Mantivore Prey

by S. J. Higbee

  As if on cue, Cupert Peaceman bustled back into the crowded little room, bobbing his head in an awkward bow that set his fat cheeks wobbling.

  Vrox started scrambling to his feet, all set to terrify Cupert until Felina glared across at him, causing him to drop back onto the floor again.

  “Your Ladyship, it’s an honour to have you in our humble Security Suite.” Cupert bobbed again, before turning to Damita. “Have you offered Her Ladyship anything to eat and drink?”

  Felina rolled her eyes. “Course she hasn’t. Why would she? The food here is roachshit and the drink goat piss.”

  Cupert reddened. “You picked a fine time to start moaning—”

  “Nah, she hasn’t started. The prisoner’s been shouting her head off ʼbout the food since she got here,” commented Damita.

  Cupert clenched his fists, glaring at her.

  Mother used to look at me like that. As if I’d just crawled from her nostrils… “It shouldn’t be a problem much longer. I’m planning to have the prisoner released into my custody. I will stand surety for her behaviour and undertake to have her constantly guarded.”

  Damita jumped up, all snappy action. “Of course, Your Ladyship! I’ll just get the release forms—”

  Cupert rounded on her. “Did I tell you to move? Did I tell you to get the forms – no!”

  “Pa?” Demri shambled into the room. “Please d-don’t shout at Damita.”

  One minute I was standing by the desk, wishing I wasn’t watching Cupert bully his stepdaughter. The next, I was on the other side of the room with my back pressed against the wall, fear thudding through my body as I recalled Demri’s heavy blow. Though it was almost two years ago, I remembered the taste of my own blood… the agony of my broken nose…

  Vrox had been sprawled across the floor in rug mode, one silver eye open watching Cupert’s posturing. The next, he’d surged to his feet, all snarling ferocity as he pinned Demri against the door. I heard the wet-witted bully’s whimpering with savage satisfaction.

  “Hoe it flat!” snapped Felina, also on her feet. It took a handful of secs to realise she was talking to me. “This one’s down to you, Kyrillia. I can’t get the beast to listen to me. He’s locked into your fear and if he rips poor Demri apart…”

  Vrox! I-I got a shock seeing him. But I’m safe. Cos you’re here, aren’t you?

  The mantivore’s scales were strobing in shades of orange, his neck crest ruffles were rippling fury and ThreatDrool was starting to trickle from his throatsacs as he continued snarling in Demri’s face.

  My breath hitched. If his bioluminescence flicked into red, there’d be a high likelihood I wouldn’t be able to stop him killing Demri. Vrox, you gotta stand down!

  “H-he’s hurting me – Dami – make him stop!” Demri started to sob.

  Damita drew her weapon and pointed it at the mantivore’s back. “You back off from my brother, you scaly sack of wickedness! Or I’ll blast you to into bitty pieces.”

  “No!” I ran across the room and pushed between Damita’s gun and Vrox’s scaled back. I could feel the roughness of his scales. The heat of his longing to hurt Demri seeped through my robes even as it zipped through my head. If you hurt him now – I mightn’t be able to stop Damita from killing you, cos Demri’s her sibling cub. It was a long time ago and Demri didn’t mean to hurt me.

  Damita reluctantly lowered her gun, but didn’t holster it as Cupert bellowed curses at Vrox and shouted instructions at Damita and Demri, as useful as a glass sunhat.

  Vrox snarls, knowing Cub is still dishonoured by this slimy creature’s blow. The mantivore wrapped his tail around Demri’s legs, still yearning to slice his belly open…

  A pungent smell wafted around the stuffy room as Demri cried like a small boy with great gulping sobs, calling for his big sister to help him.

  “You proud of yourself, you nasty old dragon? You gone and made him piss himself!” snapped Damita.

  “Everyone freeze!” shouted an all-too-familiar voice from the door. Helston, my guard captain, was all set to solve the problem with yet more roaching guns. “Are you prime, Your Ladyship?”

  “Yes!” I called.

  In the same instant, Damita yelled, “No! The old vore’s only set to slice and dice my brother.”

  “Move away from the mantivore, Your Ladyship.” I winced at the yearning in Helston’s voice as he ratcheted up his weapon, clearly hoping the whine of his primed gun would push Vrox into further aggression.

  I gripped the mantivore’s foreleg, desperate to get through to him. Please Vrox! Now that Helston’s crashed into this mess, you know he’ll shoot you deader’n last night’s supper given the smallest excuse. Demri’s crying and wet himself – make that enough. He’s a hurt-head, so not a worthy opponent.

  Vrox went on snarling in Demri’s face, now scarlet and tear-blotched, as he considered my words, weighing up the risk of being shot against the sheer bloody satisfaction of ripping through the disgusting slimy flesh and watching the steaming entrails hit the floor. Of being splashed with his prey’s blood…

  Saliva flooded my mouth and my heart surged with involuntary delight in anticipation of the rich coppery taste of human blood. “No!” I shouted. “They’ll kill you!” And you’ll deserve it! Losing my temper at this evidence of his stupid mantivore hindbrain taking over, I shoved hard against him. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have stood a chance of shifting the mantivore, but he’d been slightly swaying, lost in the throes of his bloodlust, and certainly not expecting me to push myself between him and his prospective prey.

  Which meant I was also squashed against Demri. Though it wasn’t triggering another flashback, mostly because the Demri who’d knocked me into the middle of next year during my arrest, wasn’t the shuddering, sobbing specimen with sodden pants now wedged at my back. And these are my best mourning robes, too. Eww…

  “Back off right now!” I yelled, jabbing a fingernail into the sensitive spot under Vrox’s chin, hoping the pain would make him think again.

  Mewling surprise that Cub would do such a thing…

  Before his sudden squall of real pain as an object went whizzing past my head and connected with his snout, before clattering onto my shoulder. It hurt. “Ow!”

  Vrox whimpers, not meaning to make his Queen angry. Only wished to avenge Cub’s dishonour… The mantivore was once more abasing himself on the floor at Felina’s feet, as she stood over him, grim-faced, hands on hips.

  “Well that was an almighty mess!” She swung around to Helston. “And what made you think shooting Vrox was going to fix things? Don’t you know what—?”

  “He doesn’t. None of them do, Felina!” No one knows Vrox is the one with the Codes, cos I don’t yet know who I really can trust within my own staff. Helston is clearly keen to keep me safe – I do at least know that… But as for the mantivore, all bets are off. He hates Vrox, same as the rest of my guards. I wasn’t sure she got the message I Sent her, although she clearly caught a sense of my presence, because I was the next one she turned on.

  “As for you! What’s the point of swishing around with a bunch of guards surrounding you if every time someone starts pointing a weapon, you rush in and make yourself the target!” Her bellow made my ears ring.

  “Your Ladyship,” murmured Damita, clearly with a deathwish of her own, because that brought her to Felina’s infuriated attention.

  “And you – you’re a roaching disgrace as a Peaceman! No more brains than a sunblasted goat! Cos you were the one that drew your weapon in the first place!”

  I was impressed when Damita put her hands on her hips and glared right back. “That brute was fixing to rip Demri into pieces!”

  “Well clearly he wasn’t. Cos here’s Demri – a bit damp and distressed, but not a mark on him. Meantime, you nearly shot the Overlord Brarian and pulled her feeb-brained guards into this business!” Felina swung back to Helston. “You! Go back to your post outside. Her Ladyship is just shady, no thanks to you.”

  He
lston looked across to me, opening his mouth to argue.

  “Do it,” I said. “Or she’ll yell even louder and throw the other shoe.”

  “Your Ladyship,” Helston muttered, flicking a nervous glance in Felina’s direction as he scuttled back outside, while I wondered if I could invent some excuse to join him.

  Vrox churrs his agreement, wondering if perhaps he and Cub can visit—

  “Don’t even think about it!” snarled Felina, her eyes flickering silver as she spat on the mantivore’s eyebrow ridge, which quivered as Vrox moaned pitifully.

  How does she know that Vrox will be sicker than a jaspered chicken cos she’s done such a thing?

  And then she jabbed her grubby finger at me. “All this is down to you, Your Ladyship. If you hadn’t acted like a veinworm colony was coming for you the minute poor Demri walked in—”

  “I was scared! I hadn’t seen him since…” I put my hand up to my face, remembering the shock and pain of being hit that hard. “And after seeing the damage he did to Seth—”

  Damita cursed and spat on the ground, Cupert scowled and muttered, while Demri’s face split into a sudden grin. “Seth! My friend…”

  Felina’s eyes widened, before her gaze became more guarded as she said, “I take it you and Seth haven’t talked about Demri.”

  “No, but I’ve seen the damage, right enough. He was regularly beaten to a pulp! Beneth Healer figured that Demri would likely kill him,” I announced, keen to see Demri get punished for his savagery.

  Demri’s eyes filled with tears again. “I never wanted to! He’d cry and cry and beg me. So I did. But it was wrong, wasn’t it?” He turned to Damita, like a frightened child. “I didn’t want to – honest!”

  “That’s your roaching Priest for you!” Damita was at Demri’s side, her arm around his waist. “Puling coward! He honey-talked Demri into beating him up, which majorly messed with his head.”

  Oh Seth, no wonder you didn’t want to return to Cnicus! What’ve you done?

  “And you’re going to stand there and claim you didn’t know this?” demanded Cupert, quivering with fury.

  “We don’t need you losing your temper all over the place, Cupert Peaceman,” snapped Felina, shamelessly hypocritical. “Look at the girl. She’s spluttering like a gaffed fish. Clearly she didn’t know!”

  High principled, scrupulously honest Seth… Forced poor, wet-witted Demri into beating him bloody. Then crawled off to heal himself, before going through the whole sorry business all over again! Bile hit the back of my throat just thinking about it. Though I’d see them all in a slurrypit before I betrayed my dismay. Especially when I sensed Vrox’s contemptuous amusement at Seth getting someone else to punish him because he didn’t have the courage to damage himself.

  “I… need to change my robes. I’ll take my leave. Stay shady.” I avoided Felina’s pitying expression, while everyone responded with a series of bobs and muttered farewells.

  Vrox will stay with his Queen.

  “I’ll leave Vrox with you, Felina, as I’d rather get changed in peace,” I managed, sweeping past the faithless creature.

  “But there’s no space for the beast, Your Ladyship!” wailed Cupert.

  Damita rolled her eyes. “And if it shits or dribbles any of that goo on the floor ʼstead of all down Demri’s tunic, no prizes for guessing who’ll be cleaning up the mess.”

  “Can I stroke his nose and make friends with him, Dami?” I heard Demri ask, before the door hissed shut behind me, leaving me blinking in the full noonblast and very glad for the prime quality, oldtech sunscreen shielding me from the worst of the heat. I’d become soft in the chilly misery that was Gloriosan weather. But no matter how much I sweated in the cooked air, the shivering ball in the pit of my belly wouldn’t warm up as I realised the Seth I loved hid another version I didn’t know. At all…

  Before setting out across The Square, Helston and his team folded around me, evidently waiting for Vrox.

  “The mantivore is staying at the Custody Suite for the time being,” I said, still grappling with the revelations regarding Seth.

  As the surrounding guards beamed at one another, I realised they thought we’d imprisoned him.

  “Vrox has chosen to accompany Mistress Keeper. We’re heading to her residence, where I’ll be staying. Till then, he’s nice and safe where he is,” I added.

  “His safety isn’t my priority, Your Ladyship,” muttered Helston.

  “Trust me, if Vrox is badly injured or killed, Arcadia will suffer. Overlords aren’t known for their cosy natures, yet every single one of them for the past five generations has kept that mantivore alive and well.”

  “Though he nearly died during Overlord Trislen’s reign, Your Ladyship,” pointed out Helston.

  “Yeah. And look what the Prime Node did in revenge,” I said.

  There was a collective intake of breath and a couple of muttered curses from the rest of the escort.

  “Silence!” snapped Helston, before turning back to me. “So he is more than an entitled, scaly pet.”

  I sighed. And here was a major part of the problem. Vrox needed as much protection as I did. More, in fact, given that he’d been obnoxiously aggressive to all sorts of folks since I’d become Overlord Brarian. But we also needed to keep his role a secret as The Council wouldn’t scruple to attempt to MindReam him for those roaching Codes Osmar had made him learn. And while my post as Overlord gave him a measure of protection, that would rapidly run out if one of the major Gloriosan political factions believed that digging around in his brain would yield ultimate control of Arcadia to them. “Yeah, he really is.”

  We marched down Main Street in silence, which suited my sombre mood.

  *

  I didn’t feel hungry until the omelette I ordered was put in front of me, after my shower and change into fresh robes. It was just as I liked it, seasoned with plenty of pepper and dried herbs. And after eating it far too fast, I realised I needed to return to the Custody Suite. A prospect that filled me with dread. I love Felina – I do… I just wish she hadn’t taken my mantivore away.

  “Your Ladyship, a note has been delivered,” Mr Steward’s drawling tones carried through Felina’s cosy home as he glided across the room, holding a grubby piece of paper between thumb and forefinger. “I had it scanned for noxious substances.”

  I’ll bet you don’t scan Clete Gator’s pretentious ramblings back in Gloriosa! “Thank you, Jerick,” I murmured, trying not to be the vile-tempered Uppie who snarled at her serving staff. Unfolding it, I quickly realised it had to be from a villager, as Gloriosans mostly can’t handwrite anything.

  You shood go to the Node. Rite now.

  There was no signature. I wanted to ignore it. It had been a long first day, after hours of travelling. But I hadn’t visited the Node yet, had I? And if there was an emergency, thanks to my ill-tempered outburst earlier, Kestor Brarian was hardly likely to ask for my help.

  There was one person I could tab who’d know if there was a problem. And she’d answer – she always did, no matter what was going on… “Ajene?”

  Her round face lit up in a delighted smile. “Your Ladyship, you could’ve knocked me flat with a grain of sand when I saw who it was. Greetings to you!”

  “And you, Ajene…” Guiltily I asked after her and her elderly aunt, conscious that her kindness deserved more than just being used as an info-fount. After exchanging a bit of news – including her concern about Felina’s arrest – she tilted her head. “While it’s beyond shady to talk to you, I’m guessing you need something, a busy, important bod like yourself.”

  Blessing her shard-sharp instincts, I asked, “What’s the situation regarding the Node?”

  Ajene sighed. “It’s a nemmet nest of strife and that’s a fact. Young Kestor won’t say sorry for cursing at Kaila. So Mai’s followers have shut up the Node and won’t let him near the place.”

  “I see. How long has the Node been shut?” Perhaps it’s not so bad… Mother alwa
ys cared for the tanks, even though she hadn’t a clue how to use them properly. Her followers will surely do the same.

  “Hm… let me think – time flits by so, these days. It was after Mai’s death – and we knew you were coming cos the Node was flat-out busy with all the arrangements for the building work and whatnot going on…. Kestor was madder than a boil-brained dog at Kaila’s stunt of piling fruit inside the door after he fell over them. Yelled and cursed at her something shocking. So when he next left the Nodery, she locked him out. Must’ve been five, maybe six days ago, now.”

  Blood drained from my face as dread knotted my gut. “And has anyone opened it up in the meantime? Fed the tanks – that kinda thing?”

  “Not that I’ve heard. It doesn’t help that Kestor keeps saying when they finally open it up and see the damage, Mai’s followers’ll be liable for all the costs. Whereas Kaila just keeps saying no one is responsible for the Node dying of grief over Mother Mai.”

  I’d been right here in Cnicus all this time without realising the Node was in such danger! “Jerick – my sunscreen, please! Many thanks Ajene, stay shady.” I flicked off my tab, pulled on my robes and fixed my sunscreen with shaking fingers, trying not to panic.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Jogging across The Square, while trying not to fall over the heels of the guard in front of me wasn’t doing much for my Overlord dignity. And in no time flat, we’d picked up an escort of skipping children, calling out to their families. So on arriving at the gate leading to the house where I’d been born and brought up, nearly half the village had also gathered, along with several accredited journos. I was relieved when Helston’s amped voice announced that all auto-cams and other fly-bots would be shot down as a security precaution.

  Whatever I was expecting, it wasn’t the dark blue mourning material draped over the fencing and gate to my former home. Or the blue-robed women, all wearing wilted greenery as headgear under their sunscreens, standing about in Mother’s front yard, trampling her precious grass. She’d hate that… They were also singing some tuneless dirge, probably one of her dreadful compositions. She’d love that…