Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [38]
Rosette put her hands on her hips. ‘Do you guys want to tell me what’s so great about a pool of…’ She glanced at the water. ‘Pink, blind, and I must say, hideous fish?’
Simple, Maudi. The pool is fed by a stream. It might lead somewhere different. It might lead us out of this time trap.
‘It’s just a pond.’ She frowned. ‘How’s it a way out?’
‘It’s not just a pond,’ Shane said. ‘It’s a pond with an underground inlet.’ He started stripping off his clothes.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Going on a hunt.’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘What for?’
Shane’s onto it, Maudi. He’s going to swim up the inlet and see if it offers a way out. These time traps are usually very circumscribed. I’m optimistic.
‘You’re always optimistic.’ Rosette smiled as she cupped her hands in the water and tasted it. She immersed the waterskin, filling it to the brim.
That’s because I know some things you don’t.
Like time traps are circumscribed?
Yes. Like that.
‘Actually, no,’ Shane replied, thinking she’d spoken to him. ‘I’ve become increasingly more and more pessimistic. Depressed, even.’
‘Really? I hadn’t noticed.’ She tried not to smile.
‘I have. It’s a habit now. I look at the worst possible outcome to everything. It’s probably a dead end.’
‘Charming, Shane, but I was talking to Drayco. He thinks we have a good chance.’
‘I have doubts about that. Worth a try, though.’
She shook her head. ‘When were you born?’
‘What?’
‘I don’t know your constellations here on Tensar, but I sense something a little on the dark side of the moon. Like a Saturn transit or a Saturn return. You’d be the right age?’
‘I’m twenty-nine.’
‘Figures.’
‘Are you saying Saturn makes me depressed?’
‘Not at all.’
‘Don’t tell me it makes me happy. I won’t believe you.’
‘It doesn’t make you depressed. It doesn’t make you happy either. Saturn doesn’t make you anything. It just coincides with a time of intense evaluation of your life so far…relationships, love affairs, professional achievement. Things like that. Have you been pondering a lot lately?’
He gave her a quick look and turned away.
‘What is the symbol associated with your birthday? Do you know it?’
He nodded, and started undoing his pants.
‘Are you going to tell me?’
‘It’s called the water dragon.’
She closed her eyes. ‘Does it have a stinger? Poison? Does it transform?’
‘It has three forms—the sea snake, the water dragon and the eagle. The snake is venomous.’
‘Sounds like Scorpion to me.’
‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’
‘Transformation, please,’ she murmured.
‘I didn’t hear that.’
‘It means your world is as dark as you like to make it.’
He glared at her, naked now, his clothes in a pile next to him. ‘That’s cryptic,’ he said.
‘It’s meant to be.’ She brightened, taking in his shape and the reptilian images tattooed on the sides of his torso. They came up from the sea, through a band of fire and into the clouds. The colours were striking—sunny sky blue, greens like gemstones and vermilion red. It was so vivid, maybe from lack of exposure, or perhaps they were new.
‘What’s the problem now?’
‘I’m definitely feeling more optimistic,’ Rosette said, gazing at his body.
‘How’s that?’ he asked, ignoring the scrutiny and lowering himself into the pool.
‘You’ve got quite a physique, Shane.’
‘What do you mean?’
She squatted down by the edge of the pool. ‘I’m saying, you’re fit—very fit. And I know from your flute playing that you have good lungs. These things bode well.’
‘How so?’
She shook her head. The guy did not know how to receive a compliment. ‘Just take a deep breath and find us a way out of here.’
He winked at her before gulping in the air and disappearing under the surface.
Hold your breath, Drayco, while I count.
She’d got to fifty-nine when he resurfaced. He braced his hands on the edge of the pool and levered himself out in one smooth motion. Water ran off his glistening body as he wiped his face with his shirt. ‘That’s warm in there. It must be fed by hot springs.’
‘And is there a way out?’
He grinned. ‘Aye.’