Chapter 28
“Have you seen any other people who look like us?” Winnie pointed at herself and Kip.
“I see only you, good General,” the leader replied. “You’re the first of your kind I’ve met.”
“Remember the wonky timeline,” Kip said to her. “When that was written, these blokes’ parents probably weren’t even born yet.”
“Where I come from,” she told the leader, “this is the chemical formula for water. Two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen.”
The leader gasped. “Brothers, gather round! The general has solved the riddle of the sacred writings. It’s a recipe. She can help us make more for the queen!”
Kip snickered.
She glared at him. To the leader she said, “You don’t need to make more water. Just clean up what you already have.”
“If we could make the sacred water even cleaner, we would, General. But how do you propose we do this?”
“I’d start with your technicians. You could ask—” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted movement inside the pool. Conversation forgotten, she stepped closer and peered into the water. A black shadow hovered close to the surface before submerging again.
She pointed at the rippling water. “Something’s in there.”
“I beg your pardon, good General,” said the leader. “The queen’s water is free of all heretics. I respectfully request that you report this to Her Majesty.”
She grabbed a staff leaning against the wall and poked one end into the water. The monks leaned closer. She gently stirred. Something bumped against the staff. “There it is,” she whispered. Whatever it was wrapped around the pole, adding to the weight in her hands. She grunted, trying to hoist the heavy staff. Kip joined in, helping her lift it from the pool.
A shiny black creature had curled itself around her stick. Once exposed to the air, it unfurled and plopped to the stone floor. Its stingray-like pectoral fins flapped frantically.
The monks let out a collective gasp.
“Tainted water,” said the leader. “Take up your staffs, brothers. We’ll beat it.”
“No. Just because it lives in the water doesn’t mean it’s a heretic. And Mr. Supposedly Invisible, stop laughing.”
Kip clamped his mouth shut mid-guffaw.
She knelt beside the flailing ray. She slid her arms under one slippery fin. Its panicked flutters made it hard to grasp. “Kip, a little help?”
He bent over and grappled with the ray’s other side.
“What are you doing?” the leader cried out.
“Putting it back,” she said. “For all we know, it eats toxins.”
“Leave it,” said the leader. “For all we know, it adds toxins.”
She said to Kip, “We’ll lift on three. One, two—”
“General,” said the Brothers Ky leader, “because you are royalty, we won’t interfere with what clearly looks like blasphemy. However, if any invisible wizard is in the vicinity, he should be warned that if he helps you in any way, he’ll become visible to us, and we’ll be forced to report him to the queen.”
Kip lowered his side.
She strained under the extra weight. “Kip, it’s dying.”
He looked from Winnie to the Brothers Ky, then back to the ray.
“Please!”
He hesitated a moment longer. Finally, he clasped his side. The creature, desperate for breath, struggled in their arms. After three false starts, they lifted it high enough to throw it back into the pool. It fluttered deeper into the water and out of sight.
“The wizard is here,” said the leader. “Brother Clem, inform Queen Bogen immediately.”
One of the monks scampered out.
Kip flew after him.
“Stop that brother from going to the queen,” Winnie said. “I command it.”
“I beg your pardon, General,” said the leader, “but the queen’s orders take priority over any given by a demi-princess.”
“Then at least give him a head start. He didn’t do anything wrong. We had to put that thing back. It was helpless. Don’t Brothers Ky take care of helpless creatures?”
“That creature was soiling the queen’s water.”
She stopped listening. The stingray wasn’t the only “creature” that needed protection. Her brain flashed to a picture of someone just as vulnerable, waiting beside a time tear. She had a warning of her own for the queen. She sprinted out, past the waterfall, past the dungeon cells, and back up the staircase.
The two knights guarding the royal meeting chamber stepped aside for her. She burst in on the queen and her advisors playing cards.
Queen Bogen slapped down her cards. “Have the lurk in arrived?” she asked eagerly. “Fynn, sound the alarm.”
Her military commander leaped to his feet.
“Not yet,” Winnie said, puffing for breath.
The queen regathered her cards, and Fynn returned to his chair.
“But first, I forgot to tell you. I heard from your son. He wants you to know he loves you and misses you.”
“Thank you, dear,” she said in a gentle tone. “We feel the same about him.”
“Good, because that’s the other reason I’m here. Your son is waiting by the time tear on the other side.”
“Your Majesty,” said Commander Fynn. “This is excellent news. General Takka can smite the lurk in as they march through.”
“He’s unarmed.”
“Impossible,” said the queen. “Takka is always armed. He’s a general.”
“Seriously? He’s armed even though began don’t fight?” Winnie shook her head to get back on track. “He isn’t a general in my world. He’s inside another form, remember? There’s no way he can fight the way he is.”
“Preposterous,” said Fynn. “She must be mistaken.”
“Silence!” the queen commanded. “General Windemere was sent in his stead because Takka’s current form was unable. Isn’t that correct?”
Winnie nodded. “In my world, we call him a little boy.”
Queen Bogen gave her a vacant stare.
“I guess you’d call him a…tadpole?”
“That small?” cried the queen. “And he’s at the time tear? Alone?”
“I know, right? I told him not to. Apparently, he believes we’ll stop the lurk in before they come through. But to do that we need strong fighters.”
“Fynn, immediately begin recruiting vogan. We must defeat the lurk in before they reach my son.”
The toad man blustered. “But, Your Majesty, royalty in combat?”
“We henceforth decree that no one is deemed too royal to fight.”
“Recruit some palm too, please,” said Winnie.
“A began squadron will be sufficient. We refuse to bring palm into the fray. They protect their young from harriks. That’s the only defense they know.”
“But, Your Majesty—”
“No palum. That is our final word on the matter. Fynn, begin the recruitment process. This meeting is adjourned.”
“General,” Fynn said, bounding next to Winnie. “Would you care to assist me in recruiting the began army?”
The invitation surprised her. Not too long ago he’d thrown her off a cliff. Maybe one positive thing about this wacky world was nobody held a grudge.
“Thank you.” She walked with him into the corridor, hoping to hear his battle strategy since she had none.
Once out of the queen’s hearing, Fynn’s dark eyes narrowed. “I said that only to please my queen. She might be fooled, but you are nothing more than a meddlesome outsider.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“Accidents can still happen, General.” He strode away.