Curse Of Wexkia (21 page)

‘About two hours away.’ Nadar raised his non-existent eyebrows towards the physician. ‘Cay-reace?’

‘Yes, she will survive the flight. However, Cay-tatel—’

‘I will speak with you later.’ Nadar kicked the fallen wintar. ‘Get him out and send someone in to clean that up.’ He waved his gloved hand over the mess beside Cay-meka’s bed and disappeared.

Tanat helped Cay-reace haul the injured man out and as the door shut behind them, Nell gazed at her cell mate.

Cay-meka’s eyes flickered at Nell. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘Why? I couldn’t help you.’

‘Because you tried.’ She gave a weak smile but didn’t open her eyes. ‘Even … even after the malice I have shown you.’

‘Hey, we’re family, aren’t we?’ Nell let out a small laugh. ‘The doctor said you would be okay,’ she said as airily as she could manage.

‘Mmm,’ Cay-meka immediately went to sleep.

Not wanting to upset the girl, Nell said nothing about Tanat being on the ship. Dar-seldra should choose her friends more carefully because her daughter was right not to trust wintars. Nell hadn’t met one she would trust but it was hard to believe the affection Tanat showed Nell and her family was fabricated. She decided not to think about him or his reasons for being with Nadar. He was
just another traitor. They all wanted Nell disposed of like smelly prawn shells.

Her thoughts turned to the
Book of Wexkia
. If she was really a child of Wexkia, the book was her property by birthright. She pictured it just as she had seen it in Nadar’s hands. Quickly re-reading it in her mind, she stopped at the last unfinished sentence. ‘…will regain all wexkian—’. All wexkian what? She guessed the next word was ‘abilities’ or something like it, and she hoped that if it was, the book listed them. Wexkian abilities are far greater than phib and wintar put together. It would be nice to know what they are.

The code box that opened the door to their prison was the only other thing in the room. Huh. If she could read wexkian, she should be able to figure out the code. Nell made her way to the box. However, there were no code buttons on it, only a speaker. It couldn’t be opened from the inside. The door must have been open when they first arrived.

Returning to the bed, she touched Cay-meka’s hand. Her skin was ashen. After wrestling the blanket out from under her, Nell covered her with it. She sat, waited, and worried that the poor thing had little time left. The girl’s aunty might not be a good match. Nell was certain the blood types had to be the same. That’s the way it was for human transfusions.

Sometime later the familiar music of the door code played. A short wintar pushed a bed to the opposite wall. It also had pink bed covers. Nell rolled her eyes at it.

His voice was indifferent. ‘Don’t you like it?’

‘Not really,’ Nell said.

He cautiously moved past Nell and, collecting a cleaning cloth from a trolley that stood just outside the door, proceeded to clean the floor. Nell stepped back,
thinking he might feel more comfortable if there was some distance between them. The cloth removed the mess with one swipe and he left, leaving the door open.

Cay-reace stepped over the threshold and smiled at Nell.

Kindness emanated from him. Thankful he no longer appeared terrified of her, she surveyed him from head to foot. Although he was skinnier than other phibs, his body was in proportion and his clothes fitted him properly. His face was obviously handsome but the stress of his predicament had made him age with his lined forehead and dark circles under his eyes. The corners of his mouth drooped giving him a sad-clown appearance. The shape and position of his cheekbones were similar to her father’s. She sensed there was once much life in his tired blue eyes. His short white hair shone as he moved under the light to Cay-meka. After he finished examining her, he turned. His face had taken on a grave look. ‘Any questions?’ he asked Nell.

She frowned. The way Nadar had spoken Cay-tatel’s name, she was obviously in league with him. Nell didn’t like the thought of her blood flowing through her cousin. The poor thing had enough troubles.

‘I think Dar-seldra or my father would be better matches for Cay-meka. I don’t like the sound of Cay-tatel.’

‘Dar-tern? He wouldn’t be suitable. Only female blood can be given to a female. They are the same type. Males can only give to males. However, Dar-seldra would be the most appropriate donor.’ Cay-reace looked desolate. ‘No. Nadar would never allow it.’

Exasperated, Nell growled, and turned her back on Cay-reace. Not wanting to hurt him, she fought to keep her anger in check. When she calmed down, she faced
him. ‘If corls are so advanced, why can’t they save her without a transfusion?’

‘They can,’ Cay-reace answered sadly. ‘At a restoration.’

‘Oh.’ Nell understood his meaning. ‘So her aunty, Cay-tatel, can be used to save her?’

‘No. I have relayed the same to Nadar and he advised me Cay-tatel will find some other female from the maternal side.’

‘The maternal side? You mean only Dar-seldra’s side?’ Nell could feel her blood pulsating in her neck and had to struggle to control her anger. ‘There are no other female relatives on Dar-seldra’s side. Her mother is dead and she had no sisters. Nadar would know that.’

He looked frightened, but stammered. ‘I didn’t know that and Nadar mustn’t know either. I will inform him.’

Nell knew how helpless he felt. She felt the same.

Once he left, Nell slid her body down the wall and sat with her arms hugging her knees. She hoped he would convince Nadar to take Cay-meka to a restoration.

Unable to sit still, she began pacing the floor from one wall to the other. Sam would have told her father by now. Dar-seldra would be worried sick about her daughter, especially if they saw all the blood on Nadar’s floor.

Why was Nadar keeping her there? He could force her to go anywhere with him in the blink of an eye. It didn’t make sense … unless … Huh. He was scared of her.

She thought about the wintar she hurt and sat heavily on the other bed.

What if she had killed him? What if Nadar was right and she lost control completely. She might kill again. She dropped her head face down on the pillow and allowed hot tears to flow once more. Even if the wintar wasn’t dead, she had hurt him a lot.

Her thoughts drifted to Cay-meka and Nell hiccoughed. She let out a breath thinking she deserved to be locked away. She lifted her legs onto the bed and, more emotionally than physically exhausted, fell asleep.

E
very now and then Nell awoke in a sweat. Sometimes people chased her with needles. Other times, her mind was full of visions of the book and a beautiful world of high, tree-studded mountains, winding rivers, lakes and blue oceans. Happy people stopped and talked with her before continuing on their way. The contented songs of harps filled the air. She fought to stay there. That’s where she wanted to be, that’s where she belonged.

‘Are you all right, Nell?’

It was Cay-reace’s concerned voice. She opened her eyes and tried to move off the bed but couldn’t. She had twisted the covers so much she had to untangle them from her legs. Finally out of her harness of sheets she looked up at Cay-reace. He held a tray and something on it smelt so good it made her stomach rumble.

Ignoring it, she said, ‘I’m fine.’ And she knew she meant it. Nell
was
one of those nice people of her dream. Her potent blood flowed through her veins and ignited a flame in her soul. There was a reason she was born. She must bring the phibs and wintars together once more. They were all one race, including Nell. There’ll be many more like her, and they can’t lock
every
one away. She frowned. She would find the book but first, she had to save Cay-meka. ‘Did you speak to Nadar?’

‘Yes.’

The way he spoke and the glum look on his face told her the corl monster hadn’t listened. ‘He doesn’t care, does he?’

‘He doesn’t think the notion of family related blood types being the same is correct. He says Cay-tatel and Cay-meka have the same blood types.’

‘But why did you say the donor had to be on the mother’s side?’

‘Because that is the truth. Blood types might be the same with someone else but it will be missing a most important aspect. Phib female and male genetics are extremely different from wintars’. A donor must be maternally related. He honestly believes the phibs’ tradition is nothing more than superstition with no bearing on scientific fact.’

She almost growled. Nadar knew phib and wintar were once one race and he was gambling with Cay-meka’s life that both races are still the same.

Cay-reace stepped back and although he tried to hide it, it was plain by his eyes. He
was
frightened of her. She leaned forward and took the tray he held. The plate of food looked and smelt like Thai fish cakes. Nell’s mouth watered.

He went to the other bed, stroked his niece’s forehead and held her pallid hand while Nell ate.

‘How long does it take to hand out a tray, Cay-reace?’ Tanat’s voice came from just outside the door.

Nell started and nearly dropped the tray.

Cay-reace’s knuckles whitened as his hands curled into fists. Putting the tray on the bed, Nell stood up as Cay-reace rounded on Tanat. ‘Did you know Cay-meka was the one injured?’

Tanat’s eyebrow rose in slight surprise but his face was still as stone. He asked, ‘Was?’

‘Is.’

‘Yes.’ The eyebrow returned to its normal position.

Nell searched, but found no feeling in Tanat’s face. ‘Cay-meka was right not to trust you,’ she hissed. When she moved to the foot of Cay-meka’s bed, Nell thought she saw something glimmer in Tanat’s eyes. However, not being sure what, she presumed it was dislike for her.

Neither Tanat nor Cay-reace seemed to have thought it prudent to cover the exposed skin on their arms, hands or faces. If she did nothing, Cay-meka would probably die. If she acted on the plan that had instantly surfaced in her mind, Cay-meka might still die. Fear kept her still. Nadar was obviously powerful. He had wintar and phib, as well as corl, working for and with him. Fear of inaction replaced the dread of action. She took a breath. Trust your instincts, Nell. With a slight crouch, she sprang forward caught hold of Cay-reace. She had to pull off her greatest ever acting scene.

‘Don’t make me angry,’ she warned in her most threatening voice. Her eyes narrowed on Tanat. ‘You’ve seen what I can do.’

Tanat stepped back into the passageway with his palms facing Nell at chest height.

Cay-reace shrank from her touch.

‘I won’t touch your skin if you do as you’re told. Both of you will take me to Nadar.’ Nell wondered if the phib doctor really thought she could harm him. If he was acting, he was much better at it than she was. If she thought she could control her emotions, she would have connected with his mind and told him her plan, but she couldn’t risk hurting him.

‘You first,’ she nodded to Tanat, who didn’t appear in the least concerned.

Tanat swaggered along the passage. Nell and Cay-reace’s shoulders scraped the walls as they walked side-by-side. Submarine-like hatches blocked the way in front and behind them. As they approached the first hatch, Tanat raised a hand to a panel beside it.

Nell took the opportunity to wink at Cay-reace, but he refused to even look at her.

The hatch opened with a loud scrape and they stepped through to another passageway. At the end, another hatch waited for them and after that, another. Each time Tanat used a panel to open a hatch, Nell tried to get Cay-reace’s attention, but could not.

After the fourth hatch, they emerged onto a bridge. Tanat stepped to one side to allow room for Nell and Cay-reace to enter onto the platform. Daylight streamed through large windows. Nell had assumed they were travelling in space but snow-covered mountains loomed in the distance.

The ship didn’t appear to be moving fast. Keeping the phib close, she sidestepped to where she could see the ground through the window closest to her. Snow and ice was everywhere.

She turned her attention back to the room. Three people faced the consoles. They had differing lengths and shades of dark curls. More wintars.

Nadar sat in the middle of the room looking towards the mountains. He had his back to Nell and drank something that smelt like vinegar. No one seemed to notice their arrival so she nudged Cay-reace.

‘Sir?’ Cay-reace said.

The anxiety in his voice was tangible and all eyes turned towards them.

Standing, Nadar said, ‘What do you think you’re doing, child? Why did you allow her to escape?’ he asked Tanat.

He raised his hands, palms up. ‘I saw what she did to the sergeant.’

On hearing that, the three wintars grouped together behind Nadar.

‘Get her,’ Nadar ordered them.

Observing the effect she had on the wintars amused Nell and instilled a sense of bravado. She pushed Cay-reace ahead of her towards the corl.

Trying to sound in control, she said, ‘Cay-meka needs help. You will turn this ship around and go to a restoration.’ No one moved. ‘Now!’

Tanat moved down the side steps and closer to Nadar. Nell couldn’t stop him and keep a hold on Cay-reace.

‘Don’t you want to see the book?’ Nadar said. ‘Because that is where this ship is going. I took the book to the Pole. It’s waiting for you there, and if you don’t behave, I will have it destroyed.’

He spoke as if Nell’s consent was assured. Trying to quell her anger, she took another deep breath. Feeling in control of her emotions, she shoved Cay-reace away and rushed for Nadar.

‘You will—’ she began, but before she could reach him, Nadar sneered and flicked his wrist. He was going to travel. Tanat lunged and held onto Nadar’s arm.

‘Bloody cowards,’ Nell called as they disappeared, even though she knew they wouldn’t hear her. She almost spat on the floor. Her stomach tied itself into a knot at the thought, the realisation, of what her mind was capable of. She closed her eyes and saw Nadar and Tanat appear in an ice-walled room. A small hysterical laugh began to build
in her chest.
I will find you
, she screamed silently. She wondered if they could hear her.