Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it brake.
-William Shakespeare
After his shower he followed the two girls toward the main building. As Jaius approached the main building he tried his hardest to keep the cold, distant, look cemented on his face, and to keep from shivering as the wind blew across his dripping wet form. He tried to lock his eyes forward as much as possible, but found that no matter how hard he tried they would keep wandering to either Alise or Lorna, unable to fathom how they could go from despising him an hour ago to now all of a sudden wanting to help him and be nice to him. They acted like the girls at St. Pious by fawning over the coolest guy in the school and ignoring the helpless ones, but they seemed older then the girls in his class. There was something about their presence that made them feel like he did when adults were around, even though they looked around the same age as him. They carried themselves like they had seen a lot more of life then he had. The attention they were giving him threatened to unravel the fierce, stoic composure that he had been able to MacGuyver together over the past ten minutes.
Personalities from thousands of different characters from the movies that he's seen, merged together to create a persona that he hoped was tough enough to keep him alive in this place. Lorna had deep red hair that came cascading down her back. It swayed from side to side, the day's light making it shimmer as it hit it dead on. Alise's hair on the other hand was honey brown and came to just above her shoulders. They each wore skirts that came down to only their mid-thigh, but emerging from beneath the skirt he saw the same shimmering bodysuit that he'd seen people wearing back at the Hyress's court. The suit covered their upper bodies, where it was only slightly hidden by brightly colored blue sashes. Now that he thought about it, all the people he'd seen so far today had a colored sash on. Ruk, Lek, and Selak had each been wearing one of deep crimson with one gold notch on each of theirs. Maleric had even donned one of them. His had been a pure white with three golden knots on it.
He stopped. “Lorna.” The two girls stopped walking and Lorna turned toward him and bowed. “Yes Jaius?” “What does the difference in color mean for the sashes?” She looked away from him to Alise, whose eyebrow raised in surprise. With the anger and rage still coursing through him her pause seemed to infuriate him. “Is there a problem with your tongue Lorna, or should I have it removed?” as what came out of his mouth began to register with him deep inside him a part of him recoiled “Did I just say that?” Then he remembered the movie scene that just flashed in his head where a similar line was used. He had told his brain to come up with a tough persona, but he didn't think it would come up with someone that hard.
Her body went rigid and Alise went pale. Slowly Lorna turned back to him. “For...forgive me Jaius, please don't do this thing. I...I was merely surprised bye the question. We have known the meanings of the colors since we were small girls, but I just remembered that you are not of the clan. The colors denote rank, family, and status. Maleric wears the white of the heavens above as they are closer to the Eternal. It shows that his family rules the clan. Alise and I wear the blue of the Deep, as it is the color of our part of the clan, since the deep is the lowest part. We have no rank as yet for we have not yet been given in marriage, and our family is the lowest in the clan and so there is little hope we will be made wives.” Jaius saw Alise's shoulders sag somewhat when Lorna spoke of marriage.
“What is it Alise? Why does that make you sad?”
“We...we have been of age for being selected for wives for twenty years now Jaius, and none of the clansmen have claimed us. We will be frozen in this lowly stature until one of them choses one or both of us. We..we had hoped for awhile that Jekk would choose one of us, or possibly both, as he allowed us to stay with him. It is not uncommon for men of the clan to have more then one wife, or some even swap wives for a time.” Jaius's mind had shot into overload as the Pious Jaius recoiled as she spoke of marrying more then one person or swapping spouses. He also was having trouble registering that she said they had been of age to marry for twenty years. So much termoil was going on in his mind, that he only heard a part of the rest of what she said.
“If you have been of age for twenty years, how old are you?” He knew you weren't supposed to ask girls how old they were, but right now he didn't care.
“I have lived sixty years, Lorna has lived fifty five.”
His cold facade almost collapsed, his cold, but somehow he kept it together. These girls were just a few years younger than his grandparents were? Maybe Paltophern was like the planet that the Starship Enterprise found in the Star Trek: Insurrection movie, where the inhabitants of the planet they were studying lived for hundreds of years because of a certain radiation given off by their world's atmosphere.
“You will tell me what I need to know about the ways and history of the clan as we walk and as I change.”
Each one of them perked up a bit and raised their eyebrows, almost in perfect unison, as he said the last part. He suddenly felt like he had become some form of prey to them. He went over what he had just said and felt embarrassment rising. “You will advise me from the hallway! I have not chosen either of you.” Their faces fell, and he could see tears begin to leak out the sides of their eyes. “Opps, looks like that was what they might have been hoping for. Guess I made them play their hand. I need them though, they know how to survive here. As long as they think I might choose them, they will help me in whatever way I need.” He walked forward, passing between them. As he passed them he said. “Yet.”
He heard them both let their breaths out and quicker then he thought they could, they had caught up to him and began to tell him the traditions of the clan, talking over each-other in an attempt to please him. He had always imagined that two beautiful girls fighting over the chance to talk to him, would be the coolest thing ever. In that moment, however, all he felt was disgust rising in his gut. They wanted to use him for their own purposes, just like everyone else, they have no interest in who he really was, not like Ali. Ali was his friend. The Pious Jaius in his head pointed out, however, that he was using them too, playing off their desire to be chosen to get what he wanted. He shoved that voice into the back of his head.
They were walking down an alleyway between two buildings and they began trying to outdo eachother so ardently that he couldn’t understand either one. He looked back at them and they both froze seeing the look he gave them, their faces fell and they shut their mouths. He let the look soften, as he realized that he did need to know what they were telling him, but he also didn’t want them to stop being interested in him and leave. He knew using their fear of not being chosen to get what he needed wasn’t right, but having no other way of getting the information he needed he conceded that he would have to use them like they were using him.
“One at a time!” They both cringed just a little and he could see fear in their eyes. Alise was first one to recover and to respond. Jaius saw a twinkle of triumph glint from her eyes. She cleared her throat and began again.
“This settlement was founded by Maleric's father Jukas. He led his tribe out of the western lands and settled in this area. Jukas established this compound as a place for Maleric to rule his own part of the clan.”
“There are more peoples to the west then? Are there cities?” Asked Jaius.
Alise's mouth tried to form the unfamiliar word. “What are sssiiicties?”
“Never mind, what lies to the west?”
Alise and Lorna both paled slightly. “The west is forbidden. There is a curse out there, one that will take your life away from you. From the time of Maleric's father, we have been forbidden to go there.”
“What is this curse?”
“We don't know, but our parents told us when we were little and being bad that if we disobeyed too much the curse would reach out from the west and take us.”
Alise swallowed hard, but continued. “Every so often we notice someone or a few people coming out of the west. We are commanded to stay away from them. Sometimes they come up to our gate. They are given one chance to depart. If they do not, then they are taken inside and checked to see if they have the talent to sing the stones. If they do not, and show no other unique or new skill to benefit the clan then they are killed, but if they do have a useful skill then they are added to the clan. If they can sing the stones, however, well...” She slowly turned her head toward the barns that were at the corners of the complex. He saw tears forming in her eyes, cold fear clenching at her throat. Jaius followed her gaze, and then moved to stand between her and her view of the structure. “Alise”. She seemed to be still staring at the barn as if he wasn't even there. “Alise!” He said, putting a bit more venom into his voice, but still she was frozen. The anger from before fueled his frustration before Jaius even knew what he was doing, his hand swung back, palm open.
“Jaius!” Shouted Lorna. The shout stopped his hand. He looked over at the other girl. Lorna's hands had flown to cover her mouth as what she had just done dawned on her. Outside he was all cold mask, and anger, inside Jaius was warring with himself, that old desire to be a saint still holding out and struggling for control. “I almost hit a girl, what is happening to me?” He knew he couldn't deal with internal conflict right now, it might make him look weak. “What?” he spat. “I'm sorry Jaius, but...but...if she doesn't marry someone within this year, Maleric has said Alise...Alise will be sent to the Crounellas where she will be forced to use her talent to sing the stones. It is what happens to those who have the Talent...”
Jaius narrowed his eyes at Lorna for a long moment, but then turned back to Alise. “Sounds like a dungeon, one that you never graduate from.” He felt a connection to Alise in that moment, an understanding of living with gut churning fear. He finished moving the hand that he had drawn back and instead touched her cheek, in a controlled gentle motion. As soon as his hand touched her, she took a deep breath, as if she had been holding it all this time, and let it out. This was followed by her eyes darting wildly back and forth and tears starting to leak out of them. Then, for the briefest moment her eyes locked on his, and he saw it, he saw her, and he felt a click inside his head. Next thing he knew, she had thrown her arms around him and was sobbing into his shoulder. After a moment he put his arms around her. Just as it had when he had hugged Ali, his arms brought forth a waterfall from Alise. As he held her he stole a glance over at Lorna. She had her hand cupped over her mouth, her other arm was wrapped around her midsection. Her head was bent forward and he shoulder's were shaking.
A thought solidified in his head, so clearly he knew it was true. “They're sister's.” He reached out a hand to Lorna. “Lorna.” He said loudly, but with a softer tone than he had been using. She glanced up, tears streaking her face. “What happens to you at the end of the year? Do you go there too?” Lorna hung her head and shook it. “I can't sing the stones, and so, at the end of the year I...I will have no further use for the clan and so...I will be killed. Jekk kept Alise with him because she could sing the stones for him, and since I am her sister he allowed me to stay also, but Maleric had had enough of us consuming the clan’s resources and not providing anything in return and so he set a deadline for the end of the year. Either someone chooses us, or Alise is sent to the Crounellas and I will be sent to the woods to be hunted and killed. ”
She said the last part so softly that it was almost hard for his improved hearing. He caught it though and extended his other hand to her. She looked at the outstretched hand. She stared at it, as if she had no idea what he wanted from her. Then the gesture slowly began to sink in. She took one step, then hesitated, then slowly took another. Her next step was a bit more sure and confident, and bye the fourth she was running toward him. She grabbed at his hand like it was a life preserver and threw her other arm around Alise, she laid her face against Alise's back and continued to sob. Jaius closed his arms around both as best he could. He felt this weird euphoria in that moment, this went beyond using him, they needed him. For some reason they thought that Maleic's son would want them when others did not. Whatever that reason was, he needed their help, as much as they could give him, and they would be removed from him by the end of the year if they were not married and so the most simplistic answer lodged itself in his brain. He opened his mouth and out came,
“If no one marries you both by the year's end, then I shall marry you both, before the last day of the year.” That Pious voice screamed at him inside his head. Every catechism that he had ever learned, every CCD class he had attended screamed in his mind that he couldn't do that, but when he heard Alise and Lorna's cries turn to expressions of joy, he lost all ear for the voices shouting inside his head. They needed him. For some reason that seemed to be one of the most important thing in his life. That these two needed him. One image did pierce through the haze, Ali. She needed him too, she was stuck back at that village, she might be able to play Queen for a while, but someone will eventually see through her charade and then, he didn't go down that pathway in his head. “How do I save Ali, and Alise and Lorna?” He looked down at the two girls and then inward to the image of Ali. He couldn't find an answer to the question of how to rescue Ali at this moment, so he set that aside and focused on trying to figure out how to survive the rest of the day and keep these two alive also.
He lay on his bed that night trying to process the events of the day. That morning he was trapped inside a glowing bubble, thirteen hours later he was prince of a fortress, with two girls he promised to marry, and only one man in the whole complex to fear. It was like something they'd run on the sci-fy channel. From what he had gathered from Lorna and Alise, these Crounellas power the entire complex. Constant music was produced by slaves who could sing and it kept a steady flow of energy heading to each building, and also in a radius of a few leagues from the outer walls. They alternate, two of the buildings are active during the day, while two are not, then they switch at night. It would seem that they give the slaves rest out of necessity rather than any form of compassion. Compassion, the thought of this word had him wondering where his was disappearing too. He felt nothing as Jekk lay bleeding in the muck, but then he saved his life. He was inches away from slapping Alise in the face, and within minutes he is consoling her and Lorna.
“Who am I now?” “How do you go from school loser to head of the pack so quickly?” He briefly let in images of him doing to Steve Pennington what he just did to Jekk. Then he shook his head. He had to stop imagining before he finished Steve like he did Jekk. Again the confusion arose.
Jekk wouldn't have felt this way, if he had done the same to Jaius, and Steve surely wouldn't have felt this way. “Why do I have to care!” he growled softly. He was way too wired to sleep, so he threw off the cover and sat up on the edge of the bed. He looked down at himself and pulled at the fabric of the body suit that Lorna had explained to him how it worked. He could feel the slight vibration that came from the suit. Too slight to notice, unless he concentrated. But the suit creates a field that takes care of cleaning your body and also removing liquid and solid waste. The waste is collected in concealed pouches and then the field disintegrates it. It reminded him of the Stillsuit from the movie Dune. He then threw on a long tunic and leather pants. He paused before opening the door, and reached out and took the The white sash that had two gold bands around it from the chair near the wall and put it on. Alise had warned him not to walk around without it, especially at night. He opened the door and strode out into the hall and fell forward onto his face. Embarrassment began to fuel his rage. “This must be what it's like for Bruce Banner, for this anger to come on so suddenly.” He pushed up and turned to look back at what had tripped him. There, huddled together were Alise and Lorna, they were staring at him with terror in their eyes. “What do you think you are doing, laying outside my door!” He said through clenched teeth. They looked at each other, but Lorna was the first to answer. “It is...tradition for chosen women to sleep outside the door of the one who chose them.” The anger rolled just beneath the surface. “I didn't choose you yet, I said...”
In not much more than a whisper, but with force behind it, Alise said. “...you said that if no one chose us by the year's end, then you would marry us.” “And how does that translate into, I have chosen you?” “Jaius, there is no one else to choose us before the end of the year. We have tried and tried for years, and all because our father displeased Maleric, we are cursed to not be chosen. Jaius you are the only one left, the only one to whom shame would not come if you married us, you are our only hope. The Son of Maleric alone is not bound by this decree of shame from Maleric.” “How many people have seen you outside my door?” There was a long pause, as they looked at each-other. “How many!” “Five” A touch of icy fear swirled through his rage. “This is really happening, I'm gonna be married at the end of the year. What do married people do?” They both looked at him. “Jaius, if...if you don't...don't want us. Please take us now to the woods and end our lives. You have shown us kindness by even making that promise and I think we could accept a death at your hands.” Said Lorna, as they both looked down at the floor.
The anger lessened and he pushed himself up and looked down at them. They didn't look up at him. “Sleep by the door.” He then turned on his heel and strode toward the main entrance. Behind him he heard a slight, joy-filled, whimpering. He opened the main door, and the loan sentry turned with staff in hand and pointed it toward him. Jaius eyed the glowing red crystal at the end of the staff. He wanted to cringe, but he just knew that would show weakness. From what he's seen, weakness could mean death around here. So he arched his right eyebrow as best he could. When the guard saw his sash he did a slight double take, but then very quickly lowered the staff.
“Your pardon Sir.” Said the guard. As he straightened back up and turned to look forward. “We'll see about my pardon when I return.” Said Jaius as he passed the man. He heard the man stiffen, and he swore he heard him not breathing until Jaius was almost twenty yards away. Jaius shook his head. “These hard responses are becoming too natural, this coldness, why is it getting easier? It's like getting a character to ninty-ninth level in Final Fantasy and just walking around slaughtering everything around you, except here if you slip up you don’t get to start over from a save crystal.”
He climbed the steps to the top of the wall and looked out over the waters of the river below him. The compound was set on a large island in the middle of this wide river. He glanced at the rafts that were tied to this shore. They float people across the river to the shore or back to the compound. They float on the crystal’s like Maleric does. Beyond the river a large mountain rose in the distance. He pretended that he had x-ray vision and could see through that mountain to the village where he prayed Ali was still alive. He imagined her walking out the main doors in a glittering dress and looking through the same mountain at him. She smiled and waved, and he found that he was waving back. Jerked back to reality by the foolish movement, he looked around to check who had seen, but he couldn't locate anyone looking his way.
A warm wind blew around him, and the noises of animals surrounded him. “Where the heck is this place, how did we get here? Why are we here? What am I becoming?” He tried to answer each question, but could find nothing logical to present as an answer. Except the last one, he was becoming hard, even uncaring, This was something very new to him. But he felt strong, and he loved it. Loved knowing that if he ever saw Steve Pennington again, if Steve ever even sneered at him again, Jaius could actually rearrange his face. Who would have thought that all those years of watching movies and playing video games would actually turn him into a fighting machine. The warm hand on his back almost made him jump, but he remembered at the last moment to be hard. He looked behind him and saw Alise and Lorna standing there behind him. “What?” He said with a little more harshness than he had intended.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“We're sorry Jaius, we didn't mean to disturb you, but it has been more than a hour since you left, we...we had been worried.”
He looked them over for a long moment before shaking his head. “Stop worrying, the only one here who could have a chance against me is Maleric and I have no intention of challenging him.” “Not yet anyway.” He turned back to the view before him. Quietly they walked up to stand on either side of him. They stood silent like sentinels. They stood that way for quite some time. After a little while he caught himself glancing at them out of the corner of his eyes. He studied them. “Who were they? How can they be 60 years old yet seem like they are less than twenty?” Thinking of them this way, as people, not just pieces in a chess game of survival, it began to unnerve his cool, and began to soften the stone wall around his heart.
He felt it then, weakness, the weakness that comes from a fracturing confidence and something else he couldn't place. He had to get away from them, clear his head. He turned on his heel and strode away. “I'm tired now, I'm headed to bed.” As he moved he could hear them turn without speaking and follow him. This submissive attitude they had toward him was also unnerving. He'd never seen any of the women that lived in Black Canyon act like this. His sister would have cut his head off if he'd talked to her like he did to Alise and Lorna. Here it seemed the norm though, all the women he'd seen, walked behind the men, deferred to them. Keri Bellows would never have survived here. She would have tried to take over, and Maleric would have had her for lunch, unless she could sing, like Ali. That brought some frustration boiling inside him. Maleric could sing, could make the crystals do as he pleased, Jaius couldn't hold a tune to save his life.
Lost in his thoughts he suddenly found himself approaching the guard. Jaius put on an extra stern mask and the guard stood up straighter and then quickly opened the door for Jaius. He could still hear Alise and Lorna following behind him. He headed back to his room and closed the door. He heard them settle themselves in front of the door. He leaned his head against it and listened. This close he could hear them whispering to each other.
“He is a handsome sister, and strong. And he hasn't hit us yet.” Lorna said quietly. “He tried” Alise shot back. “I know, but Jekk would beat on us at his pleasure. All I'm saying is that he has been more generous to us than any man that I've seen here in the clanhold, any man I've seen anywhere.” “Except for Father, he always looked out for us.” This is true Alise, but why, sister, why is he different from the other's?” “I don't know, but I am grateful for it. For his mercy in choosing us. I had begun to think that death would be better than being sent to the...” “Shhh, don't think about it, you will start crying again. He chose us, we are safe as long as we continue to please him.” “I will do anything he asks.” “As will I.”
Jaius pulled away from the door at that. “If my ego gets any bigger my head will explode. Anything I want, what is this, caveman days?” Scenes from a movie called Clan of the Cave bear flew through his head. But that thought didn't go away, and it began to burn in him and kept him from sleeping.
He woke up with a start. Maleric stood over him, his face was unreadable. The old Jaius would have screamed like a little girl, but sleeping on the ground for a month or more and waking up drenched, had gotten rid of sudden shocks in the morning. He sat up in a controlled motion and sat back against the wall. He bowed his head. “Sire.”
“You chose Lorna and Alise? Do you think so low of yourself that you would choose two whose Sire and Siress, and most of their part of the clan are in the Cronulluses?. They displeased me greatly ten years ago. They sheltered one of the strangers from the west, and then let him leave. Jekk had seen them helping him escape. I spared the two girls to increase the family's dishonor, so that they would bear it openly. Jekk allowed them because they were useful to him, but he would never have married them!” He bellowed. Jaius didn't flinch, which shocked him to the core. Such a yell would have literally made him crap his pants a few weeks ago. He noticed two shadows on the floor next to Maleric, they were extending from the door. He had made them watch the exchange, to further destroy them. Jaius's blood burned deep inside him. Maleric was the king of all bullies, but he kept a lid on it, he knew he couldn't challenge Maleric, yet. Slowly a plan began to form in his head.
“They are the perfect choice Sire. Because of your just punishment they have no other family to plot against us, or to use them to curry favor. They are facing the same fate as their family, and if I rescue them they will be forever loyal to us, without thought of any agenda of their own. They will be safe from the Crounellas and death as long as they stay loyal to us. I believe I speak true when I say they would do anything to avoid that.”
Maleric looked as though he was about to scream at him, but instead he began to laugh. 'You are twice the son that Jekk was. He was strong, but not very smart. You on the other hand have strength and a quick mind.” Quick as an Asp his head shot down so that his nose was inches from Jaius's. “Just don't think that your quicker then me boy!” Jaius nodded his head. “I won't Sire.” Maleric searched Jaius from a moment then stood back up. “ Your reasoning is sound, you can have them if you wish, but if they betray us in any way, you will share their fate.
Maleric studied him for a moment then turned and walked toward the door. He saw Alise and Lorna move out of his way and bow. “Come.” Maleric said over his shoulder. Jaius only waited a moment before jumping out of the bed and moving to where his clothes hung on the back of the chair. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Lorna and Alise standing back in the doorway looking at him. They were smiling at him with tears in their eyes. He looked away. “Shut the door.” A moment later he heard it shut. “Ali.” he whispered. “I’ll come and rescue you too, no matter what, but I also have to make a way for him not to hurt them.”
He got the rest of his clothes on and then headed out into the hall. Lorna and Alise fell in behind him. When they reached the doors, Maleric was talking with a bald man, who had tattoos all up and down his arms. He wore a white sash with one gold knot on it. They paused when Jaius and the two women entered the main foyer. The man eyed Jaius up first, saw his sash, looked quickly at Maleric, and then glanced over Lorna and Alise as if they were not even there. “Besnin, this is my son Jaius. He has proven to be a true Son of Maleric, and has brought some honor back to my name.” Deep inside him a point of pride bloomed. Maleric might be the world's biggest bully, but Jaius had to admit that hearing him praise him felt good. Luz bowed his head to Jaius. “Son of Maleric.” Jaius noded his head in return. “Young Master. I was just telling your father of what has been happening since you left the Catha-Dral.” Jaius looked a bit confused. “Forgive me, it is the building that the Hyress rules from. She has summoned all those who have skill in crafting tools and working metal. She has them locked in a room day and night making something, I haven't been able to find out what yet, but I will once I return there. She has also sent out her armed men to retrieve Horuses from the far plains, I haven't figured out why yet either.” He turned to Maleric. “I won't fail at finding this out.” “I know you won't.” Maleric replied, not looking at Besnin, but the threat was clear in his tone. Maleric was staring at Jaius. “I found the two of you together, in that clearing. You know her well then?” “I do.” Said Jaius, his inner cool wavering. He remembered at dinner that first night when Maleric had asked him something and he had not wanted to say it so he lied. Maleric had taken him into a back room and placed him on this machine that looked like a water wheel. He strapped him to it and pulled a lever. Jaius's arms and legs were made to stretch and the machine didn't stop but kept going. The pain was indescribable, and then it ended. Maleric then proceeded to tell him that he always knows when someone lies, and if he ever lied to him again, he wouldn't stop the machine. Shuddering slightly inside as he came out of the memory he stared at Maleric “What is he getting at?”
“What is she building in secret? Why does she summon the Horuse from the far plain?” Jaius thought for a moment. “As to what she is building, I don't know as far as I knew she didn't know how to build anything besides a fire. To the other thing, What is a Horuse?” Besnin man looked at him with a raised eyebrow but proceeded to answer. “It is a large animal that has a long nose, a mane of hair and a long tail. Powerfully built, they can run very fast over long distances.” “Horses?” “No sir, Horuses's, do you know this animal?” “I think so, we have something similar where we come from.” “What do your people do with them?” Maleric asked drawing Jaius’s attention back to him.
Jaius had to think a minute, he had never been much of one for the outdoors, or things that lived in them. “They are used for pulling loads, and also for riding.” “What do you mean ride?” Said Maleric. “You get on their backs and they do all the running for you.” Maleric's eyes narrowed. “How much can they carry?” Jaius thought for a moment and then remembered one of the movie King Arthur. “They used to carry grown men, wearing full plate armor, into battle.” Something seemed to wither inside him when he said that. A cold pit, like a portal to the Antarctic opened in his stomach. What Maleric said next helped him identify why he felt this icy grip on his heart. “She's going to mount those men of hers, the ones with the crystal Armor.” Maleric turned to Besnin. “Stop this, in whatever way you can!” Then find out what she is building.” “Yes Maleric!” Besnin said crisply.
Jaius let none of the frigged fingers that gripped his heart show as he watched Luz bow to them both and then turn crisply and levee down a narrow hallway. “ I just wrecked Ali’s plans to defeat Maleric. Now he has a spy there. The spy will tell him what Ali is doing and I’ll be forced to tell him how to counter it. She’s going to think I betrayed her, but if I don’t then he will kill me on that machine.” Maleric nodded to him, then proceeded through the front door. Jaius paused just briefly to look over his shoulder. Alise and Lorna stood about five feet behind him, their heads bent forward. His now sharp eyes caught Alise's blue eyes staring at him through her honey colored locks. When she saw him looking, she kept his gaze for just a moment, before casting her eyes down. “Come on.” He said and then followed Maleric.
Maleric was heading toward the far corner of the complex, toward the barn that Jaius had first encountered Jekk at. He saw Maleric go into the side entrance, the one by the pic pen. As he reached for the door handle he turned to stare at the pen. There was someone standing in the pen. They were gently stroking the pic's as they ate. He was covered in muck, and didn't seem to mind. The man turned and for the first time since he fought Jekk, Jaius lost his cool. Jaius stared at Jekk, stared at the gaping holes where Jekk's eyes had been. There were teeth missing from his mouth, and drool dripping from lips that wouldn't close right. Jaius felt everything unraveling, he wanted to run, to hide, to cry until his heart gave out and he died. A whirlwind began in his head, it was filled with all the things he had hidden away in order to keep his cool. The whirlwind began to turn him away from the door, urging him to run to the hills. Then suddenly it stopped and his cool slammed back down like a blast door. It happened so suddenly that it took him a moment to figure out what had happened. Alise had stood in front of him, had placed one of her cool hands on one of his clammy cheeks and the other she placed over his mouth, which she was slowly pulling away from him. For a moment that seemed to drag on for hours they were frozen there, inches apart, eyes locked. Then time started again. Fear filled the clear blue pools of her eyes and her hand flew to her mouth. “I'm sorry Jaius, please don't send me away, it's just I heard you begin to scream and...and I didn't want Maleric....I'm...please don't send me away.” The last word swam in desperation. Clarity began to creep slowly back into his head, and he was able to understand what she had just done. He reached out and took her hand away from her mouth. Tears leaked out of her eyes, but she looked deeply into him. “You proved your loyalty here Alise. You risked everything to save me. I won't forget my promise to you.” He squeezed her hand, and then went to open the door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lorna, with her head down. What had made him pause was her whispering, “...and for me?” He closed his eyes for a minute. Then he looked at her. “I will honor my word to both of you. Now come.” and he opened the door.
Inside he saw the row upon row of plant life and the large crystal shower stall that he had reveled in. He also saw the large copper wires that ran along the walls. They branched off every ten feet or so to run down to strings of softly glowing crystals that were suspended two feet above the plants. Jaius then saw Maleric place his hand against the far wall and a part of the floor rotated away to reveal stairs leading down. He looked then at Jaius and Alise and Lorna, and then motioned to the step. Jaius didn't hesitate, but he had to pause and look back when he didn't hear the other's following him.
He saw Lorna tugging at Alise, pleading, in loud whispers for her to follow, but Alise couldn't move, her eyes locked upon the hole.
Jaius moved purposefully over to them. He looked at Lorna. “Why does she get paralyzed every time she sees these barns?” Fear covered her face. “When we were little, we…we were trapped below for two days, for two days we could only sit there and watch the horror of those rooms below. I was younger then her and so didn’t know what was happening, but Alise, she had to watch the whole time..” He placed himself right in front of Alise and stared into her eyes. “Alise.” She didn't even seem to see him. “Alise!” The bite in his voice cut through enough for her eyes to focus on him. As she came out of the trance, her body began to shake and tears formed in her eyes. Jaius grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. “Alise you have to hold it together. If Malreic becomes too displeased with you then he may send you away no matter what I say. So snap out of it and come on. Stop thinking about what might be and focus on what is!”
Still trembling, but with color returning to her face Alise began to nod her head. Not waiting for the nodding to stop, Jaius took her right hand and led her toward the hole. Lorna let out the breath she had been holding and followed behind.
They descended steps that protruded from the side of the cylinder. They went down about twenty feet and then came to a landing. The room at the bottom was covered in scintillating hues, all the colors of the spectrum played along the walls. They were coming from a large crystal door set in the far wall. As they approached it Jaius could feel the vibrations coming from it. Maleric pressed a small crystal set in the wall, and the door slid open. As it did music flooded the room. Beautiful couldn't even begin to describe it. Jaius couldn't even describe it, but it tugged at his heart. The only word that came close was an Aria. He followed Maleric in, practically dragging Alise, while Lorna pushed her from behind. He could only take a few steps into this nightmare. Within seconds he knew why Alise and Lorna hated this place. The music was beautiful, but the way it was produced was horrific. People were strapped to beds with an apparatus made of bladders and straps that appeared to compress their abdomens and thoraxes in precise motions to produce air, and then there was an intricate head gear made of red crystal and leather and fabric that did the same to open their mouths at the right degrees. They all wore the same body suits that he and the others did. Some of the beds were in a position that had the people upright. These were the ones currently singing. About a third of them were horizontal and these people were asleep. The absolute worst part, the part that turned his stomach was their eyes, they all were shedding tears, unending tears. Here they were surrounded by the most beautiful sound ever and yet they drowned in sorrow. And they would continue to do so all their days. “They are all slaves of the world's biggest bully. I have got to find a way to stop this, and free these people.” In his worst nightmares he had never imagined a bully this bad.
Maleric turned and looked at him. “Behold your inheritance boy. These here power this entire complex. Ye' need not sing a note within these walls, and also about a league beyond them. Day and night they meet our needs. They have found their usefulness to the clan. They struggled for so long to find a way to be useful, but when they despaired I showed them their usefulness. Their tears are ones of joy for finally having purpose.”
He spoke like a father having just provided his child with an amazing gift. The furnace of wrath that had been burning inside Jaius since the fight with Jekk, began to increase. He had to use all his strength to stamp it down before it let loose and got him and the two girls killed....or worse...he had to concede as he looked at the tables set around the room.
“Your gift is beyond my ability to put into words Sire, but how does it function?”
Maleric narrowed his gaze at Jaius and held his eyes for a while. He then nodded and looked back toward the tables. “They sing, and the crystals suspended before them vibrates and produces energy that courses through these cables and powers the different apparatuses suspended around the complex.” Jaius had failed to notice the sapphire crystals suspended before the prisoners. As they sang before it the crystal glowed and the cable it was attached to vibrated. Something else caught Jaius's attention. The floor was a solid circle of gold. The amount of Gold in the floor boggled his mind. Even if it was only a foot deep, it would still be enough gold to buy a small island. He felt pretty sure that it went deeper than one foot.
“Thank you for placing these in my trust, I will make sure they are taken care of.” Jaius said, hoping that it was an appropriate response. Since he learned of Maleric's ability to hear lies he has had to become a very quick wordsmith.
Maleric looked at him and Jaius could see a flame dancing in his eyes. Maleric took two crystal encrusted gloves from where they rested in his belt at the nape of his back. He placed them on his fingers and held them out over the Gold Circle. Arc's and crackles of red energy began to dance across the gold circle, and then the arcs began to become organized and they moved toward Maleric. When they reached him they began to stream up and around his body. His hair began to wave as if a strong wind was blowing, fiery sparks jumping off the ends of his hair. As he became bathed in a crimson light he turned quickly toward Jaius and pointed his fingers at Jaius. Red electricity flew from those fingers and hit Jaius, and pain wracked his body, every nerve alight, he could feel the energy burning him. Images from Return of the Jedi flooded his mind. Blue lightning streaming from the Emperor's hands to hit Luke. He'd often wondered what Luke was going through in that moment, he never figured that he'd actually find out. And as quickly as it had come it left and Jaius crumpled to the floor whimpering, collapsing into a fetal position.
His cool was gone, burned away in that searing pain. His eyes sprung open as a rough fist grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look up. “That, I hope, is the only lesson you will need boy, I rule here, I defend every inch of this ground. If I should ever die, then this will be yours, not before. You are a better choice then Jekk was to succeed me, but you best hope that no one better comes along. That is lesson two, never allow competition to exist for the things you want. Know your place Jaius, and pray that I never see you as competition. Do you understand? “ Jaius nodded, and then a whimper escaped his mouth. Deep inside his brain, beneath the searing pain and fear that now gripped him, his brain had caught a third lesson that he hoped Maleric did not notice that he had learned. Jaius didn't need to learn how to sing to use the crystals while he was in the compound. He could fight Maleric on equal terms. But he would have to wait, wait till the right moment.
Maleric let him go and walked out of the room. Alise and Lorna bowed low as he approached and did not rise until they were sure that he was gone from the room. They then rushed over to Jaius. They gently reached out and touched him, and when he didn't recoil, Alise pulled him up to her and put her arms around him. He lost all thoughts of cold masks and emotionless commands and just let her hold him, he found himself crying as he buried his face into her shoulder, he knew he was showing weakness to them, but right then he couldn't stop it.
Then a soft voice began singing in his ear. It was Alise, and the beauty of her voice seemed to drown out the Aria that played around them. A peace began to enter his heart, and some of the pain began to recede. In that moment he knew he could never look at these two as slaves or something to be used, they were his friends. He pulled away from Alise and looked at them both with tears still in his eyes.
“I have to tell you both something, by telling you this I am showing you my weakness, but I...I trust you both... you are more to me then some slaves...you are.. my friends...” They seemed to become confused at that word, and they looked at each other trying to see if the other had understood. “You are equal to me in my eyes, I don't see you as less than me, I want you to be with me, not because it's expected, or because of some promise, but because I enjoy spending time with you. That is what friend means.” His words finally sank in and they both sat back for a moment, wonder dancing in their eyes as the two sisters looked at each other, and then at him and smiles brighter than the sun blossomed on their faces. “Jaius, we will stay with you no matter what, even if the world burns away we will stand with you till our dying breath, not out of duty but...” Alise looked at Lorna before continuing. Lorna nodded her head vigorously in acknowledgment. “...but because we want to be with you. You are the most amazing man we have ever met.” Jaius smiled too. “It's good to have friends again. I need to tell you that a month ago I wasn't who you see before you. A month ago Jekk would have eaten me alive and spit me out, I would have wet myself at the sight of Maleric, but this world has changed me, at first I thought that change was awesome, but I feel something trying to drive away my feelings, my compassion, something trying to make me hard as stone. I don't want to become unfeeling, I don't want to become stone. I'm not a murderer, what I did to Jekk, it is eating me alive. I ruined him, and there is no fixing him.”
The smiles lessened from Alise and Lorna's lips but did not fully fade, and Jaius was sure that meant that they were rethinking their feelings for him, as Alise spoke, he found that they had been rethinking their feelings, but not for the worse but better. “Jaius, you are stronger than Maleric, because that compassion is in you. You have something that he doesn't and on some level I think he knows it, and it worries him. This is not weakness Jaius but strength. You must keep it hidden though, or else he will see it and will kill you.”
Jaius looked both of them in the eyes and asked. “Will you help me to keep it hidden, while at the same time helping me not to lose it?” “I will help you Jaius Arnuwen.” Said Lorna as she threw her arms around him and laid her head against his. “And I will also help you Jaius Arnuwen.” Said Alise with a huge smile as she also threw her arms around them and laid her head against his on the opposite side from her sister. “Arnuwen?” He whispered. “It means, one who is close to the heart .” They said at the same time. “Our mother used it when she spoke to us.” Jaius held them tighter and they sat there for long minutes, basking in the healing of wounds. Behind them, in the far corner of the row of beds, the tears stopped flowing for a few moments from the eyes of a man and woman who were imprisoned next to each other, and a thin line of a smile touched their lips