The Drifting (9 page)

The connecting living room
is small but comfortable.  Book
cases lined the walls; a large comfortable sofa with a blanket laid upon its back sits in front of a coffee table
. 
With the exception of
a lit
fireplace
,
I almost feel like I’m
home with Marilyn
.

“How did you know
it’s
my favorite?”  I ask
,
staring back at the plate coming my way.

“I know everything there is to know about you,” she
repeats
as she places the plate before me.  “Go ahead, Lily, start eating.  I know you’re starving.  Ziri will be here in a moment.”

I look around to see that she’s right.  It’s just the two of us and I find myself letting out a sigh of relief.  As hungry as I am, I find it hard to pick up my fork.  “Why?” I ask.

“Why, what?” replies Sema.  She gives me a curious look as she sits down with her own plate.  She indicates at my plate with a nod, “Eat.”

I pick up my fork, but keep it on my plate as I ask
,
“Why do you know everything about me?’

She takes a bite and I do
the same.  That’s all it takes.  B
efore I know it
,
I’m shoveling chicken and pasta into my mouth
, followed by mushrooms and zucchini
.  I take a breadstick when Sema offers me a basket
full
of them
.  “Well, you are the future queen
and
it
’s the business of all Velesian
s to know about their new queen.”

I stop with the shoveling and stare at her with my mouth full.  When I finally swallow
,
I ask, “What do you mean everyone knows?”

Sema smiles at me answering, “You’ll get use to it.  Unfortunately, it comes with the territory.  Now, eat.”

Suddenly, I’m no longer
hungry.  I take another bite before putting my fork down.  Sema looks up at me again, head tilt
ed
to one side, “It’s no use worrying about it, Lily.  You will be queen
,
and you will have all of Velesi’s eyes on you, including the clans
’
…especially the clan
s
.”

Sema reaches for her glass of water as I continue to stare at her.  She seems nervous and a slight throb starts at the back of my skull.  I look about me again sensing for the first time that something just doesn’t feel right
– painted chairs?
  “Where am I?” I ask, looking back at the old woman.

“You’re safe,” is her only answer.

I’m safe.  I think back when we were in Vegas.  Tharin told me that the trees are our protector
s
and our shelter.  “This isn’t real, is it?” I ask looking about me and waving my hand at the
room
in general.

Sema places her fork down and dabs at her mouth with a napkin.  “No, it’s not.  I thought you would feel more comfortable in an environment that you’re familiar with.” 

“Then you really don’t know much about me,” I counter.  “I don’t like lies, even one as nice as this.”

Sema nods and the room around me slowly
begin to
melt away.  It starts with the kitchen table, the plates, glasses and the bouquet of flowers, the entire kitchen.  In the living room
,
the bookcases, sofa, coffee table and fireplace all disappear before my eyes.  I turn around to look at the door to the room and find a solid wall of wood with no entry to the area where I slept.  I now find myself sitting in an open room, the walls of the tree that we’re in are light and a sweet fragrance emits from it.  The table we’re sitting at is part of the
tree’s
floor and the seats are wood stumps, also a part of the wood floor.  The cooking area is a series of blocks of wood with one of them glowing like
a
burning
e
mber. 

I turn back to look down at my plate which is now just a simple wooden dish.  At least the food is real.  The chicken pasta is still hot and the aroma continues to fill my senses.  Without a
nother
word
,
I start eating again with Sema watching me closely.

“So, we are no longer trying to impress the princess.  It’s about time.”  Ziri walk
s
through a door that appears from nowhere.  Still unable to look at him, I keep my head down and continue to eat. 

“Yes.  It seems that Lily is as honest as her mother was,” replies Sema, also picking up her fork and starts
to eat
again.

My fork stops midway to my mouth.  I look up at Sema, who
is
now
ignoring
me.  “Grab yourself some chicken pasta, Ziri
,
and join us.”

I sit back in my chair and watch as Ziri looks suspiciously into the pot.  He sniffs at it for a moment, and then shrugs his shoulders
, heaping
a large portion of the food onto a plate.  After making his way to the table, he sits without a word and begins to eat.  The first spoonful was more of a taste for him.  Satisfied, he eats quickly as if starved for days.

Finally coming up for air, he asks Sema, “What are these curly white things?”

“It’s called rotini, a type of pasta,” answers Sema.

“Where do they come from?  What kind of tree is it from?” he continues to question while eating, this time at a slower pace.

“Why don’t you tell him, Lily?” offers Sema.

I take a breath, then looking at Ziri who is wai
ting expectantly, I say nodding, “Yeah
, they’re called
p
asta trees and they grow everywhere in
California
.  Their bark
is
made of a type of shell call
lasagna
,
and their branches are call
manicotti
.  They call the vines of these trees
spaghetti
and the blooms are small
ruote
and
farfalle
that grow in abundance.  These rotinis are the
twisted
seedlings found within the bloom
s
once
they’ve
dried and withered.”

I pick up my fork again and smile sweetly at Ziri, who is now sitting back in his chair watching me carefully.  His only response is, “Huh, interesting.”  I glance up at Sema who gives me a wink, but keeps quiet.

After a moment, he asks, “Why haven’t I heard of such a tree?”

“They’re man-
made,” I
answer
quickly.

“Huh,” he replies again.  After a second of thought, he goes back to eating.

Ha!  That will show him to mess with me.  My small joy of revenge last
s
only for a moment when Sema asks, “What of Cessa
, Lily
?  Why don’t you call her?”

I look up first at Sema
and then at Ziri who continues eating, his attention on his food.  “It’s
all right
, Lily.  Ziri won’t
hurt
her.  They have known each other since Cessa belonged to Tharin’s mother.”

I give Ziri a hard look until he looks up at me, mouth full with a mocking grin.  He continues to chew while he waits for me to
call Cessa.  I lean toward him, stabbing the air with my fork
, “You said you’d kill her if I did.”

Ziri swallows
, “Yeah, and I belie
ve there are such things as man-
made trees.”

“Jackass.
”
I
glare
at him.

“Lunontha,” he
shoots back
,
still
chewing his food.

“Ziri! 
She is not only
your future queen,
but also your brother’s betrothed.  Y
ou will not disrespect her
,
” reprimands Sema sternly.  Ziri glances at her and shrugs his shoulder.

“What did you just call me?” I
ask,
holding my
fork threateningly.  Suddenly, I remember
how
scared I was
at the thought of him actually killing Cessa and the panicked fear I felt when he threatened Tharin’s life.  I picture Cessa in my mind
,
and while I
focus
my anger at the big elf I call
out
, “Cessa!”

“Lily, no!” Sema’s angry cry startles me and I’m taken
a
back by her
anger
. 

I find out too late why.  Cessa appears at the opposite end of the table from Ziri.  Her hackles are up, fangs bare
d
and her eyes
are
slit with angry intent.  She leaps over the table with such ferocity that
I’m
momentarily frozen in fear.  Ziri reacts instantly and rolls from his seat to one side.  Cessa comes to a sliding halt
,
and as she adjusts
out of
her turn, Ziri is already up and moving.  He ends up beside an angry Sema, grabs hold of her shoulders
while still in her chair and spins her
around to face
the pissed off cat
.  As Cessa leaps to clear the top of Sema’s head
to
take down Ziri, Sema gives a wave of her h
and stopping the big cat in mid
air. The
angry
cat roars in her ani
mated state, seething with rage as s
he bares her fangs at Ziri.  She then looks down at Sema
,
growling a low guttural sound from the back of her throat.

“Peace
,
beast of Malainisi.  We are all on the same side.  She doesn’t realize the strength of her connection with you.  And we both know that’s the fault of your master.  He should have not given you to her without fully disclosing everything.  Now, peace
,
and please don’t eat Ziri.  I still need him.  When all is done, you can have him then.”

“What?” pipes Ziri from behind
the old woman
.