Rose hurried on her way, faster and faster, but the awful truth nagged at her brain. She was running away from herself—or was she running toward herself? She didn’t know anymore. She didn’t know anything anymore.
All at once, the passage widened and opened out. This must be one of the open places in the mountainside she noticed when the shuttle first dropped them off. This one was different, though. It overlooked a different series of valleys than the one she saw when Rohn took her to bring in their gear. She looked up at the sun. She was on the other side of the mountain, facing east.
The Keep must go straight through the mountain and open out on the other side. She never imagined anything could be so huge. Rohn’s words came back to her. The Kratak Clans usually encompassed hundreds, maybe even thousands of people in a single extended family. They all lived together in one Keep, so the Keeps must be big to house them.
Harkniss Keep groaned and yawned empty and hollow behind her. How tragic that such a grand edifice should be left devastated and forlorn, bereft of its people. No wonder the family didn’t talk much or exchange pleasantries during their interludes together. They must be in deep mourning.
A flash of bright yellow caught her eye, and she gazed down into the valley. Two figures moved along a stone parapet far down the mountain. Rose looked closer. She could just make out her son Ben. The flash of yellow she saw from high above was Asya’s blonde hair shining in the sun.
Rose’s heart soared. At last! Someone she could talk to without fear of judgment or discovery. She made her way down the steep rock slope and came up behind them. She smiled at Ben. “There you are, darling. How are you two getting along?”
Ben didn’t smile back. He didn’t look all that pleased to see her. “We’re just fine, Mom. Is there anything we can help you with?”
“Not at all. I just came down to see how you are. Isn’t this Keep stunning? Have you had a chance to look around it?”
Ben cast a glance toward Asya. Asya smiled at Ben, and then at Rose. “I’m doing that now, Mom, as you can see.”
Rose took a deep breath of the fresh air. How stimulating it was to be outside again! The clear air restored her sanity. “Have you seen Moira around anywhere?”
Ben didn’t look around. “No, I haven’t.”
“The forests and the mountains give me such a feeling of peace and tranquility. Maybe it’s spending time away from our technology that does it. I thought it would be a chore, but now I find it clears my head. Don’t you? Recording all the details of this planet will be a new experience without all our tools to help us. I think it will be a revealing and restorative experience, though. Everyone should have to go through this at some point in their careers. It would give them some much-needed perspective on the job. It shows what you’re really doing, recording all the details of individual people’s lives.”
Asya listened with an understanding smile on her face, but Ben glared at Rose. Rose never saw that look on his face before. “I can understand why you feel that way. Now you better keep looking for Moira. We haven’t seen her come out here, so she must be inside somewhere.”
Rose’s head shot up. She was so caught up in her own relief at seeing a friendly face that his tone came as a shock. He didn’t want her around. He wanted her to buzz off, to leave him alone with Asya.
He never would have acted this way back home. He never showed much interest in girls before, and he always counted on his mother to take the first initiative to open an interaction with one of them.
Now here he was, giving her the boot. What happened to him in the short time he’d been on this planet? Had the place infected him with its madness? Was he turning into a dominant man like Rohn? She could think of no greater disaster than that.
Already he turned his back on her to draw Asya away. They left Rose standing there with her mouth hanging open. She was alone. Ben didn’t care about her problems. Why should he? He was an adolescent boy in the company of a beautiful girl.
At that moment, a hideous screech rent the air. A shadow blocked out the light, and a blast of wind almost knocked Rose off her feet. She ducked behind the parapet just as the dragon swooped low over the mountainside. It screeched so loud she clapped her hands over her ears.
The next minute, it sailed toward Ben and Asya. Rose launched herself to her feet and screamed. “Ben! Duck! It’s the dragon! Run for your life!”
Ben swiveled around and spotted the dragon directly over his head. He started to puff himself up to confront the threat, but his mother’s warning did its work. He ducked for cover. He threw his arms over his head and crouched behind the wall.
Rose’s blood ran cold. Was she about to watch that terrifying reptile annihilate her only son? The dragon didn’t attack, though. It soared right over Ben’s head, and with another ear-splitting roar, sailed on toward its mountain.
Asya didn’t flinch. From the moment the dragon appeared until it dwindled into the distance, she stood erect and certain. After it passed overhead, she smiled, turned, and waved to it.
Rose rushed forward and grabbed Ben by the arm. “Get inside. Hurry up. It’s not safe out here.”
Ben recovered himself in the blink of an eye. He rounded on her and yanked his arm out of her grasp. “I’m not going inside. We’re taking a walk. If you want to hide inside, go ahead.”
He started to turn away, but Rose stepped into his path. “You just saw that thing almost attack you. Now get inside. That’s an order.”
“I don’t take orders from you,” he shot back. “I’m not one of your subordinates. You can’t order me around and expect me to bob my head and say, ‘yes, ma’am’. Asya’s not scared to walk outside with that dragon flying around, and if I have to go through a little danger to take a walk with her, that’s what I’ll do. Now leave me alone. We were having a very pleasant time by ourselves before you showed up and ruined it.”
He turned his back on her, took Asya by the hand, and walked away. Rose stared at his back, stunned. Was this her little boy? He didn’t need her or want her anymore. Overnight, he’d slipped through her fingers and vanished.
She spun away on her heel and strode back to the entrance into the Keep. She kept going all the way to the hall. What was going on here? What was this place, where people weren’t afraid of dragons? No one could explain where the Clan’s oldest son was or when he would be back, and no one seemed particularly concerned about him. Maybe he was dead.
So many questions remained unanswered, and the Krataks showed no interest in answering them. Why had they agreed to host the Allies team, if they didn’t care to reveal themselves to the investigators?
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got. Did the Krataks harbor hostile intentions toward the team? Did they plan to slaughter their guests in their sleep? Why would they do that? That would arouse the animosity of the Allies faster than anything.
She found herself racing down the passage in search of answers. She had to find Moira. She had to find out where the oldest Harkniss brother was and what happened to him. She had to find out a thousand things, and she had no idea where to turn to get her questions answered.
Chapter 7
Fay Harkniss looked up when Rose ran into the hall. “Ah, there you are. I was hoping you would come back here.”
Rose stared at her and panted to catch her breath. “You were?”
Fay got to her feet and came toward her. She actually smiled. “You said you wanted to interview me about childbearing on this planet. I am ready to answer your questions.”
Rose blinked. What changed Fay’s mind about cooperating with the research team after her frigid response at that ill-fated meal? Rose jumped at the chance. “I should go get my notebook to write this down.”
“Nonsense. You don’t need a notebook to talk to another woman about babies and children. You have your own son, so you’ve been through it yourself. Sit down, and let’s talk, two women together.”
Rose
let Fay draw her over to the chairs she had set up. Fay resumed her seat and waved to the chair next to her.
“Somehow, I don’t think we had very nearly the same experience giving birth. Childbirth among the Allies is a very complicated affair.”
“What could be complicated about giving birth? It’s the most natural thing in the world.”
“For you, maybe. With the Allies, the mother is surrounded by technology and professionals guiding the process. Most women have something go wrong with the birth and require intervention. You have none of that, so you must give birth as close to naturally as it is possible. Almost no one gives birth that way among the Allies.”
Fay stared at her. “But if you don’t give birth naturally, how do you do it? The farther away from the natural way you get, the worse it must be.”
“I admit it’s a pretty terrible ordeal. We have so many women who require intervention that birth has become a very dangerous event.”
“How terrible!”
“We all seem to get through it somehow. We do have a certain number of fatalities every year, either mothers or babies. That’s the sad fact.”
“Fatalities! My God!”
“What about you? How many fatalities do you get related to childbirth? Giving birth naturally must be very bloody. I would imagine not many women and babies survive.”
Fay sat up very straight in her chair. “You’re wrong. We don’t have any fatalities related to childbirth.”
“You must have some. You couldn’t give birth without some women and babies dying. That’s just the way it is.”
Fay shook her head. “In my lifetime, I have never seen a woman die giving birth, and I have only seen one baby born dead after the mother fell from the top of her Keep and suffered terrible injuries. Other than that, I know of no fatalities.”
“Well, you live here alone with no one but your daughter. You must not have seen very many births.”
“I haven’t lived here all my life. I lived with my own Clan before I married Rowan. My home Clan is Clan Prowiss, and we had close to two thousand people living in three interconnected Keeps. From the time I was a little girl, I went with my mother to help out whenever a woman gave birth. I must have visited hundreds of births, and not one of them resulted in the woman or baby dying. Most women give birth with no problem.”
Rose shook her head. She couldn’t believe this, but she made a strategic decision not to argue the matter. If Fay really believed what she was saying, arguing with her wouldn’t help. Rose made a mental note to crosscheck Fay’s answers with Ron Simons, the doctor on the other team. “How do you handle the pain? Giving birth without some pharmacological support must be torturous.”
“Not really. I gave birth to four children without anything, and I didn’t experience any pain. Most women I know actually enjoy it.”
“Enjoy it! How could they? It’s the most excruciating experience any human being can endure.”
“I wouldn’t call it excruciating. Intense, yes, but the intensity puts you into a sort of spiritual frame of mind.” Fay gazed across the room. “Sometimes I wish I could get back to that state. I miss it, and I have no other way to get there, now that I’ve passed childbearing.”
Rose lowered her eyes. “I wonder if the other women feel that way. Maybe I should interview Haya about her experience.”
“I can tell you about Haya’s experience. I was there.”
“What happened?”
“She had a wonderful smile on her face through the whole process, and when she actually delivered Asya and held her in her arms, she wept tears of joy.”
Rose changed the subject. “Do you have midwives that help the women? Who guides the women through the process?”
“We don’t have midwives. We don’t have anyone specifically trained to guide them. The woman’s mother and sisters and female relatives keep her company and sing to her. Sometimes other women come to help out, but in general, it’s just the woman’s closest relatives.”
“What about the men? Do they attend?”
“No, they don’t attend. Childbirth is a female event. The men go hunting to get food for the mother and the relatives.”
Rose couldn’t help smiling. “How prosaic.”
“Birth is really a very straightforward event on Kratak. Maybe while you’re here, you can attend a birth in one of the other Keeps and see it for yourself.”
“I’d like that.”
“If I hear anything, I will let you know. Now that we’ve dispensed with that subject, let’s talk about something else.”
“What would you like to talk about?”
“Let’s talk more about how things are with the Allies. I’m curious to know as much about your life as you can tell me.”
“That’s interesting. You seem to be the only person here who is. After that meal we shared earlier, I was beginning to lose hope.”
“Why?”
“No one would tell us anything. Hardly anyone would even look at us. No one would answer any of our questions.”
“We all want to answer your questions. You can ask anything you like.”
“Then why won’t you tell me where your oldest son is? Every time I mention him, you ignore the question or change the subject.”
Fay looked down at her hands in her lap. “What do you want to know about my oldest son?”
“For a start, what’s his name?”
“His name is Rahni.”
“Where is he? What happened to him? Why isn’t he living here with you?”
“He chooses to live somewhere else. I would have him here, but he follows his own predilections. I can’t change that.”
“Where does he live?”
“Out in the forest.”
“What does he live on?”
“He hunts for his food.”
“How can he hunt his food alone? Rohn said it takes seven or eight men working together to bring down one pig. He would be killed.”
“He manages it somehow. He was always a proficient hunter.”
“How does he stay warm in cold weather? Does he have another house somewhere?”
Fay still wouldn’t look up. “He uses natural forces to stay warm.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, but that’s the way it is. He’s different from every other Kratak I know. He’s....he’s strange, even to me. I had to let him go and live his own life on his own terms.”
“Do you see him much?”
“All the time. Why do you ask?”
“Does he visit the Keep? Will he come to visit while we’re here?”
“I’m sure he will. I’m sure you will see plenty of him.”
Rose brightened up. “That’s good. I’m curious about him. We couldn’t make a complete study of your Clan without him. I’m glad he’s not dead.”
“No, he’s very much alive.
At that moment, Fay’s youngest son Damen rushed into the room. He ran up to Rose with his long hair flying. “Come quickly, Madam Commander. Your friend Moira is hurt out in the forest. She needs you.”
Rose jumped out of her seat. “Moira! What’s she doing out there?”
Damen didn’t answer. He took off, back the way he came, up the passage to the front entrance. Rose had no choice but to follow. The sun blinded her after the dark hall, and she blinked to get her bearings. Damen rushed down the hillside. “Come quickly!”
“I’m coming.” Rose hesitated. “I should go back and get my kit.”
“There’s no time. She was gored by the wild pig. She could be dead already. You must come now!”
Rose couldn’t wait a second longer. She set off running after Damen, down the mountain, into the black heart of the forest. In seconds, the trees swallowed them up and blocked out the light. Damen darted away, faster and faster. Rose had to run at top speed just to keep him in sight. If he disappeared in these woods, she would never find her way out.
Rose came to his side. “Where is she?”
He swept the bank with his hand. “She was here, but I don’t see her now.”
“She can’t have just disappeared. She’s injured, so she can’t have just walked away.”
“No, she should be here. I can’t explain it.”
“How did you find out she was injured?”
“Rohn found her.”
Rose stiffened. “Rohn? What was he doing out here with Moira?”
“We were out hunting together in the forest. He was here and I was over there when he heard screaming. He followed the sound and found her struggling with a huge pig. He stabbed it with his lance and injured it, but it ran away. He let it go to check on your friend, and he found her bleeding from multiple punctures from the creature’s tusks. He called to me and sent me back to the Keep to get you. He said she needed a doctor, and we didn’t know enough about your physiology to help her. So, I ran off.”
Rose nodded. “You did the right thing, but that doesn’t help us find her. Did she crawl away? Where is Rohn? Maybe he can tell us where she is.”
He looked around. “I have no idea where he is.”
“Why didn’t he stay with her? If she was that injured, he should have stayed by her side until help arrived.”
“Truly, Madam Commander, I cannot explain it.”
Rose softened. “You don’t have to call me that. You can call me Rose.”
He showed no sign of having heard. He started to walk away. “I will go back to the Keep. Maybe Rohn returned there, and he can tell us what happened to your friend.”
She started to call after him, “Wait!” but he’d already set off at a smart pace the way they came. Rose did her best to keep up with him, but she fell farther and farther behind. She called out again and again, “Wait for me!” but he didn’t hear her. In an instant, he ducked behind the trees and didn’t reappear.
Rose stopped in her tracks. She propped her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Now what was she going to do? Moira was out in these woods somewhere, mortally injured, and Rose had no way to find her. Her only hope of finding Moira lay with Rohn.
Rohn (Dragons of Kratak Book 1) Page 5