Return of the Matka-Zem (The Sorain Chronicles)

by Chanley, Deborah

  Alana's position caught Valencia's attention and the princess yelled, "Keep Donna safe!" over the heads of the women

  "Bring her to me," Valencia added just as she disappeared in a hovercraft.

  Alana waited for the crowd to dissipate, not bothering to look for Donna. She knew the human would still be by the gate. As she waited for the mob to thin, she reflected over the past day. To her shame, she had made a fool of herself when she first saw the Matka-Zem. Thane should have warned her, but even if he had, she doubted she would have reacted any differently. Returning from exile, the Matka-Zem was unaccustomed to formality. There she was groveling at her feet like a complete imbecile, making the deity feel more uncomfortable than she already was. She'd seen the panic in the young Matka-Zem's face and she chastised herself for her nitwitted behavior. With a heavy sigh, Alana vowed to make amends one day.

  Her thoughts shifted to Thane and she shook her head in wonder. Throughout the day, she'd watched the affection her brethren bestowed upon the women and could not believe he was the same Mlinzi she had known for most of her life. Deadly silent, like a venomous snake, Thane was death in human form, a lethal warrior who was cold and calculating. Nothing had ever affected him and he had always kept his emotions in check. He was the perfection of the Mlinzi Nation. Everyone strived to be like Thane.

  Yet he now teased and playfully bantered with the earthling, as if they were siblings. Moreover, his intimacy towards the Matka-Zem was just as baffling. His voice lowered into a soft tone when he addressed her, almost as if he was cooing his affection. He touched her skin at the slightest reason and looked at her with adoration, like a love-struck boy. During the months of his absence, Thane was now a changed man and Alana was not so sure she liked it.

  When the crowd finally disappeared, she made her way to the main gate. As she suspected, Donna sat on a wooden keg with one of the Mlinzi standing by her side. When the human saw her, she tried to stand but the big hand of her guard pushed her down.

  "Tell Conan here that I'm with Val, Alana." Donna glared at the male Mlinzi. Parth was a big, burly kind of man, solid muscle with a broad chest and muscular arms. Although he was dressed the same as Alana, the tunic was taunt across his huge chest. His short, boxed, black beard and customary Mlinzi braid had a hint of grey woven into the mass. A mixture of irritation and amusement clouded his hazel eyes.

  "She speaks the truth, Parth." Alana clasped forearms with the other Mlinzi in greeting. "The Matka-Zem wants the earthling to join her."

  "Is that what she is?" Parth peered at Donna more closely and raised a hand to touch her goldenrod hair.

  "Don't touch me!" Donna jerked her head away and swatted his hand as she pointedly looked at Alana. "Is Val okay? Where did they take her?"

  "I never seen hair that color," said Parth.

  Both Mlinzi ignored Donna's questions.

  "Be wary, Alana. This one never shuts up. Are you sure the princess wants her?"

  "Yes, I know, I've endured her constant chatter for a day now, but she's harmless," said Alana. Parth snorted in disbelief. She motioned for Donna to follow her. "Come on, Donna, I'll take you to the princess."

  "Only dangerous to your sanity," Parth mumbled under his breath as he fell in behind them. Alana muffled her laughter as she led the earthling to the Matka-Zem. ***

  "Where are you taking me?"

  Four veiled women pushed Valencia into a golden vehicle that hovered about a foot off the ground. One woman waved her hand over a sensor to make the windows opaque, to prevent prying eyes. They remained quiet, not answering her question. The women varied in size and shape. Their leader was stooped in her shoulders. One was plump, almost as round as a ball, while another was thin as a stick. The last was small, and shy, and stood slightly apart from the others. All the females were dressed the same, shrouded in a dress that reminded Valencia of a burka from the Middle East on Earth. The color of the veils was dark purple and they completely covered the women from head to toe, concealing their identities. They were shorter than the crowd, who were mostly comprised of tall, skinny people with fair complexions—the Torpek.

  Valencia could not see where they were heading, but it was not long before the craft stopped. In an organized rush, the women hauled her along a long golden hallway. Valencia had the feeling she had walked this hall before, but the women did not give her enough time to study the area to confirm her suspicion. The rest of the crowd tapered off, leaving her alone with the women. They shuffled her into a glass elevator that whisked them high into the air. Valencia only had time to glance at the sprawling city below her before the women pushed her out of the tube into an enormous room. Once the elevator door slid shut behind them, the women started to tear at Valencia's clothing. Frantically, she swatted their hands and spun in a circle to loosen their grip. She quickly sidestepped them, getting out of their reach, but they came at her like bloodthirsty hounds.

  "Stop . . . stop!" Valencia ordered, with her hands out in front of her to prevent them from getting closer. "What in the hell are you doing?"

  "We are your servants, Matka-Zem. We are helping you prepare for your bath," the stooped woman answered, then came at her again.

  "I don't need help with my clothes." Valencia raised her hand to stop the women. Although, she had not had a decent bath since the night at Donna's apartment and on the yacht, they had had to conserve water; she still did not want them to touch her. However, a hot bath sounded like heaven. "But taking a bath does sound nice." As she stared at the women, they shifted uneasily under her gaze. She did not know why they wore the burkas, but the garments reminded Valencia of the repression of the female gender on Earth and decided as a ruler, she would immediately stop the practice.

  "You can take me to the bathroom, but first throw those veils away and do not wear them in my presence."

  The women gasped in unison and cowered before her.

  "Now, show me your faces and say your names." Valencia pointed at the stooped woman, who seemed to be their leader. "You first."

  Three of the women huddled together, unsure what to do, while the smaller one cowered a few steps behind them. With a slight push from the others, the stooped woman meekly stepped forward and removed her veil. She was an older woman in her fifties, with graying black hair and lightly tinted green skin. A broad-tipped nose in a rectangular face made the woman handsome, if not pretty. Her round, brown eyes were frightened and she quivered in fear.

  "I am Ona." She waved her fingers to the other women and two of them removed their veils. The one to the right of Ona was the thin, stick-like woman with lightly tanned skin. Her oval face had a pinched appearance and her brown eyes were closely set, and beady. Her face was framed with chestnut hair and the way she pursed her lips made it seem this was a habit of longstanding. Her oversized, hooked nose, in combination with her other features, made Valencia think of a bird.

  "This is Kai," said Ona. She pulled the woman forward.

  "Hello, Kai," Valencia smiled at the woman, who quickly lowered her eyes and gave a short curtsy.

  The woman to the right of Ona curtsied her introduction.

  "This is Carha."

  Carha was plump as a ball and seemed jolly in spirit. She gave Valencia a huge smile that made Valencia smile back.

  "This one is Gabby," Ona said in a disgusted tone as she firmly pushed the shy woman forward and ripped off her veil, taking some hair with it.

  Valencia narrowed her eyes with displeasure at the unnecessary roughness, but withheld her judgment for a later time. The girl was petite and in the preteen, awkward stage of life. Her skin was fair and pale and a mane of jet-black, curly hair complemented her ice-blue eyes. A faint yellow tint surrounded her slightly swollen left eye.

  "Hello, Gabby." Valencia felt her heart reach out to the girl as the scared child shivered in front of her.

  "This way, Princess." With the introduction completed, Ona bowed low and with a wave of her hand directed her to the far door. As Valencia followed
the woman, she glanced around the spacious, circle-shaped room. The curved opaque windows prevented the setting suns from warming the room, while the soft, silver light illuminated the plush furniture. With the bare metallic walls and the steel blue carpet, the room was cast into a ghostly shade, cold and lifeless.

  A shiver of apprehension trickled down her spine as she followed the older woman into the bedroom. Draped with a silver comforter, a gigantic half-circle bed filled the room. Ten fluffy pillows lined the large headboard and a silver bug netting hung from the ceiling. The beautiful bedroom displayed the elegance of wealth; however, it seemed just as lifeless as the other room. The similarities to the compound on Earth sent another quiver of uneasiness through her.

  As she stared around the bedroom, a suffocating feeling of imprisonment coursed through Valencia's veins. She bit her lip as she controlled the desire to bolt out of the suite and quickened her step to catch up to the older woman. Ona stopped at another set of double doors and with a curtsy opened the room for Valencia.

  Valencia lost her breath at the site of the bath. An enormous half-moon tub took most of the large room. Four white marble step surrounded the curved side of the midnight blue tiled tub. At the opposite end, the water ran over its flat side like a gentle waterfall, cleaning and recycling the hot water. Pressure jets throughout the tub churned the water white for privacy while providing massages for tired muscles. With no need of encouragement, she stripped off her dirty traveling clothes and practically jumped into the tub. Relieved, the women quietly gathered the pile of clothing and left her in peace.

  After Valencia scrubbed her skin pink, she settled into one of the seats carved into the sides of the tub and closed her eyes. With the long emotional day still not over, it took some time to clear her mind. Finally, with a relaxing sigh, her muscles loosened and her thoughts roamed. She thought back on her mad escape from the compound, the time she spent with the elderly couple and how she met Donna. She missed the tranquil time on the yacht, practicing sword craft and relaxing while they drifted south towards the gate. Her thoughts shifted to the Mlinzi . . . and her heart flipped inside her breast. During their time on Earth, she assumed he disliked her. However, after last night, it was plain to see he desired her and she him. She wondered if the real reason for the Mlinzi's departure was to allow her time to meet other men in the hope she would still choose him. Valencia chuckled at her childish fantasies as the notion of Thane bathing with her flashed into her mind. Her body tingled with longing as she visualized them leisurely soaping each other in the enormous tub. She gave a soft moan and opened her eyes. Her body ached with desire and she wondered how it would really feel to have Thane's hands upon her.

  A familiar voice echoed from the bedroom and Valencia quickly dismissed the intimate image. The thick doors muffled the raised voices before Donna entered the room, followed by Alana.

  "Your new pit bulls tried to stop us from entering," Donna started to explain, but she trailed off as she stared at the humongous bath. "Wow, look at the size of that tub!"

  "It's wonderful. Hop on in." The four servants moaned in despair as Donna stripped and gingerly stepped into the steaming water.

  "The bath is for you only, Matka-Zem," Ona said, nervously wringing her hands together. "It is customary that only your chosen mate may join you in the water."

  "And who thought of that stupid rule?" Donna huffed in irritation as she settled in the hot tub. She ducked under the surface only to emerge a few feet away. "This isn't a bathtub, Val, it's a hot spring."

  "Bring us something to eat and drink, then leave us for the evening." Valencia waved her hand to dismiss the women that hovered nearby. "Thank you, Alana, for bringing me Donna." She swam over to the female Mlinzi, who knelt at the pool's edge when she approached.

  "I'm at your service." A faint blush touched her cheeks as Alana bowed her head.

  "After my bath, I need to talk with you and any other Mlinzi who's around, so don't go anywhere." Before Alana could respond, Valencia pushed off the wall to head to Donna, dismissing the Mlinzi. She watched her guard leave before she touched her friend's arm and directed her to the waterfall.

  "I'm going to need your help, Donna." Her voice was barely audible, cloaked by the sound of the falling water. Donna was watching her lips to catch all the words. "I need you to be my eyes and ears."

  "I'm not going to be able to do jack if those Mlinzi don't back me up." Donna proceeded to explain how the huge Mlinzi had prevented her from entering the city.

  "We're going to talk to them after this." Valencia gave her friend a smile. "I have a feeling my movements are going to be restricted." She frowned at the thought of another imprisonment. "I'm going to need you to listen and learn things that I cannot, and tell me what you find."

  "I think I can manage." Donna gave her a sly smile.

  ***

  Wrapped in warm robes, Valencia peered at Alana and a huge man in similar garb. While she nibbled on a roll, she remembered seeing four Mlinzi at the gate entrance, but Alana had only brought the one. Valencia briefly wondered where the other three were, before rising to her feet and retrieving the letter the Keeper had written, which she'd retrieved from the bank. She read the last sentence aloud: "Remember, the Mlinzi are the Guardians of Sora and answer only to you, regardless of what others may say." Valencia stared at the Mlinzi for a minute. "This was written by Naji to me. Do you agree with the words?" "Yes, Matka-Zem," they both answered in unison. Nothing changed in their expressions, but they stiffened their stance. "Good. Alana, I want you to stay by me. I do not know who I can trust here, so I will feel better if you stay close. Keep your eyes and ears open. You may hear things that I may not." Alana nodded her head in acceptance. Valencia smiled as she thought, Good the more ears and eyes I have, the quicker I will learn what's up. Valencia faced the male Mlinzi and studied him from head to toe. She found herself comparing him to Thane and preferred Thane's trim shape to the muscular man. "What's your name?" "Parth." The Mlinzi did not humble himself as Alana had done, but stood proudly in front of her. He did not match her height and he needed to tilt his chin up in order to meet her eyes. Valencia stared into his hazel eyes and saw strong will and dedication in their depths. She smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder in acceptance. "You're going to help Donna tomorrow. Keep her safe for me." Valencia watched the Mlinzi's pupils dilate, but he expressed no outer emotion. Donna, however, bellowed her displeasure. "I'm not doing anything with him. Find me another Mlinzi." She'd been lying on the bed, half asleep, but at Valencia's words, she hastily maneuvered into a sitting position to glare at Parth.

  "The fewer people to know what we're doing, the better, Donna. Besides, he was just doing his job." She gave Donna a small smile before turning serious. "We don't have a lot of time. Although I asked not to be disturbed, I'm sure someone will think they are above obeying my orders." She sat next to her friend, took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Tomorrow, I need you to find a library or some kind of archive to learn about the last four or five Matka-Zems. I need to know Sora's history." Valencia briefly closed her eyes to feel the planet's rhythm. "This world is unbalanced and I want to know why." She looked at the two Mlinzi as she released Donna's hand. "Tonight, go out of the city to see what people are thinking about my return." She paused and glanced at her nails. As she plucked a hangnail off the side of her thumb, Valencia allowed the feelings she felt earlier to grow. She looked at her companions and spoke of her emotions, "I have a bad feeling about this place. It could be that I am just not used to it, but I don't think so. We all need to be on our guard and trust no one, except ourselves."

  "I told you she spent time with the Xeral Mlinzi," Alana said, glancing at Parth. With a satisfied smile, she held out her hand to him.

  Grumbling, Parth pulled a small disk from a pouch and slapped it in her palm.

  "They were betting on you, Val." Donna giggled at the Mlinzi as they headed towards the door.

  "I'm shocked that no one of
importance has come to visit me," she said, ignoring Donna's remark. She turned to face Donna, who'd lain back down on the bed and then propped herself onto an elbow.

  "Yes, that is pretty strange." Donna stifled a yawn behind her hand. "But we are on a strange world."

  "Those women were sure in a hurry to bathe me." Valencia's brows drew together in thought. "As if they wanted to purify me."

  "Maybe you needed to be clean before anyone would see you." Donna rolled onto her back and yawned again. "Everything is so silvery and golden here, like they want everything pure." "Yes I noticed that." Valencia stared at her hands again and watched her fingers pick at the soft comforter. "It gives me the creeps." She raised her head and looked at her friend sprawled on the bed. "I need to meet these people on my own terms, not theirs, but I'm not sure how yet." "Don't take any crap from anyone, Val." Donna tried to sound hard, but a huge yawn escaped. "Sorry the hot water zapped my strength."

  "I don't plan too, but I have to listen and learn what's going on, before I can make any judgments. That's why you're so important." Valencia slid off the bed and walked to the door. Donna gave another huge yawn and closed her eyes.

  "Get some rest, Donna. I'm going to do some thinking." Her friend did not reply and Valencia heard gentle snoring as she strolled into the living area. At first, she lay on one of the lounge chairs but in spite of their softness, anxiety made her restless. The height of her apartment provided a magnificent view of the city. The lights sparkled off the silver and gold towers. Every third floor held a garden, providing natural outdoor surroundings for the residents, and she wondered if the Torpek ever left the tower heights. Beyond the golden city walls, she could see the flicker of flames from bonfires wavering in the blackness. She imagined the people laughing and singing with happiness and relief, because their harvests would be plentiful this year. Longing to be among the celebrating Koylu, she gave a sigh, and rest her forehead on the glass. "Valencia . . ."