The palace was in turmoil. The heir was missing. For the last two days the servants had been quietly tearing the palace apart, one room at a time, looking for her. The crux of the situation was that no one could know that she was missing. Not the Queen. Not the general populace. And most certainly not the visiting dignitaries. The consort already knew. He had been devoting every spare moment to orchestrating the search and the rest of his time trying to ferret out who among the dignitaries was responsible for the girl's disappearance.
There was no doubt in his mind that one of them was responsible. If she had gotten lost in the Library again or had gone visiting one of the herdsmen, she would have been found by now. If nothing else his daughter's elephantine appetite encouraged people to not keep her company for any length of time. No she had been kidnapped. With the annual trade negotiations taking place motive was, almost without doubt, a given. Several of the peoples who were in negotiations would not think twice about the morality of using the heir as leverage against her mother. Q had been pressing them to Foster her out, not only for her powers, but for safety as well. Perhaps it was time they seriously considered his request.
***
Ree did not understand what was happening. Strangers had woken her last night when they entered her room. She did not remember anything after that, until she had woken up moments earlier. Now she did not know where she was. It was not her room, or any room she had ever been in at home. It was a small, dark room. There were no windows in the room, not like home. She did not know what time it was, but she guessed that in was late in the day because of her hunger. It was so sharp it had wakened her from sleep. Now she could think of nothing else. Not her missing parents or her whereabouts or why she was here. She had never been this hungry before, not even the time she had become lost in the Library for half a day.
Slowly she sat up, her head was still feeling strange, and looked around the room. She had been lying on a pile of rags. There was only one door to the room, in the far wall. Near the door were a bowl and a mug. The design of the pottery reminded her of some of the pictures of ancient plates she had seen in books. She crawled over to them and examined their contents. There was food in the bowl and water in the mug. Neither looked very clean. She took a spoonful of the meat potage. It looked like the same food she and her father ate when they had gone camping only a few months ago. She took another bite. It did not taste the same though. It had a funny under taste. She took another bite trying to remember where she had encountered that taste before. Just as she remembered the world started to spin.
When she woke up the second time her head was so fogged with pain she could barely see. What she could see did not comfort her. Someone had been in the room while she was drugged. She had been moved back onto the pile of rags. The food she had spilt when she fainted had been cleaned off the floor, though she could still smell it staining her clothing. The smell disgusted her, but the fear of what her mother would say if she was found without a stitch on was stronger. The bowl and mug had been replaced, but this time she did not bother to try them. They were drugged as surely as the last had been. She decided that she would rather starve than take that drug again.
Ree had no idea how much time had passed since she had been brought here. Hunger made it impossible to think coherently for any length of time. The room kept fading in and out. Sometimes it was her room at home. Others it was the small, dark, windowless room she had been put in. And once it was a small, bright well lit room with large double doors that lead to a garden. No matter what room she saw she cried. She couldn't stop crying. She cried because of hunger. She cried for the pain in her head. She cried for her Mother. And she cried for her Father. When she was in the small, dark room she cried silently, but in the other rooms she did not muffle the sound.
Her jailors must have heard her despite her best efforts. Two of them entered the dark room. They brought with them no light. 'Ree could see them silhouetted against the bright moon shining it the outer room. She wondered how the moon could come inside a building. Perhaps it, too, had heard her tears. She had no more time to wonder about the moon. One of the strangers picked her up and shook her.
"Stop that noise! Now! Do you want to bring the watch down on us?!" he demanded as he shook her. She only cried harder. The second figure drew back its hand and backhanded her forcefully. 'Ree saw stars. As her head snapped back from the force of a second blow she thought she saw something else. A huge night bird flying down out of the sky, silhouetted against the moon. She heard the sound of glass shattering as she blacked out. So that's how the moon got in, was her final thought before darkness claimed her again.
Meyer easily subdued the two men who were abusing the child. He did not recognize their race, but that did not surprise him. Neither he nor Charlotte frequented the market place on a regular basis. The child, however, was one of the natives of the planet. He had no disagreement with them. The strangers, on the other hand, were not endearing themselves to him by their treatment of the child. As the last man collapsed silently to the flour, unconscious, he scooped up the child. She, if her long hair was any indication of gender, weighed almost nothing. Judging by that and her size he guessed that she was very young, only a few Winds as they reckoned things here. The only other clue to her identity was her clothing. It was very finely made and of expensive cloth. She was obviously from one of the noble families. Anything else would have to wait until she awoke. Wrapping his cloak around her protectively he made his way home.
Charlotte was surprised to see him return so quickly from his walk. He explained about hearing a child's cries in one of the warehouses in an uninhabited section of the city. He had found guards at the one door small enough for anyone not native to the planet to open. He had also found an unguarded skylight. He had acted quickly when he saw the scene unfolding below and brought the child here for safety.
His wife agreed completely, as he had known she would. Her sense of duty and honor was stronger than even his own, and her protective instincts surpassed his by far. She took the child from him and brought her to the nursery they had been preparing for their own child soon to be born. Once the child was settled into the crib Charlotte turned to him.
Ree woke up much latter in another strange room. This one did not have the unclean, unused feeling of the last. It was still dark, with no windows, but something about it reminded her of her room at home. Hunger was still an overriding force. She could think and feel nothing else. She must have made some sound upon waking because almost immediately there was a face above her. It was not one of the strangers that had come into room so long ago. It was a woman's face. The prettiest woman Ree had ever seen, with brown hair and eyes that rivaled her mother's for kindness. The woman's skin was very pale, like no one Ree had seen before, but her ears were pointed like Ree's own.
The woman smiled at her and lifted her out of the crib. Ree was not certain where she was being taken nor to what ends, but she found she had no strength to even voice a protest. Fortunately she found she need not have worried. The woman took her through a door and into what was recognizably a bathroom. Keeping up a constant stream of calming chatter the woman bathed her and dressed her in a man's shirt.
Charlotte was worried about the little girl. Even awake she was as limp as a rag doll. Only her eyes showed any sign that she was aware. Now that she was clean Charlotte could see that the girl had the lighter coloring that only a small percentage of the girl's race shared. The girl's pale blonde hair fell in waves to her shoulders as Charlotte combed it. She hoped Meyer would return soon from the market with food for the child. She fell asleep in Charlotte's lap before he did. Charlotte returned the child to the crib and resumed her watch.
Meyer was eager to return home. The merchant had been most helpful. From her he had learned that children of her race were not so different from those of his own. The required a very large portion of their diet to be protein and iron rich. That suited his purposes, as he suspected the child had been starved or underfed, he purchased a quantity of infant formula for her. Hopefully enough to see them through her stay, and returned home with his new information.
He found Charlotte standing watch over the child who was still sleeping. He found himself hoping she would sleep through the day, but knew they couldn't let her. Charlotte confirmed his fears with her description of the child's reaction to the bath. Wordlessly he handed his wife a prepared bottle and reached down for the child. Charlotte smiled as he once again cradled the child in his arms. With the gentle movement the child woke. The infant formula directions had said to mix it with warm milk from one of the native livestock animals, or with blood from the same animal. Fortunately they had plenty of the latter, since he had not thought to purchase milk in his rush to return home.
Before the child could react to being wakened suddenly Charlotte had the bottle in her mouth. Reluctant at first, the child eventually accepted the bottle. Charlotte had been skeptical that the girl would accept the infant formula mixed with blood. While the Eda were very tolerant of her and Meyer's lifestyle, some of them even drank blood on a regular basis, it was an acquired taste. Luckily the girl seemed to at least tolerate the taste.
It took almost two hours to fill the hungry child. Two hours of feeding her in relay, switching when their arms got tired. Meyer thought he had known what tired was before. He smiled as he watched the little girl struggle to keep her eyes open longer. She lost as Charlotte continued to rock and sing to her. Meyer took the half finished bottle from her and placed it in the refrigerator with two other full ones. They had moved to the kitchen when the girl had started devouring the contents of the bottles faster than Meyer or Charlotte cared to run up and down the stairs.
"Do you think she'll sleep through the day?" he asked Charlotte. She nodded and carefully stood. Once the child was safely tucked in the crib they retired to their own bed.
Meyer was awaked from a sound sleep by a child's terrified cries. Charlotte was already reaching for her robe. Meyer found himself debating getting out of bed to follow her. Before he could decide Charlotte returned carrying the still crying child. As soon as she saw him the child reached out to him. He took her as Charlotte climbed back into bet. He should have guessed that the child would have nightmares so soon after her ordeal. The strength and desperation with which she was clinging to him told him just what kind of dream had wakened her. Charlotte moved to take the child back, but she was having none of that. She slept the rest of the day between them.
By the time he awoke the next night Charlotte had taken the child to the kitchen eat. He heard the sound of voices as he approached the kitchen. He felt the feather-light metal cress that he had come to associate with adults of the child's race. They used as much telepathy as vocalization when communicating. The mental touch was an invitation to join the conversation. Despite his natural stealth she knew he was here.
Dangerously near dawn found Meyer again at the market. They were out of formula and blood. The blood would be delivered during the day. The butchers did not keep night hours. The formula was his responsibility to acquire. He did not want Charlotte to risk herself this close to sunrise. He was amazed at how much Ree could eat. He didn't begrudge her the food. From what he and Charlotte had been able to piece together from the girl's description, she had been starved for at least two days perhaps longer. If she normally ate even close to as much as she had this last day it surprised him that she had not slipped into a coma. Of course she had all ready shown that she had a formidable will. Unfortunately, as aware as she was of her surroundings she could not explain where she was from.
Ree slept between them again during the day. This time it was Meyer who woke to her stirrings. Centuries of experience told him that the sun was setting outside. Without waking Charlotte he picked up Ree and took her to the kitchen for another bottle. Charlotte had had the forethought to leave several prepared bottles in the fridge the night before. Taking one, he took the child up to the entry-room which was dome shaped like all modern Eda architecture. Because of the strong seasonal winds they built mostly underground and what was above ground was aerodynamically shaped to withstand the seasons. Only the very oldest of buildings were completely above ground, build with a skill that had been long forgotten. Their entry-room had a large star window. The Eda were very connected to their environment, something he did not understand, but he had seen them become very depressed when underground for too long. That was the reason he brought Ree up here this evening. Last night Charlotte had begun teaching the child to play the piano. Like the majority of her race Ree had perfect pitch and an ear for music that astonished him. She surprised him again when she saw the stars.
"Where are my stars?" her natural telepathy expanded the question, letting him know that she was not asking to be shown specific stars, but that she did not recognize the constellations she saw. That told him that she was from one of the northern cities. If she could recognize stars perhaps they could find her home using the star charts they had in the library. He would have to remember to show them to her later. For the moment he was kept busy by her endless demands to know about these 'stranger' stars, as she called them. Charlotte found them there, discussing mythologies and legends of constellations.
After hours of pouring over star charts, they were able to locate Ree's home continent, in the northern hemisphere. Or at least it's latitude. It took him only a few minutes to have the computer make a list of townships that fell within the bounds he designated. Unfortunately there were many. Charlotte was entertaining the child with more piano lessons while he thought over the problem. He had come no closer to a solution when they returned. Ree had gotten hungry, again. She couldn't go more than an hour or so without eating and her preferred place to eat was sitting in his lap. She hoisted herself up as Charlotte handed him a bottle. Ree looked at the pages of printout in front of him, puzzled. He supposed that like most of her race she had never seen written words. She had been surprised to see bound books in their library. Writing, for the Eda, was a relatively new invention. Their language did not lend its self well to such a limited form of documentation. He explained to her that it was a list of towns that could see her stars.
Charlotte laughed when Ree informed him, in no uncertain terms, that she lived it a house, not a town. Fortunately for his peace of mind Charlotte had the ingenuity to ask Ree what her house looked like.
"Big," she informed them. "All above ground. Made out of a mountain."
Immediately an idea began to form for Meyer, and if her expression was any clue, his wife as well. There were very few Eda who lived in such structures. There were few of the ancient structures still habitable. All of those that were, were in the hands of the oldest ruling families. Both he and Charlotte had guessed that Ree was a child of the gentry based upon the clothing she had been wearing and also from her light coloration also found most commonly in the oldest families. Meyer hoped that, knowing what he did of the houses of the ruling families and what he could find in the city library computer they would be able to locate Ree's home using pictures. The Eda were a notoriously curious group of people and their royalty was a constant source of speculation. As a result there was an astronomical amount of information available for public access, including an extensive collection of photographs of their houses. Keying up the information he started looking for photos to show Ree.
Hours later both Meyer and Charlotte were ready to quit for the night. They had only finished about half the list. The reason was simple, there were more photos of than either of them had thought possible. They were showing everyone to Ree, given that she had probably never seen the front of her home, or if she had might not remember it as well as the inside of her home. They had had one close call when Ree identified one of the palaces as Nicki's house. He had hoped, briefly, that they had found what they were looking for until Charlotte had pointed out that Ree lived in a mountain. He still hoped they were getting close, but that had been two towns and a province ago.
"My room!" Ree startled him out of his thoughts. He had to back up one photo, having automatically moved to the next at the sound of her voice. The picture was a view looking across a landscaped courtyard up at windows carved out of the stone of a mountain. Ree was pointing to one of the windows. Meyer could see no difference between it and any other of the windows, but he hoped she was right. He could see now that the courtyard was in a pocket valley in the mountain. What he had taken to be stonewalls on either side were actually steep mountain slopes. The caption labeled it as the Queen's courtyard at the royal palace at Etire, looking towards the royal living quarters. He again advanced to the next picture. That had been the first picture of the royal palace in a very long list of pictures. Ree recognized almost two-thirds of them, including several people that could be seen in the distance.
It was after several of these identifications that Charlotte suggested looking at photos of people connected to the royal palace. Meyer found almost as many of these as there had been of the palace. The very first one was of the current ruler. Ree's cry of 'Mya!' left no doubt in either of their minds as to where she came from. It was not possible to take her home that night. It was nearly dawn now and the approach of the windy season made teleporting dangerous. It was not something Meyer would risk Ree or Charlotte's lives with. Besides Ree was falling asleep in his lap.
Ree slept soundly through the day. Meyer wondered, when he woke, how her parents would react to her new nocturnal habits. Of course she had adapted quickly so it was likely she would do so again. He noticed Charlotte also watching the child sleep between them. This would be, perhaps, the last time they would wake up with this child between them. Soon they would have their own child to care for, but he felt that this one was somehow special. Soon she would wake and the moment would be gone. They would be on their way once more to the City of the Stars.
The trip to Etire was uneventful. It only took a few hours to fly there in their speeder. The Eda were fond of their fast transportation, be it land, sea, or air. It was a trait Meyer appreciated. There was no parking near the palace, but due to the varied population of the planet, and Etire in particular, there were plenty of shuttles that would take them to within easy walking distance of it. As their shuttle drew near the palace he understood why there was no parking near it. The palace was not built on the top of a mountain; it was built into the top most peaks of a mountain range. The slopes of the mountains were too steep for any sizable structure to sit on them, let alone room to land numerous vehicles that the tourist trade would bring. He could just make out a landing platform near the peak of one mountain. From there, if the tourist information that was being broadcast over speakers in the shuttle, a bridge led to the main palace gate. Tonight was not one of the nights for the guided tours, but Meyer had little doubt that they could gain an audience. Their gate pass was safely tucked away under his cloak. Charlotte had given her another bottle to keep her quiet on the shuttle. There were few others entering the palace at this time of night but they choose to take no chances. One unknown group of people had already tried to kidnap her.
They were stopped at the gate by two guards. It was apparent to Meyer that though they were courteous, they were being very careful about who they let in. Signaling to the senior of the two guards that he wished to speak privately, Meyer was able to reveal Ree's presence without alerting any of the others entering. The officer politely, but firmly led them into his office to one side of the gate. There they were made to wait until a message could reach the consort. Ree showed some curiosity about her surroundings, but refused to leave Meyer's lap.
After only a few minutes an armed escort arrived to take them to the Queen. Again Meyer hid Ree under the folds of his cloak. He was glad he had when they began moving through the more populated areas of the palace. They received no few stares. Not all of them friendly, and not all of them Eda. He recognized two as being of the same race as those who had been abusing Ree. Judging by the light level in the halls they traveled he supposed that adult Eda really did not sleep for more than a few hours each night. He supposed it could be a useful trait for a busy ruler.
The audience chamber they were lead to was decorated in typical Eda fashion. Plastered walls painted in pale earthy tones. The architecture was the older, flowing, organic forms he had seen echoed in modern buildings, but this was without a doubt the original. Seated behind a desk at the far end of the room was a woman who resembled Ree in facial shape and build. But she had dark brown, curly hair and greed eyes. Behind her stood a man who looked nothing like either one of them. His hair was straight, black and he wore a beard. His eyes too, were black. A color not found among the Eda, a foreign advisor perhaps.
"They tell me you have found my daughter," the woman said without preamble.
Before either Meyer or Charlotte could answer Ree fought her way clear of the cloak to ask for another bottle. With a nervous laugh Charlotte took the empty one and handed Ree another. The man and woman exchanged looks that Meyer suspected held more than the visible. He quickly explained what he knew about Ree's imprisonment and their part in her rescue. Once again he found himself thankful for the highly telepathic language of the Eda. They would know his story for the truth and would be able to pick up his memories of who had been responsible for the child's treatment.
Once he had finished the story they were surrounded by a whirlwind of activity. Servants and guards came and left with a speed that made his head spin. All of it was silent, not one word was spoken. Ree watched it all calmly from the safety of his arms while drinking her bottle. He and Charlotte were offered the hospitality of the Queen for as long as they wished. Meyer got the impression that the Queen wished their help in caring for her child. Ree would surely have been traumatized if they left immediately. They were also told of the Queen's decision to send the child away for fostering. No doubt the sooner they left the sooner she would be sent. Charlotte accepted the invitation immediately for them both. He knew she shared his reluctance to be parted from Ree so soon, and also his fear of never seeing her again.
He was glad they had stayed when Ree woke with nightmares during the day.