Falling From the Tree (Darshian Tales #2)

by Ann Somerville

  He urged them to eat more of the cakes, and to finish the big mugs of tea. When they were done, he took the mugs from them. “Oh, I forgot I have to show you the lizard.”

  Gyo stood, and immediately sat down again. “I feel dizzy,” he muttered.

  Karik went to help him, but the ground was no longer solid under his feet. “We need to go,” he said slowly, his tongue feeling thick in his mouth. The tea had numbed it.

  “Maybe you’re feeling a little seasick from the rocking. Come and sit on the haystack for a minute,” Jembis said.

  “No, wuh-want fr-fresh air.” Karik swayed, and would have fallen except for Jembis catching him.

  “Karik!” Gyo cried as Jembis helped Karik over to the sacks of straw.

  Karik wanted to reassure him but he found he could hardly speak or keep his eyes open. “Drug....”

  “No, seasickness. Just rest.”

  He struggled to open his eyes, to glare at Jembis. “Tea...drug....”

  “Just take it easy, boys,” Jembis said and the next minute, Gyo lay next to Karik.

  “Scared,” Gyo whispered in a slurred voice.

  “You’ll be fine. I’ll go get my father.”

  That was the most reassuring thing Jembis had said. Karik had to close his eyes again because the hold swirled around him. His limbs felt heavy and he couldn’t even seem to move his fingers. This had to be a drug, but right then, he couldn’t bring himself to care. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep.

  Voyaging: 9

  It was the cold that woke him up, but even though he knew immediately he was far from safe, he found it hard to make his limbs obey him. He was still suffering from the after-effects of a drug, but that same drug muted the anger and worry he felt, albeit distantly. It was dark, wherever they were, but there was the golden glow of a lamp to his left. He turned his head, and saw the familiar outline of Gyo’s head. Karik made himself lift his arm and push feebly at Gyo’s shoulder. “Wuh-wake up.” His voice sounded all slurred, his tongue feeling too large in his mouth. “Gyo?”

  He kept pushing and calling his friend’s name until he got a grunt and a mumbled complaint. “Go ‘way.”

  “Gyo, wuh-wake up.”

  It seemed to take forever, but finally Gyo flopped over. “Oh...pissing hell.” Bigger than Karik, or maybe just naturally better able to flush whatever the hell it was out of his system, he was a little more alert, sitting up slowly, and helping Karik do the same. “Wha...Jembis! Where are we?”

  “Ship.” Karik felt quite woolly headed, but he had to wake up more than he had. Jembis had drugged them for a reason and until they knew what it was, and how they could get out of this situation, they were in danger. “Come on.”

  Gyo helped him get to his feet, but Karik found it hard to stay on them. He gulped back the sudden nausea and took several deep breaths to try and clear his head. Gyo hauled him bodily towards the stairs, but suddenly bright light filled the hold, making them both shade their eyes. A shadow blocked the light. “Oh, you’re awake.”

  Karik squinted. Jembis actually sounded relieved. “Wh-what did you do to us?”

  “Nothing! Just...some nerf leaf in your tea—it’s harmless,” he said hastily as Gyo raised his fist. Karik forced himself to straighten up.

  “Why?” Gyo demanded.

  “It was just a joke,” Jembis said, less than convincingly. “You’re not sick or anything, are you?”

  “No, but you will be if I get my hands on you,” Gyo said, surging forward.

  Karik managed to restrain him, sensing it was better for them to just get out of here and away from this erratic boy who was looking at them with a mixture of concern and puzzlement, as if he really couldn’t understand why they were angry. Clearly, there was something broken in Jembis’s head, but it wasn’t Karik’s problem and the sooner he was away from them, and Karik and Gyo had cleared this wretched nerf leaf from their bodies, the better. “Wuh-we’re going.”

  Jembis pushed in front of him. “You can’t.”

  “Wuh-why not?”

  “You just can’t, Karik.”

  “Get out of our way,” Gyo said in a determined voice.

  Jembis sighed and stepped away. His heart thumping hard, Karik let Gyo help him up the stairs to the deck. It was his friend who realised first that something was badly wrong. “Karik, look! Gods, no!”

  Karik saw what had terrified Gyo—the same sight cleared his mind faster than a bucket of cold water in the face. They weren’t at the dockside anymore—they weren’t even in the harbour any more. The sun was in the wrong position too, and with horror, he realised that it must be in the east, not the west—which meant they had been on the boat all night. It was the dawn of a new day—and they must be many miles from Darshek. He whirled and glared at Jembis. “What have you done?”

  Gyo was even more direct—he grabbed the other boy’s shirt and shook him. “Take us back! I want to go home!”

  Jembis held up his hand helplessly. “Can’t. Now you have to stay until we get to Utuk.”

  “No! Take us home—Karik, make him take us back!”

  They had to speak to the captain, Karik realised. “Wuh-where’s your Pa? Wuh-we need to s-see him n-now.”

  “He’s busy—”

  Gyo shook him. “You liar! Go get him! I want to go home!”

  “Jembis?” Karik turned—a tall, heavyset man walked towards them, looking rather angry. He starting shouting at Jembis in Prijian, and at them, but of course they had no idea what he was saying. Jembis answered back, the man shouted at him again and cuffed him hard across the head, sending him staggering. “You boys are stowaways. You are stealing passage on my ship.”

  “We’re not!” Gyo shouted back. “Your son tricked us—I want to go home!”

  “He says you wanted to go to Utuk to see this boy’s mother.”

  Oh, gods. “N-no, he tricked us,” Karik said, trying to keep calm, but unable to stop the tremor in his voice. “S-said wuh-we h-had to wuh-wait below. We want to g-go home. P-please.”

  The captain scowled, while his son cowered against the stairs. “I’m not going to turn the damn ship around to please you, boy. You’ll have to go to Utuk and find passage back. Your mother can help you. This one can speak to the embassy.”

  “No, please, I want to go back, Karik.” Gyo was crying now. Karik put his arm around him to comfort him. “I don’t want to go to Utuk.”

  “Should have thought about that before you came on board without my permission. Keep out of my way, or I’ll have you thrown overboard.” He said something harsh sounding to Jembis who nodded, and then stalked off.

  Karik glared at Jembis. “Wuh-why? Why did you d-do this?”

  He held his hands out appeasingly. “Because I thought you wanted to know about your family. Everyone should know who their father is.”

  “You h-have no right. G-Gyo’s n-not Prijian.”

  Gyo looked scared and utterly miserable. “Karik, please help us get home,” he whispered. “What about that woman, the mind-speaker—can she hear you?”

  His mind was working too damn slowly—of course! “Neka!” He didn’t know if she could hear him, but he tried calling her name in his mind as ‘loudly’ as he could. “Neka! Help me!”

  But there was no answer—they had to be too far from Darshek. Karik pushed Gyo off him and ran after the captain who was talking to one of his men. “P-please help us.”

  The man turned and glared. “I told you I would have you put over the side if you annoyed me, boy. What’s your father’s name?”

  “R-Reji, and M-Ma is J-Jena.”

  “Those aren’t Prijian names. Why does Jembis think you want to visit your mother in Utuk?”

  “I d-don’t.”

  The captain frowned at him. “I don’t have time for this, boy,” he growled. “Do you have a Prijian mother or not? You must do with that colouring. What’s her name?”

  Karik didn’t want to say, considering how much grief revealing this in
formation had given him to this point, but he felt he had no choice. “Sei M-Mayl.”

  The captain went very still and the sailor he was talking to suddenly looked horrified. “You don’t by any chance mean the stepmother of her Serenity’s consort, do you?”

  Karik had no idea who or what they were talking about. “I d-d-don’t know. Sh-she’s a s-senator’s daughter. That’s uh-all I know.”

  The two men spoke together rapidly in Prijian and the captain rapped out an order which sent his man hurrying off. Then he called to his son who came over with Gyo close behind him. As Jembis approached, he got a hard slap to the face which made him cry out. “You damn boy, do you realise what you’ve done? This boy is kin to her Serenity! If she hears he’s been mistreated....” The captain turned to Karik and smiled, giving him a little bow. “My apologies, my young sir, for my stupid son. He’s rather impulsive, but he means no harm.”

  Karik blinked and looked at Gyo. The abrupt change in attitude amazed him. “Then yuh-you’ll take us huh-home?”

  He wrung his hands a little. “I can’t, I’m sorry—we’re eighteen hours out of port and I have to get my cargo to Utuk. But we’ll make you boys comfortable until we reach Kuplik and then you can return with us.”

  “I want to go home now,” Gyo said suddenly. “His mother will be more angry if you don’t take us back.”

  Jembis muttered something and there was a short, angry exchange between father and son. Then Jembis said something else—Karik didn’t care for the speculative look that came over the captain’s face. “He says you were taken from your mother by General Arman. That man is a scandal in Kuprij, a traitor to our people. If I take you back to him, your mother will be more angry with me than if I don’t. No, you’re coming to Utuk. I think there might even be a reward in it, if General Arman took you away wrongfully. You’ll be well looked after, I promise. I’ve given orders to free up one of the officer’s cabins. Jembis can wait on you.”

  Karik grabbed the man’s shirt to plead with him. “No, p-please, I d-don’t want to g-go to Utuk!”

  His hands were detached with ease, and the false politeness and smile disappeared in an instant. The captain’s expression was now cold and hard—and held no pity at all. “That’s too bad, because you’re going. Jembis, look after our valuable guests.” And then he turned on his heel and walked off.

  Karik rounded on Jembis. “You b-bastard! You puh-planned this!” He wasn’t prone to violence but his fists itched to find an outlet for his fury and panic.

  “I didn’t, I really didn’t, I’m sorry,” Jembis said, cringing away from their anger. “I just wanted to have some company for a change, and you liked the animals. Gyo, you said you wanted to go on a ship and I thought Karik might want to see his mother. I didn’t think of the rest of it, that’s father!”

  “You liar,” Gyo spat. “Karik, please, I want to go back. You have to make him change his mind.”

  “He won’t,” Jembis said, shaking his head emphatically. “Once he thinks he can make some money, that’s all that matters. Money’s more important to him than I am,” he added bitterly. “I’m really sorry—I just thought it would be fun.”

  “You d-drugged us,” Karik said, fixing him with a fierce glare. “You had it all p-planned ow-out.”

  “I just didn’t want you to panic—I didn’t realise you’d sleep all night. Please don’t be mad at me—it was only meant to be a little fun. It gets lonely without anyone to talk to.”

  Looking at him, Karik realised he was really rather pathetic—bullied by his father who really seemed not to care anything for him except as an extra hand on board, and having nothing but the animals for company. He put his arm around Gyo’s waist. “Wuh-we’ll just ha-have to go, G-Gyo.”

  Gyo shook. Karik led him over to a hatch cover and made him sit, holding him close while he wept and wishing he could cry too. But he had to be brave. It was his fault this had happened—he should never have mentioned any of Arman’s revelations to Gyo, and at least should have warned him not to talk about it to anyone else.

  He still felt queasy and rather dizzy from the drug, but it could have been the ship’s motion. He had no idea. He put his hand over the tero stone around his neck and clutched it tight. He really wanted his Ma and Pa right now.

  ~~~~~~~~

  “Anything?”

  Neka shook her head at Arman’s question, seeming on the verge of tears. “I can’t hear them at all. I’m so sorry, Arman, Misek.”

  Jera held her closer and Kei patted her hand. Across from her, Misek looked devastated, while his brother’s mouth was turned down in a grim line. “Then they really must be on a ship.”

  “Or they’re dead,” Misek said, his voice breaking. “Gods, Gyo.... What will I tell his mother?”

  “I don’t think they’re dead, Mis,” Kei said in the same even tones Arman had heard him use with hysterical patients. “They could just be asleep somewhere, worn out from all the sight-seeing.” Misek gave Kei a sceptical look. “All right, maybe not, but they won’t be dead, damn it—how many murders do we have in Darshek in any year? One, two at most? And those are always the result of arguments.”

  “It doesn’t have to be murder, Kei, just an accident—they were at the docks, they could have drowned or been crushed.”

  Kei reached over and took his hand. “No, Mis, they couldn’t. Tiko and his men have been all over the docks and nothing’s been reported. You know how busy they are, someone would have seen for sure. We know they were with this Prijian lad—I bet you anything they decided to stay a bit too long on a ship, or fell asleep, or something completely innocent. I’m sure they’re all right.”

  “You don’t know that,” Misek said, eyes red and weary from his long night. “Please, Arman, there must be something we can do.”

  “There is, but not now, Misek. In the morning, we’ll alert the Andonese and Prijian embassies to be on the look out for the boys. I’ll find out what ships left harbour today. Tiko will keep looking in case they’re just asleep, as Kei said—or maybe fallen ill or something. I’m sure they’re not dead,” he said firmly. “Not both of them, and if anything had happened to one, Neka would have heard from the other, or someone would have. But you need to get some sleep, my friend. We all do. There’s things we can do, but we need daylight.”

  “I’ll keep listening, Misek,” Neka said quietly. “We all will, and I’ll make sure every mind-speaker in Darshek is on the look out for them.”

  Kei got up and went around to Misek. “Go to bed, Mis. It’s long past midnight.” He pulled his friend into a close embrace. “I’m sorry about this.”

  “It’s my fault. I should never have let them out of my sight. How will I tell Reji?”

  “Listen to me. It’s as much my fault as anyone’s, since they’re in my home, but it’s no one’s fault—boys that age wander all over Darshek every day. It’s completely safe, you know that. As for Reji....” Kei looked at Arman. “Let’s not tell them yet, all right? Neka, it would be cruel to do that, until we have some news. They’ll just worry pointlessly and the boys could be back here tomorrow.”

  Neka nodded. “I agree. I won’t tell her and I’ll make sure she doesn’t hear from this end. But Kei, what if she asks to speak to him?”

  “She won’t ask for a couple of days since she spoke to him yesterday. We’ll have news soon, I feel it in my bones. Jera, please go home, both of you. Thank you so much for what you’ve done.”

  “I wish it could have been more,” Neka said with regret. She stood and came to Misek’s side, gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Misek.”

  He gave her a one-armed embrace, and accepted one from Jera. “Thank you.”

  The Gifted left, and Kei managed to persuade Misek and Risa to go to bed. Arman followed him into their own bedroom, and waited until they were undressed and under the covers before he said what he had not dared say to Misek. “You know there’s something else, another factor here—Mayl.”

  Kei
turned to him. “You can’t believe she’s behind this—how could she possibly have arranged it in a couple of days? She wouldn’t have known he was here.”

  “No, but there are bound to be Prijian spies here. We can’t ignore what family she married into, or the feelings of those she’s close to.”

  “Would they harm Gyo, just to get Karik?”

  “You know they would.”

  “Gods.” Kei huddled closer, in obvious need of comfort. “I don’t know what to say to Misek. I feel so guilty—one of us should have been with them. I could have made myself available.”

  Arman stroked down Kei’s braid in a soothing gesture. “You said it yourself—the city is safe, and it is. I should have thought of this, if anyone.”

  “But if they’ve gone to Utuk.... We can get them back, yes?”

  “Gyo, certainly. It depends on who knows what about Karik, and how important they think that is. I’ll get Lord Meki to speak to Yuko in Utuk tomorrow. The biggest card we have is that the Prij won’t want to anger the Rulers, not overtly—so if I can convince Lord Meki to make it clear Karik is under his personal protection, that will help. That’s assuming they’re on their way to Utuk or anywhere at all.”

  He sighed and rubbed his eyes. They’d been frantic for hours, ever since Arman had got back after sunset and Kei realised the boys, who hadn’t come home, weren’t with him. The army had been notified, Tiko recruited as a safe pair of hands to lead the search, the menagerie director questioned, as had his staff. Karik’s distinctive appearance had made him memorable, and once Neka had been brought in, it had been relatively easy to discover that the Prijian boy they’d been seen with at the menagerie had also been seen with them at the docks. The boy was known to people at the port, as was his father’s ship, but because it had all been very late by the time this had all been found out, as yet it hadn’t been possible to determine where the ship was going, or if the boys were likely to be on it.

  Arman had a strong feeling his conversation with Karik the day before was somehow connected with their disappearance. If that was the case, then the boy hadn’t kept his word not to make enquiries, which was more than disappointing. But whatever his views, Karik was important to those Arman loved and cared for. He would do whatever he could do to get him home, the same as if the boy really were his son. He just hoped the lads had decided to take a nap somewhere and turned up sheepish and apologetic tomorrow. If they didn’t...things could get very unpleasant indeed.