The Stolen Child (44 page)

Darkness overshadowed the deck, with only the lights on the walls to guide them.  They moved slowly, the propell
e
rs beating out a steady rhythm.  Up ahead she could see light.  She looked down to see that
Rachael
's hands, like her own, were tight against the railing.

Then she looked up, and felt her breath catch in her throat.  The ship emerged into an enormous cavern, too large for
her
to
even
begin to
guess
at its scale.  The walls of the cavern were some kind of
some kind of rough hewn
crystal, and deep beneath their surface a million lights glimmered in the darkness, like stars.  From all around the walls, walkways and piers protruded.  She could see pulleys, cranes and other machinery.

They floated upwards, turning slowly to orient towards one of the many piers.  The ship drifted in gently, guided by Abasi's steady hands as
Sir Reuben
's vessel
manoeuvred
towards the pier beside theirs.

Just as they were making the final approach she heard the door to the deck open,
as
Micah and Ilona emerged.

“Hey.  Best you two stand clear,” Micah called out to them.  He nodded in the direction of
the
slender figures moving their way
.  
Even from a distance Arsha saw the blank faces and the eerily synchronous movements.  Automs.
 

Without any sound, a group of half a dozen of them began to tie the ship off, first throwing ropes over and then calmly leaping a gap of maybe eight or nine feet.  
The deck shuddered slightly under the impact as each of the figures landed
.  
Micah took a couple of steps forward, tension making his shoulders rise under his long coat.
 

When the
automs
were done they returned to the pier, standing a little way off as if waiting for instructions.  
Soon
Abasi, Milima
and her father
all emerged onto the deck.  
Both
of the
men had the same look on their faces,
like
they were steeling themselves for what came next.

Across from the Triskelion, Re
uben
emerged from his ship with his
mechanical
bodyguards in tow.  He walked calmly, as if he had all the time in the world.  Already she could see that more
guards
were coming to join him, two lines of
men
in long
grey
coats filing down onto the docks from the walkways above.  When
all
his men were assembled, R
euben
nodded and turned towards the deck of the Triskelion.

The crew seemed to have gathered into a loose cluster on the deck, and somehow she and
Rachael
had ended up at the centre of it.  She wondered if that had been by intention.  As
Reuben
approached,
her father
looked him in the eye.

“Well, shall we get this over with?  Or do you need more men?”

Reuben
nodded to the nearest of his
guards
.  The officer stepped forwards,
holding up a pair of metal cuffs.  Arsha felt a lump growing in her throat.
 

“Professor Rishi Chandra,
you are to be bound by law,” the officer barked.  “Will you consent to be bound?
”

With a cold look, Rishi held out his arms, fists clenched, wrists exposed.  There was a soft 'chink' as the cuffs were locked into place.
 

“Captain Bira, you are also to be bound by law.  Will you
consent
?”

She saw Milima squeeze her husband's hand,
before the tall man stepped forward and offered his wrists as her father had done.  Again, the soft 'chink'.
 

“
You will be escorted
to a place of holding.  Is there anything you require before we leave?”
the officer said.
 

“I
will
have my effects brought over, if required,”
her father
said, with obvious restraint.

“Very well,”
Reuben said, before turning to nod at the commander of the guards.  With a sharp salute the officer turned and began to march off.  Falling in line to either side of Rishi and Abasi, the men began to march after him.  She saw her father turn, just briefly, to look back at her.  She couldn't say for sure if it was sadness or resolve that she saw in his eyes.  Perhaps it was a little of both.
 

As the men walked away, she felt Rachael reach out to take her hand.  The girl's grip was firm, and she held on as tight as she dared.  It felt as if her sister's hand was the only thing holding
her up.
 

Instead of following, Reuben paused and then turned to look at Rachael.
 

“
Since I imagine the young lady here is unaware,” he said, obviously addressing the adults present, “I should remind you all that as a Hearth refugee she will be required to present herself for a routine medical examination before she may enter the Citadel proper.  The Citadel is a closed environment, and we cannot risk the outbreak of some unknown Hearth malady.”
 

“
We'll see to it,” Milima said, coldly.  “Will that be all.”
 

“
For now, Mrs Bira.  Thank you.”
 

With a slight nod that Arsha imagined was supposed to be a half bow, Reuben Ben Mahir turned on his heel and walked away after the guardsmen, his automs moving in perfect time with him.  Already she could barely make out her father between the white-coated guards as they made their way up the winding slope that lead towards one of the many tunnel mouths.  Then they were gone, slipping away into the darkness of the tunnels, headed for the city above.  
No one said a word as Arsha stared at the place where her father had been.
 

A carriage pulled up, the horses
snorting
and flicking their
tails
as they drew to a halt.  
Arsha
watched as the door opened and Micah stepped
out
to help
Rachael
down.

“
Thanks,” the girl said, giving the man an awkward half smile as he boarded the carriage again.  Micah smiled back and closed the door.  
Then a whip cracked, and everything was covered by the sound of the carriage clattering away.

Arsha
was sat at the prow,
head resting against
the railing, her legs dangling over the front of the ship.  The
cavern floor
, far below, w
as
shrouded in darkness.  Above, the lights in the roof glittered like stars.  
The sound of the carriage faded, and then all she could hear was Rachael's footsteps echoing through the still air as the girl walked towards her.  She pulled her legs up and turned to sit with her back against the railing, as Rachael sat down beside her.
 

“Hey,”
she said.
 

“Hey,” Rachael nodded.  “Micah went
back to go watch some more of the hearing
.”

“
What was the examination like?” Arsha said.
 

“
Horrid,” Rachael replied, “all needles and weighing and stuff.  Blood tests, all kinds of things.  And the whole time they had me sitting in this stupid white nightie thing with no undies on or nothing.”
 

Arsha pulled a face.
 

“
Sounds awful.”
 

“
Yeah, well it's done now.  They said I'm all OK.  No germs or whatever.”
 

“
Well, that's good.”
 

“
So, this hearing of theirs... It's been going three days now.  How much longer is it gonna be?
”

“Tomorrow.
  They're going to make all their closing arguments and stuff.  Either way, it's all going to be over after that.
”

“We're not going to win.  Are we?”

For a moment, Arsha didn't say anything.  She leaned her head back onto the railing and stared up the lights above them.

“
None of them want to
say it, but... It's not going well.  Micah's quiet and Ilona
is
just more... Intense.  She's always that way, when she can't solve something.”

“Yeah.  I figured.  I guess that means they're going to take me away
after all
,” Rachael said.

“I know,” Arsha said,
feeling a lump in her throat
.  “I don't want them to.”

“Thanks,”
Rachael said.
 There was a long pause before she added “
And y
our dad... I guess they're going to lock him up too.”

Unable to even form the words,
Arsha
just
gave
the barest of nods.

“I'm sorry,” Rachael said.

“He'll think of something.  He never gives up,” Arsha said,
feeling
all too much like she was trying to convince herself.  “For you too.  I know it.  He won't stop fighting until we have you back.”

“It's OK.  I know how it is.”

Arsha reached out and took the girl's hand.
 

“
You know I'm not giving up on you, right?  Not ever.  We promised.
”

Whatever Rachael might have said in reply, it was lost when they both turned towards the sound of another carriage approaching.  It was larger and more elaborate than the one that had brought
Rachael
back from her
examination
, and it was painted all in white.

The carriage doors opened and
four
men in long white coats disembarked.  
Though Arsha didn't recognise the braiding and trim on their sleeves and shoulders, she knew that even Citadel guards didn't normally wear such elaborate uniforms
.  
They were followed out by a young woman with a boyish face and short cropped hair that was pulled close to her scalp in rows of tightly woven braids.  The woman wore a half cloak of green and gold cloth, and beneath the dark leather of her armour there were flashes of blue silk.  A sword hung from her belt, the hilt and scabbard simple and unadorned.  The last figure to emerge from the carriage was
dressed head to toe in a full white robe, with a
white silk scarf
that covered their face.  The hem of the robe was
trimmed
in a deep red,
and it was marked all over with the golden sigils of the Chamber of Foresight.  Arsha had never even seen the marks in person before, only in her father's books
.  
The figure
moved calmly, with a stately
and
feminine grace, as if
her
feet were only brushing the ground.
  The guards took
up a formation around the
two women
, strangely tense despite how little danger there seemed to be.  They approached the ship without
a word
spoken between them.  The guards kept a slight distance, as if actually touching the person in the flowing white robe might be a terrible thing.

At the foot of the gangplank the
short-haired young
woman
made a commanding gesture,
and two of the guards
turned to stand watch on the dock
.  Then the robed figure ascended the walkway to the deck, the remaining pair of guards flanking her.  Approaching the prow, she stopped a few paces from them.  
Arsha felt herself holding her breath.
  In the shadows of the deep hood
she
could make out a dainty chin, skin
the colour of honey
.

It was eerie, how quiet everything was.  When
the woman
spoke, it was with a voice like music,
clear and gentle, that sent a shiver of recognition down Arsha's spine.
 

“Good evening ladies.  I wondered if I might come inside.”

Feeling as if she had only just come to her senses, Arsha leapt to her feet and gestured politely towards the main door.
 

“Thank you,”
t
he woman said, her head inclining slightly below the hood.  
Hearing the voice again, Arsha felt her suspicions growing even surer.
 

She
lead the way as they headed inside,
Rachael staying close beside her with a bewildered look on her face
.  At another gesture from the
short haired
woman, the remaining guards took up positions just outside the door.  From their faces it was clear they were not happy about something.  
As Arsha and Rachael got the heavy door open, the robed woman turned to her companion.
 

“Rukiya, these people are old and dear friends.  I'd like to speak to them alone, please.”

The shorter woman looked surprised, perhaps even horrified by this suggestion.

“M
y lady
, I can't.”

“Rukiya, please.  Just do this one thing for me.”

Lips pressed in a thin line, Rukiya nodded, clearly even unhappier than the guards were.

“I'll stay by the door, but not outside.  I won't let them put half a foot of steel between us.”

A sigh.

“
Agreed.
”

No happier, the shorter woman nodded as Arsha led them all inside.  True to her word, Rukiya took up a position just inside the inner doorway, as the robed woman followed them down to the mess
.  Sitting alone at the table, Milima looked up
as they entered
and her eyes immediately widened in astonishment.

“By the Seven... Seeker, I am so sorry.  No one... We weren't told of a
n official
visit...”
Milima blurted out
, jumping up from the table.  
Arsha saw Rachael's eyes widen in surprise
, c
learly
taken aback by the sight of Milima seeming
so flustered
.

“Milima, please.  It's quite alright,”
t
he robed woman said.  “This is not what you think.”