New Dawn (Divine War Book 1) (16 page)

“Women,” said Kabi, half irritated, half amused, looking at Maicee.

Through the open doorway, Maicee could see a young woman huddled on a bed and screaming with fear. Not knowing what to do or say, he stood motionless until Kabi pushed past him.

“There's no need to be afraid, Princess Ausanne,” Kabi said. “We're here to save you.”

He raised his hands to show that he was unarmed, though Maicee thought that was a little ironic. From what he'd seen, Kabi's hands were far more dangerous than any weapon he'd ever encountered.

“Come, we don't have much time,” Kabi said, reaching out a hand towards the princess.

It was only as the girl stumbled closer that Maicee saw her properly. She... she looked almost exactly like the woman in his dream. The woman he’d called ‘mother’. He felt paralysed until the girl smiled at him.

“Thank you,” she said. “Whoever you are. But where are we going?”

“Home,” said Maicee, looking at her and not knowing where the answer had come from but knowing that it was true. They were going home.

“They're coming,” said Kabi, breaking into the silent communication that was happening between Ausanne and Maicee. “I'll stop them. Hurry back the way we came and protect the princess.”

Without waiting, and conjuring a long crystal sword out of thin air, Kabi rushed through the doorway and turned right. Maicee took hold of the princess's hand and pulled her along with him, trying desperately to remember which corridors they had turned down and which stairways they had taken.

Ausanne followed closely, her heart fluttering strangely. The touch of this man's hand had an odd effect on her, and she wasn't sure why. Wasn't sure why he seemed so familiar and yet so strange.

“Stop!”

Maicee's stomach dropped as he turned the corner, pushed the princess behind him, saw the huge, towering guard, and drew his bolt blaster all at the same time. Without a second of hesitation, he pulled the trigger, but the guard easily avoided the shot. He went to shoot again, but as the guard got closer, the trigger of his blaster jammed. Gods dammit. Throwing the useless weapon at the giant of a guard, he assumed a defensive position. He hated it when Kabi was right. His weapon was useless, and now he only had his combat training to rely on.

Seeing the boy's defensive stance, the guard laughed and drew his sword. He was easily a head and a half taller than the boy, and he probably weighed twice as much as well. This wasn't going to be a fair fight, but he lusted for blood enough that he didn't really care.

Frantically, Maicee calculated what he was about to do. He was definitely at a disadvantage here. He had one shot, and he couldn't afford to waste it. He waited until the absolute last moment, as the guard's sword was already halfway down its swing before he pivoted, turning his body so that the sharp point of his elbow smashed into the unguarded throat of the soldier. A sickening crack sounded, and the guard collapsed instantly, twitching once before surrendering to death.

Maicee gulped back tears. Both from fright and shock, and because he was trained to save lives, not to take them. Then he hurriedly wiped his eyes on his sleeve, not wanting the princess to see him cry.

“Well done,” said a voice from behind.

Kabi's large hand descended on Maicee's shoulder.

“I have a good teacher,” Maicee managed to croak.

“I saw everything,” said Kabi, turning the boy to face him. “You used your advantage, your brain, rather than your strength. Nicely plotted.” With a frown he noticed the tear marks on Maicee's face. “Don't be afraid of your feelings, boy,” he said gently. “Let them out. There is worse than this to come, I can promise you.”

Maicee, not understanding what could be worse but seeing the empathy in Kabi's face, nodded.

“Now, we have a princess to get home, do we not?” Kabi said, wishing desperately that Maicee would never have to taste the bitterness of battle but knowing that he would.

*

Two motionless bodies lay on the floor by Lucia's feet. Delicately, she stepped over an arm, attempting to activate the time bomb she had just installed. Benho stood slightly behind her, his eyes curiously skittering around, looking for signs, clues, anything. Lucia clicked a lever and stood back.

“There, that's all the bombs we have,” she said. “I hope Kabi had better luck finding the princess than we did.”

She was about tell Benho that it was time they got off the ship when he took off down a corridor. One second he was standing behind her, and the next he was in full flight.

“The bridge has to be down here,” he shouted over his shoulder.

Keeping the profile of the dreadnought in his mind and mentally mapping where he and Lucia had been in the ship, he knew this was the only direction that the bridge could be in. It had taken him a while to work out, but he knew he was right.

“Come back here!” hissed Lucia.

But he was gone. She cursed. There was no way she'd be able to catch up with him; he was far faster and had longer legs. Dammit. This was all she needed right now. A foolish boy putting his personal needs ahead of those of his companions. Didn't he know he could get them all killed?

But Benho was past thinking. Every fibre of his being was cheering him on, pushing him to find the one he'd searched for, the one he'd hated for so long. His mind was clouded with bloodlust, and he knew that this might be the only chance he would get. Somewhere in the back of his head, he heard Lucia's clattering footsteps following him down the long corridor, but he knew that she was far behind. Good. He wasn't going to abandon his personal vendetta for her, no matter how beautiful she was. He glanced left and right as he ran, looking for a door that he knew he would recognise, his feet pounding on the floor. Just let him find him, let him see him, let him kill him. That was all he wanted, all he'd ever asked for. And all the rest could be damned.

Lucia followed as closely as she could, cursing herself for not bringing a tranquiliser dart. But there was little she could do as she saw Benho turn towards a large, metal door and slam into it, bursting it open. All she could do was stand back in the shadows, waiting to see if Benho would need help, if there would be a way to rescue him and get him off the ship before the damn thing blew to pieces.

The metal of the door bruised his shoulder as he banged it open, but his eyes immediately locked on the man standing on the bridge. Tall, elegant, and familiar, he was flanked by two Black Knights who raised their blasters as the boy stepped onto the bridge.

“Stop,” said Hansola, holding up his hands to the guards. “He's mine.”

Hansola was furious. His blood was boiling in his veins, anger throbbing through his fingers. He didn't know what the hell was going on in his ship, but someone was going to pay. And this young stripling seemed like just the ticket. He needed to vent his anger, and this boy would do nicely.

“Hansola!” cried Benho, sliding his dagger out of his belt and jumping forwards in a catlike attack.

The Magi Lord was surprised that the intruder knew his name, and hr delayed unsheathing his sword for a split second. But he managed to heft his weapon just in time to parry the boy's attack.

“Think you can kill a Magi Lord with that puny little thing?” he taunted as Benho withdrew to prepare another attack.

Benho ignored him, coming in again, slashing and jabbing in his own signature combat style.

Hansola parried, but something in the back of his mind was preventing him from launching a full-force attack on this boy. Though he still brandished his sword, a vague familiarity was growing over him. There was something here, something in the way the boy moved, the way he fought. It was, for all the world, like he was playing with a child, a very angry child. And then he knew.

“Benjamin.”

Benho sneered. “I'm glad you remember me. I am here only to avenge my mother.” He sprang into another attack, dagger hand flying so fast it was almost a blur.

Frowning and barely considering his defence, Hansola stepped to one side. “We need to speak. Stop this, Benjamin!”

The boy continued in his frenzied attack, and losing patience, Hansola lifted his sword and slammed the flat of his blade onto Benho's shoulder. The boy collapsed, groaning, onto the floor. Freed from the effort of defending himself, Hansola took a breath before speaking.

“I did not kill your mother willingly, as you well know,” he said, his voice more gentle than any of the Black Knights had ever heard it. “I was forced to.”

“You should have fought for her life!” spat Benho, trying to control his pain enough to stand and failing.

“I could not defy the Supreme Emperor!” Hansola's face was dark and strange.

“We could all have died together if need be,” Benho said. “But instead you chose to be the Emperor's dog.”

Lucia, seeing that her time had come, silently withdrew her dagger. She needed to end this, though she didn't know what was happening. She only knew that this ship was going to blow any minute and she needed to get Benho out. With a flick of her wrist, she threw the knife at Hansola, who, catching the movement in the corner of his eye, twisted to avoid it.

But that movement was enough. Gathering all his remaining strength, Benho forced his arm upwards, thrusting his dagger deep into the heart of Lord Hansola.

“Benjamin...” said Hansola, slowly sinking to the floor. Blood bubbled from his mouth. “My son...”

The two Black Knights, who had watched impassively, not believing a child could cut down their leader, stepped forward, blasters raised, fingers on triggers. Hansola shakily lifted a hand and with the utmost effort caused flames to jet from his fingertips, blasting the guards backwards.

“Go, my son,” said Hansola with his dying breath.

Just as Lucia dragged the sobbing Benho across the bridge to the
Argoni
, the
Orion
began to blow. The
Argoni
was barely afloat, but the others had prepared the life capsule, and it was sitting on the deck, ready to receive them. As the small, transparent globe loaded with their little company began to float away, the
Orion
blazed. There was a huge roar, and slowly, slowly, the great dreadnought started to sink into the waves, dragging the burning
Argoni
with it.

The first sun began to rise. On the horizon, the
Freedom
slowly approached the life capsule.

B
oth suns were high
in the sky, burning through the glass panes of the cabin when Ausanne awoke and lazily stretched her lithe body. The bed was comfortable, far more comfortable than the one Hansola had provided. Gently she turned over, not wanting to wake the sleeping Niku. The Chamonkey chattered in her sleep, then nestled down into the crook of the princess's arm. Ausanne smiled. She was glad to be reunited with her beloved pet. She was considering closing her own eyes again for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door.

She bade her visitors to enter, and the door slid open revealing a grinning Kabi and Maicee. She found it hard to believe that Kabi was her uncle.
He must be at least sixty,
she thought, but he looked no more than forty. And the doctor. Yes, the doctor. Smiling at him to check, she discovered that he still had a strange effect on her, though she didn't really know what it was.

“I trust you slept well, Princess,” said Kabi.

“Yes, Uncle, thank you. And you can just call me Ausa,” said the girl, turning her smile to Kabi for a moment.

But then her eyes went back to Maicee, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He was happy to see his long-lost sister—of course he was, though he wasn't allowed quite yet to acknowledge that she was his sister. But there was something about the way she smiled at him that made him feel very odd indeed.
However, that could be because I’ve had so little experience around women,
he thought, trying to be fair.

“Ausa, then,” said Kabi, unaware of what was passing between the two sisters. “We are taking you home. It should take us about five sailing days, following the route we're currently on.”

“Thank you,” said Ausanne again. Then, remembering who she was, she added: “I am sure that my father will be very pleased to have you once more in his court.”

Kabi looked somewhat shifty at this, and he paced the short length of the cabin. “Princess,” he said. “Ausa. I made a promise to your mother that I would look out for you. Your father, on the other hand... Let us just say that there are issues between us. I believe that it would be best for now if you do not reveal our acquaintanceship to the King.”

Ausanne looked surprised but bowed her head in acceptance.

“Good,” said Kabi. “If you would like to prepare yourself, we'll be glad to welcome you for a very late breakfast.”

He turned to leave the cabin, Maicee following, but was interrupted by the princess's voice.

“Maicee, would you mind staying here for a moment? There is something that I would like to ask you.”

Maicee looked at Kabi, who nodded, so he turned back to the princess.

Kabi gently closed the door behind him as he left. He'd brought the two sisters back together. At least one of the things he needed to do had been done.

*

Benho woke with a splitting headache, so bad that it blurred his vision. He sat upright, head in his hands, kneading at his temples, hoping that it would ease the pain, that it would relieve him of the memory of his father’s dying at his hand. He remembered nothing about leaving the
Orion
, only his father's blood soaking his skin, picking out the lines on his palms.

Tears formed, and he didn't stop them. Hot, salty drops streamed down his face. He had loved his father. Once. But then revenge had become the only thing he'd wanted. Now that he had it, he couldn't believe that the heavy weight in his chest was still there. He'd honestly thought that killing Hansola would leave him free, would cut his ties to the past and enable him to live his own life. But all he felt was emptiness.

“Ben, are you awake? Can I come in?”

Sa-li's sweet voice came through a crack in the cabin door.