Gates of Neptune (15 page)

* * *

Princess Jere was a light sleeper, and the instant she heard the sound at her door, she was off her bed like a cat. Snatching up the dagger that was always on her bedside table, she moved quickly across the room and flattened her body against the wall. The door opened slowly, throwing a bar of light across the floor—and someone's shadow. Princess Jere waited until the figure stepped inside, then she leaped upon it, throwing her arm around its throat, and raising her dagger to strike.

A choked voice said, “No, Princess, it's me—Sarah.”

Princess Jere withheld the stroke, whirled the girl around, and stared into her face. “It
is
you.” Her eyes were hard. Jere shut the door and dragged the girl across the room. She lit a light and faced her, crying angrily, “What have you come back for? To betray us again?”

Sarah said hoarsely, “No, Princess, we never betrayed you.”

“Everyone knows what you did,” Jere said. “You left with Valar, and you have gone over to the enemy.”

Quickly Sarah began pleading. She was trembling. Her hair was wet and stiff with sea water, and somehow she brought a sense of vulnerability. She began by saying, “We left at the bidding of Goel,” and she repeated the
story of how they had left. She also told how she had disobeyed Goel and taken Valar along, deceiving the others.

“I was wrong,” she said, as tears came to her eyes. “I disobeyed the voice of Goel, and I put my friends in danger of their lives, and now they're captives, and they will all die unless …”

Jere waited for her to continue, and when she did not, said, “Unless what?”

Sarah swallowed hard. She managed to say, “Unless you will go back with me, Princess Jere, they all will perish. I, too, for I will go back to be with them.”

Jere stared at her. “Have you gone crazy? I, go with you to the Citadel? Do you realize what would happen if I were captured? Aramis would have the perfect hostage. He would take the kingdom, for my father would give it up for my life.”

“Yes, I know that.”

Jere, for the next twenty minutes, shot questions at Sarah, trying to trip her up in her story, but she could not. Finally she said grudgingly, “I think you're telling me the truth, or part of it, but I don't understand the rest. Why should I go with you to the Citadel? What can
I
do?”

“No military might can overcome Aramis, but there is a power greater than that.”

Jere blinked. “What power?”

“The power of love, my lady,” Sarah said quietly.

“What—what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that you love the Lord Aramis.”

“No, I do not. How could I love a traitor?”

“You know what he was better than anyone,” Sarah said quickly. “Everyone speaks of what a wonderful man he was, how kind and gentle and courageous, everything a man should be.”

Jere bit her lip. “Yes, I did love him, but no more. I cannot love a traitor.”

“My lady, you know he is not himself. There is a man called Duke Lenomar. He has clouded the mind of the Lord Aramis.”

“Lenomar.” Jere stared, then whispered. “I knew it. I never trusted that man. Aramis and I had quarrels over him. But Aramis couldn't see through him. What has Lenomar done?”

“Somehow he has influenced Lord Aramis, and only you, I think, can bring him to himself.”

After a long time, Jere's shoulders slumped, and she said, “I will go with you. My life is empty without him anyway. At least I will see him once more.”

I
still say it's some kind of trick that Duke Lenomar is playing on us. Where else could she have gone?”

The captives had been arguing about Sarah's abrupt and mysterious disappearance. Dave maintained stubbornly that it was some trick on the part of the duke.

Josh rubbed his chin nervously. Ever since he had awakened to find Sarah gone, he had not slept. Worry had drawn his face, and now he said, “Well, you may be right, Dave—but I don't see what good that would do him. He's got us where he wants us anyhow.”

Dave said quickly, “But he wants to know more about Goel. We know that for sure.”

Wash shook his head. “Any more of these questionings, and I'm not sure I can hold up. They keep asking the same things over and over again.”

Lenomar had taken the Sleepers, one by one, from their common cell into a smaller room, where for what seemed like hours he had interrogated them, asking question after question about their activities since emerging from the sleep capsules. Mostly he asked about Goel and his plans.

At the end of one session, Josh had stared at the tall, sinister-looking duke and said, “Goel doesn't let me in on all of his plans, but I know one thing he has on his mind.”

“Ah, and what is that, my young friend?”

“To put people like you and the Dark Lord out of business,” Josh had said defiantly.

Lenomar glared, and for one moment Josh knew fear.
But then Lenomar had merely motioned to his guard.

“Take him back with the others.”

And now the group talked nervously about Sarah, but there seemed nothing anyone could do.

* * *

The Sleepers waited, and time dragged on.

“I'm so afraid, Dave,” Abbey said. “I can't stand the thought of that awful—that awful—”

It was clear to Dave that she couldn't bring the words
shark tank
to her lips. She was very pale. Her lips trembled, and she whispered, “I never was very strong.”

Dave tried to put a good front on the situation, although he too felt something in the pit of his stomach. “Don't give up, Abbey. It's not over till it's over. Goel will come through for us.”

Abbey looked up at him, biting her lip. “Do you remember back when Goel talked to all of us and gave those—prophecies?”

“I remember. I remember what he said to me,” Dave said ruefully. “That I'd have the hardest task of any of us. But I don't see that this is any harder for me than for any of the rest of you.” He brightened. “Say, Abbey, if I'm going to have to do a hard task, and it's harder than anybody else's, why then that means we'll get out of here. Because here, nothing's harder for anybody—it's all the same.”

Abbey brightened too for a moment, but then a cloud passed over her face and she dropped her head. “Do you remember what Goel asked me?” Without waiting for an answer, she went on. “He asked me if I'd give up everything for him, and when I said yes, he asked me, ‘What about your good looks?”

“I remember,” Dave said. He remembered also that Abbey had said, ‘No, I can't do that.'”

“I wish I hadn't said what I did to him. What good is it to look nice when you're going to die? At least, if I had said yes, I'd be ready to go, I think.”

Dave suddenly saw how small and vulnerable the girl was. He moved over, put an arm around her, and gave her a companionable squeeze. “We can't give up,” he said. “I've been thinking Josh is right. Sarah hasn't gone over to the enemy—I know that, so something's going on. We just have to keep our hopes up.”

* * *

Jake and Reb agreed with Josh about Sarah, but as time wore on, Wash grew more and more tense and apprehensive. None of them spoke of the specifics of the execution, but he knew they were all high-strung.

“I sometimes wonder why I was ever picked for this job,” Jake said. “Doesn't seem like I add much to the group.”

Reb said, “I don't think any of us adds much, but it's the group that's important.”

Wash agreed. “I think that's right, Reb. And somehow us Sleepers have got more to do than die in a shark tank.” Then he realized what he had said. “Sorry, didn't mean to get too specific.”

Hours passed, and they all seemed to grow more and more tense.

* * *

Finally, steps sounded outside the door, and the bolt clanged metallically as it was withdrawn. The door swung open, and the chief guard stepped inside. Behind him stood a squad of heavily armed mariners. The guard's face was emotionless, but he said, “I'm sorry. It's time now.”

Josh looked up at him. “You're sorry? I don't think you really mean that.”

A strange expression crossed the chief guard's face, “Believe it or not,” he said quietly, “I
am
sorry. My brother is one of the mariners whose life you spared.” He lowered his voice, perhaps so the other guards could not hear. “And I am not the only one. Many of our people feel that Duke Lenomar is wrong.”

“What about Lord Aramis?” Josh asked quickly.

The guard shook his head briefly. “I cannot say.” He hesitated and then said, “But I cannot offer you any hope. He is under the control of Duke Lenomar, it seems.” Then he stiffened, and his lips grew thin. Lifting his voice he said, “Come this way.”

The tall, strong guards formed a double line, and the Sleepers took their places between them. As they walked down the long corridor, their footsteps rang with a hollow sound.

When Josh looked around, he saw that Dave's face was pale and knew that his own must look the same. Abbey stumbled, and he moved quickly to take her arm. He said, “I've felt better in my life, but one thing I'm going to do—show Lenomar that some people are not afraid of death.”

His words caught the attention of the chief guard, who turned to look at him, nodding slightly as if in approval. The other Sleepers glanced at Josh, who managed a brief smile.

In what seemed a very short time, they wound through several corridors until finally they came to double doors, which two of the guards opened.

The chief guard said, “Step inside.”

Once inside, Josh saw this was the largest room that they had encountered in the Citadel. It was built like an amphitheater, and there were seats rising slightly around the outside. In the center stood a large tank some fifty feet across, at least. As Josh was marched along with the
others, closer to the tank, he saw dark bodies moving restlessly beneath the surface of the water.

“Don't look at that, Abbey,” he said. “Just keep thinking of Goel.”

At one side of the tank, a group of important-looking individuals occupied a row of raised seats. In front of them sat the Lord High Admiral Aramis and, beside him, Duke Lenomar. The chief guard halted, looking up at the two men. “Sire, we have brought the prisoners.”

Aramis's eyes met those of Josh.

There is,
Josh thought,
something strange about his face.
His countenance, handsome though it was, was somehow marred with confusion, especially his eyes. Their eyes locked, and a long silence fell over the group as everyone waited for Aramis to speak.

Slowly the admiral stood to his feet, looked down at the captives, then said, as if to himself, “These are very small enemies for a man such as I. And very young.”

Immediately Duke Lenomar said, “Young and small, but still they are the servants of the enemy. They have all confessed that they are in the service of the one called Goel, who seeks to ruin us all.”

Aramis blinked. His eyes went from one to another of the small group. “Does the Lord High Admiral make war on children?” he asked.

Again Duke Lenomar spoke up quickly. “You must not think of them as children. They are small and young, but they have in them the poison that will destroy us.” He whispered, “No one likes to see young lives destroyed, but that is the price of winning the kingdom, my lord. Now, you must give the command.”

Aramis seemed not to be listening, for his eyes were locked on those of Josh again. He considered the boy, then said, “Do you have anything to say?”

Josh lifted his voice, and he lifted his hand, his fist
clenched, “Long live King Cosmos! Long live the kingdom of Atlantis! And long live the House of Goel!”

His words rang through the hall. And as Josh glanced about the room, he saw that many of the guards and the mariners who sat in the seats seemed to be moved by them. He thought,
Some of these people are not against us. It's that Duke Lenomar
—
he's the one who wants us to die.

Aramis said, “You speak of Goel.”

“Yes,” Josh said, and then something came into his mind. He lowered his voice so that it was quiet but strong. “And may the peace of Goel come to you, Lord Aramis.”

This time there was an audible response from the leaders, and Lenomar looked around, obviously seeing that the young man's words had swayed even some of them. He called out, “Into the tank with them!”

Aramis at once whirled, his eyes wide with anger. “Have you become my commander, Lenomar?”

“Why, no, sire, of course not. I beg your pardon, sire, but my anxiety for you and for the kingdom made me speak unadvisedly. I await your command.”

Aramis stared at the duke for a long time, started to speak, then turned back to the captives. There was a weighty silence before, finally, Aramis said, “I have never turned my back on my enemies in battle. No man has ever called me a coward. I have fought the battle of the king faithfully until—” he hesitated “—until …” He could not finish his sentence.

Then he seemed to find a new thought. “You young people are victims in a war not of your making. You are young, but there will be others—many, though older than yourselves—who will suffer in this terrible conflict. That is the way of war—the innocent suffer.” He stopped and looked thoughtful. “I would that it were not so. I would that you could escape the fate that you have brought upon yourselves.”

Suddenly a cry rang out, “Goel bless Lord Admiral Aramis!”

A murmur traveled around the room and suddenly swelled into a babble of voices, for a figure from nowhere stepped out into the open space just behind the Sleepers.

A voice cried out, “It's the Princess Jere!”

Many of the watching mariners had spent their lives serving King Cosmos, Josh realized. They knew Jere well. They had sworn their loyalty to the house of Cosmos, and here stood its living representative. Many of those around the room now stood, fully half the number, and someone cried out, “Hail, Princess Jere.” The cry was taken up by others.