Chapter 3
Zarine made a dive for her gun, but Jed thrust the barrel down.
“No!” he whispered urgently. “The noise might bring your grandfather.”
“But –”
“Sshh!” He opened his mind to snare the creature’s will.
Gradually, the lashing tail stilled and the wings folded. The growling ceased. The creature was in his power. He should have been able to make it turn and leave, but the trauma of the last few days had exhausted him mentally as well as physically. Carefully, he backed away, pulling Zarine with him.
Back at the cave, Zarine looked at him in awe.
“What you did I have heard of but never seen. Subjugation! Even my grandfather cannot do this. Truly, you are great.”
She dropped to her knees. It took Jed a moment to realise she was offering her allegiance.
“Anyone can do it, given the knowledge,” he said uncomfortably, thrusting his arms into his jacket at last. “There’s no need to kneel.”
“But – you are Prince of Jeddon.”
“I haven’t been invested with the Badge of Ruling,” he reminded her gloomily “I’m a fugitive with no subjects.”
“You have one.”
Moved by her simple dignity, Jed touched her shoulder in acceptance. He had seen his father do this many times.
“You must flee tonight - to the Desert of Rocks,” Zarine told him eagerly, as she rose. “It is the only place that won’t be searched.”
“It won’t be searched because no-one can live there!”
“My grandfather did when he was young. He has given me some of his desert knowledge. With that you will survive.”
Jed’s eyes gleamed with hope. “You would give me this knowledge?”
“I’ll - try.” Zarine swallowed. “I’ve never given knowledge before, only received. Grandfather is very gentle.”
Jed nodded. “I’ve seen minds shattered by giving knowledge incorrectly. But I know how to do it, and how to lessen the pain. In return, I’ll teach you the art of subjugation. Come!”
“Wait! Wait until – this evening.”
She turned and ran from the cave and he dared not call her back.
Did they actually trust each other enough to exchange knowledge? He had only ever done it with experienced mentors – and with Jyari, but she was different. She trusted him completely and her mind was quick and agile. How else could she have remembered the code to the Control Room just from watching Vexson?
What would she be doing now? Was she still safe? He sat down on the floor of the cave and opened his mind to her, but nothing came in through the throbbing that was already there. Subjugation had used up all his energy. Holding his head to ease the ache he sank back and finally, slept.
The buzz of a sunflyer woke him and he saw that Sirin, the second sun, was sliding slowly behind the mountain. The sunflyer spiralled downwards and disappeared behind the trees beyond the brook.
Zarine ran up the hill towards him. “Don’t worry. It’s only Goden, my brother.”
“Your brother is a guard? Why didn’t you say? If he finds me -”
“He won’t; trust me. He’ll eat and sleep and in the morning fly back to work.”
She handed him more wildfruit. “Come, eat or you won’t have enough energy to receive knowledge.”
He knew she was right, yet he could not help feeling uneasy. Could Zarine truly be trusted not to betray his presence?
“Won’t you be missed?” he asked at last, tossing away the husks of the wild-fruit.
Zarine shook her head. “Grandfather never notices me when Goden is home. I come and go as I please.”
“You don’t mention parents.”
“They died when I was a baby.”
“I’m sorry.”
Zarine shrugged. “I don’t even remember them.”
They settled into the correct positions for exchanging knowledge, facing each other with their legs crossed. Zarine placed her hands on his shoulders; the kinetic energy lines in her arms flashed silvery pink in the near dusk of the cave.
Jed thought they were very pretty, but he didn’t say so for fear of embarrassing her. They both needed to concentrate. He placed his hands over hers, then slowly slid them up her arms to her shoulders. She was trembling, though whether from excitement or fear he could not tell.
“Don’t be afraid. Concentrate.” Staring into her eyes, he began the soft chant that would relax them both and permit their minds to mesh without pain. “Open your mind – now.”
“The Desert of Rocks,” he sent to her mind, for words spoken aloud would break their mental contact. “Instruct me.”
Slowly his mind filled with the awesome images of the Desert of Rocks. Rocky, arid stretches filled with choking gas gave way to black marsh and quicksand that could suck down a feral without trace, should one dare enter. In the centre was a freezing lake filled with poisonous gonts, waiting to shoot their long, thin tentacles around the unwary. Jed shuddered at the thought of being stung to death and eaten by such creatures.
Electrical storms and sudden vicious whirlwinds abounded. They could easily pluck a man into the air and fling him down again onto jagged rocks. On the far side of the desert, there were giant waves of hard, black rocks that were the Cliffs of Ebor. Tiny, red-hoofed ibiline skipped fearlessly along their crests.
It was an uninviting place, but secret paths wandered through the dangerous landscape – Zarine showed him where. And tiny springs of fresh water trickled amongst the jagged rocks. There were sleepy lizards to catch for food and the flesh of huge, thorned plants was sweet and good. All the same, he would only shelter in the desert if there were no other choice.
The images gradually faded into nothing and he thought perhaps she was too exhausted to receive, but then the feral image began to build in his mind from hers. Slowly he began to instruct her in the art of subjugation. She was an eager pupil and he admired her tenacity, for she was nearing total exhaustion. It would have been better to do this in two sessions, but there was not enough time. Finally it was done and he began the chant – silently this time – to relax them as their minds withdrew. He was nearly finished when the silence was shattered by a strange voice.
“Zarine! Where are you?”
Startled, they both jumped and Zarine fell back with a cry, clutching her head. She couldn’t have helped it, but the cry gave them away.
His own head pounding with pain, Jed sat still, half-hidden behind rocks, as a glow-sphere bobbed into the cave. The man holding it was dressed in a guard’s uniform. It must be Goden.
He knelt beside Zarine. “What happened? Are you hurt?” He saw Jed and suddenly there was a laser-pistol in his hand. “Who are you? What have you done to her?”
“You did it yourself,” Jed replied wearily. “We were exchanging knowledge. Your voice broke our contact too suddenly.”
“What knowledge - and why here? A cave is no place to exchange knowledge.”
Jed was silent. He could not think straight – could not think what to tell Goden.
Zarine groaned and tried to sit up. “Jed, what happened?”
“So you are Jed!”
Jed found himself staring into the barrel of Goden’s pistol.Zarine’s face was a white blur of dismay behind her brother. Goden jerked back one of Jed’s sleeves to reveal his armband.
“You’re just a boy!”
Jed sighed and closed his eyes. Royal children were generally not well known to the public. Most people would not know him by sight, except for the armbands he could never remove.
“It is my duty to take you in,” Goden said, more sternly. “If you are not guilty of – of all those things, then you will surely be freed.”
Arguing with Goden would be a waste of time. How could he escape the guard? Suddenly, he sensed the presence of the borjon outside the cave. If he could just summon it –
He concentrated, hardly aware of Zarine pleading for his freedom. His head was splitting, but the feral was coming closer. Then with a fierce growl, it exploded into the cave.
With a hoarse cry of alarm, Goden whirled to face the beast. It leapt at him as he fired. Galvanized into action by Zarine’s scream, Jed flung himself towards the cave entrance. There was another flash of pistol fire and a burning pain seared his arm as he ran to freedom
Jed stumbled up into the mountains, using the thick bushes to hide his flight. The wound was painful, but not as bad as it might have been. His armband had deflected the full force of the ray, so it had scattered and burned instead of slicing into his flesh.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw the borjon bound out of the cave, followed by two figures, tiny in the distance. Obviously unharmed by the borjon, Zarine ran down past the pool towards the dome-shaped building that glistened in the distance. Her brother climbed upwards, his face a pale blur in the dusk as he examined the mountainside. If he kept on his present course, Goden would miss him altogether. Taking care to keep the thickest bushes and trees between them, Jed climbed on.
What he had to do now was find Xanor, his friend and mentor. Xanor would be able to advise him.
The next time he stopped to look, there was no sign of Goden. Thankfully, Jed slowed down to pick wildfruit. The vines on which they grew were tough and he had to swing on them to get them off. He grimaced in pain as the sudden movement sent darts of pain through his injured arm.
Before he had wrenched more than two from the vines, a deep drone in the distance alerted him to the danger of hoverers. Goden had wasted no time in alerting Vexson to his presence, then. A line of bright searchlights swung in arcs above the darkening mountain. Jed slithered hastily down the side of a steep gully, tripping on tangled vines and rotten logs. He landed in muddy water at the bottom where he crouched, listening. The hoverers didn’t come too close. Good, Goden must have misdirected them.
He scooped up the water at his feet and drank thirstily, grimacing at the muddy taste. Deep darkness had covered the mountainside now. Not even starlight could penetrate the tangle of trees and bushes that hid this gully. It would be as good a place as any to spend the night.
Clambering out of the water, he scraped out a long hollow in dryer soil and scattered it with dead leaves. With a sigh he lowered his aching body into it, but he slept only fitfully. The throbbing pain of his burned arm was enough to make him restless, let alone the cold and discomfort. At last dawn lightened the sky. He drank from the pool again, and then raked his footprints from the mud with a stick. It was an effort to clamber back up the steep side of the gully, especially since he tried to do it noiselessly. There was no sense in taking risks.
He paused at the top and looked out over the flat plains, still blanketed in fog. Wind swirled the pink-tinged mist to reveal a distant, silver spire - the top of the palace. He could guess what direction to head in now. The sky was empty of sunflyers as yet. They had to wait for the sun to rise for their power.
Xanor’s dome should be on top of the next mountain peak. He could be there before dark. With grim determination, he plodded on.
Feet dragging wearily, Jed finally emerged onto the familiar flattened ridge where Xanor lived. Then he stopped short, horror freezing his soul. Before him was a black mound of charred, twisted rubble that had once been Xanor’s dome.
How had this happened? Numbly, Jed kicked through the ashes, looking for some sign of his old friend. On the other side of the charred circle he found a fresh grave. With a groan, Jed fell to his knees beside it. How could such a terrible accident happen to the old man right when he was most needed? An accident? No, it couldn’t be. It had to be Vexson’s doing.
Jed brushed at the tears on his cheeks and vowed revenge. But how could he do anything? He was helpless against his uncle. Vexson was the one with all the power. Vexson wore the Badge of Ruling; the badge that was Jed’s by right of birth.
There could be no justice until he secured it for himself. But how? It seemed an impossible task. He had no idea who he could trust and who would betray him. Where could he start? What about some of the elders? They surely couldn’t all take Vexson’s side. Garaan, the head elder had given a lifetime of faithful service to his father. He could surely be trusted to see justice done. He must try once more to contact the elder.
In spite of his tiredness, he sent his mind out in a Farseeking circle to contact the elder, but again there was no reply. Had Garaan deliberately blanked his mind to Jed’s questing, or was some other reason he did not reply? Perhaps he had met with the same fate as Xanor.
Jed lingered by Xanor’s graveside, making various plans and discarding them. The only way he could get the Badge of Ruling from Vexson was to return to the palace. Surely some of his friends would be loyal to him. Perhaps he could sneak in a side door and see Girren. He had played with Garaan’s son since they were both little. Girren would be able to tell him what was going on.
What a pity he couldn’t contact Girren by mental telepathy. The youth had not taken his Fourth Bloc yet. He wouldn’t be able to Farseek.
The buzz of a sunflyer interrupted his thoughts. He jumped up and looked desperately for cover. There were no trees or rocks nearby. In desperation, he made a dive for the twisted remains of the dome wall. Charred wood collapsed over him as he burrowed under a curled remnant and buried his face in the ashes. The acrid odour made him cough. Soon the rotors of the sunflyer beat the air just above his head, churning ash into a thick cloud. They had surely seen him.