Sergun's Mission Page 15

  When he went to bed Yurul was waiting for him. She was trembling. ‘Are they catching up with us?’

  Sergun explained.

  ‘If they catch up with us I’m throwing myself overboard. I’d rather drown.’

  He assured her no one appeared to be catching them and put his arms around her and they slept peacefully. He awoke early for his turn to watch. It was cold in the early morning and hot wine warmed him. He was careful not to disturb her.

  The ship made good time and there were no crafts chasing they were able to detect. Yurul was calmer in the morning and spoke. She’d gotten out of the habit while in captivity. Clad in a yellow dress from the Lord’s collection she looked both beautiful and elegant. Sergun hoped she would recover from whatever loathsome experiences she experienced while a prisoner. They ate a light breakfast together of orange juice and moon fruit. He took her on the deck while the waves were low. The men and Galls ignored or treated her respectfully. Sunlight sparkled off the water as if thousands of candles were burning beneath the gentle waves. He stood holding the rail with Yurul beside him. She held onto his arm. They both admired the view. She covered her eyes with her other hand and said, ‘the light’s making me feel dizzy. It’s so bright out here, can we go back inside?’

  They did and talked of simple, safe things, like Sergun’s home and family, what their favourite foods were and funny things which had happened to them. She wanted a nap at lunch and Sergun left her to talk to Grer. He could guess how long she must have been kept in the underground pens and shuddered.

  ‘Didn’t they try that dammed dust on you, Grer?’ Sergun asked.

  ‘One tried, I cut her head off.’

  Sergun smiled.

  ‘I think it’s why they didn’t want us in their city as some of their drugs don’t work on us Galls as they do on humans.’

  ‘That would explain it; there are times I wish I was like you. Did some of your comrades leave? They don’t all appear to be on the ship.’

  ‘Half grew restless and went south heading home. The better half stayed with me, we were enough.’

  Sergun washed and went to the mess to see how his comrades’ were coping with the voyage. Most of the Galls were on deck or in their cabins, only Sarish and Kall were present. He poured wine and sat down. He again thanked both of the people for their great help.

  ‘I wish we’d time to kill Arconis. I longed for that moment for so long and can’t believe he managed to escape.’

  Sergun nodded. ‘He talked to me while I was bound. He’s all powerful, confident and unable to conceive that he is doing wrong.’

  ‘He was always confident and willing to please those above him. He’s a born sadist with an obsession with women.’

  ‘You were sent to kill him?’

  ‘He’d raped and killed a girl and I was hired for revenge.’

  ‘He likes young girls?’

  ‘Yes, and he was always ambitious. I didn’t imagine he’d become so powerful.’

  ‘If I could have killed him I would have.’

  ‘Would you go back and try again?’ Sarish asked.

  Not there again. Ever! ‘No, I was ordered to save Jannesse, and that took us to the City of Dreams. Now she’s coming home. My mission is now over’

  Sergun saw a hard expression come over Sarish as if her face muscles were suddenly frozen. He wanted to say he would help her but his task was nearly complete and his family would be missing him. Becoming involved further in a personal vendetta against the Lord wasn’t acceptable.

  ‘I’ll go back and kill him.’

  Sergun nodded. ‘Revenge is a powerful motive. You’ve Jehran who loves you, why not live for one another instead, rather than risk you both dying to kill a man?’

  ‘And I’d live knowing the man who scarred me for life and will have abused many women will live on and continue to do so. For how long must he be allowed to live?’

  ‘Life is not fair. Killing him won’t stop slavery in the cities, someone will take his place. Such people exist in many places and you cannot kill them all.’

  ‘I don’t expect to change a way of life. I’m not a dreamer. Killing him alone will satisfy me. It’s he I wish to kill not everyone like him.’

  Her fury hadn’t subsided. He hoped she would overcome it, as risking her and Jehran’s lives and perhaps dying or being captured would be a poor end for them both. Sarish left the room and Sergun wondered if Jehran would be able to persuade her to change her plans. Lord Arconis was sure to increase his security after the attack. Masks would protect against dust but the port was sure to be better guarded. To go back to the City of Dreams and hope to kill Lord Arconis and escape with your life would require a person more cunning than he or a greater force of soldiers. He hoped she would accept the Lord was sure to have many enemies and one of them would kill him one day.

  Sergun sat on the deck with Jehran.

  ‘Now I understand why they call this city one of dreams. I think they meant nightmares. It’s a play on words and meanings. A dirty trick.’ Jehran said.

  ‘Perhaps the original founders were good people. They died long ago and those who took their place corrupted it. I never want to go back to that dammed place.’ said Sergun.

  ‘I want to and will go again.’ Sarish declared.

  Jehran nodded. ‘While that man’s head is still on his shoulders we’ll not rest.’

  Sergun could see no way he would encounter the Lord again. Such a cruel one was sure to meet his end soon. A disgruntled employee, a rival, a vengeful slave. His mission near completed, he was looking forward to the reward and to return to his family. He had escaped the City of Dreams with two girls and friends. He longed for the comfort and safety of home. It was still several days away but it warmed him. Would he ever be able to tell his son what had really happened? His wife he could. She was sure to listen attentively and would shudder and wince and smile when expected. He would not tell her of chastely sharing the bed with Yurul. She could be jealous and he didn’t want to spoil his homecoming.

  He still had his gift to give. The corrupt Lord hadn’t searched for that. They had only removed his weapons and bound him.

  24. A Meeting

  Kall told him Jannesse was travelling with Thear, the son of Lord Chromosal when she was captured and she needed to speak to him. He went to her cabin. She looked beautiful wearing a fine red dress in a style his wife admired. She was clean and very different now washed and dressed in fashionable clothing. He hoped she would not become a slave to revenge like Sarish. He smiled and said, ‘my lady, I’m told you wish to speak to me.’ He was relieved to have finally found her.

  ‘General Sergun. It’s a great honour to meet you, and I’m better suited to greet you now I’m refreshed. For you and your soldiers and companions to travel so far to save me fills me with gratitude and debt,’ she said as she smiled. She asked him to sit. ‘My family will be long grateful for you and your comrade’s bravery.’

  She was a pretty girl. If she’d was his daughter he would not have allowed her to the Raider lands under any circumstances. ‘You’re welcome, at times I regretted our mission but seeing both of you saved from that place I’m happy. Is it true Thear was travelling with you?’

  ‘It’s true, I’ll speak of him in a moment, but I’ve something of great importance to tell you. And I must tell only you… I’m a spy for the Government.’ Jannesse said.

  Sergun smiled, thinking it was a joke. ‘Seriously lady what is it you wish from me?’

  Her expression changed and her smile was no longer friendly. Then she smiled again. ‘Look, I’m a girl right. I go on the expedition into the Raider’s lands as a spy because I’m the last person anyone will think is one.’

  ‘Did you bang your head hard?’ he asked with sympathy.

  She sighed. ‘The point of being a spy is not to be suspected. That’s why spies aren’t normally tough soldiers like you. Bit obvious! I assure you I work for the Government and this is a secret between me and
you. Why else would I go on such a crazy adventure? I had to pose as a silly, curious girl of course.’

  ‘But let’s say this is true. You were captured. Why didn’t you escape, being trained in the ways of a spy?’

  ‘Of course, I tried to escape. My horse wasn’t as strong as theirs and they are good trackers. I didn’t have a sword or weapons. Was I meant to fight them unarmed? I carried poison on me but there were too many of them. I wanted to stay alive to tell the Government the information I discovered.’

  ‘Why tell me?’

  ‘It’ll take me days to get to the capital. There must be no delay. We have a quest to obtain the oracle. Anyone who has a government’s pendant can be trusted. Did you think we were north of Tharne because the scenery is nice?’

  She explained it was an expedition to uncover an ancient artefact called the Oracle. Sergun thought it was a myth but she was insistent it was what they were close to discovering. It was north of the borders of Tharne and in Raider territory.

  ‘Let someone else deal with that. We’ve had enough for our small army for now.’ Sergun replied. He was mildly curious, her explanation for her capture in such an area made sense but their mission was complete and they wanted to go home. He wasn’t an explorer of ancient artefacts. He was a soldier.

  ‘The oracle, the seer of all knowledge who guided us to the fertile lands and gave us the plans for metal work, to make tools, to construct solid buildings.’

  Sergun thought it was a myth. ‘No one’s spoken to the oracle in hundreds of years. It’s a myth.’

  Records so far back in time were sketchy. Ancient written records recorded fires in the sky and a leader who spoke to the oracle who organised them against the Keratha to resist them. Saved them from annihilation.

  ‘We had an orb.’

  ‘A what?’

  ‘Like jewellery but it has powers. It’s in the shape of a ring. It contained a red gem. When close to the oracle the gem pulsates. We were going to use it to track down the oracle.’

  ‘Where’s this gem now?’

  ‘The Raiders took it.’

  ‘Then it’s gone, we’ll never find it.’ He couldn’t see a way to find a jewel among so many peoples.

  ‘It pulsated in the forests of Delani. And I know which Raider took it from us. We must hunt him, find the gem, go back to the forest and locate the oracle. I hid the gem when we were under attack but they searched me and found it.’

  ‘It’s quite a story and too much of a task for us to carry out. How would you recognise this Raider anyway?’

  He could see she was furious but smiled thinly, spoke calmly and she said, ‘the Raider is called Thos Eren.’

  ‘We killed him.’

  She was surprised. ‘Good, did your men find the jewel?’

  ‘We weren’t looking for jewels when we killed him we took his head for proof to the Keratha.’

  Stealing valuables from the wounded or dead was a serious offence. He doubted any would have stolen it from the corpse.

  ‘I’m glad he’s dead. He was a filthy scumbag. Will you take me back there? It’ll be excellent to have a man of your skills and knowledge of the area.’

  Sergun recognised her flattery but wasn’t foolish enough to be won over so easily. He’d been away long enough already. ‘My task was to find you and bring you back alive. I’ve been away from home for too long and we’ve lost good men. I look forward to going home. Anyway, Arconis will surely have sent someone to retrieve the oracle?’

  ‘That pervert, I didn’t tell him what we were hunting for and it wasn’t my mind he desired. He had me screaming for mercy within a few minutes.’

  ‘I doubt I’d have lasted much longer,’ Sergun confessed. ‘You said you were travelling with Thear, what happened to him?’

  Jannesse nodded, grimaced and finally said, ‘he was with us, we were attacked by a large party of Raiders, they overcame our guards and he was wounded in the melee. They left him to die not wanting such a young male as a slave.’

  Sergun winced. He’d only met Thear a few times in his life, the last time was three years ago when the boy was a skinny, pale confident and energetic child. He was Lord Chromosol’s second eldest and it would be a terrible blow to his old friend. Raiders would have seen Thear as an adult male and a legitimate target. Why did they allow him into the Raiders southern lands with so few guards?

  She said nothing more and he left her room, hoping she would have a good sleep later and calm down. He’d no intention of going back to the Raider lands again. It would be his duty to inform the Lord of his son’s sad end and he didn’t look forward to giving the news. She told quite a story and he wondered how such a young girl had become involved in such a dangerous place. Coming from a powerful family no doubt helped.

  It was true his blade was ancient and stronger than any modern made one he had encountered. It was evidence of ancient technology being superior. The evidence of the great ancient cities too, which few thought were constructed by humans. The young girl’s story was possible but he could not take orders from her. The loss of their men, the dangers they faced. He longed for home and for all the people in his group to return as well. Their task of saving the girl was completed and nothing more was requested in the Minister’s words.

  Yurul rested and preferred to eat in their room. It was a moonlit night and he took her on deck, holding her carefully so she could see the light reflecting from the waves. Clouds pass in front of the moon like flying ships. They said the ancients were able to fly. He felt passive now, as a passenger on the ship he could do little to assist unless their craft was attacked.

  ‘It’s so beautiful at night here, so peaceful and the air is so fresh. This feels like a dream.’

  He agreed it was peaceful but no dream and tenderly put his arm around her shoulder. She rested her head and he smiled and thought of his wife.

  ‘I’ll never be able to thank you enough.’ She said.

  ‘Knowing you’re free is a great reward.’

  Back in the cabin, she told him eventually how she came to be a slave in the City of Dreams: ‘I was kidnapped on my way to a new school along with my governess, at a port in Filray. Our coach journey had been fun at first though boring after a long day seeing the dull countryside. My governess was leaving our employment since I was going to school. I was going to the port with her as she was catching a ship but she would escort me onto the next coach before departing. It was busy at the port. We held hands clutching our baggage carefully, we felt excited and our money was safely tucked within our blouses so we were not in danger of pickpockets. I was looking forward to two years at St Lucy’s school as it’s so well known. The smell of fish, people selling their wares, handsome strangers, dirty locals, and many travellers. My governess left me but for a minute and I was carefully watching the people go by. Distracted by a handsome man who had a nice smile and from behind someone grabbed and dragged me into a nearby wagon, my hands and ankles were bound, rags were stuffed into my mouth, and a bag put over my head. Feeling I was suffocating, my life coming to an end so unexpectedly I said my final prayers. The wagon moved and the hood was briefly removed to check I was still alive. I whimpered with fear. The handsome man had gone and instead a boy of my own age glared at me, stroked my face and smiled, telling me to shut up while holding a knife to my throat. I went quiet and he pulled the bag back over my head. A voyage on a ship with several other females in the same cage, another cell in the city of Dreams, no chance of breaking free. When I was sold at auction I was drugged, so although I wasn’t bound I barely found the strength to stand. The audience in front of me and the bright lights, the sense of fear and shame. Once sold my hands and ankles were tied and I was transported to a new, dark cell, alone. Rules were harsh and transgressions cruelly punished.'

  She spent perhaps two months as one of the favoured slaves of Lord Arconis before he grew tired of her and was confined below as a plaything of her owner’s employees.

  Sergun listened carefull
y, biting his lip and shaking his head and frowning many times. He wished he’d been able to assist in the killing of Arconis. The man sounded quite a monster. 'My poor child, that’s your past and now look to the future, you’ll have a long, happy life and perhaps the odd nightmare of your time there but you must take the opportunity to carry on. Your family will be relieved and I'm sure overjoyed to find you alive.'

  Yurul looked to the floor and said, 'happiness at first, but when they realise what was done to me, horror and shame against the family name.'

  'Don't tell them what you told me; their prejudices should not be allowed to ruin your life.'

  'Lie to them?'

  'Yurul, you’re a young, attractive girl who was kidnapped and forced to do unpleasant things. You‘re guilty of no crime and for you to be punished or your family shunned would be idiocy. The truth is not always the best to say.'

  She shyly looked at him. 'I wish you were my father, you’re so forgiving.'

  'If you were, I would protect you as long as I could... I’m not always forgiving but you’re an innocent person and must be treated as such.'

  'The things my captors said to me, told me I was born to be a slave...'

  'Forget the crude justifications of monsters they’re worth nothing.'

  ‘When you look at me what do you see?’

  Sergun frowned, knowing there was a mirror in the room she might have looked at many times. ‘I see a young fine woman who any good man would be proud to have as a friend and very fortunate to have as a wife.’

  She stared at him long and hard as if waiting for him to change his mind. ‘I feel stained by what happened.’

  He stood and walked to her. Pressing his lips to her face he kissed her tenderly on both cheeks. ‘Your skin is as soft as a baby’s and you smell so fine you’re almost irresistible. You smell like the finest flowers in the land.’