Control (Book Seven) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (8 page)

Where was that?

He wanted desperately to ask them why they were here... why they were not with the rest of the Svoda? And how they had gotten back here. Last he knew, they had been in a meadow and could not get through a portal back to this world for some time.

But he held his tongue, kept his silence.

Uncle Arnon... I can take them to Uncle Arnon. He can help them, whatever it is they are trying to do.

“
Now, how exactly do I move an entire ship?”

##

Meghan gave up trying to sleep. She left Nona curled up on the bed and tiptoed out of the bedroom. She was surprised to see wisps of daylight sneaking through the windowpane.

She wrapped a thick sweater around her body and
stepped outside.

The village
was quiet with an almost deserted feel to it. After a few minutes she caught a couple wandering down a path some distance away, but it appeared everyone was still snuggled up inside. She hadn’t looked at the time, but it must have been early, not too long after sunrise.

She decided to
take a walk.

A walk sounded good.

After just a few minutes, she drew the sweater tighter around her body, letting the sleeves dangle over her hands. She hadn’t through to grab gloves.

“Hey,” a voice called out, startling her.

She turned and saw Ivan leaning against a tree trunk.

“Oh. Hey.
Um, have you been out here all night?” she asked him.

“
Yes.”

“
Why would you do that? You must be frozen solid!”

He ignored her and asked, “
What are you doing up so early?”

“
Walk sounded good. Tried to sleep, just didn’t happen. I
am
tired. Just can’t sleep. Maybe tonight,” she added, not hopeful in the least.

“Let
me know if that works for you,” he replied, sounding as though he was nearly asleep on his feet.

“We could resort to drinking one of Kanda’s special teas, knock us right out.”

“Really?” Ivan almost sounded interested.

“Yeah. She is really good at that.”

“I don’t like the idea of being knocked out,” he replied.

“Well, if we get desperate enough, at least it’s an option.
Regardless, I still think you’re nuts for standing out here all night. What were you doing?”

He shrugged. “Walking. Thinking. Oh, um,
happy birthday, by the way.”

“
Nice change of subject,” she rebuked. “Thanks though. I’d completely forgotten about it.”

“You don’
t look any different,” he said with a slight teasing tone.

“Funny,” she retorted.

An unusual sound caught both their ears and they listened for where it was coming from.

“You
can hear that, right?” Meghan asked Ivan, just to be sure.

“Yeah. What
is it?” He shook his head as if trying to get the noise out of his head.

Meghan felt the need to do the same. The no
ise was powerful. Overwhelming. Like the sound was suffocating them from inside their own heads.

A crack
rent the air and out of nowhere, a ship appeared, nestled between two trees as if it had always been there. The thick tree trunks kept the ship from falling to one side or the other.

The ship was damaged badly,
the wooden hull cracked underneath and great chunks of the ship missing completely, as if torn off.

Villagers emerged
from their dwellings, with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. When each saw the ship they froze, not sure what to think or how to react.

Meghan
wanted to go closer but held back.

There was someone familiar close by.

Someone knocking at the locked door in her mind...
Colin?

He did not reply to her. He allowed his guard down only enough to let her know he was near. She h
eard the words, “I needed to make sure they were safe.” His block reformed itself and he was gone.

“Ivan, I don’t know what this is, but Colin brought it here.”

“Colin did this?” he confirmed in a tone of astonishment.

“Yeah.” She had never seen anything like it. A ship now ported in the middle of the woods, nowhere near the ocean it must have been plucked from. How had Colin accomplished such a thing?

“Did he say anything else?” Ivan asked her.

“No. Just disappeared. D
idn’t really talk to me directly. It was more like, just letting you know this was my doing.”

They, along with a growing crowd of onlookers, edged closer to the ship,
only to gasp simultaneously as shapes moved on the deck.

A face lifted over the
edge, peeking out. Whoever this was, they clearly had no idea where they were, any more than the villagers had any idea who was on board the ship.

“Um,” said Meghan,
recognizing the face peeking over the edge. “Billie?” she rushed towards the ship now. Ivan at her heels.

Billie stood up, making a motion that it was okay for everyone to join her. She
looked stunned and there were numerous tears in her clothing.

“Meghan? Ivan?” Billie responded, her voice shaky. “Jae
Mochrie,” she added, stunned at seeing him.

Jae
sidled up alongside Meghan and Ivan. Meghan noted, somewhat jealously, that Jae looked rested.

“You... You’re dead,
” stuttered Billie to Jae.

A man Meghan recognized as Noah Flummer appeared
, holding someone appearing to be unconscious. “We need help,” he said. “She’s injured badly.”

V
illagers raced forward to help the weary and stunned travelers. Seemingly, the fact that Meghan, Ivan and Jae knew these people and were not afraid of them, meant they were friendly and it was okay to help them.

Ivan climbed up the side, offering
help to a young woman trying with all her might to hold someone up. Her long dark locks were a tangled mess. When she turned, she nearly dropped the man she was holding. “Ivan Crane?”

“Maria,” he replied,
equally shocked. He cleared his throat and grabbed hold of the man.

“Thank you. I didn’t think I would be able to
hold him up much longer. He was stabbed in his back,” she explained, adding, “What are you doing here? Wait, strike that. Where exactly is here?”

“It’s a long story
, but you’re in the encampment of the banished Svoda.” He saw her give a little start and added, “It’s perfectly safe here. You’re safe here.”

“Okay,” she breathed out. “I can’t believe you’re here. You. Of all people.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” he asked.

“Oh, um, just
that you’re someone I know. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Right.
Of course. Well, let’s get you off this ship and get this man some help.”

Ivan passed the man d
own to someone on the ground below, where he was whisked away to get treated for his injury.

He turned to help
Maria and had to catch himself. Her coat was torn on one side, exposing her shoulder, and ripped to shreds everywhere else, like something had clawed at her, trying to dig into her skin.

He
reached up and gently slid the coat off her and let it fall to the ground.

“You’ll freeze,” she argued as he wrapped his own
coat around her.

“
I’m fine,” he replied, shaken by what he’d just seen. He wanted to ask what had happened, but could not find his voice to ask. He started to climb down, Maria gladly accepting his assistance to get over the side and onto solid ground.

“I could just kiss the earth
,” she whispered, finding her footing. “There were a few moments not too long ago, I didn’t think I’d ever set foot off that ship again.”

He had a difficult time letting go of her shoulders, afraid she mi
ght lose her footing and topple over.

Billie strode over, patting Maria’s shoulder. “Thank you, Ivan,” she said.
“Boy, it’s good to see a familiar face.”

He let go o
f Maria and she left to join other shipmates, now gathering nearby.

Meghan raced over. Billie saw her and they hugged.

“I- I don’t know how we got here,” said Billie, still stunned.

“Yes, that is a mystery,” said Meghan, lying. “But, Billie, can I just say how
good
it is to see you. We have been so worried about everyone on the island.”

“Yes, the island,” she said in a daze. “Maura. Wait, where’s Maura?”

“I’m here, Billie,” a voice returned. Maura was sitting on the ground next to an older woman, assisting her.

Billie took a deep breath.
“We escaped the island, came seeking help. We nearly died today, all of us. But someone saved us. I don’t know who. I don’t how we got here.”

Escaped
, Meghan thought. Why did she need to escape the island? What exactly was going on back there?

Nashua
, the leader of the Tunkapog, alongside Curtis Bevins, the temporary leader of the banished, arrived to assess the situation. Arnon and Kanda arrived just behind them.

Meghan made the introductions.

Slowly, Billie seemed to come around.

Noah Flummer
and his wife came striding over, standing at her side. “We know how confusing this must be,” he told everyone. “We are equally confused, but there are pressing issues we must discuss. Is it possible to be granted a meeting with Amelia Cobb?”

“I’m afraid that is not possible,” said
Curtis. “I’m saddened to tell you she is dead, for reasons I shall not enter into right now.”

“Dead. Oh. I’m
sorry,” said Noah, not sure of what else to say.

“Your arrival here is at an odd time. A time of tran
sition,” Curtis explained.

Nashua
stepped forward, dressed in his white-skinned wolf-like furs.

“Why don’t you take
time to recover, treat your wounded. We can speak in two hours time.”

Noah nodded that he agreed. The news that Amelia was dead had caught him off guard. It appeared that the island was not the only place in a transit
ion, as the man named Curtis had said.

Meghan assisted
the new arrivals, pointing them in the direction of the large meeting room near the center of the village, as it was being set up as a triage of sorts to help the new arrivals get cleaned up and recover from what must have been a harrowing experience.

When they had all gone, she noticed Ivan not too far away and raced over
only to stop in her tracks. He was kneeling down holding the ankle of a girl Meghan recognized.

She bit her lip and tried t
o look away but Ivan caught her. She lifted her eyebrows towards Maria as if trying to send him some secret message.

He replied with a frown.

Maria looked up and saw Meghan. Her smile dropped a little.

Meghan knew it right then. This girl
, Maria, liked Ivan. And he had more or less, admitted that he liked her too.

Meghan marched right up to Maria and extended
her hand.

“Hi. I d
on’t think we have officially met before. Your name is Maria, right?”

Maria took her hand
, her smile returning. “Yes. I am. That’s right. And you’re Meghan Jacoby?”

“I am.
Are you injured badly?”

Ivan replied
on Maria’s behalf. “It’s not bad. It happened after she got off the ship.”

“Caught a root,” said M
aria, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

“Well
, you are in the best hands,” said Meghan. She thought to herself, you know, this is a great opportunity to show Ivan the good side of having a little sister.
I can get a good word in for him.
So she added, “I happen to know for a fact, that Ivan’s hands are the best at just about everything he does...” she trailed off and made a face that said ick!

Ivan
shot her a look that said, WHAT are you doing?

“Um, I mean
t to say, Ivan will take great care of you. Did I mention that Ivan and I are related? No...” Meghan felt her own face turning hot.
Dumb! Guess I need practice at being the little sister.

Maria
nodded, although in a confused manner.

“You’re related
?” she asked, as Ivan helped her stand and test her ankle. “How is that possible?” she stopped herself. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to pry. It just surprised me.”