Remorse filled her. He was hurt by her sudden disappearance that night, of course he was. She hadn’t known how to handle all the unfamiliar emotions sweeping through her then, and she still didn’t.
What future could we ever have? she thought.
“It’s safe,” he said, holding out his hand to her.
She placed her hand in his and climbed up the steep incline. He helped her out of the hole, and they scrambled to hide behind the rocks. A hundred yards away, two large poachers stood talking while a hairless mammal with a long and wrinkled snout, beady black eyes, and stubby ears clawed at the ground. The beast’s head disappeared in the hole and when it reemerged, a torn piece of her gown hung from between its teeth.
A man’s shout of triumph split the air as he yanked the cloth from the beast’s mouth. He waved it in the other man’s face. She and Tamblin ducked their heads when the man looked around.
“I told you I saw something!” Macron chortled.
Harron grabbed the material and turned it over in his hand before he tossed it back at Macron. “That’s a dress for a doll,” he retorted with disgust.
“Hey now, do you see any kids around here? I’m telling you it belongs to those creatures that are sabotaging our ships and releasing the Tasiers,” Macron argued.
“The only one who saw something was you and I made the mistake of believing your wild tales. We need to focus on the Taisers. We haven’t lost any more of them since we upgraded the locks on the traps—that I purchased, I might add. How do I know you aren’t trying to jeopardize this business endeavor?” Harron sneered.
Macron grabbed Harron by the collar, and the two men struggled for a few minutes. Arosa stared at the conflict with a combination of awe and horror. She jumped when Tamblin wrapped his fingers around her arm.
“Why are they fighting with each other?” she asked.
Tamblin frowned. “Because that is what they do,” he replied.
She lifted the hem of the green and silver gown Morah had given her and followed him as he climbed. She gazed up at the mountain of rocks. This was a lot more work than she’d expected.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a sigh.
Tamblin stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. “First, we are going to find a place where we are safe. Then, we are going to head back to my kingdom,” he explained, resuming his climb.
“But—why are we heading north if your kingdom is to the east?” she asked.
He stopped. She stared at his stiff frame. His shoulders rose and fell as if he were taking a deep breath, holding it, and then releasing it.
“I was coming to find you because Tia said you had the power to save our world—and she is never wrong. Now, we are returning to the cave where I left Batty, which is north of here,” he replied.
Arosa swayed with shock. “Tia told you about me?” she asked.
Tamblin looked over his shoulder at her again and frowned. “I told her that unless you have an army we don’t know about, I find it very unlikely that you can help us, but I have a duty to my people to try anything I can to save them. If you can turn the poachers into flowers the way you did the sandworms, that would work,” he replied with a raised eyebrow.
She shook her head. “I—can’t,” she said, biting her lip.
He sighed. “Well, I guess that was too much to hope for. We’d better move. Once they finish beating each other up, they’ll start searching for us again,” he replied.
Arosa nodded, not that Tamblin saw the movement. He had already turned around and started climbing again. She tried to follow him, but her feet kept slipping on the loose gravel.
She sighed and looked down at her feet. This terrain required more practical footwear than the slippers she was wearing. In the blink of an eye, the dainty slippers were transformed into a pair of sturdy hiking boots. She lifted the gown and secured it with a wide, golden belt that appeared around her waist.
With a flutter of her wings, she rose off the ground. Tamblin was a fair distance from her now, and flying would be the fastest—and easiest—way to catch up with him.
As soon as she was close to him, she squeaked in surprise when he swiftly turned, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her down against his body. She tried to speak, but he covered her mouth with his hand and stared over her shoulder. He muttered a curse and frantically searched the area around them.
“Stay quiet. They are coming this way,” he warned, pulling her down until she was crouching beside him.
She nodded when he moved his hand. He kept his arms wrapped around her as they peered between the rocks. Her flight up to Tamblin must have attracted the men’s attention.
“You busted my nose,” Macron growled, wiping the blood off with the sleeve of his shirt.
“You bit me,” Harron retorted. “What is it?”
Macron stopped a few feet from Tamblin and Arosa. “I saw something,” he remarked in a distracted voice.
Tamblin held her tighter when Macron took another step closer. Arosa narrowed her eyes and focused on the ground. Hundreds of small butterflies rose from the mushrooms and swarmed around the two men. She lifted her hand and smothered her giggles when the men jumped back with startled yells.
When she looked at the hairless beast, she noticed that it was staring in their direction. A mischievous smile curved her lips.
Do not hunt the Tasiers or the people of this moon any longer. They are under my protection, she instructed.
The hairless beast bowed its head. It turned, looked at the two men dancing in frantic circles before it took off in the direction of the ships. The men soon followed the beast. Satisfied with her ploy, she leaned back and beamed when Tamblin softly chuckled in her ear.
“Maybe this is why Tia said I needed to find you,” he mused.
“Why is that?” she asked, looking at him.
She caught her breath when their lips nearly touched. She stared into his eyes as a heightened sense of awareness flooded her. He tightened his hold on her.
“Luck—perhaps you will bring us luck,” he replied.
She parted her lips and leaned into him, hoping he would kiss her. Disappointment quickly replaced anticipation when he rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. He released her and stepped back.
“We’d better go. It will take us a few days to get back to Glitter. A laser blast hit Batty. I left him in a cave a half day’s journey from here. If possible, I’d like to get back to him before dark,” he said, avoiding her eyes.
She silently nodded, not bothering to hide the hurt caused by his rejection. Instead, she followed him down the rocks to the ground. It didn’t seem necessary to inform him that Batty was safe and his wounds now healed. He would discover that when they reached the cave.
7
Tamblin paused and looked over his shoulder at Arosa. She wiped her damp brow and gave him a quivering smile. He looked away from her and scanned the area.
“We can take a break here,” he said.
She silently followed him. He stopped under an enormous red and yellow mushroom with soft white gills. Dozens of smaller mushrooms grew under the protective umbrella of the larger one. He shrugged off his coat and covered the top of one of the smaller mushrooms.
“You can sit here. This way you won’t ruin your dress,” he offered.