Xavo hesitated too long with his answer, and Lady Mystic got up to leave. Xavo reached and gently grabbed her arm.
“Please, don’t leave,” he pleaded. “I truly do love you, but I am willing to accept the fact that you will not love me back. I understand. I still want to be near you when I can.”
“When you can?” asked Lady Mystic. “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t want to be seen with you,” answered Xavo, “but I want to be with you.”
“Ah,” Lady Mystic nodded as she sat back down. “At least that is truthful on your part. We are making progress. I do not blame you for not wanting to be seen with me. That would draw Vand’s attention to you in ways that could be deadly.”
“I am glad that you understand,” Xavo smiled tautly.
“I understand a great deal more than you think I do,” retorted Lady Mystic. ”I understand that no one on this whole island would understand the concept of forgiveness in the manner that Aakuta understood it.”
“As much as I taunted him,” nodded Xavo, “he was very intelligent.”
“He was,” agreed Lady Mystic. “He also loved me dearly even though I twice betrayed him. He would be a fool to trust me a third time. That is something else that I have come to understand.”
“I am sure that he would forgive you again,” countered Xavo.
“He would want to,” replied Lady Mystic, “but he would be afraid to. Aakuta cared about some things even more than his own life. Not only did I betray him, but I also harmed those things he cares about dearly. As much as he wanted to be with me, he would never again endanger those things. I have also come to understand that.”
“You do understand a great deal about the man,” smiled Xavo.
“Yes,” smiled Lady Mystic, “but there is one thing I do not understand about him.”
“Oh?” asked Xavo. “And what is that?”
“I do not understand,” stated Lady Mystic, “how he survived that day in the jungle.”
Xavo’s eyes clouded over with concern as he stared at Lady Mystic.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “He didn’t survive. He died. You don’t have to take my word for it. There were other witnesses.”
“Yes, I know,” nodded Lady Mystic. “I spoke to Santiock that day. He said that he saw Aakuta die to a fireball. He said that he pulled your body out of the fire while you were trying to sever Aakuta’s head.”
“That is correct,” nodded Xavo. “What is there to understand?”
“How he managed to take your body?” smiled Lady Mystic. “Your fireball should have killed him instantly. Why didn’t it?”
Xavo frowned and said nothing. His fingers drew figures in the sand as his mind raced to find an answer that Lady Mystic would swallow.
“Thinking of your daughter?” asked Lady Mystic.
Xavo gazed at Lady Mystic and saw her staring at the sand. He looked down and saw that he had subconsciously drawn a star in the sand. He quickly brushed the sand away, destroying what his fingers had drawn.
“You might as well tell me,” sighed Lady Mystic. “It is obvious that I already know. What more harm can come of speaking the truth?”
Xavo sat silently for a moment and then slowly nodded.
“Master Malafar had been nearly killed twice by fireballs,” Xavo explained, “once in the back and once in the chest. Had you ever seen him without his clothes on, you would have seen the masses of scar tissue that covered his body. Indeed, Xavo’s fireball was powerful enough to kill, and it did indeed fatally wound Aakuta, but the scar tissue softened the blow just enough to allow Aakuta a few moments of life before he succumbed. Because Xavo was convinced that he had killed me, he was careless in verifying his kill. The fact that the fire was spreading rapidly also added to his haste. When he bent down to slice my throat, I struck. My hands grabbed him by the shoulders as I cast the spell that would allow me to invade his body. He never realized what happened to him.”
“Excellent,” grinned Lady Mystic, “but the first few moments after using that spell the caster becomes dizzy and disoriented.”
“So I found out the hard way,” nodded Xavo. “Fortunately, Santiock was nearby. He saw Aakuta felled by the fireball, and he saw Xavo go down with his knife. When Xavo did not immediately exit the fire, he raced over and pulled me clear of the flames. He truly did save my life that day.”
“So Santiock was not lying,” mused Lady Mystic. “I thought he made it up to get a promotion.”
“He told the truth,” replied Xavo. “I think Vand would have detected the lie. He was more skeptical of Santiock’s story than mine, but once he believed Santiock, he could not possibly question the validity of my story.”
“I would love to see Vand’s face when he learned what a fool he has been,” grinned Lady Mystic.
“Lady Mystic,” Xavo said pleadingly.
“Forget it,” Lady Mystic waved dismissively. “Believe it or not, I have truly learned my lesson. Vand will learn nothing from me ever again.”
“I hope you understand my actions,” Xavo sighed. “I truly do love you, but there are things that are more important than myself. Were it just about me, I would have exposed myself to you, but I will not endanger others for my own gratification. I just couldn’t tell you the truth. I am sorry.”
“You also couldn’t hide the truth,” smiled Lady Mystic. “It is your love for me that gave you away. It is so out of character for Xavo that it puzzled me day and night. It also helped me to understand the air tunnel better.”
“How?” frowned Xavo.
“With a new body comes a new voice,” explained Lady Mystic. “What purpose is there on this island for a spy who cannot communicate his findings? You could still cast an air tunnel to the mainland, but no one would believe that it was Aakuta. The only way that you could continue to spy on Vand, was if the air tunnel could work in both directions. That way you could answer questions that only Aakuta would have the answer to. You could, in essence, validate your identity.”
“You are clever,” smiled Xavo. “Have you told anyone about the air tunnel?”
“You know that I told Vand when I first discovered you using it,” admitted Lady Mystic, “but I have told no one about its variations. And I will not tell anyone. I promise you that.”
“I am relieved,” sighed Xavo. “That knowledge would destroy all hopes of defeating Vand. You took a great chance trying to expose me just now. Suppose you were wrong, and Xavo ran to tell Vand about your discovery?”
“I took no chances,” smiled Lady Mystic. “When I saw you leave the temple, I figured out what you were up to. I wove an air tunnel to this spot on the beach and listened in. I did not approach until it sounded like your conversation was over.”
“Yet you acted as if you still believed in Xavo,” he frowned. “How can that be?”
“I was not sure that I actually wanted to confront the truth,” admitted Lady Mystic. “I did almost leave when I realized that your secret might be better kept if you thought it was still unknown. I could not leave, though. I had to know how you survived.”
“I am no good at this spy business,” frowned Xavo. “I would prefer to just go into the temple and start blasting all of Vand’s top people, but that would accomplish little.”
“You are much better at it than you realize,” replied Lady Mystic. “Just look at the duration of your stay in Motanga. No one could expect a spy to last that long here. And you have even infiltrated Vand’s inner circle. What more could anyone hope for in terms of spying?”
“I suppose,” shrugged Xavo. “What do we do now? It is far too dangerous for me to be seen in your presence too often, yet I want to be by your side constantly.”
“We will figure something out,” grinned Lady Mystic. “The important thing is that we have been given another chance. Let us cherish whatever time together we can arrange.”
“You could take over another body,” suggested Xavo. “It would give you a fresh start in life. You would no longer have to be Vand’s daughter.”
“I thought about that,” Lady Mystic shook her head, “but I would then be under someone’s control. While I am ostracized as Vand’s daughter, everyone will leave me alone. It will give me greater freedom to gain information for you.”