He glanced up, giving me a curious look. "You were brought to us," he explained. "We heard the myth of the Mongol goddess who fell from the sky and blessed the barbarian's destruction of my world. We searched for many years to locate you and then, we hired someone to obtain you from the depths of the Empire." He lifted cloth off a round breadbasket and withdrew a warm piece of unleavened bread the size of a small tortilla.
I accepted it. "Oh. If I did that, why did you want me?" I asked. "Revenge?"
"No, Moonbeam. So you can convince them to spare us."
The sobering response unsettled me. "You didn't put me into the sleep or hide me. You just found me and want me to help you?"
He nodded. "We paid someone to bring you here."
That's terrifying. What if someone else had found me? What if I'd been tossed around from place to place like a sack of potatoes for multiple decades? There were days when I swore up and down I'd kick Carter's ass when I met him again.
And moments like this when I realized I wasn't just out of place and time, I was out of the place and time I was supposed to be, too. Anxious to figure out what was going on, I rested one foot on the stone floor then the other. They held, though I was wobbly and headachy.
"Was there anything with me?" I asked.
"Instructions on how to wake you and that your name was Moonbeam, the Goddess of the White Path."
"I'm not a goddess," I said with a grunt.
"Of course you are not. There is but one God," he agreed. "But you are not … normal. Perhaps the djinn cursed you."
"Maybe," I replied without understanding what a djinn was. Some words didn't translate well. My legs held me, and I walked around the table. Pausing to lean against it, I sighed and nibbled on the bread. The light, fluffy food was a little salty and delicious. "This is amazing."
He shifted from his position on a pile of pillows near the fire and motioned for me to join him. At a low table before him was a small feast consisting of what looked like meatballs, honey drizzled dates, rice, more bread and …
Hummus. "Oh, I love Middle Eastern food!" I exclaimed.
"It is a meager meal, but it is all we can offer," he said with some hesitation. "Does it please you?" He pushed the food to my side of the table.
Nodding, I dug in without hesitation, my appetite roaring to life. I had seventy years worth of eating to catch up to. "This is the best food ever."