He also suggested thatMiranda tell Zephira but nobody else, and then that she shouldreturn to Aquitain and move to another location today; he had beenforewarned that the Archon was due here the following day. Hedidn’t want to know where they had gone, but from time to time theyshould keep in contact. Miranda had no doubt that he knew more thanhe was prepared to say. One thing that was certain was that he wasworried about Aquitain.
When they leftFeatherdown’s tower they bumped into Senior Wizard Curbut and askedif he knew the whereabouts of Zephira. He kindly directed them toher and left them to continue his duties. Curbut quickly returnedto his quarters. When he saw Miranda wearing Zephira’s distinctivebackpack and looking for Zephira he knew that he now had themissing piece in the puzzle. The druid woman must have been withAquitain. She would have been the one who controlled the cats, andnow she was informing Featherdown and Quab about what hadhappened.
He went to a birdcagein his room and opened the small door.
‘How are we today, mybeautiful little friend? I have a small job for you. I want you tofly to the druid’s sanctuary and while there listen in on anyconversations between Quab the druid and the druid woman calledMiranda and any others. If the druid woman tells him she isleaving, then come back to me immediately.’
Rubbing his handstogether he set off to see the High Wizard to find out what storythe High Wizard would concoct in an attempt to cover Aquitain’strail.
Zephira turned whitewhen she saw Miranda and Quab coming to visit her during a class,expecting to hear bad news. She quickly dismissed the class andleft with them for Quab’s sanctuary.
‘Has anything happenedto him? Is he all right?’ she asked tentatively.
‘He’s quite fine,’ saidMiranda. ‘Nothing’s wrong. We had a bit of an adventure yesterday,which Featherdown suggested I tell you about. There’s also a changein the plan.’ Then she said nothing more until they reached thesanctuary, saying that it was dangerous to talk in the open.Zephira knew Miranda was keeping her in suspense and was reallyannoyed by the time they reached the sanctuary. Miranda savouredevery moment of it.
Miranda wouldn’t talkuntil Quab had checked the grounds and set the wards so that theycould speak freely. By this time Zephira was ready to choke Mirandato death but she quickly settled down when Miranda pulled the maskand the club out of the backpack and began the story for the thirdtime. She enjoyed saying how brave and smart Aquitain was and howZephira would have been proud of him and how she couldn’t quiteunderstand why Zephira thought he needed to be protected. Afterall, he was a true hero.
By the end of the storyZephira realized one thing. If there wasn’t anything going onbetween Aquitain and Miranda before, there was now. Quab alsonoticed it this time too, but said nothing. He just sat backthinking.
‘Merciful Lady whathave I done? I should never have let those two meet, let aloneagreed to them going off into the jungle together. What isSnowbelle going to do when she finds out? I think it’s time tospend a few weeks in the deep jungle checking on my animals.’
Rather than thinking ofher cousin as a gallant hero, Zephira saw it in the opposite way.Miranda was exposing poor innocent Aquitain to great threats whenshe was supposed to be looking after him. He could have been killedseveral times. She would have to go back with Miranda to ensurethat he was safe, especially from Miranda. However, when shesuggested it, Miranda wouldn’t consider it. He was herresponsibility and she wouldn’t be able to look after two people,especially not someone as soft as Zephira.
Quab quickly divedbetween them, as Zephira looked like she was about to explode andMiranda was quite ready to take her on. He would have dearly likedto let them at each other as he would have loved to know who wouldwin, but thought that it would be best for both of them if hedidn’t. If something was developing between her and Aquitain,Miranda would have enough trouble with her mother without fightingwith his cousin as well.
‘The new plan is thatFeatherdown has instructed Miranda to take your cousin to a sacreddruid area for safety. The Druid Council won’t think to look thereand it would be a serious violation of druid law if anyone not indanger were to go there,’ said Quab.
‘Oh,’ said Zephira.‘Why didn’t you say so before?’
‘Miranda was going totell you but somehow got side-tracked,’ replied Quab.
Both women separatedand moved to opposite corners of Quab’s cottage. He remained firmlyembedded in the middle of the room between them.
‘Miranda, now that weknow the story, may I suggest that you leave the druid Alicia’sremains with me and return to Aquitain, pack and leave for thesacred area as soon as you can. You can borrow my large dimensionpack to hold what you wish to take. It will hold as much as fivebackpacks and remain just as light as when empty. I’m sureFeatherdown can retrieve anything you leave behind.’
Miranda nodded andunpacked Zephira’s backpack and repacked the mask and the club intothe dimension pack.
‘Thank you for the useof your backpack,’ said Miranda, but Zephira didn’t acknowledgeher; instead she asked how she was going to get in contact withAquitain when she heard from their grandfather.
‘Quab, send a messageto my mother in the usual way saying that you have a special jobfor me that I might like. My mother will pass it on as usualthinking nothing of it, and I will return here to find out anynews.’
Miranda looked atZephira. ‘Do you want me to pass on a message from you?’
‘Yes,’ said Zephira.‘Tell him I always knew he was a hero. He doesn’t have to prove itanymore. Just be patient until our grandfather contacts us and wecan go home.’
Miranda nodded, askedQuab to take down the wards and teleported back to the hideout. Shequickly checked around, changed to her cat form and prowled aroundsniffing for anything unusual. Finding nothing, she changed back toher newman form, collected the
