She smiled up. Now I could see my Delia in her face—my glorious Delia reborn in a subtly different way, as glorious, as wonderful—and thrown callously through the air by a genius.
“You will look after me, Gadak? And my lord? He is safe?"
“He is safe, my heart. Listen—I love your mother as no man has loved a woman. There in Esser Rarioch we were happy, and we joyed in our twins, Segnik and Velia—"
She stared at me, her soft mouth curling in puzzlement, for she felt no pain.
“What do you say, Gadak? What of—Esser Rarioch, and Valka? And—my mother—you—I have no father. He is gone away, a long way away, a long time ago."
Those Star Lords! If I'd had one under my hands then, he would never more play cruel tricks on plain men.
“Yes, Velia, you are my dear daughter, for I am your father, and I have sinned—it is all my fault—and—"
“Father...?"
“Yes."
I did not know what she would do. Had she cursed and reviled me I would know she was right.
She said, “Gadak—you do not say this—to please me? Where is my lord? Has he told you to say this?"
I held her hand and it was cold. I touched her lips with a silk kerchief and wiped away the blood. I smoothed her hair. We spoke, then, and I told her little things, things that she would understand Dray Prescot, the Strom of Valka, would understand. She could not move. She smiled and I saw in her face that she forgave me. I did not deserve that, but she forgave me. We talked—and I took her into my arms and held her and smoothed her hair and looked down upon her face. Her pallor gave her an ethereal beauty there in the light of the moons of Kregen as the Scarf of Our Lady Monafeyom gleamed in pure brilliance against the stars.
“Father?” She understood I spoke the truth. “I wish my lord were here. We are married. In the rites of Zair and Opaz. He is a fierce man, proud and brave, but very gentle. He means well."
She moved her head slowly to one side, and then back, nestling in my arms, and looked at me. “There is a child. My little Didi. Gafard—my lord, my beloved—keeps her well hidden. She will love her new grandfather."
I had to close my mouth. I could not speak.
“I came with Zeg to the Eye of the World. He is a great Krozair, Father, a famous Krozair of Zy. And—and I was taken. I fought them with my dagger as Mother knew I would. The Sisters of the Rose ... but it was Gafard, my lord. I knew, even then, and he knew, too.” She breathed a long, shuddering sigh and I looked down on her, but she went on speaking in that small girl's voice through the gathering darkness about her. “The king—Genod—is evil, Father. Drak and Zeg have told me. Now he has vollers and birds. The overlords—they laughed when the king flew off with me. If only Gafard—"
The mists were closing down over her eyes. She stared up, trying to see me clearly. “Father—where is Mother? Where is my lord?"
“They will soon be here, Velia, my heart. You will soon see them. And little Didi."
Now I could hear the trampling of sectrixes and the clatter of harness. The overlords of Magdag were riding up for me. A strong party galloped in pursuit of Grogor. They left their comrades to deal with the willful girl and this uncouth man of Gafard's. They approached slowly, confident in their might. My sectrix still stood, head drooping, reins dangling, waiting for me to mount up and ride.
I held my Velia in my arms, her head against my breast, and I would not move.
“It is very dark, Father. Is this the night of Notor Zan?"
“Yes, Velia. The Scarf of Our Lady Monafeyom is all rolled up and put away, and the dark cloak of Notor Zan is unfolded. You will sleep for a while. Then Mother and Drak and Lela and Segnik and your Didi will come to see you."
“I long to see them again, and Jaidur and Dayra and—” Her soft whispering voice gathered strength. “And my lord?” She tried to move in my arms. “And my lord Gafard? He will come to see me. He is safe—Father! He is safe?"
“Yes, Velia my daughter, Gafard is safe."
“You will like him, Father. I wished you could have known him. He is a very good man and he loves me so.” Her eyes were wide open, not seeing me. “It is very dark. When will Mother come to see me? And Gafard..."
The overlords of Magdag trampled nearer in their iron and their might.
I, Dray Prescot, with a host of stupid titles, sat and held my daughter Velia in my arms.
Shadows fell across the bright faces of the moons.
Toward the end her sight cleared. She looked up as I held her cradled and she saw the tiny gold and enamel valkavol she had given me.
“The valkavol!” she said, and the dark blood ran down her white chin, thick and thicker. “Father—it will be all right..."
I did not care if the whole of Kregen heard her. The overlords meant nothing. The metallic rattle of their war harness sounded loudly now, the stamp of sectrix hooves iron-hard on the turf.
She lost that brief spurt of luminous reason. She lay back in my arms, as she had when I had first held her, looking up from her tiny face to the glory of my Delia beyond, smiling. Her hands and her face were ice-cold.
“My lord...” she whispered. “My love..."
She was slipping from me.
“Mother,” she said. “Here is Father."
The pallor of her face, the coldness of her, and that ugly red dribble from her mouth...
“Father—” she said again. And then: “Gafard.” She spoke his name three or four times. At the end she said, “Oh, to be home in Val—"
The overlords of Magdag rode up to take me.
I sat on the ground holding the broken body of my daughter in my arms as they came for me—as my Velia died.
* * *
About the author
Alan Burt Akers was a pen name of the prolific British author Kenneth Bulmer, who died in December 2005 aged eighty-four.
Bulmer wrote over 160 novels and countless short stories, predominantly science fiction, both under his real name and numerous pseudonyms, including Alan Burt Akers, Frank Brandon, Rupert Clinton, Ernest Corley, Peter Green, Adam Hardy, Philip Kent, Bruno Krauss, Karl Maras, Manning Norvil, Chesman Scot, Nelson Sherwood, Richard Silver, H. Philip Stratford, and Tully Zetford. Kenneth Johns was a collective pseudonym used for a collaboration with author John Newman. Some of Bulmer's works were published along with the works of other authors under “house names” (collective pseudonyms) such as Ken Blake (for a series of tie-ins with the 1970s television programme The Professionals), Arthur Frazier, Neil Langholm, Charles R. Pike, and Andrew Quiller.
Bulmer was also active in science fiction fandom, and in the 1970s he edited nine issues of the New Writings in Science Fiction anthology series in succession to John Carnell, who originated the series.
More details about the author, and current links to other sources of information, can be found at www.mushroom-ebooks.com, and at wikipedia.org.
* * *
The Dray Prescot Series
The Delian Cycle:
1. Transit to Scorpio
2. The Suns of Scorpio
3. Warrior of Scorpio
4. Swordships of Scorpio
5. Prince of Scorpio
Havilfar Cycle:
6. Manhounds of Antares
7. Arena of Antares
8. Fliers of Antares
9. Bladesman of Antares
10. Avenger of Antares
11. Armada of Antares
The Krozair Cycle:
12. The Tides of Kregen
13. Renegade of Kregen
14. Krozair of Kregen
Vallian cycle:
15. Secret Scorpio
16. Savage Scorpio
17. Captive Scorpio
18. Golden Scorpio
Jikaida cycle:
19. A Life for Kregen
20. A Sword for Kregen
21. A Fortune for Kregen
22. A Victory for Kregen
Spikatur cycle:
23. Beasts of Antares
25. Legions of Antares
26. Allies of Antares
Pandahem cycle:
27. Mazes of Scorpio
28. Delia of Vallia
29. Fires of Scorpio
30. Talons of Scorpio
31. Masks of Scorpio
32. Seg the Bowman
Witch War cycle:
33. Werewolves of Kregen
34. Witches of Kregen
35. Storm over Vallia
36. Omens of Kregen
37. Warlord of Antares
Lohvian cycle:
38. Scorpio Reborn
39. Scorpio Assassin
40. Scorpio Invasion
41. Scorpio Ablaze
42. Scorpio Drums
43. Scorpio Triumph
Balintol cycle:
44. Intrigue of Antares
45. Gangs of Antares
46. Demons of Antares
47. Scourge of Antares
48. Challenge of Antares
49. Wrath of Antares
50. Shadows over Kregen
Phantom cycle:
51. Murder on Kregen
52. Turmoil on Kregen
* * *
Visit www.mushroom-ebooks.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.
Renegade of Kregen [Dray Prescot #13] Page 21