found a stout fallen limb and laid it out across the sands to the boy.
Nearly half an hour later, he came free of the muck, scrambling onto solid ground, breathing heavily from exertion and fear.
“Thank you,” he said. “I was looking for my dog and I got so worried about him that I wasn’t watching where I was going until it was too late. Figures … he found me a few minutes after I got stuck.”
Isabel smiled at the child. He was covered from head to foot in mud, but his eyes sparkled with a mixture of inquisitiveness and mischief.
“I’m Isabel. What’s your name?”
“I’m Baqi. And this is my dog Kolo.”
“Hello, Baqi. Can you tell me about your village?”
“It’s not far,” Baqi said, pointing off into the jungle. “Mama will be worried if I don’t get home soon.” He looked down at the mud drying on his clothes and shook his head. “She won’t be happy about this either.”
“Are there soldiers in your village?” Isabel asked.
Baqi frowned, nodding. “Used to be we were left alone, but now the soldiers always want to know what we’re doing. Mama doesn’t like them, but I’m not supposed to talk about it. You won’t tell, will you?”
“Of course not, but I do need to go see the soldiers,” Isabel said. “Could you take me to your village? I promise I won’t tell anyone about you and Kolo.”
“All right, just so long as Mama doesn’t find out. She doesn’t like me talking to outsiders,” Baqi said.
“I won’t tell her if you won’t,” Isabel said.
“The village is this way,” Baqi said, pointing into the jungle again. “Once we get close, I’ll go around to the other side so people don’t see us together. Nothing personal. You seem like a nice person, but I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Sounds good to me,” Isabel said.
“So where are you from?” Baqi asked while they walked.
“I come from Ruatha,” Isabel said.
“I don’t know that village,” Baqi said.
Isabel smiled. “It’s not a village. It’s an island and it’s a very long way away.”
“Did you come through the ancient gate?” he asked. “I heard it came to life and a giant monster came through and killed a bunch of Regency soldiers.” He looked at her expectantly.
“No, I came by boat,” Isabel said, smiling at confirmation that Alexander’s gift for Phane had arrived.
“Oh,” Baqi said, the light of excitement fading from his face. “Someday I want to go through the ancient gate and explore other lands. Mama says it would be too dangerous, but I can handle it. I already know how to survive in the jungle.” He looked down at the mud caking his clothes and grimaced. “Well, mostly, and that was Kolo’s fault anyway.”
Isabel heard voices off in the distance and stopped.
“We’re getting close to the village. It’s right over that way. Well, it was nice to meet you,” he said with a boyish smile, then turned and disappeared into the jungle.
Isabel heard him say, “Kolo, don’t you wander off again. I’m already going to be in enough trouble for getting so dirty.”
She waited for several minutes, listening to the distant voices of the villagers and steeling herself for the encounter that was coming, the challenge she was about to make to the soldiers. She was betting that Phane had made preparations for her arrival, that his soldiers had standing orders to escort her to him. If they didn’t, things might go badly.
Once she was certain that Baqi had had plenty of time to make it safely home, she set out, moving cautiously. The undergrowth started to thin, giving her a glimpse of the timber wall surrounding the village. It was made of stout, twelve-foot wooden poles pounded into the ground and tied together. Isabel could see an open gate at either end of the wall and two Regency soldiers standing guard in the village watchtower.
She took a deep breath and stepped out into the fifty-foot swath of cleared jungle surrounding the village. It didn’t take long before the soldiers in the tower noticed her.
“You there, stay where you are,” one shouted while the other rang a bell. A dozen men poured out of the village, approaching her with weapons drawn.
The moment the warning bell tolled, Isabel began casting her shield spell. If Phane hadn’t given orders for her arrival, she intended to be ready for anything. The soldiers fanned out around her. She stood her ground, her head held high, and waited.