The Temple of Indra’s Jewel: by Rachael Stapleton Read Free Book Online Page A

hmm.” He grimaced. “Didn’t you just tell me you’re from a future time?”
    His mind was faster than mine, despite his mad scientist grey hair.
    Good point. I nodded.
    He disappeared over to the bookshelf for a moment and returned with a thick, small book bound in marbled calfskin. The one that had caught my eye earlier. Opening it a third of the way, he read for a moment.
    “Have you ever heard of the Temple of Indra?”
    “That sounds familiar. I think Gigi told me once of an emperor who used a jewel from that temple to control the empire, but it was just a bedtime story.”
    “I’m afraid not. The Temple of Indra Jewel, also known as the Purple Delhi Sapphire, is very powerful, believed to affect time. That ring you wear is covered in its chips. I think that’s why you crossed when Sapphira drank the potion. You were both in possession of the same magic, so it brought you here to help her somehow; though to what purpose I’m unclear.”
    His comments made me think of the conversation I’d overheard. They’d been looking for a stone. He was convinced Sapphira knew where it was.
    I stared down at my ring, shimmering in the firelight. Did they need my ring?
    “Do you know who Sapphira’s afraid of?”
    “ Nein . She said she was being followed. I gave her the potion and she left. It should have helped her foresee the future, allowed her to communicate in spirit with her ancestors, possibly even descendants, to obtain insight, but the gem must have altered the spell. She was going to send word once she got away, but it never came.”
    “You have to fix this,” I said.
    “But how?” he mumbled.
    “I don’t know. Give me the same potion. Maybe it will switch us back.”
    “It’s too dangerous. You said you fell into a swirling tunnel of water before, but I can’t be sure it will react the same way. Magic is complicated. What if the magic opens inside the cliff or over some jagged rocks? What if someone else enters it? Give me the night to go through the book. I’ll attempt to contact mein großmutter . But in the meantime, you must return to the palace before they realize where you’ve gone!”
    “ They’ll never let me out again. They’re holding me captive. Gabriella suspects something. I can’t go back.”
    “You must!”
    “I overheard Enzo, the driver who brought me to the village. He’s a spy. I absolutely can’t go back!”
    “What will you have me do? Open the magic right here in my home? It won’t work. This magic needs water to power it. You must be closer to the sea. No. You must return to the palace for now.”
    “I’ll take my chances with you.”
    “You are most disagreeable. Fine. Have it your way,” he said, pulling two skinny bottles from a shelf and pouring them half and half into a vial. He continued to huff and mumble to himself as he mixed the various green and blue and brown fluids together.
    “Take this with you to sea. You said the tunnel appeared when you were swimming. That’s good. Maybe you needn’t jump.”
    “All right. What do I do with it once I’m there?”
    “ Trinken Sie liebe.”
    I looked at him strangely.
    “Drink it! You’ll drink it if you must go home. Try not to let anyone see you get in the water. I’m sure it goes without saying, but you’re quite recognizable as Her Highness.”
    My eyes followed his gnarled finger to the liquid concoction he’d just made.
    “Will it hurt?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Can you come with me?”
    “We mustn’t be together.”
    “Why?”
    “If something happens and the Princess doesn’t return, I’ll be charged in her death. I’m in enough of a predicament as it is now, with you showing up at my door for all the village to see.”
    He handed me a rough, dark robe with an oversized hood that covered almost all of my face and hair.
    “Go now,” he said, ushering me up some stairs and out through a set of wooden cellar doors. “Follow the cobbled path!”
    I left his yard and followed the path