Chained By Fear: 2 (18 page)

When Laylah finally woke, it was past midnight. Her bed of straw swayed much as the ground had before, only more subtly. Above her, a thatched roof blocked her view of the sky. She sat up too quickly, and she became dizzy and tumbled backward. Strong hands caught her halfway down.

“Laylah, are you all right?”

It was the steady voice of General Lucius, who held her in his arms, his face partly hidden in shadow. To Laylah, he looked much older than before, his eyes bloodshot, his cheeks covered with stubble, and his hair greasy and tangled—all unusual for the general, who took pride in his grooming.

“What happened?” she said, hoarsely. “Where am I?”

Laylah sat up again. This time she was less dizzy. Lucius looked relieved. She saw the love in his eyes, and it made her sad. She could never return it. But she wouldn’t tell him that now.

“We’re among the boat dwellers of Lake Ti-ratana,” Lucius said, sitting near her in a narrow dugout hull. “We’re many leagues from shore, floating within a community of kabangs, maybe fifty in all. Do you know anything about the boat dwellers?”

“My father
 . . .
Takoda
 . . .
used to talk about them,” Laylah said. “He crossed the lake several times on kabangs.”

The kabang that carried her and Lucius was twenty cubits long but only four cubits wide. Beneath its thatched roof were two straw beds and a small, metal stove. When Laylah looked over the side of the hull, she saw other boats floating lazily beneath a moonless sky, but no other passengers.

“Where’s Izumo?”

“I don’t know. We waited on the eastern bank until darkness and then flew just above the surface of the lake all the way here. After that, he disappeared. I suppose he was exhausted and needed to feed. And like dragons, dracools are not fond of open water. But he said he’ll return at midnight and check on us. You illness concerned him greatly. Were you injured somehow during the battle? I could find no bruises or scratches.”

Laylah blushed, wondering how thoroughly Lucius had examined her while she was unconscious.

“I don’t know what happened to me. When Invictus screamed and ran, I suddenly felt very weak. I still feel shaky. But enough about my problems. Were we followed? Are we safe? This is the first time in seventy-two years that I’ve been more than a league from Avici. I’m terrified we’ll be hunted down.”

“As far as I can tell, we weren’t followed. But before our flight, something occurred that nearly ruined us. Invictus somehow discovered that Izumo and I were scheming to help you escape. I’m not sure what happened, but the dracool believes your brother found Bhacca’s body and gleaned information from it, using dark sorcery.”

As if Bhacca’s death weren’t bad enough, even her corpse had been befouled. Laylah felt ashamed.

Lucius grew quiet, gazing at her face. His expression softened. “Are you hungry?”

“Not very. My body still feels
 . . .
hollow. Maybe I
should
try to eat something, just to get back some strength.”

“We have dried fish, dark bread and hickory butter. Also some wine. We won’t starve. Ti-ratana is well-stocked with fish and clams.”

Lucius arranged her meal in a scraped-out turtle shell and poured wine into a clay mug. Although she didn’t feel hungry, Laylah forced herself to eat. She felt somewhat better afterward and tried to take her mind off her discomfort with conversation.

“I suppose we should be celebrating,” Laylah said. “But it doesn’t feel right, just yet. Now that we’re away from Avici, you must tell me everything.”

“Yes, my queen. What would you have me say?”

“Many things. How is it that we came to be here? I knew you would arrange something, but I had always assumed we would flee to the mountains.”

“Which is one of the places Invictus would expect us to go. We may end up in Mahaggata eventually—or farther south in Kolankold—but there’s nowhere in the mountains you can go where one of his Mogols won’t find you. During the tedious years before our escape, I thought long about where we should go after we fled. And Ti-ratana began to make more sense than anywhere else.”

Lucius took a swig of wine and refilled Laylah’s cup. His brown eyes glistened in the starlight that reflected off the surface of the lake.

“The boat dwellers are an unusual breed,” the firstborn said. “They love only their own kind and have no allegiance to Invictus or anyone else. They’re not obsessed with wealth or power, and they go months at a time without ever stepping on dry land, and then only to trade for supplies they can’t acquire on their own. They dive for pearls, which the drylanders prize, and trade them for salt and spices. I’ve seen them travel as far inland as Kamupadana, but for the most part they rarely go more than a league from shore.”

Lucius patted the kabang. “In planning our escape, I knew we’d need a place to hide that Invictus would not expect. His bond with you might enable him to sense your whereabouts, and I feared he would find us no matter where we ran. But we all know that open bodies of water have a deadening effect on sorcery, and I gambled that the immensity of Ti-ratana would be enough to thwart even Invictus’ abilities and throw him off our trail. I also believed it would not enter his mind that we might choose to go here.”

“That all makes sense, except for one thing. If the boat dwellers love only themselves, as you say, why did they risk their lives to protect us? It sounds as if we have nothing to offer as payment.”

Lucius drank more wine. “The boat dwellers do not desire wealth. At least, not what drylanders consider wealth. But I didn’t say that they’re without need.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lucius sighed. He looked old again. “My queen, you must realize
 . . .
I did things for you that I might not otherwise have considered.”

“What are you talking about? Lucius, you’re frightening me.”

“The boat dwellers are few in number. This sometimes creates
 . . .
problems.”

“What kind of problems? Speak plainly!”

“Too much inbreeding becomes
 . . .
unhealthy. Sometimes their children are born with deformities. Because of this, the boat dwellers desire—for lack of better words—new blood. But they’re not warriors and can’t take it by force
 . . .
so they barter for it. Pearls are what they normally offer. But to me, they offered a place to hide.”

“What did you give them in return?”

Lucius rubbed his exhausted eyes. “Every day, slaves are brought to Avici—men, women
and
children. The boat dwellers prefer infants, and it was relatively easy for me to provide them. I was limited as to where I could go and what I could do. But Izumo was able to travel more freely. Over a period of several years, he gave the boat dwellers six infants—three boys and three girls. In return, they provided this kabang and their pledge of secrecy.”

Laylah’s blue-gray eyes filled with tears. “Losing Bhacca was bad enough. But this is even worse. You used innocent babies to pay for
my
freedom? It’s too large a price. What joy can my life hold when burdened by such guilt?”

Lucius grew stern. “Before you judge my actions too harshly, you must consider the ramifications. The boat dwellers may appear peculiar, but they’re not cruel. They’ll love these children and raise them as their own. Can the same be said of Invictus? When it comes to satisfying his pleasures, infants have special value. Don’t ask me to explain further. Suffice it to say that the babies Izumo delivered to the boat dwellers are far better off now than they would have been had I not made this arrangement.”

Lucius’ words contained a desperate truth. The rise of Invictus was changing the rules of civilization.

Laylah tried to stand, but the boat rocked so much she feared she might capsize it. Somewhere among the kabangs that floated nearby, a baby was crying.

“I’ve seen things, terrible things,” Lucius said, still trying to justify his behavior. “However horribly Invictus treated you, he never forced you to witness what happened
beneath
Uccheda. But I was there, many times. If he catches us, I’m not sure what he’ll do to you, but I’m quite certain what he’ll do to me. We both needed a safe place to hide, and this was the best I could arrange. Forgive me if it does not suffice.”

Then the firstborn eased himself onto one of the straw beds and instantly fell into a deep sleep. Laylah watched him for a while, the man who had sacrificed everything to save her.

Lucius loved her. A woman knows these things. But she didn’t love him in return.

Why? Was it because he was one of Invictus’ newborns?

She didn’t believe that was the reason. In her eyes he was as much a man as any other. Why then could she not bring herself to love him? Had all her years of suffering and torture rendered her incapable?

Still pondering the question, Laylah wrapped herself in her cloak and fell asleep. As the night wore on, she dreamed again of the man in the wagon with the long black hair and fierce blue eyes. When she woke, it still was dark, but she could sense the coming of dawn. The eastern horizon was a shade lighter than the rest of the sky.

A pleasant breeze stroked her face. The surface of the water rippled. Lucius snored softly. Laylah rose to her knees, stretched out her stiff upper body, and studied her surroundings. She could see little in the darkness, but she heard splashing—accompanied, strangely, by tinkling laughter.

The more she stared at the water, the more convinced she became she was seeing movement other than waves. Dark shapes broke the surface and quickly descended. She heard puffs of air, intermingled with ghostly whispers and giggles that were charming and unthreatening.

Laylah lowered her right hand and dipped her fingers into the liquid darkness. It was icy cold.

Something grasped her fingers and squeezed. She jerked her hand away with a gasp and found that she held a small, wiggly fish. Startled, she tossed it back. It pierced the surface of the lake like a spear. Lucius stirred but did not awaken.

Laylah put her fingers back in the water. Something hard and round was placed in her hand, and she lifted a large white shell from the lake. This made her giggle, which was greeted by high-pitched laughter all around her. This time Lucius did wake up, and he banged his head on a rib of wood that supported the thatched roof. The laughter intensified. Finally even Lucius started to chuckle.

“Our hosts have come for a visit,” the general said in a raspy voice. “But I’m not sure why we call them boat dwellers. They spend more time
in
the water than on it. Izumo says they can swim as well as ocean porpoises. And he says they can stay under water far longer than ordinary people. No one knows how deep Ti-ratana is, but the boat dwellers are able to swim all the way to the bottom in search of food. I’m sure that’s where the clam you’re holding came from.”

Lucius took it from her and separated the shell with the tip of a dagger. Then he scooped out the flesh and dropped it into the palm of her hand.

“The boat dwellers call them quahogs. They are a delicacy and are best eaten raw. Try it. They’re watching to see if you’ll accept their gift.”

Laylah dropped the quahog into her mouth. It was excellent. She put her hand back in the water and felt another one placed there. More laughter followed.

“They like you. But why shouldn’t they? You’re the most amazing woman to ever live.”

Laylah blushed.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” Lucius said. “It’s just that I’ve never been able to express how I feel about you, without the fear of being overheard.”

Laylah’s heartbeat quickened. She had dreaded this moment for years. Lucius deserved more than she could give. “You didn’t embarrass me. It’s just that
 . . .
I need time. So much has happened to me. To us. I’m still frightened by what might yet happen.”

To her relief, her response seemed to satisfy Lucius. “Of course, my queen. We must focus on safety and survival. Our future need not be rushed. For now, just being in your presence is enough.”

“Thank you, General. I feel the same.”

Lucius smiled. “Speaking of how we feel, how do
you
feel? You seem so much better than yesterday.”

“I am better, for now. The true test will come when the sun rises.”

“I predict you’ll be fantastic, even then. And when Izumo returns at midnight, he’ll be pleased to find that you’re fully healed.”