Orphans of Middle Mars: Book One of the Chronicles of Middle Mars

by CJ East

  Honor

  Kinch and Lucius walked down the cobblestone lane with the rowdiness of reunited sailors - clowning, shoving, and whooping all the way to the market. Using his body voice felt natural - apart from the fact he was rusty in conversational Latin.

  Kinch pointed up and asked, “Where does the light come from?”

  Lucius pulled a piece of bread wrapped in a cloth from his white tunic and said, “It is.” There was no sarcasm in the comment, merely a confirmation of the obvious. “Hungry?” he said offering Kinch the remaining half.

  “Sure, I’m starved,” said Kinch. He scrutinized Lucius’s face. Why would he answer a question with “it is”?

  “If you are starved, you are going to enjoy seeing all the food at the market. I have two draks, we can buy something good to eat,” Lucius beamed with pride. “I support the family guarding the fields with Argus.”

  “That is an admirable job,” agreed Kinch. He wanted to say it was a “cool” job, but didn’t know the slang word. His Latin vocabulary was from poets, philosophers and Latin Mass. He understood most of what Lucius said, but was filling in the gaps.

  Kinch popped the bite of bread into his mouth. The morsel was tangy like sourdough, with coarse, whole grains. He considered how he was going to ask his next question, he figured he would be general and cautious.

  “So tell me about Amica and the kids, what’s going on there?”

  “Ha ha!” Lucius snorted, “I thought you would catch on. Amica took us in, she’s our mother now. You too, you know? She told us about you.” he said with an unsteady glance.

  “What? I don’t need a mother!” exclaimed Kinch.

  Lucius wheeled on him with surprise, “Hey, I don’t either, but I have one. And so do you.”

  Kinch calmed himself. He didn’t want to be a jerk. Lucius could tell Kinch was struggling with the information, “Don’t worry about it. She doesn’t bother you very much and she is nice enough.”

  Kinch brought up the tension he noticed earlier, “it looked like you two were in a disagreement back at the house.”

  Lucius' expression turned serious, “We have a difference of opinion. I’m the man of the house. I earn the money. She doesn’t listen to me.”

  “About what?” probed Kinch.

  Lucius kicked a rock down the road toward the crowd at the market. “Well, maybe she was right, but she didn’t have to be mean about it.”

  Kinch didn’t say anything. He examined the paving stones as he traveled over them. There was a long silence. Kinch prompted the reluctant boy. “And?”

  “Uuugghh,” Lucius moaned dropping his shoulders. “I told Amica we should let Argus eat you.”

  Kinch stopped short, “You what?”

  Lucius halted a few steps in front of Kinch, sighed and looked up to the cavern dome, “You were passed out, covered in vomit and all… pasty and white. You looked disgusting. I was a little concerned Argus would get sick if he did eat you - and I’ve seen Argus eat some horrible things.”

  Kinch shot an astonished look at the back of Lucius' head. His long black hair tied into a tail would be a convenient way to yank him to the ground. Lucius lowered his head and turned around to face Kinch with a glum expression, “It was wrong for me to try to feed you to Argus. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Kinch absorbed the apology with a slow, incredulous shake of his head. He raised his eyebrows, “You know what Lucius? I believe that was difficult for you to say.” Kinch took a slow step into the space between them. Lucius narrowed a puzzled expression at him.

  Kinch said with a slight smile, “I forgive you.”

  Without warning, Kinch flashed his hands up and popped Lucius hard in the chest, sending him flying backwards 5 feet through the air and depositing him on his butt. Kinch sprinted down the road laughing. He spun around and mocked Lucius while running backwards.

  Lucius watched after him, stunned by the force of the blow. He recovered and jumped up shouting and taunting. They caught each other hitting, kicking, breaking apart and slamming together like wolf cubs until they reached the market.

  The lane narrowed as they passed through an entrance flanked by two large Roman style marble columns. Lucius stated this was the gate to Subura. The busy street was now crowded by multi-storied stone and wooden homes. Two and three stories tall, the buildings took up large parts of a block. Small shops and residences lined the outer walls of the larger buildings. Red children with dirty faces seemed to spill out of the small shops and residences.

  “So who owns the big houses?” Kinch asked.

  “They used to be houses for wealthy families. Amica’s family once owned the big one over there. They’re workshops now making stuff for the Auri people.”

  The market was in the open square with bright colors of the dyed awnings covering temporary tables. Booths pilled with items for sale choked the marketplace in a loose organization of rows and walkways.

  Red people filled the areas between the booths, all tall except the children. Most everyone wore white tunics, togas or dresses. Some ladies wore blue or pink coverings, their black hair pushed up and wrapped in long intricate braids.

  The smell of delicious food permeated the marketplace. A strong, sweet smell like cooking peppers dominated the air. The savory smell of different kinds of grilled meat guided their footsteps to a large wooden table. Various severed appendages and parts of animals hung from a long rope stretching above the table. A huge metal bowl with a wood fire underneath contained a tempting mixture of vegetables and meat being grilled.

  Kinch watched as the cook added spices and stirred, flipped and cut the contents with a specialized knife-tool. The cook noticed the boys standing at his booth, and splashed a cup of sauce into the wok causing an explosion of flame, steam and savory-sweet smell. The boys cheered and the cook flipped the knife a few rotations while pulling another from the table, plunging both curved knives to the dish in the same motion.

  Lucius elbowed Kinch in the side, “you can’t go for the first booth. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  They strolled the row of tables which were packed together and loaded with hanging meat, breads, and long leafy vegetables. Kinch followed behind Lucius, his stomach starting to rumble and his mouth watering.

  Everything seemed to grab his attention, one table had a skinned and eviscerated mammal about the size of a tall goat. Another table was piled high with deep blue-colored fruits the size and shape of large apples. He picked one up and smelled the floral iris smell he first noticed in the forest. He returned the fruit to the display and discovered he had fallen behind Lucius and was about to sprint forward when he saw a short wooden cage holding a flock of little green birds. He leaned in closer to see they were about the size of pullets, but with larger heads and freakishly large, sad eyes.

  The curious birds moved towards his side of the cage. “Hello there,” he said. They cocked their heads at strange angles, their green feathers puffing out as they spun in excited circles. He laughed at the display and turned around, wanting to ask Lucius about them.

  Lucius was gone. He spun to the pressing crowd and jogged forward in the direction he last saw Lucius as a twinge of panic gripped him. He was shocked at how frightening the prospect of being alone was to him. The Coccino shoppers had stared at him when he first walked into the market, but without Lucius, their stares seemed more menacing.

  He scanned through the jostling crowd seeing Coccino men with their thin builds, white tunics and long black ponytails. Everyone in the crowd was the same deep scarlet color. No one had the light salmon color of Lucius' skin. It was then he realized Coccino people like Lucius were rare, indeed.

  Kinch came to an intersection of booths near an alley between two tall buildings. A confluence of people were jammed together and trying to pass through. He jumped atop a sturdy wooden crate near a clothing booth to survey above the tall crowd. The sea of white cloth and red skin swirled around him as he slowly turned round meeting questi
oning eyes as he spun.

  There! He saw the half-profile of a pink boy hidden inside the entrance to the alley opposite him. Kinch leapt from the crate and pushed through the crowds.

  “Lucius! Lucius!” he shouted. Lucius didn’t respond, but held a stony gaze forward, his eyebrows pulled together in anger. Kinch slowed and expanded his focus. Lucius was about twenty feet away and surrounded by five taller scarlet boys. One particularly larger boy laughed at something Lucius did not find humorous. Lucius stared through him.

  Kinch navigated through the crowd concentrating on Lucius. He wondered if he could link without the other boys knowing. He reached out to his friend, “I see you, wait for me.”

  The response from Lucius was flavored with anger and shame, “It is fine. We’re just talking. Go find something to eat, I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “I’ve got your back, Lucius,” Kinch pressed, approaching the group.

  “No!” Lucius yelled in his thoughts. “Nothing is going to happen. Amica has forbidden me to make conflict with these boys. You need to walk away.” The large boy laughed again and shoved Lucius into another boy. The gang battered the unbalanced Lucius around the circle like a defenseless dog.

  Kinch leveled his stare to the boy closest to him, “Amica hasn’t forbidden me,” he replied.

  The anger Kinch had tried so hard to check swelled. Pressure and heat pulsed in the back of his neck and face as he took long, purposeful strides, Coccino shoppers clearing the way or bouncing off him. He was now within a few feet of the boys surrounding his friend. He heard the big one speak, ‘Let’s have it, Bastenio, I know you have more Draks.”

  Lucius flinched under the insult and shot a nervous glance at Kinch, “I don’t have any more for you!” he yelled at the boy.

  The group laughed hard. The large boy taunted him further, “An empty roar with no teeth. You aren’t lying are you, Bastenio? Your priestess will cry if you tell untruths.”

  Kinch tracked behind the closest boy slamming both of his hands hard into the boy’s bare upper arms. The loud smacking sound startled the group and echoed down the deserted alley. The boy jerked at the force of the blow and the surprise of finding himself locked in an immobilizing grip. Kinch lifted the boy from the alley with a slow movement to the side, legs swinging and neck bobbing in fear of the unknown person behind him.

  Kinch locked eyes onto the shocked large boy opposite of Lucius. Kinch spoke in a slow, deep body voice, “You appear to be disturbing my friend. We will be continuing on our way without trouble.” He tossed the boy forward a few staggering steps.

  The circle surrounding Lucius held an awkward pause. The boys looked at the short, pale creature in front of them and then to each other. They erupted in laughter and widened the circle to surround Kinch as well. Kinch felt Lucius pressing into his mind, “Kinch, don’t. I’ll get into trouble. I can’t get into any more trouble with Amica, I’m serious.”

  He reassured his find with a calm, confident mind voice, “Relax, Lucius. We are just going to talk this out.”

  Kinch analyzed the circle, identifying the largest threat as the boy he had moved. That boy had flanked to his blind spot opening a two front conflict.

  The boys were close to eight feet tall. They were more muscular than Lucius, but were anemic compared to Kinch’s wide back, thick neck and large hands. Their intense blue eyes glared at Kinch expectantly.

  The leader smirked to one of his friends and stepped forward, “This bleached turd speaks with the eloquence of a Caesar of old! Well, mutant, I don’t like kings,” he said, looming over Kinch.

  Conflict seemed inevitable, Kinch thought as he took a slow inhale to repress his urge to fight Lucius out of the situation. A rush of fear convicted him as he thought of Hong Li and Tai - both dead. He didn’t want this path anymore. He had to take control of the situation, Lucius was putting on a clinic for the ineffectiveness of the nonviolent approach.

  These boys were from a warrior people - the blunt, intimidating approach of force would be respected. When Lucius learned Kinch had killed two men, Lucius stopped his aggression. These were just boys after all, he would lead them through the path of surrender.

  Kinch sneered at the insulting lead boy, “Your opinion of me is none of my concern, fool. Now, step away from me. You are filling my nostrils with the stench of your fear - especially the coward behind me.

  The boy ambushing Kinch slammed his palm hard into Kinch’s shoulder blade, sending Kinch’s relaxed body forward. Kinch allowed his body to fluidly absorb the expected blow, eyes locked on the ring leader as he returned to a relaxed, ready position. He shifted his stance bringing his right foot behind his body for the next shove.

  “Fear?” The big boy exclaimed. “The five of us fear you?” They all laughed loudly drawing a few onlookers. The emboldened leader smirked and said, “I’ll give you a choice freak, you two buy us a lunch or you can have broken bones.” The other boys laughed and nodded in approval at the proposal.

  Kinch stood motionless. He watched the boy, waiting. The leader was confused with Kinch’s silence and darted to the face of each of his friends. Kinch’s body began to tighten like a spring in a steel animal trap, vibrating with an intoxicating anticipation.

  The leader nodded to the boy behind Kinch, initiating the anticipated event. He felt the boy’s hand moving through the air and reacted before it landed.

  He caught the boy’s long fingers in his thick left hand. He bent the boy’s fingers backward and turned the forearm out over his shoulder, still staring at the now wide-eyed leader.

  “I am considering the options,” Kinch said, his low, steady tone purposely devoid of emotion. When he had bent the boy’s crimped hand slowly away from shoulder, he calmly raised his right arm and grasped the boy’s wrist, tightening the overextended fingers. He rotated the unfortunate boy’s locked wrist, twisting a groan from his mouth.

  Kinch did not change his tone or even acknowledge his captive bent beneath him, “The options I am considering are not the options you offered to us. They are the options I decide for you. The first option is when I hit you, I can knock you unconscious.”

  Kinch followed the large boy’s stunned stare down to the bent wrist. He shifted his wrist grip to the boy’s forearm and reversed the boy’s wrist inward for a tightly constrained goose neck, driving the bent boy to his knees, his shoulders low to the ground.

  Kinch moved his heel of his heavy boots onto the long, slender fingers of the boy’s hand. He leaned down and whispered into the boy’s ear, “I own you. We will get through this with only a little pain. If you struggle, your hands will be so broken you will pray for this level of pain as a relief.”

  Kinch straightened and calmly turned back at the leader, lifting the locked wrist and the submissive boy, “Here’s the second option I’m considering: I should hit you so hard you never wake up. This would insure a craven dog like yourself won’t stab me in the back on some future occasion when I’ve forgotten this incident, but your fragile pride has smoldered within your small soul like a burning ember.”

  The large boy took a small step backward from his groaning friend on his knees. “I, I don’t think that is going to be necessary,” he timidly offered.

  Kinch raised his tone and widened his eyes, turning up the crazy, “You don’t think that is going to be necessary!” Kinch flashed down at the loose black hair falling around the head of the red boy on his knees. He paused, sensing the crowd growing. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but an early, public show of force would deter future conflicts. He stepped forward and flung his arms forward, flipping the boy on his back with ease.

  “Tell me why I should believe you are not going to harm me or my friend. Did you not just now threaten to do the same?” said Kinch bending slightly over at the waist. The boy lay on his back, his shoulders on the ground and back arched. His left fingers dug into the muck of the alley and his right arm thrust upward, his fingertips almost bent back to touch their forearm.

/>   “Well,” he sputtered, “Severus and I - that’s Severus on the ground there - are men of honor. You have our word,” he smiled nervously.

  Kinch jammed the wrist stiffly backwards causing Severus to arch his back forcefully and throw his head backwards gasping at Kinch. “You are a man of honor, Severus?” Severus opened his mouth wide but produced no sound. He dropped his head and gave a rapid nod of affirmation.

  Kinch shrugged toward the dumbstruck Lucius, questioning whether Lucius found the terms acceptable. Lucius nodded slowly in disbelief. Kinch let go of Severus with his left hand and flicked his right wrist. Severus was forced to roll onto his stomach or have his tendons ripped apart.

  “So let me ask you a question…” Kinch inflected in the classical Latin and let the question hang.

  “Ferox, my name is Ferox,” he said lowering his eyes.

  “Pleased to meet you Ferox,” Kinch said. He bowed in mock respect causing Severus to spasmodically arch again.

  “My question is why do you torment a boy forbidden to fight back? This is the currency of the honor of which you speak?”

  He turned to the other three boys frozen from his first words. They dropped their heads in shame and focused on the ground.

  The silence which hung in the air was met by shuffling feet. Kinch slowly moved his gaze across the faces of the boys - analyzing, concluding and memorizing. He would test his theory.

  “No honor among you then?”

  A jolt of humiliating electricity leapt from boy to boy in the semi-circle. Their heads snapped up and eyes burned with ire.

  Kinch thrust his free hand into elbow of Severus leaning in and pushing the joint to the furthest point before dislocation. The first scream of pain escaped his lips frightening the boys with a feminine and primordial sound.

  “It is an important question which demands and answer,” Kinch said, his voice conveying his disappointment and frustration. The boys lowered their eyes again.

  Kinch released his control of Severus, who dropped to the ground cradling his arm. Kinch stood to his full height and spoke to Ferox in a measured tone.