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The small party eventually made their way out into a garden, the likes of which Hope had never seen before, and her eyes were wide as she followed the queen, with Chika and Lathon behind her. It reminded her of Eldon's garden back on Pandora, and when they rounded a corner, there he was, seated on the edge of a fountain, running his fingers disconsolately through the water. He looked as if he'd aged twenty years since the last time Hope had seen him, shortly before her marriage to Arjun, and her heart went out to him. "Did he get caught?" she whispered to Chika.
The feline woman nodded. "Well, he was on the verge of getting caught," she whispered back. "Like me, he's been working tirelessly behind the scenes to try and stop the council's plan, and they were very close to realising the two of us were working in concert to defy their rule. He had to go on the run to avoid being caught, and he's a marked man now, with a price on his head that would make your eyes water."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnUZuOYiPn
Hope shivered. Suddenly, she didn't feel like she wanted to know just what was going on, but then Eldon looked up and saw them, and it was his turn for his eyes to go wide when he saw Hope. "Love?" he said, taking a hesitant step forward. "My God, I thought ..." He stopped and managed a lopsided grin. "I'm guessing your timely arrival means Chika got to you in time."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5euf9iqNn
Hope smiled, but her heart broke when she saw, despite his joy, how sad he still looked, and she gave his hands a squeeze. "She did, though she was a bit, ah, rough about it."
Chika snorted. "You mean I was a right bitch to you, and I deserve to be called every name under the sun," she said. "I've already explained my part," she added to Eldon. "I think it's all been a bit much, so go easy on her."
"I've had to 'go easy' all my life," Eldon muttered, but he kept a tight grip on Hope's hand as they found places to sit. "Chika's already filled you in," he said to Hope, "so I'll gloss over the gritty details and get to the point. In case you were wondering about that lovely little display I put on when you all arrived in Isonor, I had very good reason. Aoife, Emma and Daisy were all spies for the council. They'd been sent to Earth because the higher ups had got wind I wasn't all I appeared on the surface. I recognised them immediately, and I had to act very fast to throw them off the scent. Emma and Daisy, as you know, no longer have memories of Pandora, and they believe themselves to be ordinary Earth women, and Aoife crossed the Wheel and was thus no longer a threat."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6iIYz60FV
"Good God," Hope murmured, horrified. "So why was Aoife so hell bent on removing me back to Earth?"
"She knew you weren't entirely sure about the venture," Eldon told her. "And she felt I had 'too much influence' on you. She wanted to separate you from the others so she could question you in more detail, but it failed, because Chika got a tip off, and was able to turn the train around before it could make it through the portal to Earth. And she wanted to get her hands on your daughter by any means necessary, even if it meant... well, I won't say it."
Hope had gone sheet white by this point, and she shook her head. "No need," she said in a tight voice. "Thank God she failed! But this all means the council knew, or were getting close to knowing, that you and Chika were playing them false."
"Yup," Eldon said grimly. "I tried finding you after you went into hospital, but no one was saying anything, so I alerted Chika to the fact things had gone very badly wrong, and high-tailed it out of here a day or so ahead of the arrest warrant sent out after me. I can't ever return to Pandora, and good riddance to the place! But this leaves your daughter and Emily's son in grave danger. I honestly believe they'd rather see the two of them dead than reunited with their mothers."
"We have to stop them," Hope insisted.
"Oh, there's no doubt about that," Eldon agreed, pulling her to her feet. "But first, you need to meet the women who were 'recruited' the first time around, and then you'll get a better idea of just what the hell is going on."
Hope shivered as he led her into the garden, with the others following close behind, renewed fear for her daughter warring with her desire to get to the bottom of the mystery behind Pandora's mysterious lack of women and children. She had a nasty feeling finding out would somehow be worse than knowing.
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