TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) (18 page)

We were still laughing when Mirren opened the door suddenly and she stood in the doorway and folded her arms. We stopped laughing with difficulty and she looked from one of us to the other before she picked up her pendant and looked at the time. She continued to hold her pendant in her hand as she looked up at Morgan.

“I believe you have a tutoring session in a quarter of a clock turn Morgan, and I doubt Jonah will be as accommodating as you obviously expect me to be,” she said dryly, and Morgan surprised me by looking at Mirren apologetically before he told me he’d see me tomorrow and hurried out the gate. I watched him go before I turned back to Mirren. She held the door open for me and she looked at me now with an expression which made me decidedly uncomfortable. It was like she could see right through to secret parts of me I hadn’t yet faced myself and I hurried past her and headed quickly up the stairs. Mirren didn’t follow me, although I knew she watched me go. I guessed she’d decided not to bother at all with the time that was left of my tutoring session and I was forced to add guilt to my feeling of discomfort as well. I folded my arms and looked out the window in my study, but Morgan had already gone into his house……..

CHAPTER 9
:

It was Tuesday morning and Morgan opened his front gate at the same time as I did.

Mirren hadn’t mentioned our after school encounter at all during the previous night. She’d stayed in her rooms and completely missed the tutoring session I was supposed to have had with her after the evening meal. Morgan had been right. It was obvious we were all going to be doing whatever we wanted from now on but, as the evening had worn on, I’d found myself missing the sound of Mirren’s voice. I’d sat in my study during what was supposed to be our session and I’d read alone from the house parchments for a while before I’d wandered into my room……and I’d ended up taking Josh’s music cartridge out from under my mattress early, just so I could hear the sound of another voice, even if it was only an electronic one.

I waited for Morgan to walk to my house and we fell into step beside each other. He grinned and the first thing he asked me was whether I wanted to go to detention again this afternoon because he had study until set five after school.

“I can’t. I have a weapons class at set four,” I said, and I knew I sounded disappointed.

We talked about our weapons training as we turned onto the main street and Morgan was surprised when my choice of favourite weapon was a bow. He said he preferred a sword because it could be used for defence as well as attack.

“So can a bow. An attacker with an arrow through their knee cap can’t do much damage to you with their sword,” I said, and Morgan smiled.

“That’s true,” he conceded, as we walked past the stairs to the underground train station. The strange old homeless man with the pale aqua eyes hadn’t been at the steps for quite a few days now. In fact, I hadn’t seen him at all since before Morgan had arrived in this segment and I hoped nothing had happened to him as I looked at the hopeless faces of his unfortunate friends. One of them held out an empty fast food cup and she asked me for spare change so she could get a cup of coffee. I shook my head sadly and kept walking. I had no Synthetic Era money, unlike Morgan, who’d produced plenty of it at the fast food restaurant yesterday.

“You should go and get lunch with Josh after school. I think he was disappointed he wasn’t invited yesterday,” I said to Morgan, as we crossed the public courtyard. Morgan frowned and glanced at me.

“If Josh had wanted to come he would have invited himself,” he said dryly, and I shrugged.

“Maybe,” I conceded. Morgan glanced at me again as we reached the top of the concrete steps.

“You like him,” said Morgan, and I smiled and shrugged. Of course I liked Josh.

“It’s hard not to like him,” I said dryly.

Morgan frowned slightly before he turned to me.

“Josh thinks you’re
kind of hot
,” he said, and I frowned at him in confusion.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to translate that to the old language because I have no idea what you mean,” I said. I didn’t have the same fascination with the Synthetic Era language that Morgan seemed to and I’d never heard Josh use that particular phrase before. Morgan looked at me sideways.

“It means he thinks you’re beautiful and he’d like to be intimate with you,” he said, in the old language, and I nearly fell down the stairs.

“Are you alright?” asked Morgan with concern, as he caught me by the arm and I nodded, and tried to hide my embarrassment while I tried to ignore Morgan’s hand on my arm.

“So?” Morgan asked me as we reached the bottom of the stairs. I looked at him in confusion again.

“So, what?” I asked him. I was still flustered, but I wasn’t sure if it was because Morgan had touched my arm or because of what he’d said to me on the stairs. I slowed down and tried to compose myself while Morgan looked at me intently.

“So, do you think Josh is
kind of hot
and would you consider being intimate with him?” he asked me, and I was glad I was no longer on the stairs as I stared at him again in surprise.

“Ah….no, I mean……he’s nice, but no……..definitely no,” I stammered, before I realised it was actually none of his business. Morgan grinned as we walked towards the school gate, but I couldn’t look at him now.

I’d like to be intimate with you, though……

The thought had come unbidden into my head, and thankfully, I hadn’t spoken it out loud. I quickened my pace and hurried slightly ahead of Morgan up the stone steps towards the doors to our school. I was suddenly desperate to get to a school class. The sooner I removed myself from the close confines of Morgan’s company to the safety of other students and tutors, the better.

Unfortunately though, it wasn’t that much better for me in the classroom as it turned out. Not long after our first class started, my eyes wandered of their own accord toward Morgan where he sat in a chair beside mine. His arm rested on his books and I could see his fingers fidgeting with the corners of the pages of his text book as he listened impatiently to the highly inaccurate biology class being taught to us by the tutor who stood at the front of the room.

He had nice hands……..Morgan I mean, not the tutor. He had artistic looking, long fingers that were slightly callused from our many hours of sword and archery training. I let my eyes glance up at him and he was leaning back in his chair. I liked the way his hair curled ever so slightly on the ends where it brushed against the collar of his school shirt. He spent enough time outdoors that his skin had a healthy glow and he was lean and athletic from our many hours of weapons training and physical challenge. I watched him as he shifted impatiently in his chair……and he glanced toward me too……I looked away and bit my lip as I tried to pretend I’d been copying down inaccurate science facts with my plastic, chemical filled pen.

After a while, I glanced at Morgan again and he was busy writing notes now too.

I wasn’t naïve. Our extensive education and vast knowledge of all things related to health and healing made sure of that, but I’d definitely been sheltered more than most young people of our race.

A few years ago a stable boy had kissed me. He’d been visiting the Palace stables only. He’d worked for a Tournament Champion who’d come to the city to prepare for a Royal House Tournament and we’d been grooming my horse together. He hadn’t realised who I was and, when he’d wanted to kiss me, I’d let him out of sheer curiosity. The experience, however, had only left me wondering what all the fuss was about. A few times, when I’d been at home, I’d been followed around the Palace by boys who were the sons of visiting Tournament Champions. I’d let a few of them kiss me too, as they’d cornered me in empty rooms, but those experiences hadn’t been anything extraordinary either.

Once, not long ago, when I’d been in +2134, I’d been permitted to go to an after-hours party with local students from the local education centre I’d had to attend during the day. Evangeline had just been assigned to me as a partner and she’d been enrolled there too. She’d desperately wanted to go to this party and, as we had to do such things together, she’d convinced our tutors the experience would contribute to our social education. The only thing I’d learnt, however, was that my curiosity definitely had its limits, and I’d almost had to break the arm of one particular boy who’d decided I was going to be
his
social education for the night.

Not once had I experienced even a hint of the type of feelings I was experiencing now as I looked at Morgan. I bit my lip again as I wondered what it would be like if
he
kissed me……..and, just at that moment, he glanced at me again too.

I had to look away quickly for a second time, and this time, I was forced to pretend to smooth my hair as I attempted to cover my flushed face. What was the matter with me? I had to stop this or he was going to think there was something wrong with me.

The tutor was still speaking and the lesson continued, but it was almost impossible for me to concentrate now, and I cursed Morgan for talking about being intimate and for making me realise I thought
he
was
kind of hot
. I gritted my teeth and took copious notes as I forced myself to listen, and I made sure I didn’t look at Morgan again until the class was over and it was time to move from my chair.

“That class was so boring,” I said to Morgan, as soon as we were dismissed. I hoped by saying this, if he’d noticed any of my strange behaviour during class at all, he’d attribute it to my boredom and not think any more of it. I glanced at him and, to my relief, he grinned as usual.

“And so inaccurate like everything in this era,” he added. I smiled as I relaxed.

“Dinosaurs,” I said, and Morgan rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Cave men,” he added, and I laughed as we walked out of the classroom and headed down the hall.

“The age of the earth,” I said, and Morgan laughed too.

“The building of the pyramids,” he added, and I nodded.

“Space, time, sound, magnets and gravity…….all either wrong, or so basic they belong on a small child’s parchment,” I said, as we turned into another hall.

“There’s more truth to the stories they label as fairy tales and legends here, than to the things they call facts in this era,” said Morgan, and I smiled.

“They should teach the young people here about the extinction of unicorns and tell them their ‘so called’ dinosaur bones actually belong to flight dragons,” I said firmly, as we took a set of stairs down to the floor below us.

“And they should learn about the historical significance of the City of Gold and the Fountain of Youth,” said Morgan, just as firmly.

“That city was only gold plated though and the reason for that was energy production, and the Fountain water prolonged the youthfulness of internal organs, but not outwardly youthful looks,” I reminded him, and he shrugged.

“They both existed though, unlike dinosaurs,” said Morgan, and I had to agree.

“And they should learn about the first flying machines and the first electric lights too,” I said. “The zestonate ones that had no need for wires, I mean,” I added.

“And I’d like to tell them the cure for the common cold was forgotten about four thousand years ago, but it’s right in front of them,” said Morgan, and he smiled again. I liked his smile too. I hadn’t realised how much until today.

“Are you okay?” Morgan asked me, and his smile was fading. I shook my head slightly.

“Evangeline told me we have to make it all the way through a flight dragon’s territory for one of our final challenges,” I said hastily. It was the first thing that came into my head. I think we’d been talking about dragons before he’d distracted me with his smile. I was flustered again, and I had to look away from Morgan as we turned into another hall. This was all his fault. Why couldn’t he have kept Josh’s comments to himself?

“I heard we have to steal an egg from the dragon’s nest, and then return it the next day,” Morgan said, as we turned into our next classroom and, thankfully, when I glanced at him again, he wasn’t smiling anymore.

“That doesn’t sound easy,” I said worriedly, and I frowned.

“Stealing an egg will be simple. It’s putting it back that’ll be difficult,” muttered Morgan, as he sat down in a chair and dumped half of his books on the floor beside him. I sat down carefully in the next chair along.

“Have you heard rumours of anything else we have to do in the finals?” I asked Morgan curiously while we waited for the tutor to arrive. Morgan had been in group training for five turns. It was likely he’d heard many more rumours than I had.

“I heard we have to kill a Denborite marker guard, and I heard we have to stop an Egyptian funeral procession on the way to the tomb and fight them for their treasures. I also heard a rumour that the challenges change every turn, so it’s pointless believing any of the rumours,” he said, glancing at me ruefully just as the tutor walked into the room.

As the day continued, I managed to come to terms with my feelings for Morgan and I learnt to ignore them whenever I had to concentrate on what he was saying. I tried not to glance at him too much during classes and I talked to Josh at lunch while Morgan looked at maps of the city on Josh’s computer. A few times he looked up from his maps and I caught glimpses of him looking at me thoughtfully before he went back to the computer. It wasn’t until the end of lunch that I remembered that it was Josh who’d said I was
kind of hot
and I concentrated on finishing my lunch then and left Morgan and Josh to talk to each other instead. I didn’t want Josh, or Morgan, to get the wrong idea.

That afternoon, as we walked slowly home from school, I glanced ahead of me for a moment and I was relieved to see the homeless man with the pale aqua eyes was, once again, sitting against the railing at the underground station stairs. He wore the same jacket he always wore, and his arms were folded and his legs were crossed. I stopped walking and Morgan stopped too.

“There’s a man there, with those poor people against the stair rail; he talks to me whenever I see him,” I said, and Morgan frowned.

“Which one?” he asked me, and I described the man as we walked slowly towards him. Morgan frowned as the old man watched our approach.

He looked at me with his pale aqua eyes but, today, he waited until I was right beside him before he spoke.

“Are you lost?” he asked me clearly in his mellow voice, and he looked into up my eyes as my steps faltered.

“Don’t answer him,” muttered Morgan, and he took my arm firmly and dragged me past the old man before I could reply. “There’s something not right about him and he’s definitely not homeless,” said Morgan, and he glanced behind us as he kept propelling me along the street.

“How do you know he’s not homeless?” I asked Morgan.

“Because he has clean fingernails, clean socks, and his teeth are much too healthy. His coat is old, but it’s much too thin to keep him warm through an autumn night even if he’s sleeping in the train tunnels and I didn’t like the way he looked at you,” finished Morgan firmly, and I frowned.

“He could have just lost his home recently,” I said, and Morgan shook his head.

“Don’t talk to him again. I don’t trust him and you shouldn’t either. What’s the matter with your guards? They should have dealt with him already for speaking to you,” muttered Morgan.

“You’re overreacting. He’s just a harmless, old man who’s down on his luck and I don’t need my guards to deal with him. I could deal with him myself if he suddenly decided to abduct me in broad daylight, which, by the way, isn’t likely to happen,” I said scornfully. Morgan looked at me carefully and frowned.

“You’re too trusting. You live in your sheltered world of Palace finery and private tutoring. You have no idea what might happen to you if you weren’t able to defend yourself in a real situation,” he said. I glanced at him sideways.

“I can defend myself in
any
situation,” I told him confidently.

“I suppose you could defend yourself against an old man from this time segment,” Morgan said reluctantly, “But, what if the man was a Denborite and knew how to fight?” he asked me.

“I can take care of myself easily against one man, even if he was Aldirite,” I assured him mildly and he looked at me with obvious disbelief. I shrugged. “Attack me and I’ll show you,” I said. If he didn’t believe me; I’d prove it to him. He frowned again.

“I can’t attack you on the street,” he said, as he shook his head at me.

“Why not?” I demanded. “You won’t be able to hurt me,” I said confidently, but Morgan continued to frown.

“It’s not socially acceptable in this time segment for me to attack you out here on the street,” he said firmly.

“It’s perfectly acceptable if I win,” I said, and I grinned, but Morgan’s frown only deepened.

“You won’t win and if I’m detained by the law, or if my face ends up on electronic media here, I’ll be sent home and I’ll have my pendant removed for two weeks. That’ll mean I’ll miss my finals and I’ll have to wait another whole turn to join the Quest,” he said seriously.

“You don’t need to worry. I will win,” I said stubbornly, and Morgan rolled his eyes.

“Whatever; I’m not going to attack you on the street, okay,” he said firmly, in his perfect Synthetic Era language.

“Fine; when we get home, attack me in your back garden then,” I said, and I glanced at him and grinned again.

“Alright,” said Morgan in defeat. “I’ll attack you in my back garden, but don’t blame me if I accidentally injure you just before you begin your final challenges,” he said, and he shook his head again, but I continued to grin and I quickened my pace in anticipation as we turned into our street. Morgan rolled his eyes again and quickened his pace to match mine as I raised my eyebrows at him. I found it very amusing that he presumed to know how I lived and what happened in my sheltered world.

“I’ll be over in ten minutes,” I said to Morgan cheerfully, when I reached the gate to my house.

“I’ll be waiting,” said Morgan dryly, and he shook his head again before he headed towards his house.

My tutor was nowhere to be seen as I ran quickly upstairs to change out of my school uniform. I was supposed to be having my weapons training class this afternoon and we usually left the house at set four, but that gave me a whole quarter of a clock turn to beat Morgan in a fight.

“That should be plenty of time,” I said to myself cheerfully as I dressed quickly in finely woven pants and a soft shirt and jacket. My weapons tutor was a past Aldiris Champion who was based in this time segment so I wore Aldirite clothes to her class. I pulled on my soft leather boots before I ran downstairs. There was still no sign of my tutor and our driver wasn’t waiting on the street yet either so I walked quickly along the path and opened the gate next door.

Morgan opened his front door before I reached it and he’d changed into clothing from home as well.

“Come on. Let’s get this over with,” he said, and he watched me with undisguised amusement now as I brushed past him and waited for him to close the door behind me.

I followed him silently through the house and there was no sign of Jonah either as Morgan opened the door to the back garden and held it open for me to go through.

The garden behind Morgan’s house was small, but the square patch of grass in the middle of the area was big enough. The grass was surrounded on three sides by a border of pavers and then sandstone blocks held back a narrow, raised garden of manicured greenery that grew to a level above both our heads. I took off my jacket and hung it over the back of the wrought iron chair which stood just outside the door to the house and Morgan removed his jacket too before dropping it over the top of mine.

“Are you ready?” asked Morgan, and he was still looking at me with amusement as we walked out into the middle of the grass. I frowned. All of a sudden, I’d had enough of his attitude, and I no longer found it amusing. I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

“Didn’t your combat tutors teach you never to underestimate your opponent? Size and stature have nothing to do with……….” 

Morgan began his attack before I could finish. He’d hoped to catch me by surprise, I guessed, but I’d been taught hand to hand combat by past and present Tournament Champions, and I was ready the instant he moved. I countered his attack easily and now it was me who watched him with amusement as he was forced to try a different approach.

When Aldirites fought without weapons, we used techniques borrowed and refined from nearly every time segment and almost every race and culture. Everything from ancient energy blows to pressure point holds, and jabs that caused nerve ending paralysis were taught to Aldirite youngsters from both the Community and the Royal House. As we grew older, we were taught balance, flexibility, and speed as well, and we perfected complicated defensive moves that enabled us to evade strangleholds of all kinds. We were then taught jumps and kicks, and how to use our surroundings to turn and twist our bodies out of harm’s way and into positions of dominance against our unfortunate opponents. Aldirite guards were the best weapons free fighters in the world and they could beat anyone in any time segment in a hand to hand fight.

I countered another of Morgan’s blows with no effort at all and he shifted into yet another mode of attack.

He was still holding back though, and I could tell. He was using only half strength, simple moves against me, but when I twisted easily out of another one of his holds and he narrowly missed being kicked in the throat, he finally began to fight me as he would any other combat practice partner. Maybe, he’d thought I hadn’t been taught to fight properly in my sheltered world of ‘Palace finery and private tutoring’, or maybe, he’d thought a Princess wouldn’t be allowed to be injured so I would never have learnt the value of good defence. If he’d thought either of these things though, he’d have been wrong. All Aldirites were taught how to fight, and Princesses were no exception. In fact, I’d started combat training long before the usual age and, being heir to the throne, I’d been taught combat secrets known only to a select few.

For this reason, our fight wasn’t fair and I knew it, and it wasn’t long before Morgan knew it too. I’d perfected moves he’d never been shown, and for which, unless they were stopped at the outset, there was no possible defence. When I blocked another of his blows and was able to cause him some pain, which he deserved I might add, he backed away from me and decided to try to cheat his way to victory instead.

He put his hands up in a gesture of defeat, but when I looked into his eyes, I could tell he wasn’t anywhere close to being done.