The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 11: Praxatillus

"You're enjoying this," she accused. Then she looked around, surprised to find herself in the bedroom of her own apartment. Everything was as she had left it, though the room had obviously been cleaned and taken care of. The vast bed had new hangings and covers, but in the same color and style as those she remembered. It was as if she'd been here only yesterday. She shivered with memories.

"Would you like to look around?" Ford asked. "It's a journey to the past for me as well. I spent a lot of time here as a child."

"Aurora told me." Sabrina turned in a slow circle, trying to sort through her feelings. "It's eerie. I thought it would have changed, somehow."

"Then you should redecorate," Ford said. "We'll see the Chamberlain about it."

"Faline?"

"Who? Oh. No, I'm sorry. She died when I was a small child."

Sabrina rubbed at her forehead. "Everything's the same, and yet everything's different." She wandered into her vast closet. There were no clothes hanging there. She'd never had an extensive wardrobe, but she was surprised to find nothing left.

Ford had followed her. "I'm afraid the clothes are long gone. Well, they were so poor when you left. They had to use what was available. There was one dress they didn't take, but Mother had it put in a museum when she found us playing one day. Aurora had put it on. That was the only time," he added reflectively, "that Mother was angry at finding us here. Other times, she'd just say that you wouldn't mind."

"A museum!" Sabrina said faintly.

"It was the dress you wore for your speech. Nobody could have worn it after that."

"Why not? It was a hand-me-down when I wore it," Sabrina said. "It belonged to Imari's niece, Mara's oldest brother's wife. It was her wedding dress. Well, I suppose it belongs in a museum just for that." She sighed, then turned abruptly and went into the bathroom, pulling open drawers until she found one that wasn't empty. Ford peered curiously over her shoulder at the shirt, which had once been white, with an odd brown smear across the front.

"What's that? We never found that," Ford said.

"It's a uniform blouse. I wore it in the Battle for Dansestari." Sabrina paused to draw a deep breath. "It's Rayland's blood. I kept it...it was all I had left of him." She reached out a finger and lightly stroked the collar, then closed the drawer convulsively. "It belongs in a museum too," she murmured.

She was aware of Ford's concern and disappointment at her reaction to her homecoming, and she felt sorry to fall so short of his expectations. Biting her lip, she went into the sitting room. She'd rarely used it; it didn't breathe so many memories to her. Until she looked at the far wall. "Oh!"

Ford grinned. "That's always been my favorite picture of you."

"Tassan painted it," she managed to say. "One night.... Scotty was missing. I knew I was an assassination target. He wanted to cheer me up, and he did, and then he took the holo of me to paint a portrait. He finished it right before we went to Pharo."

"Pharo?" Ford exclaimed sharply.

"Oh! Did I say—I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm saying," Sabrina said hurriedly. "I didn't mean it, of course. How could we have ever gone there? Stupid of me. What I was trying to say was, I never had a chance to hang this. Who put it here?"

"Mother must have. It's always been here."

"I would have thought Tassan would have kept it," Sabrina said. "But I suppose...." She trailed off, then frowned and hurried to her study door. It was closed and locked, but it opened to her handprint.

"It's always been sealed shut," Ford said, following her eagerly.

"I can see that," Sabrina said, breathing the stale air. But at least the comconsole and furniture had only a faint coating of dust. And, she saw with relief, the painting of King Baldaran was still there, untouched by the years in a controlled climate.

"I've never seen that. It's my grandfather," Ford said, looking closely at it. "How sad."

"That's exactly how I remember him. That's why I wanted that painting," she explained. "It's another of Tassan's. It's sort of how I got to know him. That, and my roses. Are they still there?"

"Yes, and more. The conservatory's always been kept up; the family uses it. It's private. But there's an entire rose garden outside in the courtyard that's open to anyone in the palace. And there are many roses in the Queen's garden."

"Well," Sabrina said, "these rooms all need redecorating. It was all old-fashioned when I took it over. Did you know," she remembered, almost smiling, "they gave me this apartment as an insult?"

"Really?" Ford said, looking around.

"Because it was so far from the Royal Residence. That was when they were trying to distance me from Mara. They thought I was bad for her."

"You must be joking."

"No." She smiled, enjoying his surprise. "They arrested your father and told Scotty and me, in no uncertain terms, to stay away from her. Of course, they thought Tirqwin had murdered Baldaran and that we were his accomplices, or at least accessories after the fact."

"I never heard any of this!"

"Well, you can't blame Mara for wanting it forgotten, can you?"

"No, certainly not."

Sabrina took another deep breath. "I've had enough of ghosts. I think I'm ready for the living now."

He smiled. "I asked Lady Selémahs to keep everyone away from here today. I thought you'd want to be alone. But she made me promise to bring you to her when you were ready."

"I'd like to see her again," Sabrina said.