The Water Queens (Keeper of the Water) (21 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
             

Out of the darkness emerges a beautiful, dark-skinned black woman I haven’t seen for many years. Still, she looks exactly as I remember, maybe with the exception of a different outfit. Gone are the rags all Amazons used to wear, replaced with black clothing from head to toe that helps her blend into the night even better. At one point in my life, I would’ve rejoiced to see Mary Bowser; now, my insides turn to ice at the sight of my traitorous recruit.

I see no weapon in her hand but that doesn’t worry me any less.

“If you try to hurt us, I swear I’ll destroy you,” I say, holding back Janey with one hand to stop her from trying to look around me.

Mary slowly nods. “I assure you, I mean neither of you harm.”

“After what you did, how could I ever believe a word you say?” I ask.

Mary’s jaw clenches; I’m surprised my words have stung her.

“If I wanted to harm you, Mentor, I would’ve already done so,” she says.

I shake my head. “I saw you atop the cliff at the beach, I sensed you moving around out here. You’re not as good as you think, though it shouldn’t surprise me if you’ve grown conceited considering the company you now keep.”

I silently curse myself for ignoring my growing concerns; this is one bit of paranoia I shouldn’t have talked myself out of.

“She’s one of your recruits?” Janey asks excitedly, trying to push aside my arm to get a better look.

Mary smiles and takes another step forward. I brace for a fight but she’s still produced no weapon and makes no threatening move. In fact, she even looks away from me and stares in wonder at the water. I consider attacking first but there’s something about my first recruit that stops me from becoming violent. If she’s willing to turn her back to me, maybe she isn’t lying about meaning us no harm.

“Your mother has told you about us,” Mary says, clearly pleased. “It’s a wonderful thing that she’s shared details of her past with you, especially at your young age.”

“Be quiet, Janey,” I say before turning to Mary. “And you don’t
ever
speak to my daughter again.”

Mary finally turns away from the water and frowns. I haven’t seen her in over twenty years but still recognize when she’s offended.

“Mentor, I have come all this way to
help
you and you treat me like an enemy?” Mary asks.

I snort. “I don’t
need
help, especially help from
you
.”

Mary frowns and cocks her head slowly to the side.

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that, especially if Isabella sends the rest of her queens here,” she says.

“I could never trust someone after she’s turned traitor.”

“I’m hurt that you’d think I’m that kind of person; I thought you knew me better than that, Mentor.”

“
I
thought I knew you better, too. I never would’ve expected you to turn your back on Jane and my other recruits.”

Mary shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Mentor, but you weren’t there, you don’t know how the situation happened. Harriet was out on patrol, like always; Amelia was gone for years, chasing you down.
I
was the one who remained closest to Jane. She knew danger was coming, had foreseen Isabella’s re-arrival to camp.”

“So you had plenty of time to plan your treachery?”

Mary sighs deeply, growing impatient. “If you would pay attention to what I’m saying, you might understand:
Jane
had plenty of time to plan my treachery. As acting Keeper, Jane knew she could never pretend to join the queens’ side. She’d never be able to talk Harriet into faking an alliance with our enemy. But Jane wanted someone she could trust to go with Isabella and the others so she would always know what the Queen Clan was up to.”

Mary’s betrayal had broken my heart for years and I never once considered an ulterior motive for her joining Cassie and the queens. My heart wants to believe her but my mind still has too many questions.

“So you just stood back and let Cassie kill Jane? Was
that
part of your plan?” I ask.

Mary frowns, her eyes full of sadness. If she’s not being genuine, then she’s a very believable actress.

“Unfortunately, Jane knew there was a chance of that happening,” Mary says. “Though neither of us could’ve imagined Isabella becoming so ruthless, especially after years spent living with you and Cleopatra. Once the queens swarmed Jane, it was too late for me to help. Jane knew the possible consequences of trying to stop Isabella from returning as Keeper; I’m sorry that she died sticking to her principles.”

“What about Marilyn? You couldn’t stop them from killing her either?”

“Once the few dissenters started fighting back, chaos broke out; I did everything I could to stop from playing any part of the violence,” Mary explains. “They already got Marilyn before I knew what was happening and I couldn’t ruin Jane’s plans by trying to help. Once Harriet and Babe took off running, the queens forced me to help with the chase since I was most familiar with the lands, most familiar with where Harriet might go or what she might be thinking. They were right; I easily tracked Harriet and found the tree she climbed up to hide in. If I
really
turned on all of you, don’t you think I would’ve had the queens attack her? Do you really think I would’ve led the enemy
away
so she could escape?”

My breath catches in my throat as Mary confirms the story Harriet once told me, though I certainly see the outcome much differently from her perspective. I let go of Janey, who circles around and stands beside me.

“Then why are you here now?” I ask, a little less suspicious.

“Jane knew Isabella might take back control of the water so she wanted me to learn their plans so I could pass along that information to you. Your mentor never thought you’d give up trying to stop the queens,” Mary says.

This time,
her
words are like a punch to
my
gut. For years, John has been trying to convince me – and
I’ve
been trying to convince
myself
– that leaving the Amazons was the right decision. But now that my first recruit says these words, I feel guiltier than ever.

“But I was no longer an Amazon, not since I lost my role as Keeper,” I say.

Mary nods but raises an eyebrow and frowns at the same time. If she’s trying to appear understanding, she’s not doing a good job. When Janey grabs my hand and squeezes, any guilt I had – any doubt I felt – evaporates; my daughter is the reason my choice was the right one.

“We were told you were dead, which threw a wrench into Jane’s plan. Obviously I had no time to seek guidance from her before she was killed. So for the last six years, I’ve been forced to stick with the Queen Clan, to do what they say. If Jane was still alive, I’m sure she would’ve wanted me to do that, to stick with them and wait for the perfect moment to act. I was hoping that moment would be
now
. Do you know what it feels like to have to smile and act excited while helping the cruelest women in the world gain more and more power?”

Mary looks genuinely disgusted by the thought; I can’t blame her. I don’t think I could’ve made it through one
day
with the queen let alone six years.

“Why didn’t you just leave?” Janey asks timidly.

“That’s an excellent question, little one. I wish it would’ve been that easy,” Mary says. “But Jane Austen chose
me
to join to join the queens because I had experience in a past life that made me best suited to deal with handling the enemy in a hostile environment. If there was one thing I learned about spy work during the Civil War, it was not to let my emotions get in the way of the mission. And if you must break your cover, wait for the most opportune moment to inflict maximum damage. For years I worried that an opportunity would never arise but now it has.”

“What opportunity is that?” Janey asks.

Mary stares straight into my eyes as she answers.

“Learning that your mother is still alive,” she tells Janey.

I shake my head before she can say – or
ask for
– anything else.

“I have my own life here,” I say. “I walked away from the tribe forever, just like every Keeper before me.”

“Like Cleoptra? Like the way
she
just walked away forever?”

Now she’s pissing me off again.

“And look where it got her,” I snap. “She
did
die because of your precious Countess Isabella.”

“Cleopatra spent the rest of her life
after
being Keeper
still
trying to protect the water; she was still willing to die to preserve the Amazon way of life. But you,
Mentor
?” she says, snorting. “Let’s just say I find it ironic that
you
would consider
me
the traitor.”

Janey releases a little cry and I’m about to explode on Mary when I think that she’s upset my daughter. But I feel Janey trying to pull her hand out of mine. I forgot that I was holding it and didn’t realize I’d been squeezing out of anger. I force myself to calm down. I’m a mother now and can’t resort to violence every time I’m upset, especially not in front of Janey.

“My loyalty is to my family now and I’m not sorry for that,” I say.

“Do you really think hiding from Isabella will keep you safe?” she asks. “Now that she knows you’re alive, she’ll never stop looking until she finds you. It doesn’t matter where in the world you try to hide.”

Deep in my heart, I know she’s right. But my brain tries to convince Mary –
and
me
– that I’m not in immediate danger.

“I think Cassie is busy with a few other things at the moment to worry about me,” I say.

“For now, but it won’t be long now until her power grows and grows; by then, finding you will be much easier,” Mary says.

“It seems she found me already,” I say. “How did she figure it out so quickly? She’s never been here or seen this place. Even if she…” I look down at the Janey, who stares up at me with her big eyes. She’s heard way too much already so I don’t want her to know that Cassie sometimes has the ability to see what I do. “Even if she thinks – ”

“She doesn’t know you’re here; if she did, it would’ve been Catherine the Great sneaking out of the shadows but she
wouldn’t
have been here to talk,” Mary says. “Once Isabella no longer needed all of her queens for… another mission, she planned to send the budding team of assassins around the globe to hunt you down. I wanted no part of eliminating the Spanish royals – I never personally hurt any of them though I was forced to go as a lookout on several missions – so I volunteered to go out searching for you once Isabella told us you were still alive. It was the opportunity I’d been waiting for. Since I once knew you best, Isabella thought I was the perfect candidate to find you. My plan was to look for you near former Amazon camps, former sites where the water of life was once held.”

I nod. “It was foolish of me to come here, a part of me has always known that. How did you know?”

“I didn’t think you’d ever completely leave this life behind,” Mary says. “But I convinced Isabella that I would check America first, that you were most likely to return where you’re from, where you became an Amazon. That’s where she thinks I am now.”

“Then why did you choose here?” I wonder.

“I know you better than you think, Mentor,” she says with a smile. Her sincerity makes me miss Harriet and Amelia, too, but especially saddens me to know that one of them might be dead. “America seemed too obvious. You spent hours telling your recruits second-hand stories from Cleopatra about the origins and the history of the water of life. This was the first place I considered; I guessed lucky.”

“What did Cassie want you to do if you found me?” I ask, glancing down at Janey, hoping Mary shows discretion with her answer.

“Just locate you for now, don’t engage you, let Isabella know your whereabouts and tendencies, probably so she can send more of the Queen Clan to… take care of you,” she says. “That was after her first quick… I don’t know what it was, a vision? I still don’t understand how you and her can invade each others’ minds.”

“I don’t either,” I say. “But I’ll be more careful from now on to stop it from happening again. I’ll also make sure to move my family far away from here – far away from
any
water source. And there’s no time to waste.”

I grasp Janey’s hand firmly again and begin to pull her away, even when she puts up resistance. If Janey turns out anything like her mother, this single encounter with Mary will plant the seed for her trying to find the Amazons one day. But she’s still a little girl –
my
little girl – and I have years left to protect her. With every step I drag her away, the water in the spring gets a little less bright, a little less brilliant.

“So you’re not going to help?” Mary calls after us.