Windrunner's Daughter (26 page)

“Not that one.”

The guard’s sweaty forehead creased into rolls like soysages on a griddle.

“That one’s to go in the cage.”

Colm and Jay brawled like madmen, but they were chained and Wren was unhooked with barely a moment’s interruption.

She went limp and dragged her feet, but the guards simply picked her up and tossed her inside. Wren’s shoulders crashed into the bars.  

There she swung, disoriented, as she watched her brothers hooked to the post directly ahead of her.

Why had
she
been singled out?

Once the Runners were secured, the guards abandoned them.

Finally, as the sky lightened, footsteps sounded behind Wren’s jail. She stared as the Council assembled around her. Just as in Elysium there were six: five men and a woman Wren assumed was the head of the Women’s Sector. None met her eyes. They all wore black and white pendants around their necks.

She shrank into herself as her mind fired the question at her over and over: why was
she
in the cage?

The fattest of the Councilmen stepped forward. His long sleeves fell back and revealed fleshy elbows, which wobbled as he spoke.

“We have called you here to administer justice.”

The head of the Women’s Sector bent and started to cough. The Councilman’s eyes flickered. “Are you all right, Leanne?”

Time dragged as the thin woman choked into her palm. Her back heaved and her hair hung over her face. Finally the coughing abated and she straightened. Her voice was a rasp as she replied. “Keep going, Erb.”

The Councillor, Erb, smiled at Wren, as if she was some sort of co-conspirator. It was a bright, hungry smile that showed too many teeth. “Where’s the Lister?”

The bald man stepped from the shadows. “Here.”

“You have your proof?”

The Lister nodded. “We have the cause of the plague.”

Wren held her breath. He was going to blame the Runners.

The Lister pointed. One single finger protruded from his sleeve, a spike of blame aimed directly at the cage.

At Wren.

Chapter twenty-one

For a moment Wren’s brain felt like old soy. He had to be using her as a symbol for the Runners. Surely he meant all of them, not just her
.

The sudden shouting that rose from the chained Runners buffeted her like waves and she covered her ears, so disoriented that she almost missed the Lister’s next words.

“This unnatural beast has destroyed the order of things, offended against both Runner Law and the Laws of the Designers, committed acts that have upset nature and brought the plague upon us.”   

“What are you talking about?” The red-headed Runner shouted. “He’s just a boy.”

“Idiot Grounder … the plague’s addled your mind …” The Runner’s insults grew louder.

Wren looked at her brothers. Jay too was yelling. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

But Wren writhed. He had accused her of breaking Runner Law. Did he
know?

The Councillor, Erb, smiled a predatory smile. “Bring the witness,” he said.

Wren’s eyes widened. A witness - someone who knew who she was. There could only be one person: Raw.

How did they find him in the cave?

The shadows behind the Council shifted as a light was moved through them. Through the airborne dust Wren could see him, his wide shoulders framed with wings that caught the orange light and glittered as they moved in rhythm with his long stride.

His face remained in shadow as he stepped forward and his boots thudded on the sand floor loud as drums.

She strained to see his face; wanted to look him in the eye as he denounced her.

She had always known that Raw intended to betray her, but for some reason her heart felt fragile. She had been starting to trust him. He had said it himself – she had saved his life. But he still blamed her family for his shattered life.

She gripped the bars. If Raw was going to speak against her, he must have forgotten that she had the same power over him. Raw’s wing theft had been just as bad as Wren’s.

Wren recalled all the times he had hidden his scars beneath his hair, remembered his grief when he told her he’d never get to choose from the Women’s Sector.

Maybe they had promised him both his life and a place on choosing day. Was that why he felt safe in denouncing her?

Then the Runner stepped into a shaft of light from the window and Wren’s spit dried to nothing.

It wasn’t Raw who faced her. It was Orel. His eyes burned into hers for a moment and then he faced the Runners.

“Tell them.” Erb’s expression reminded Wren of a well fed tabby. “Tell them what she is.”

“
She
…” The Runners raised their voices, a susurrus that sharpened the air and gave it edges.

Orel nodded. “She’s no Runner. She’s a girl.”

“Tell them more,” Erb demanded.

Orel cut his eyes to her and away. Wren’s fingers were almost blue, so tightly was she holding the bars.

Orel opened his mouth to speak then stopped. He was staring at Adler and Genna. “What are they doing here?” He spun to face the Councillor. “When I came to you, you said you’d let Vaikuntha’s Runners remain free in return for my information. What’s going on?”

Erb curled lips like slugs. “They’re here to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain.” He spoke in a low voice that only Orel and Wren could hear. “And if this one isn’t sufficient, we’ll need a few more sacrifices - for the good of the colony.”

“Wait.” Orel spun to face Wren, his eyes pleading. “He said they’d let all the Runners go. Don’t you see? There was no way the two of us could have got them out, but
this
way … one life for …” he gestured over the grouped Runners before them.

Wren’s fingers fluttered over her lips. “You kissed me,” she whispered.

The Lister snorted. “And it was an excellent signal.”

Erb grabbed Orel’s arm and his wings shivered. “Bear witness and maybe we’ll let the others go.”

Orel squirmed. “You
said
this one death would be enough.”

“
Make
it enough,” Erb snarled.

Wren saw the bob of his throat as Orel gulped. He turned back to her. “Yer dead anyway when Convocation gets hold of you. This way you can save all the Runners - not just yer brothers. Tell me you understand?”

Wren shook her head, but her instinctive denial warred with the weight of truth in his words. They dragged at her until she felt weak as a baby; hardly able to hold her head up. He was right. This was the way to save her brothers. “Tell me you’ll get Raw out of the cave.”

“I promise.”

Wren dropped her head into a nod and Orel sagged with a hint of relief. He turned back to the Runners. “She turned up a couple of nights ago,” he shouted. “Said it was her first Run, but it couldn’t have been. I’ve seen her, she’s better than half the adult Runners I’ve known. Better than her partner was.” He hesitated. “It’s unnatural.”

“What partner?” It was Jay. “You’re talking
shit
Vaikunthan. Wren had no-one to Run with.”

Genna's eyes blazed. “Wren said he was your little brother, Elysian. What’s the truth?”

Jay fell silent.

“Well?” She screamed. “Tell us.”

Saqr gripped the post he was shackled to. “Is it true?” he shouted. “Are you a
girl
?” His voice was saturated with disgust.

Colm spoke, but ignored the Vaikunthan Runners. “Wren? Who’s your Running partner?”

Wren shook her head desperately. She hadn’t told her brothers about Raw. It was the final betrayal of everything they believed. If they ever caught him, Colm would kill him.

“Wren?” Colm tried to lunge towards her.

“Don’t ask me,” she pleaded.

“I’m asking,” he snarled. “Who’s your partner.”

“He said his name was Raw,” Orel called. “Do you know him?”

“Raw?” For a heartbeat Colm was confused, but then his face cleared. “The
Grounder?
You’re not serious.” He yanked at his chains, taking out his fury on them. “I can understand your reasons for risking a Run, and you at least know the
theory
. But to give wings to a
Grounder
. To
that
Grounder.” He retched. “That's disgusting. How
could
you?”

“Colm I-”

“Don’t. There’s no excuse.” He stumbled into Jay. “This is our fault. We let her have too much freedom, gave her your kite to play with - allowed her to dream impossible dreams.”

“So you admit it. She is a girl.” Genna screamed. “Damned Elysians. You’ve doomed us all.”

“No,” Wren whispered. “I didn’t …” She looked at Colm. He was still hauling at his chains, his face livid red. Tears were sweeping down Jay’s cheeks.

Colm was so angry with her that he might just let her die. And he should, Wren realised. She had broken the Law. She had known was might happen to her when she had made that first jump from the platform. Her thoughts turned to their mother. Her death could buy a hundred lives today - maybe it could buy one more.

“Councillor?” She had to raise her voice to be heard over the furiously shouting Runners. Erb pretended to ignore her for a moment then took the few steps needed to bring him to the cage. His pendants swung within her reach and she was briefly tempted to grab them and tighten the chains around his fat neck.

“You’re going to die for this blasphemy,” he hissed.

Wren leaned her forehead on a bar. “I’ve never flown before and I can prove this was my first Run.”

The Councillor snarled and made as if to turn away. Wren caught his sleeve through the bars. “That would be no good to you though, would it?”

He snorted. “What do you mean?”

Wren licked her lips. “You’ve a cure for the plague, but not enough for everyone. Once the rest of the colony finds out there’ll be riots. So, to save those who actually get the cure from those who don’t, you need to provide a different target for their hatred.” Her mind raced. “You thought to use the Runners, didn’t you? But you know how much you still need us.” Wren grew stronger as she felt the truth of her words. “So you need to focus their resentment on one person – on me.”

“Are you
threatening
me?” His cheeks flushed and he pulled free. The Lister tilted his head, listening.

Wren snatched at his hand, but missed. “I can prove that I’ve never flown before ... or I can admit to bringing the plague down on you.”

A sneer filled the Lister’s brown eyes. “To save your precious Runners?”

“Yes and for one other thing.” Wren licked her lips again. “Give my brother, Colm, enough cure for one person.”

The Lister’s eyes flickered as thoughts chased one another over his face. “He’s not sick - why would you want that?”

“My mother has the plague.”

The Councillor froze and he and the Lister exchanged a horror filled look. “So it
is
in other colonies.”

Slowly Wren nodded. “In Elysium at least. And Tir Na Nog,” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Tir Na Nog is dead, completely wiped out. I don’t know if it was the plague or something else.”

The Lister paled. “Why are we only just hearing about this?”

Wren couldn’t stop the curl of her lip. “Because you’ve got most of the Junior Runners imprisoned here and the Patriarchs are at Lyot – who knows when anyone last stopped there. I don’t know why they didn’t call for help. Maybe their communications array was down, maybe they didn’t have time.” She exhaled, remembering the horrible cemetery. “I don’t know about anywhere else. So far my mother’s the only one sick in Elysium and she hasn’t seen anyone from the main ‘sphere for ages.” She gripped the bars. “If she gets the cure it won’t spread. You’ll save our whole colony.” She tried not to think about the man at the Doctor’s Surgery and his cough; there were other illnesses.

The Councillor remained silent, his fat mouth working as if he were chewing. Wren pressed her face to the bars and splinters dug into her cheeks. “You know you can’t abandon the other colonies. You need Eden for its food, Aaru for its drugs, the technology from Olympus … without Elysium you’ll lose the new photo-synthesisers.” Wren pushed on, putting pleading into her voice. “I know you care. You quarantined your own settlement to keep the Runners from spreading this. You were too late, it
has
spread, but you
can
stop it - at least at Elysuim - with enough cure for only
one
.”

“But, my dear,” the Lister whispered and Wren suddenly noticed the exhaustion in his bloodshot eyes. “Which of
our
people has to die in order to save yer mother?”

Wren’s eyes filled with tears. “I-I don’t know.”

He his head. “Neither do I.”

The Councillor measured her as if he were considering a trade deal. “If we give you this, you’ll confess to anything we say?”

Wren nodded.

The Lister’s shoulders twitched. “You realise, do you not, that if it’s elsewhere then Runners
did
spread the plague?”

Wren’s chin dropped again. “My brothers know about my mother. If you let them go free, they’ll make sure the Patriarchs are told.”

A bead of sweat made its slow way over the Councillor’s mountainous forehead. “I should kill you all - that might save
more
lives from the plague.”

Wren remained silent. Erb had to know that if he did so, Convocation would do what it took to destroy Vaikuntha. What more could she say?

Finally Erb called a guard forward and murmured an order. Wren strained, but only meaningless syllables floated, disjointed to her ears. The guard began to jog from the platform. He had to stop at the steps for a coughing fit and then he was gone.

The Lister looked from her to the Runners, who were starting to stir as if woken from a dream. “What’s the punishment for a female taking Runner wings?” he called.

“Death,” Genna screamed.

The Councillors formed a line and slowly, each raised their black pendant.

“Death,” the Lister agreed.

The ringing of an enormous bell shivered through the chamber, loud enough to shake dust from the walls. Wren clutched the bars. The colonists were being called in.

The noise of the gathering crowd pressed against the building and swelled like the river. With each surge of sound, Wren’s terror grew until she felt utterly numb. She was going to die.