Jia took a breath. She needed to be clear and concise.
“A compass,” Jia said. “A very special compass, one of a kind. The inventor is here with me now. He is just outside the palace door.”
“With his magic compass, I assume,” her father said.
“Let the guards bring him in,” Yinreng said. “Let’s have a look at this compass and see if it really does what she says. If she’s lying we’ll know she’s an impostor. If she’s telling the truth then we will have gained a great treasure that will make us all the more powerful.”
Jia panicked. Why had she been so thoughtless? She couldn’t think of anyone worse to have the Obsidian Compass than Yinreng. He’d destroy the entire world with his greed and malice. “It would be foolish to attempt such a thing,” Jia said, trying to keep her voice even. “The inventor is very powerful, and time travel is not a game. You know nothing of the rules and consequences. If you make a mistake, you could cause incredible chaos and destruction, even your own death.”
“I gather not all your travels have been pleasurable?” her father asked.
“There have been . . . unintended consequences,” Jia said. “Many people have suffered. Again, that is why I am here. We’ve come to ask for your knowledge and wisdom. For your help.”
“And how do you suppose I can help? I am not a time traveler. I know nothing of what you have endured or caused.”
“But you understand the world!” Jia said. “It is well-known throughout the world, even in the future, that you are a wise and learned man, very knowledgeable with astronomy and the workings of the universe. We think if you hear our story you might be able to help us understand the things we are missing and set the world right again.”
Jia stepped back and bowed her head. She had said her piece, and now she could only wait for her father to decide. Whatever his decision, it would be final, and there would be nothing she could do to alter it.
19Jìnzhĭ Suŏ
Matt thought he would go insane waiting for Jia to come out of those tall red doors. She had been gone for only minutes, but each second felt like an hour, and he couldn’t help but imagine all the terrible things that might be happening. What if her father didn’t believe her? What if he thought they were all impostors? Would he kill her on the spot? Then come for the rest of them? Would they torture her to try to get the truth? What was Matt supposed to do?
He was supposed to save the young Jia. But when? How? Why? Should he go and find her? And then what? Jia told him it would become obvious when he was supposed to save her, that he would know what to do. Nothing was obvious to him now except that he was worried out of his mind.
Belamie paced back and forth in front of the doors. She was clearly worried, too, but for different reasons. She wasn’t worried about Jia’s safety or well-being, only the Aeternum. She didn’t care about what had happened to him or their family. This, too, was making Matt feel crazy. He tried to remember his real mother, the one who knew and loved him, but he was having a hard time thinking of what she was like. Was she always so impatient, so brusque with people? He tried to picture her with his dad, the way they looked at each other and made it seem like the entire world revolved around them, but he couldn’t see it. He couldn’t even picture his dad’s face. And Corey and Ruby. He couldn’t picture their faces either. He had this weird feeling that something was slipping from him, but he didn’t know what it was or how to hold on to it.
“Belamie, sit down,” Gaga said. “You’re making me dizzy.” She, Haha, Uncle Chuck, and Albert were all sitting on the steps below the doors.
“I don’t want to sit,” Belamie snapped. “And don’t call me Belamie. My name is Captain Bonnaire.”
“Oh, good grief, you’re not my captain. But go ahead and keep pacing. It’s clearly entertaining the guards.”
Belamie glanced at the guards, and when she saw the expressions on their faces, she did stop. This relieved Matt’s nerves some, until she turned her attention on him. She leaned against the marble stair railing, folded her arms, and stared at him, frowning.
“There’s something I’d like you to explain to me,” she said.
“Okay.”
“You said I chose a different life. That I left the Vermillion and Vince for . . . another man.”
Matt nodded. “You did. You do.”
“But Vince doesn’t die.”
“No.”
“And . . . he was okay with me leaving?”
Matt hesitated. “Not exactly.”
Gaga sputtered something between a laugh and a cough. “He was furious! That’s how Henry got taken away, you know.”
“Why would he take you away?” Belamie asked Haha. “I wasn’t going to marry you, was I?”
“I think your boyfriend got us a little mixed up,” Haha said. “He thought I was Matty. He abandoned me in the Hudson Bay. I thought I was going to die until these guys showed up.”
“Vincent tried to change things after you left him,” Matt explained. “He tried to keep you and my dad from being together. First, he kidnapped my grandpa, thinking he was my dad. Then he did the same to my uncle, right at your wedding.” He nodded to Uncle Chuck. “He never could get rid of Dad.”
“Until now,” Uncle Chuck said, heaving a sad sigh.
Belamie looked between them all. Matt thought surely she was horrified by what Vincent had done, but then a smile suddenly crept on her face and she chuckled softly.
“What’s so funny?” Matt
