Page 2 of Lost in the Fog

“Fifteen years. You were declared dead six months before they cracked the Stronghold for the first time.”

Pandora tried to smile. “Crack. Outside. Saw the world, sort of.”

“Welcome to the new palace. This is my daughter, Amiraith. She prefers being called Ira. Thanks for coming to her aid. She insisted on swimming, but I am guessing it was a little cold.”

The older woman smiled. “We have a guestroom waiting, Regis.”

“Good. Pandora, are you hungry?”

Ira looked at her with a concerned expression. “You look so sad.”

“Do I?” She put her fingers up to her cheek. “First time with face in a while.”

Ira smiled. “You will get back to yourself. I can tell.”

Pandora looked at the bright golden gleam in the child’s eye. She nodded and smiled. “I think maybe.”

Regis said, “Off to a bath and then bed for you, Ira. Anna, can you take her and make sure she’s clean before bed?”

“Of course. Come on, lily pad.” The older woman took Ira’s hand and led her off through a distant archway.

Regis and the other woman were all that was left. “Pandora, this is Gia. Gia, Pandora. Gia isn’t really solid yet either.”

Gia smiled. “Mine was because of mate rejection. I am actually in a coma in my father’s home.”

Pandora blinked. “Mate rejection?”

“I was young, he didn’t want to wait, or he couldn’t feel me. That is a possibility. Either way, he mated with someone else, and I went into shock and collapsed. So, I sought out the queen, and she’s helped me pull myself together. More or less.” Gia smiled. “No mate for me, but I am stable now. It took a while.”

Pandora smiled and stuck out her hand. Gia did the same, and they carefully collided their limbs. There was a puff of fog, and Gia went through her a little, but they managed something close to a handshake.

Pandora looked at Regis and back at Gia. “Hello. My name is Pandora.”

The ladies smiled. Regis grinned a moment later. “It’s a start. Can you bake?”

“I think I used to.”

“Wonderful. Let’s talk until you feel tired.”

“Then I go back to the pond?”

“Then you go to the guestroom. Tomorrow, we will work on finding clothing for you.”

Gia stared. “You look so young. How old were you when you were taken?”

“Twenty-one, I think.”

Regis nodded. “Twenty-one. You just disappeared, and your parents went nuts trying to find you.”

“Oh. They are okay?”

Regis smiled. “They are alive, but they lost you. They are the furthest thing from okay, and you didn’t age, so we are going to have to arrange things if you want to see them again.”

“Oh.”

“You should be past thirty-five. That looks different from twenty-one.”

Pandora frowned. “I think I can make myself look older.”

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