Read Artemis Invaded for Free Online

One?
    As if reading her daughter’s mind, Neenay said, “Would you be surprised if I told you that the Old One tried to play matchmaker for me, some years before you were born?”
    Adara made no attempt to hide her astonishment. “You knew the Old One?”
    â€œI did. When I was about Elektra’s age, my parents sent me to Spirit Bay to stay with my mother’s older sister. Auntie had a shop there—still does—that specialized in exotic dyes as well as weaving. I was among her students. The Old One was one of her customers, for he loved the subtle colors she blended. Indeed, he often brought her oddities—fresh shellfish, peculiar nuts, exotic flowers. They would discuss for as much as a half hour at a time how a certain color might be extracted and the best way to fix it.”
    Neenay sighed, her gaze distant, her fingers moving as if they had eyes of their own. “Given your recent experiences, I don’t expect you to believe me but, for those of us who worked in the shop, those visits were like visits from a king. The girls in particular could get quite silly, for the Old One was—I suppose ‘is,’ for he doesn’t change—very handsome in his own way. His slim build and measured manner were quite a contrast to the farm boys most of us had grown up with. He was even grander than the rich tradesmen who came to buy my aunt’s cloth.”
    Adara reassured her. “The Old One is not my type, but, yes, I believe you. He can be very compelling.”
    Neenay’s lips shaped a small smile of gratitude. “The Old One was not my type either but, nonetheless, I was flattered to be among the small circle he chose to talk with from time to time. One day, he brought with him a young sailor, a handsome fellow with raven-dark hair and light brown eyes. This Jor asked me to go dancing with him that evening. He was quite flattering in his attentions for the few days he was in town, before his ship sailed again.”
    Adara felt dread rise, making her heart flutter. As if in answer to her apprehension, Sand Shadow leapt in through the open window and settled at her side.
    Burying her hand in the puma’s plushy fur, Adara asked, “Do you mind her here? She circled to avoid the flocks.”
    Neenay shook her head. “She has grown, hasn’t she? No. I don’t mind. Now, let me go on … While Jor was off to sea, the Old One came by the shop. He found some pretext to get me alone, then asked me what I thought of his young friend. I said I liked Jor well enough and that seemed to please him.
    â€œThe Old One hinted that he would smile upon our making a match, that he might even take an interest in our children—arrange for their education and suchlike. I wasn’t at all certain I wanted to wed a sailor—they’re gone so often—but Jor was in port often and it was fun to go about with him. He was a free spender, though somehow I gathered that the Old One helped line his pockets.
    â€œI might even have married Jor—my aunt was pleased with my work and hinted that someday I might become her partner. That would make staying in Spirit Bay more inviting. However, fate had strung my loom with other threads. During one of his visits, Jor brought with him his cousin—Akilles was his name. They were much alike in appearance, but as unalike in temper as whirlwind and a hearth fire. Since you are Akilles’s daughter, you know which lad I wed.
    â€œJor eventually married one of the other girls from the shop. The Old One lost interest in me as soon as my preference for Akilles was known, but he remained very interested in Blithe and Jor. Even after I had moved to Ridgewood with Akilles, Blithe and I corresponded. She had her first child about the same time I had Nikole, her second a year later.
    â€œNow I must skip a few years. Jor was lost at sea when you were about two. However, the Old One continued his patronage of