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  But what of all the other frightening and unusual things that had happened in this place? Maybe she was on another world, after all. The logical part of her still had trouble with that concept. She knew there were other worlds, of course, billions of them, perhaps some with sentient life, but Jakon’s stories seemed like a bad television movie, one that had sucked Patrice in and messed with her head. And she had not ruled out the possibility that she was in a psych ward someplace.

  “Patrice?” Larisa stepped in front of her, blue eyes mirroring her own.

  “What?”

  “I believe Jakon.” Slender fingers touched the amulet at her breast. “These Faytools are real. How else could I have done what I did yesterday? I believe what he says, that we need them to save our world. And yours.”

  This woman baffled Patrice. On the one hand, she wanted to shake Larisa for being so gullible, but the one Jakon called Second Noble could come across much older than her years, experienced with life and death, a healer’s daughter apprenticed from a very young age. And if her story was true, Larisa had lost her entire village, everyone she had known and loved. Patrice felt an odd kinship that had nothing to do with the Trine, something she guessed people who shared a similar tragedy felt for one another.

  Even Kepriah offered an expectant look. The warrior. Patrice had learned that much. The shoulder scar that disappeared beneath her shirt added credence the story. She had seen it up close and it didn’t look like makeup. Kepriah confided in Jakon more than anyone else and seemed uncomfortable around Patrice, even hostile at times. Of course, Patrice had done nothing to help the situation. She didn’t like the warrior woman, ever since that rough hand had closed around her neck.

  But now, with all three of them gazing at her like children expecting gifts, she decided to try the ring again. Maybe, just maybe, if it turned out she wasn’t insane and this world and its magic really did exist, she could use the ring to get home. That gave her some hope. If this was all a sham, then she was still on Earth and needed to find out her location. Either way, she would find her way home.

  “All right. I’ll try it again.” Once again, doubts filled her. Jakon looked like he would be the perfect magician, tall, dark and mysterious, with those eerie golden eyes. Patrice smiled to herself. An excellent magician could probably keep her from seeing his tricks at this close range. Maybe he’s boondoggled each one of us. Or maybe one of the women was doing it. Larisa was the least conspicuous. Patrice would observe them more closely from now on and find out just how they managed these tricks. A trip to Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion sprang to mind and the ghosts that seemed to dance through furniture.

  With those thoughts bouncing around in her head, she didn’t still her mind before ordering the bag to move. Nothing happened. She used that method several more times, while giving the outward appearance of great concentration. Without becoming too obvious, she watched the other’s reactions before and after each failed attempt.

  Larisa looked hopeful and nodded to herself. She reminded Patrice of a kid making a wish over a birthday cake. Kepriah stood with one hand at her waist, where she claimed she used to wear her sword, one brow raised, and the right side of her mouth crooked into a half smile. The stance made Patrice uncomfortable, like Kepriah was ready to pounce if she made a wrong move. If she’s a real warrior, I wouldn’t want to meet her on a battlefield. Jakon kept his face calm and smooth now, golden eyes watching her, studying. Patient. The perfect teacher. Or magician.

  After her fifth or sixth unsuccessful attempt, Jakon clicked his tongue. “You are not stilling your mind. If you are concentrating, the pouch will move for you.”

  She wasn’t an actor but she knew how to fake concentration. Sweat had even begun to form in her armpits and on her brow. “Maybe I’m the wrong woman, Jakon. Ever think of that?”

  He smiled, the first she’d seen from him, revealing eyeteeth that appeared a bit sharper than the average human’s. Well, there are people who file their teeth. She had seen a photo on the internet once. “The ring would not make that mistake, Noble.”

  “Why not? You said yourself it was programmed for certain duties. If the programmer was human, then there’s always the chance of a mistake.”

  Larisa stepped toward them. “She has a point, Jakon. Could Sorinieve have seen the wrong woman in her visions?”

  “No. The Moirai Themselves endowed the Faytools. Magic is what allows them to recognize their rightful owners. It is very complicated and I do not have all the answers, but I do know the ring would not choose the wrong woman. And you have already demonstrated that. Now, try again, Third Noble. And this time, clear your mind.”

  She nodded but decided not to do that just in case the magician was ready to fling the bag off the rock again. If that happened, she would know this was a hoax for sure. The pouch didn’t move and reluctantly she cleared her mind, making certain that her face and body appeared just as they had during previous attempts. Within seconds, an odd word filled her mind, pushed from her lips, and the pouch slid onto the ground. The other three had stepped close and she ordered them to move away. She was still not convinced, or so she told herself. She had no way in hell to explain why she had uttered a word she could no longer remember.

  Jakon eyed her. “Very good, Third. Again.”

  This time, Patrice pulled a pack of gum from her coat pocket and placed it on the rock. There was only one stick left and she felt a pang of homesickness again, but she pushed that feeling away. Since she’d slept the entire night on her coat, no one could have touched her belongings, so she concentrated and aimed the ring just as before. Disappointment set in when she uttered something and the gum slid to the ground.

  “Are you convinced?” Kepriah’s dark braid lay across one shoulder, head cocked to the side.

  Patrice sat, just sat, and stared at the package of gum with its single stick protruding from the open end. She shook her head. This can’t be happening. She jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder.

  This time, she allowed Larisa to sit and caress her back. “We are sisters now, Patrice. Just as Sorinieve said.”

  “I’m an only child.” All passion drained from her as she kept her eyes on the shiny package that lay on the ground near the boulder.

  “So was I.”

  Reality hit her in the stomach like an iron fist as she realized she might never get home. “How did I get here?”

  Jakon stepped into view and offered her a hand up. She hesitated but took it, and he led her to the fire. “I will explain everything as we break fast.”

  Larisa and Jakon served some kind of fruit, along with meat stew, but Patrice couldn’t eat. From the scratches in the wooden bowls, they looked as though they had been scrubbed with a stone. She doubted these people had the best hygiene, and she had no idea what else was in the food. Drugs, maybe? She ignored Larisa’s pleas to get nutrition into her body. If these three insisted on keeping her prisoner, fasting might get quicker results than agreeing to master the ring’s power. And if this stew was any example of the meals she could expect here, it wouldn’t take much effort on her part not to eat. The fruit looked tasty, like a cross between an apple and a peach, but she ignored her stomach. Maybe she could lose enough weight that they would feel sorry for her and let her go, though she had no idea where she would run. As she stared at the fire, Jakon began to weave his tale.

  “Sorinieve was born during a great aurora a thousand years ago. Yes, she was that old. And my people live even longer.” Patrice forced herself not to react to that tidbit. No one lived a thousand years. It was simply impossible. A body couldn’t hold out that long. The man had to be lying. “Sorinieve passed the test as Keeper of the Faytools and I was chosen as her protector. Over the centuries, I also became her confidante, her teacher, her friend. And her lover, whenever she needed one. Together we protected the Faytools, protected magic. She left her village, her family, and her trade as a warrior behind as she wandered the world with me at her side. Sorinieve lived he
r entire life learning as much as she could about the scepter, the only tool she could use. She was never able to use the ring or the talisman, which I know bothered her, but she spent many centuries mastering the scepter as best she could, until you three were born. At first, visions about you came in snippets, but once you reached your twenty-fifth birthdays, the scepter showed her how to find you.”

  He paused and studied Patrice. “You were the most difficult to bring here, Third Noble. I know Sorinieve feared she would die before seeing that task completed.” He swallowed hard and the sorrow that filled his dark features came and went in mere seconds. “But she succeeded. Thank the Moirai. I had hoped she would be the one to teach you.” He waved a dismissive hand, seemingly to himself. “The one true seer said that the lost moon must be hoisted by the next summer solstice, though he did not say whether it would be successful. You three have a lot to learn before then. You must master the Faytools and invoke the moon to bring magic back to Selenea. These actions will also insure the sister world’s survival, as the two are connected in life and death.”

  “Connected how?” Larisa said.

  “The Moirai created Selenea eons ago and later created the sister world, what Patrice calls Earth, from the magic of this one. Earth was a play yard for our ancient ancestors and archways allowed our people access between the worlds. After a while, some decided to remain on Earth, bear children there, and start a new life. Eventually, contention grew between the sister world and Selenea, for reasons I can only guess, and brought about the Great Magical War. That war nearly destroyed both worlds.

  “The Moirai usually interfered as little as possible, wanting us, Their children, to learn and grow on our own, but They also refused to let us destroy ourselves. The Moirai sealed all the archways, except one near the northern aurora, and sent most of the magic to the largest moon, shrouding it from our view and our reach. They left just enough magic here to stabilize the worlds, and any strong enough to touch it could do simple things only. They concealed knowledge and power in the Faytools, making sure that no one could access the remaining archway until the Trine was born and came of age.

  “The Moirai decreed that in the future, when the two worlds had forgotten about each other, and the magic They left behind began to weaken, putting both worlds in danger, three females of the old blood would be born. Once anointed, these women could use the Faytools to hoist the lost moon and bring magic back to Selenea. Because Earth was born of Selenea, returned magic will stabilize the sister world, but the final archway between the two will remain closed forever, ensuring that the two are separated for eternity. These declarations were written in sacred scrolls and placed with a trusted group of ancients, who were given long lives and a home in the great desert, away from the masses. My people. Our elders have kept the scrolls safe for thousands upon thousands of years, waiting for your births.

  “Over the millennia, some of the ancient scrolls decayed, but the Faytools cannot be destroyed, and that single archway remained open until you came through, Third Noble. It sealed itself once you arrived on Selenea. Your world needs the magic of this one to survive, but no one will ever be able to travel there again. The children of Selenea and Earth will never make war with one another again, just as the Moirai intended.”

  Kepriah and Larisa offered nods, as though this entire story made perfect sense. Patrice, on the other hand, was unimpressed, or at least tried to appear that way. “How can you believe this?”

  Larisa shrugged and flipped her blonde hair to her back. “It makes sense.”

  “In what twisted reality does any of it make sense?” Patrice felt like she was the butt of some horrible joke, a nightmarish prank in which she couldn’t break free. She ignored the tiny part of her that wanted to believe Jakon’s story.

  Larisa studied her. “We grew up with magic, Patrice. Forbidden by all but the royals, but it has always been there. All around us. Even though it’s not very strong, some still manage to use it.” She fingered her talisman.

  Kepriah hissed and tossed a fruit core into a bowl. “Those caught using magic end up some royal chit’s slave.” The venom in her voice made bumps appear on Patrice’s arms. “Just how are we supposed to learn all this magic and keep our freedom, Jakon? We will be sitting ducks when spring arrives.”

  “The Faytools have the power to protect you, First Noble. But you must learn to use them. Anger will only hinder your training.”

  Patrice sucked in a breath. “Then I’ll never learn. You pissed me off the moment you refused to take me home.”

  “I do not doubt that, Third,” Jakon said with a slight smirk. That smile against strong features made him handsome, in an alien sort of way, but it didn’t diminish his size. “You can learn.” One dark hand indicated the gum wrapper and pouch. Both still lay on the ground nearby. “As you have demonstrated.”

  “And if I refuse?”

  His golden eyes grew serious. “Time is fleeting and your world is in just as much danger as this one. If Selenea is destroyed, Earth unravels.”

  Patrice’s heart raced. Then she shook her head that she even believed this nonsense. “You’re full of it.”

  “Full of what, Third Noble?”

  She ignored that and motioned to her package of gum. “These little magic tricks might be cute at a kid’s birthday party, but if you think I can save a world, you’re sadly mistaken.”

  “You can. You must. You are the Trine, the three of you.” There was a dangerous edge to his voice now. “I cannot believe Sorinieve spent all those centuries guarding the Faytools for nothing. That woman gave up more than you could ever realize.” Hard eyes focused on Patrice and she fought the urge to step back. “She lost her world, too. Only she had to watch it slip by as the centuries passed. Watch as her siblings’ children and grandchildren were born and died, replaced by generations of offspring. She could not allow them to know her and that hurt her most of all.”

  His tone made Patrice extremely uncomfortable. “You still haven’t told me how you found me, how you brought me here.”

  “Sorinieve and Larisa added power to help Kepriah open the archway, just as our ancestors often did. They reached through and pulled you here.”

  Patrice thought back. “The blue light I saw in the sky.”

  “That’s how it appears on the sister world, or so I have been told. Here on Selenea, we saw your world through an archway, saw you in a chair staring up at the sky.”

  “My neighbors will have reported anything they saw.”

  “Perhaps, but no one from the sister world will ever find us, and the odd light in your sky will be just another story. As the years pass, it will be forgotten, just as Selenea was forgotten by your people.”

  Patrice’s blood throbbed at her temples and she took in a breath against rising panic. What if he’s right? Her common sense screamed this was a sham but her gut felt differently. Jakon offered her stew again but she refused. Instead, she hauled herself up, crossed to her coat and lay down.

  Larisa came to her side and placed a hand on her forehead. “You feeling all right, Patrice?”

  “Perfect.”

  “Good. Then you can begin lessons after we eat.” Jakon’s tone left no room for argument.

  Patrice buried her face in the fake fur collar, tears leaking from her eyes.

  Chapter 8

  Two weeks had passed since Kepriah saved her from the floodwaters. The talisman gave Larisa something to concentrate on during wakeful hours, but she wept at night for her parents, the man she had refused to marry, friends she had known since birth, and her entire village. When she did sleep, she relived that nightmare flood. Larisa had longed to get out of Donigere and have a more adventurous life for as long as she could remember, but this was not what she had in mind. Her mother had always told her to be careful with her wishes, for wishes rarely came true the way one intended. She knew wholly what her mother’s warning meant now and her heart ached.

  But right now, she had no time to dwel
l on her grief. Though she had refused to train as an herb mistress, Larisa’s instincts seemed honed toward a healing direction, and her mother’s lessons had ingrained compassion in her blood. Patrice did not look well. Too skinny for one thing. The occasional fire in the woman dwindled with each passing day, and she had stopped laughing and weeping, her emotions stunted. Even her angry outbursts had dissipated. Patrice performed lessons much like a puppet, and Larisa feared her spirit was broken.

  Her sister from another world stopped practicing with Jakon, and Larisa watched as the woman shuffled to her coat and stretched out on it, something she did often. As soon as Larisa heard soft snores, she took the opportunity to gather Kepriah and Jakon. “I’m very worried about Patrice. She refuses to eat. I truly hope we did not break her.”

  Jakon’s golden eyes focused on the prone woman. “There is still fire in her. It’s just buried.”

  “I’m not so sure, Jakon. All she does is nod or shake her head in response to any of us. There does not seem to be emotion in her now.”

  Kepriah gave the sleeping woman a thoughtful gaze. “I do not think she is broken, either. I have seen this in men who come from battle. Most recover after a time.” She sighed and turned her eyes to Jakon. “Can you teach me to control her with the scepter? At least I might force her to eat, if nothing else.”

  Those golden eyes narrowed. “To conquer one of the Trine’s will—that is not ethical.”

  “Sorinieve did it to me, Jakon.”

  “That was before the Trine was formed. And binding you three together was her oathed duty.”

  “I did not believe a word Sorinieve spouted back then but now that has changed. I feel something each time I use the scepter, a great power beyond this world, and it’s moving farther away.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them with a surprised look. “I can also sense Larisa and Patrice.”