Chapter 2
1748 Words
CHAPTER TWO
Sissy grasped her daughter’s hand and tugged her into the tent where we followed them. Our hostess closed the flaps behind us and turned to face her daughter. Stela had climbed onto a short stool and clutched her pants in her balled hands.
Sissy strode over and knelt in front of her daughter. “Stela, you know Mama told you never to use those eyes.”
Tears sprang into Stela’s eyes. “I-I know, but Daddy wanted to talk to me, and I couldn’t talk back unless I used them.”
The corners of Sissy’s lips tightened, and I glimpsed a flash of fury in her eyes. The look was not for her dearest daughter, however, as she smiled at her. “What exactly did Daddy tell you?”
Stela dropped her ruby eyes to the floor and rubbed a toe into the carpeted ground. “He told me if I was ever in trouble I could go to the stinky hole and find a quiet man there. He’d help me get to Daddy.”
Sissy’s eyebrows crashed down. “Do you know this quiet man?”
Stela shook her head. “No, but Daddy said he’d always be there waiting, so I’d only have to ask to see Daddy to go to him.”
“Where is this stinky hole?” Ros spoke up.
Stela sniffled, but pointed her finger toward a corner of the tent. “It’s that way. Behind a bunch of bars that I can fit through if I squeeze real tight.”
Ros folded his arms over his chest. “The Gross Grotto.”
Sissy studied her daughter’s face for a brief moment before she looked up at us. “I know you, dragon. You’ll undoubtedly go there. When you find that son of a b***h, you tell him to-”
“Mama!” Stela pleaded as she grasped her mother’s hand between both of her own and gave a tug. “Please don’t be mad at him! He only wanted to help me! And he always told me to listen to you and be a good girl!”
Sissy pursed her lips before a sigh escaped them, and she returned her attention to us. “Whatever Fantoma has waiting there, use it to find him.”
“No message for him?” Ros wondered.
Sissy opened her mouth a few times before the words finally came out. “Tell him… tell him he’d better not get himself killed. Not until I have a chance to do it myself.”
Ros smiled before he turned to me. “Then we have our route.”
A sudden and disagreeable thought struck me. “How do we know the captain’s going to be waiting for us on the other side?”
Stela’s face fell and she dropped her hands to her front where the fingers fidgeted with each other. “Papa said he would be there right now because his ship is hurt…”
Ros lifted an eyebrow. “His ship is damaged?” Stela’s reply was a simple nod.
“Is that something strange?” I wondered.
He nodded. “The gift of his eyes allows him to see any storm or rock that lies ahead. Because of that, it’s been many years since he’s been caught unawares.”
A bitter snort came from Sissy. “Gift? A gift that kills them and leaves their wives and mothers to mourn them before they’re even forty?”
Stela’s forlorn demeanor made me kneel down in front of her and catch her eye. “What’s wrong?”
She bit her lower lip in a manner that made her look absolutely adorable. “Papa said his ship was hurt, but he… I could feel something was wrong.”
“So, you don’t really believe that?” I guessed.
Stela shook her head. “No, but Papa won’t tell me what’s wrong.”
Sissy crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “Go see what that fool is up to and stop him from doing it before I’ve had my ‘talk’ with him.”
Ros smiled and bowed his head. “We will.”
Stela grasped my hands and caught my eyes. “You’re going to see Daddy?”
I smiled and patted the top of her hands. “I hope so.”
“Could you-” She cast a furtive look at her mother before she resumed speaking but in a whispered voice. “Could you tell Daddy that I hope his ship feels better soon, and that I want to see it for real?”
I nodded. “I’ll do that.”
A smile brightened her face, and she released me from her gentle grasp. “And tell him I love him, too!”
Sissy rolled her eyes, but a ghost of a smile touched the corners of her lips. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Get along with you and try not to get yourselves killed with that fool at the helm.”
Ros and I left the tent and made our way through the crowded market. I looked up at my handsome companion. “Do you think there’s a trap waiting in the grotto for unwelcome guests?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps, but perhaps not. The grotto has been sealed for many years and if Fantoma believed it to be a place safe enough for his daughter to venture into without being stopped then there may be nothing more than a tunnel waiting for us.”
I furrowed my brow as I thought back to what Stela had said. “A tunnel, and a quiet man.”
Ros pursed his lips before he nodded. “Yes. He is what I’m worried about.”
“You mean why would somebody be waiting in a stinky tunnel for a little girl?” I guessed.
“In a word, yes.”
My eyes were full of mischief as I looked down at myself. “I could put on a dress and pigtails and pass myself off as Stela.”
Ros grinned. “I’m glad to say that your figure is too womanly to pass off as a girl, and have you forgotten that you are now my wife?”
My smile softened and I looped my arms around one of his limbs. “How could I forget? Though I’ve been forgetting to ask what sort of perks a princess gets around here.”
His playful eyes smiled down at me. “The usual for the wife of a second son. A lot of travel and hard ground to sleep on, with some danger thrown into the mix.”
I lay the side of my head against his arm. “Sounds like we’ve been on our honeymoon this entire time.”
“The honeymoon features some added monsters and a few more pilotles.”
I snorted. “Just as long as they’re the friendly kind. I’d hate to have a shell dive-bombing me like in a video game.” He gave me a quizzical look, and I shook my head. “Now that’s a story too long to tell right now. Don’t we have a grotto to visit?”
He nodded. “Yes, but first we should return to the house. I have a feeling this will mean a long journey and we need to be prepared.”
We returned to the house we had called our own for several weeks, and a feeling of sadness washed over me. I paused at the foot of the walk and looked up at its majesty.
Ros stopped a few steps ahead and turned to me. “Is something wrong?”
I gave him a bittersweet smile. “It’s been kind of nice living in one spot for a while. Reminds me of my old life.”
His face fell and he returned to my side. He looped an arm around my waist and studied my face. “We’ve hardly had a moment to rest, haven’t we?”
I snorted. “Yeah. It’s been one wild adventure after another.”
He pursed his lips. “Perhaps… after we’ve returned to this island… perhaps we might find a quiet place to tend to ourselves instead of the world.”
I smiled up at him. “I’d like that. A lot.”
“Then let’s get this adventure finished,” he mused as he guided me up the walk. “And then we’ll find a place to call our own where we might have a little time to ourselves-”
The front door swung open and her majesty, and Ros’ mother, Queen Antonia Prasinus stepped out into the bright light. She had a warm smile on her lips and an elegant but low-key gown over her body. I couldn’t help but recall my private conversation with the goddess masquerading as a human where she had admitted to me that I was her reflection from another world.
To say it was mind-blowing was an understatement, and I was still unsure how I felt about such a revelation.
“Mother?” Ros wondered as we reached the front door.
Tia stepped aside and swept her arm into the entrance hall. “I wanted to visit you once more before you went off.”
Ros lifted an eyebrow as we slipped past his mother. “How did you know we were leaving?”
Her smile took on a more mischievous look as she closed the door behind us. “A mother knows these things.”
“And you do not stay in one place very long,” a voice chimed in, and Ros’ brother Trent appeared in the doorway to the parlor. “We also have some very good spies in the capital.”
“They didn’t happen to tell you how we could charter a ship?” Ros mused as we met as a group in the hall.
Trent shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. Your search was far more thorough than even ours, and no captain would venture past the waters of Umbria.”
Tia set a hand on my arm, and I turned my face to meet her curious eyes. “Have you found a way yet?”
I shrugged. “We might have, but we have to go to the grotto to find out.”
Trent lifted an eyebrow and used a hand to gesture to the parlor. “Perhaps you should tell your tale in here.”
- Writer
