GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) (42 page)

He was halfway through the contents when he realized that the nobleman had called him
Friend,
but since he had no idea what the situation was, he held his questions. There was something familiar about the man's features, though Gabriel couldn't pinpoint what it was.

As the soldier drove them through the series of gates into the royal city, Gabriel finished the cider. The screaming pain in his body had been reduced to a whimper, which told him that the drink had indeed been laced with opium, but his mind seemed perfectly clear.

Other than the offer of the drink, neither the nobleman nor the soldier said another word to Gabriel during their trip. Even when they stopped in the rear of one of the smaller mansions near the citadel, the nobleman merely motioned for him to follow.

The moment they were behind the closed doors of the residence, however, both the nobleman's and the soldier's demeanors changed from indifference to solicitousness.

"Eva! Borok!" the nobleman called out. Immediately a young native couple hurried into the foyer. "Fetch our friend a large cup of cider and prepare a cool bath for him. He will need your ointments, Eva. They whipped him before I could get there."

Eva reached for Gabriel's hand but when she saw the condition it was in, she grimaced and grasped his elbow to lead him away.

Gabriel welcomed the kindness being proffered but he wanted a few answers before he took another step. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful," he said to the nobleman, "but why are you doing this?"

The man looked somewhat embarrassed. "Forgive me. In my excitement, I have overlooked good manners. My name is Daniel. I am one of a very secret group who have been waiting for your arrival for almost two centuries. I regret that you were forced to undergo mistreatment but I only learned of your presence this morning."

Gabriel thought perhaps his mind had been dulled by the opium-laced cider after all. "Exactly who do you think I am?"

Daniel nodded. "You are right to be cautious. Jarad and Ester passed the word among our group that two Friends had finally arrived from the Otherworld to save us. There are only two nobles besides myself who have held to the beliefs of Poseidon and the Friends. We know the truth of our origins, though we have kept it from the natives."

Eva handed Gabriel a cup of cider and he automatically took a large swallow of it as Daniel continued to explain.

"The Ruling Tribunal of Norona sent three representatives to Terra to analyze the progress of the exiled rebels about two hundred years ago. They promised that help would be sent. We have been waiting a very long time and are most anxious to learn of your plans to deal with Jupiter."

Gabriel rubbed his chin as he correlated Daniel's tale with the various theories he'd been considering. "Are you certain no one else from Norona is on Atlantis at this time?"

"Absolutely. Any stranger to our land would be brought to my attention immediately."

"Jarad mentioned that
God
was talking to Noe—warning him that the end was coming. I assume Poseidon is not really sending messages from the other side, and if we are truly the first Noronians visiting Atlantis in two centuries, then who is giving Noe instructions?"

Daniel furrowed his brow. "I suppose it could be the Supreme Being, just as Noe has insisted for many moons. However, whether the warnings are real or imaginary, the ground quakings have worsened and the grumblings coming from inside the mountains grow louder with each rising sun. We had begun to fear that you would not arrive in time to put a stop to this upheaval of nature."

Gabriel swayed in place and blinked at Daniel.

He wanted to correct him about who he really was but his mind and voice no longer seemed connected. He could see Daniel giving instructions to his servants and he knew Eva was taking him somewhere but everything had taken on a dreamlike quality.

Though there was something important he had to tell them and someone he needed to find, he couldn't seem to remember the specific details. His body was being cooled and soothed. For a time he was aware of the gentle ministrations without being fully awake, then sleep stole even that awareness.

* * *

The cups and bowls rattled as the serving table shook so violently, it threatened to tip over. Shara helped the other slaves in their efforts to prevent everything from crashing to the floor. The quaking went on for several minutes and everyone agreed it was the worst they had ever felt inside the temple.

Gabriel
? Shara reached out to him for the hundredth time in the last hour. As long as he had been blocking her, she knew he was all right, but this blank wall she was touching was exactly like what she had felt earlier when he had been knocked unconscious. She was furious with herself and him for separating their minds even for a short time. Something had happened to him and she had no idea how to help.

If that wasn't enough, it was beginning to look as though the end of Atlantis was coming closer by the hour. Time was definitely
not
on her side.

She had been working in the cookery all day without any chance of sneaking away or getting close to the nobility. When she was finally ordered to go upstairs and help with the afternoon service, the quaking began. It would be just her luck to spill a tray of food on a nobleman and get her throat cut for not being able to keep her balance during an earthquake.

Gabriel?
Nothing. She told herself he might be hurt but at least he was alive. Somehow she would know if his life had been ended. He was a part of her now, and if he was gone, she would no longer be whole.

She was handed a tray of sweets and directed down the stairs toward the central court, where Jupiter and his princes were meeting. In spite of so much going wrong, she still had a mission to do. Concealing the tiny scissors in the palm of her hand, she headed for her targets.

Careful to stay behind the princes, she carried the tray from one to another as inconspicuously as possible, but the treats had been anticipated, so her presence was noted by all present. As she had been instructed, after each man had taken a sweet, she stood behind a column and waited to see if any of them wanted seconds. When the signal came, she went to that man first then proceeded around the court with her tray.

The fourth prince she approached was sitting on a bench, engrossed in etching something on a golden table. Quickly she glanced around to make sure no one was observing her too closely. Pretending to be rearranging the few items left on her tray, she brought the scissors to the man's hair and took a snip.

"What are you doing there?" the prince exclaimed, jumping up and whirling around to her so fast he knocked the tray and the scissors out of her hand. "Clumsy oaf! Why were you breathing down my neck?"

With her heart pounding against her rib cage, Shara dropped to her knees and scrambled to pick up everything that had fallen. Just as her fingers reached out for the scissors, the prince's sandaled foot came down on them.

Slowly he moved his foot and picked up the implement. His fingertip tested the sharp tip and his eyes took on a wild look. With a powerful swipe, he backhanded Shara, sending her sprawling on the floor. "This slave tried to harm me!" he shouted toward Jupiter and held up the weapon for everyone to see.

Shara saw Jupiter nod to one of his personal guards. She tried to get up and run but her head was swimming from the blow and the serving robe got caught beneath her feet. As the soldier strode toward her, he poised his spear over his shoulder and aimed.

She hesitated long enough to see the spear leave his hand then she rolled away. Her defensive action was so unexpected that no one moved for several heartbeats—long enough for her to get to her feet and head for the narrow flight of stairs up to the serving area. Midway up she stopped and waited for the first soldier to come into view. Forcing herself to concentrate in spite of her panic, she hurled a suggestion at the man the moment he appeared. Instantly he froze in place and blocked the others from getting past him.

Shara flew up the remaining stairs, pulling off the bulky serving robe as she went. Just as she crossed the landing and began her descent toward the cookery, a tremendous explosion sounded outside of the temple, followed by the strongest earthquake yet. Too frightened to stop and brace herself, she stumbled down the steps, falling against one wall and then the other. Another explosion sounded and in her mind's eye Shara saw the top of a mountain spewing fire.

This was it! Their time was up.
Gabriel! We have to get out of here!
Shara staggered into the cookery to find total chaos. Tables were overturned. Pots and crockery were all over the floor. Slaves tripped over each other in an effort to find a safe haven.

Suddenly Shara pictured little Rebekah, trapped in her cell below the temple. Her gaze darted around the cookery and found a large cleaver that could be heavy enough to break the lock on the cell door. Grabbing it, she took off for the slaves' quarters.

Shara?

Gabriel's mental voice was weak but she heard it.
Thank the heavens! The volcano has erupted and the ground hasn't stopped shaking. Are you still at the monument? Can you get away?
She felt his mind straining to understand but there was something wrong with him.
Gabriel, please, wake up!
She turned down the corridor she thought should have taken her to Rebekah but found herself in an unfamiliar area. Reversing her steps, she tried to figure out where she went wrong.

I'm in a nobleman's house inside the royal city. I'll explain later. Where are you?
Gabriel asked a little more clearly.

In the temple. Beneath it, actually.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she found herself back on the right path.

Get out of there right now. Keep your mind open so that I can see where you are.

As Shara complied, she felt him turn his attention away from her to speak to someone else. With her thoughts focused on releasing Rebekah, she couldn't manage to listen to his conversation as well. Just as she neared the slaves' quarters, another horrendous quake shook the temple. Crashing sounds overhead alerted Shara to the possibility that parts of the structure were collapsing.

Picking up speed, she rounded the last corner, only to collide into someone else.

"Rebekah!" she exclaimed, holding the girl still. "I was coming to free you."

Rebekah was crying and trembling uncontrollably. "When all the noise started, I kept pounding on the door but nobody came. Then all of a sudden there was one terrible shake and the door fell down."

Holding the cleaver in one hand, Shara clasped Rebekah's hand with the other. "Come. Let's get you to your parents!" Before they could take off, though, a menacing figure in a red robe stepped around the corner in front of them.

"You will not take the virgin anywhere but my chamber."

Shara yanked Rebekah behind her and raised the cleaver over her head. "Get out of our way or I'll split you in two!"

Jupiter blinked and the cleaver flew out of Shara's hand and down the corridor. She hurled a mental suggestion at him to go to sleep but he easily blocked it. His hand rose to strike her and she instantly paralyzed his arm. Their minds met on a battlefield of wills, pulling and pushing, each straining to overpower the other, but they were too evenly matched for either to be victorious.

"The virgin must be sacrificed," he demanded. "It is the only way to appease the gods and put a stop to the destruction."

Shara stared into eyes of pure madness. His black pupils were dilated to their fullest as he struggled harder to force her to bend to his will. She felt her mind weakening and saw his deranged smile of satisfaction.

Hold on, sweetling. I'm coming.
Suddenly Gabriel's mind melded with hers and her defensive position changed to an unexpected attack on the king's consciousness. The next instant, Jupiter's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground.

Gabriel appeared a moment later. "Let's go!" he ordered, grabbing Shara's hand and pulling her over Jupiter's body.

"Wait," she said as she reached down and plucked a hair from Jupiter's head. She took another second to slip it into her pouch. Then taking Rebekah's hand, the three of them ran for the stairs.

Shara noted the cloths wrapped around Gabriel's hands and upper body like bandages.

I'll explain everything later,
he promised.

The closer they got to the surface, the louder the sounds of destruction were. But nothing prepared them for the sight of it.

As they exited through the side door where they had first entered, they heard the screams and shouts of a panicked population. Throughout the courtyard, statues and columns had smashed to the ground. A portion of Poseidon's temple had already collapsed and all around the citadel, buildings were crumbling. The earthquake alone was capable of leveling the entire city but a more lethal destroyer was on its way.

Bright orange fire was erupting from the tops of three mountains that could be seen from the citadel mound—one only a few kilometers away. The burning lava appeared to be creeping down the mountainsides but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it would not be long before it was flowing into the city.

Shara, Gabriel and Rebekah were swept along with the hysterical crowd, all heading for the beaches in hopes of finding a way to escape the inevitable.