Gaia's Secret (10 page)

How could he do this to me? Throw me in this
situation, leave without explanation, continue being secretive, and
expect me to cooperate. It was almost like being wedged between a
rock and a hard place, but this was worse. I’d been given a third
barrier: solid ground, brought to me by my dad. I wasn’t going
anywhere, unless I learned how to fly. But at the rate I was losing
control, the sky would probably fall on my head and lock me in
completely.

What to do, what to do…

I wasn’t going back home. Now that I knew
this world existed, that was out of the question. So, I had two
alternatives. I could march out of here alone, with no sense of
direction and no one to trust—except, perhaps, Thad. Or, I could
follow the Del Contes, who had lied to me my entire life but knew
the way through this world.

I hated to admit it to myself but the liars
would get me to Dad the fastest.

As much as I didn’t like it, my best option
was to follow the Del Contes. I’d learn everything I could from
them along the way, just in case I was left choosing that other
alternative.

After folding the letter back on its creases,
I glanced into the faces of a worried Cicero and Sonya. “These
Pykans. Who are they?”

Cicero studied me a moment and looked a
little relieved. He’d probably expected my other alternative.

“Why don’t we all have a seat?” he asked.

I picked a seat on the floor beside the fire.
Egan bounded back into the room, carrying a large bone in his
mouth. It was a strange looking bone, black and about as big as my
entire arm. He dropped it at my feet, took a couple steps back, and
stared at it.

“Egan, not now,” Cicero said as he and Sonya
sat down on the small leather sofa.

Egan whimpered and slumped to the ground. He
rested his head on his paws; his sappy eyes stared at the bone with
longing. I felt bad, but I was too eager to learn about this place
to play with him.

Cicero took a deep breath. “Long ago, the
Pykans were a powerful people from the lands of Visigoth.”

“Visigoth? As in Alaric of the
Visigoths?”

“No, here, Visigoth is a large island, far
off the coast of Orindor—Lord Commodus’ territory.”

“Lord Commodus…as in the person Dad’s gone to
see?”

Cicero nodded. “The Pykans were strong
people—beautiful people—with many magical talents given them by
Gaia herself. They became puffed up and proud, forgetting who gave
them their power. As their pride swelled, they turned vicious and
violent, lusting for more power. A great wizard—”

“Wizard?”

Cicero looked irritated, but continued. “Yes.
A great wizard—”

“Wizards exist here? Really?” I couldn’t
believe it.

Cicero smacked his hands on his kneecaps.
“Confound it, Daria. How am I supposed to answer your questions
when you keep interrupting?”

“Maybe if you had told me about this world
when you should have, I wouldn’t have so many questions.”

Cicero sighed and leaned back on the couch.
“All right. Would you like my explanation now, or would you prefer
to wait a few weeks for your father’s?”

I folded my legs, rested my elbows on my
kneecaps and glared at the fire. “I’ll listen.”

“A
wizard,
” he paused, “cursed their
lands to waste and they were banished to them. They still keep some
of their powers, since they are fueled by evil and even a wizard
can’t touch all that is dark. The Regius dynasty and the high lords
have done an adequate job of keeping the Pykan fury contained to
nothing more than their ruined island of Visigoth.”

This supposed history sounded like a
fairytale to me. However, under the current circumstances, my line
between fact and fiction had blurred. I was establishing my
foundation of knowledge all over again, much like a child would.
But it was easier as a child because I hadn’t already established
any rules of the world yet.

Cicero and Sonya watched me.

“These Pykans were at our home,” I said.

Cicero’s nod was steady. “Yes. Alaric
contacted us when you got home. He said you were safe, but two
Pykans had been there, waiting for you. He had no idea who sent
them or how they got through the portal without any of us knowing.
You see, as an Aegis, that is part of our job. Not just protecting
you, but monitoring the portal from the other side. It is protected
by great magic, and since the Pykans were able to get past that
detection, that can only mean someone powerful sent them for
you.”

In a land of magic and wizards and Pykans and
kings, someone wanted me. “What would anyone want with me?”

They exchanged a glance.

“At this point, we aren’t sure,” Sonya spoke
slow and careful. “But your father is trying to figure it out. Lord
Commodus’s territory is closest to any port the Pykans may have
used to get on the mainland. If anyone knows of their presence, it
would be him.”

I thought about that for a minute. “So let me
get this straight. Dad is traveling alone, where more of these
Pykans could be hiding, to talk to Lord Commodus, who might know
more about the situation?”

“Yes.” Cicero and Sonya answered
together.

“And what was he planning on doing if he
found any of them? Fight? My dad won’t even kill a spider!” I was
distantly aware that I was now standing.

My other alternative was sounding better and
better.

“Don’t worry. If anyone can handle himself,
it’s Alaric.” Thad had reentered the room with a smile and tray of
steaming mugs.

I glared at Thad. “You don’t know my
dad.”

“Do you?” Thad raised a brow, which made me
even angrier. I was so tired of all these dual identities.

“Thad’s right.” Cicero grabbed an orange,
ceramic mug from the tray. “Alaric is perfectly able to handle
himself.”

“And I’m sure Pyxis has taken him halfway
across Valdon by now,” Thad commented.

“Pyxis?” I asked.

“Alaric’s horse,” Sonya answered.

“My dad has a horse? He hates riding.”

Thad shook his head with a smirk. “Earthen
horses, maybe. They’re nothing like ours.
Your
father is one
of the best riders in the land, and Pyxis is the fastest stallion
of his kind.”

Secrets, secrets, and more secrets. What else
didn’t I know about
my
dad, the one person in the world I
thought I did know? My anger rapidly dissolved and loneliness
jumped in to smother me.

“Here.” Thad held out a glazed, green ceramic
mug.

I shook my head. “No thanks.”

He pushed the mug towards me. “Take it. It’ll
help.”

I glanced into his buoyant face. “What is
it?”

“Tonic. Made from callaberries. Trust me, you
need it.”

My hands trembled as I took it from him.

“Thaddeus, you’ve outdone yourself.” Cicero
wiped frothy white film from his lips.

Thad grinned as he handed one to Sonya.
“Nonsense, sir. I just happen to know you like extra froth.”

I took a whiff. It smelled sweet, with hints
of spice. I held the cup to my lips and sipped, the thick liquid
coating my mouth. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted, like
drinking a freshly baked sugar cookie. The warmth spread down my
chest and through my limbs, all the way down to my fingers and
toes, giving me back my feeling. My next sip was a gulp.

“Careful,” warned Thad. “It’s hot. You’ll
burn off your tongue.”

“Daria doesn’t feel the way most of us do.”
Alex took a seat near me. For a moment I held his hard gaze, and
then sat back down on the floor beside Egan.

My anger began to dissolve but I didn’t know
if it was from exhaustion or the tonic. I wouldn’t put it past them
to give me a mild sedative. But at least my dad was safe. My
rider-extraordinaire dad.

“My dad is
not
an international
businessman.”

Cicero chuckled lightly as Sonya answered.
“No, darling. He’s technically an ambassador. From this world.”

Ambassador and businessman didn’t seem like
they were so different. Unless, of course, you threw in the concept
of other worlds. Then Dad’s line of work took on an entirely new
meaning. All these years, he’d been monitoring the entrance to
Gaia, or the entrance to Earth, depending on how you looked at it.
No wonder he never wanted to talk to me about college. It was a
minute detail in the grand scheme of things, whatever that grand
scheme was.

“If,” I continued, “my dad is an ambassador
from this world, then why did we live so far from the
entrance?”

“Your real home is where we live,” Cicero
said. “The guesthouse is where we should be living. Alaric asked us
to live at the main house so he could move you somewhere safer and
less obvious, but still relatively close. He was concerned
something like this—” he waved his hand towards the window “—might
happen.”

So their beautiful house had actually been
mine. Maybe that was why I’d always felt at home there.

I wasn’t sure that I’d ever recover from all
of this, but for now I would wait. I would wait and follow them to
my dad. After that…I didn’t know, but it wouldn’t involve them.

My body was weary, my emotions drained of
fuel. What I needed was to lie down and close my eyes. Lose myself
to slumber’s purging.

Cicero continued. “Daria, your father is much
more powerful than you think. If anyone can handle himself, it’s
him. Alaric was always one to seek justice on his own.” He smiled
as if remembering something.

Cicero was right about one thing. If my dad
saw a problem, he always took it on himself to fix it. I’d always
admired that trait about him, but right now I found it incredibly
irritating and highly inconvenient.

Sonya walked over to me and laid a hand on my
shoulder. “Lake Amadis is protected by ancient powers. We’ll be
safe there. Our journey will be through the Arborenne, a forest
filled with of all kinds of magic that will shield our path. Your
father knows this, which is why he chose that location. I promise
we will get you to him safely, and then he can explain everything
and hopefully give us some answers as well.”

Waiting was going to be the hardest part.
Waiting for things that were beyond my control. I hated when things
were beyond my control.

“Why didn’t any of you tell me about this
sooner?”

The silence in the room was thick. I could
see Sonya’s mind working, trying to figure out the best answer.

“I would be breaking my oath to your father
if I told you. But I will say this: he knew your character, your
strength and independence. He knew that if he told you about this
world, he’d never be able to keep you from it. He needed to ensure
your safety before bringing you here. It was hard for him…after
losing your mother. He trusted no one after that day. Something
inside him snapped. He couldn’t bear it if he lost you, so he
tucked you safely away with others he kept employed to monitor you
while you were there.”

Cadence. “Our neighbors?” I asked.

Sonya nodded. “And his strategy worked, until
now.”

“But why is this world so dangerous for
me?”

“That,” Sonya said, “your father must
explain. Once it’s safe.”

I always thought it was paranoia that drove
Dad to extreme protection, but it wasn’t paranoia at all. It was
power from another world. And in his aim to protect me from that
evil, he was forced to protect me from the truth.

My gaze flitted to Alex. “How long have you
known?”

His eyes didn’t leave mine. “I’ve always
known.”

My heart sank. All that time we spent
together—he’d always known. I felt like such a fool.

My dad keeping this world from me, I could
understand. He was my dad, and was obsessive with my protection.
Cicero and Sonya, I might be able to excuse some day, for the same
reasons. But Alex? I couldn’t excuse him. We were peers. We were
equals. We had been the closest, and his lies hurt the most.

“Daria,” Cicero said, sensing the direction
of my thoughts. “Alex was forbidden to tell you—by your own father.
He’s been living here—at the Aegis Quarters—for the past three
years.”

“Studying abroad.” I muttered to myself, but
I knew Alex heard me.

He had been a thirty-minute drive and a
one-hour walk from his home in Yosemite. And he never bothered
contacting me.

There had to be a limit on the questions that
could form in a person’s head. The more I learned, the more
questions I had. And I knew it was only the beginning. Maybe I
should be writing it all down, in case I needed it when on my
own.

But then one small question tugged at the
back of my mind.

“Who’s…Stefan?”

“Your father’s assistant,” Sonya answered.
“You’ll meet him eventually.”

“I know it is a lot to comprehend,” Cicero
said, “and I’m sorry things have happened this way. It was never
our intention to keep this from you at the expense of your love and
trust. You are handling everything remarkably well, and I—we—are
grateful you’ve come with us this far. The rest you’ll learn from
Alaric. In exhaustive detail, I’m afraid. Until then—” he stood
“—we have a journey to prepare for. Alex? The shed?”

Alex stood, grabbed his cloak, and the two
men disappeared. And I hoped against all hope that I’d made the
right decision.

A
s much as I wanted
solitude, I wasn’t going to get it. The Del Contes had gone to make
travel preparations, but Egan continued pouting at my feet. His
desperate eyes stared at that little black bone, longing for
someone with an arm—namely me—to throw it, and Thad was still lying
across the lounge with his legs dangling over an armrest.

I had the distinct impression he was watching
me, even though my attention was fixed on Egan the faithful,
rightful guardian of this home, protector of his owner, master of
fetch. When I raised my hand to pet him, he crouched lower, tail
whipping in the air, eyes fixed on that bone.