Page 2 of Tashama
“There are many here that please me.”
Balthazar’s eyes, now the color of the cloudless sky, slimmed as his pale, thin lips turned down in a scowl. Tashama sighed,hating that she’d have to return to her medieval society, knowing whoever murdered her parents would still want her dead, too. “All right, so I cannot stay. But I don’t want to go back.”
Suddenly, she had a fond memory of there. “Oh, I remember visiting Princess Talamaya, and her lady companions, Lady Kersta and Mexia of the Kingdom of…”
“Damar. Aye, before things went wrong and I had to take you away.”
“I must see them again.”
“You will.”
She tore off a paper towel, wetted it, then dabbed orange-scented soap on the cloth. She took a deep breath, then leaned over and wiped the counter, her braided hair wiggling down her back.
A strand of hair slipped from her woven tresses, then tickled her cheek. She reached her finger to twist it. She studied the golden hue of the strand of hair in the glassy reflection of the tile. “You were supposed to teach me about Karthland. Why do we have to return there first, before you tell me?—”
“Seeing your home will help you to remember.” Balthazar fingered his banana peel, then sighed deeply. “Well, whatdoyou remember?”
She’d blocked most of it from her mind when the killing had begun, and once they’d first arrived in this new world, she’d been nearly impossible to live with—for a good year, Balthazar had said. She wrinkled her brow and leaned against the counter, pressing her mind to recall what she’d so often tried to forget. “Sand, the color of fresh snow, slipped between my toes in gritty granules while small, clawed crabs ducked into holes.”
His brows tilted up in surprise. “Yes, go on.”
“Thunderous waves crashed along the shore, dragging sand, seashells, and me along with it into the surf, then spat me out again upon the beach.”
Balthazar’s lips turned up slightly.
Twisting her mouth, she thought for a moment, then raised her finger in the air. “And a silver cart lifted me into the blackness dotted with shimmering, sparkling stars. Twisting and turning, it catapulted me through the heavens.”
Shaking his head, he frowned at her. “You’re remembering our trip to the Florida seacoast and Disney World.”
“Oh.” She stared at the countertop, then she smiled. “Yes, and the children thought you were Merlin because you wouldn’t wear blue jeans like the rest of the people of this world.” She walked over to Balthazar and ran her hand over the velvet sleeve of his robe. The purple fabric lightened. Smoothing it the opposite way, it darkened. “And at the Scarborough Renaissance Faire, too. I thought you were going to hold a sorcerer’s convention the way the sorcerer-costumed folks flocked to you.”
“They were spellbound.”
“I couldn’t believe you would cast spells there…a few fireworks, colored mists, a dragon illusion. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’d been drinking too much wine. Nobody even wanted to watch the tournament between the black and white knights. I think old faux King Henry VIII was a bit miffed.”
Pearl white teeth glistened in a bed of whiskers. “Bit of fun.” He waggled his snow-white eyebrows.
She laughed, then grew serious. “I remember caves dripping with groundwater. Spikes of rock reached up to the ceiling, while their mates reached down to them. Sometimes these would couple, forming narrow columns.”
“The caves at Silver Dollar City.”
“Oh.” She rubbed her hands together. “They sparkled so with green gems?—”
Straightening, Balthazar twisted his head slightly to observe her. “The emerald caves. Yes, yes, go on.”
“Dwarves, short and stocky, mined the emeralds. They were a grouchy lot. Made Father pay to use the passage, though he bought emeralds from them.”
“Where did you go after you walked out of the caves?”
“Ram…Ram…” She shook her head.
“Ramoria.”
“Yes, where the Elorian elves lived.” Taking a deep breath, she stared at the adobe-tiled floor. “Their ears pointed to a peak, like the mountains that ring the area.”
“You remember.”
“They thought me funny because I wanted to see their ears. They are not all alike, you know.” She remembered. Not all, but bits and pieces like a shredded map finally taped together, only in places parts of it were still missing.
