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unsuspecting field mouse. For a moment it made Erec nervous, like a warning to keep his eyes open. He reminded himself that he would soon be speaking directly to the three Fates. Could they tell him how to save Bethany?
There were so many other things that he wanted to find out from the Fates. Maybe he'd get more information from them now. The only other time he had spoken to them, they had seemed willing to tell him anything he wanted to know. But, then again, King Piter had said they could be vague, too. Maybe he could find out where his birth mother was now. He had met Queen Hesti once when he traveled into his past and knew she was supposed to still be alive. He was relieved to know who his father was now, but it would be so nice to find his mother, too.
He felt a pang of guilt. Was he wrong to want to find his birth mother? His adoptive mother, June, would always be his true mother. She had raised him. Would that make her feel pushed aside?
Maybe he'd ask June when he saw her. She probably would understand. June had worked as one of his mother's nursemaids. Maybe June would like to see her again too. And his two missing siblings--the other triplets.
66
Erec almost stopped in his tracks. He had forgotten for a moment. Now he was sure who those other missing triplets were. No doubt they were Danny and Sammy. He strained to remember the little girl and boy he had met that time he traveled into his past. The girl had looked so familiar. It must have been Sammy.
"Jam, do you think Danny and Sammy are my missing brother and sister?"
Jam smiled. "I've been wondering that myself, young sir. It would seem likely."
"And that's why Dumpling Smith is after them," Erec said. "Baskania must have found out about them, and he's sending people out to capture them."
Jam thought a moment. "But, young sir, in that case, why are they not after you, as well?"
"I don't know. Maybe he has other plans for me." Erec shuddered.
"Possibly he expects you to come after Bethany, young sir."
Erec shook off that thought. He had to rescue Bethany. Even if he was walking into a trap, how could he leave her in Baskania's clutches? He shuddered, remembering how she had looked in his vision, chained to a desk. He pictured that black band with little metal funnels around her head. He had to save her as fast as he could.
For a moment, he almost laughed, thinking about the twelve quests he had been doing to become king. How insignificant they seemed now that Bethany was in danger. Who cared about being king, anyway? Let the Stain triplets have the stupid crowns. So what if they destroyed the Kingdoms of the Keepers? If Bethany was gone, Erec would walk away from it all anyway.
They wandered off the paths and into the woods at the edge of the mountainside. Soon Erec found the bubbling Castilian Spring and followed it to the stone well that was the Oracle of Delphi.
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Down below glimmered the smooth, dark waters. He squeezed his eyes shut. A wave of fear came over him. What if the Fates told him he was too late? What would he do?
"How does young sir speak to the Fates here?" Jam glanced into the well, clutching his arms. Erec realized he was probably afraid as well.
"I have to concentrate and bring out my dragon eyes." Erec raised an eyebrow. "So you might not want to look at me, if that creeps you out."
"I think I can handle it, sir."
Erec paused, looking into the well. He had forgotten what this would involve. It wasn't just rolling his dragon eyes forward that let him talk to the Fates. He had to use them in a way that he had not done in a long time.
Only a medium or a psychic could conjure the Fates at this well. He had learned how to use his dragon eyes to see into the future, which classified him as a medium. That was exactly what he had to do now, in order to call the Fates to come to him. Looking into the future wasn't so hard for him, but the problem was that he could not control what he saw there. What if he saw something that he
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