As Brother Kohl remained standing by his seat, Dragomir waved him away. “Leave us, now. We have Council business to conduct.”
Kohl's jaw muscles contracted, as if to prevent words from escaping. He turned on his heel and marched out of the council chamber. Only the soft whirr of the automatic door broke the heavy silence.
But Dragomir had no regrets. “I know all of you remember Brother Yaman's expulsion from the Council, and the disaster that followed. He would have taken control of the entire civilized world, if it weren't for Terek and Galya, now sovereigns of Yalta. One more reason to show these friendly rulers our gratitude, by saving their stranded people.”
The Princes glanced at each other with open concern, but none challenged their king.
Dragomir sat and leaned back in his chair. “Now, shall we put to a vote the matter of sending a rescue party to the Chosen Isle, near the Eastern Continent? Fifty-one brothers and sisters are shipwrecked there, along with a prince of Yalta and his retinue.” Dragomir offered a magnanimous smile. “Who is in favor?”
As one, the twenty-three Mutant Princes at the table raised a six-fingered hand.
“I rejoice at this unanimous decision. We'll start the preparations immediately.” Dragomir enjoyed his victory. Being king had a few advantages after all.
* * *
Kahuel sat next to his faithful feline on the stone slab. Vanaru's healing efforts had failed. Diablo had lost too much blood through the horrible wounds inflicted by the rotating blades of the Estrell. He caressed the black, sticky pelt soiled with blood.
Esperana checked her fancy scanner. “I’m sorry, Black Jaguar, but your feline companion will not see the twin suns rise again.”
Kahuel couldn't stand the thought of losing such a loyal friend. A tear welled in his eye and he wiped it with his forearm.
Diablo lay there, sleeping or unconscious, his chest barely lifting with each shallow breath. The bleeding had stopped, but he was too weak to whimper, swish his tail, or to open his eyes.
Kahuel laid a light hand on the big black head. “I'll never forget you, my friend. You will live in my memories for the rest of my life.”
His throat clenched as he gazed upon the clearing below the stone slab. By the light of many cooking fires, the Chosen and the warriors celebrated their freedom from the Star People, with food and songs, and fermented honey drink. The Star Chant had left the Chosen famished.
The men laughed, relieved since the women had recovered the memories of their sojourn on the ship, including Talina's heroic attack of one of their jailers. A sure sign the Estrell control upon them had been broken. Their sanity had returned.
With Talina monopolized by her people as the celebrated miracle of the day, and her brother still hostile to their union on the account of his past, Kahuel had distanced himself from the celebrations to keep Diablo company in his final hour. He reclined beside the dying feline and gazed at a sky full of stars. “Do you remember that first day after the shipwreck? You are the one who led me to Talina in the glade, near the waterfall.”
Kahuel chuckled among the tears blurring the stars. “I bet the young panther who fancies you is going to miss you something fierce, too. Maybe she already carries a litter of black kittens with deep green eyes.”
Kahuel turned to Diablo and caressed his round ears. “You are a handsome fellow... difficult to forget. Even as a cub, you had these incredible emerald eyes. I knew you were mine as soon as I held you in my arms. We always had this special bond.”
He kissed the jaguar's nose. “Like me and Talina... despite the fact that she doesn't want to leave her people. What am I supposed to do about that? I cannot change who I am, or what my family represents... I have a duty to Yalta. Besides, Vanaru hates me... Do you think she'd accept to live among a remote Zerker tribe, in the jungle by Yalta Lake? She could bring some of her people with her.”
A slight shadow blocked the stars and Talina stood in his field of view. “Am I interrupting?”
Had she heard him? Kahuel sat up and furtively wiped his eyes. “What is it?”
Talina smiled sweetly. “The Lost Daughter wants to speak with you.”
“Can you stay with Diablo while I'm gone?”
“Of course.” Talina sat on the other side of Diablo and crossed her legs.
“Thanks.” Kahuel rose, gazing down at two parts of his life. Two creatures he loved, one in the past, the other in the future. “I'll be right back.” He stopped in his track. “Where is Esperana?”
“Beneath the ancestral tree.” Talina blew him a kiss. “Go.”
Kahuel blew her kiss back and hurried across the slab, around boulders and metal debris, and down the carved stone steps. Then he strode along the side of the rock slab toward the ancestral tree.
Under the old gnarled tree, sitting like a priestess in front of the many-colored ropes hanging from a lower branch, Esperana smiled in the glow of the torches. Forming a circle in front of her, elders listened intently to whatever she told them.
Closest to her sat Vanaru, who shot Kahuel a murderous glare. “What is he doing here?”
Esperana shushed him gently. “Black Jaguar represents his people.”
“What is it?” Kahuel wanted to return to Diablo. He wouldn't forgive himself if his loyal friend passed away in his absence. He wanted to be there for him. Help his soul cross the threshold.
Esperana pointed to an empty space in the circle. “Black Jaguar, please sit.”
Kahuel resented Esperana's commanding attitude, but Mutants didn't know any better. He sat, hiding his impatience.
“Now that we have use of our technology, I examined all the abducted women of this village with my scanner.” Esperana paused, emphatically. “They are in perfect health. Not a single one is pregnant. They don't seem to be adversely affected by the few hours they spent in space.”
“That's great news,” said an elder.
Vanaru nodded emphatically. “At least they won't give birth to skinny Star People babies. That's a relief!”
But Kahuel had a strange feeling that everything was not right. “What about the flash of bright light they all remember just before returning?”
Esperana took a deep breath. “In my opinion, it must have been some kind of transport beam, because they immediately awakened on the surface.”
“It makes sense.” The description didn't resemble the Estrell moonbeam, but Kahuel wasn't familiar with as many technologies as Esperana. “These women will have fantastic stories to tell their children.”
Esperana smiled. “In due time, Black Jaguar... in due time.”
Kahuel gazed upon the celebrations, just beyond their circle. The fermented honey drink and the songs brought wide smiles to many of the Chosen. Couples retreated stealthily away from the clearing, into the moon shadows. It was late spring after all, and the summer solstice always was an auspicious time to conceive, even in Yalta.
His mind returned to the meeting when Esperana spoke.
“The Estrell managed to hide the entire Chosen Isle from our surveillance satellites. The relics were the means they used to blind our technology from the sky and render it useless on the ground.” Esperana then spelled out the details of the rescue schedule. It would be simple, fast, painless, efficient, like all Mutant operations.
By the time Kahuel returned to Diablo's side, Talina sat on her heels, laying her hands over the jaguar. A golden glow enveloped them both. Kahuel didn't dare interrupt. He appreciated whatever Talina could do for Diablo, even lessen the pain of his passing.
When Talina removed her hands, the jaguar still glowed faintly. She smiled and lay down next to Diablo. Kahuel stretched out on the other side of the cat, and they joined hands over the feline's head.
Absently, Kahuel caressed the red crystal on his chest. He should contact his father again, but it would mean speaking about Basilk's death... too many deaths... He was exhausted. Lulled by the fading songs of the last revelers, Kahuel couldn't keep his eyes open and fell i
nto deep slumber.
* * *
Kahuel awoke before first light to the trill of morning birds and the cries of monkeys calling from the treetops. A few warriors already tended the breakfast fires. Talina slept soundly. Diablo showed no improvement, but he still breathed, hanging on to life, as if reluctant to leave them.
Stealthily, Kahuel rose and descended the steps into the sacred clearing. He accepted a mug of Kawa from a female warrior, then he joined the others sitting around the main fire. His warriors acknowledged him with respectful nods.
Kahuel smiled back at them. “I need three good riders to run back to the beach and warn the base camp about our imminent rescue.”
A swarthy warrior raised his hand. “I have the fastest horse.”
Two more riders, a man and a woman, also volunteered.
“Good. You'll help them break camp. Anything of value, salvaged weapons and goods should be packed to take back with us. The flyers should arrive before sunset.”
“Did we ever hear back from the early exploring party?” one of the riders asked. “My best friend is with them.”
“Not to my knowledge, but we've been gone from the camp a while.” Kahuel had sent that party on the second day after the shipwreck, to look for timber and a strategic location to build a fort. He hoped they didn't meet with foul play. “If they have not returned, flyers should scan the area for their life signs.”
“When are we going home?”
“As soon as we are ready. The Mutant pilots will spend the night with us. They prefer to fly by day. We'll probably leave tomorrow at dawn.”
Kahuel's father said he'd come with the queen. Kahuel couldn't wait to see his parents and introduce Talina to them, although the news of Basilk's passing would no doubt sadden their reunion. His family had just heard the news and hadn't yet grieved.
Kahuel returned to the rock slab, balancing a leaf in one hand, stacked with fresh fruit for Talina, and water in a coconut shell in the other. He found her awake, ministering to Diablo, glowing golden in the pink dawn.
He sat quietly across from Diablo. “How is he? Can he talk to you?”
She shook her head sadly. “He is too weak even for that. But I sense that he is grateful. Our presence is a comfort to him.”
Kahuel knelt and dripped some water from the coconut shell onto the Jaguar's dry lips and nose, but the animal didn't react. “You should drink, Diablo.”
The jaguar barely breathed.
Talina took the coconut shell from him and dripped more water on the feline's mouth. “He can't eat or drink. He's unconscious.”
Kahuel swallowed hard on a clenched throat and handed Talina the leaf loaded with food. “You should eat to keep up your strength.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as she took the leaf from him and set it on the stone then picked at the fruit with delicate fingers.
“Before this day is over, you will meet my parents.” Kahuel smiled at the prospect. “I'm sure they'll love you.”
“I hope so.” Talina licked her fingers, prompting lusty thoughts in Kahuel's mind.
“Then we'll all fly back to Yalta together, as a family.”
“Yalta?” Talina stopped her hand, the piece of fruit half-way to her mouth. “You don't expect me to live in your walled city, do you?”
“But I thought…” A malaise gripped Kahuel's insides.
Talina's brow knotted and her expression hardened. “After all I told you about dying inside without mind contact? You know I hate walls and don't wear shoes. And how could I face the other women who shared your bed before me?”
“We could live on the lake... among the Zerker tribes.”
“Savages, who pierce the heart of innocent animals with blades and butcher them for food?” Talina trembled with open revulsion. “How could you want me to suffer through all these deaths?”
“What else can I do?” Kahuel had hoped the problem would disappear after they both declared their love... but apparently it hadn't. “Your brother will never allow me to stay here.”
“This land is vast enough for us to start a new village somewhere else, away from my brother.”
“And do what? I am a Prince of Yalta. I have a duty to my father, to my people, to the High King of Kassouk.”
Talina's face closed. He knew that inflexible look.
Unable to deal with this dilemma, Kahuel rose and stormed away. “Women!” he mumbled as he climbed down the stone steps. “Always complicating things.”
But he shouldn't cast Talina in the same category as the women of his past. He loved her, and she loved him. Still, they were deadlocked.
* * *
Talina gaped at the flyers, like giant transparent bugs, hovering just above the grass of the sacred clearing, in the golden light of late afternoon. The Chosen stared in disbelief, stealing glances at each other.
Talina noticed warriors also gaping at the spectacle. “Have they never seen flying machines before?”
Black Jaguar chuckled. “They all heard stories about Mutant technology, but most of them have never seen a flyer... much less a dozen.”
“But you have.” It dawned on Talina that among the Zerkers, great differences separated the common man from royalty. How unfair.
Black Jaguar squeezed her hand and led her toward a flying machine containing two people, visible through a transparent bubble. “Come meet my parents.”
When the clear dome lifted, the King and Queen of Yalta stepped out and descended together the two wide metallic steps to the grass. King Terek, in yellow and brown silk under his baldric, swords and daggers hanging from his belt, flashed them a broad smile. He wore a pear-shaped crimson stone on his chest, not unlike Kahuel's but much larger.
His mother looked pale, with long white hair braided around her head and flowing down her back. The light blue silk of her robes enhances glacier blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled. A black gem gleamed on her chest.
Black Jaguar led Talina sedately toward the royal couple.
She sensed his eagerness and let go of his hand. “Go, run to embrace them.”
But he shook his head. “Too many are watching. It wouldn't be proper.”
“Proper?” Talina frowned. “Since when is a demonstration of familial love improper?”
“Protocol dictates...” He straightened his spine and stared ahead, with a stiff formality Talina had never seen in him.
“Protocol?” She had no patience for such cultural nonsense. Ever since their morning quarrel, she stood firm on her decision to remain among the Chosen, and the slightest word, or detail, like this absurd protocol, strengthened her decision. How could she live among the stifling rules and hypocrisy, and the physical constraints of life in the Yalta fortress?
They finally reached the royal couple.
“Talina, these are my parents,” Black Jaguar said proudly. “King Terek, and Queen Galya of Yalta.”
Talina bit her tongue and bowed with the respect due to royalty, hating herself for bending to their rules. “Honored to meet the parents of my beloved life mate.”
“Life mate?” Queen Galya's surprised look only lasted an instant, then she smiled.
Black Jaguar chuckled uncomfortably. “It seems that according to the customs of Talina's clan, we are formally bonded for life.”
King Terek winked and slapped his son's back. “I certainly understand why you wanted to snatch this wild beauty.”
“Terek!” The queen jabbed her elbow into the king's ribs then nodded politely to Talina. “Do not take offense, my dear. Zerker men can be rude at times, without meaning any insult.”
Talina nodded. Such a blend of polite etiquette and blunt rudeness just didn't make any sense, but she preferred that to the stiff formality. She cast Black Jaguar a questioning glance.
He shrugged. “Welcome to my family.”
* * *
Later that night, around the cooking fires, Kahuel found a quiet moment to present his father with Basilk's crimson crystal. The transmitter u
nique to the heirs of Yalta was invaluable and rare, and shouldn't fall into the wrong hands... Still, it was far from lethal, like the legendary Blood Tear resting on his father's chest.
King Terek lowered his gaze as he accepted the crystal and stared at it. The gem shimmered in the light of the crackling fire. “I never thought I would see the death of my oldest son... He was such a force of nature.”
Kahuel nodded. “I remember thinking the same thing during the tempest, when Basilk steered the boat in the midst of thunder, cursing his favorite deities. You should have seen him, Father. He seemed as large as any of his deities.”
All over the clearing, the warriors gathered around many fires and talked quietly, probably of home. The Mutants had congregated at the far end of the clearing, near the tree line, always avoiding Human contact. A night birds trilled, serenading the two moons.
“What a waste of precious royal blood.” His father sighed heavily. For the first time Kahuel noticed the streaks of gray in his dark auburn hair, and the deep lines creasing his forehead. “Your brother Mardock will make a decent king someday. But he still has much to learn.”
When the queen approached, the king whispered, “Not a word about Basilk. She has cried enough today.” He quickly slipped the crystal in a fold of his tunic and smiled as he looked up at the queen. “What have you done with our sweet Talina?”
Kahuel's mother smiled. “She is ministering to Diablo. The poor beast just refuses to die. I don't know why she encourages him to hang on. It only prolongs his suffering.”
“Diablo is in no pain. She makes sure he is comfortable.” Kahuel was grateful for Talina's help. He wasn't ready to let go of Diablo either. “Life is sacred to the Chosen. They are healers by nature. They do not even kill warm-blooded animals for food. They only eat plants and fish.”
King Terek shook his head. “Another reason for her to dislike us Zerkers. We are warriors and hunters by nature.” He chuckled. “What did she ever see in you?”
“Terek!” His mother glared at his father. Then she arranged her skirts and brushed away the white scabbard hanging at her sash as she sat down next to him by the fire.
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