Gaia's Secret (9 page)

“Egan!” Thad’s voice reverberated down the
hall.

Egan dropped his paws. His tail whipped
behind him as he paced at my feet with his tongue lolling out of
his mouth. The grey streaked his silky fur like the shadows in
drifting snow and his eyes were like two shards of blue ice. He
looked like winter on four legs, assuming winter also had a long
and slobbery pink tongue.

“Sorry about that.” Thad chuckled as he
strolled into the room. “Egan gets excited with company. Especially
pretty girls.”

My cheeks warmed as I reached over and
scratched Egan’s soft neck. He nuzzled his wet nose into my palm.
“What kind of dog is he?”

Egan licked my fingers, careful not to leave
any piece of skin dry.

“Akita. And an ornery one at that.” Thad
stuck out his hand before me. “I’m Thad.”

There was a childlike vigor to him that I
liked. Maybe I could trust him to help me.

“Daria.” I shook his hand with the one not
dripping with dog drool.

“Your cloak?”

“That’s alright. It’s keeping me warm.”

A drop of water fell from my cloak and slid
down my back. I shivered.

“Right.” Thad grinned. “Hand it over. I’ll
get you something dry.”

He held his hand open in expectation. I
sloughed off my damp cloak and handed it to him. He took it away,
and I noticed the room for the first time.

The walls were made of stone and dark wooden
beams, the view beyond the windows smeared from rainwater. A fire
crackled and blazed in the corner, the warmth slowly seeping into
my skin. Candles sat in sconces upon the walls; their light
diffused in golden halos leaving no space left to darkness. This
place was comforting. And even though I wasn’t sure what was
happening, I felt safe here, like these walls would protect me at
all costs from the unknown world beyond them.

Thad grabbed a wool blanket off the couch,
and threw it at me. I managed to catch it as it fell to the
floor.

“Make yourself at home,
Daria
.” There
was something knowing to his smile that matched the intelligence in
his eyes.

He started to walk out of the room and halted
mid-stride. Egan crouched at the door, growling with a spine of
hair standing on end. Thad’s brow furrowed as he strained to look
out the smeared window. I couldn’t see a thing, but his eyes
narrowed in concentration and I felt a surge of his anxiety.

“Oh, hellfire,” Thad said beneath his breath.
“Alex!”

Alex rushed into the room. His eyes fixed on
the window, then me. He rushed to a corner in the room, lifted the
edge of a rug, and loosened a floorboard beneath it. “Get my
parents,” he said over his shoulder. Thad didn’t need to be told
twice, and Egan stayed crouched at the door, snarling.

Alex lifted a square panel of wood attached
by a hinge. Beneath it was a dark hole.

He looked at me, his features tight.

“What’s out there?” I asked.

He motioned for me to join him. “We have to
hide you.”

Cicero and Sonya appeared. “They’re here?”
Cicero asked.

“Almost,” Alex said.

Sonya glanced at me. “I’ll hide with
her.”

Alex shook his head. “You all have to hide.
If they know you and Dad are here, we’ll have a much greater
problem on our hands.”

Something about his voice took away my urge
to argue.

Sonya and Cicero exchanged a glance, and I
watched as Cicero lowered himself into the black hole, followed by
a soft
thud
.

“Hurry!” Thad was at the window.

Sonya dropped in after her husband, and I
crouched at the ledge to follow them when Alex grabbed my arm.

There was an intensity in his eyes that held
me still. His rigid mask was gone, all defenses stripped away, and
what lay beneath was tenderness. But he quickly looked away and
lowered me into the space below until my feet touched the floor.
The hatch closed as a loud banging sounded on the door.

T
he front door
creaked opened. The storm outside wailed as Thad restrained a
snarling Egan. The visitors walked inside, the wooden planks in the
floor creaked against the heavy
callunk
—
callunk
of
their footsteps. The front door shut behind them, muting the storm
outside.

“Good morning, gentlemen, may I help
you?”

I was shocked by Alex’s perfect control. His
voice was calm and authoritative. Not at all like he had three
fugitives hiding in his basement.

“I hope you can,“ one of the men said, his
voice throttled like an old car engine. He meandered farther into
the room. There was a metallic clang when he walked, and his boots
scraped across the floorboards like they were carving into them.
“We think someone’s passed through the boundary. From the other
side.”

He halted right above us. I could see his
shadow through the narrow cracks in the floorboards. Sweat beaded
on my forehead as I held my breath. I didn’t know who these men
were, but they were no friends. Their anger and hostility were so
strong that it seeped inside of me, leaving a bitter taste in my
mouth.

“Are you sure?” Alex asked. “I haven’t been
notified.”

Even I believed Alex.

“No doubt you haven’t. We believe their
passage was aided by someone of power.”

“Then King Darius is aware?”

A king?

“No.” A board creaked as the man shifted his
weight. “We’d like to take care of the problem without worrying His
Majesty and causing a public disturbance. You know how the people
can be when it comes to the boundary.”

Alex was slow in his response. “I see. So
then, if I may, what is your purpose here?”

“To find out if you’ve seen anyone out of the
ordinary.”

“Other than Thaddeus here, no.”

I heard sharp movement, someone grunted, and
then Thad cried out, “Spirits! He’s joking. I live here.”

“Yes.” There was a smile in Alex’s voice.
“Unfortunately, Thad is correct.”

I had to hand it to Alex. He was a talented
liar.

There was a soft thump and one of the men
chuckled. The sound grated against my ears.

“Perhaps…you’ve seen Aegis Cicero?”

Sonya squeezed my sweaty palm. Alex had been
right to hide all of us. Those men already knew Cicero crossed the
boundary, and Alex didn’t miss it.

“I haven’t seen my father in a few weeks, and
I can assure you if there was anything to worry about, he would
have handled it already.”

I felt the men’s surprise along with their
dawning comprehension. “You’re…Alexander Del Conte?”

“Yes.”

“Spirits take me.” This voice belonged to the
other man. It sounded squeaky and muddied like his nasal passages
were being pinched.

“My apologies,” said the other. “I wasn’t
implying that—“

“Will that be all, gentlemen?” Alex’s voice
was polite, but had an edge that didn’t invite further
conversation.

“Yes,” said the man with the grumbling voice.
“And if you don’t mind, we’d like to keep this from His Majesty for
now.”

Alex didn’t answer.

Their footsteps stomped and clunked across
the floor and the front door opened. The sound of howling wind
filled the air and the clunking halted.

“Glad we weren’t forced to cross blades, boy.
Good day to you.”

The door closed and the room returned to
silence.

Footsteps crossed the room and light flooded
in from above. Alex held open the hatch. “All’s clear.” His arms
reached in to help us up.

“Who were they?” I asked Alex as he pulled me
through.

“Hold on.” He helped his mom and dad out of
the opening.

Egan returned to my side as if our momentary
interruption never happened, and he resumed licking my hand, as if
that also never happened.

“Were they wearing Valdon’s armor?” Cicero
asked.

Armor. So that was what had been making all
that noise when they walked. I wondered if they were from the group
we’d seen near the portal.

“They were.” Alex narrowed his eyes at the
door. “It was old, but it still bore the sigil.”

“Valdon?” I asked.

Alex looked at me with tired eyes. “Valdon is
the name of this region.”

“Any idea who sent them?” Sonya asked.

“No, but it obviously wasn’t King
Darius.”

There it was again. “Gaia has a king?” I
asked. I hated being on the inside of a conversation I understood
nothing of.

Sonya, Cicero, Alex, and Thad all turned to
look at me. Even Egan perked his smoky ears.

“King Darius Regius is the ruler of Gaia,”
Sonya said.

Gaia really did have a king. An authentic,
living monarch. I felt excited and horrified at the same time; I
knew about kings from my history books. “Is he a…good king?”

“Yes,” Cicero said as Alex made a faint
grunting noise.

This earned him a glare from his dad, so he
took the opportunity to leave the room, Thad following after him. I
was glad because I’d rather ask my questions without Alex
listening. “So…does this king monitor the portals?”

Sonya glanced at Cicero. It was like I’d
asked them to open Pandora’s box. All I wanted was some
information, anything to help me make sense of this place.

Sonya was the one that answered. “King Darius
has a contingent of high lords that serve directly beneath him, and
their territories are near the portals.”

“You live near a portal,” I said. “So are you
one of these…high lords?”

Cicero grinned. “No, the high lords of Gaia
are some of the most powerful in our world, second only to the king
himself. My title is more of a duty than a rank. I’m technically
called an Aegis, which means I’m an appointed protector. My lovely
wife—” Cicero grinned at Sonya “—has inherited the role by
marriage, and I fear it may be the only reason she married me.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Sonya smirked. “He has
an unfortunate habit of remembering things in a way that will make
a good story.” She then moved about the room closing the
curtains.

But Cicero wasn’t finished talking, and his
lips weren’t done smiling. “I tell it like I see it. The day I went
from squire to being appointed an Aegis, Sonya finally decided to
take my hand.”

“No.” Sonya glared over her shoulder, her
hand still clutching the curtain she was closing. “I didn’t marry
you sooner because you were a squire with an irritating need to
follow every knight on duty. I needed some stability.”

Cicero laughed at that. “Eighteen years in
Yosemite valley stable enough?”

So the Del Contes had been protecting
investments. Quite literally. “All these years, you lived there
protecting…”

“You and Alaric,” Cicero answered for me.

I was going to say “portal.” That seemed the
obvious token to protect. But protect Dad and me? I was no one and
Dad was just a businessman—ambassador—whatever. And if Dad traveled
through the portal…

“If those men were searching for someone that
traveled through the portal, then my dad is in trouble!”

Thunder crashed overhead as rain threw itself
against the windows with renewed fury.

“Your father isn’t in any trouble. Besides—”
Cicero gazed at the window as if he could see through the curtains
“—we can’t do anything tonight.”

How could Cicero not think my dad was in
trouble? I’d worry about him in this storm alone, even without
armed men searching for trespassers. My blood ran hot as I reached
the end of my short rope. “The
only
reason I came with you
was because you told me my dad was going to be here, and he’s not.
If there are people out there looking for him, I’m going to find
him, with or without your help.”

I wasn’t sure how, but I would. By the looks
on their faces, they knew it, too.

Sonya placed her hand on her husband’s arm.
“The letter?”

Remembering something, Cicero reached into
his pocket, extracting a small, folded piece of paper. The same
sort of folded paper the Del Contes had given me in their hidden
room.

“Another letter.” I frowned.

Cicero held it before me.

Anxious, I unfolded the heavy sheet. Like
before, it was my dad’s writing, but this time it was much more
rushed.

Cicero—

My apologies for not waiting. I’m sure Thad
told you the Pykans crossed the boundary undetected. I fear
something greater is behind this. I’m off to see Lord Commodus. If
anyone knows of a resurgence in Pykan activity, it will be him. I’d
ask that you come, but it is more important you watch over
Daria.

Bring her to Amadis and I’ll meet you there.
A week’s time should be sufficient for me to extract what details I
can and meet up with you all. The magic of the Arborenne should
protect and hide you. Not a soul, whether it is good or evil, can
know she’s here. Not until I get to the bottom of this.

Stefan is to act in my absence. He’s sending
necessary supplies to you via Rex Cross morning after next. Trust
few. Remember your oath, because more than Daria’s life may be at
stake.

I thank you with all I am,

Your friend,

Alaric

There was a postscript at the end of the
letter, addressed to me.

Daria,

Forgive me for not explaining this life to
you sooner. My regret is greater than you can possibly imagine. I
promise I’ll explain everything to you soon—once it’s safe. Listen
to the Del Contes. They will care for you as their own, as they
always have. I love you, princess. I’m so sorry.
–
Dad

After a second reading my panic waned and my
anger returned. Most of the letter didn’t make sense, but there
were three points I understood clearly. One, my dad was alive. Two,
there were still secrets only he could tell. And three, in the
meantime he expected me to trust and follow the Del Contes without
arguing about it.