Teri McLaren
Across the spring, Og grabbed the trunk of a banana tree to keep from breaking his neck as he tumbled gracelessly out of nothingness and into what appeared to be paradise. His song had taken him away from Womba, but he had no idea where it had dropped him. As he had held the stones in his hand and sung an unmaking spell, the last thing he remembered thinking about was… Riolla.
And to his astonishment and incredible delight, there she was, lounging in the midst of the warm spring with an orchid in her hair. Og blinked, thinking he dreamed. An orchid. Just like the one he had conjured for her the day he had proposed. Og's heart broke all over again as he looked through the thick tropical undergrowth. His nose poked into another hand of bananas for camouflage.
Riolla took her time in the misty waters, her head floating just above the bubbling surface. But when she rose to leave the spring, Og noticed for the first time that she was very, very naked. Enraptured, he shut his eyes, trying to orient himself, then looked up to try to find the three sisters. The swirling mist obscured the sky for the most part, but Og could make out the familiar constellation now and then when the firmament cleared for a brief moment. Everything looked pretty much the same as it did at the selkies' lodge, except that he knew he had moved a little west, lliis had to be the warm spring at the base of Drufalden's mountain.
Placing the two gemstones in his bag, Og began to plan quickly. Womba would surely be coming after him now that she knew he wasn't at the lodge, and he could return to the selkies' river any time before daybreak, when Cheyne had said they were leaving for the forest. But first, he wanted to get just a little closer. Just to be with her again. Just one last look, while she didn't know he was looking, while they were alone together.
He shoved his nose back into the bananas just as