Chrysoprase (The Chalcedony Chronicles) (26 page)

Seth stood and pulled me up with him. We swiftly moved to the next room, further away from the steps coming near. We had been found. I grasped his hand tightly. I didn’t want our alone time to end. I was hoping we could sit there for days and then head home together. That wasn’t going to be the case.

“You are going home now,” I told him. My hand heated and time flew by. Stress made me do it faster.

“You will come back to me,” Seth ordered as he felt the heat engulf him. He didn’t protest or stop me. I kissed him while he was still solid.

“And we will find my father, General Meryamun, together,” I replied as he faded.

I saw his mouth move and the surprise on his face. It wasn’t an angry surprise, but a happy one. He melted away with that surprised smile, and I had no clue what it meant. I didn’t have enough time to tell him who my father was, or ask questions, but I had a feeling Seth knew who he was. He had to. General
Meryamun was his father’s partner. He had to know my father.

The footsteps drew near. I would be found soon, but it didn’t matter. The carnelian lines were gone, but the chrysoprase was at least a third of the way up my arm. I needed a day or two, max, to get away. I could do that, and there was enough of the line to transport me short distances if I needed to get away. I did exactly what I wanted to do. My mother, Dee, and Seth were in the future and safe. My family was safe. I had no clue where I was, but I could do this. I could survive the past because someone was waiting for me in the future. I’d never doubt what I had with Seth again. The goddess knew what she was doing when she put us together. Seth was the love of my life.

Author note:

Thank you for reading
CHRYSOPRASE
! Keep reading for the first pages of AVENTURINE - Book 3 in this series. Before we get there, I’d like to ask that if you enjoyed reading this book, please consider leaving me a good review on Amazon.com. It’s one of the best things that you can do to help me out so that I can continue writing and publishing. If you aren’t sure how to post a review there, send me an e-mail at [email protected]. I’ll be more than happy to help you with the process. If you’ve already left a review, thank you so much! If you want to support me by providing reviews and be considered for my permanent review list—e-mail me, and I’ll tell you how to get on the list. Look for updates on my website on my current works, or join my mailing list at:
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I waited in
the spot where Seth was just standing. I had sent him to the future to save him from whatever fate was coming my way. I couldn’t let him be punished for being with me after I ran and hid. It was safer to send him into the future with the last of my time travel power. I could still feel his lips upon mine. I would carry his strength with me to face whatever came my way. I wasn’t afraid as steps came close, just a little sad to be alone. I kept all my tears inside. I came to the past and did exactly what I wanted to accomplish. My mother, Dee, and Seth were both safe in the future. It was going to take a few more days before I could say the same about myself.

It wasn’t even six months ago that I had learned the truth of my family. My mother was from the past, the ancient past, and she had come to the future so that I could have a future of my own. I was raised in the twenty-first century and thank my mother that she did so. The world of the past I was now sitting in had nothing to offer for me. Women were traded like cattle to make alliances, and to even the field of having no power they struggled and plotted against each other. I had met one of the most evil women I had ever known, and now I’d be taken back to her lair if the prince didn’t outright punish me for my disobedience himself.

The people neared, and I waited. A guard of some sort found me first. He bowed when he saw me.

“I found one here,” the guard yelled, and many more footsteps followed. More people gathered into the little room. I didn’t recognize any faces. I hadn’t been in the past long enough to know more than a couple women. None of the males beyond my mother’s cousin,
Saru, were recognizable.

“Where is your mother?” one of the men demanded.

“I don’t know,” I replied. I kept my eyes turned down. I needed to play a better submissive girl if I were to get back to the future. They didn’t exactly like me being outspoken here. “She disappeared, and I was left here alone.”

“Were you trying to escape?” another man added while the first man looked me over.

“No. I am lost and have no clue where I am. I figured if I stayed still someone would eventually find me,” I replied, trying my best to look scared.

It wasn’t hard to do with several men all carrying weapons crammed into a little space with me. The man gently took my arms and picked them up. He paused briefly, looking at the lines but didn’t say anything. I held my breath, wondering if he knew what they meant. If he saw them, it meant he knew the goddess. He turned me a bit in a circle and was satisfied that I was safe, maybe a little dirty, but unhurt.

“Send word to the Prince that we found the daughter. I’ll take her back to the women’s quarters to clean her up before seeing him,” the first man added. He must have been in charge as the men moved and did exactly what he told them.

“Lady,” the man said to me, but then paused. No one had yet to ask me my name.

“Mari,” I filled in the blank.

“Lady Mari, please follow me. I’ll take you back to your aunt,” the man replied. I nodded. My aunt was better than my cousin’s evil wife.

The walk back through the palace was very enlightening. We had come too far the night before in the darkness, I wasn’t sure how far we had traveled in the dark. Now we passed through courtyards and hallways that seemed endless. I had not realized it, but the palace was huge. Somehow my mother had found the point farthest away from the royal side of the palace to hide. Now in the light I saw how elaborate my surroundings were. The walls were finely finished stone, and if it wasn’t immaculately smooth, it was covered in pictures of men, rows of men, chariots with horses, fighting, winning, anything you could imagine was delicately painted on the walls. I always thought of the past as dirty and worn down. Any pictures you ever saw in the twenty-first century of ancient Egypt were of pieces of stone falling apart. Even the Great Sphinx was missing parts of its face. I never imagined the past being real. Now I was walking through it, and it was very real.

“Lady Mari, are you hurt?” the guard asked politely. He had already checked me over, but I guess I still looked ragged.

“No,” I replied. My dress was torn in a few places, but that was from our run in the dark.

“Your aunt will be glad to hear that, as will the Prince,” the guard replied.

“Why would the Prince care?” I asked. He was the one that Lady Saska said I needed to keep Lord Enil happy for.

“The Prince?” The guard asked, surprised. “Because he has chosen your betrothed. If he gave you away in any condition other than perfect, Prince
Arik-ninari would seek to have punishments upon us. The prince specified that you were to be unharmed in every way possible. Lady Saska was putting up a real fight about punishing you.”

That made no sense. Lady
Saska made it seem like Lord Enil was the final choice to be my husband, and now he was not. Was he ever even a choice? A lord or a prince. I didn’t know much about the past, but I was pretty sure marrying your cousin off to a prince would help you better in the long run.

As we finally made it back to women’s quarters, I dreaded entering. I had directly defied Lady
Saska when I fought back against the Lord Enil she had been giving me to. I walked into the courtyard and held my breath, waiting for the onslaught of at least words from the wicked lady. Surprisingly, it was empty.

“Where is everyone?” I asked the guard escorting me. He stood just outside the pillars, watching the room.

“I’d guess at the midday meal,” he replied, satisfied I’d be safe.

“Everyone?” I asked.

“Except me, dear,” my great Aunt Juni told me. I turned and found her walking into the room. She was my mother’s aunt, and mother to the current ruler of Nahrin. The regal older lady was waiting for me. “We need to get your cleaned up. My son will be here soon to question you.”

Aunt
Juni, along with her maids, hurried to clean me. It was not the relaxing bath I had the day before with my mother’s help. This was a mission to clean all the dirt off me as quickly as possible. Even Lady Juni got her hands wet. As soon as we finished, we returned to the courtyard to find Prince Saru pacing around alone.

“Dear cousin,” he said, eyeing me suspiciously.

I stood where I was and waited for him to say more. I had no idea what to think now. Was he mad? Was he happy? I couldn’t tell.

“Where is your mother?” he asked.

He wasn’t a man to lie to. I learned that already about the curly haired man. He seemed to tell when someone was telling the truth, or at least when I was. It was time for me to learn the game. I could tell him no lies, but I could never tell him the whole truth.

“I’m not really sure. I chased her through the halls of the palace, as I don’t know my way around. She just vanished,” I replied. He nodded.

“Was her Egyptian guard with her when she vanished?” The prince moved closer.

“No, he was not. He was further behind us. I think he was trying to keep up with us, but neither I nor he knew our way around the palace like my mother,” I answered. I was glad Dee left at a different time.

“And where is he now?” Prince Saru stood in front of me and stared directly into my eyes.

“I don’t know. He chased after her. I think he was trying to get to her to keep her safe,” I replied.

“Was she alone when she left?” Now this one was tricky. If I said yes, then the prince would think she ran away. But in reality she traveled back to my time alone. Then again, I was with her.

“No, she was not,” I replied. The prince nodded again.

“What country were the people from that were with her?”

“That I don’t know. I don’t know the difference between any of the men I saw last night. I wasn’t raised here. I don’t know how you tell where anyone is from,” I answered. Selective truth telling was easier than I thought. Maybe I
was
cut out to play this game.

“Why did you run?” he asked.

“Because Lady Saska told me to please Lord Enil, and I could not. If I was married to the man, it would have been different, but I’m not,” I replied. I didn’t even care if he saw that as a lie. There was no way I was ever planning to be alone in a room with a guy like Lord Enil.

“Who sent you alone with Lord
Enil?” Prince Saru asked, coming closer and staring into my eyes again. I had a good feeling it was never his order.

“Lady
Saska,” I replied, not even blinking. I don’t know if anyone ever told him what an evil wife he had, but I wasn’t about to lie about that.

Prince
Saru nodded and walked back a few paces. After a moment in thought, he turned to me and eyed me over. “That should do,” he said before waving the guards forward into the room.

My heart began to beat. Was I in trouble for telling him that his wife was to blame for me running away? Did he really mean for me to be a play toy for this Lord
Enil? I glanced at the lines on my hand that indicated whether I could travel through time soon. They were incomplete. There was enough to escape, but I had to be sure. If I used any of the time travel ability, it would mean a longer wait until I got back home to the future. The guard that found me smiled at me gently, like he was trying to calm a caged animal. I got the feeling he didn’t want me to disappear. Could I trust him? He could see the lines. Did that make him trustworthy?

I walked behind the Prince flanked by guards. I didn’t know how to get far in the palace, but I was sure of our direction now. We were going back to the eating hall that I was in the night before. Prince
Saru walked ahead and opened the door.

“Prince
Arik-ninari, I have found your bride in one piece,” he called into the room.

A man toward the back of the room turned to our entrance and hurried over to us. He was young, much younger than I expected, but he didn’t seem like a prince. Several of the men were dressed more elaborately than he was.

“Prince Saru,” the kid said, bowing to the prince beside me.

“Prince
Arik-ninari has begun packing his traveling companions to head back home. He left me here to say goodbye to you,” the kid added.

“Leaving?” Prince
Saru asked, confused and hurried at the thought.

“Yes, since you lost his bride,” the kid added, looking to me.

“I didn’t lose her. I found her and will bring her to him myself,” Prince Saru added, a bit frustrated.