"I'm sorry about your dad," she said. Sasha hadn't intended to bring him up but she'd been thinking about Evan's family situation. It seemed as sad and similar to her situation with its death and drama except he wasn't in danger. They'd never really talked about his dad dying.

Evan shrugged. She couldn't see the expression on his face very well but he looked indifferent. "It was a long time ago," he said.

"Do you ever see your mother?"

He shook his head vigorously. "I have no idea where she is."

"Oh. Does that bother you?"

Evan sighed deeply. Sasha immediately regretted trying to delve into his feelings. She didn't want to pry and yet he never talked about these things. How was she going to get to know him better if she knew nothing about him?

"Not really," he said. "I haven't seen her in years and when she was around, she wasn't really around, you know?"

Sasha nodded relieved she hadn't offended him.

"I know it looks bad that I don't care about my mother," he said looking down at the grime on his jeans. "But she doesn't care about me either so it's a two-way street."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to bring up something that was painful. I just thought..."

He shook his head. "I'm not offended. It was bound to come up some time."

Evan picked at the crumbs that lay in the cloth and sucked them off his finger.

"It was a long time ago. I don't really think about either of them. I was just a kid when it all happened."

They sat in silence for a moment both wrapped up in their thoughts.

"What's it like living with your grandmother?" Sasha asked. She was genuinely curious. Queen Vania was obviously tainting her feelings about grandmothers. Her dad's mom was dead, so she'd never really had a grandmother.

"It's alright," he said. "It's easier for me than her. Instead of retiring, she's working so I can go to college."

Sasha didn't know what to say. She'd never met Evan's grandmother. She remembered he said he needed to work to pay some of the bills.

Evan pulled his burlap sack over his jeans and blew out the candle Sasha was holding.

"We should keep moving," he said. Sasha nodded and then realized he couldn't see her.

"I'll follow you," she said.

They continued to crawl through the muck in the tunnel for a short time before Sasha b.u.mped into the back of Evan not realizing he'd stopped.

"Shussh," Evan whispered. "We're at the end."

Sasha scuttled beside him. Her eyes had adjusted to the murky interior. While a series of fist-sized tunnels connected with the main channel for the past half mile, the tunnel ended at a metal door with a long handle.

"There's no other way out," she said. "We have to turn it and see what's on the other side."

Evan gripped the handle and pulled it up. The mechanics of the lock made a grinding noise as they turned. The noise was extraordinarily loud in the tunnel as the sound bounced off the walls.

"I hope it's not as noisy on the other side," she said.

The door popped open with a creak of its hinges. Evan carefully eased the door open enough for him to see on the other side. Once he was sure it was safe he pulled the door open wide and crawled out of the opening. Sasha followed.

Sasha's body ached from crouching and crawling. It felt so good to stretch out her back and stand up. The tunnel had led them into a small room with large pieces of rudimentary equipment. The room had a small window with bars on it that allowed in some light.

Sasha surveyed her clothes. The burlap robe was covered in muck. She wished she could take it off but it was part of her pathetic disguise.

"I'd love to wash my hands," Evan said. "But I don't think we can risk running around looking for water. Let's just get what we came for and get out."

"Agreed," Sasha said. "Just one thing."

She nudged Evan to turn around and rose onto her tippy toes. She planted a soft kiss on his lips. She wished it could last longer but couldn't touch him with her disgusting hands. Her lips dropped away when her toes screamed in protest.

"That's for being the greatest guy I know," she said.

She could see Evan smile in the dim light.

"Anytime," he said.

Evan eased out of the room and Sasha followed. They were in a long hallway made of dark stone. It was cool to the touch and slightly slimy with a green moss growing on its surface.

"My guess is we are underground," Sasha said.

Evan grunted a reply. They continued down a dark hallway until they came to a staircase. They ascended the stairs as quietly as possible. When Evan opened the door above, it led to a well-lit hallway with wood floors.

"We are probably in the servants quarters area," Evan guessed.

Sasha heard the banging of pots and rush of water. "Maybe near a kitchen?" she suggested.

They continued down the hallway trying out doors as they pa.s.sed. They were all locked. They wound their way around the kitchen pa.s.sing a dining hall obviously used by servants with its long tables and benches for seating. An adjacent room had wood burning stoves. Several women dressed in long plain dresses bustled about cooking and washing pots and pans.

"Where to now?" Sasha asked as she heard a commotion behind her.

She peaked over her shoulder to see men dressed in paramilitary garb. "Who's that?" one said to the other.

Sasha turned around and pushed Evan.

"Run."

They sprinted past open doors and other rooms until they got to a grand opening with a huge staircase. Sasha tripped over a statue in the foyer and sprawled to the ground.

Her pursuers were on her in seconds.

"Go," she screamed at Evan. "Find it."

Evan waved at her and continued running. Sasha was seized in an iron grip by her arms. She struggled heartily until her hands were yanked behind her back.

"She smells," one man said binding her hands with a cord.

"Take her to the dungeons," ordered the other man.

With her escort Sasha returned to the lightless bas.e.m.e.nt.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

Sasha struggled with her restraints, pulling against the ropes. As mystical as Tysseland was supposed to be, its devices were effective and rudimentary. Who needed handcuffs when there was rough twine?

Inadvertently Sasha had rubbed the skin raw around her wrists and made little change in the rope tightness. She was about to give up when she heard a whisper.

No, it wasn't a whisper. It sounded more like, could it be, wind chimes? She inspected the cell to see where the noise was coming from. It was the same sweating stone walls she'd been staring at for at least an hour. It was hard to tell time when her watch seemed frozen.

She wondered if that was an effect of Tysseland that its time was different from her timeline. Wasn't that something Dominic had said? She still hadn't figured out where Tysseland existed. Was it a different universe? A parallel world?

The tinkling grew slightly louder and she concentrated on it to see if there was a pattern. It was hard to discern anything beyond the background noise in the prison. Periodically she'd hear footsteps go by her door, the jangling of keys, the rough yell of guards and the whimper of another prisoner being abused.

While a tiny part of Sasha was hoping for clemency from her grandmother, from what she'd heard she didn't seem to have a sympathetic bone in her body. The queen had also been planning Sasha's death for 17 years. She couldn't see her giving up now.

While she brooded, the wind chimes got louder but she still couldn't find the source. Then a light, no bigger than the head of a pin, zipped by her eye, almost landing in her eyebrows.

"Hey," she yelped leaping backward. The light left her field of vision and then zoomed back. The speck was so small she had a hard time making it out. And then it grew bigger and bigger.

While the light swelled, so did the tinkle of the wind chimes. It still wasn't much louder than a buzz in her ear.

She watched fascinated as the pinp.r.i.c.k of light bulged into the shape of a tiny person. Sasha wasn't sure if it was male or female. It seemed a bit androgynous. The figure was the size of a kidney bean. It had short blue hair cut close to its head. She couldn't see its tiny features very well. It seemed to have eyes, she couldn't tell which color. It had two arms and legs and was dressed in a lederhosen kind of getup.

The figure hovered by Sasha's nose making her cross her eyes to see it. She waved her hand around her head to make it move away. It backed off but not by much.

"Who are you?" she said. She was incredibly curious. She'd never seen anything of higher intelligence this small.

The wind chimes noise halted when the figure came to rest on Sasha's shoulder. She lifted her arm and the figure walked down to her elbow so she could see it better. She glimpsed wings on its back before it turned around to face her. What was this thing?

"I am Deal," said a high pitched merry voice. Girl? She still couldn't tell.

"Nice to meet you," she said unsure. "I'm -."

Before she could finish, it cut her off.

"I know who you are," Deal said. "I've been following you since you arrived in Tysseland."

"Wow," she said. "Why have you been following me?"

Deal stepped off her arm and flew to between her eyes. When she shook her head, it backed off a few inches. The wind chimes were a low tinkle sound.

"Tysseland doesn't get visitors very often," Deal said.

"I'm not surprised," she said. "It lacks in the hospitality area. My mother could really teach these people a thing or two."

"Willow Bean is well known here," Deal said.

"How do you know Willow Bean is my mother," Sasha said flabbergasted. Were there no secrets in Tysseland?

"You look just like her," Deal said. Sasha didn't believe it.

"I look nothing like her," Sasha said stubbornly.

"Ok," it said resigned. "I cast a spell to see your family origins."

Sasha didn't understand the spell but she believed it could be done. How else had Deal known?

"What can you tell me about her?" she said eagerly. She hadn't fully digested what her mother told her. She'd said nothing about her life in Tysseland. Maybe she could find out some stories from her childhood that could help Sasha understand her mother.

Deal flew in a circle, not answering. It eventually came to rest on her arm.

"We don't have time for that," Deal said.

Deal's dismissive tone p.i.s.sed Sasha off. No one wanted to tell her anything. She almost died before her mother told her about the curse. How much more dangerous does it have to get before she could get answers?

"I'm about to die," she said tersely. "I don't mean to sound selfish, but what's more important than that? You can reschedule your manicure."

She couldn't see the fine details of Deal's face but it seemed stunned. Was it male or female? She still couldn't tell. Its body had no curves like a female or masculine muscles like a man. Cripes, it wasn't even human. Trying to figure out its s.e.x seemed silly, so she gave up. He was rude like a man so that's how she was going to think of it, him.

"What is a manicure?" Deal said.

Sasha snorted. Now who was wasting time?

"I want to know something about my mother, something that only you would know," she said, suddenly desperate. Not because time was running out. She felt like this might be her only opportunity to discover something about her mother that she otherwise would never know. Sasha had always felt that her mother was a mysterious puzzle. She needed clues to figure her out.

Deal appeared conflicted. She thought he would refuse to answer her question.

"Your mother is very strong," Deal said suddenly. She had to strain to hear him because he was talking so softly. "She might be too strong. That is why she left. She could have destroyed Tysseland. Instead she left so it could survive."

Sasha frowned. What did that mean? She took her time responding. Deal's description of her mother was perplexing. Willow Bean didn't seem to be overly strong otherwise wouldn't getting rid of the talisman be a priority? Sasha had to go to Dominic to find a way to Tysseland. No, Deal must be wrong. That just didn't sound like her mother.

"She must be a different person now," she said carefully. "She doesn't seem that strong."

Deal flew from side to side in front of her face.

"You don't know your mother like I do," he said. "She has done things, terrible things."

Her curiosity peaked, she pushed him.