“Hello Micca.”
Terry said, with a cruel smile.
He shook his head
in disbelief, the ash falling from the end of his forgotten
cigarette onto the table. “You have no authority over me, you were
exiled.”
“Really? I could
always drag you back to the capital and you can try telling that to
my father.”
Connor turned to
her. “What do you think he would do?”
“Kill him.” Terry
said. There was no hesitation or doubt in her words. She looked
back at Micca and she could see the terror in his eyes. “Now, why
don’t we begin?”
******
The guard cowered.
He was pinned to the floor beneath King Fallo’s foot. The Alchemist
drew his head near and roared furiously. Over two hundred guards
had the leader of the Alchemist race circled and more were filing
into the Ministers Hall in a continuous stream. They stood with
weapons at the ready; but were clearly nervous.
Three minutes ago
King Fallo and Lyle had been sitting discussing the terms of
Terry’s exile with the ministers. The discussions had been
interrupted when an overzealous captain of the Parliament’s Guard
had stormed in with a full contingent of men declaring the arrest
of the King and his party for conspiracy against the Senate. Now
the captain’s life rested between Fallo’s clawed toes.
“Stand down! For
god’s sake stand down!” screamed the Prime Minister.
The guards
hesitated. They only took orders from their captain. But at the
same time they were not willing to disobey the authority of their
premier or entertain the notion of fighting one of the strongest
Alchemists on the planet.
The metal spikes
on Fallo’s backs raised and he roared at them, his eyes darting
between the tiny guards.
“Stand down!” Lyle
shouted, echoing the Prime Minister’s words as he stood between the
guards and his King. “If you don’t he will kill you all!” he
warned.
This was enough
for most of the men and women at arms. Slowly and hesitantly, they
lowered their weapons and backed off.
Fallo straightened
and craned his head low. His antennae fell flat against his head he
hissed fiercely; ready to pounce if provoked.
The Prime Minister
looked up at the towering Alchemist. “Your Lord, please forgive us.
Captain Shinnke was not acting on our leave, his actions are
unjust. But please, show mercy!”
Fallo roared,
turning his attention back to the captain.
“Fallo...” Lyle
whispered.
Fallo’s eyes
shifted to him. He shook his head. “This is not what your daughter
would want.”
He hissed.
“We knew this
might happen once they realised she was gone.” Lyle whispered,
careful not to be heard.
But the captain
heard. “You see! You see! They knew that she was gone! They told us
nothing! This was a trick! To keep the Senate distracted
while...”
Fallo roared in
the man’s face, his large jagged teeth mere centimetres from his
head.
“Silence! If you
value your life!” the Prime Minister ordered the captain, although
Fallo had achieved that without his intervention.
Lyle turned to
face the Senate. “I’m sorry, we knew she had gone but it was
necessary. We did not come here to undermine your authority or act
in any way as a distraction. The King is here on official business
to have his daughter’s exile overturned. Terryfallo has acted on
her own accord, not through any orders of mine, the King or any
other authority. She left to find evidence that Edward is still
alive.”
The Prime Minister
was ashen. “What?” he muttered in stunned disbelief.
“I apologise for
her actions but we feared you would not believe us otherwise.”
The Prime Minister
slumped into his seat. He had a terrible dilemma before him. Had it
all been a trick? Was the King really here to act a distraction? Or
was what his general saying true? At the moment it didn’t matter
which was true. He, his cabinet and the guard were at the King’s
mercy. His next words could either save or kill them. The prime
minister considered his next words carefully. His gaze met the
giant Alchemist, who studied him in turn. “If the guard stand down
you must release the captain.” He said in even tones.
Lyle looked at his
brother for his answer. Fallo gazed at the Prime Minister for a
long minute. Suddenly he sneered and visibly relaxed, the metallic
spikes falling flat against his back.
The Prime Minister
stood, gesturing to the guards, who slowly backed off.
“Brother.” Lyle
whispered. Fallo’s gaze fell on him, the anger undiminished in his
eyes. For a moment Lyle didn’t think his older brother would hold
up his end of the bargain. He was overwhelmed with relief when he
did.
The captain
scurried back, stumbling over twice in his hasty retreat. Fallo
hissed at him as he fled, causing the terrified man to run even
quicker.
“For the sake of
preserving peace between our two nations I implore you both to
please return to your quarters until this mess is sorted out and
your daughter is found. I do not wish for any bloodshed.”
Fallo hissed
before turning away, his large frame smashing desks and chairs as
he scuttled from the Great Hall, to angry to care for the
destruction he left in his wake.
******
It was late
evening. Darius gazed out across the coast. Retreating into the
horizon he could see the small island of Naris and turning his head
he could see the sun dipping low against the sea. He sighed. He was
glad to be leaving the small port city behind for the possibility
of unseen forces pursuing them. But to his dismay they were not
heading back to Marrich.
Instead they had
boarded a train for Newport. Micca had informed them that Lord
Rilario was in hiding at a small seaside village further up the
east coast. He had been there two days ago and was adamant the
minister would still be there.
But Newport was at
least eleven hours away by train and even longer by any other mode
of transport. It would be early morning before they arrived.
Micca had put up a
lengthy protest about not taking them, sobbing in tears that he was
endangering his and Lord Rilario’s life by returning to Newport. He
said that during his last visit he had been followed when he left
the minister, which had ended in a chase. Micca had managed to
escape and had not seen the three men who gave flight to him since,
but he feared that other agents of the Senate or the royal family
would be hanging around in case he returned. Ultimately Terry had
threatened to turn him over to her father again if he did not do
what he was asked. Micca swiftly changed his mind.
They had managed
to get a hold of a private cab in the classic locomotive with a
nice little table and comfortable chairs. Not many people travelled
such distances at this time of day.
Micca stared
across the table at her while Terry gazed absently out the window
at the sunset soaked landscape. “Does it make you feel big?” he
asked, catching her attention.
She raised an
eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“You. Abusing you
power to get what you want.”
“It’s not
something I’m in the habit of doing but considering you seemed to
do nothing but lie to my friends you didn’t really leave me with
any choice.”
“Ha, right,
whatever you say.” He folded his arms.
“I don’t care what
you think. You can’t say anything, considering it was your lying
that got you flung out of the colony in the first place.
He leant forward,
fixing her with his gaze. “We’ve never met properly before today.
How do you know who I am?”
She held his gaze
as she leant across the table. “I may have only been ten years old
but I was old enough to remember you being thrown out. I remember
most of the twenty million people who live in our colony. Most of
them not personally, but by name and face and smell like you do. I
may have been away for a long time but my memory’s absolutely
fine.”
He held her gaze.
“I assumed you would have been just a little too young to remember
me.”
“You should never
assume anything.” She said, sitting back.
“I don’t think
it’s fair, you using your strength and status like that to get what
you want to know, especially since we are both exiled and by law
have no more civil rights and rank than I do. You have no authority
over me.”
She leant across
the table again, lowering her voice. “Yet you sang like a birdie
once I told you too. It doesn’t really matter what people say I can
and can’t do. You are still predisposed to answer me when I ask you
too, whether you want to or not. It’s a primeval force bred into
you through millions of years.”
“Fuck you.”
Terry sat
back.
“Micca, stand
up.”
His eyes widened
in horror. “No...” he muttered as he shot to his feet. Darius
shuffled away. Whatever was going to happen next he did not know
but he didn’t want to sit that close to Micca when he found
out.
“Draw your
blades.”
“Please...” his
body trembled as he struggled in resistance. The blades shot
out.
“Now press the
tips against your chin.”
Micca’s arms
slowly folded upwards, his face contorted in pain as he fought
against the compulsion within to obey. Darius and Connor watched on
in horror. He felt the cold tips press against the soft skin of his
throat. He gasped, his eyes welling with tears.
Darius and Connor
watched on in muted terror. Neither had witnessed a spectacle like
it before and neither was sure how to react, nor how it would
end.
After what seemed
like forever, Terry said, “Stop.”
The blades slid
into his wrists and Micca slumped as if the invisible strings that
had been attached to his body had been cut. He gasped heavily, his
brow clammy with sweat. He was visibly shaken.
“How did you do
that?” Connor asked, both amazed and terrified at the same
time.
Terry shrugged. “I
told you, it’s bred into every Alchemist.”
Connor looked to
the wreck that stood before them and then Terry. “I never knew you
could do that. So you’re saying you can control other Alchemists?
How? Is it by pheromones or something?”
Terry rolled her
eyes. “You make me sound like a lab rat.”
Connor shifted in
his seat uncomfortably. “No, I didn’t mean it like that...”
“It’s not
something I exactly go about telling everyone.”
Micca slumped into
a seat. He glared at her defiantly despite what he had just
endured. The atmosphere could be cut with a knife but Connor’s
curiosity was piqued.
“Why have I never
seen you do that before?” He asked Terry.
Inwardly Terry
knew he had not seen her do it because she had never attempted the
feat. Her father had once told her about the ability and on a few
occasions Lyle had mentioned it in the years since her exile. But
living in Edinburgh had never provided an opportunity to try it,
that and lack of interest to ever try it. But Terry decided to keep
that to herself for now lest she appeared weak in the eyes of
Micca, who was already critical enough of her.
Instead she simply
said while holding her gaze on Micca, “It’s not something I make a
habit of doing.”
Micca said
nothing, but continued to stare at her, his eyes burning brightly.
Terry leant across the table, not intimidated by his evil looks.
“Tell me I have no authority over you now.”
******
The King was
restless. He paced about his quarters, digging his nails into
clenched fists. He stopped momentarily at the sound of the door.
Seeing it was his younger brother he continued.
“You summoned me?”
Lyle asked.
“I take it there
has been no word from my daughter?”
“No, my Lord but
we did know this might happen. Hopefully it means that the person
she went to meet is helping her to reach Rilario.”
Fallo stopped in
his tracks. He sighed, his gaze focused at something on the floor
that only he could see. “Probably brother but I can’t shake these
feelings that it we sent her into a trap.” His gaze met Lyle’s,
worry in his eyes. “I know I have not one shred of evidence to base
that on but still I fear for my daughter...I’m beginning to think
that we all should have gone.”
“I think you are
winding yourself up about nothing. It’s like you said, you have
nothing to go on. Terry is a smart girl and she has Connor and
Darius with her as well. I think if anything happened they would
have escaped.”
Fallo nodded, but
he was still troubled. “I might be worrying too much, but can you
blame me? I’ve only had her back a few days and now she is gone
again. We have not even had time to bond.” He shook his head, “And
it troubles me how...different she is.”
“Brother, you are
being too hard on yourself. The last time you saw her she was only
a teenager, all teenagers change as they grow up. Terry is no
different.”
“No, I don’t mean
that. I mean, she just seems...too human in her ways, how she
thinks and how she acts.” He sat down. “I know you said you would
look out for her and teach her our ways, a charge I believe you
have carried out to the best of your ability and done a fine job at
too but I still feel somehow spending so much time with the humans
has changed her in a way which no amount of care or attention could
have prevented.” He stood and began to pace again, restless. “It
could be because of the injury to her head.” He shook his head.
“She’s always been much more impressionable since it happened.”
“Fallo, I
disagree.” Lyle said softly, “You know yourself how much she hated
transforming into her primeval form when she was teenager and in
fact there was a time when she resented being an alchemist and just
wanted to be like everyone else around her. But as she’s got older
she’s embraced her heritage and what she is. You should see her
when we go hunting, her appetite is insatiable. And I have found
her more and more frequently over the years shunning a human bed
for sleeping in the caves below my estate in Edinburgh and she
talks about you all the time.”