Tempest Rise (revised edition 10/2013) (Treborel) (27 page)

“Commander Connor? Why would he be after Kendra, an Empath?”

“Connor was the man she saw
kill my father.” Katar only then realized that Kendra had said she was taken away during the confusion, and never spoke of the Prince's death again.

“
Commander Connor killed your father?” Sari spoke softly, as tears came to her eyes. “I knew there was something about him. When he was here something more . . .” Then Sari realized the rue danger. “Katar, you must find him!  Quickly, there is much more to your father’s death than just an assassination.”  She pulled her son forward, holding tightly onto his hands. “Your father had loved a young girl back in Latria, before he came over to Treborel and we fell in love. When he returned to announce our engagement he found the girl was carrying his child.” Sari squeezed his hand and continued, hating to add to the pain he was already experiencing. “The girl vanished before the child was born, furious at Mikel for loving another. The war escalated shortly after that, and all hope was lost of ever finding them. It grieved your father deeply that his first-born child was lost to him. His only comfort was your birth nearly 8 years later.”

Astonished, Katar could only watch the depth of love that washed across his
mother’s face as she spoke of his father. She said, “Years later, before the massacre your father received several communications from a man claiming to be the young girls son. The message consisted of a blank screen, as a man repeated the story of the woman and her lost son. It was only a few weeks afterward when the massacre occurred and your father was killed.” Sari looked at her son for understanding, “When I was told of the stranger, I feared it was Mikel’s missing son, seeking revenge. The day after his funeral, I received another message from this same man. It confirmed my suspicions; the faceless voice vowed his revenge was not complete.”

Katar closed his eyes
, overwhelmed by the meaning of his words. This could not be true. Commander Connor had not only murdered his father, just as Kendra described and kidnapped Lysette, but this psychopath was his elder brother!

“Katar, I was horrified!” Sari pulled his thoughts back to her saying, “I saw the anger on your face and the determination to make every sraeb pay for your father's death. Can you imagine what would have
happened if I had told you, a man was responsible? A man we could not find. You were 14 years old, you would have left in search of him, and I would have lost you both.”

He rose and took his mother’s hand
realizing she was right. He would have set out to kill the man who had taken his father away. If he had actually managed to find Connor, he surely would have been killed.

“He’s taking his revenge out on Lysette.” Katar said quietly
, as hope threatened to leave him.

“You
mustn’t allow it. You must find him, Katar.” Sari rose to embrace him.  “I fear that his childhood was a horror that left him insane. He must be stopped.”

”No!
I won't allow it!” Andru blurted out, losing his temper.

“What make
s you think that you have the power to order me about?” Lysette snapped back, equally short tempered. They had argued the same point for the last two hours, and had not progressed.

“We’ve been over this a hundred times Lysette
, and the answer is still no! It’s too dangerous, if anything went wrong you’d be alone and at his mercy.” Andru was determined not to give in.

“Just calm down and hear me out.” Lysette took a deep breath and calmed herself. Yelling at each other wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “We’ve got to get a look outside. You said one look at an open patch in the sky
, and you would have a fair idea of where we are.”

“That’s right
, I have to get a look at the sky, not you.”

“So teach me what to look for, this is the only way we're going to get out of here alive.”

“Offering yourself to Connor isn’t what I had in mind!” Andru tried to quell his growing anger, saying, “Going into his quarters alone is insane!”

“I'm not going to get him to take me outside
, unless I offer him something he wants in return.”

“Ok, but do you have to be that something?”

“We’ve got to get a look at the guards, where they’re located, and how they are armed.  I don’t want to die trying to escape. And there's a big difference between being shot at with a laser rifle, or a crossbow when you're dashing around in the dark!”

“It goes on as scheduled. I should still be able to tell you how many guards there are outside.”

“Please, Lysette. There’s got to be another way.” Andru’s voice softened
, as he took her hand trying to calmly reason with her.

“Don’t worry; I’m not going to let that bastard near me. He won’t even know what happened.” Lysette
said, allowing him to pull her over to the small table and chairs  in the corner of the nursery.  “Besides, we haven’t been able to come up with another idea. How much longer do you think they will allow us to live? How useful are we to them at this point? Do you realize how long we’ve been held captive?”

“
After the sraeb attack, they’ve left us pretty much alone.” Andru stopped to consider how long ago that was. “I guess it’s been nearly 5 weeks.”

“You don’t seem too concerned?” Lysette looked at him curiously.

“In spite of the constant threat of death, I guess I’ve been enjoying myself.”  He smiled sheepishly at her. “How else could I have managed to spend this much time alone with you?”

“Will you never give up?” She smiled back at him.

“I guess not, “He answered, resisting the urge to touch her.

“Well I for one would rather freeze to death out there
, than be tortured to death by Connors, and that’s what is going to happen, sooner or later. He’s going to get tired of us.”

There was a sound at the door and it opened to reveal King William. It was the first time since their arrival at the lodge
that he had come to the nursery.  His eyes were glazed, his face pale as he tried to speak, as he opened and closed his mouth silently. Andru rushed over and touched his palm to the Kings temple gently.

“His mind is gone.” Andru answered grimly, “It's almost completely destroyed. He has almost nothing but random thoughts. Stopping suddenly
, Andru gasped and jerked his hand away, staggering back as Lysette rose to catch him. He leaned against her for support as two soldiers appeared with Commander Connor. Taking hold of the Kings shoulders, Connor shoved him roughly at the two men and they disappeared around the corner. Turning back to Lysette Connor demanded, “How long was he in here?”

“Just a few seconds.”
Lysette answered quietly, “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing he didn’t deserve.” Connor answered casually, turning to leave.  Stopping he turned back to her. “Oh doctor I thought you might like to know, your bachelor Prince has finally married. I hear he’s expecting a child.”  He smiled at her
, then turned and left.

Nothing could have hurt Lysette more than the thought that Katar had married Enda. Andru
was still shaken but had comprehended the statement. Lysette tried to force Katar from her mind, and concentrate on Andru but it was impossible.

“Can you get me to a chair? He asked softly, she complied taking him
to a cot. He added, “Don’t listen to Connor; we have to concentrate on getting out of here tonight.” Andru rose, feeling his strength return. “The King came here to warn us. They’ve decided to kill Arbus. Connor must have made the mistake of letting the King overhear the orders. He slipped away to try to warn us, but his mind was so far gone he couldn’t form the words.”

“Why would they kill Arbus?” Lysette sat down beside him.

“Royal twins could cause a division among the masses; if each vied for the crown it could destroy a country. So eliminate one now and it never happens.” Andru spoke grimly, looking down at the sleeping child, “Consequently Lysette, I would imagine that they would want to slim down their food intake for the winter in the process.”

Meaning what?’

“With only one baby to care for, they don’t need both of us.” Andru turned to her, saying, “Remember what Joah had said about Arbus being an Empath?”

“Yes, that’s why he recovered so quickly.”

“It's more than that. Arbus has an exceptionally strong life force. Stronger even than any elder Empath that I have even known. Joah told me that he must be kept safe at all cost.” Andru took her by the shoulders and added, “There is a reason why he is here. We have got to get him out before they come for him.”

“What are you trying to tell me Andru?” Lysette frowned at him, “Are you saying that Arbus has some spectacular destiny in store for him? She couldn’t help but smile.

“Look, I don’t care if you believe me or not. We just have to leave here tonight and take Arbus with us.”

“Ok, so then we put my plan into action. I’ll approach Connor.”

“If it gets us out of here as soon as possible, I’ll go along with anything.” 

“A Bantorian helijet is not equipped with solar gems; one of such small proportions could only stay in the air under such severe winds at night for about 4 or 5 hours. After that
, its energy system would have been exhausted.”  Cap informed the Treborelan commanders gathered around the holographic display of the western coast of the continent. “That means they either headed north to Treborel, or South around the Nayrian peninsula, to the swamps of Southern Lon Tesse.”

“With two small infants
, the swamps would be a death trip.” Sean interjected from the far end of the long table.

“They could have met a ship out at sea
, and sailed for the western continent." Eades added from where he sat next to Katar and the Queen.

“William is running away from one war, terrified he’s going to be murdered.”  Sean
countered “Latria’s borders are at constant strain. I think he would avoid crossing the sea.”

“What about landing and powering up overnight?” Queen Sari asked.

“We would have spotted them the moment they lifted off.” Katar shook his head. There is no way they moved from wherever they have hidden themselves since that first night.”

“The Lon Tesse swamps are too difficult to hide in
, where an air search is concerned. Our heat sensors would have picked up such a large party by now.”  Sean added, “They have to be somewhere in Treborel.”

“Cap, you said th
at Connor was hunting in the northern territory when his men were killed during
frenzy
?” Katar turned to him.

“Right, but I’m not sure where.” Cap answered, “I just assumed that it was the same area that Lord Rung had taken him into before.”

“Where was that?” Katar asked.

“I’ll get Lord Rung to tell us.” Cap moved over to a
communications display and activated it. “Connor’s been in the northern area before.”

“That’s correct,” Lord Wills offered
, rising from his seat next to Sean adding, “Our records show that he has been in the northern mountains and southern area at least three times in the last four years.”

“Is it possible to search for them in the middle of
frenzy
?” Sean asked, as Katar directed the holographic image to zone in on the northern Treborelan coastline.

“We can search the coastline for signs” Katar began, “I
f the weather clears we can take the large transports and fly inland a few kilometers, other than that we’ll just have to risk a search party. First we have to narrow in on a few possible locations.”

Cap returned to the conference table. “Lord Rung was able to tell me that they traveled by helijet and were dropped off on a small beach at low tide.  Other than that
, he had no idea of how far north they had gone. He said the air trip took about an hour from the Harbor. He wasn’t sure; he fell asleep during the ride.”  Cap shrugged his shoulders.

“He chose a cleaver hideaway.” Katar growled, “Northern Treborel is unsettled, the mountains are at their highest point
, the forests are thick, and full of the largest sraeb. He went in right at the beginning of
Frenzy
. In a few weeks, as the sraebs calm and begin to hibernate, they’ll be protected from invasion by the deep snow for the next 4 or 5 months. My bet is he’s planning to pull out just before the spring thaw.”

“If we don’t find him before the first snow. . .” Sari finished Katar’s thoughts, “Lysette and Andru will be at the mercy of
Commander Connor all winter.”

Katar added, “If that beach appears only at low tide as I suspect
, we’ve got our work cut out for us. The northern coastline is nothing but sheer cliffs. If we find the beach, landing a party on the cliffs without being noticed will take some doing.”

Over the next few weeks, the search consumed all of Katars strength and effort. Cap never left his side. Taking turns as they flew back and forth across the hundreds of kilometers of coastline, searching for that small stretch of beach.  The cold autumn storms shrank visibility, and threatened to smash them against the cliffs if they dared too close of an investigation. Frustration and exhaustion took their toll on Katar. Queen Sari ordered him to step down for a few days.  Having no choice, Katar turned the search over to Cap and slept for nearly 12 hours before awakening.

Checking on the progress of the shore patrol and finding it lacking, Katar decided to pay a visit to the Empathic Institute. Perhaps there was something if Kendra or Joah
, now that he was awake, could tell him that would help. The sun struggled desperately to penetrate the thick, gray blanket of clouds above the dark forest as Katar began his journey. Once or twice, he was able to catch a glimpse of the suns warm glow bursting through its concealment before vanishing again like a taunting lover.

It was early afternoon when he saw the stone palace looming before him through the trees.

It sat in a deep glen, sheltering it from the harshness of the constant storms that plagued the planet. Lifting the ancient knocker, Katar waited as it resounded deep into the massive stone structure. A few minutes later, Kendra appeared in the doorway smiling at him saying, “You’re Highness!  This is an unexpected surprise! Please tell me that you are here to announce Lysette and Andrus’ recovery?”

The hope in her face faded
, as Katar shook his head and answered, “Not a sign as had been found.” Stepping aside, Kendra allowed Katar to precede her into the entryway and across a wide courtyard. Kendra pointed to the entrance of a large garden. Katar stepped through the stone archway and found Joah sitting on a large, stone bench before a series of fountains.

“Joah and I both want to thank you for saving our lives.” Kendra said
, as they wound through the flowering bushes and ferns toward Joah.

Cap risked more to save us all from the explosive
, than I ever did in trying to locate you.” He answered with a quiet smile as they reached Joah.

Rising as they neared
, Joah offered his hand to Katar, saying, “Prince Katar, it is good to finally meet you in person. Kendra has told me the story of our rescue; I give you and the others my thanks.”

“I wish we had been more successful in our endeavor.”  Katar answered. Motioning for him to
be seated, he added, “If we have arrived an hour earlier . . .”

“Dwelling on what could have been is never advisable.” Joah
cautioned “It changes nothing except ones level of confidence.”

Smiling Katar accepted his wisdom saying, “You are correct, and I might add that you look very fit for a man who was dead not too long ago.”

“Not dead, merely lifeless.” Joah smiled back, as Kendra rose from her seat on the side of the fountain across from them.

She said, “I must return to my students. Please let us know if you find any sign of our friends.

Nodding to her silently, Katar turned back to Joah as Kendra disappeared back into the courtyard. “Joah, I know you have been through a terrible ordeal, and I would rather cut my own hand off than make you relive it, but I am desperate.  Already the northern mountains have begun to cool. The temperatures are reaching freezing at night. The Northern winds came early and limited the search to only the large transports and naval vessels.
Frenzy
is at its peak and the snows will fall in a matter of days. I’ve had a vessel sitting out in the ocean for nearly 4 weeks now with a garrison of men waiting for instructions. I am near to losing Lysette and I can do nothing to stop it.”