“She’s alive,” he said.
“And this one,” said Toran.
“This one, too,” said Jinn.
Aarow had been certain at least one of them would be dead. To find all four of them alive was completely unexpected. Now came the difficult task of getting them back to the Colony in the same state.
“Let’s try to get some water into them,” said Aarow, shifting aside the girl’s veil to press his waterskin to her cracked lips.
He tipped it back and water flowed across her mouth. She coughed, and her eyes opened and locked on his.
They were large, almond-shaped eyes, rimmed by long dark lashes. He fell into her gaze in a way he didn’t recognize. The confusion and longing he felt, together with a good dose of fear, took him a few heartbeats to explain. He was frightened of her not making it. Of those eyes turning dull and losing all focus. Of never finding out her name. Was this what it felt like to recognize someone with your heart?
He shook his head, pushing away such foolish thoughts.
“Hi,” he said, certain his tongue had turned to stone.
Her eyes widened, and she looked to her lap, her hands searching the emptiness. “The baby?”
“I have your baby here,” he said, shifting his scarf aside so she could see. “She’s alive.”
“A boy,” she said, closing her eyes once more and her head lolling to the side.
“Wake up,” he said, patting her gently on her cheek. “Don’t go back to sleep. Have some more water.”
He tipped his waterskin to her lips once more and this time she drank willingly, taking in the liquid in large gulps until it ran dry.
“I’m just going to get some more,” Aarow said, setting the baby back down on the girl’s lap. “You have to look after your son. Don’t go to sleep.” Hopefully, the motivation of keeping her child alive would be enough to keep her awake while he refreshed his water supplies and himself with enough strength to get her back to the Colony safely.
His two friends nodded at him, their own waterskins upside-down and empty.
They went to the river, keeping their footsteps brisk as they spoke in hushed voices about their chances of saving all four of these souls.
Throwing themselves into the water, they ducked underneath the surface and Aarow closed his eyes enjoying the cool relief as he let himself sink to the riverbed, the weight of his clothing pulling him down.
When he emerged, the walk home would begin. A walk infinitely more difficult than his journey here, as he’d have the weight of the girl and the baby in his arms. He couldn’t possibly drag them behind him on the hide as they usually did. For some reason that just didn’t feel right.
He pushed back up to the surface and filled his lungs with both air and determination. He could do this. He had to.
And when he did, he was certain this girl had a story to tell.
THE COLONEL
THE NOW
The Colonel paced the hot sand outside the entrance to the caves. Where was Aarow? He should’ve been back long before now. The sun was getting low, which meant the coyotes would be out soon. Maybe he should gather a search party and see what the problem was?
He kicked at the sand as he shook his head. No. There’d be no search party. Aarow was his son. The future leader of their community. It was important he experience the world and gain the respect of the Colonists. Being rescued by your father wasn’t a good way to do this. Besides, Aarow was extremely capable, otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed him to go on rescues. He and his friends had saved dozens of lives now. They had youth and strength on their side. Important when facing such a harsh environment.
Alerted by a noise behind him, the Colonel spun around to find Spector hovering. He must want to talk, otherwise, he’d have kept himself hidden.
“Good work this morning, Spector,” the Colonel said, offering him a smile.
Spector puffed out his chest just a little. Praise seemed to be what he’d come seeking. “I found them, Colonel.”
“You did. And it was a great job. You’re a real asset to the Colony.”
Spector beamed through his dark waves of hair that frequently fell across his face and the Colonel resisted the urge to brush them away. He was a grown man.
“Can you tell me again what you saw?” the Colonel asked. “Three women and a baby, is that right?”
“A little baby.” Spector grasped each elbow and rocked his arms. “Under the Joshua tree.”
“How many of them were alive?”
Spector shrugged. “Maybe one. Could be more. Maybe less by now. The baby was alive. It was screaming.”
If all four of them had survived, it could explain why things were taking so long. But what were the chances of that?
“Can you please do me a favor?” the Colonel asked, patting Spector on the arm. “Can you find my wife and ask her to come out here to see me, please? I don’t want to leave here in case Aarow returns.”
Spector brushed the hair from his eyes and nodded. He loved nothing more than running errands to please his Colonel. He tried not to abuse this power, although a simple task like this didn’t seem too much to ask. He really did need to speak to Freya and he couldn’t leave his post, waiting for Aarow. They couldn’t be far away now.
Spector disappeared, and the Colonel pictured him winding his way through the tunnels to find Freya. Or the Colonel’s wife, as Spector insisted on calling her.
They’d built a whole city underground, expanding their network with the arrival of each new citizen. Some of their population were borns and some reborns, and they all thrived, living in harmony. They had thousands of Colonists now. It was strongly suspected their population had exceeded the Capital. Of course, this was hard to be certain about. The reborns had no concept of the Capital’s population, but it did seem their numbers were falling, while the Colony’s continued to rise.
Something was definitely up in the Capital. A baby had never been released before. Their dwindling population made their young too precious to let go of. They had to squeeze some work and offspring out of each person before they were dispensed with.
Population was of little concern in the Colony, as long as their people were happy and life was peaceful. Two values that didn’t seem to mean much in the Capital.
If Spector’s report was correct, then something had shifted. Could it have been a baby goat he’d heard crying? No. Spector may be different to the others in the Colony, but he was no fool. He knew the difference between the cry of a goat and a baby.
“Miro, my love.”
He turned at the sound of his name. Freya was the only person who called him Miro. Although, she could hardly call him Colonel. That would be too strange. He held out his arms to his wife, embracing her gently, their baby daughter nestled between them in a scarf looped around Freya’s neck.
“Where is he?” Freya whispered, letting go of him and scanning the horizon.
“Should be back soon.” The Colonel rested his arm around her shoulders.
A coyote howled in the distance and he felt Freya’s back stiffen.
“He’ll be fine,” the Colonel said. “He knows what he’s doing out there. He’s lived in the desert his whole life. It’s different for him.”
Freya nodded. As a reborn, she’d never fully understood what it was like to grow up on the dunes. Her childhood had been spent in something called a Growing Center as if she were a tree, not a human. But she’d been a rebellious tree, being released into the desert when she was twenty-seven years old, only moments after giving birth to her first child. Pregnancy had never come easily to Freya, which lowered her value in the Capital. They were only too happy to release her when she reached for her child, desperate to hold her newborn in her arms.
He’d found her in the desert, wandering the dunes with a determination that he’d never seen in any of the reborns before. She hadn’t accepted her fate, nowhere near ready to die. Technically he’d been supposed to leave her there for that reason. But h
e couldn’t. And thank goodness he hadn’t. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
She’d become a wonderful mother to young Aarow, who’d still been crying for the mother who’d birthed him, only to lose her life herself. With time and healing, she’d also become a wife to him, helping him recover from the pain of losing his first wife. Then eventually she’d become a mother to little Bindi, despite the fact she still so deeply mourned the child she’d left behind in the Capital. A child he was determined to get back for her one day. A gift he’d promised her, and one he intended to deliver.
“The healers are ready,” she said. “If they return alive, we’ll bring them back to health.”
“Let’s hope they’re alive then,” he said.
As much as Freya had added to the Colonel’s life personally, he couldn’t deny that what she’d brought to the Colony as a whole had been of far more worth. Freya had discovered the ability to sense the balance of a person’s energy by placing her hands on them. She could restore that balance, leaving them feeling better in body and mind. She’d trained other healers and together their small team worked to ensure the Colonists lived in peace and health. The Colony had never lived longer, been stronger or experienced such harmony.
“Spector said you wanted to talk to me.” Freya joined him in scanning the horizon for their son.
“No, I said I wanted to see you. You may be able to give people strength by placing your hands on them, but all I need to do is look at you.” He tipped up her face to drink in her gaze.
Her hair may be streaked with gray and the lines around her eyes had deepened, but she was more beautiful than ever. He liked seeing signs of her aging, knowing that without the Colony, she’d never have had the chance to grow old. Just like his first wife, whose premature death still pained him greatly. She’d been beautiful, too, but in a different way to Freya. There was no comparing these two great loves of his life, so he made a point to try not to.
Freya put her arms around him again and rested her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and reveled in the closeness. She’d been so frightened of his touch when he first plucked her from the desert, recoiling at even the slightest contact. To begin with, little Aarow was the only person she’d allowed near. What those bastards had done to her inside that curved wall of hell made his blood boil. It’d taken years for her to trust him as a man who’d been betrayed by his gender.
The only comfort he had was the revenge that was being plotted. And if that baby in the desert meant what he thought it did, then maybe it was finally time. They’d been training for this battle for years and had the strength, the passion, and the determination. Did they finally have the numbers? They had one chance to overthrow the Capital. Once they revealed themselves, they had to be victorious. For if they failed, then life as they knew it would be destroyed. Failure was no option, which was why the time had to be right.
“They’re here,” said Freya pointing.
“Where?” He squinted into the fading light, unable to see whatever it was that’d alerted Freya.
“I can feel them,” she said. “They’re close.”
He knew better than to laugh at this. If Freya said they were near, then he didn’t doubt it.
Some familiar figures appeared on the crest of the dunes.
“There!” she said. “They’re back.”
“Do you think the baby made it?” he asked.
Freya nodded. “I think they all did.”
The Colonel let out a deep breath. It was time, at last, to make things better. It was time to put an end to this. It was time to bring Freya’s daughter home.
RANI
THE NOW
Rani was aware of being carried through the desert in the same way she was aware of her dreams. She knew what was taking place and it felt like it was happening to her, but she had no control over any of it. She was just a participant, floating along with the tide.
A man was carrying her, cradling her in his arms and Sharma’s baby was sleeping across her chest. They’d been walking for a long time. He’d draped a veil over her, including her face, which meant she couldn’t see anything. But she could feel it all.
She could feel the strength of his arms underneath her legs and shoulders.
She could feel the rise and fall of his torso as she rested her face against his firm chest.
She could feel his breath on her face as she drew in the manly scent of him.
She could feel the beating of his heart.
There was no way to tell where he was taking her and if his intentions were good, but there was also no way to resist him.
From time to time, he’d speak to his companions. Not long conversations, just short words about pace or direction. His voice was deep and soothing and she wondered if he always spoke that way or if he was trying not to disturb her.
The wind whipped her veil from her face and she saw one man dragging Azrael behind him on some kind of animal hide. Another larger man pulled Sharma along as if she weighed nothing at all. These three men were strong. Let their hearts also be kind.
The gentle way the man held her, told her more about him than words ever could. His heartbeat was like watching the Orbs of Time from her bedchamber. The constant rhythm reminding her of the passing of time.
“Nearly there,” the man said, and she was uncertain if he was speaking to her or his companions. “We’ll take good care of you and your baby.”
She tried to tell him it wasn’t her baby, but expected they’d figure that out soon enough.
His footsteps quickened in time with his heartbeat and soon there were two more voices. Another man and a woman.
“Is the baby alive?” the woman asked.
Rani held her breath as she waited, unsure herself if the baby had made it. He was awfully still in her arms.
“He is,” said the man who held her.
“I’m proud of you, son,” the new man’s voice said. “Good work, Toran, Jinn.”
“Quickly, bring them through,” the woman said. “We’re ready for them.”
These people sounded like good people. The impossible seemed to be happening. They’d been saved. Not just from the desert but from the brutality of their former lives.
Rani felt a change in atmosphere as they stepped into what she assumed must be the home of these people. It was cool and got cooler still with every step the man took. The relief from the oppressive heat was beyond anything she could describe.
She moved her face from left to right until the veil fell free and she saw they were in a series of tunnels with torches lighting their way. Were they underground? She’d heard some people believed if you had sins to atone for when you died, that you were sent deep underground to a place of pain and fire. Had she died and was on her way to such a place now? But what was her sin? Wanting a better life was surely not so terrible a crime.
The man turned into a small room where two women stood waiting with their hands clasped. There were three beds dug into each of the walls. The man placed Rani gently on one of the beds and a woman lifted Sharma’s baby from her chest.
Rani groaned, immediately missing the weight of the child as if she’d suddenly lost one of her limbs. How must it have felt for Sharma when her other babies had not only been taken from her belly, but taken from her life? Had Rani’s own mother felt like this when she’d been taken from her?
She felt a new closeness to this mother she’d never known. How awful it must have been for her to have lost her child, then be released into the desert shortly afterward. Rani’s heart bled for her as much as it bled for her own loss.
A new possibility lit her mind as she felt one of the women begin to unwrap her layers of clothes. What if her mother had been rescued just like this? Had Rani run from her father only to find her mother? That seemed too good to be true. She’d already had one miracle. It would be foolish to wish for another.
“I’ll come back to check on you later,” the man said to her. “The healers will ta
ke good care of you.”
She nodded, not wanting him to leave, but knowing there was nothing she could do to keep him with her. He’d done his job by bringing her here. It was now up to the women he called healers, as to whether or not she’d live to see him again.
She watched him leave, wishing she’d had the strength to ask his name.
A cry from Sharma jolted her thoughts back to the room.
“My baby,” Sharma said, her weeping muffling her words.
“Oh, it’s this one’s baby,” one of the women said, leaving Rani’s side.
Rani heard the ruffling of fabric, then the familiar sound of the baby trying to feed.
“We made it,” Rani heard Azrael say, as her eyes closed and sleep beckoned.
They had made it. But where exactly had they made it to?
AAROW
THE NOW
“I’ll come back to check on you later,” said Jinn in a sing-song voice, digging his fingers into Aarow’s ribs. “Did you fancy that one, did you?”
Aarow rolled his eyes and looked at Toran for support. But Toran’s eye had been caught by Kara who was running down the corridor with her arms outstretched.
“See ya, fellas,” Toran said, slapping them both on the back, knocking the wind out of them. Aarow was no lightweight, but this guy had no idea of his strength sometimes.
“Seriously,” said Jinn. “What was so special about the girl you carried? You looked like you were under some kind of spell.”
“She has a baby,” said Aarow, not wanting to reveal his suspicions about the girl just yet, in case he was wrong. “The kid needs her.”
Jinn seemed to accept this as an answer and together they headed off to the freshwater pools, not needing to ask if this was where they needed to go. They were filthy.
Their ancestors had dug out steps, deep into the earth until they hit water. How they’d known an underground river flowed beneath them, Aarow wasn’t sure. But it’d been genius, meaning the Colony could be built well away from both the Capital and the actual river, far lessening their chance of being discovered. The pools provided them with fresh drinking water and a place to bathe.
The Kingdoms of Evernow Box Set Page 52
