leave before a fight would break out, or times when she had warned him of impending danger. She didn’t need the warning twice because like Legon, she could tell that Arkin was not only holding back information, but he may not have been the person they had always thought him to be. She wasn’t sure if he was a threat, but she wasn’t going to take the chance now.
They got up and gave their goodbyes to Arkin, who walked with them to the door. As they left he touched Sasha’s arm. “I know what is going on in your head, but I’m not an enemy, and I’m not with the Iumenta. Think about it and you will see.” She nodded and walked out the door.
The sun felt good as they walked out of the shop and headed toward the town’s central market to get produce for dinner that night. They seemed to move with semi-awareness of the people around them, and didn’t notice when people waved at them or greeted them in any way. There was so much to think about and all of it was way too big for both of them. Dinner was also a haze. None of the family seemed to want to talk. Legon originally planned on talking to Sasha that night about what they’d heard, but both agreed that they needed a good night’s sleep before thinking about anything.
Sasha lay awake in bed long after Edis and Laura had fallen asleep. Her mind moved with the slow rhythm of her father’s snores from the room next to hers. She was still thinking about what Arkin had said about one side of Legon dying and the other living. It sounded so… so brutal, she thought. She shuddered at the thought of part of herself dying. Or maybe it felt good? She wasn’t sure. The concept boggled her mind. She heard a sound to her right, coming from Legon’s room. He was having another dream, and no wonder after the day’s news. The sound made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. There was something scary about it. She heard the whimpering and wondered which brother was coming for him tonight. She didn’t know how she knew it was the two dragons, but somehow she did, and this was even more frightening to her.
She wondered if he would remember it. She thought about going and waking him up, but she stopped. “Maybe his dreams can help us figure this out,” she thought. It felt cruel to leave him, but at the same time something tugged at her mind, telling her to lay down and that all was well tonight. As this thought came to her she began to feel better about the situation and had a hard time concentrating on the problems at hand. She was having a hard time thinking at all. It wasn’t like an episode, but she felt herself losing control of her mind. “Is magic being used on me?” she thought. The feeling of emptiness tugged harder at this thought. “Well if it is, I don’t think it’s… it’s….” She didn’t finish the thought before she fell asleep. It was a deep sleep, a peaceful one, probably the most peaceful she’d had in a long time, and certainly the most peaceful she would have in the near future.
Chapter Six
The Plan
“When I asked the master about life’s movements, he told me that he likened life unto a river. When I asked what he meant he said, ‘Picture yourself as a drop of water. Now see yourself on top of a great hill. Where would you like to go? What land would you like to bring life to with your moisture or, conversely, what land would you flood? Now step off the edge of the mountain and flow down; the rapids and twisting of the river is your life. Plan for the destination and the direction; after that, hang on tight.’”
-Conversations in the Garden
Sasha knelt down to pick a mushroom that was growing at the base of a tree. As she pulled it out bits of moss came with it. The moss was all over the tree’s roots, which gave it the appearance of having a green rug wrapped around its base. It was still relatively early in the day. The morning dew still glistened on the plants and the air was sweet and clean. Her mother had sent to her to the woods to find certain rare mushrooms that she used