“I—I can see something in the orb. Yes, I’m sure of it. I am actually and finally scrying.”
“Really?” asked her father. “I wonder what activated your power.”
“I know exactly what it was,” she told them, smiling even more when Stone’s face emerged in the gazing ball. “It was love. My love for Stone and his for me. I guess saying it aloud was the secret.”
“Do you really think so?” asked Lira. “How wonderful.”
“Yes. I know that’s what it was. And that was why Mother was able to scry as well. Father, she loved you and you loved her. I never realized that until now.”
“You don’t have to call me Father, Persimmon.” Elric lowered his head and dragged a lazy finger over the top of the table. “Especially since we don’t even know that it is true.”
“I want to find out. I am going to find out.” She saw another vision in the gazing orb and all hope was restored of seeing Stone again. “I see in the orb that the stone I thought fell through the portal didn’t go through after all. It is still there in the cave, lodged under a rock.”
She jumped to her feet.
“Where are you going?” asked Lira.
“I have to get back to the cave to find and use that stone. I am going to open the portal and join Stone in his land of Taelgonoth.”
Sixteen
Stone had been back in Taelgonoth for a week now, and every day just got worse than the one before. Even after bringing the thieves to his king, justice had not been served. King Helix Kapion was not happy to know that not a single gemstone had been returned. The king was even angrier with Stone when he heard from King Sethor that a witch in Mura had the stones and she had been using them to do magic.
It seemed Sethor had seen Persimmon using the stones trying to open the portal. He told Helix every magical feat she’d accomplished and now Helix wanted the stones more than ever. Stone explained to him that only the Chosen One of the gods could use them. That was a mistake. Because now he wanted Persimmon, too. Especially when he discovered that she was the daughter of the sorceress, Luna.
Stone and Aithrod rode their horses along with the traveling party that consisted of Helix, Sethor, Rancor, Filip and about a dozen of Helix and Sethor’s men. They were headed back to the cave where the portal had opened. Every day they took a trip here, waiting for it to open again. Sethor and Helix were good friends now, even though Stone and Aithrod divulged the information of how Sethor wanted to take over Taelgonoth. Of course, Sethor turned the story around, saying he would never do such a thing and Rancor and Filip backed him up. Helix wanted to get back to Mura, and Stone only prayed that if that portal opened again, Sethor’s men wouldn’t be there waiting on the other side to come through and seize Taelgonoth after all.
They dismounted and walked into the cave. Stone felt saddened knowing he was never going to see Persimmon again. She had said she’d come with him even though he told her not to. He suspected she would do it anyway, but thankfully it had been a week now and she hadn’t showed up. That told him that she’d listened to him, after all. And while that made him happy because it secured her safety, it made him sad that they would never end up together. Not to mention, he missed his dog.
“Mayhap Persimmon will come through the portal today,” Aithrod whispered.
“She’s not coming.” Stone’s heart ached. “If she were, she’d be here by now.”
“You miss her, don’t you?”
“I miss her more than you can imagine. I miss Fang, too.”
“I miss them as well,” said Aithrod, speaking softly so the others couldn’t hear them. “We’re all alone here now. We really have no one but each other.”
“I know that. And I am thinking that we made a huge mistake in coming back. Aithrod, we should have stayed on Mura where we were happy.”
“Stone, what do you think Helix will do with us now? I don’t understand why he hasn’t put us in the dungeon or killed us already.”
“He’s probably planning on using us to try to lure Persimmon into opening the portal again somehow. If she does open it and comes through, I pray she doesn’t bring the gemstones with her. Ever since I told our addled king only one with magic can use them, he has his mind set on getting them anyway. I just don’t understand it.”
“I want more than just the gemstones,” said Helix, having overheard them. “I want the girl as well.”
“Why? If she does come through the portal, I’m warning you not to touch her.”
Helix laughed. “If she can truly see the past and future, then she will come here on her own.”
“She might come to save me and Aithrod from your clutches, but I assure you she is powerful. She won’t put up with the likes of you.”
“On the contrary, I believe she will come and it won’t be for you two. She’ll be coming here to see me.”
“Nay, she’d never,” spat Stone.
Helix chuckled again. “And when she hears what I have to say, she’ll help me instead of hurt me, I promise.”
“There is nothing you could possibly say that would make Persimmon want to help you.”
“You are wrong,” said the king. “She is going to want to stay with me because I am going to tell her the truth. That I am her father.”
They had just entered the cave when Stone noticed the shimmering colors swirling around and knew the portal was opening.
“I see it!” shouted Rancor. “Someone is opening the portal from the other side. It’s finally happening again.”
“Draw your weapons,” commanded Sethor, unsheathing his blade.
“Don’t hurt my daughter, but kill anyone else who steps through,” ordered Helix. “I want the girl unharmed. She is going to be my new secret weapon.”
“Persimmon is no one’s weapon and she won’t be treated that way,” shouted Stone.
“You two stand back,” commanded Helix. And don’t cause me any problems.”
“If they do, I’ll kill them myself like I should have done the first time they came to see me, snarled Sethor. “I told you not to bring them, Helix. Mayhap we should tie them up. They are not to be trusted.”
