CHAPTER#111

"No. The barrier Ratu made is still holding." She let out a sigh. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I went for a walk in the back. At least a few of the centaurs there have been missing for a decade or more, and more than a couple are kin. It was tough seeing someone you knew so many years later, frozen in time."

"I wonder if it could be reversed?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, but that doesn't mean the harm isn't already done. These are people who have families that have moved on without them. It's hard to imagine exactly how these people will simply return to the tribe without disruption. But that wasn't all."

"Oh?" His mouth was full of the best blackberries he had ever eaten.

"My aunt was out there." Zel's lips formed a grim line. "When it was discovered that she helped me escape, they sent her into exile. It's very rare for the tribe to flat out execute one of their own. It's also very hard to be an exiled centaur. Your only choice is to climb the mountain and avoid the valley, because you will be attacked on sight. So I kept looking. Not all of the statues are bold centaur warriors who thought to challenge the Snow Queen, but also people who were exiled. More than a couple were centaurs who simply went missing, and I wonder if they ran across Yuki on accident."

"I guess... wow, I don't know what to say."

"These aren't all people who came to kill her. Some of them are people who got lost and maybe came here to beg for help, I can't say. Even if we could release the spell, then what? The warriors would be welcomed back into the tribe, but what about the others?"

"What about them? If they can't stay here, why not move into the greenhouse? You survived there for years on your own, though it sounds like they'll have to go vegan."

Zel twisted her upper half to look back at him. "Really? You would just invite them to come stay with you?"

"I guess. The greenhouse is huge and underutilized as it is. Well, I say this on the assumption that the exiled aren't huge assholes or anything. But yeah, it's my greenhouse, so I don't see what the big deal is."

"What about the others?"

"We can talk to them when we get the chance, but I doubt they will voice any complaints. You could start your own tribe or something."

"Hmm." Zel turned away, her eyes on something distant. She said nothing else while he ate, so he spent his time watching Daisy pluck the tiny spheres off of a blackberry and eat them. She was definitely smaller than the other fairies, and her antennae were thick and black. Dark gobs of blackberry covered her mouth, and she gave Mike a large smile.

"Why did you help us? he asked her, suddenly curious.

She signed a couple of things, then frowned when she realized he couldn't keep up. The slate was nearby, so she pointed at it and the letters from their last conversation rearranged themselves.

"You helped me."

"Well, yeah, but I figured you worked for Yuki. We're kind of at odds here, and will probably fight next time we see each other."

Daisy pondered her response for second. The slate could only hold so many words at a time, which had made their conversations last night a little challenging.

"You helped even though dangerous. Like Emily."

"Yeah, but Yuki hates Emily."

"Emily not always bad. Something happened."

"Clearly. I feel like the last few days have been nothing but a reminder that she fucked everything up. Do you have any idea what happened?"

Daisy shook her head, then pointed at the board. "Fine one day, broken the next."

"Great, like a magical stroke or something."

Daisy nodded solemnly, then stuffed another berry in her mouth. He was about to ask her something else when the tower shook, a low rumble that caused the cutlery to vibrate on the table. Daisy's eyes opened wide and she looked up at the ceiling.

"What the hell was that?" he asked. Somewhere in the tower, a bell rang ominously.

"DANGER!" The slate announced. Daisy dropped her berry and shot up the stairs. Wiping his face, he made sure his dagger was still with him before following, the slate clutched tightly in his hands.

---

A cool jet of air caught the side of Beth's face, blasting her hair away from her forehead. Turning toward the breeze, she looked through a hole about a foot across. The hole led to a rundown room with a busted window, and outside the window was a frosted, barren landscape. Around her shoulder, she wore a small bag she had found in Ratu's pagoda that was just big enough for Jenny to fit in. The doll had been motionless all night long, so Beth had taken it upon herself to carry her around.

By the sides of the hole, two rats waited for Tink to come running up and shove her head inside. Beth wasn't certain how her tracking skill worked, but after only a few seconds, Tink yanked her head out.

"No husband," she told them. "Close hole please."

The rats got to work chewing on the hole in reverse. It was an interesting process to watch. The rats would chomp down on the stone wall they were working on, then drag their teeth into the opening. At first it looked like the material was stretching, but in reality, it was being restored as if it came back from an alternate dimension where it had been stored.

They had chosen to work away from Ratu's den. With the large amount of dangerous magical items stored there, Reggie and Asterion had felt it would be safer to open portals somewhere else, just in case something was waiting on the other side.

After a long, largely sleepless night for all of them, Reggie had finally announced that the first portals were nearly ready for Tink to inspect. All morning long, they had moved from portal to portal, with zero luck.