“Your brother is Arik?” Vareen owed him for saving her from Angeline.
“Yes,” the woman smiled at her. “You are Vareen Nas.” The woman looked around. “There are multiple people from each clan here on the river.”
“There are only four leaders and Mica. Another five challengers make ten total, but there are over twenty boats on this river. Do you have any idea what this trial might be?”
The woman shrugged, “Perhaps they have to find their chosen mates?”
“There are men on some of those rafts, that doesn’t fit,” Vareen called out.
“Perhaps it’s to save a family member?” An older male dressed in red called from a nearby raft. “Sorry, I was listening to your conversation.”
“You are from Takari,” Vareen asked, “Are you related to one of the men in the trials?”
“I’m just a technician at the research center. I’m not family to either man from Takari or any of the others.”
“Well there goes that theory,” the blonde called out. Turning in her raft she looked behind her. “I see one other from my clan. That woman over there works in a waterside café I enjoy, she’s a very talented cook. I’m not sure what the connection is between all of us.”
Vareen looked at the water. It had gone from calm to a faster current and the waves were building. Turning to the shore, she saw a crowd was building. Whatever the challenge was, it was close to starting and she had a bad feeling about it.
“Is there any way to get our boats closer to each other?” she called out to those around her.
“I don’t see an oar in my boat,” the blonde called back.
“What about if we swam to each other?”
“There are electric jellyfish in the water. It’s very painful to be stung by them.”
Of course there were, and of course, it was. Vareen thought sarcastically. “Is it deadly to be stung?”
“No, not deadly.”
“The water is getting more turbulent,” Vareen called loudly. “In order to help our men, we should try to get as many people into one boat as possible.”
“Why interfere with the challenge?” the male in red asked. “If we stay in our boats, the challenge will proceed as the organizer’s planned it to.”
“I’m just trying to be practical,” Vareen insisted. Her boat rocking slightly. “There are only ten men and so many people. If we help them by consolidating into fewer boats how could that hurt?”
“Then the men in the trial would only have to make one trip instead of multiple to save more people. They wouldn’t have to face so many stings from the jellyfish and the force of the growing current.” The blonde looked into the water and frowned.
“Exactly.” Vareen looked behind her. There was an elderly woman in the golden color of Denary about twenty feet away. “What do you think?” she called across the water.
“I don’t know how to swim,” her fear was apparent now that she’d spoken.
Vareen turned to Delphine, “Find out if anyone further along your side wants to consolidate boats. I think if we can get two or three to a boat that should be enough.” Turning to the man in red she asked him to do the same thing.
“I’m going to swim to you,” Vareen called to the woman behind her. Standing up and looking into the water, she didn’t give herself time to think. She clambered over the edge and fell into the water. The current wasn’t too bad and Vareen started swimming. She was making good time until she was about ten feet from her destination when the first sting went across her leg. It felt like a knife being drawn along her flesh. Letting out a startled cry she swam faster. The blood from her leg must have been a sign to the others because they started gliding against her with more frequency. Her arms, legs, and torso were riddled with welts from being stung. After the initial sting, there was a moment of numbness.
Reaching the side of the Denary woman’s boat she was glad for the woman’s help in getting out of the water.
“You poor thing,” the woman tore a strip off her dress and pressed it against Vareen’s legs. “Does it hurt terribly?”
It hadn’t until the woman had asked, then each welt started throbbing. Grinding her teeth Vareen assured her new boat mate, “No, there is a slight numbness now, it’s not so bad.”
When their boat rocked she looked over. It was the older man in red. Grabbing his hand and helping as much as possible she helped pull him into the boat.
“That hurts like being cut with a razor thorn dipped in plageric acid!” His voice was rough and he said a few words that Vareen was pretty sure was cursing.
The older woman gave her a telling look and then introduced herself. “I’m Janita Denary. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Vareen Nas.” Vareen held out her hand and then looked toward Delphine. The blonde was two boats up with another elderly woman.
“Willem Takari.” The man in red shook hands with Janita first and then her. “Nice to meet you both.”
Suddenly the water around them started raging. Their boat started rocking violently, and they all had to sit down or get thrown overboard.
Looking at the shore, Vareen saw a line of men that must be the challengers and leaders. “The trial is beginning. We’ve managed to consolidate into ten boats. This should make it easier on them.”
Vareen watched as the men entered the water and started swimming in the direction of the boats. With their increased speed, it wasn’t long before they started arriving.
Occupants of boats started calling out to the leader or challenger they felt was here to save them.
“We are each from different clans,” Janita tried to laugh. “Who do we call out to?”
Vareen wanted to call for Mica but wasn’t sure how this trial was supposed to go. She was afraid she’d interfered enough moving people around in the boats. She watched with baited breath as the boats started disappearing. The challengers found who they wanted to save and soon there were five of them moving toward shore. The leaders were all waiting.
The current picked up again and the turbulence was marked now. Still, the leaders hesitated. The challengers had almost made it back to shore and Vareen wanted to scream in frustration. Why didn’t Mica hurry, he might be losing points.
Why? What were they waiting for? Then it dawned on her. They were waiting to see what needed to be done. Since there were only five boats left it seemed an easy decision.
As if on cue, each leader swam for a boat. Vareen saw Mica swim up to Delphine and her companion. Without pausing he dove under and came back up with the rope. Putting the lead between his teeth, Mica began to swim swiftly toward shore.
A male in a purple shirt swam up to her boat and introduced himself. “I am Chan’ Virrel, leader of the Renari. I’ll tow you back to shore.”
Vareen watched as the leader of the Renari clan went under her boat. It seemed to take forever but he finally bobbed to the surface with the rope in hand.
“Is everyone settled? This might get rough.” The male gritted his teeth and Vareen had to assume it was due to the pain of the jellyfish stings and the strain of holding off the current.
“We’re settled,” Willem assured Virrel from his place next to Janita.
“Thank you, for helping us.” The Denary woman huddled closer to Willem.
“Chan’ Virrel the current is becoming faster.” Vareen hated to state the obvious but she worried that this trial was about to get much harder.
Virrel nodded, “We’re off then” and he made for shore, pulling them along at a quick pace.
Vareen wasn’t sure what the trial was supposed to be, but the volatility of the water kept increasing and she became worried when they started taking on water. The shore was only ten feet away when they were struck by a wave, and everyone in her boat spilled into the water.
“Var!” She heard Mica called frantically from shore.
“I can swim. Help Janita. She can’t.” Vareen yelled over the waves hitting her in the face. She was quickly carried away with
the current.
“Willem. Are you okay?” She looked for him and saw him splashing frantically for shore.
Their movements in the water had attracted the jellyfish. Vareen set her mind to ignoring the pain as much as possible and swam for the shore. She’d be damned if some stupid fish got the best of her. She should have been watching out for the boat.
It grazed against the side of her head. The last thing she heard was Mica’s frantic yells. “Var!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Is she okay?”
“I think she’s waking up.”
“What happened?”
“Someone tell my son that Vareen is waking up so he’ll stop fighting with the trial organizers.”
Vareen groaned and tried to open her eyes. “Martac?”
The light was blinding and Vareen had to shield her eyes with her hand. When she was able to focus she saw Martac, Dani, Cali, Nellia, Drake, Vathral, Risenal and a few members of the leadership she hadn’t been introduced to yet, all hovering around her.
Martac took her by the shoulders and helped her sit up. The movement caused her stomach to protest and she groaned.
“Are you feeling dizzy?” Nellia pushed her way closer. “How many fingers am I holding up?” She held up three fingers.
“I’m not dizzy Nellia, just my stomach lurching. You are holding up three fingers.” Vareen looked around for Mica and still didn’t see him. “Where’s Mica?”
“Here.” Mica jostled his way through the crowd around her. “I’m here.” He pulled her into his arms and held her close. His face was bruised and his lips bloodied.
“What in the world. What happened to your face? Did the jellyfish do that?”
Vareen touched a finger first to his face and then hers to see if she had any wounds like his.
“No. The jellyfish stings were inconvenient but not what caused this.”
“Mica was fighting,” Dani tattled on her brother.
“Who with?” Vareen wanted to know.
“The organizers of the trial,” Drake slapped Mica on the shoulder. “There were measures in place that kept those on the river from being hurt. The boat striking you wasn’t supposed to happen and Mica was...upset by your accident.”
“I wasn’t upset,” Mica denied and stood up with her in his arms.
Vareen would never get used to Mica being able to lift her like that.
“The judges have requested we return to the arena,” Mica was walking toward the direction of the pavilion. Before Vareen could ask another question he was moving so fast she almost lost the contents of her already nauseous stomach on him. All around her were the colored shirts and dresses of people hurrying back to the arena. Vareen closed her eyes against the sight, it was too much.
When Mica slowed to a stop she opened her eyes. All around her, the people of Titus were arriving to find a place to sit in the arena. Drake had carried Cali since she didn’t have the super speed. Risenal had been picked up by Arik and various other Metari males had brought her guards. From the looks on their faces, the Atheon males were not happy with being carried like babies. Even as she watched they struggled to straighten their uniforms and form up around Risenal again.
“Do we have to part ways here?” Vareen asked as Mica walked toward the entrance to the arena.
“No,” Mica mumbled and kept walking. “You’re coming into the arena with me.”
“Is that allowed?” Vareen didn’t want Mica to get into trouble by refusing to let her go.
“Yes. The judges asked to speak with you.”
Vareen felt a chill go down her spine. The judges wanted to see her? Had they found out she’d visited Mica in his tent? Was he going to be disqualified and banished? Her thoughts ran away with her and she imagined all of the horrible things that could be wrong.
Sooner than she’d like they were standing in front of everyone in the arena. Vareen’s palms were sweating and her heart was beating madly in her chest.
“Vareen Nas, we requested to speak with you regarding your actions during this Challenge of Succession.”
Vareen swallowed hard. This is what she’d been afraid of. Standing taller she opened her mouth, but the judge wasn’t done.
“Is it true that you dosed the guards in front of Mica Jataci’s tent on the first night of the challenge in order to see him?”
Vareen bit her lip. They knew. There was no hope for it. She’d tell the truth. “Yes.”
“Can you tell us why?”
Mica took her hand and Vareen felt comforted at the touch. How could she explain? It was such a long story.
“Mica had asked me to be his chosen mate a long time ago. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I wasn’t able to give him my answer. When he was challenged, and we were to be separated again, I didn’t want him to go another night without telling him how I felt.”
“Did you have any help in gaining entrance into Mica’s tent?”
“Yes, I used guilt and strong-armed my friends into helping me.”
“That’s not true,” Cali cried out and Vareen saw her struggling to get through the crowd of Renari. “I helped her of my own free will.”
“As did I,” Risenal called and moved to join them in the arena from where she had been seated.
“Me too,” Nellia followed through the hole Cali was making in the Metari crowd.
“I helped too,” Dani called from the Jataci side.
Vareen wasn’t sure that any of this was aiding her cause. Cali and Dani might get banished to live with the Others along with her at this rate. Risenal and Nellia would just be sent back to Atheon.
“Quiet,” the announcer called. “Quiet!” The crowd stopped immediately waiting to hear what would happen next.
“What is your reason for visiting Mica the second night?”
Vareen wanted to slap her forehead, did they know everything? “I made such a mess of things that day at the trials that I felt terrible. I needed to know if Mica forgave me for costing him points.”
Cali, Nellia, Risenal, and Dani were all standing next to her by now.
“What did you use to incapacitate the guards?” the judge asked
“I studied the plant life of Titus while in the hospital and used my knowledge to select the available plants in Metari to knock the guards out. Some algae from the river, along with the ilipid plant, when mixed together and consumed caused the guards to appear awake but actually be unconscious. They wouldn’t recall losing time so upon waking would assume nothing had happened.”
“I see,” the judge glanced at his fellows and then asked. “We have it on good authority that you spoke with the occupants of the other boats on the river this morning and asked those around you to consolidate the boats. Can you explain this?”
“I was trying to help,” Vareen might as well pack her bags for banishment. This wasn’t going well for her.
The judge eyed her. “You were trying to help Mica?”
“No,” Vareen insisted. “Not just Mica. I wanted to help all of the men in the trial and all of the people in the boats. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
“Even when the organizers have made all allowances for the safety of the participants?”
“Yes,” Vareen argued heatedly. “When you are in the middle of a trial it doesn’t feel like you’re safe. Yesterday when I thought we were under attack I was afraid for everyone. Not just myself and Mica, but everyone.” She waved her hand around in her growing agitation. “Today, when I was out on the river I wasn’t thinking solely about Mica. I was worried for everyone in the boats and the challengers in the water as well.”
“Even though they weren’t of Mica’s clan?” the judge asked calmly.
“Yes,” Vareen was losing her patience. “Even though they weren’t of my clan. Why all these questions anyway. It’s not like I’m on trial, I was just doing what I thought was best.”
“On the contrary,” the judge stated loudly. “The challenge presented by Teml
oc Jataci wasn’t against Mica. We have been watching you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mica kept his gaze focused on the judge. He was afraid of Vareen’s reaction. Risking a look at her he saw that she was struck speechless. Even if she had tried to talk the crowd was making so much noise it would be hard to hear her.
He wasn’t being tested, Vareen was.
“Silence,” the announcer yelled and the voices slowly trickled to a stop.
The judge continued, “There was some concern that you were unable to be a true chosen mate to Mica. The reasons given at the beginning of this trial were that you had lost the ability to feel emotions. Not only that, you were not of Titus and might lack the skills and honor it took to be a good mate.”
As the judge talked Mica tightened his fingers around Vareen’s. Feeling the need to clarify his position he yelled angrily, “I never had any of those doubts. I always knew, from the moment I woke up on The Reliant that Vareen was meant to be mine. I would face a million trials to be with her.”
He felt Vareen’s fingers squeeze his in answer and turned to see she was gazing at him. Her eyes were burning bright purple.
“Yes,” the judge waved his hand. “You told us all of that at the beginning of the trial. We still needed to see for ourselves how Vareen Nas would react.” Looking directly at her the judge announced, “We are very happy with the results. Vareen Nas has shown ingenuity in getting into your tent. Strength of character in her concern for and helping those on the river. Care for all the clans in her actions, not just the Jataci. She told the truth even when it might be a detriment to her. She is a sound tactician, utilizing all available weapons to fight against a threat. Even fruit and wine when needed.”
The crowd burst into laughter at the reminder of yesterday’s challenge when Vareen threw food at the guards to slow them down. Mica had been told about it so often that he could picture it in his mind as well as those gathered in the stands.
“Vareen Nas of the Jataci,” the judge used Mica’s clan name for the first time in addressing her and his heart swelled with pride and happiness. “You have proven that you are the chosen mate to Mica Jataci, heir of Martac Jataci. Your touch stopped Mica in his valkie haze and your actions have shown again and again true depth of feeling. We, the judges, don’t require the additional three challenges to prove your worthiness.”
Vareen & Mica (The Alliance Book 2) Page 14