Skip: An Epic Science Fiction Fantasy Adventure Series (Book 3)

by Perrin Briar

  Jera turned to Gregory.

  “She wants to speak with you,” she said.

  “What about?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Gregory unconsciously tucked the cuffs of his lace shirt under his jacket sleeves and entered the room, closing the door behind himself. He turned to Kali.

  “You wanted to see me?” he said.

  “I wanted to apologise,” Kali said.

  “Apologise? For what?”

  “For telling them everything about how my father’s shipping company works. It’s because of me they did all those things to Father’s ships, and our tribute.”

  Gregory waved his hands.

  “It’s not your fault,” he said. “I’m glad you told them if it meant less suffering to you.”

  Gregory embraced Kali, who cried.

  “Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh,” he said. “It’s all right. It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  “I am safe,” Kali said. “But I’m not whole again yet.”

  “Of course not. It was a shock. These things take time.”

  “I need to see him,” Kali said. “I need to begin to get over this experience.”

  “See who?”

  “The man you caught.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  Kali looked up at him with her big beautiful brown eyes.

  “Please,” she said. “I need this. I need to feel like it’s really over, so I can begin to get on with my life.”

  “We’re going to get married. That’s our new beginning.”

  “I want to see him before we get married, or he’ll forever haunt my dreams. I fear I’ll never be able to begin my life properly with you. I want to look him in the eye and show him I’m not afraid of him. To see him imprisoned like I was will do me good. Will you let me do that? Please?”

  Gregory hesitated. He looked at Kali, looking so small in the giant bed.

  “All right,” he said. “But only because you need it. You aren’t going to stay there long, and there will be constables around you every moment.”

  Kali smiled.

  “Thank you,” she said. “After our wedding I can forget about him and we can get on with our lives.”

  “But I want one thing in return,” Gregory said, holding up a finger.

  “Anything.”

  “You must let the doctor examine you.”

  Her eyes bulged. She stared at Gregory.

  “It’s for your own good,” Gregory said.

  “All right,” Kali said. “But only after the wedding.”

  “Agreed.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Craig tapped on the steel bars that ran through the middle of the room. He felt them vibrate beneath his hands. He had a hard bed with a flat pillow, no blankets, and a chamber pot. But there was nothing he missed more than the sight and smell of the forest. There were no windows in the room, and it was beginning to get to him.

  He turned to a blank wall, closed his eyes, and imagined a forest scene before him. He reached up to feel the leaves between his fingers, but he couldn’t quite recall what that felt like. He let his hand drop to his side in disappointment. It was disappearing already.

  An army of footsteps marched down the corridor to his cell door. The heavy lock turned, and the door opened. Two constables marched in, followed by Gregory Ascar. A shiver ran up Craig’s spine at the sight of him. Nothing good could happen now.

  Then Kali walked into the room, and suddenly Craig felt a heavy weight in the pit of his stomach, and he felt ashamed to be in his current surroundings. A pair of constables unlocked the cell door, and then they entered, each taking a different corner. For a moment he thought Kali might be tossed into the cell with him. But she walked into the cell of her own volition. She looked good, as always, and his heart raced upon seeing her.

  “Kali?” Craig said.

  “Quiet!” the female constable said. “The lady has something she wants to say.”

  Kali looked at Craig with her big eyes, shimmering with water.

  “Why did you do it, Craig?” she said. “Why did you lock me up like some kind of animal? Why?”

  “Kali…” Craig said, his heart breaking.

  “Why?” she said with such fear and loathing in her voice that Craig couldn’t look her in the eye.

  “Kali,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  Kali’s face scrunched up like she was in great pain. She stepped forward and smacked him across the face, her expression cold and hard. Craig was shocked, genuinely hurt. He put a hand to his cheek.

  “What’s going on?” he said.

  “How could you do it to me?” she said. “How could you? Tell me why you did it.”

  Craig looked at her, and then at Gregory and the constables. He was at a loss for words.

  “Kali…” he said, reaching for her hand.

  “Don’t touch me!” Kali said, pulling away. “And don’t talk to me like you know me! You don’t know me! You’ll never know me!”

  Kali burst into tears of rage. Her hands formed fists and she beat at him. The constables stepped forward to restrain her.

  “No,” Gregory said. “Let her continue.”

  Kali beat at him. Craig held his hands over his head to protect himself, but some of her blows broke through and slapped him across the face. He reached out with his arms to stop Kali, but she kept hitting him. Eventually her blows slowed. Craig grabbed her forearms. The constables stepped forward and smacked Craig over the head with their clubs.

  He lay prostrate on the floor, pain flaring from his head and torso. Kali turned and collapsed into Gregory’s arms. He carried her outside and into the corridor. Seeing that hurt Craig most of all.

  The two constables slid their clubs into the holsters at their waist and left the cell, locking the doors behind them. Their footsteps disappeared down the hall.

  Craig let his body relax, and he began to sob. Was everything a lie? Had she only pretended to love him? Had she felt in danger with him all that time? He felt such a fool. Then he felt something jab into his hip.

  He reached into his pocket and came out with a vial of green liquid. Wrapped around it was a piece of paper with a map and instructions. On the back of the note was written:

  I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER

  Craig hugged the note close to his chest and stared up at the ceiling, picturing with ease a beautiful blue sky. He reached up and felt the leaves of a low-hanging bough. He could feel the waxy surface, and the veins in the individual leaves. His injuries didn’t seem to matter anymore.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  “I look hideous!” Kali’s voice said from Jera’s private bathroom.

  “You haven’t looked hideous a day in your life,” Jera said.

  “I’m not coming out!”

  “You want to have the wedding here?” Jera said. “I don’t think all the guests will fit.”

  “What does yours look like?”

  Jera looked down at her own wedding dress.

  “Like the froth at the end of a waterfall,” she said. “But dyed pink. Not bad considering Mother chose it. Just come out here, will you? It can’t be that bad.”

  “Promise you won’t laugh.”

  “I promise nothing.”

  Kali came out of the bathroom. They stood staring at one another. They were wearing the exact same dress, except Kali’s was tinted turquoise.

  “I know the wedding is a sham,” Jera said, “but you look gorgeous!”

  “You do too!”

  They clapped excitedly and walked around one another, analysing and probing.

  “That’s beautiful,” Jera said, gesturing to the diamond necklace at her sister’s throat. “Where did you get it?”

  “Gregory gave it to me,” Kali said, putting a hand on it.

  “It hasn’t made you forget our plan, has it?”

  “Of course not,” Kali said, fingering it. “But it is very pretty. Can you help me with my hair?”

  Jera divi
ded Kali’s hair and began to braid it.

  “Seems strange to be back, doesn’t it?” Kali said.

  “Yes. I’m still not quite used to it.”

  “So, where did you go on your adventure?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  Jera completed one braid and crossed to Aunt Tessa’s self-portrait.

  “Excuse me, Aunt Tessa,” she said.

  Jera turned the portrait over and traced her finger over the map from Time to Crossroads, through to the Rumble Jungle, into the Haunted Forest, down the Ice River to Earth’s End and then to the Capital and back to Time.

  “Wow, you saw a lot of the world,” Kali said. “I only saw the woods behind our house.”

  “There’s still a lot left to see. Maybe next time we can go together.”

  Kali shrugged.

  “I prefer the woods,” she said.

  “I don’t really want to travel alone. I don’t think it would be as much fun.”

  Kali gripped her sister’s hand.

  “You’ll be with him again one day,” she said.

  “I’m not so sure about that. He’ll be halfway across the world by now.”

  “Wherever he is, I hope he’s all right.”

  “He’s Elian Stump. He’s always all right. Turn around. Let me do the other side.”

  Kali turned so Jera could complete the complicated braid.

  “At least you can be with Craig,” Jera said.

  Kali’s brow dimpled with concern.

  “I hope he gets out okay,” she said.

  “After everything you two did together, escaping a prison cell won’t be hard. It’s us I’m worried about.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Ascars are not good people. If they knew we were planning something like this they would do anything to stop us.”

  “They don’t know! How could they know?”

  “I don’t know, but they might.”

  “Stop worrying. They’ve spent the past five weeks looking for us, I don’t think they’re about to do anything bad to us now.”

  “There,” Jera said, finishing Kali’s braid. “You’re all done.”

  Kali put the veil backward on her head so it looked like an old lady’s shawl.

  “They think we’re the perfect little wives, obedient and subservient, ” she said.

  “They’ve got a shock coming.”

  “Yes indeed.”

  “We’ll get up on stage, deny our vows, and then tell everyone the Ascars are behind the whole Gap empire.”

  “Simple.”

  “The best plans always are.”

  There was a knock on the door.

  “Are you ready?” Lady Wythnos’s voice said.

  “Yeah,” Jera said. “We’re ready, Mother.”

  Their mother opened the door. Her hands went instantly to her mouth. Tears shimmered in her eyes.

  “Don’t cry, Mother,” Kali said. “We don’t look that bad.”

  Lady Wythnos fanned herself with her hands.

  “You both look so beautiful and grown up,” she said.

  Jera and Kali embraced her. A maid servant entered.

  “Oh,” she said, backing out the door. “Excuse me, ma’am.”

  “What is it?” Lady Wythnos said, drying her eyes.

  “The guests. They’re beginning to arrive.”

  Chapter Sixty

  The wedding was held in public on a raised platform on the seafront. The ships were behind them, lined up into several long rows like men preparing for war. The poor, wearing a ragged assortment of their Sunday best, swarmed in from all over town, standing at the back and sides of the rich, who sat in the small wooden chairs regaled in their silk gowns, suits and gems. White-clad police Force members kept a sharp lookout for trouble, necks arched and eagle eyes leering.

  A stern-faced woman, her hair up in an intricate design, stepped forward from the crowd. Aunt Tessa’s expression was exactly the same as that of her portrait. Then she smiled, and her whole face lit up.

  “Aunt Tessa!” Jera said, kissing her on the cheek and hugging her. “Thank you so much for coming!”

  “You know I wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Aunt Tessa said. “I saw your gentlemen. They are rather dashing, I must say.”

  Aunt Tessa hugged Kali.

  “Are you excited?” she said.

  “Oh yes,” Kali said. “Very.”

  “When this is all over, perhaps I could regale you with tales of my latest adventures.”

  “Alas,” Jera said in a low voice, “I think for once it will be us who will be regaling you.”

  Aunt Tessa looked at the two sisters, her head cocked to the side like an inquisitive bird. Then Lady Wythnos and Tessa shared a glance.

  “Martha,” Tessa said stiffly.

  “Tess,” Lady Wythnos said coldly.

  They stood beside one another but didn’t share another word. Excited mutters spread through the assembled. People moved aside as a large sedan chair was carried through the mass of humanity. A fat man, closely resembling a toad with thick lips, large chin, and bouquet of boils on one side of his nose, sat in it, trussed up in a white suit encrusted with jewels and gold tassels.

  “Lord Ascar,” Lady Wythnos said, bowing deeply. “We are honoured to have you.”

  Lord Ascar nodded, bowing his huge head slightly. He extended his flabby hand, displaying his jewel-laden fingers. He looked off toward the docks.

  “I watch any investment I make with an eagle eye,” he said.

  No one had kissed his fingers, and he looked taken aback. He retracted his hand.

  “Would you care to see your sons or future daughters-in-law?” Lady Wythnos said.

  “I shall see them upon the stage, shall I not?”

  Arthur Ascar’s serving men carried him over to the front row. They moved aside three chairs at the front of the audience to make room for his throne-like sedan. He could not have been closer to the stage unless he was getting married himself.

  “He seems friendly,” Jera said.

  “A peach,” Kali said.

  A tall, gaunt figure with a pointy hat took to the stage.

  “If you will all take your seats,” the bishop said. “The ceremony shall now begin.”

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Besides a pair of crates with the tops open, the warehouse was empty. Richard and Gregory stood straight-backed in their uniforms. Two constables stood guard beside the door.

  “You both look incredible,” Gregory said as Jera and Kali were ushered inside. “Turn around so we can see you.”

  They did, and the men made the appropriate awed sounds.

  “If we ever needed proof we were the luckiest men in the kingdom,” Richard said, “this is undeniably it.”

  Gregory opened the door that led out onto the stage.

  “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union between two great families,” the bishop’s droning monotone said. “The Wythnoses and the Ascars. Rarely in life are we afforded the opportunity to take part in a historic event such as this. Rarely do we get to witness history in the making first hand. But here, today, we shall.

  “First of all, I would like to thank Arthur Ascar for providing such a bountiful tribute to all the cities of the kingdom.”

  Arthur Ascar raised his hand and nodded to the applause he received.

  “He’ll go on for ages yet,” Gregory said, closing the door.

  “This is our big moment,” Richard said. “Are you girls ready?”

  Jera and Kali shared a look.

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “Twins,” Gregory said with a smile.

  “It’s a big step, you know, marriage,” Richard said. “Two lives inextricably linked forever. There is no going back after this. We will be your husbands, you our wives. Are you sure that is what you want?”

  “More than anything,” Jera said.

  “Good.”

  “To avoid any unpleasantness upon our ret
urn I have ordered for Craig to be executed as we give our vows,” Gregory said. “Somehow he managed to escape, but we caught him.”

  Kali’s smile faltered, and then returned to her usual beaming self.

  “I saw no reason to tarnish our return with such proceedings,” Gregory said.

  Jera looked at Kali out the corner of her eye. Her reserve was breaking.

  “I just have one question before we proceed,” Gregory said.

  “Okay,” Jera said.

  Gregory turned to Kali. His eyes glowed like hot coals. They burned into her.

  “Where were you, Kali?” he said.

  Kali’s voice was weak and shaking.

  “Where was I when?” she said.

  “For the past month.”

  “I told you. They moved me around from place to place. It’s hard to remember.”

  “No,” Gregory said. “You weren’t.”

  “I was. I swear.”

  “And you, Jera,” Richard said. “What really happened in Crossroads’ station?”

  Jera could see by the look in the Ascars’ eyes that they weren’t fooled, that they knew something, but she couldn’t take the risk in case she was wrong and this was some kind of test.

  “I told you already,” she said, looking into their eyes. “What is this all about?”

  “I think you know what this is about,” Richard said. “This is about truth and honesty.”

  There was a long pause. Jera’s breaths became heavy.

  “How did you know?” she said, her voice whisper-thin.

  “Jera?” Kali said. “What are you doing? They’re just playing with us.”

  Neither of the Ascars smiled.

  “Why did you bother rescuing us?” Jera said.

  “We didn’t know you had lost your hearts, then,” Gregory said. “We believed you were kidnapped, and that Kali had gone missing.”

  “It was you in Crossroads’ station, wasn’t it?” Richard said. “You’re the one who rescued Stump.”

  “Yes,” Jera said. “It happened just as the chief constable said.”

  “And you, Kali,” Gregory said. “You were in one location the whole time.”

  Kali looked at the floor.