ROAD TO CORDIA (26 page)

     Yonny’s cork life vest is torn from his small body by the wind. She almost makes the
terrible mistake of letting go of Yonny to grab it as it whips past her.

     A half broken barrel bangs into her side, hitting her ribs, causing her to scream. But she grabs it and manages to maneuver a terrified Yonny so that he is half lying on the broken barrel.
Now all they can do is hang on. Surely, the village will send someone out to look for fishermen caught in the storm.

     The wind and rain continue, giant waves half drown her. It is so dark she can’t even see Yonny. She knows he is still with her only by feel. But it is so cold! Her hands are growing numb. Is she really still holding him?

    
“Yonny?” she screams. “Yonny?” When had he stopped crying? She tries to drag the broken barrel closer to her, but her hands refuse to obey. Are her frozen hands holding on to nothing? “Yonny? Yonny?” How long ago had she lost him and not known it? “Yonny? Yonny?” She is screaming, half drowning, frantically splashing around trying to find him, but someone is pulling her back, preventing her from finding her brother. She strikes out blindly.

     “Ow! Ja’Nil, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
She thrashes about, but someone is holding on to her.

     “Open your eyes,” orders a familiar voice.

     She obeys, and finds herself staring into Ee'Rick’s bruised face.

     “Ee'Rick?

     “Who were you expecting?”

     She looks around wildly. “My brother?”

     “Yonny?”

     She stares at him.

     “You were calling Yonny in your sleep. Did something happen to him?”

     “I lost him,” she wailed, still half in the nightmare. “I didn’t hold on. They saved me but… I didn’t hold on.”

     Always a failure.

     She got to her feet and looked around at her new nightmare. Same old dirt and stone walls, same old barred trap door above them, and thank The Lord, same old lantern light still flickering down onto them.

     Her mouth felt as if it was filled with a dirty cotton ball.  She took a quick drink from the trickle of water, and only then realized that, aside from her thin undershirt, she was naked from the waist up. She flushed, and crossed her arms over her chest, turning away from Ee'Rick. He handed her the tunic to put on. It was still damp. She was careful not to meet Ee'Rick’s eyes.

     He shook his head slightly. “Ja’Nil,” he said. “You’re very pretty.” She kept her eyes glued to the floor. “And your breasts are--”

     “Please,” she implored.

     He shut up.

     He was walking very carefully, she noticed, as if he was in pain.

     “Where are you hurt?” she asked.

     “There is no part of me that doesn’t ache,” he said. “Did they put their boots to me?”

     Ja’Nil pointed up at the trap door. “Dropped you from there.”

     Ee'Rick studied the door. “I will not then, complain of a few aches.” He bowed stiffly to Ja’Nil. “Thank you for taking care of me. I am in your debt.”

     Ja’Nil, remembering how she had tried to run away, flushed with embarrassment.

     “We need to get out of here,” she said.

     He nodded. “Yea. I need to report the situation to my father.” He gestured up at the barred trap door. “Did they lock it?”

     “You’re worried about it being locked? It’s eighteen lengths away, up in the air.”

     “Not quite,” he said. “I can reach at least nine lengths. So it’s only eight or nine lengths further.”

     He was examining the walls.

     “Even if you managed to climb up there without pulling the walls down on us, the door is still in the center of the ceiling,” she pointed out. “Unless you can fly,” she added almost hopefully.

     “Sorry, not one of my talents.” After studying all the walls, he came back to the center of the room. “How tall are you?” he asked.

     Since Earthers tend to be on the short side, Ja’Nil was self-conscious about her tallness. Of course, next to Ee'Rick she was practically petite. Still, she’d rather not just blurt out her measurements. “Five and eight,” she muttered.

     “That means you can probably reach seven, seven and a half lengths,” he said.

     She did the math in her head. “Unless I stood on your outstretched hands we’d still be short several lengths.”

     “You’re not heavy. I could hold you.”

     “I’d fall.”

     “I’d catch you.”

     There was silence while Ja’Nil pictured Ee'Rick standing, arms stretched above his head, with her perched on his hands, one foot in each hand? Invariably, the next picture was of her falling head first…

     “Is it locked, Ja’Nil?” Ee'Rick asked gently.

     “I didn’t hear any lock or chain being laid across it,” she said. “They just slammed it closed and walked away.”

     “Any sounds of them since?”

     “I was asleep, remember?”

     He nodded. “Well, we’ll have to chance it. The sooner we’re out of here the better. For now, I’d like to avoid any more meets with Lord Raptor.”

* * *

     The plan was simple. Ja’Nil took Ee'Rick’s belt so that when she managed to open the trap door, she could tie it to one of the bars and Ee'Rick would climb it to freedom. All she had to do was climb onto the hands of the kneeling Ee'Rick. He would then stand and raise his hands above his head with her perfectly balanced. Then he would hold her, while she pushed open the trap door and...

     The first time, she fell before he even had a chance to stand.

     The second time, he was almost fully erect when she fell, knocking into him, and sending them both sprawling on the floor. The floor, however, was dirt, and not too hard.

     The third time, he actually was standing, but she was clutching his hair in a mad attempt to stay upright. They did a chaotic dance around the cell because he could not see where he was going; she was bent almost double over his head blocking his eyes, trying to find her balance.

     The fourth time, she refused to try again.

     “Jadµ,” he agreed. “Let’s rest.”

     She threw herself down on the ground. “How long do you think we’ve been here?

     “Seven hours, thirty-three minutes and... well, a bunch of seconds.”

     She had been lying flat on the ground. Now she sat up and stared at Ee'Rick. “I beg your pardon?”

     “I have a very reliable internal time-sense.”

     “Does that include the time you were unconscious?”

     “Yes.”

     “So they haven’t checked on us in over seven hours.” She thought about that for a while. “I’m hungry. They’re going to just leave us here to starve to death, aren’t they?” Her voiced got a little high pitched toward the end of the sentence.

     “We are far from starving, and will be out of this pit soon.” He said with great calmness and self confidence.

     There was silence for a little while, and then Ja’Nil said,” I’m sorry to be acting like a little baby, but when he took that ring away from me… Lady Fayre said it would give me courage. I know it’s silly. How can an object change a person and make them brave? But ever since he took it, I’ve been terrified.”

     “Your fear wouldn’t have anything to do with being hit by that bastard, arrested by a bunch of soldiers, and then thrown down a dark hole with no easy way to escape?”

     In spite of herself, she smiled.

     “Pretend for a minute that you are brave,” he said. “What would you do?”

     She gave a small laugh. “That’s me, Queen Brava of the Fisherfolk.” Ee'Rick sat down next to her. He put his arm around her and gave her a hug. It was wonderfully comforting.

     “This is the thirteenth day since I left my village,” she said. “Thirteen is not a lucky number for Fisherfolk.”

     Ee'Rick sighed, “Doesn’t do much for my people, either,” he admitted.

CHAPTER 26

     Princess Lil’Li wasn’t having a good day either. She was a prisoner in her own rooms, a prison that came complete with its own in-house snitch.

     She glared at the self-satisfied Lady Bel’Dor. Be smart, Lil’Li told herself. Think this through. That’s what her mother had told her over and over again, “Lil’Li, think things through. The first thing that pops into your mind is not usually the best course of action. As Head of State, you must take all things into account and think things through.”

     Of course, Lil’Li, had nodded agreement, and then rushed off to the try some half- formulated scheme that invariably worked at first, and then blew up in her face. However, this was not some game of Jump-Polo. Now was not the time for some childish plan. Lord Raptor was ruthless. Her future was in jeopardy, and even worse, Cancordia was in jeopardy. It was her job…no, her duty, to protect her country.   

     What is he planning? A coup?

     Lord Raptor did not possess the ‘Queen’s Gift’ or as it was less commonly known, the Queen’s Gene, no man did, nor any woman not of the royal line. Without that particular genetic factor, any attempt to claim Cancordia’s throne would bring ruin to the country. The very pillars in the Hall of Rulers would crumble. It was the pillars, that gave the Kings and Queens of Cancorida their power.

     Too bad they don’t convey wisdom as well.

     Did Lord Raptor even know of the Queen’s Gene or the Queen’s Gift? He probably thought it was just superstition. Any historical scholar would know the truth of it, but Lord Raptor was no scholar. No matter what his plans were to control Cancordia, he could not win. On the other hand, every single person in Cancordia could lose.

     “You are wrong to be so dismissive of his lordship,” said Lady Bel’Dor breaking into Lil’Li’s thoughts. Her high, whiny voice, like the squeal of a trapped red-sawter, made Lil’Li cringe.

     “I am not an admirer of that particular lord,” said Princess Lil’Li in her frostiest, most Queen Presumptive voice.

     “The army and the council are,” said the Lady, in a sly voice.

      Lil’Li stopped her pacing. “What do you mean?”

     “It only stands to reason.” Bel’Dor’s tone was malicious.

     Lil’Li wanted to shake the idiotic woman. “What are you saying?” 

     “Naturally, the army and the council would rather deal with a grown man of wide experience like Lord Raptor than with an inexperienced girl.”

     “I am the Queen Presumptive,” Lil’Li protested.

     Lady Bel’Dor was positively gloating now. The Lady did not like her charge, so snotty and arrogant. Just because she was young and pretty, she thought she could have everything her way. Well, she would soon learn better. Lady Bel’Dor leaned close to Lil’Li, her thick skin an unattractive blotchy green with excitement. “You may be Queen Presumptive, but Lord Raptor is in charge.”

     A dozen blistering remarks flashed through Lil’Li’s mind, but she kept her mouth shut. Lady Bel’Dor was a stupid woman and ultimately of no importance. She must give the woman nothing to report to Lord Raptor.

     Just then, the doors were flung open and servants hurried in to set up a small table with flowers, fine linen, the royal china, and golden utensils. “What’s all this?” asked Lil’Li.

     Yes, she was a Princess. Yes, she was used to being waited on and yes, she expected quality to be high. But this was the stuff of a State Dinner.

     “You’re not a little ragamuffin anymore,” said Lady Bel’Dor. “You are Cancordia, and style is everything.”

    
Style is everything
.
Typical Bel’Dor thinking.

     One of the servants looked up at this, caught Lil’Li’s eye, and winked. Jay’Ce, the servant, was a friend of Lil’Li’s, also one of her jump-polo teammates. Her actual job was tutoring Lil’Li on Chromo-quantum-magnetics, not serving at table.

     Lil’Li silently indicated the door to her bedroom. Jay’Ce slipped quietly into the other room, unseen by Lil’Li’s watchdog.

     Lady Bel’Dor ate like a field hand, but Lil’Li just pushed her food around.

     “You should eat,” said the Lady, all the while stuffing her own mouth. “It’s not as if you can afford to lose weight, as skinny as you are.”

     “I’m in mourning,” said Lil’Li.

     “How long are you going to carry on like this?”

     Lil’Li pushed her plate away. “I’m going to lie down.”

     “Don’t start crying again,” warned Lady Bel’Dor. “It makes your eyes all red and puffy. You want to look your best.”

     “I do?”

     Lady Bel’Dor rolled her eyes. “You want to look your best for Lord Raptor. He’s single again.”

     Lil’Li left the room quickly before she gave in to the inclination to kick Lady Bel’Dor in her skinny ass.

* * *

     As soon as Lil’Li closed her bedroom door, Jay’Ce stepped out of the elaborate armoire situated catty-corner in the room.

     Jay’Ce was five years older than the Princess, and was considered a genius in her field. She smiled gently at her royal pupil, crossed her hands over her breasts with her fingertips, just touching her shoulders, and inclined her head slightly. “Allow me to express my great sorrow at the loss of your mother and Queen.”

     “Thank you.”

     “How are you managing?” she asked.

     “When I think that Lady Bel’Dor and her ilk will be my subjects, I find myself wondering if I really want to be Queen.”

     “I’m not sure Lady Bel’Dor has any ilk,” Jay’Ce said with a smile. “Cancordia must have a Queen, and there is literally no one but you who can ascend in the Hall of Rulers.”

     “You don’t know how good it is to talk to someone whose IQ is greater than the size of her rear-end,” said Lil’Li. .

     Jay’Ce was a Sky Person of moderate attractiveness, but she had the most beautiful hair Lil’Li had ever seen on a real person, as opposed to paintings of people. As with all Sky people, Jay’Ce’s hair was dark red. She wore it long, and straight back off her face. It had an almost magical quality to it. For one thing, Lil’Li had never seen it with a strand out of place. Even more magical, it seemed to sparkle in the daytime and give off a reddish glow at night.