Free Harvest of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) by Debra Holland Page A

summers, Sadie was finished with college and didn’t have to return for classes. The Olympic training camp didn’t start for another two weeks. She’d planned to be over her jetlag and focused on her training before camp started, but she could take another few days off.
    Follow. Her grandmother’s voice drifted on the wind. Or was it in her mind?
    Does it matter if she’s real or not?
    That decided her. If Bubby was mixed up in this, then she’d go along.
    For a few days .
    ~ ~ ~
    The four of them standing in the bow of the ship had fallen silent and stared ahead across the ocean toward Ontarem’s gray-shrouded land, each deep in his or her own thoughts. Finally, Daria pushed away from the shelter of Khan’s arms. “Our plans are made. Soon enough we will confront the Evil one.” She smiled at Jasmine and gestured toward the stern of the ship. “Until then, I’d like to speak with my brother, and I’m sure you and Khan have plenty you wish to say to each other.”
    “Of course.” Jasmine’s smile didn’t quite banish the sudden sadness in her blue eyes.
    Daria remembered what her sister-in-law had endured—the rapes and beatings—at the hands of Khan’s half-brother. She knew how much Amir’s brutality had haunted Khan…his need to know if Jasmine was truly as well as she appeared. She only hoped the two friends would be able to talk about such a painful subject.
    Indaran gave Jasmine an assessing glance.
    His wife made a little shooing motion.
    Indaran extended a hand to Daria. “I know you’re not six any more to hold onto me as we walk. But can we just pretend for a few minutes?”
    Daria laughed, even though a sharp pain spiked through her heart for all they’d missed. She placed her hand in his. “Let’s head to the stern.”
    Daria and Indaran turned as one. Together, they sauntered toward the rear of the ship, nodding at the sailors going about their duty and the soldiers from Ocean’s Glory and fighters from Seagem working out together. Overhead, the full sails sped them all too swiftly back into danger, making every moment of freedom precious.
    Daria gave Indaran some side-long glances, admiring his beloved profile, so like their father’s and their brother Cihkel’s. Familiar grief blocked her throat. Go away , she told her sadness. Indaran is here. He lives. You haven’t lost your whole family as you believed.
    She concentrated on enjoying the feel of her brother’s hand in hers, savoring these moments of peace. Daria could almost imagine being a little girl again, when her world was safe and her family complete, except now instead of her being waist-high to Indaran, her eye-level topped her big brother’s shoulder. “As Ontarem’s prisoner, was your mind as frozen as your body?”
    “No. My mind was free, although Ontarem mangled my memories.” Indaran stared straight ahead.
    His voice sounded dispassionate, but Daria sensed the bitterness inside him.
    “He fed on them, sucking out all the emotion, the color. My entire past is in black and white and gray. I don’t have feelings about anything from my youth. Not, until the very moment when Jasmine freed me. I’ve been flooded with feelings ever since.”
    Daria couldn’t even imagine what that must be like. Her memories of her family brought her so much comfort. To have them violated…. “Perhaps Withea or Arvintor can return them.”
    Indaran grimaced and shook his head. “I wouldn’t ask the Deities to spare the energy. They’ll need all They have to battle Ontarem.” He squeezed her hand. “But even though He siphoned off my feelings, you and I didn’t lose our connection. I knew I loved you as soon as I saw you. I doubt the Evil One knows He can’t destroy love.”
    They came to an open area of deck where the soldiers from Ocean’s Glory sparred with each other, and the men and a couple of women from Seagem—the former slaves—engaged in pas-sa-ra sword exercises. Their thrusts and blocks were slow and