Bek stood frozen in front of the Druid, his hand outstretched, the third key held forth. Of all the possible reactions he had anticipated, this was not among them. He had expected to be chastised for his impetuous behavior, certainly. He had expected to be lectured on the importance of following orders. But all of his imagined scenarios ended with Walker expressing his gratitude to the boy for having gained possession of the key. There would be no need for another day of scavenging through the ruins and risking the safety of the ship’s company. There would be no more delays. With the third key in hand, they could proceed to their final destination and the treasure that waited there.
Bek saw no hint of gratitude in the Druid’s eyes as he stood before him now.
It had not occurred to him until he was back aboard ship that his plan to hand the key over to Walker in front of the other members of the ship’s company so that he could bask in the glow of their praise and be recognized at last as an equal would not work. If he gave the key to Walker in public, he would have to explain how he obtained it. That meant telling everyone about Truls Rohk, which Walker would certainly not appreciate, or about his own magic, which the shape-shifter had warned him not to do. He would have to present the key to the Druid in private and be satisfied with knowing that at least the ship’s leader appreciated his value to the expedition.
But it didn’t look just now as if appreciation was high on Walker’s list of responses. He hadn’t even bothered to ask how Bek had obtained the key. The moment he saw it, held out to him just as it was now, he had gone black with anger.
He took the key from Bek’s hand, his dark eyes heavy on the boy, hard and piercing. Overhead, the members of the ship’s company were preparing for another day’s search, not yet advised that it would not be necessary to go ashore again. The sound of their movements across the decking rumbled through the cabin’s silence, another world away from what was happening here.
“I’m sorry,” Bek managed finally, his arm dropping back to his side. “I didn’t think that—”
“Truls Rohk put you up to this, didn’t he?” Walker interrupted, new fury clouding his angry features. Bek nodded. “Tell me about it, then. Tell me everything that happened.”
To his own astonishment, Bek did not do so. He told Walker almost everything. He told him how the shape-shifter had come to him and urged him to go with him into the castle ruins and bring out the key. He told him how Truls Rohk insisted they were alike and repeated the other’s strange story of his birth and parentage. He related their approach and entry into the castle, their discovery of the key, and their escape. But he left out everything about the magic the shape-shifter claimed Bek possessed. He made no mention of the way in which his voice seemed to generate this magic. He kept his discovery to himself, deciding almost without meaning to that this was not the time to broach the subject.
Walker seemed satisfied with his explanation, and some of the fire went out of his eyes and the ice out of his voice when he spoke again. “Truls Rohk knows better than to involve you in this. He knows better than to risk your life needlessly. He is impetuous and unpredictable, so his actions should not surprise me. But you have to use better judgment in these situations, Bek. You can’t let yourself be led around by the nose. What if something had happened to you?”
“What if it had?”
The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He hadn’t intended to speak them, hadn’t planned to challenge the Druid in any way this morning, given his unexpected reaction to Bek’s recovery of the key. But the boy felt cheated of all recognition for his accomplishment and was angry now himself. After all, it wasn’t Truls Rohk who was leading him around by the nose so much as Walker.
“If I hadn’t come back,” he pressed, “what difference would it make?”
The Druid stared, a look of surprise in his dark eyes.
“Tell me the truth, Walker. I’m not here just because you needed another pair of eyes and ears. I’m not along just because I’m Quentin’s cousin.” He had gone too far to turn back, so he plowed ahead. “In fact, I’m not really his cousin at all, am I? Coran told me before I left that Holm Rowe didn’t bring me to him. You did. You told Coran his cousin gave me to you, but Truls Rohk said he pulled me from the ruins of my home and saved me from the dark fate of my family. His words. Who’s telling the truth about me, Walker?”
There was a long pause. “Everyone,” the Druid said finally. “To the extent they are able to do so.”
“But I’m not a Leah or a Rowe either, am I?”
The Druid shook his head. “No.”
“Then who am I?”
Walker shook his head anew. “I’m not ready to tell you that. You must wait a while, Bek.”
Bek kept his temper and frustration in check, knowing that if he gave vent to what he was feeling, the conversation would be over and his chance at discovering anything lost. Patience and perseverance would gain him more.
“It wasn’t by chance or coincidence that you contacted me on Shatterstone when the jungle had you trapped, was it?” he asked, taking a different approach. “You knew you could reach me with a mind-summons.”
“I knew,” the Druid acknowledged.
“How?”
Again, the Druid shook his head no.
“All right.” Bek forced himself to remain calm. “Let me tell you something I’ve been keeping from you. Something happened on the journey from Leah to Arborlon that I haven’t told anyone, not even Quentin. On our first night out, while we were camped along the Silver River, I had a nighttime visitor.”
Quickly, he related the events that surrounded the appearance of the King of the Silver River. He told him how the spirit creature had appeared as a young girl who looked vaguely familiar, then transformed into a reptilian monster, then into an old man. He repeated what he could remember of their conversation and ended by telling Walker of the phoenix stone. The Druid did not change expression even once during the tale, but his dark eyes revealed the mix of emotions he was feeling.
Bek finished and stood shifting his feet nervously in the silence that followed, half anticipating another attack on his lack of judgment. But Walker just stared at him, as if trying to figure him out, as if seeing him in an entirely new light.
“Was it really the King of the Silver River?” the boy asked finally.
The Druid nodded.
“Why did he come to me? What was his reason?”
Walker looked away for a moment, as if seeking his answers in the walls of the vessel. “The images of the young girl and the monster are meant to inform you, to help you make certain decisions. The phoenix stone is to protect you if those decisions prove dangerous.”
Now it was Bek’s turn to stare. “What sort of decisions?”
The Druid shook his head.
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?”
The Druid nodded.
“Are you mad at me for this, too?” Bek demanded in exasperation. “For not telling you sooner?”
“It might have been a good idea if you had.”
Bek threw up his hands. “I might have done so, Walker, if I hadn’t begun to wonder what I was really doing on this expedition! But once I knew you weren’t telling me everything, I didn’t feel it was necessary for me to tell you everything either!” He was shouting, but he couldn’t help himself. “I’m only telling you now because I don’t want to go another day without knowing the truth! I’m not asking that much!”
The Druid’s smile was ironic and chiding. “You are asking much more than you realize.”
The boy set his jaw. “Maybe so. But I’m asking anyway. I want to know the truth!”
The Druid was implacable. “It isn’t time yet. You will have to be patient.”
Bek felt himself flush dark crimson, his face turning hot and angry. All of his resolve to control himself vanished in a heartbeat. “That’s easy for someone to say who has all the answers. You wouldn’t like it so much if you were on the other end of this business. I can’t make you tell me what you know. But I can quit being your eyes and ears until you do! If you don’t trust me enough to share what you know, then I don’t see why I should do anything more to help you!”