frames decorated with golden shells.
At the end of the hallway, she found a set of golden doors, open as if to invite her inside. She eased through the doors and stopped, her mouth dropping open. The room was huge. Enormous pillars of green marble soared up to an arched ceiling painted to look like the sky. In the middle of the ceiling, a circular glass dome let the afternoon sun shine in.
The floor was even more amazing. Tiny shards of stone in shades of blue and green had been put together in a mosaic to look like the waves of an ocean. As rays of sunshine filtered through the glass ceiling, they struck the floor and made the waves look as if they were moving.
Enthralled, she walked slowly across the floor, noting that the mosaic included a fish every now and then, made of red or orange bits of shiny glass. Directly beneath the glass-domed ceiling, there was a circle of dolphins, swimming around a purple octopus. Its eight tentacles wound through the greenish waves, each tip crushing a fish in a death grip.
Maeve winced at the violence marring such a beautiful work of art. She glanced up and noted the dais at the end of the room. The bright colors drew her closer, and she was surprised to find all the decorations were made of glass. The floor of the dais was scattered with giant clams in vibrant green and purple glass. More glass was shaped and curled to look like coral and flowing seaweed. It was as if the entire dais was under the sea.
In the middle of the dais sat a large chair, solid gold, its back in the shape of the body of an octopus. Eight golden tentacles, four on each side, curled and twisted around the chair. A purple velvet cushion rested on the seat, and the armrests were shaped like seals.
This is a throne room, Maeve thought. The most amazing throne room she’d ever seen. But who was the ruler of this island?
“Ah, there you are.” A woman’s voice spoke behind her, and Maeve whirled about. The woman was standing outside the golden doors, in the shadows where Maeve couldn’t see her face.
Still, a word slipped from her mouth. “Mother.”
With a jolt, Maeve woke and sat up in bed. Good goddesses! Mother? Why on Aerthlan had she said that? She breathed heavily for a moment, her gaze flitting about the room. She was still at the convent. Still in her old room.
Thank the goddesses. But what a bizarre dream! Mother? After living twenty years without a mother, why would she dream of one now?
She eased onto her feet, annoyed that her legs were shaking. Why was she having such strange dreams lately? Did the island in her dream actually exist? Could it be the one she was looking for, the Isle of Secrets?
Calm yourself. She took a deep breath. No doubt her dream was nothing more than wishful thinking. She was so eager to discover another island that her imagination had cooked one up for her. And her dream had included the colors purple and green because the memory of the Telling Stones had been on her mind. That had to be it. Her Embraced gift was seal-shifting, not seeing the unknown.
But why had her imagination placed her mother on the island? And in such a strange castle?
She wandered over to the window and peered out at the familiar courtyard, the same courtyard she’d seen every day of her childhood. Just a dream, she reminded herself. She needed to shake it off and focus on reality.
The sun was nearing the horizon; soon the two full moons would be rising. Hopefully, that meant that soon she would be seeing Brody. He would probably arrive as a seal, but she would need to talk to him in human form so she could convince him to help her search for the Isle of Secrets. That meant she would need clothes for him. And food. Brody was always hungry whenever he became human.
She rushed to the dining hall to pack a basket of food. Then she hurried to the storeroom where the sisters kept a variety of clothing for their charity work. As she picked out a pair of linen breeches and a shirt for Brody, she wondered if the old sailor, Lobby, had come for clothes. Back in her room, she wrapped up a towel and the men’s clothing in a blanket.
The sisters didn’t expect her to