Chapter Four
Oriah
I awoke early this morning feeling as depressed as the night before. Seeing her face again had more of an effect on me than I thought. I miss her so much. There was so many times in the last few weeks I could have used her council. One of her lessons to me was if you don't learn from your mistakes, you're doomed to repeat them. And while her sacrifice wasn't a mistake, it's definitely something I want to try to avoid. I decide to clear my mind and take a walk through the Porticus Acropoli, her garden in the center of this palace. I hope to try and catch a scent of the Winter Daphne that blooms there. My mother planted those years ago, and I hoped their fragrance would make me feel closer to her, but all it does is remind me again how much I miss her. I walk through the mixture of trees and flowery shrubs with my head hung low from the tug of sadness that has suddenly flooded my heart.
“Still feeling sorry for yourself, I see.”
I raise my head to see someone walking toward me. I thought I was staring at a ghost until I realized who it was. Her light blonde hair is now nearly to her lower back and I like it. I don't think I ever seen it that long. Her ocean-like eyes, still peering into my soul, even though I'm forbidden to ever have a glimpse at hers.
“So have you told him yet?”
“It's not my place."
Sabrina stops in front of me and I feel the temperature drop twenty degrees. “I'm not talking about that,” she says and gives me a look like it's my fault she decided to put on her charade. “Well the boy has a right to know,” I retort. Her next words kick me hard in the gut and I struggle to catch my next breath, “It's funny how you pretend his rights are what you're concerned about.”
“You know Sabrina, if you came here just to hurt me, I can do that all by myself. Besides, you inflict wounds that tend to linger”
“So do you Oriah.”
She steps closer, puts my hands in hers and I feel the air thaw a little, “I came to get Solomon, where is he?” I point at the East Portico, “Through there and up the stairs, he and Apollo are probably just waking up." She smiles at me and squeezes my hands, but I stand stoically, remembering how she hurt me and I her. “Thanks again for finding him, Oriah,” she lets go of my hand much too quickly. Sometimes I think she still likes to make me suffer.
She disappears into the Acropolis, and I notice our conversation has served at least one good purpose; my dark mood has brightened. I return my thoughts to the task at hand, and suggest to Viceroy to check in on Apollo and notify me as soon as he is alone. After a while his response appears in my thoughts and I make my way to Apollo's room. The boy rises from his bed as I walk in and I ask, “Have you had breakfast yet?” I learn from my past mistakes. “Yes I just got back.”
“Good,” I say as I walk over and take a seat at the chess table, “Miss Jon teach you chess?” Apollo nods as a grin grows on his face, so I inquire further, “Are you any good?” Motioning for him to sit, he joins me and smugly replies, “There's only one way to find out.” Then the thought occurs to me, This will be a great opportunity to teach the boy humility. I politely point to the board, “Your move.”
Apollo's opening was completely predictable even if I couldn't read his mind. Queen's Gambit. I decide to start this one out symmetrically, so I mirror his move- d4, d5. He reaches in and picks up the white pawn to the left of his queen and slides it two spaces ahead. “Ambitious,” I say as I take over the same square with my own pawn, capturing his piece. “That wasn't very smart,” he says in a flat tone. “Why do you say that, Apollo?” He then bellows to me like the victor he believes he will become, “Because you just gave me the center!" So I let my warning sound like good advice, “Never let your opponents know when you have the advantage." He just scoffs and stares at the board, planning his next move. Maybe he is stubborn like his mother.
We continue to play match after match with me soundly defeating him after each one. I let him play white every time, allowing him to be the aggressor. Every time he starts with the same opening, Queen's Gambit. I defend in the typical styles, Indian, Slav. I both accept and decline his gambit and always win. Still he never changes his strategy. He is stubborn like his mother.
After a couple of hours I decide to call an end to this first lesson. Brutalius is planning something big and I need to find out what it is before it's too late. I tell Apollo to be sure to eat and if he ever wants to visit Solomon and Miss Jon just to let Viceroy know as he is here to assist him in anyway. He just looks at me as if I never said a word, “What was my mother like?”
The question chases away every thought or explanation I could have ever come up with. I hastily try to use the mental lapse to my advantage, “I tell you what Apollo, practice your moves and when you defeat me then I will tell you about your mother.” The boy screams, “I hate you!” and storms out, slamming the door. I instantly realize how hopelessly doomed and heartless my solution was. I might be the superior chess player but I'm a terrible father.
I walk upstairs to the solitude of my study. Lying down on the leather couch, relaxing my body, I focus on my breathing until it is even and slow. My mind begins drifting to the point where sleep usually happens, and it's at this moment I release my conscience, like cutting ropes that tether a hot-air balloon to the ground. Slowly, my buoyant cognizance rises above the couch.
I roll over and look down at my body for a moment; peacefully asleep. My will takes me through the wall toward Apollo's room, but it's empty. I place him in my thoughts and quickly realize he journeyed over to Sabrina's house, on foot. Although he is upset with me, he is safe, so I move on to what I was set out to do, and journey to the northeast, gaining speed toward the Corsair Boundary.
I reach the coast and swiftly weave through the rows of barracks and up to the main compound, concentrating on Brutalius until I realize his location. I fly over to a tall, antennae-thronged building at least four stories high. Angling my flight to the top I slip through the wall and into a room where a tall figure stands behind a woman who is sitting at a computer screen. “How long until it activates?” he asks the woman. “The upload is at sixty-three percent, Sire, meaning there is less the seventy-two hours until completion.”
“Good, we'll be ready to attack by then,” a heinous smile widens across his illustrated face.
I change my thoughts over to Vitus and find him not too far away. I start to focus in on him when a man walks through the door with a flinty look. “You and I need to have a word, Brutalius.” I almost think it's his deceased father, until I realize it's his twin, the man I'm looking for.
“There's is nothing to talk about, Uncle. I am the rightful ruler of the Corsair and I am the word.”
Vitus just scowls at Brutalius, as he knows he is powerless to stop him. “The Gods will have smiled upon you Nephew, if you live long enough regret this.” Those are the man's last words and he just stands there, silent and subordinate. I need more details about Brutalius' intentions so I get familiar with the specifics of the computer technician. I read things from her mind like her name, address, her daily routines; pieces that will lead me back to her.
I propel myself back to the Acropolis; assimilate back into my body and wake up refreshed, like I just had a good night's sleep. I stand up and walk to the window, veering my attention to the computer operator. Her name is Antonia. She is still at her station and I can feel her concentration as she works with the data flowing on the screen. I conjure up her thoughts pertaining to her conversation with Brutalius. What they reveal is much grimmer than I had previously thought. In less than three days, Alcazar will cease to function, maybe cease to exist. I have to talk to Sabrina.
I make the suggestion to Viceroy that we should take a drive. He meets me at the garage and we get into his vehicle. As we make our way down the road I catch him up on the whole situation and what I plan to do about it. Glancing briefly over at me with an upturned eyebrow he finally speaks up, “Are you sure all of this is going to work?” And I respond, “It really depends on Apollo, but I believe he will do the right thing, he is strong-willed, besides, he'll have no choice.”
We arrive at Sabrina's. “Do you want me to wait here?” I shake my head at Viceroy and tell him to join me. I need him to stay with Sabrina after I take the boy with me. Viceroy and Sabrina have always been close so I am confident he knows just how to talk to her.
I knock on the door and after a few seconds, the door opens and Solomon stands in the doorway. “Is your mother here?” He just glares at me; Apollo must have filled him in on our deal. “Yeah, she's here.” And as he says that I see her standing in the doorway to the front room, staring at me. “Solomon, go in the living room with Apollo.” She never takes her sullen eyes off of me, "I need to speak to our Doyen, alone." She definitely isn't lacking in her own influence, she knows what makes me tick.
“What's wrong?” I ask as she moves closer. I feel a blinding, sharp pain as her hand makes contact with my left cheek.”You're not going to use him as a pawn in one of your stupid games!”
“Varius is dead, Sabrina.”
I try to explain and rub the pain from my face, “His son stabbed him to death three days ago, and now he's planning an attack. He wants everything for himself.” I tell her about the virus being uploaded to our computer system, and the attack that will destroy our exposed city. “What about the boys Oriah?" I take her hand, "I told you I won't let anything happen to him, remember?" She shakes her head and looks up at me, "But what about Solomon?" I answer, "Of course him too, he is in no danger." She throws away my embrace and her cold blue eyes stab at me again, "You know, for someone with sight as remarkable as yours, you can be so blind.”
She turns to walk back inside the house. “You know I have to take him with me.” My words stop her dead in her tracks. I walk up to console her but she pulls away. Sabrina turns her head to the side barely giving me a glance, “I know you must have a plan, Oriah, and it better work.” I nod. “I give you my word it will.” Hopefully my word is something she still believes in.
I still feel compelled to plead with her, “But I still need your help. Viceroy will stay and fill you in, he knows the plan.” She turns to me, “Why don't you just call him by his name?” I reply, “It's tradition, Sabrina, he understands." She turns her back to me, resuming her way. I wish she would just give me a chance, so I say to her, "You know what's in my heart, I can't do this without you.”
She looks back at me, “How can you be so sure of our survival?” I can tell she's scared so I try to respond with reassurance, “Do you really think they're a step ahead of me?” She just shakes her head and walks through the doorway. I follow her inside. I must find Apollo; we've got a lot to do. There's no more time for games or lessons. I must explain everything to him now, which means I'll have to tell him about his mother.