The Phoenix People

Chapter Fifty

Jack was starting to fuss with hunger, but I was too furious and scared to venture back outside. Not only was I struggling to come to terms with all that I had learned about Alia, but the fact that the Outlanders "needed" Jack wasn't comforting, either.

Finally, I forced myself out of my tent. I kept my head down, hugging Jack to myself a little tighter than was necessary.

Audric was much smarter than I had thought. He was also much more powerful. His reach extended even to the Outlands, a place that we were taught was untouchable.

How could I hope to defeat him?

As lost as I was in my thoughts, I didn't notice Sky approaching me until I had almost passed her.

"Alexia," she called in greeting, waving.

I glanced at her but didn't say anything, barely even slowing in my stride. She fell into step alongside me.

"Is everything all right?"

No, everything is not all right, you lying, manipulative bitch.

"Fine," I forced out. "Just hungry."

"I'll grab you and Jack some food. You can relax in your tent," Sky offered, smiling at me.

I knew that I should have been acting as casual as possible - my only hope of escaping this nightmare was playing it cool - but I couldn't bring myself to act accordingly. I just nodded once, whirled on my heel, and left. I could feel Sky's gaze on my back as I marched away.

When she arrived at my tent to drop off the food, I grabbed it from her hands, spat out a, "Thank you," and turned my back. She rested a hand on my shoulder and I resisted the urge to turn and slap her.

"Alexia, what's wrong?" she asked gently.

I told as much of the truth as I dared. "I'm just thinking of my...of the king."

"Try not to, dear. He cannot reach us here."

Liar.

I somehow managed to smile and nod without being sick. Sky returned the smile and departed.

I ate my food quickly and without enjoyment. I took longer feeding Jack, however, as I took the time to collect my thoughts.

Tomorrow, I would demand to learn the final Skimmer command. Then, I would make my escape.

*

"Jack was very upset with me yesterday," I told Moonhopper the next morning when he met me for my lessons. "Because I left him."

Moonhopper pursed his lips and remained silent.

"I am so very sorry for the inconvenience, but he'll be staying with us today, I'm afraid." There was no chance of me leaving Jack with any of these twisted people again, not with what I knew about them.

Rather than visibly show annoyance, as I had been expecting, Moonhopper just searched my face for a long time before nodding resolutely. Glad for his compliance, I followed him to the awaiting Skimmer.

Before Moonhopper even had a chance to speak, I asked, "Can you please teach me the final command today?"

"I was hoping today could be a review day," Moonhopper protested weakly.

I felt a flash of annoyance - not at his lesson plan, but at the man himself. I had been growing to think of Moonhopper as a friend, and yet he, too, was in on the sickening scheme to kidnap my baby and me. He wanted to keep me in a harmless loop of meaningless lessons until I caved, agreeing to stay here with my child.

"I'm ready to learn the final command," I insisted, voice icy.

Moonhopper chuckled slightly, looking out over the sandy expanse. "Oh, Alexia," he sighed, turning back to me with a smile still lingering on his lips, "you're a lot smarter than we gave you credit for."

My blood ran cold. I immediately stepped away from him, twisting my torso slightly to better protect Jack from whatever Moonhopper was about to do to me. To us.

"Don't misunderstand me," the Outlander said, meeting my gaze steadily as if he had all the time in the world. "I want to help you."

My brow furrowed. "What? Why?"

"How much do you know?" Moonhopper asked, ignoring my questions in favor of his own.

I took a deep breath. "You know who I am. Who I truly am. You - your people - want to keep Jack and me. And you know something..." I swallowed. "You know about my sister."

Moonhopper's face flooded with pain. "Yes, we know something," he murmured. "Do you recall that I am - was - married?"

I stared at him, uncomprehending. No - refusing to comprehend.

"You know where these words end, Princess Alexia."

"No." The word was a whisper trickling from my throat. "No."

"It was my job to patrol the surrounding desert a year ago, just as it is now," Moonhopper said quietly.

I started shaking my head, soon finding myself unable to stop. I didn't want to hear this story.

But Moonhopper wanted to tell it. "I was the one who found her. Your sister. She was in a similar situation - staggering around in the desert, close to death. I offered to take her in, care for her. Sky begrudgingly allowed it.

"One thing led to another and...we fell in love. Alia had been with us mere weeks at that point. She missed you so badly. She spoke of you often."

I started to cry, the tears rolling down my cheeks to splash in the sand below.

"She begged us to return her to you, to her people and her palace. We refused. She had told us of her true identity and we wished to stay out of your politics. We reasoned that since the king had been the one to cast her out, she didn't have a home to return to."

"I was her home," I whispered, shaking. For months, I had been trapped in my misery, my utter desolation, while Alia flirted with Outlanders and gave up her old life just like that?

"I know, and I am so sorry for taking her away from you. But she wouldn't have been safe with you, either."

"Why did Audric banish her?" I demanded.

"I do not know." Moonhopper shook his head.

"You owe me that information, at least."

"Truly, I do not know. That was the one thing of which she would not speak."

"So where is she now? Where is my sister?" I demanded, voice rising.

"She left two months after we were married. That was six months ago. I woke up to find a strange note on her cot. She took a Skimmer. Neither have returned."

"Why was the note strange?" Maybe I could understand it. Maybe it was a clue as to where my sister was now.

"I couldn't understand its purpose," Moonhopper replied ruefully. "Maybe you can."

"So go fetch it!"

"I don't have to. I memorized it long ago." Moonhopper squared his shoulders and stared at the ground, reciting, "My dearest Moon, I have to leave. I am sorry for stealing one of the Skimmers. I love you and your people, but I cannot stop thinking of my brother, of what he is doing to innocent people. For all I know, he could be turning my darling sister to his side. I have to get back to her. I have to get help. Do not try to follow me."

I was silent for a long moment before asking, "What was so strange about that?" It seemed incredibly straightforward, even for an Outlander with little understanding of the political unrest in Fairmeadow.

"The note was a decoy," Moonhopper explained flatly. "Skimmers leave tracks, albeit faint ones. I managed to trace hers into the south for miles before the rest of my party forced me back.

"From the looks of it, she never intended to return to Fairmeadow."