Artemis Invaded (43 page)

Pollux smiled ruefully. “Unlike you, Griffin, Castor and I long ago stopped wanting to please our parents, to prove ourselves worthy of their regard. We have discussed the matter and we'd rather remain here on Artemis, if Artemis and her guardians will have us.”

Terrell drew in a ragged breath. “And that raises the point none of us have wanted to mention. Where do you stand in this, Griffin? You've been striving to get home for as long as we've known you. Now you can go. What will you do?”

Griffin ran his hands through his hair. “I've been thinking about little else since I realized what Siegfried and the others being here meant. If they'd treated me like one of the team, you as my associates, I think there would be no question. Instead, they treated me as, at best, a ‘little brother,' more often like an enemy. I guess they trusted whatever was done to me to make me easy to convince that it was all for the best, but that hold is broken.”

He turned to Adara, kneeling in a curiously old-fashioned manner that she recognized as offering fealty. “My request would be the same as Castor's. I'd rather remain here on Artemis, if Artemis and her guardians will have me.”

Adara cupped his face in her hands and kissed his forehead. “I believe we will keep you, Griffin, no longer of Dane. Terrell? Bruin? Honeychild? Sand Shadow? Do you agree?”

The nods were quick. Adara decided to overlook that Terrell's eyes were bright with unshed tears. She suspected that if Griffin had decided to leave, Terrell would have gone with him—the bond between them was that close.

She turned to Castor. “My heart believes what you say. Can we trust you to work with us?”

“For as long as I live,” Castor said, “which may not be very long. My body needs fuel. When what concentrates we brought with us run out, I will die.”

“I think I may have a solution for that,” Adara said. “Not immediate, but at least by the time your supplies run low. Pollux? You are both of Artemis and of the void. Does your brother speak your wish as well?”

“He does,” came the boy's voice with the man's intonation.

Again she asked for the others' assent. Again it was given. Again an oath was sworn—only words, yes, but she felt these were binding. Adara felt her heart thrill as if she had planned a difficult hunt and now had all the parts to set trap and snare.

“We are sworn together, to preserve Artemis and ourselves. I believe that in having you, we also have a solution to our problem. But first, we have one more problem to resolve. Julyan Hunter.”

*   *   *

Julyan's pulse thudded in his ears as Adara turned that fiery amber gaze on him. She'd changed from the adoring girl he remembered, even from the young huntress he'd tracked and imagined subjecting to his lust and his will. He'd always seen the puma's grace and unusual beauty in her. Now he recognized the passion and danger as well.

“Griffin, you said that what Julyan revealed about Alexander's plan was a great help to you,” Adara began. “Now I ask—was what he said enough to buy him his life and freedom? I admit I do not want him among us. Sand Shadow reminds me that the last time I took pity on him, Julyan repaid me by trying to drown me. Still, he has given service. I find I cannot fairly judge.”

Although Adara had appealed to Griffin, it was Bruin who spoke. “Julyan worked for our enemies, but he never was unduly cruel. Not kind, no, but he never took advantage of his power.”

“Perhaps,” Terrell said, his tone hard and unforgiving, “because he had learned something about the abuses of power from Alexander.”

“Terrell,” Bruin said, “you are not one of my students, so forgive me for speaking to you this way. Cruelty rarely creates kindness. Indeed, the worst abusers are the abused. The almost littlest pup in the litter is the most likely to beat the littlest, not to show mercy.”

“I'll have to take your word for that,” Terrell said. “Maybe you're being soft on Julyan because he was your student. I can't forget he tried to kill Adara.”

Griffin spoke up. “Adara, you asked if what Julyan said was helpful. It was. I'd entertained some similar speculations, but they alone were not enough. What broke the hold on my mind was hearing from another what Alexander had done. That opened my mind to consider that if Siegfried, Falkner, Gaius, and Jada were all involved, my parents had to at least have offered their tacit consent. Alexander's own outburst finished the matter.”

Adara turned to Julyan. “If we set you free, what would you do? Will you return to the Old One's service? Would you like to go wherever Griffin's brothers go?”

“Not that,” Julyan said, “not ever. Nor would I go after the Old One. He walked out and left me as easily as he left his soiled underclothes. I suppose I would go and seek a place as a hunter. There is value to having been a student of Benjamin Hunter. I don't expect you to believe me, but I have learned a few things about myself—and I'm not sure I like what I've learned. I now realize that the Old One cultivated the worst in me, teaching me to see people as things—me, who had been trained as a hunter, to respect the lives we take. I feel as if I've been insane and have a chance to reclaim myself.”

Adara looked at the others. Three human nods. An eloquent shrug from a bear. A snarl from Sand Shadow.

“Go. Don't make us regret this second chance at mercy. Next time you
will
die. I ask you to remember that cats toy with their prey.”

Julyan could hardly believe her words. “May I get my gear?”

“Yours,” Adara said. “Not a bit more.”

Pollux spoke. “The Seamus in me knows what was Julyan's. Shall Castor and I escort him?”

“Do.”

Julyan turned and gave them each a deep reverence. “I sought to serve a power. I see I chose poorly.”

Adara answered. “We were not a power—then.”

*   *   *

“My brothers will be coming around soon,” Griffin said when Julyan was out of hearing. “Adara, you said you had a plan.”

“I want Ring here,” the huntress replied. “Sand Shadow has gone to see if he will join us or if we must go to him.”

A short time later, Sand Shadow escorted in Ring and Kipper. Ring appeared much more composed. Griffin wondered if this meant that probabilities were stabilizing or simply that Ring had grabbed a nap. He realized that he should be feeling more tired himself, but the thrill of having his mind clear again buoyed him up as if he'd had a large cup of Falkner's favorite blue drink.

“Here's what I'm thinking,” Adara said. “Griffin, your family is large—seven sons and three daughters. However, with Castor and Pollux on our side, three of those sons are now here. Even better, your parents are certain to be curious about what has happened.”

Castor, the visor on his helmet open but otherwise still armored, returned at that moment. “Yes. They're going to wonder if I really held Pollux in my head or if I've finally cracked all the way.”

“They're also going to need to deal with Alexander,” Griffin said. “I don't know what made him hate me so much, but I agree with the twins—he's insane.”

“Griffin told us about the war that followed the slaughter of the seegnur and death of machines here on Artemis,” Bruin said. “Do you think that having you three on Artemis will keep your parents from having the planet destroyed?”

Griffin laughed. “I'd like to think so. However, when Falkner gets back and starts babbling about the spaveks and Leto's complex and all the rest—that will surely stop them. We're not safe, but they're not going to want to destroy a treasure trove.”

Terrell said darkly, “At least not unless they can't lay hands on it or one of their rivals get wind that Artemis really exists. Then…”

“That will take time,” Adara said firmly. “Griffin, we have agreed we should not kill your brothers. Do we keep them as hostages or set them free?”

“I'm not being sentimental,” Griffin said, “but I'd set them free. If we try to keep them as hostages, we also need to deal with the danger they represent. Even if we take every bit of their equipment—which represents a problem in and of itself—they are dangerous. I think we might win Falkner over in time, but the others? I can't guess…”

“Ring?” Adara looked at him. “You've heard what we've said. Can you offer guidance?”

“In every direction is storm and danger,” Ring replied. “Nothing is clear or bright. But if we let them go, there is a little bit of light.”

“That's clear enough,” Terrell said. He frowned. “Ring, you can be pretty hard on your friends when that's what it takes to reach what you see as the best end. What purpose do you serve?”

“I serve Artemis, for without her there is not even hope.”

*   *   *

They arranged for Gaius to pick up Siegfried, Alexander, and Falkner from a landing platform atop the mountain that held Leto's complex. The internal corridors had been filled with rubble but, using the scooters, they were able to get the prisoners to the top. After some consideration, they had decided to keep the scooters and other equipment—including the shuttle in which the Danes had arrived and which now remained beneath Mender's Isle.

“Their gear may have tracking beacons in it,” Griffin said, “but it's not as if we're going to be all that hard to find—even though we've taken the tracers out of me and Castor—since we need to stay near Leto's complex. We'll disable what tracers we can, but I think having the gear outweighs the inconvenience. We'll also make sure no one…”

The Old One's name remained unspoken.

“… can get into or use the shuttle.”

Reluctantly, Griffin had decided to surrender the
Howard Carter
and all the ship contained. “I couldn't trust it not to blow on me. In any case, I'm not going anywhere, not for a long while.”

Gaius was told to remain inside the shuttle, so Adara caught only a glimpse of the dark-skinned, white-haired man who sat stiffly behind the controls of a craft not unlike the one Griffin had crashed. The three prisoners climbed aboard, then the door slammed behind them. Nearly soundlessly, the craft rose, became a blackness against the stars, then vanished.

Sand Shadow, who had waited outside of Leto's zone, sent Artemis's confirmation that the shuttle had continued rising. Presumably, the brothers Dane had kept their word and departed the planet.

The rendezvous with Gaius had been arranged for the darkest part of the night. Even so, it was likely the residents of Crystalaire would have some new stories to tell about odd happenings near Maiden's Tear. That didn't matter. Although the loremasters didn't know it yet, the rules governing Artemis had changed, changed perhaps more drastically than they had even after the slaughter of the seegnur and death of machines.

*   *   *

After the shuttle departed, their group returned to Leto's valley. The air smelled of green stuff and vibrated with cricket song.

“I refuse,” Terrell said, staring at Griffin, “to sleep one more night in that windowless hole. I'll work with you during the day, but I sleep out here.”

Griffin forced a laugh. “I bet you'll change your mind next time it rains.”

“What are you wagering?”

Bruin cut in before the disagreement could become serious. “Kipper has some suggestions for where we could place a camp closer to our door into Leto's complex and still be relatively hidden. Let's choose the best of both worlds.”

Ring grunted, and the wordless sound gave Bruin's statement a note of prophesy.

Castor, no longer wearing the green spavek, but hovering near his new Pollux, said, “That seems like a good idea. We don't know if there may be other doors into Leto. Even she may not know. It's best we keep close enough to respond if she sends an alarm.”

That sobered them. Adara knew they'd all been feeling safer since Sand Shadow had relayed that the Dane brothers were indeed gone.

“Right,” Terrell said. “Still, I'd rather sleep outside tonight. I can't shake the feeling that someone's going to lock a door on me as soon as I let down my guard.”

Griffin gave a lopsided grin. “I know how you feel. Fine. Outside it is.”

“The weather will be fair tonight,” Adara said. “Kipper and I will go get the camping gear. Sand Shadow and Honeychild can help us carry it. The rest of you clear a space and start something for dinner.”

Kipper radiated hero worship as he led Adara to where he'd cached their gear. “Do you think we'll stay here long?”

“Some of us will,” Adara said. “Leto's complex can't be left alone. That's going to mean a bunch of changes. Still, that's a hunt we can wait to plan for a few days at least.”

“Nothing's going to be the same, is it?” the boy asked.

“No, it won't,” Adara agreed, “but that's not necessarily a bad thing.”

After helping set up a new camp and joining the rest for a dinner built around colored cubes, tea, and scavenged berries, Adara grabbed a few things and began to move into the night.

“Where are you going, ladybug?” Bruin asked.

“Outside Leto's zone,” Adara replied. “Sand Shadow and I are going to keep her company. Artemis may be a world, but she does get lonely.”

The night was lovely, dark, and deep … Adara stretched out her claws toward whatever lurked beyond the sky in a mute promise to defend what was hers. Then, pillowing her head against Sand Shadow's flank, she drifted off to sleep.

Interlude: Spreading Wings

Caterpillar spins a silk cocoon

Dreams of wings to reach the moon

With wings yet damp, splits the thread

Hangs feet up, down at head

Unable to creep or walk or fly

Joy and wonder yet multiply

 

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