Abendau's Heir (The Inheritance Trilogy Book 1) (45 page)

“Behind the gate’s taken care of,” Kare said, his words slow.

Silom glanced at his cousin. “Are you able to do something with the ones in front?”

He reached his arm out and snaked it under Kare’s shoulders. Kare looked at the metal barricades, but they kept moving as his vision blurred. The pain sent sick spasms through him. He tried to flex his psyche, but nothing happened. He reminded himself they were here because he’d done the impossible, and something clicked in his mind. He focused on the barriers, pushed out as hard as he could, but was too weak. As he crumpled, Silom lowered him to the ground and propped him beside Perrault.

Kare moved his good arm, clenched his hand on Silom’s, and gave a tired nod.

Silom nodded back. “We’ll do it the hard way then,” he said. He pulled his hand away.

“Engage,” Silom ordered. His soldiers formed back into their platoons and began firing on the enemy in front of the gates to Abendau palace. Kare sat, Perrault leaning against him. In a moment he’d have to heal himself. For now, though, it was peaceful just to sit and watch the battle. The port guns and cannons razed the palace walls and Silom’s troops were shooting at the fortifications. He’d done enough; they were breaking through. Kare’s eyes closed as his blood dripped onto the ground, spreading out amongst the corpses.

***

Later, much later, the call came through to tell Lichio the palace had been taken and the last defenders were being routed. That it came from Silom and not Kare compounded his worry at the lack of communication during the battle. Beside him, Sonly listened, her face strained.

“He’ll be all right,” said Lichio, knowing he was lying. If it was all right, Silom would have told him, or Kare would have been on the comms unit, laying out an insanely long set of commands for him.

Sonly’s face was strained: not fooled. “Ask him,” she said. “Now the battle’s over. Ask. Is Kare alive?”

Lichio nodded. “Sergeant,” he said.

“Go ahead,” said Silom.

“What about the colonel?” Lichio couldn’t bring himself to say his name.

There was a pause, and Sonly trembled against him. He moved his hand and put it over hers, squeezing slightly.

“He’s hurt.” Silom’
s voice echoed in the small control room.

“Is he dead?” asked Sonly, and Lichio shushed her.

“Sergeant, how badly?”

“He was bad. You can send the medics in now. The palace is secure.”

Lichio nodded behind him to Sam, who was already on his feet and heading out the door. “They’re on the way. Will he live, Silom?”

“I don’t know. He’d lost a lot of blood.”

“Can you see him?” Sonly asked, leaning forward to the comms unit.

There was a harsh sound at the other end. “I’m in the palace, overseeing his attack. He’s on the parapet. All I know is when I left him, he was alive.” His voice took on a softer tone. “When you hear from Sam, tell me.”

Lichio ended the comms and glanced at Sonly.

“He’ll be all right,” he said. “He’s as tough as nails, Kare is. After what he’s survived, this will be a walk in the park.”

Sonly’s lower lip trembled, but she lifted her chin and met his eyes. “A walk in the park, that’s right, Lich.”

He pulled her to him, and hugged her tighter when her shoulders started to shake. There was silence from Sam and it stretched on and on, telling Lichio what he needed to know. The comms unit buzzed and he reached for it.

“It’s me,” said Sam.

“Lieutenant Prentice,” Lichio said. At some stage he’d have to explain to Sam how an army communicated. “How is he?”

“He’s alive,” said Sam. “He’s not in good shape, but he is alive. I’m taking him to the clinic now.”

Lichio nodded to Sonly, who got up, wiping her eyes. “Sonly will meet you there.” He put the comms unit down and grinned at his sister. “See, I told you. A walk in the park.” A park in hell.

Sam straightened. “You’ll live,” he said. “I’ve seen you much worse than this.”

“You’re the expert.” Kare winced as he tried to sit up.

From the side of the bed, Sonly glared at him. “You left a captain in charge while you played at being a soldier. I feel like killing you myself.”

“If I hadn’t gone, we would never have got through; there were thousands waiting once they forced the gate. Besides, I thought it needed either me or Lichio there.”

There was silence for a moment, and then she crossed her arms, not mollified. “We nearly lost the commander of this army; how would that have helped matters?”

“I’m alive,” Kare said. “It’s more than many of my men. How’s Perrault?”

“Not as well as you, but he’ll live,” Sam said. “Whatever you did saved him.”

“I don’t remember. When I passed out, we were sitting against each other; I guess I healed both of us.”

The door burst open and Silom came in, his uniform bloody, his hair sticking to his scalp, a field bandage on one of his forearms. He sat on the end of the bed, his glare daring the doctor to tell him to move; it seemed Sam had more sense. Kare looked at Silom, questioningly.

“It’s over,” Silom said. “We’ve captured the commander of the garrison; he wants to surrender. It’s Phelps, by the way.”

“I’ll see him,” Sonly said, but Kare shook his head.

“Give me a couple of hours. I’m not as bad as I look. Wheel me down to an office and I’ll gladly accept his surrender. It might speed my recovery.”

It took more than a couple of hours for Sam to agree Kare was strong enough, but later that afternoon he found himself sitting in a chair in one of the Empress’ antechambers. “How do I look?” he asked Sonly.

“Pale,” she said. “Too thin. But alert, focused.”

That would have to do. The door to the outer room opened, and he straightened in his chair. General Phelps came in, somewhat older, but still with the same air of smug confidence about him. Kare remembered being dragged in front of him and handed over to Beck in the control room of the Banned; it felt like it had happened years ago.
I look older than him, now.
The thought served as a stark reminder what this man had delivered him to.

“Phelps.”

“Colonel,” Phelps replied, the word obviously distasteful to him. “I’m here to surrender the garrison of the palace to you.”

“You can’t surrender the garrison; I’ve already taken it. Arrange the surrender of the planet and I’ll accept it. Otherwise, I’ll raze Abendau City to the ground if I have to.”

“I have my own terms.”

“We have nothing further to discuss until you agree to my terms. Belaudii, Phelps. All of it.” Kare nodded to the soldiers to take Phelps away.

“I don’t know how you did this– you were a beaten man when I last saw you– but I knew once you took the port, the palace would fall. I put a little bit of insurance in place,” said Phelps.

The first low worm of worry started. Phelps was clever, and ruthless. “What insurance?”

“Look into my mind, Varnon. See what I know, see who I know about.”

Kare let his psyche sink into the other man, who put up no resistance.

“Your Empress has you well-housebroken,” Kare said, and then stopped. He pulled out of Phelps’ mind and glared at him; Phelps lifted his chin and met Kare’s eyes.

“You bastard,” Kare said, and he forgot himself enough to try to stand, pain shooting through his side in response to his move. He sank back into the seat. “It wasn’t enough to screw me; you had to take it further.”

“Maybe. But if you want her, you need to negotiate,” said Phelps.

“I know where she is. It's in your mind.”

“She’s guarded by a full platoon of soldiers, Varnon, with one order; if you attack, she dies.”

“Who dies?” asked Sonly, but the general didn’t answer, just rocked smugly back on his heels. “Who dies, Kare?” she asked, but he could see she already knew; her blue eyes full of combined fear and hope.

“Kerra. No wonder I was so fucking expendable. Not only had they taken what they needed for a spare, they already had their heir.”

“You can’t let her die,” Sonly said. “Not again.”

If only it was that easy, but the decision he should take as a colonel was different from that of a father. He saw Lichio’s shocked face and understood that this time the decision was his alone. His anger rose, but he bit down on it; it wouldn’t help.

“Your terms?” Kare’s voice was clipped and cold.

“I get off the planet– you get the girl.”

“And your assurance?”

“Check my mind and you’ll see the orders I’ve given. They’re clear; once I’m off the planet, I’ll order the release of the child. You take her from the messenger, and that’s it. You need to decide. If they haven’t heard from me in another couple of hours, they’ll kill her.”

“What about the Empress?” Kare asked. “Won’t your mistress be displeased?”

Phelps looked uncomfortable for the first time. “I don’t intend to go anywhere near the Empress,” he said, his voice tight.

“I doubt that; she has a hold on you like I’ve rarely seen.”

“Your decision?”

“Get him out of my sight,” Kare said, coldly. He watched as the door closed and then looked at Sonly, Lichio’s arms around her, and said, “What do you want me to do, Sonly? He’s not bluffing; he has her.”

“Could you get her?”

“Maybe, but I’d have to go myself– they couldn’t do it without a psycher.” He hesitated. “Even if I was up to it– and I’m not, I can barely move– my powers have failed twice now: a psycher who can’t be relied on is worse than not having one.”

“What do you mean, failed?” asked Sonly.

“What does fail ever mean? It didn’t work. I couldn’t kill Beck with it– Silom had to do it– and I couldn’t take down the ceiling. Not the first time, anyway.”

“Fuck. That’s all we need,” said Lichio. “Is there any chance he’ll double-cross you?”

“No. He knows I’d have seen it. The deal on the table, that’s genuine.”

“Then deal,” Sonly said. “Or I will.” She looked at him directly. She would, too. She’d do whatever it took to get Kerra back. For a moment, he was tempted to let her, tired of everything coming down to him, but he thought of Phelps, the kind of man he was. The only thing he’d respond to was power of the sort he wielded, strength of arm and will and, for Phelps, it was Kare who represented that.

“You can’t; it’s a military decision. He knows, just like you know, what I should say. He’s the one who did it, Sonly: the base, all those people. Out there, in Abendau, the children and babies there, what about them? If I let him go, I can’t get a surrender, and I’ll have to attack the city to take it.”

“You told me last night what happened to you,” Sonly said, after a moment. “What about me? Silom reached Kerra up to me, and my hand touched her as the soldiers came and he had to run with her. My milk came in while I sat in the transport and I had no baby for it. My womb contracted, and with every pain my whole being longed for her. It still does.”

“Sonly, I know. I want her back too.”

“You don’t know,” she said, “or we wouldn’t even be talking about it. You said there was a black hole when you lost your psyche. Well, my black hole’s still there and I
need
her back, Kare. We can work through everything else: what happened to you, what happens next; but I need her back.”

Lichio let her bury her head against him and looked, with sympathy, at Kare.

Kare lifted his comms unit. He held Lichio’s eyes. “Prepare a ship: a small one.” He turned back to Sonly. “I’ll deal, but we need to secure the city through this. I won’t have the deaths of the innocents on our hands.”

“I agree.” She smiled. “I can do better than that."

“How?”

Sonly shrugged. “I’m assuming he won’t want to read a forty page document before he signs. Especially if you threaten to change your mind a few times.”

Kare started to smile. “I suspect not.”

She broke away from Lichio. “I want the bastard sunk. He stole my daughter. I’ll make sure we take everything we can from him.”

Kare turned to the soldiers at the door. “Bring the general back in.”

***

Later, as the ship lifted into the sky, Kare nudged Lichio. “Can we track it?”

“We didn’t have time.”

“It’s definitely Kerra?”

“Yes. She has the most lovely pair of green eyes,” Lichio said.

Kare smiled. “You owe Silom, then.” The ship was quickly fading in the sky. “It feels wrong, letting him go.”

“Absolutely not,” Lichio said. “You were right. We have the city with no bloodshed– your Barefoot Revolution will be remembered for not hurting the little people.”

“Barefoot Revolution?”

“It’s what the soldiers are calling it,” Lichio told him, an apologetic smile on his face.

“I’ve heard worse. I gambled, Lichio, on my daughter’s life.”

“You did well. I didn’t think you’d get a surrender.”

Neither had he. But Sonly had been sure. “All he wanted was to save his skin. God help him,” Kare said as the ship vanished from the sky.

“What do you mean?”

“He either has to face the Empress, or learn to live without her. She has such a hold on him, he’ll be destroyed either way. Keeping him here, killing him, that would have been the merciful thing to do.”

“So, it worked out well. Smile, Kare.”

Kare looked at Lichio, no smile on his face. “Smile? He read me, Lichio; he knew I couldn’t take any more. He knew we– both me and Sonly– have had enough. And he might be right– how much more can we take? It worries me.”

“Why?”

“If he knows it, so does the Empress. There’s been nothing from her and it’s concerning me, that’s all.”

“She’ll have to contact you. You have the baby and the palace, all the bloodline. And, presumably, if there are others carrying your child, they’re in Abendau, which you hold, and she can’t take,” Lichio said, firmly. “She has to deal, and she knows it.”

“She’ll contact us because she thinks if she takes out Kare, the figurehead, we’ll fall,” said new voice behind them. Kare turned to see Sonly, the baby in her arms, and he wasn’t surprised she’d worked it out. “She’ll come,” she said, her eyes meeting his, “and she’ll finish you if she can.”

Kare walked to her, still stiff, and held out his arms, his eyebrow raised. She handed him the baby and he held Kerra close, as astonished now as he had been on the day of her birth. She was sitting up in his arms, not lying down, looking around. She was heavier than he remembered, her skin softer than any he’d felt, and he tightened his hold on her, not believing she was here, real and alive. She appeared well cared for, but they’d lost so much time with her– all her babyhood. He glanced at Sonly and saw a wistful look on her face.