Even as I prepared to make my move, some inner warning bell went off on a frequency that sent my innards into seizures. My ears caught the fateful screech from my left although I’d already begun making my way towards freedom. I’d begun mapping a viable route though I suspected it wouldn’t be easy. Just remaining on the ground meant I had to wend my way through unexpected human landmines I hadn’t anticipated and should’ve.
“Myra, fly for freedom,” Ti’Ana screeched in warning.
Move dammit, and if someone tries stopping you, ignore him or her. They aren’t the ones to listen to while you fly away.
That directive convinced me she knew more than she’d let on about my current unknown observers.
I’ll keep that in mind. While I’d hoped that Orland would show some compassion for everything happened, I knew the truth. As much as I knew that, he’d done something to me under the guise of trying for a strike against Ti’Ana earlier. I had to leave before the poison accomplished its purpose.
“Don’t you dare listen to that babbling old woman, Myra!” The boy’s familiar voice shocked me. “I’ll see to it that you don’t get far enough to make a difference in your flight.” The hatred, venom, and harsh promise warned me this was no time to dawdle. “You’re mine, Myra, and no matter where you flee, I will claim and tie you to my will.” He threatened as he tried grabbing me once more.
I snapped at him in disbelief, my voice guttural with rage. “You can go to hell, Orland. I don’t trust you an inch.” He tripped and missed when I darted halfway up a tree. “You just think you had me eating from the palm of your hand?” I spat viciously. “You are so wrong about everything you knew about me, you arrogant asshole.”
From the vantage point, I was stuck. I wasn’t able to see much, other than the hunters panting and cursing me for the wounds I dealt them. Then when something distracted them, wasn’t sure what it was, I went up a cliff face that fortunately resembled a wall and found a niche where I could catch my breath.
As for Orland, I shot him a vengeful stare and snarled under my breath. “Go to the darkness, Orland.” I knew better than to believe anything he said. “You never owned me nor gave a binding pledge.” Not after what just happened with her warnings and his wording. “Therefore I owe you nothing in return.” Bastard thought I would do anything to please him. I felt something shred and snap.
The babe within me stirred, but didn’t wail or abort. I knew then that we’d not bonded in the legendary tales of couples. I was startled when a soft voice told me some rather frightening news.
Mother, we won’t remain safe for long. You have to leave and return to human form swiftly to ensure our normal delivery occurs.
Those made me wonder if the delivery was imminent rather than not extended for another nine months. The very idea frightened me to no degree.
On the other hand, that the child spoke to me assured me she wished to live. Then I registered what else she said.
Our? How many was our?
I didn’t wait to ask that question. Relief washed through me and I felt pleasure from the babe too. If that wasn’t an indication I made the right choice I didn’t know what was right then.
I have to state my freedom and renunciation of your sire, child. If I don’t do that, they will continue coming after me. I have no wish for further persecution.
I gained no response from that, but I didn’t dare give the child time to protest my decision.
I had one last thing to do and let them know what I thought of their tactics. Renunciation was the last thing any clan member would do. However, in this case, it was the best thing I could preserve my sanity and keep them from setting up an immediate chase. “I renounce your claims, I renounce the caravan’s claims, and I renounce the lead scout title upon which none of you conferred to me.” I sensed Ti’Ana’s approval though a word not did she speak.
Shocked snarls followed my words. No one expected me to say or do anything that would engender confusion allowing me to make my escape. I had twenty-four hours to remove from the canopy before I became free game as a perennial slave. Slavery was worse than the life of a broodmare, that much I did know despite attempts to keep me unawares.
Then I leapt into the air and made my first transformation into the creature, of mythical legend, and vanished into the canopy. How I would survive without gear, I didn’t know, but I knew a sudden icy cold plunge into my heart. They’d severed Ti’Ana’s life, and with it, my last tie to the caravan. I nearly toppled to the ground from sheer horror. The caravan’s loss was my opening to an unknown and frightening future.
Don’t fail us now, mother. We’re not like our sire, the child chided me. You have allies both close and far away. Those farthest won’t come out here. You must go to them.
I sighed quietly at hearing that but it wasn’t entirely unexpected. The bit about allies elsewhere, now that was rather startling to me if not the children. I chose not to respond, but they knew I listened and so I kept paying attention to their suggestions that I suspected someone fed them as part of that help.
Your thoughts about the sire are conflicting and upsetting mother. What did he do that made you as furious as you are?
Questions peppered me, distracted from my anxiety and allowed some rational planning to restore my composure.
I thought I had loved him.
More unnerving was the fact that I already carried a boy’s seed.
I believed he would do something different from other chieftains of the caravans.
Done in forbidden secrecy, I realized now that he was part of the ones sent to turn me into a broodmare.
Alas, I was a fool to think he hadn’t wanted that future for me.
Therefore, at one point he gave you lies that you almost believed as truth, I’m sorry he did that to you. I wish you weren’t so vindictive. He actually died to keep you from others finding you so quickly. The child informed sadly. He seemed to think that you had agreed to become his first wife, to rule over others.
No, I had not agreed to that, but in the heat of the act, he may have thought I would go that far and to that extent.
Only against caravan rules, he’d chosen to claim me ahead of the others.
The child subsided but I could tell she wasn’t convinced of her sire’s duplicity. I wouldn’t deprive her of innocent belief as I had undergone. I would let life experiences do that for her instead. Maybe that way she wouldn’t go through what I had in the extreme.
No more will I trust a man’s words when it comes to sexuality.
Furious, I ground my teeth and shook my head angrily.
Other lessons I shall have to consider, but that...no, no more, no way will I fall for another’s lies when it comes to fidelity.
Not for an instant would I embrace that fate, nor would I willingly lose the seed either because I had made that pledge at a time when I hadn’t known what his real nature was like.
It won’t happen, this I know as fact. I learned through simple honesty from other sources I came across whilst scouting.
Some hope, small and thin shriveled within me as I contemplated dreams lost. I would simply do my best by the child, now knowing that I would remain aloof from anyone else in order to survive.
I know now where my priorities shall rest and it won’t be at the behest of some man who thinks with his gonads and not his brains.
A harsh lesson learned, but one I needed before I trusted another male of any damned species. Besides, I did have some gear placed where no one else would discover it. Long before I foolishly felt tied to a stupid hormonal male, I had planned for the time when I would leave the caravan anyway.
Wings spreading I flew aloft into the thinning leaves. I did pause to take stock of my surroundings. I also retrieved my gear that I’d put into a pack easy to snag with one claw. It neatly wrapped around one horn over my left eye. I paused on the tree branch looking around carefully. Now, which way to take flight from here, somewhere safe? is all I asked for while I recovered. I gained no assistance from any unusual voices in my head. I didn’t care to consider the ramifications of silence.
I listened to internal warnings and instincts, which I knew, would guide me where I should go. I turned left and then right, nowhere in the immediate area. I knew that much. At last, I shifted east, west, south, and north.
A ping went off and I gazed toward the distant north. I chose a direction, mountainous and barren. To the mountainous and barren north, there I would take my basic gear and turn it into a small home for the child and myself. Whether I would grow to love it or not remained for the future to tell.
For now, I put aside all thoughts of the child and bent my mind to working on a solution of retrieving gear without discovery and making my way to the distant mountains. Even as I thought it, an unusual green mist swirled around me and I followed it with some trepidation and rising curiosity. I knew that would make my life either easier or distinctly difficult. However, I thought it would make it easier in this case.
This time a male voice came into my head, impatient and grumpy.
Quit with the inane chatter, child. You’re wasting time when you could’ve flown a ways by now. You won’t maintain that form for long. Move while you still have the control over your faculties.
I’m at a loss since this is my first change. I’m carrying a child as well. I don’t want to hurt her.
My protest was weak but it had validity.
Trust me; the babies are safer now than they were before, the gruff male snapped curtly. Now hurry up, that protective mist won’t last much longer.
Unsatisfied with that response but aware time was fleeing while I hesitated, I made the decision to continue flying.
Who are you? You aren’t the same one who communicated with my daughter.
After all, hadn’t grandmother told me that I should follow certain guidance that would ensure I would leave safely, not send me straight into further turmoil?
I’m someone your grandmother once knew on a very close level.
The male spoke cautiously.
At the time though, we couldn’t go further than close friendship because of another degree that we possessed with one another. There was gruff clearing of throat before he continued with something else.
I’m sending you to a close-knit family, two males...and a single female. However, the girl doesn’t remain with them very often. They insist she go through formal schooling elsewhere than the mountain.
Another pause ensued, became uncomfortable for both of us because I hadn’t acknowledged the last commentary and he demanded:
Do you have further questions for me? I am guiding you toward them the best that I can. I won’t be able to do it past a certain level in the sky.
Are there predators in the nighttime skies?
I frowned at the implications and shrugged.
I’m aware that mother lived farther than the Elders wished me to believe. I knew my mother had children. I’m also aware that she chose to leave the caravan because I represented danger to her through the simple fact that I managed to live through infancy.
Currently it is far too cold for predators to fly through the air. Only other dragons can do it, but most of them abhor the cold air except the frost dragons. I can assure you, you aren’t one of those.
Amusement threaded through his voice though it faded when addressing the touchy subject of my parents.
As for your mother, child, she and your father made severe mistakes that forced them into that caravan. While parts of him remain alive to this day, his mortal body died long ago.
Weariness exuded from the male. What he was doing took an enormous toll on his physical and mental health, I realized abruptly.
I can’t remain talking much longer, child. Speak a few more requests and then I must leave you to continue the best that you can unassisted.
I even knew when some of them had lived or died.
What should I consider studying once I arrive there?
I hadn’t thought about the fact that they would still have ties to me. That just didn’t resonate with me completely.
I suspect that some of my faculties will change and I won’t remain intact mentally as I am right now.
You know far more about what happened to you than even I suspected. I should’ve known that you have powerful intelligence.
He didn’t answer the part about studying right away. At last, he did give me a response.
Follow up on the embroidery, painting, and book learning. This is your only chance to gain what you’ve lost over the years.
He paused again and I gained the impression he struggled to retain the connection. Trust me; it will make a difference in the future. Those of the caravan clan aren’t going to release you if they can steal you back again no matter what form it takes.
If I’d known how to manage a boost, I would’ve given it to him as well. I didn’t though, and forced myself to sense his failing strength. I did learn valuable lessons within that conversation.
With his last powerful mind burst a flurry of sentences that sank into my subconscious long after I ruminated on the conversation.
They’re desperate to bring the caravan back to life once more, or will be once you’ve reach the adult female age that is truly when you’ll begin shifting again.
His voice grew fainter. Sorry child, our time is up and I must leave you to find your way now. Then his mental presence vanished completely from my mind.
At first, I resented the loss but it gave me time to consider what he told me. I was still a child in some respects and can be utterly selfish and uncaring of what others thought of me or demanded from me. I acknowledged that failing it would always set me apart.
The reasoning gave me impetus when nothing else did. I gathered further intelligence of more chaos below.
Mama, we must go. There’s no more time to waste. The young voice came back. There are visitors here that won’t hesitate to rend you from limb-to-limb. Some of those creatures can shift into other forms. One of them hunts you with the intent to sacrifice.
Oh dear, that isn’t cheering news, I replied absently. They are wolves and I’m betting someone else summoned them to exploit a weakness of the caravan in this instance.
It seemed wolves chose to pay a visit. That surprised me, but gave me indication that children might find another life in a different if stricter society than the one I came from.
The child clearly found my thoughts disturbing, distracting, and not at all to her liking.
What is so different about the wolves that make you think the children are better off with them than here?
Tread carefully here, Myra, you don’t want to utterly confuse the children, I thought I heard a voice tell me. Nor would future adults appreciate the way you turned them into frightened little sheep either! The reprimand clearly meant for my ears alone. You’re traveling into a very dissimilar society where you’ll have more freedom.
As for not scaring the children with too graphic an explanation, I wouldn’t anyway since I didn’t want to frighten the child senseless. Much less, horrify the rider too much that often fed them information to pass onto me. I was able to tell the difference between the two now. If not the phrasing of the questions, then merely influence that came from a mature source.
I considered my response carefully. They’re less likely to die in childbirth, child. I gave some imagery that gained a few squeaks of fright. Much less, have an opportunity to renounce isolation if that is their wish. I grunted. I’d take that life over this one, freedom I might’ve had as a scout was nullified the moment I espied the activities surrounding those poor outsider females who’d collars with spikes placed on their throat, and subsequently had their arteries slashed.
Satisfied, I made my way to my next destination and then planned my next steps. The caravan’s loss was my gain and never would I forget the narrow escape that I endured in that fight in the shadows. I smiled and prepared to survive however best that circumstances dictated.
*** *
Bundled up in a heavy coat, wooly hood, earmuffs, gloves, scarf, and more to maintain his internal body heat, Antony kept a careful eye on the cloud-shrouded mountaintop. As usual, he made out patches of icy white denoting presence of snow. He turned his gaze three more times in northern, southern, and eastern directions. He already looked for western signs of activity but saw nothing out of ordinary.
Dark, chilly, but only mist shrouded the area, no snow or rain yet after the earlier storm blew out its fury earlier. Since spring had come, the rains came light and satisfying. Antony could tell though another storm would come into the area. Just the scent of snow teased his nostrils and made him grimace with disgust. Spring hadn’t lasted near enough for his taste.
Soon would come thundershowers and snow showers when one had to be wary of icy shards striking at one’s face. Antony turned his face left and right as he studied the skies. This terrain was far more difficult to view at night than he thought previously. Then again, his sight had altered with the first shift he endured.
While it had bothered him a wee bit, he acclimated swiftly and learned all the advantages of his particular dragon form. As well as becoming aware of the disadvantages, that weren’t as many, but could make a life or death difference in the end.
“What the...why is this happening now?” He stirred as a buzzing grew in his head. “There’s a real crazy mess of voices practically screaming right now.” Antony put his hands to his head. “This is worse than the mess I sometimes come across when seeking our target.” He cast his father a bewildered stare. “How can I discern what is real and not?”
His father blinked at hearing of his dilemma. Carob glanced his way from where he worked on something nearby to where he stood. “Simply chatter, son, ignore it and focus.” He directed with quiet amusement. “Even if the voices are screaming in volume, all you have to do is watch for those that make the most sense.”
Oh, right as if that was giving him any pointers. “What is that? I can’t make it out.” Antony grumbled as he tried making sense of gibberish. He finally shared what he heard to Carob, who gave him a sharp stare. “Now can you see why I’m having difficulties comprehending what she’s saying to the others?” His exasperation made Carob nod thoughtfully.
What he told Antony thought made Antony shake his head in acute disbelief. “It is the caravan tongue she speaks with the babies.” Irony laced Carob’s voice when he spoke in measured tones and continued working on his self-appointed task. “She’s going to have an interesting time learning a different tongue as well as all the other lessons you and others have learnt from young childhood.”
Okay, now that he didn’t quite compute. How could someone survive as well as Myra had and not learn how to read? He could’ve sworn she learned some basics at one point in time. He swiveled and looked at his father in puzzlement.
Carob met his gaze calmly but said nothing further. He merely bent his head to his task once more. The quiet hung between them as they contemplated what he’d said to Antony.
Stung from his complacency Antony blinked as he assimilated the information, and cast his father an incredulous stare. “She’s illiterate?” He kept his voice low. It wouldn’t surprise him if someone listened for any weak points on the incoming intruder.
Carob frowned but nodded with calm amusement. “Aye that is correct, Antony.” He shrugged when he added matter-of-factly. “Only the males and very few females are allowed written education. The rest are kept ignorant as possible.” He studied his hands when he added. “I preferred a different life for you and the siblings your mother wanted to have.”
One shoulder hunched before a sigh escaped him. “Sadly, she died before we conceived another child successfully.” He looked as though he would say something else and then shook his head in negation of that decision.
He wasn’t letting his father get away with that. He wanted some answers he believed he should have about their arrival coming into their midst. Antony shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Was that last woman my real mother, or stepmother, father? I want the truth.” He hadn’t thought so but then he didn’t have many memories of his biological mother. He didn’t know if Carob actually had images of his mother or not. He had a feeling though it wouldn’t matter much either way. Dead was dead and nothing would bring any female back that died from childbirth as far as he knew.
Carob slanted a flat stare at him. “There were two before you and four after you, mothers that is,” he stated very tersely. “None of those children came out as shifters.” Anger flared in his features when he told Antony what he hadn’t bothered to speak about in several decades, his son guessed. “I raised them to the best of my abilities because their mothers abandoned them once they realized no shifter was produced.”
Oh wow, no wonder he didn’t talk of his mother. The woman had abandoned him and yet Carob continued to raise the children to the best of his abilities. Heck, why Carob hadn’t just walked away from the responsibility, Antony wondered as his mother apparently had when he was born? Antony grimaced at his grimness. “What is the connection with Myra?” he demanded of his father. He suspected it had to do with the last woman brought into their lives. A woman, though beautiful, who had secrets and wasn’t able to birth any live children.
His jaw went tight before his father responded to the question flung at him so angrily. Carob said nothing at first before he finally grudgingly answered Antony. “That was Myra’s mother.” He shifted his weight as he paused in his work to regard Antony with somberness he rarely exhibited.
“I also decided we were better off after she finally died in childbirth, though Annalisa survived.” He referred to the girl child that he and Antony adored. “I managed to keep her live birth a secret though it cost Myra’s mother her life.” He lowered his head in frustration when he gave Antony another piece of information.
“I did manage to send word to her mother, Ti’Ana, the scout mistress. She had the right to know about her other granddaughter.” Carob shrugged when he glanced at Antony. “We rarely talked about anything important outright. I did however learn of some of her future difficulties and the fact that she wove some of those tapestries hanging in the council members’ homes in the village.”
What tapestries did his father speak of precisely and why were they that important? Antony glanced at him in exasperation. “I cannot tell if Myra heard anything about the successful sale of those arts or not.” He cudgeled his brains and gave up in disgust when he found nothing at all useful.
Carob shrugged. “There was something going on in the caravan at the time those tapestries Myra created, caused a big ole stink.” He frowned meditatively but then sighed. “I don’t know the particulars, but the tapestries someone smuggled out are worth a goodly sum of currency or trade-articles.”
Antony frowned over his dilemma and finally offered up a speculation of why nothing was happening right away as far as the tapestries were concerned. Now he was curious about the subject matter if the council members had one or two decorating their homes. They had discriminating tastes. If they liked tapestries, it was something special and dear to their hearts.
“Hmmm...she may have suppressed that innate ability to create such works of art if someone threatened to burn them.” No memories garnered from Myra, much less, those jackasses Morley or Orland gave up any insight as Antony mulled that information. “She didn’t pass the knowledge of a half-sister to Myra,” he stated bluntly.
Carob cast a piercing glance at him. “That is a very definite possibility.” He agreed and shifted back to the other topic they discussed, or rather, he mentioned and Antony listened with due patience and concentration.
“What of the lack of proper information going to the Scout Mistress?” Antony inquired when Carob didn’t immediately begin on the other subject.
His father hesitated and then answered neutrally. “That’s because the message was intercepted.” Carob shrugged though pain twisted his features. “I have no doubt that someone in that damn caravan tried pressuring Ti’Ana into putting her granddaughter into breeding center.” He shook his head slowly. “I have no doubts that also precipitated this night’s events either.”
Ah, that put a completely new light upon everything in Antony’s estimation. “Eh, well perhaps one day she’ll tell us what she knows of her mother and father if she remembers anything.” He had severe doubts though. The cocktail injected into Myra had already begun working from what he could tell.
Carob shook his head. “Unlikely lad, even without a block injected into her, I don’t believe she wants to talk about it any longer.” He made a sour face. “Someone tried distracting her through shoving the uncertainties and doubts she harbored about her skills and abilities.” his sour expression turned angry and furious. “So we’re going to have work fast when she does arrive.”
Antony nodded soberly. How to counteract it, he had no idea, and sighed over that lack of knowledge he didn’t possess at present. He brightened with hope, perhaps the alchemists and older scarred dragons knew what to do. They’d gone through all sorts of warfare and emerged relatively unscathed.
He continued listening to his father’s comments with half an ear. At first, he wasn’t certain, and then he straightened suddenly. Yes those were wing beats but she labored and wasn’t able to maintain stability for much longer. “She’s coming, father and I fear that she’s dealing with more than just disorientation.” Antony frowned at his father. “How can a dragon have airsickness, throwing up, and yet remain in flight all this time?”
Carob’s eyebrows rose at him. “Pure iron will and a mother’s determination to protect her unborn offspring.” He shrugged. “She might’ve had another pressing reason to ensure that she escape the depths below.” He raised his hands. “I don’t know enough about the caravans’ traditions to make head or tail of what she’s doing right now.”
Not responding to that last statement, and it was too late to speculate further anyway, he’d decided with resignation. His hands pushing against the rock, Antony grunted, scrambling to his feet. “She’s in distress but I don’t know what else to do that would signal our presence here.” In addition, dark for anyone to find them at night, he assumed, but he realized his father didn’t think so.
Carob gave him a long stare. “She’ll find us.” He pointed to a section recently lit up. “If her sight is half as sharp as I think it is, she won’t miss it.”
Antony looked dubiously at the triangle but kept his peace. Regardless of what went through his father’s head, he stayed put. Suddenly a dark shape appeared in the immediate night sky, blocking views of stars. He pushed back against the wall, as drafts flared into the small section and a dragon arrowed toward the triangle.
He literally felt the desperation and fear as the dragon careened into the side of the mountain and tumbled to the ground. Seconds later, the form of a battered, bedraggled, and very pregnant female rolled into view. Only rags clad her body in essential areas.
“Come on, we need to get her out of the cold air. We don’t want exposure to kill her.” Carob snapped into action, as did Antony who gathered the blankets as his father took something warm to drink to her.
They knelt at her sides and spoke calmly to the frightened female. She clearly heard them speaking but didn’t know how to respond. Antony spoke to her in trade tongue. “We’re not going to hurt you; we just want to move you out of the cold.”
She looked at them warily but nodded slowly. “I am Myra; I’m outcast and a renegade to the Frasier Caravan.” She passed out right then, her body shivering continuously.
“Huh so she knows the trade-tongue.” Antony was surprised but busied hands with putting blankets around her. He gave way to his father and carried the other supplies when Carob picked her up and took her into the medical portion of the cavern. He’d seen something that Antony had not caught.
Carob grunted when he picked the female up and then told him rather too calmly. “Yes, she does. Part of that knowledge came at a very steep cost.” He shook his head and muttered inaudibly under his breath.
After thinking over what his father said, Antony grimaced. What occurred to him left a bad taste in his mouth. If such a price came from learning the language, what cost came of that gain? He would like to find out and avoid it if possible. “Should I worry about fallout from tonight’s activities?”
Carob glanced at him. “Only that we’re not going to have the same routines that we followed before.” He smiled faintly. “We’ll still have meals together, we may share with a third person but I don’t think that’s going to become a problem, will it?”
Hmm, eating with someone else besides his father, nope that didn’t bother Antony. Rather the notion intrigued him rather. He smiled at his father. “I think it’ll be a nice change. I just hope she isn’t a grump that hates early mornings.” However, from what he could tell, she didn’t have a sluggish bone in her body.
“You’re a good lad that you’re willing to make this adjustment once more.” Relief flashed over Carob’s features, softening them as he smiled at Antony. “Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to regret this singular event which will change our lives substantially, I believe.” Then he ducked into a lower room where the door barely remained high enough for him to get through.
Antony followed close on his heels. “Of course I’ll adjust. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to make alterations in my lifestyle, father.” he frowned at Carob’s back. Didn’t he think that having a younger sister was worth adjusting for anyway or was it something else that worried his father this time?
Carob sighed. “Likely it will be her having difficulties adjusting. She’s not used to remaining indoors much at all.” He smiled at Antony. “I remember the same of you. I have noticed that you’re no longer averse to flying when it suits you.” He shrugged off Antony’s embarrassment. “It is yet another useful skill that you can utilize when least expected.”
He considered something else to put forth as a warning and a reminder. “I just don’t recommend bashing into walls or mountainsides. That’ll rattle the inside of your skull,” His smile faded as if he recalled an accident occurring in his youth. “No matter how tough of protection is around it at the impact.”
Huh, admittedly he hadn’t thought about any of that as problematic. His brows formed a frown when he finally understood some of the more confusing preparations Carob insisted upon as time passed. Now Antony had a basis from which to compare. He’d already had a few impacts from flights gone wrong. He just hadn’t told his father about them. He hadn’t wanted to admit to making such stupid mistakes. The one part he hadn’t hit though was his head.
“Ah well, I’m becoming used to it.” Of course that was before the bad fall she’d taken and the earlier fight she’d gone through as well. Anything like that may well disable her for quite a while. Antony frowned thoughtfully. “I do wonder if she’ll recover rapidly from her injuries or not. That will make the difference in how fast she integrates with our life or doesn’t.” He reflected soberly.
“Perhaps so but at least she’ll have a cavernous refuge here when she makes her flight.” Carob shifted his position. “What else are you working on, by the way?”
Antony shrugged. “Just a few details left over from a subject I’m studying.” He wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about it yet with his father. He would once the big excitement of the newcomer finally took place. He would gain no rest until the event actually happened. He’d finally realized that as more than one creepy vision disrupted his dreams on an hourly basis.