Broken Vision
Page 29
Nargune strode toward her. In her hand, she carried a thin Taragon pikesword. The blade, reflecting the sea of lights in the jungle surrounding them, glittered with a multitude of colors. Pretty. Elegant. Deadly.
Death by stabbing then. Maegan wondered how much it would hurt.
Nargune slowed as she passed Alerik. With her peripheral vision, Maegan saw her run her hand over Alerik's head and down his back.
"Such a magnificent man," she murmured. "Our children will be extraordinary."
Fire sizzled through Maegan's nerves. She exploded out of her seat.
Taken by surprise, Nargune fell back, but even as she fell, she slashed the pikesword upwards.
Maegan spun away, but was a nanonan too late. The ice-cold blade sliced into her side. Pain seared through her body. Too much pain. She stumbled.
With a blood-curdling scream, Nargune pulled back the sword, ready to strike again.
The academy had trained Maegan to fight as an elite warrior, but Morgon had taught his niece to fight dirty. She drew back her foot and delivered a vicious kick to Nargune's knee.
The sha-priestess staggered back but didn't go down. With a shriek of rage, she drove herself forward again, the glittering blade lifted for another strike.
Maegan blocked the next stroke of the sword, but tripped as her long gown tangled around her legs. She wasn't fast enough with her block. The blade nicked her arm. Pain, far more intense than should have been possible from such a small cut, crashed through her body. Gritting her teeth, she attacked, driving Nargune back with a flurry of punches and kicks. She had little time before blood loss weakened her, probably even less before the poison from the blade shut her body down.
The sword sliced at her again and caught her, this time, on the thigh. More excruciating pain. She almost fell.
Nargune lunged at her. With a double-handed grip, she swept the sword around from the side.
This time, Maegan barely managed to dodge its strong, lethal arc. She pivoted and put all her energy into a round kick, hoping to drive Nargune back to give herself some space.
Her foot connected with Nargune's belly. The sha-priestess flew backwards. She bounced against the meager barrier at the edge of the platform, and made a desperate grab for the thin rail. She slipped, missed, and went crashing through the jungle screen with a shriek. Her long, piercing wail was abruptly silenced a nanonan later.
Exhausted, pain ripping through her body, Maegan collapsed. As her vision dimmed, she saw the pikesword hurtling straight at her.
Chapter 31
Margaine Confluence:/Fourth Rising
Pallas Five
Maegan wriggled her toes into the soft caress of the spongy ground. Her whole body was bare and cradled in the comforting hold of The Lichs.
Alerik's face appeared above her. His eyes were a clear sapphire for the first time today, unclouded by worry over her.
"Legend has it," he murmured, and tickled her nose with a tiny clinging vine, "The Lichs have extraordinary healing powers."
"I'm already healed," she pointed out. Nargune's last desperate toss had missed her as she'd sunk unconscious to the platform floor, but the wound in her side was deep and tainted by poison, and had taken its time to heal. By the time the clinic had released her, she was ready to commit mayhem on her entire fussing family.
"I'm not," he said. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me to sit powerless and listen to that fight? I couldn't see most of it. I could only imagine what she was doing to you. I aged rotations that night."
"She wanted children with you," Maegan remembered. "That made me really angry."
There was something else too. Something that teased at the edge of her memory.
Nargune's death had been confirmed. She was no longer a threat. Why then, did this sense of unease still beset her at odd moments?
"There must be something about the Earth gene," Alerik mused. "When my mother was taken by a Soron priest years ago, he couldn't completely control her either."
"That's it!" Maegan shot up, forcing Alerik back on his elbow.
"That's what?"
"Fires of Crillac!" Her heart was racing.
"Breathe, my love."
Alerik's hand on the back of her neck calmed her. She gulped in several deep breaths.
"Her father took your mother."
Alerik stilled. "What?"
"That's what she said in the temple. Her father took your mother."
"Blood of Cor." Alerik's voice was hoarse. "An alliance of Taragon and Soron priests? If ever there was an unholy union, that's it."
"What if there are more?"
"Intelligence reports things are calm for now. There is no activity on The Divide. The temples on Taragon have been inspected. As soon as we return, I'll report this to the Coalition Council. We'll have to look at everything with new eyes. In all its history, Taragon has never held an alliance."
Maegan lay back as the ground reached up to embrace her again. Soothing strokes undulated along her back. "What if the nationality is immaterial? How many of the nine nations claim clans of priests?"
"A good question and one that I can't answer. There's much secrecy that surrounds some of these sects. Too much."
He leaned over her again. "We can't solve the problems of the galaxy here and now, my love. We can only solve our own."
"We have problems? Alerik?" Maegan reached up and smoothed her hand down his face. "Why are we back on Pallas Five?"
His eyes turned smoky and he turned his head to kiss her fingers. "The Grogon Asteroid Belt needed a governor. Morgon refused it."
"There are others who qualify."
"Yes, but I like it here. I have a mandate to continue my council committee work, and can do it here just as well as on Magnilium."
He dropped a light kiss on her lips. "It's a good place to raise a family."
"The miniature Alerik project?" The rhythms of her body responded with a surge of excitement. The timing felt right.
"I'm ready. Are you?"
"What if we get a miniature Maegan?"
"Great Sagar be merciful to us all."
He moved over her.
About the Author
J. A. Clarke grew up in Africa where weekly trips to the library were the main entertainment event of the week. Although she's traveled on four continents and loves learning about other cultures, she is now firmly grounded in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. With her husband, two sons and dog pack in tow, she enjoys exploring the fabulous scenic treasures of the area. Someday, it is her fond hope, she will take her family on a grand adventure in Africa.
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