Neither Ruta or Beru were big huggers, but they both let me hold them so tight they probably couldn’t breathe. In Beru’s case, it was like hugging a flower, maybe a sweet pea. Her long arms circled me, and she laid her beautiful head on my shoulder for a minute. I could have stayed there forever. But I had to hug Ruta too. Hugging him was more like clutching a stump. But still, his embrace as he patted me on my back made me weak with happiness.

  After our hugs, we did our handshake—upside down, and finger wiggling. Beru loved doing that, and it made everyone laugh as Ruta did his best to finger wiggle back at us both.

  “No questions right now, Kara Beth,” Beru said, taking my arm and leading me to the food table. “Let’s just celebrate with the village.”

  I nodded. I would have done anything Beru asked me to do at that moment. I suppose I should have known she would be there. After all, it was her village. But, I hadn’t dared to hope. It would have been too disappointing not to find her there when we arrived.

  The party lasted for hours. Once again, Ruta, after drinking something that looked like syrup, got so happy he stood on the now empty food table and danced. But he wasn’t alone. I got up, too, shocking myself. A few months before this would have been way too embarrassing. I was dancing with a tree stump—on a table. But Ruta’s joy, as contained as he kept it, was so contagious, I couldn’t help it.

  It didn’t matter anyway. The whole village was dancing—children and adults. Even Mayor Tom joined Ruta and me on the table to dance.

  Later I realized that we danced that night because we needed to. We all knew that we were heading once again into a fight with Abbadon for the safety of everyone in the Kingdom of Zerenity. We had to take every minute of joy and celebration that we could, while it was there.

  The moon was high in the sky when the party started to wind down, as parents took their children and headed home, stopping once again to thank us all for saving their village. We all nodded solemnly and did our best to look sure that we could do it again.

  Finally, the room was empty except for me, Beru, Ruta, the Priscillas, and James. I was exhausted. We had traveled all day and danced all night.

  I asked, “Are we leaving tonight?”

  Beru looked at me like she often looked at me. As if I was an idiot. I loved it. I had missed that look. “Of course, we are not traveling tonight,” she huffed, and then laughed.

  We all laughed. I am sure it was one of those laughs that happen when you are so tired you can’t see straight.

  When he finally caught his breath, James said, “We prepared rooms for each of you, Hannah.”

  He wasn’t kidding about preparing rooms. Mine was at his house. His wife, Lorraine, had left the party earlier, but was still waiting up and showed me to a room that reminded me of my bedroom back in Earth. The Priscillas stayed with me, but Beru took Ruta home to her house in the village.

  Beru’s parents had left the village at the first mention of Abbadon’s movement east, and had gone to another town, leaving their home empty. It was a little surprising to me that Beru’s parents hadn’t returned yet, and I wondered how Beru felt about that.

  However, the villagers had kept Beru’s family home in good condition, or so she told me later, without mentioning how she felt about the fact that her parents hadn’t returned home. Did she worry about them? Did she know where they were? None of my questions were answered that day.

  I knew that Ruta’s family had died in the same attack that my mother had died in. She had been visiting Ruta’s village at the time. Visiting villages and towns was something that my mother loved to do, so I wasn’t surprised to hear that was what she had been doing at the time of her death.

  Ruta and I had never talked about it, but I know that when we had found the manufacturing plant where Abbadon was using his captives to run his machines, we had both hoped that we might discover his parents and my mother. When we didn’t, we didn’t say anything. What was there to say? It had been a small, impossible, hope for both of us.

  We weren’t the only ones who had lost loved ones. Someday I wanted to find every person who had lost someone and make sure that they were well, but that day would have to wait.

  Breakfast at James’ house was so wonderful I could almost pretend that it was just like breakfast back in the Earth Realm with my parents and my brother Ben, and sometimes all our friends. Except this breakfast was with a family that reminded me of flowers, someone who looked vaguely like a tree trunk, and fairies. It was fantastic.

  We all helped Lorraine clean up afterward. I knew what we were doing. We were being both helpful and delaying the inevitable. We had a job to do. I wasn’t sure how long the walk was to the Castle, but I was sure that Beru and Ruta were going to want to get moving. However, they didn’t seem to be in a big hurry, lingering over their drinks and chatting with Liza about what she was studying in school.

  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. We had never started walking later than sunrise, and now it was mid-morning. “What the ziffer?” I asked. “Why aren’t we getting going?”

  Ruta grunted. I loved it. He was back to being the Ruta I remembered. The Priscillas giggled, and Beru just gave me one of her famous looks that I had seen scare grown men. Ah, back to normal.

  No one said anything. Finally, Liza took pity on me and whispered that they had another surprise for me.

  Zut, another surprise? Was it a person? When I heard the low sound of a gathering of notes I knew what it was. As the song became louder, I rushed outside.

  I could see the Sound Bubble was on its way, and there was someone inside it.

  Thirteen

  The Sound Bubble landed, and Zeid stepped out. I was torn between being mad at him for leaving me with just a note saying he would see me soon, or the joy of seeing his face again. He smiled at me, and I forgot about being mad. I apparently also forgot about being a Princess because I almost knocked him over as I ran to meet him.

  For a moment I was worried. What if Zeid didn’t like me anymore? It wasn’t an idle worry, because even though I remembered that we were to be married one day, I couldn’t remember if we chose or if it was chosen for us. However, at that moment it didn’t matter. I was just happy to see him. Truthfully, it probably never mattered, because even when I couldn’t remember a thing about my life in Erda, my heart did little flutters from the moment I saw him.

  The only thing that had stopped me from revealing my feelings before had been Johnny’s friendship bracelet that I had been wearing. I glanced at my wrist. It wasn’t there anymore. I had returned it to Johnny before going to Eiddwen. Suzanne had taken it back through the portal to the Earth dimension. But since she hadn’t talked to me since she returned, I had no idea how Johnny had felt about it.

  Now, I only had the bracelet with the picture-jasper stone on my wrist. The one Professor Link had given to me, or as he said, returned to me. It felt familiar, although I still didn’t know why. Did it have a power I was supposed to know how to use?

  All that went through my head as I ran toward Zeid. One question was answered when he picked me up and swung me around in a circle. I’m not little, but Zeid managed it somehow. The hug he gave me afterward alleviated my fear that he didn’t care about me anymore.

  “So you missed me,” he said.

  “Maybe,” I said.

  “Don’t you want to know where I’ve been, and where we are going?” Zeid asked.

  “Maybe,” I answered

  ‘Oh, for Zut’s sake,” Pris said, flying at us both. I ducked. I knew she was heading for pulling my hair. Missing me, she got Zeid’s hair instead. She pulled at the lock of dark hair that kept falling over his forehead until he said, “Ow,” which struck everyone, including me, as hilarious.

  With Pris around, no one could take themselves too seriously. Pris’ sisters had no problem ingratiating themselves with Zeid. After a few quick kisses on his cheek, they returned to my shoulder and stared at him. Not that I could blame them. Zeid is easy to look at. But he looked tired in spite of his trying to look as if he wasn’t.

  When he saw me looking at him with concern, he shook his head slightly as if to tell me not to ask, and turned to the rest of the group standing there, and said, “Are you all ready?”

  “Do you want something to eat first?” Lorraine asked.

  Zeid took both her hands in his and said, “Thank you, Lorraine, but I think we best be leaving.”

  It wasn’t until I saw the tears in Lorraine’s eyes that I realized what was happening. All four men who had fought with us before were coming with us again.

  “Oh, no! I can’t take you away from your families again. Liza needs you, James. The village needs all of you. I can’t. No,” I shouted.

  I even stamped my foot, which I’m sure looked absurd. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t be responsible for their deaths. I wanted to come back to Kinver and be Hannah again someday, and I needed these people to be there when I did.

  It was Liza and her father who calmed me down, at least enough to grudgingly admit that it was their choice. Liza said she and her mother would be fine. The rest of the village would watch over them. James explained that he had to go. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t help us. The other three men nodded in agreement.

  “Besides, you need me to question everything don’t you?” John said.

  It was true, John did question everything and that was a good thing even though sometimes we didn’t like it. Thomas and Mark said they were going for Kit. He gave his life to save the Kingdom. They weren’t going to let him down now, and that was all there was to it.

  Once I realized I couldn’t stop them from coming, I told them how grateful I was, and I meant it. But then I realized how many of us there were.

  “Are we all going in the Sound Bubble?” I asked.

  While we had been talking, it was sitting there silently, shimmering in the sun. Before, the bubbles had dissolved when they landed. This one appeared to be waiting for us. But there were so many of us.

  “And what about Cahir and Lady? And although I love riding in that thing, I thought we weren’t to use it unless it was an emergency. Wait. Is this an emergency? And are we going to the Castle? Wait. Where are we going?” I sputtered the last of the questions.

  “Geez, Kara Beth. Questions, questions, get a grip,” Zeid said, turning to look where Lady had landed on the ground near the bubble. “I’ll let Suzanne answer you.”

  As if it was something she did every day while we watched, Lady morphed into Suzanne. Once again I wasn’t sure if I should be angry or happy, but I chose happy and rushed over to hug her. I had even more questions, but at least I knew enough to wait to ask those.

  “Here are your answers, Kara. Yes, it is somewhat of an emergency. At least we don’t want to take the few days it would to walk to the Castle. So, yes, we are going to the Castle. Yes, we are all going in a Sound Bubble, except Cahir who refuses and has already started across country to get there.”

  I started to ask another question, and she held up her finger to stop me. “No, we can’t all fit into the bubble. There are two.”

  Across the valley, I heard the harmony of a hundred notes as a second bubble arrived. The bubbles hovered over our groups and then settled around us. I loved the feeling inside the Sound Bubble. I knew that Ruta didn’t like heights, so I pretended that I needed to hold on to him as ours rose into the air. He probably knew what I was doing, but he let me, and I hoped it helped.

  I waved to the village of Kinver and whispered that I would be back, and prayed that I was telling the truth.

  Fourteen

  The first time I arrived at the Castle, people were standing outside waiting for us. Unhappy people. Angry people. Unhappy and mad at me because they thought I had deserted them. They bowed and glared at the same time. Having lost my memory of the me that had come from Erda, I had no idea why they were mad, or why they were bowing.

  Suzanne had been with me then, too and she had pinched and pulled me to direct my bowing and walking. I had been blown away by the Castle and beings of all kinds waiting for me as if I was royalty. Even though, for some reason, they were not happy about it.

  It turned out, I am royalty. But as soon as I could, I put a stop to the practice of bowing. I am just like everyone else. It was only an accident of birth that I am a princess. But since I am, I can choose how I’m treated.

  And now, most of the people of my father’s Kingdom of Zerenity have learned that I was sent to the Earth dimension to keep me safe. In retrospect, it had been both dumb and cruel. Royalty could send their child away, but everyone else had to hope that Abbadon would not target their village and their children. They felt it wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t.

  If people were waiting outside for us this time, I didn’t see them because instead of landing outside the Castle, we slipped through the open roof of the atrium. That was a surprise to me. I had no idea that the atrium roof opened.

  This time the people waiting for us were people I knew—every single zonking one of them. Even the metal toadstools were there. And if metal toadstools could look happy, they did. That meant there must be food, but at that moment I didn’t care. I looked at all those people, and I couldn’t believe how happy I felt.

  Even Pita and his brothers were there. I didn’t think that Teddy the Whistle Pig would be at the Castle since his home was underground, but I saw Teddy standing at the edge of the crowd, looking like a huge bear.

  It was Teddy that yelled, “Pumpkin toes!” as the bubble dissolved around me. I love the silly names he makes up for me, and I wish I were clever enough to make some up for him. But instead, I let myself be wrapped up in his big bear arms.

  In spite of the danger I could feel all around the Castle, inside there was celebration. A beautiful spread of food was ready for us. Little name tags told us where to sit. At the head of the table was Earl, otherwise known as Coro, the commander of the storms. His wife, Ariel, sat next to him. She ruled the wind. I could see the two of them holding hands beneath the table, which made me love Earl even more, even though he scared the ziffer out of me when he raised his voice. Seriously, even the trees trembled when Earl spoke.

  It was a huge table, and yet somehow we could hear each other. The roof of the atrium had closed, but since it was a clear roof we could still see the sky, and the atrium overflowed with trees and flowers. It was a magical space.

  Zeid and Beru sat beside me. The Priscillas hovered everywhere. They flew from shoulder to shoulder, sometimes bestowing kisses.

  Ruta claimed to dislike their attention, but I knew it wasn’t true. I had learned to see the smile he tried to hide. When Ruta laughed, he sounded like a garbage can lid rattling, or a frog croaking depending on what he was laughing about. But Ruta’s smile was soft and sweet, even though it was rare. He sat beside Beru with the Ginete on his left.

  All of my teachers were there. Niko, who led our team and tried to teach me how to fight and defend myself even though I knew he thought of me as clumsy. He is right about that.

  Aki sat with him. I used to call her Miss Floaty before I knew her name because she floated instead of walking most of the time. Aki was in charge of my flexibility and meditation practice. She was also the one who had told me the story of the two brothers in the metal space ship shaped like a snake that had seeded the two dimensions and started this whole thing. I needed to talk to her more about that.

  Professor Link, the man I called Pinhead until I knew his real name, was beside Aki. Now that I knew that they could all read my mind, I realized that they all knew the names I used to call them. I flushed thinking how rude I had been. They all smiled at me.

  Zut, they were reading my mind again. I realized I didn’t care. It was Link who kept us all in contact all the time. I had missed his voice in my head, and his attempt to help me remember my magic skills. Now that he was back in my head, I couldn’t have been happier.

  My teachers. I hoped that the practice I had done without them would make them proud of me, but I knew that desire was something I had to squash before they discovered it. They would not let me live it down. Still, I did harbor a hope that what I had done would please them. Maybe that need would never go away, and I would have to live with it.

  Across from me sat Leif and Sarah. I was surprised because I had never seen them at the Castle before. I knew them both from the Earth dimension, and now they lived in this one. Or was it the other way around? It always confused me.

  I thought that Leif and Sarah were first from Erda and then went to Earth and then returned, but I wasn’t sure. I did know that Suzanne was first from Erda and traveled back and forth between the dimensions as a bridge between the two Realms.

  Suzanne had told me that Earl and Ariel had lived in the Earth dimension to bring together some people in Earth who needed to meet. We called them the Stone Circle. Johnny was a member of the Stone Circle. But then Sarah and Leif had been members of that circle too, and now they were here. See? Confusing.

  What made some of this possible was the fact that Earth time and Erda time move differently. So, although Leif and Sarah were in the Earth dimension a long span of time for Earth time, in Erda time they hadn’t been gone long at all. Once I started thinking about the whole dimension and time travel thing, it confused me.

  It was Sarah who answered my unspoken question, “We started here, Kara Beth, just like you. We left before you did out of a desire to learn more about the Earth dimension. We hoped to impact it in a good way and to enlarge our understanding of life. What we didn’t know was that we would forget where we had come from, just as you forgot.”