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  Johnson braked at the guard station to the Childress Estate and Fawn abandoned her reverie. The guard spoke to Johnson and then the gates swung inward. As Johnson drove toward the towering three story mansion, Fawn turned to look at Zoe again. The child had her face pressed against her window and exclaimed, "Wow!" Fawn grinned. She knew exactly how Zoe felt.

  Johnson drove the Lexus under the portico and stopped at the massive front door. Exiting the vehicle he opened Zoe's door and lifted a hand to help her out, as if she were a princess. She stretched her neck upward to view the vine covered magnificence of the Childress Mansion and stumbled on the first step. Fawn laughed and caught her. "It's a grand home, Zoe, and I'm sure Rainey will show you around before we leave."

  The ornate front door burst open and Rainey rushed toward them. "Fawn, I'm so happy you're here!" She pulled Fawn into a hug and then knelt in front of Zoe. "And I'm happy you came with Fawn. We're going to have such fun! Can I give you a hug, too?" When Zoe shyly nodded, Rainey gently embraced her.

  Roth, who had followed his wife, embraced Fawn and then extended his hand to Zoe. "Nice to meet you, Zoe. Fawn tells us wonderful things about you and your father and your ranch."

  Zoe accepted his hand, her eyes wide and luminous. She looked at Fawn and tugged her sleeve. Fawn bent her ear to Zoe's mouth. Zoe said, "These people are different. They're colors are like yours."

  Fawn smiled and smoothed Zoe's hair. Returning her attention to the new parents she said, "Where's that baby?"

  Rainey linked arms with Fawn and extended her hand to Zoe. "Let's go in. I have no doubt he'll make himself known in a few minutes."

  CHAPTER 14:

  INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCE

  Holding Rainey's hand, Zoe excitedly followed the baby's daddy inside the house. He stopped in front of two big doors and quietly opened one side. She held her breath and slipped her hand from the baby's mommy's hand so she could tiptoe across the shiny floor to the cradle in the center.

  She held her breath. Never had she seen anyone surrounded by only golden light like this baby. There were no greens or blues or reds; only gold.

  Fawn knelt on the other side of the cradle and whispered, "Our Prince has arrived."

  Zoe's luminous eyes searched Fawn's misty ones and she said, "His color is gold." Then she looked at the baby's daddy and mommy and smiled brilliantly. "He's a special baby."

  Kneeling beside Zoe, the baby's mommy gave her a hug. "Yes, he's very special." At that moment little Davide opened his eyes and stretched and smiled as if welcoming his visitors.

  Everyone laughed and Rainey said, "He's about to announce himself." As soon as she said the words Davide screwed up his face and let out a wail.

  Roth laughed and kissed his wife's cheek. "Honey, I think our son wants his mommy. While you feed him, I'll show Fawn and Zoe to their room."

  ***

  Fawn held Zoe's hand as they followed Roth to the second floor. He led them down a lovely hallway hung with beautiful artwork.

  "I don't remember these paintings, Roth."

  "Rainey's been redecorating and she commissioned a French artist to paint scenes that are meaningful to both of us." Fawn already knew much of Rainey and Roth's history, but she enjoyed seeing what she had only envisioned before.

  Roth said, "Now that Davide is here, Rainey can continue her focus exercises."

  Fawn nodded her understanding. After Rainey had discovered she was half shapeling, she had expressed her heart's desire to Fawn. She wanted to learn to shift so she and Roth could soar together as eagles. All shapelings began their training by learning the discipline of focus, because without it, shifting was impossible.

  Roth reached a door in the hallway. "This used to be Rainey's bedroom." He opened the door and waved Fawn and Zoe inside.

  Zoe exclaimed, "Oh, it's so beautiful."

  Roth followed them into the room and walked to the French doors of the balcony to open them. They all stepped outside to view the manicured grounds and distant woods of the estate. The woods beckoned to Fawn and she looked forward to shifting before the night was over. She wanted to roam the wilderness. They returned to the lovely blue and yellow bedroom that reminded her of glorious summer days spent on the island of Santorini in the Mediterranean Sea. Her rare vacations were often enjoyed with friends who owned a house on the outskirts of the village of Oia. In the evenings they would sit on the balcony soaking in the beauty of the waning sunlight teasing the depths of the aqua caldera.

  Roth pointed to their backpacks that Johnson had placed beside the bed. "I'll let you two unpack and rest. When you're ready to come down, Rainey and I will either be hanging out in the drawing room with Davide or somewhere close by."

  "Thank you, Roth," said Fawn. After he closed the door Fawn looked at Zoe. "Okay, kiddo, which side of the bed do you want?"

  An hour later, Fawn and Zoe walked back through the upstairs hallway, pausing to enjoy each painting in turn.

  Zoe pointed to a meadow of flowers under a brilliant moon with a woman on her knees and an eagle with outstretched wings in front of her. "This is my favorite," she said.

  Fawn pointed to a desert scene with a caravan of Bedouins riding camels across barren hills of golden sand. "It's beautiful. But I think this one is my favorite."

  After examining all the pictures, Zoe reached for Fawn's hand and looked up at her. "I'm so happy we're here," she said shyly.

  In that moment, Fawn's heart expanded with love so deep for the misunderstood child that it made her ache. She also felt happiness for the progress Zoe was making in such a short time. "So am I, honey. Let's go see our little prince again."

  Excited, Zoe said, "He's the Prince the pretty voice is talking about. I just know it! I wish I could understand everything she's says. I'll try harder to listen."

  Fawn smiled. "You'll understand someday."

  Returning to the drawing room Fawn gently open the door and Roth and Rainey looked up.

  "Come in, come in," said Rainey. "Davide's tummy is full and he's ready for company."

  Fawn smiled at the sight of the baby laying across the lap of Roth, the legendary Shapeling Master, who was making cooing sounds at him. Rainey sat next to him beaming with pride.

  "Would you like to hold him?" Roth asked Zoe.

  Zoe's eyes lit and she breathed, "Oh, yes."

  "Sit beside me and I'll hand him to you."

  Zoe rushed to the couch and Roth gently placed Davide in her arms. The baby wiggled and Zoe giggled. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you little Prince."

  CHAPTER 15:

  THE SECRET OF SOUND

  Fawn and Roth landed on the third floor balcony where Rainey rested in a patio chair watching them. A half moon and wispy clouds cast shadows across the grounds. Rainey grinned when they shifted from eagles back into humans. "Tell me about your flight! I never grow tired of hearing your descriptions!"

  Roth caressed his wife's cheek. "It was magnificent, but you know what's better?"

  "What?"

  "Being with you."

  Rainey giggled. "Fawn, see what I have to put up with?"

  Fawn laughed at their playful banter before saying with all seriousness. "If I can't have a love like yours, I'm never going to marry. Anything less, would be a waste of time."

  Rainey patted her friend's hand. "Fawn, it may happen when you least expect it; like it did for me."

  "Why don't we go inside?" Roth winked at Rainey. "And tell Fawn the good news."

  Rainey's smiled turned Cheshire. "I can't wait."

  Fawn joked, "What's going on? Don't tell me you're pregnant again."

  "Goodness, no. Although I'd love it." She gave Roth a sly glance.

  He chuckled. "Rainey, you're making me blush."

  Rainey snorted. "That'll be the day."

  Roth opened the French doors to the balcony and Rainey walked to the cradle beside their bed. Fawn draped her arm around her friend's shoulders while they watched Davide sleep. />
  Behind them, Roth whispered, "I'll heat some water for tea and meet you two in the living room."

  Ten minutes later the three of them sat in the lovely room Rainey had lavishly decorated. Throughout the remodel of the third floor she had often detailed to Fawn what the current project was, and in the end, their spacious quarters were complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and magnificent balcony off the bedroom.

  Fawn sighed contentedly and settled back into the azure depths of an overstuffed chair. Earlier, when she'd entered the suite, she had exclaimed over the beautiful shades of blue. Rainey had beamed, leaned in, and whispered. "They're the shades of Roth's eyes. When I look at this room, I see his joy, frustration, love, anger, and passion."

  Rainey brought Fawn back to the present when she asked, "Fawn, what are you thinking?"

  Fawn smiled. "I was thinking about how wonderful it is to be here. But I don't want to talk about me. I want to hear your good news. Since you're not pregnant, does it have anything to do with a breakthrough at the lab?"

  Both Rainey and Roth grinned.

  Fawn exclaimed, "It does! Tell me!"

  Rainey looked at Roth and he nodded, encouraging her to continue.

  "Okay. As you know, we've studied the work of previous scientists in this field starting with German Physicist Ernst Chladni from the 1700s. We created a modernized version of his invention, the Chladni plate, and replicated modern day experiments by Hans Jenny and Sir Peter Guy Manners of their discovery that it takes at least five combined frequencies to create elementary three dimensional shapes. After that we started combining vast amounts of frequencies to produce more complex forms with the goal of discovering the frequencies of healthy body organs. If successful, it was hoped that those frequencies applied to unhealthy organs would stimulate healing."

  Fawn nodded.

  "You also remember that shortly before you came to work at the lab, we had a breakthrough when my assistant Jim accidently bumped the control switch on the Chladni plate and a three dimensional replica of me was created in the lycopodium substance on the plate. But, unfortunately, the equipment did not store the frequencies."

  Fawn nodded again, anticipation lighting her eyes. "Yes, I remember. You said you'd earlier cut yourself while working on the plate and bled onto it. You wiped it off and didn't think anything about it."

  "Yes. And afterward my team and I came to the conclusion that a small amount of blood must have remained on the plate and the frequencies reacted to my DNA to produce a three dimensional replica of me."

  "Are you telling me you've duplicated the experiment?" Fawn asked, her eyes shining with excitement.

  "Not exactly. But we think we're on the right track. Here's what we haven't told you?"

  Fawned leaned forward and held her breath.

  Rainey also leaned forward. "When Roth 'kidnapped' me and took me to Egypt," she made quote marks with her fingers and giggled, "there was a Bedouin tribe he'd had an assignment with years ago—as a camel."

  Fawn grinned. "Oh, I love camel assignments."

  "Well, during that mission he overheard many things. In particular, that the tribesmen had been overseers of a sacred cave for centuries and the cave's hieroglyphs purportedly contained…are you ready for this?"

  Fawn exhaled. "I can't take the suspense much longer."

  "The secret of sound."

  "Whoa!"

  "Of course, when Roth told me this, I didn't believe him." She glanced at her husband and winked. "After going to the cave we went to Endesha's home in Luxur and he translated the hieroglyphs, and when I heard the translation, I was even more skeptical."

  Fawn smiled at the mention of Endesha who had been Roth's beloved guide and had recently transitioned to the realm of Source, leaving a legacy of research that was invaluable among shapelings. She glanced at Roth and saw the sorrow in his eyes for the loss of the shapeling who had raised him. Endesha had become as Roth's own father after Roth's parents were killed while in wolf form protecting a boy lost in the wilderness. What Roth hadn't known was that the child was the direct ancestor of Rainey. Roth's parents, having been made aware of prophesy concerning the Great Prince, had given their lives to protect the human lineage of the mother of the Prince.

  Rainey continued, "I scoffed at the interpretation but when we came back to the U.S., I started having strange dreams."

  Fawn held her breath again, waiting to hear more.

  Rainey continued, "Before I tell you about the dreams, I'll share the translation of the hieroglyphs. Roth, do you want to do the honor?"

  "No, honey, you go ahead."

  "Okay, the translation is poetic and goes like this:

  Amun, Lord of silence, without mother, without father, being everything, creates nothing. Mut, Lady of Heaven, without mother, without father, balances everything with a feather. Khonsu, great snake, son of Amun and Mut, fertilizes the cosmic egg with disharmony to create.

  "Wow, that's heavy," said Fawn. "What were your dreams?"

  "The dreams were various versions of the same scenario—I'm in a dark void that's so silent it's deafening. It's a paradox. I'm in a void, and I am the void. I long for movement, sound, anything but the silent void. It's like I'm me, and yet, not me. Then, thoughts begin trickling through my mind that move slowly at first, and then pick up speed. It wasn't until recently that I realized what the thoughts were doing." She paused for effect. "They were seeking…existence. In another dream, I have my arms outstretched with my palms upward. In each palm is a feather. I'm a human scale balancing the feathers. Again, the thoughts seek existence. Then, unexpectedly, a few weeks ago, I woke knowing the interpretation. It was simple, yet complex. Again, a paradox."

  Fawn didn't know what to say. She waited expectantly for Rainey to explain how the dream related to the translation of the ancient writing.

  Rainey said, "It wasn't until I met Roth that I began thinking in a metaphysical sense. I had been so entrenched in the black and white of my scientific training, that thinking otherwise was difficult. Anyway, I broke that barrier because of Roth." She laughed and added, "And how could I not when I discovered I was in love with a shapeling, and then found out that I'm half shapeling." She grinned at Roth before returning her attention to Fawn. "Here's the interpretation in metaphysical language."

  "This is good," Roth interjected.

  Rainey blew a breath and continued, "Amun represents the father principal, and Mut, the mother. Of course, Khonsu represents the joining of the two. Neither Amun nor Mut have a father or mother because that would negate them as being, shall we say, first presence. Amun and Mut, or silence and heaven as they are described in the translation, merge. Heaven, of course, is a place of harmony. So Amun and Mut represent silence and harmony. Now mind you, I'm speaking metaphysically."

  Fawn nodded.

  "In my dream, I see Mut with her arms outstretched and a feather in each hand. A feather represents that which is intangible; without substance. This nothingness is perfectly balanced. However…" Rainey paused for emphasis, "…balance is not the ultimate desired state."

  "It's not?" said Fawn.

  "No, and here's the reason. Form cannot find expression in balance. Remember that in the interpretation Khonsu is referred to as the great snake, the son of Amun and Mut, or balance and harmony. He is the one who 'fertilizes the cosmic egg with disharmony to create.' That's the literal interpretation. Now, here's the fun part. When you think of a snake you see curving lines; up and down, up and down. What does that remind you of?"

  Fawn furrowed her brow while Rainey waited for her response. Suddenly, the answer hit her like a ton of bricks. "Rainey, the slither of a snake is like a wave form! We represent sound waves by drawing them with crests and troughs, or ups and downs!"

  "Exactly! Do you see where I'm going with this?"

  Fawn bit her lip and looked from Roth's smile to Rainey's. The answer eluded her.

  Rainey explained, "Remember, we're think
ing outside-the-box. If balance and harmony create a state of nothingness, or intangibility, then…"

  The light of understanding exploded in Fawn's mind and she jumped up, exclaiming, "It takes a frequency of disharmony to disturb the nothingness of balance and harmony!"

  Rainey jumped up, too, and hugged Fawn. "Yes! Form, or the material world, is created when the cosmic egg, or balance and harmony, is disrupted."

  Roth interjected, "And it's interesting to note that legends of Khonsu depict him as being instrumental in creating life in all living creatures. He also had the reputation of being a healer god. Understanding the mystery of Khonsu is the gateway to understanding healing frequencies."

  Fawn said, "This is too much. Please tell me how all this relates to your experiments."

  They sat back down and Rainey said, "Here's what I believe happened with our blooper in the lab. Whatever frequencies were generated when Jim accidentally hit the switch were perfectly balanced and harmonized, except for one or more disruptive frequencies. When the combination of those frequencies hit the DNA on the plate, it was the disruptive ones that caused a likeness of my form to materialize. Our experiments are now geared toward determining the disruptive frequencies in the rudimentary forms we have already created. We have discovered that in creating the likeness of matter in the lycopodium—all frequencies, whether balanced, harmonized, or disruptive—nothing is haphazard."

  "Rainey, this is wonderful news."

  "Yes. We now have a track to run on."

  "Do you know if anyone else is following this same line of thinking?"

  "So far, we haven't heard anything. Our team is working diligently and we've added three more scientists with impeccable credentials and outstanding character references. Everything is hush, hush. We wouldn't want this knowledge falling into the wrong hands."