Chapter 36

Yula stood with her nose pressed against one of the windows. “Oh my lady, come look!”

Naomi looked over Yula’s shoulder at the land racing below them. “Isn’t it wondrous?” the older woman asked.

“It is pretty amazing that the cottage flies,” Naomi said.

“And us, we’re flying too!” Yula said.

Naomi shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been on airplanes. They fly even higher in the air and take people to distant places on my home world. Flying is pretty mundane there.”

“I don’t see how this could ever be mundane,” Yula murmured transfixed by the raising scenery below them.

“As soon as anything becomes commercial, it’s mundane,” Naomi said. She lay down on a love seat and closed her eyes. She was tired. Fighting with Tavik, carrying him down the passage, so much had happened in one day. She’d always had an easy time falling asleep on airplanes and the same could now be said about flying cottages.

Naomi dreamed about flying. She was sailing through the air like Peter Pan. She loved it. She’d never felt so free. She looked down upon the dark forest swimming by below her and felt like she was queen of the world. She looked up at the night sky and marveled at how close the stars appeared. Her eyes went to the moon, only it was not one of the ugly moons, but Earth’s moon. It was full and hung heavy in the sky. Naomi thought it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. A unicorn appeared on the face of the moon. Naomi shot up to meet the unicorn. She flew and she flew, but the moon never seemed to get any closer. The unicorn tossed its mane and whinnied. Naomi called to the unicorn to come down to her, but the unicorn did not listen. She was impure. The unicorn did not listen to impure things. Naomi screamed louder, but the unicorn ignored her. She flew higher and higher. It did not grow colder in the higher elevation. It remained toasty and nice, but the climate did not matter. All Naomi cared about was reaching the unicorn. She stretched out as far as she could in her desperation to reach the moon. The unicorn laughed at her antics. Naomi grumpily wondered how she could have ever liked unicorns when she was younger. They were infuriating beasts. They were entirely too judgmental of a person’s lifestyle, but judgmental or not she needed that unicorn if she were ever to see the moon in her night sky again. She reached further. She felt her fingers graze the unicorn’s tail. She lunged again and fell hard onto the floor. Unicorn, moon, and flight were all gone. A wood floor, breakfast smells, and the sound of crackling fire replaced them.

Naomi sat up from the floor and looked over to the hearth where Yula tended a skillet with eggs frying on it. Agatha sat at the table studying a map with Mr. Squibbles, and Tavik had been moved to a chair beside her. Tavik seemed awake, but it was hard to tell with the mask on and all of his limbs tightly tied.

“Good morning, milady. Breakfast will be ready shortly,” Yula said.

Naomi nodded and got up off the floor. She went behind Agatha to look over her shoulder at the map. She noticed Tavik’s head swiveled to follow her. He was definitely awake then. She tried to ignore him, but goosebumps went up and down her arms at his silent stare. Maybe it was a good thing he had the mask on. His current expression was probably scarier than it.

The map looked like it was hand drawn. In the upper portion, there were the northern plateaus. “How’s it going?” Naomi asked.

“We made good time during the night. If we keep like this, we will reach our destination early tomorrow.”

“So the cottage can fly several days without landing or anything?”

“It could, but I thought I would set her down midday to give ourselves a break.”

“Sounds good.” Naomi scooped up Mr. Squibbles and walked across the room with him.

“Has Tavik said anything?” she whispered.

She had to hold the mouse to her ear to hear his hushed reply. “He said he was very disappointed with Yula. She did not take that well.”

Naomi’s jaw clenched. “How dare him. He has no right to reproach her. Why the nerve of that man,” she hissed.

“He watched you the rest of the time. I think if he ever gets loose, you are the first one he’ll go after.”

Naomi nodded. She didn’t want to think about what he would do if freed. She slanted her eyes to him. His mask was pointed at them. She walked across the room and took the mask off.

“Lady Naomi!” Yula cried.

“He doesn’t need that with us. We’ve all seen his face. No point in hiding it, and it just annoys the hell out of me.” Tavik looked up at her with cool blue eyes. He did not say a word. Agatha’s eyes bobbed back and forth between them. A little smile curled her lips when she turned back to her map.

When the table was set, there were five places. One was just a small saucer for Mr. Squibbles, but Tavik got the same place setting as the women. Naomi realized that Tavik would not be able to feed himself. She was not sure if they should feed him. Maybe it would be better to keep him weak with hunger, but Yula seemed steadfast on the dining arrangement. Naomi grimaced. She wanted to argue with her but knew it would do no good, instead she took the seat beside Tavik and picked up his fork.

“You know to make this completely fair, I should blindfold you.”

Tavik turned his arctic eyes to her, and they bored into her. “Would I get the same dessert as you did at the end?”

Naomi’s back stiffened at the mention of the past event. “No, I’m afraid that is not on the menu.”

Tavik shrugged. “Then blindfolding me would not be fair.”

Naomi bristled at his reply. “And what the hell do you know about fair? Do you think it was fair to truss me up like a Christmas goose whenever it suited you! Do you think it was fair to force me to marry you! Do you think it was fair to draft Yula’s sons into your army!”

“The only people who ever believe anything can be fair are small children who have lived sheltered lives,” Tavik replied.

Naomi’s eyes bulged. She clenched his fork in her hand. She could stab him in the eye and say well fair does not exist. Sorry for you. Agatha circumvented her murderous plans by standing up from her seat and rapping Tavik on the head with the wooden spoon for the eggs. Cooked eggs sprayed across his face. “I think it would be fair to say you should not make any of us mad, Tavik. We are the three women who hold your fate in our hands, and we do not think much of you. Who knows what might happen to you if you were to upset one of us. You could end up riding outside from a rope. It can get very cold out there and permafrost can only be cured by amputation.”

He slouched back in his chair and cast a dark look at the witch. Naomi speared a piece of sausage and held it to Tavik’s lips. He angled his eyes back to her, and Naomi smiled sunnily. “It's the only way you can eat with us.” Tavik reached out and snagged the sausage with his teeth off the fork.

Continue to Chapter 37.