Battle Cry (11 page)

  They drew abreast of the gates, falling into line behind other travelers. Most the people ahead of them in line were farmers. None of them looked threadbare or starved like the ones in their own city. There was an atmosphere of gaiety hanging over everything. Reena saw Lauren and several of the other women looking at the children who were laughing and playing with almost envious eyes.

The sight of those children made Reena think. As an outlaw child there was little room for games and, indeed, the games that they did play were games that were designed to teach them how to react as they grew older. How to survive in the woods, and how to hide from the soldiers. These children were playing nonsensical games, clapping their hands and singing little songs. None of them seemed to be very wealthy, but they all seemed to be happy.

Reena had never considered what might happen if she had a child of her own one day, or if she wanted to do that, but now looking at these children she knew that she did. Or at least, she did as long as she could guarantee them a happier life than what she had had.

Guilt struck her almost immediately. Was she truly unhappy with the way her father had raised her? How could she be so disloyal to him? He was her father and he had done the best he could!

Still, there was a nagging little doubt that remained behind. Children should be happy; they should not be forced to live in a city where death was a casual form of entertainment, and neither should they be forced to hide in the woods and live their entire lives in fear because they were outlaws simply by birth.

It was then that she began to understand that it was the entire system that was corrupt; this was further reaching than just the insane power. It wasn’t the Governor who ruled Aretula at present. This was about a system that had been set in place and left in place despite its unfairness to everybody except those who benefited from being born either wealthy or in a position of power.

It was obvious that things were not completely perfect here. Once inside the walls they began to see people who were obviously poverty-stricken. Small children danced in the street holding out bowls, begging for money from passersby. Some of them were very dirty and others had obvious signs of neglect and hunger on them. The gutters here were not above ground and they didn’t slow down the streets, which would explain the absence of that smell that she had noticed.

The markets were cleaner, more contained. They seemed to have an order to them with all of the livestock and freshly killed meat to one side while those who were selling fresh breads, cheeses, and vegetables were on another side. There were jugglers in the street and dancers as well.

People laughed and talked, and if there were temples she still had not seen one. That absence somehow bothered her; she kept looking around expecting to see statues of the gods and goddesses in place but there were none. There was also no arena, but there were buildings with names that she had never heard before: University, Center for light and so on and so forth.

.  At the beginning of the quest this had seemed like a good idea, the only idea but now that they were here, in Olympus, Reena was at a total loss. She had no idea of where to go and neither did any of her tribe. They were all huddled together like a mini-living organism, afraid to move away from the nucleus.

Reena spotted a tall building whose upper roof was engraved with the words “justice for all”. She stopped in her tracks, and Deal almost ran right into her back.

“Maybe that’s where we need to go,” Reena pointed to the building with one finger. “We are here for justice after all.”

Lucas said, “I’m not sure how the system works here, I don’t think any of us are. Maybe we should ask somebody.”

Dax said, “That will point this out as outsiders. Do we want that?”

Reena replied, “We are outsiders. That is why we are here, we need them to help us in our own lands. I don’t think there’s much sense in trying to hide that.”

There really wasn’t much else they could do. There had been no way to make a plan once in Olympus because they had no knowledge of Olympus and what they had heard of it had seemed so bizarre and ludicrous, so absolutely surreal that they had not really believed it until they had arrived.

Gathering up her courage Reena began to head towards the Justice Hall. The tribe followed her. All of them were aware of the looks they were getting. Their clothing marked them as foreigners. Not only that, Reena was carrying that sword on her back and while there were other people who bore arms, it seemed she was the only one who did so openly. Not that it mattered, she had nowhere to hide the thing. She was grateful however that the scabbard hid the sword itself, except for the smallest top piece of the till, the last thing on earth she needed was the enraged citizens of Olympus demanding to know where she had gotten the fabled sword.

The Justice Hall had stairs, long white and sweeping that rose toward the grand marble columns that fronted the doors. They all stood at the base of the stairs looking at each other and taking deep breaths. Lucas said, “Well, I didn’t come all this way to lose my guts now folks.”

He started up the stairs and they all followed him. Reena was content to walk behind Lucas; she would follow him anywhere and she wondered why it was that he was so willing to hand over leadership to her when it was so obvious that he was the one who was smartest, more capable in battle and more seasoned as well.

Past the columns were giant carved marble doors. Large statues, also marble, stood about. Reena stared at one of them trying to remember where she had seen that particular statue before. She did not remember it being anywhere in Aretula but yet it seemed incredibly familiar.

The statue was of a woman, her eyes hidden by a carved blindfold. Her robes revealed nothing of her big year. Her upraised hand held a pair of scales and in the other hand, held out toward the Observer, was the book.

The others were looking at other statues, but this one fascinated Reena for some reason. She simply could not tear her eyes away from it.

“She is justice.”

Reena turned to face the young woman who had spoken to her. “I’m sorry?”

The other woman smiled, “No need to be sorry. I used to spend hours staring at that statue just like you are right now. I spent most of my childhood playing on the stairs since my father is one of the judges. I was always fascinated by the statue justice because she’s the only one here who is a woman. All of the rest the statues are of men, but justice… she’s a woman. Isn’t that bizarre?”

Reena didn’t know exactly what bizarre met, but she nodded her head anyway. Hoping this woman was as kind as she appeared, she blurted out, “I need to find the ruler of Olympus. I need to speak with her. How do I find her?”

The woman who is talking to her had reddish–blonde hair and eyebrows that matched. She pushed her long hair away from her face with an impatient gesture and tilted her head to one side as she scrutinized Reena carefully. “Where are you from?”

“Does that matter?”

“I think it does.” A deep frown marred her smooth forehead. “Your speech is different, as are your clothes. Are you alone here?”

Reena began to back away, panic starting to rise up. If this one was an enemy, she was already in a lot of trouble. Before she could move, the woman’s hand shot out and rested lightly on her arm. “No, please do not fear me. I think you are somebody that I have been waiting for.”

“Why would you be waiting for me?”

“Come with me, bring your friends. Don’t bother trying to tell me that you don’t know them; they are all dressed the same way you are and they are all staring about exactly the same way you are. You need me to take you to one of the judges; they are the only people who can get you in to see Calliope.”

Calliope? Who is that? Reena asked that very question and the answer was that Calliope was the ruler of Olympus. Well, she thought, she had come this far, so there was no sense in not going any further. If seeing a judge was the only way to see Calliope then so be it. If they attempted to imprison her or order her execution, they would find out what a young girl who had already faced down the worst enemies in an arena could do.

The young woman introduced herself as Helena. She said she was a judge-in-training. Reena and the others had no idea what that meant, but they had an inkling. As they walked along through the Justice Hall, Helena explained to them how the process worked. In order to get anything done and done fairly, every citizen — every person — was granted the right to be heard. If somebody felt that they were being done an injustice, they could bring their plea there to the Hall and ask to speak to one of the judges. The judges would hear their case and if they thought that they had merit, they would declare that. If they thought it had no merit they would declare that.

Helena told them that a lot of time this is where arguments between people were settled. But come here and speak to the judges and the person who was in the wrong would have to make restitution to the person who was in the right. To Reena and the others it all sounded sort of odd. They were used to the swifter types of justice. In the woods they had their own system and it in the city the system was basically do as the Governor says, which was based on the arena. There was not much room in between those two options.

The office to which Helena took them was wide and broad. There were several rows of seats perched in front of and facing a long wooden structure behind which sat a man in crimson and blue robes.

He looked up as they entered and Helena said, “Greetings judge. I bring you those who would have you hear their case.”

Reena moved forward out of instinct but Helena’s hands held her back.. Her feet stilled and she stared at the judge. His face was stern, all angles and planes. He was older, far older than most of the men in her own homeland. How was that possible? Dying young was sort of the condition of their lands.

When he spoke, his voice was a deep and pleasing baritone that reminded her of her father’s voice so much that she almost burst into tears. He said, “Come forward and be heard.”

Helena’s hand nudged her forward and she went, refusing to shuffle and keeping her head high. She wasn’t sure where to stop but when she saw his eyebrow creeping up slightly, she halted.

Clearing her throat she spoke, “My name is Reena. I come from the outside. By that I mean I come from the outside that is past the farms and other lands that surround the city far to the west of here. I had to cross the desert and a large water to get here and I am in dire need of speaking to Calliope.”

The judge’s face had an expression of astonishmen she was sure was  as foreign to that visage as she was to this courtroom. He looked at Helena who nodded and then back at Reena and then beyond her at her gathered tribe. “Are you telling me you come from a city that lies within the lost lands?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what the lost lands are. I only know that I lived outside of the city known as Aretula. Myra, the pirate who commands the ship Lilith found us at the edge of the desert where the great waters began. She brought us here, to Olympus. She told me that nobody believes there is life in those lands, but there is. I’m here, and there are others.”

“Young lady, do you know the penalty for lying in a courtroom?”

“I am not lying.” Reena’s chin lifted and her shoulders squared. “I come from exactly where I said I come from and I am here because I need help from your leader. I am on a quest and it is a quest that I cannot fail in.”

The judge leaned back in his chair, his fingers resting lightly on his belly. “A quest? It has been centuries since a quest has been given or received here in this city.”

Reena’s anger was starting to surface but she held it back. She could not help though the sarcasm that coated her words. “Can I suppose it is a good thing I am not from the city?”

Helena nudged her elbow, a silent reprimand that Reena understood all too well. Lucas cleared his throat and Lauren fingered the small Dirk at her belt. The judge leaned forward again and spoke, “You had a long journey if what you say is true.”

Tears filled Reena’s eyes. Behind the judge’s stern look was kindness; she could see it but was not sure if she could trust it. Or anyone or anything. “Yes, a very long journey. My people are tired and they are hungry. On board the ship Myra treated us well and we rested well, and for that we are eternally grateful; however, none of us had ever been on a boat before and most of my people were very ill.”

“I should imagine so. Myra loves the oceans. She probably took you through a bad patch just to watch you be sick.” The judge actually laughed at that. “She’s a good person, for a pirate, but she has the oddest sense of humor of any woman I’ve ever met.”

Reena felt some relief by the fact that the judge actually knew Myra. She didn’t dare comment on whether or not she thought Myra had deliberately made her tribe sick though; that might be something that they only did here and amongst each other. A lot of tribe members would joke around with each other and say things that they would never allow anyone else to say, and she was pretty certain that that was the case here.

“Please sir, we need to see Calliope. There is no time to waste. Our journey here was far longer than I ever could’ve imagined. There is much going on in my homeland and there is a war. We need your help, we need help badly.”

The judge leaned forward again, all his casualness forgotten. His eyes sharpened and he gave her a long and level gaze from below his bushy grey eyebrows. “If what you say is true, then I will get you the first appointment that I can with Calliope.”