by Taylor Leigh
Chapter Fourteen
Reginald jerked awake at the sound of a loud bang! and fell off his sleep cot. He hit the sandy rock floor flat on his face and let out an angry swear before realising his was not at home in his bed. He pushed himself up groggily and looked round. His heart sank. He had been hoping the whole previous day was a dream.
Arkron was leaning over a large black cauldron, which he assumed made the loud noise. Her thin eyebrows were raised in a bemused expression as she regarded him. ‘Sleep well, your Highness?’ she asked sardonically.
‘No,’ Reginald said, rubbing his head. ‘Not with all the bloody barking and wind and stars knows what else is out here.’
‘Relax,’ Arkron rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. ‘I’m the scariest thing you’ll meet here.’
Reginald sat back down on his cot, face sour. ‘Yeah, I believe that.’
‘Well, I hope you’re well enough. Big day ahead.’
Reginald stared at her. Arkron calmly started dropping a few random things into the cauldron, waiting for him to finish his stuttering. ‘What? Wait. I’m not going anywhere, I need to hide out! Those Denizens are trying to kill me, remember?’
‘And I didn’t save you because I thought you had a pretty face. You’re alive because you could be useful. That’s all.’
Reginald glowered round the cave he was in, miserable. A few strange drawings were etched on the walls round some rusted pipework. Arkron’s words stung and he found the images a good distraction. ‘I know you want me to lead some sort of rebellion, but I can’t do it. It’s not like I can waltz into Layers and get a group of people to follow me; the palace guards would be on me in seconds if what you’re saying is true and I’m really wanted. It would be suicide!’
Arkron turned away from the cauldron, which was simmering, and went to a rucksack. She stuffed a few mushrooms inside and then shoved the bag at Reginald. ‘That’s why we’re going to get some help. You’re going to meet some very interesting people today, and we’re meeting with them in one hour, so you better get ready fast.’
Reginald eyed her. ‘What? Who are these people?’
Arkron’s eyes glinted. ‘Ever heard of Red Scorpion?’
Red Scorpion. Of course he’d heard of them. They were only the most notorious militant anarchist group known on Scrabia. They had been a real problem when they’d tried to overthrow the Denizen’s religious ruling power years ago. The armies of Layers and the surrounding cities had banded together and banished the group to outside the city walls. Most people, including Reginald, had assumed that they were dead. Either wiped out by sand worms or plague. But, according to Arkron, they were alive and well. And they wanted to meet with him. The thought made his stomach squirm, and as he stumbled over boulders and thorny vines following Arkron away from their hideout, questions tumbled round in his mind.
‘What do the Red Scorpions want with me? I don’t want to bring down the government or anything! That would be chaos!’
‘The Red Scorpions are only interested in getting the Denizens out. They’re not the people you’ve been brought up learning to fear. They’re simply people of the lower layers who were tired of the oppression. They’ve made a colony for themselves, well beyond the reach of your precious government and have been keeping an eye on things.
‘Since they learnt of everything that’s happened recently they believe it’s time to finally make their move and take back the city for the people.’
Reginald slipped down the sandy slope and swore. ‘And they want me to help?’
Arkron glanced back at him. ‘They want to meet you. If they think you’re just a pathetic idiot then they’ll pretend this meeting never took place—if you’re lucky.’
‘Oh. Arkron?’
‘Hmm?’
‘Do you think I’m an idiot?’
Arkron chuckled. ‘You have potential, Reginald.’
Reginald stopped. ‘Potential? Potential for what?’
Arkron waved him on. ‘Keep moving; we’ve got a lot of ground to cover!’
When Reginald thought he could take the heat and sand no longer, he realised Arkron had stopped walking. He turned in a small circle and wiped sweat from his brow. Stars, it was hot! He wondered just how anyone could survive out here. How had Red Scorpion? In the distance he could see Layers. It looked so far away, shimmering in the heat. Perhaps it was just a mirage.
‘Hey, Arkron, when are we gonna meet these guys? I’m about to pass out from—’ He turned round and gaped. Arkron was gone. He stared at the bleak, rocky landscape in mute surprise. She had simply vanished into thin air. ‘Arkron?’ he choked out, feeling his scalp prickle in rising panic. His eyes darted up to the blue sky. A few vultures were circling. They’d be after him soon. ‘Great,’ he muttered. ‘I’m gonna die out here now. Why does this always have to happen to me?’
‘Hey, you coming?’ Arkron’s voice snapped.
Reginald whirled back where he’d last seen Arkron. She seemed to have been swallowed by the rocky earth. All Reginald could see was her torso and head. He walked closer, confused. She was standing in a hole in the rocks that appeared to lead down to a dark cave. If anything, it looked cool down there, and out in this heat, Reginald was desperate for some shade. ‘I’d thought you left me! Just disappeared or something.’
Arkron ducked back down through the rocks. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I have to see what the Red Scorpion thinks of you before I do anything like that.’
Reginald dropped down into the hole, already noting the difference in temperature. ‘You’re a real comfort, you know that?’
He crept after Arkron, who was walking noiselessly across the sandy floor of what appeared to be a manmade tunnel. Reginald could count other footprints in the sand and realised that they certainly weren’t the only people who’d found this shelter. A lizard scuttled across the floor and he jumped back against one of the hard packed sand walls in surprise. Arkron gave him a trying look. ‘Careful, or you’ll bring the whole place down on us!’
Reginald hurried up to Arkron, who was headed deeper into shadow. ‘How we gonna find our way in here? It’s pitch dark!’
‘Won’t last long. Why, you afraid of the dark?’
Reginald squared his shoulders. ‘No. But after all that rot about Daemons and Denizens out to get me and these rebels you want me to meet, I’d rather see what’s round me!’
‘Pathetic.’ Arkron rolled her eyes.
She pulled a strange orb out of one of her bags and Reginald watched in awe as it hovered into the air. The orb flickered for a moment with a dull blue light and then burst into a blinding glare. He stumbled backwards, eyes burning.
‘Stars!’ Arkron cried. Reginald heard her swearing and watched her blurry outline as she gave the orb a few good whacks. ‘Bloody thing is so temperamental. Need to buy a new one, if I can ever remember what Realm I got it in.’
Reginald stared at the light as it dimmed down to a tolerable, happy glow. ‘What is that thing?’
Arkron grinned. ‘Tahloran light orb. Bought it in a shop in a Realm somewhere. Probably Tahlor, now that I think of it.’
Reginald blinked at Arkron as she started walking again. The orb followed along behind her dutifully. ‘You got it in another Realm?’
‘Too many questions, Master Reginald. Come on, we’ve got a deadline.’
They walked through the dark tunnel for another five minutes until another light, much more lively and yellow, started illuminating the passageway. Arkron swiped her orb from the air and shoved it unceremoniously into her bag. She grabbed Reginald by the shirt collar and jerked him close.
‘Listen up, these people mean business and they won’t take any messing round. You stay close to me and don’t do anything stupid. These people are already sceptical of you and it’s taken me some convincing to get them to allow this meeting to take place. If you screw it up then they’re going to think badly of me. So don’t mess this up!’
Reginald stared at her in the dim, flicke
ring light that came from round the corner. ‘Right. Of course. Best behaviour, you can count on me.’
Arkron seemed satisfied. ‘Good. Come on.’
Reginald grinned. ‘You stuck up for me?’
Arkron sighed. ‘Don’t let it go to your thick head.’
Reginald felt his stomach turn over as he and Arkron rounded the bend. He wanted to break into a run back the way he’d come. He didn’t want to face the monstrous barbarians of his childhood nightmares. Every involuntarily step he took he dug his heels in. They were sure to slaughter him on the spot and scalp him; they were natural enemies, after all!
Three people were sitting round a small open space—the end of the tunnel. A lamp that emitted no smoke sat at the centre of the group, flickering wildly. The shadows made the three figures all the more intimidating, and they were fairly frightening to begin with.
Two men, dressed in long robes of red and wrapped in white turbans, sat on opposite sides of the circle. Their eyes were dark against their honey coloured skin and they regarded Arkron and Reginald with predator eyes.
Reginald’s eyes fell on the third person; a woman, with bright, intelligent eyes shining from her coal black skin. The woman’s hair was cut short to her scalp and she was draped in spotted furs and deep red cloth that displayed her hard built and muscular body. Possibly the most astonishing thing was that she was leaning up against a giant sand lion. Reginald had never seen a live one so close. The fact that all three people were armed to the teeth hardly registered in his mind at that point.
‘You’re late,’ the man on the right growled.
Arkron blinked, adopted a charming smile, straightened her back and then swaggered further into the room. ‘I am not late, just moving a bit slow. Royal Reggie here was holding us up a bit. Didn’t want to get his slippers dirty.’
Reginald glowered at her and slowly crept into the room.
The woman reclining against the lion looked him over, then gestured to the floor. ‘Please, ‘ave a seat, both of yeh. We ‘ave much t’ discuss.’
They both sat down on the sandy floor. Reginald’s nerves were on fire. His heart pounded. He shut his eyes and tried to tell himself to calm down. Not bloody likely, under the circumstances, he thought.
‘I take it you know who we are,’ the man on the right said. ‘Or was Red Scorpion before your time?’
‘Yeah,’ Reginald said, swallowing. ‘Yeah, I know who you are. You blokes tried to take over Layers. Killed a lot of upper layer people, destroyed property. You’re terrorists.’
‘Twisted stories told to yeh by yer parents, no doubt,’ the woman said. ‘Told t’ yeh t’ hide de real truth of our movement.’
Reginald shifted. ‘And what would that be?’
‘Our goal is t’ remove de true oppression dat ‘as taken de world of Scrabia by de throat.’
‘True oppression? The ruling class?’
‘And who controls dem?’
‘The Denizens.’
‘Dere yeh go.’ The woman leant back in her seat. ‘’Opefully Arkron ‘as told yeh by now what de Denizens are up to. Dey’re de real ones in control, de ruling class—yer parents—dey’re just de puppets behind de master plan.’
Reginald frowned. ‘But aren’t the Denizens just puppets, as well?’ He glanced at Arkron quizzically.
Arkron coughed. ‘Bit too deep for this discussion, let’s just stick to the main issue, shall we?’
Reginald turned back to the Red Scorpions. ‘So what does this have to do with me? Why did you want to see me?’
The men looked to the woman again. She seemed to be the one in charge. ‘Technically…we don’t exist. We’ve been out of de picture for twenty years watching from a distance. If we were t’ waltz back in to de city d’ings wouldn’t go so well. We’re still considered barbarians and even de oppressed down in de lower levels are goin’ t’ ‘ave issues trusting us. We need a face for our movement.’
Reginald nodded slowly. ‘You want me to help you guys out. Help you destroy the royal families, everything I’ve been a part of since I was born?’
The man on the right leant forward. ‘No. We want you to help us put the Denizen scum back in their place. Outside the city walls. They’re like animals, crafty, but animals nonetheless. And they have an agenda of their own. They will destroy our world and turn it on its head if they had their way. They’re starting even now, destroying your kind; they’ve been doing it for centuries. And you’ve just let them. Happy and smiling away.’
Arkron leant forward. ‘Not all of them, just the priests. Most of the Denizens just do as they’re told unwillingly. I don’t want the innocents thrown in with the guilty here.’
Reginald frowned at them. ‘Why me? I’m wanted just as badly as you are, I bet. The Denizens want me dead. I’m not even a well-known figure, just Victoria’s poor cousin from the east. I don’t know how to lead anyone!’
‘The people of Scrabia need someone to listen to. We believe you’re that person. They don’t hate the ruling class, not completely, yet. Give them something to fight for, something to believe in.’
Reginald took a deep breath. ‘Right. If I say yes, what’s the plan then?’
The woman laughed. ‘Oh no, I’m afraid it’s not dat simple. Yeh see, we can’t trust yeh. Not yet.’
‘Fine. If you don’t trust me then why you telling me all this?’
‘No harm in it. Not like anyone would ever believe yeh even if yeh did tell someone. What we want yeh to do is prove yehself to us. Show us loyalty. Den we can talk in earnest.’
He swallowed again. ‘Right. What did you have in mind?’
* * * * *
Victoria stood on the stone steps of the manor in the grey dawn light, shivering. The sun was once again shrouded in clouds and though it wasn’t raining, everything was damp. She gripped the edges of her coat a bit tighter and willed her teeth to stop clacking. It didn’t do much good.
Tollin clapped his hands together and inhaled an enormous, if somewhat noisy, breath. ‘Smell that fresh air?’ He stared down at her, mouth open in a huge smile.
Victoria tried to return the smile, then went back to shivering. ‘It’s so…’
‘Cold is the word you’re looking for. Know it’s a new one for you,’ Tollin said thoughtfully. He let out an amused laugh.
‘Cold?’ Andrew asked, walking up. Thedric trailed behind his brother, guiding two horses. ‘Hardly. We’re moving into our warmer months now.’
‘Warmer?’ Victoria cried. ‘How do you survive this? It’s unbearable!’
Thedric shrugged. ‘Feels pretty good to me. Tollin, here’s a horse for you. I suppose I’ll have to share with Victoria again.’
Victoria nodded. She wasn’t surprised.
She and Tollin trotted down the steps to where Thedric was waiting. Tollin took the reins of a brown horse from Thedric and patted the creature on the neck, immediately starting up a delighted conversation with the animal.
Thedric looked down at her and sighed. ‘Right, better get you up. I should force you to ride with Andrew, since he’s the one who insists on dragging you along!’
Andrew gazed into the distance. ‘Not likely. I had to share yesterday with Molly.’
‘Selfish prat,’ Thedric grumbled.
Victoria winced timidly. ‘I won’t be any trouble.’
‘Oh,’ Tollin said. ‘Let her ride with me!’
Thedric stopped, hesitant. ‘I’m not sure if that’s the best idea.’
Tollin gave Thedric a steady, piercing look. ‘Come now, if you’re implying that we’re going to run off or something then I’m going to be very offended. I value Victoria’s company and would be honoured to ride with her.’ He patted the back of the horse, grinning. He looked at Victoria. ‘Come on,’ he invited.
‘Fine,’ Thedric sighed and helped her up.
Victoria wrapped her arms round Tollin’s thin waist to keep from sliding off. ‘Thanks,’ she whispered to him.
‘Of course,’ To
llin smiled. ‘Long day of riding ahead. Maybe you can tell us some of those Scrabian stories to keep us all from going mad!’
The ride was not as horrible as Victoria had thought it would be. Compared to her journey the previous day, it was quite pleasant. Her companions rode a distance behind Bard’s large entourage and kept each other entertained with strange songs and stories and jokes that went way over Victoria’s head. She mainly sat in silence behind Tollin, trying to soak it all in. She drew comfort from him; he almost seemed to exude a calm reassurance. She told herself they were the same, different from the others round them, a solidary force, but was secretly dismayed, not to mention jealous, at how Tollin could melt into any group with absolute ease.
The forest round them was green and beautiful. Huge spruce trees lined the narrow road they travelled and strange birds flitted about before them. The group she was with was so alive and happy, so different from the hazy dull palace dwellers of home. Were all people her age this way with each other? Victoria felt as if the aching hole in her life, the void she’d always ignored, could somehow be filled. Even if she was a prisoner, she wasn’t sure she would trade the memories for anything.
Andrew was the only one who was detached from the brightness of the others; he joined in occasionally, usually with a sharp, witty remark, yet for the most part kept an aloof distance. Victoria told herself she didn’t care, but she couldn’t help but cast her gaze longingly his direction every now and then. Darned if she knew why.
Molly finished a humorous song about a girl and a bear and as the group round Victoria laughed, Tollin nudge her gently. ‘You’re awfully contemplative, Victoria. What’s on your mind?’