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Authors: Andrea Pearson

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Fantasy & Magic, #MG Fantasy

Eyes of the Sun (10 page)

BOOK: Eyes of the Sun
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Aloren raised her eyebrows. “They are? How’d that come about?”

“They refused to eat unless I invited them in. For some reason, they no longer trust me unless they can see me. I have to eat what they eat.”

No one responded, and after a brief pause, Jacob motioned to the door. “Should we go?” he asked his father.

“Yes.” King Dmitri turned to Eachan. He offered his hand once more, but this time in a sign of agreement. “Thank you for your help. How much time will you need to gather, say . . . five villagers?”

“A couple of days, probably. I’ll need time to convince them to come—they won’t stay willingly after feeding time.”

“We’ll return soon.”

Just before Aloren followed the others through the door, she threw her arms around Eachan. “Thank you.”

His throat choked up and he patted her back in response.

 

 

 

Chapter Seven: Leaving Macaria

 

As soon as Jacob returned from visiting Eachan, he Keyed himself to Taga Village to find Akeno. It was time to go visit Onyev. Jacob strode across the meadow, about to climb the village wall, when he heard someone squealing. He turned, one foot still in a toehole in the stone.

Fubble the Wurby was racing toward him on all fours, crossing the ground incredibly fast. His feet were hidden, but Jacob suspected they’d been changed into something animal-ish.

“Jacob! Oh, Jacob!”

Jacob chuckled at the Wurby’s excitement. “Yes?”

“New Wurby baby! You must see baby. Must approve!”

Why would a new baby need Jacob’s approval? “What do you mean?”

“It are custom! When new baby born, prince or king comes and say it good.”

Jacob rubbed his eyes. He supposed it would be fine to spend a little time with the Wurbies before finding Akeno. “Okay. Show me where the baby is.”

“This way!” Fubble took off in the direction of the gardens, and Jacob followed. It wasn’t hard to keep up—Fubble’s hands had turned back into animal feet, and Jacob could now see that they were cheetah paws. The Wurby started tripping and stumbling over them. He would plop down on his rear end and stare at his hands until they turned back to normal. Then he’d start running again, they’d change back to cheetah feet, and the whole process would repeat.

Jacob was laughing so hard, tears streamed down his face, and he was glad Fubble didn’t notice. He hadn’t spent a lot of time with the Wurbies since they’d arrived, and it was fun to see them exhibit silly traits just like the Dusts.

After several trips and stumbles, Fubble finally stopped at a small hut near the first garden. “The baby are here! Are here.”

Jacob hesitated, wondering if Fubble wanted him to do something. “Do I just go inside? Or . . .?”

“Oh, no men. Only women. We wait.”

They stood there for what felt like several minutes.

“Do we need to tell them we’re here?”

“I did.”

Jacob scratched his ear. “When?”

“Um . . . I didn’t.” Fubble smiled sheepishly. He clapped his hands, and a female Wurby stepped out of the hut with an angry expression on her face.

“Fubble, you are be quieter!”

“I are!” Fubble put his hands on his hips. “Woman, where baby?”

She smiled broadly. “Inside! Inside!” She whirled, disappearing into the dark interior of the hut. She came out moments later holding a wrapped object. The female Wurby handed the infant to Jacob without hesitation and without asking if it was okay.

Jacob nearly dropped the creature right away. He’d been expecting it to look like the last one, which had been weathered-looking, wrinkly, and slightly browned. This one was very red in color with nearly translucent, swollen skin. It must have
just
been born. Whoa. That really weirded him out, and he didn’t want to touch the thing anymore.

Luckily, Fubble seemed eager to take the baby and Jacob handed it over, glad he was only required to hold the baby for a brief moment to “perform” what they expected of him. He hadn’t even noticed until now that the woman’s hand was still forming the baby’s diaper. Jacob cringed, feeling like he needed to wash his arms and hands. He would probably never get used to that part about Wurbies.

Jacob left as soon as he could extract himself. He jogged back to the main section of the village and climbed up the canyon wall. Akeno was leaning against the ledge, talking to Jaegar.

“Wanna go back to Onyev’s time with me?” Jacob asked once he’d found the Makalo. “I need to ask the patriarch about the Keys.”

Akeno pulled a baseball cap out of his back pocket. It had taken Matt over a month to convince him to stop wearing top hats and adopt a cap instead. “Sure. The Fat Lady and Aldo need me to grow a few things for their Maivoryl City medication, but they’re plants I’ve never heard of, so I also need to talk to Onyev.”

“Do you think you’ll start up your training again?”

Akeno shrugged. “He hasn’t said anything.”

Jacob laughed. “You haven’t seen him since the last time I took you back—how could he have said something?”

Akeno shrugged again, smiling. “Let’s go find out. I’d like to know too.”

They Traveled back in time to Onyev’s city and entered it, merging with other humans and Makalos streaming down the streets. Jacob had long since gotten past his surprise over how glorious Gratitude City was, but this time, his mouth dropped.

“Something’s changed,” he said.

Akeno nodded.

The trees glowed even more brightly and the colors were more brilliant, looking like prisms that had been magnified by two or three hundred. And the Makalos themselves also glowed more blue than usual.

“What do you think’s going on?” Jacob asked.

“I don’t know, but there are a lot of Makalos.”

Akeno was right—the normally open and airy city felt congested.

It didn’t take long for the friends to walk to Onyev’s palace. Once they’d been admitted to the usual garden room and Onyev had handed them watering cans, Jacob got up the courage to ask why the changes had occurred.

Onyev straightened after watering a small rosebush. “A couple of the outlying villages were attacked by unknown pillagers, and the Makalos moved into the city.” He stretched, then motioned to some seats. “But come. I sense you’re here for specific reasons.”

Akeno and Jacob did as directed, and Akeno immediately started asking Onyev questions about the various plants he’d need to grow. Jacob didn’t really pay attention, finding himself instead thinking about the Key in his pocket. He was tempted to bring it out, but the pain in his chest—the one that prevented him from breaking magical rules—told him that wouldn’t be a good idea.

“And what about you, Jacob?”

Jacob started. “Huh?”

“You’re also here to gain information, are you not?”

“Oh, yeah. I am. You created Keys—the Key of Kilenya and the Key of Ayunli. I wanted to know more about them.”

A satisfied expression crossed Onyev’s face. “So they’ve survived the many years. This is very nice to hear.”

Jacob nodded. “Survived, and the Lorkon want them. Really badly.”

“That doesn’t come as a surprise.” The patriarch leaned back in his garden seat. “I created them several months ago, and Ayunli was crowned king just last week. Your timing is excellent.” He flashed a smile at Jacob, then delved into a history.

“The humans of my time have a peculiar wedding custom. In order for them to marry, they must draw up paperwork, sign it, and keep it locked away from every living person for a full week. They aren’t allowed to see each other during that time—not even a glimpse of the other person. When the week has ended, the couple is legally married.” He smiled. “It isn’t a very romantic tradition, and the queens and princesses have tried to change it many times. They’ve been unsuccessful, as you can imagine.”

Jacob shrugged. He couldn’t see why the women didn’t get what they wanted, but he also didn’t know the people of Onyev’s time.

Onyev continued. “Only the king has access to the combination and locks that hold the wedding papers. This is very good for people who get scared before marriage—once you’ve chosen your mate, you aren’t allowed to change your mind, since there isn’t a way to retrieve the papers before the week is over.”

He shook his head. “But it’s bad for those who have no choice in whom they marry, as was the case with Kilenya.” He looked at Jacob. “How much of her story do you already know?”

“I know that she and Ayunli fell in love, but that Ayunli’s father, the king, had already chosen her to be
his
next wife.”

Onyev nodded. “When Ayunli came to me for help, I didn’t want to step in to human affairs. Like the patriarchs before me, I’ve always allowed the humans to run things as they see fit. But Ayunli’s father, Broalt, was in the process of destroying the land and his own people. Yes, this has happened before, but in this case, he was very determined. He had no love for the people of his land. His subjects were uprising, plaguing the Shiengols—never a good thing—and with the Makalo magic waning, I realized that if I didn’t resolve the issue early, while I still could, there would be centuries of war and terror, and not just for the humans. I wasn’t willing to allow that to happen.”

He got to his feet, hands behind his back, and faced away from Jacob and Akeno. “So I agreed to help the young couple. I first created the Key of Kilenya. It allowed her the ability to escape any situation of danger or discomfort. The king was notorious for not keeping to the strict week of no contact, and Ayunli wanted to protect the delicate feelings and virtue of his love.

“And for the prince, I created the Key of Ayunli. It allowed him to open the safe box where the marital certificate was stored so he could steal it, thereby preventing the marriage from becoming legal.”

“Safe box?” Jacob asked. “You have them here?”

“Of course we do. We have all types of combinations and codes and boxes.”

Jacob frowned. He’d just figured Eklaron was like a medieval version of Earth. But had they invented combination locks long before Earth had? “So the Key of Ayunli opens safe boxes? Wouldn’t the Key of Kilenya do that as well?”

Onyev shook his head. “The Key of Kilenya will only work if the safe box has a proper door on it. The one used to hold marital certificates doesn’t have a door or a traditional lock. It is sealed with a code that unfolds the entire box.”

“So, the Key of Ayunli unlocks whatever the Key of Kilenya doesn’t.”

“That’s what I intended. It gives the person holding it the codes to any lock ever used or that will be used.”

Jacob rubbed his chin, thinking. “Does it also open doors?”

“Certainly—it figures out the lock and combination used to seal the door. But it doesn’t create links. It will only open the item directly in front of you. If you want to go anywhere, you’d need to use the Key of Kilenya.”

Onyev looked sidelong at Jacob. The emotion colors swirling around the Makalo showed he was curious. Jacob’s cheeks flushed. Onyev obviously knew more than he let on, and Jacob would need to be more careful.

What would the patriarch do or think if he knew the Key of Kilenya only worked for Jacob?

Something then crossed Jacob’s mind. “Combinations and such are very,
very
complex on Earth now. I doubt—”

Onyev waved his hands dismissively, sitting down again. “It doesn’t matter. The magic behind the Key of Ayunli will figure its way into anything with a combination or lock on it. The complexity does not matter, nor does how or when the thing was created.”

“But what about biological locks?”

Onyev tilted his head, confused. “Biological?”

“Yes. Some locks require you to look into something and it reads your eye, or to put your hand or thumb on a sensor.”

“Fascinating!” Onyev seemed to go off on his own for a minute, thinking about that. Then he returned to the conversation. “I’m not sure how the Key would approach such a thing, but it’ll get through. As I said, it doesn’t matter how complex your situation is—this was the purpose for which the Key of Ayunli was created. The magic is stronger than any pattern ever made. I’m positive that would include these . . . biological locks.” He looked at Jacob. “They sound very interesting.”

Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know much about them.”

Onyev sighed, possibly disappointed. “No matter.” He got to his feet. “Jacob, if you don’t have further questions, I’d like to continue training Akeno.”

Jacob also stood. “No, nothing more. I’ll leave you guys now.”

As he was returning home, Jacob couldn’t help but doubt Onyev’s confidence in the Key of Ayunli. How could it possibly get through all the things Jacob had seen in movies?

He’d need to test it somehow.

 

 

The moment Matt walked through the door from his pizza-delivering job, Jacob was ready. “I talked to Kenji, and he gave me the Key of Ayunli and told me to test it out. Wanna come?”

“Definitely!” Matt took off his work hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Where we going?”

“The school. We’re going to test it first on your locker combo.”

“Sweet. Let me change.”

Five minutes later, Jacob Keyed himself and Matt to Mountain Crest High School. The hall lights were on for off-season, summer activities, and Jacob and Matt had no problem getting to Matt’s old locker.

BOOK: Eyes of the Sun
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