What do you suggest?”
“I found that complex by following the delivery wagon from the garrison. We could send teams to all the garrisons and locate all the hothouses and factories.”
We already knew who supplied the Greenblade garrison, so that left ten garrisons, requiring twenty people. Fisk could probably provide the manpower. Could we locate and destroy them in time? We had guessed the Cartel and the Commander would complete the takeover of Sitia by the middle of the hot season. The Theobroma took at least seven days to wear off. To be on the safe side, all the Theobroma would need to be destroyed by the beginning of the hot season, which was sixty-six days away. It should be enough time, but what if we missed one of the factories?
I voiced my concerns to the others.
“Fisk’s kids are good for surveillance, but I wouldn’t ask them to attack professional soldiers,” Ari said. “Plus, as soon as we hit one compound, all the others will be alerted. We don’t have enough people to strike all the hothouses at one time.”
Another good point.
Esau squirmed in his seat and ran a hand through his gray hair. He had a pained expression that I’d learned to recognize. “Do you have a suggestion, Father?” I asked.
Unhappy, he dragged his gaze to mine. “I might have a way we can kill off the Theobroma trees without tipping off the Cartel.”
Janco glanced at him in surprise. “Why do you look so glum? That’s fantastic news!”
“There’s a strong chance it would destroy all the Theobroma trees in Sitia. Every one.”
I understood his reluctance. To Esau, plants, trees and flowers were almost as precious as people.
“Good riddance,” Janco said. “It has brought nothing but trouble. In my mind, it’s just as bad as magic.”
“It counters the effects of Curare,” Esau said.
“Until the Theobroma-resistant Curare is ready,” Janco shot back.
“That won’t be for another three or four years.”
“That’s based on the plants in this hothouse and the one in Broken Bridge,” I said. “Owen’s people had more time. There’s a possibility that it’s ready now.” A sobering thought. “What’s your idea, Father?”
He stared at his hands, then picked up a twig from the ground. Using the broken end, he cleaned the dirt from under his nails.
“Father?”
Esau sighed. “There’s a fungus that grows in the Illiais Jungle. It’s called Frosty Pod because it resembles snow. It causes the pods on the Theobroma trees to rot. I’ve isolated it to one part of the jungle and have been working on a fungicide. But if we were to harvest the spores and spread them, then it would damage all the pods and appear natural.”
“Spread them how?” Ari asked.
“With the wind. We’d need to be upwind on a windy day.”
“And be in the perfect spot,” Janco said. “And hope the wind is strong enough to carry the spores throughout Sitia.”
Undeterred, Esau said, “We can travel from city to city, starting at the Illiais Market, then to Booruby and farther north.”
“What about through the glass walls of the hothouses?” Janco’s good mood soured and he stabbed a stick into the fire. “Besides, we can’t control the weather.”
Excitement shot through me. “No. But Zethan and the Stormdancers can. Would seeding rain clouds with the spores work as well?” I asked Esau.
“Fungus loves moisture.”
“Can the spores get inside the hothouses?” Ari asked.
“There are small holes in the glass panels in the ceiling that allow the smoke from the burning coals to escape,” Esau said. “Plus those spores will stick to boots and clothing, so when a worker enters the house, he’ll drag them in with him.”
“How long until the pods rot?” Ari leaned forward.
“I don’t know for sure, as I’m never there right when they’re infected, but it’s aggressive. The pods shouldn’t last more than ten days. Eventually the fungus kills the tree as well, but that takes longer. However, the tree won’t produce any more pods.”
I glanced at Ari. Judging by the contemplative gleam in his eyes, he was probably thinking the same thing as me. The fungus just might work. I calculated the timing. Ten days for die-off, then probably another twenty before the Cartel ran out of Theobroma—maybe sooner, but it was better to overestimate—then add ten for the effects to wear off. Forty total. That meant we would have to finish spreading the spores by day fifty of the heating season if we wanted to attack the garrisons
in the middle of the hot season. So with at least ten days for travel time, our start date would need to be day forty of the heating season, which was forty-six days away. Of course, starting sooner would be even better. I explained my math to the others.
“Father, can you collect enough spores by then?” I asked.
“There are not enough right now for your plan to work. I’ll need time to find a dark, moist location to grow more of the Frosty Pod. Given enough nutrients, heat and moisture, the Frosty Pod should multiply like rabbits.”
“Then we have to start as soon as possible,” Ari said.
I agreed. “After we rendezvous with Valek and Leif, we’ll break into two teams—one to go with my father to help with the spores, and the other to arrange for Zethan and a Stormdancer to meet Esau at the Illiais Market on day forty.”
* * *
The next morning, we packed up our small camp. The plan was to head for the Stormdance travel shelter. I avoided considering the possibility that Leif and Valek wouldn’t be there and instead focused on my stubborn father.
“I need to return home and get started right away,” he argued. “We don’t have much time.”
He had a point. Except... “It’s not safe for you to travel alone. The Cartel will be searching for you.”
“I’m going with him,” Nutty said. “I’m not staying here.”
Aghast, Esau asked, “But what about the plants?”
“We’ll take a few of them with us, but we do have an entire jungle full of plants.”
He ignored her jab. “It’s a shame we can’t take the glass hothouse.”
I interrupted his musings. “Promise me you’ll travel through the plains as long as you can.”
“Of course,” Esau said.
“All right. Mara, would you like to go with them? I’ll send Leif to you as soon as he arrives.”
“No, thanks. I’d rather not wait any longer than I have to. Besides, I’m still in training,” she said, glancing at Onora.
Janco perked up at that comment. “I can show you this sweet little self-defense move.”
“I hope it’s not the one you used to fight off Svend,” Ari said drily. “’Cause you ended up in a mud puddle with broken ribs after you tried that one.”
“Svend doesn’t feel pain,” Janco protested. “It would have worked if—”
“Time to saddle the horses,” I said, stopping the impending argument.
After everyone was ready to go, I kissed my father goodbye. We arrived at the travel shelter two days later, near sunset. The shelter was located in the Stormdance lands just to the west of the main north-south road. The road hugged the western border of the plains and extended from the Citadel all the way south to Booruby, the capital of the Cowan Clan’s lands.
The disappointment and concern was universal when neither Leif nor Valek waited for us inside the small wooden structure. All that greeted us were two rows of uninhabited bunk beds, a cold stone hearth and an empty stable. If all had gone well in Fulgor, they should have beaten us here by two or three days. Perhaps it took Valek longer to find Leif than expected.
Keeping positive despite the heavy weight of worry pulling at my heart, I decided that since we were safer in the plains, we would camp out of sight of the road and check the shelter at random intervals.
Janco looked at the bunk beds with longing before we left.
“The ground in the plains is softer than that thin straw mattress,” Ari said to his partner.
“I know. It’s just the idea of sleeping in an actual bed.”
“You can stay. Just remember to scream really loud so we can hear you in the plains and escape,” Onora said.
“Ha. You’d miss me. It’d be way too quiet,” he said.
“Nothing wrong with quiet,” she said. “Unlike—”
“Watch it. Or I’ll...”
Onora waited, but when the threat failed to be voiced, she asked, “You’ll what?”
“I’ll sing every campfire song I know—loudly and off-key.”
“So? You sing everything loudly and off-key.”
I ignored them as I directed Horse back into the plains and asked Kiki to find us an ideal spot before full dark. Onora teasing Janco was a good sign. Each day she spent with us, she’d relaxed just a little bit more. Soon she’d be a true member of our herd.
Once we set up camp and ate supper, we created a schedule to check the shelter. I planned for the four of us to take turns, but Mara insisted she be included in the rotation.
“I need to practice being dangerous,” she said.
“All right, but you’ll have to go with Onora a couple times first to learn how to best approach the structure without being seen,” I said.
“Okay.”
“What about the Sandseed protection?” Ari asked. “Won’t that mess up Onora’s sense of direction?”
“We’re close enough to the border that it shouldn’t be a problem. And if they’re not back by a certain time, I’ll send Kiki to find them.”
“Rescued by a horse.” Janco snarked. “I can’t decide if that’s humiliating or just plain sad.”
Kiki snorted and whacked Janco on the head with her tail.
“Ow! That stings.”
“Be glad she didn’t kick you,” Onora said.
We soon settled into a routine, taking turns cooking, hunting and checking the shelter. One day turned into two.
Then three. The first day of the heating season dawned bright and clear. Not a cloud stained the sky, and the scent of living green floated on the air. Too bad the mood at our camp wasn’t as pleasant. A fog of worry tainted all our actions and the few comments.
Four days without a sign of them. Fear and panic mixed and simmered in my stomach. No way it would have taken Valek more than a couple days to find Leif. Unless my brother had gotten captured by the Cartel. To keep Mara occupied and, if I was being honest, to distract myself, we kept training with Onora. Ari and Janco also took turns teaching Mara self-defense as I practiced the skills they’d taught me over nine years ago.
Onora asked me how long we were going to wait.
I clamped my mouth shut before I could snap at her that we’d stay until they arrived. “Fisk knows we’re here,” I said. “He’ll send word if he hears anything.”
She drew a picture in the soft ground with a stick.
Drawing in a breath to calm my nerves—an impossible feat, but at least I could say I tried. “If they don’t appear by tomorrow night, I’ll send Ari, Janco and Mara to catch up with my father and Nutty.”
Onora met my gaze. “And us?”
“We’ll travel to Fulgor.”
“The boys won’t like that.”
“No, they won’t. But my father needs help with the spores. And he’ll need protection.” I frowned, hating to admit that he might not be safe in the Zaltana homestead. “There could be a few clan members working for the Cartel who might try to stop Esau or sabotage his efforts.”
On the fifth day, I couldn’t keep still as the desire to move, to do something, anything pulsed through my body with a mind of its own. I kept checking on Kiki at various times throughout the day.
This time, she nuzzled my neck in comfort, then glanced at her back, stepping close to me.
“You want to get some exercise?” I asked.
A nod.
I called over to Onora. “I’m going for a ride. Be back soon.” I grabbed Kiki’s mane and mounted. It’d been a while since I rode bareback.
Onora appeared next to Kiki. “Is this wise?”
“We’ll stay in the plains. No one can catch a Sandseed horse in the plains,” I said.
“Unless they’re riding another Sandseed.”
Insulted, Kiki snorted.
“Sandse
ed horses are good judges of character.” I patted her neck. “They wouldn’t let a dishonorable person ride them.”
Onora’s posture remained rigid.
“Do you really think Kiki would let anything happen to me?” I asked.
She blew out a breath. “All right, but don’t be gone long.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“You can joke. I’m the one who will be in trouble if you’re hurt.”
I looked at her.
“Yeah, I know. No one would blame me. Ari and Janco keep telling me I’ll have more success herding snow cats than protecting you, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try.”
That was actually sweet. Kiki gave her the horse equivalent of a kiss on her cheek. Surprised, Onora touched the wet spot.
“Thank you,” I said. “We won’t be long.” I nudged Kiki with my knees.
Kiki broke into a gallop. Holding on to her copper mane, I enjoyed the fresh air blowing in my face as she raced over the rolling terrain. Without warning, she switched to her gust-of-wind gait. The ground beneath us blurred as her stride smoothed. We flew in a river of wind.
I doubted she sensed danger. Perhaps Kiki had just missed the speed. She couldn’t use the gait when we traveled with the others. And the plains were the only place she could truly fly.
Eventually she reverted back to a canter, then slowed to a walk. Her sides heaved as sweat darkened her coat. We remained in the plains, but I didn’t recognize the area until I spotted a familiar clump of stunted pines.
Alarmed, I stopped her and dismounted. “Why did we come so far? Did someone chase us?”
She turned her head to the right. I squinted into the sunlight and spotted a distant brown cloud of dust that meant riders. My first thought was of danger. We needed to hide. Except if they had followed us, why would Kiki stop here? Kiki didn’t wait for me to make up my mind. She walked in their direction. I hurried to catch up.
When we crested a mound, all worries melted. Two horses headed our way. I recognized Rusalka and Leif in front, but when I focused on the unfamiliar second horse, my apprehension reappeared in a heartbeat. Not Valek, but Devlen and Reema.
A thousand awful scenarios played through my mind about why Valek wasn’t with them. By the time they drew closer, I was all but convinced he’d been captured. Or killed.