The Forlorn(84)

"I have the money that you gave me, and some more the little one you call Princess also gave to me. It is odd. I did not know she liked me. Must I have sex with her now?" The man sighed. "I spent some money in that last town. It was strange. The man in the shop thought I could not count and that he would cheat me. But I remembered what you told me. He will almost certainly live. However, that is aside from the point: I cannot run away even if I wanted to. I cannot go more than two hundred fifty yards from Cap for more than twenty minutes. Even when I followed you into Amphir I knew that we were close to him, outside the wall."

"Why not? I mean don't believe everything Cap says. He's got being the great leader on the brain," said Keilin, first making damn sure his disrespect wasn't being overheard.

"He has placed a small explosive device in my abdomen. I still have the scar. He demonstrated to me how it works. After twenty minutes of being further than half a mile away from him I would be as dead as the hive wants me to be. He explained it to me very carefully . . . to make utterly certain I would not run away," said S'kith quietly.

Keilin sat in shocked silence. Finally he said. "I'll check with Bey. There must be a way . . ." But he had a sinking feeling. He remembered Beywulf saying to S'kith when the man joined them on the roofs of Amphir, "Aren't you too far . . . ?" and S'kith's strange reply. He'd meant to ask about it, but had forgotten about it after all that had happened. Another thought occurred to him. "And for God's sake don't mention the idea of sex to Shael!"

"It will offend her? I do not understand. But as to speaking to the foodmaker, it doesn't matter too much. I would not go anyway." S'kith was quiet for a long time. "I could not leave you, friend—nor Leyla. You see, until I left the hive I was a man alone. Throughout my childhood, throughout my life I was alone. The warrior brood sows loved me . . . but they did not trust me. You do not trust in the hive. To trust is to die. But you have trusted me . . ."

For two hundred years the Alpha-Morkth had tried to breed hive loyalty into their slaves. They would have been dismayed to see that where they had failed, human nature had succeeded, against all odds.

Keilin felt guilty. All he'd ever done was to feel sorry for the odd man. Suddenly S'kith turned away from the gray view to look at Keilin. There was life in his strange eyes. "I know what I will do. I will teach you the bioenhancement routines. You have taught me so much. It was forbidden for one human to teach another in the hive. I shall teach you, and take joy in defying the Morkth."

* * *

Three days later, the barge sailed out onto the wide, ice-free Elbe River. On the east bank lay Morkth-occupied lands. To the west the new Empire of Tynia. It was the first sunlight they'd seen for days and the whole party were up on deck, soaking up the weak watery stuff. A skiff full of armed men came sailing out from one of the fishing villages on the western bank. Leyla readied her bow.

"Leave that alone, you daft woman. Them's guvment people," bellowed the steersman. S'kith touched Keilin's hand. "Back," he said quietly. "Start your routine. We must go over the side." Using the party as cover they slipped like rats over the far gunwale. Keilin had just time to catch Shael's eye and nod towards the steersman.

There was a trailing rope hanging from the anchor port, down into the water. It sluiced by green and cold as the barge moved downcurrent. They hung onto the rope like fruit, listening to the boarding party. "We've had a tip-off from a jewel merchant in Riverport that three jewel thieves are coming downriver on a barge. We're searching each vessel for three men. One hairy, short and broad one, like that man," the official pointed at Bey. "One bald one . . . could be you, sir, except that the description is of someone far shorter, and a boy with an aquiline nose and green eyes. About five foot eight."

Cap looked down his prow of a nose at the man. "I am offended by your assertions. We are the only people on board."

"Meaning no disrespect, but I'll have to look below, sir." The man was slightly cowed by Cap, but still plainly determined. Keilin thanked heaven that the bedding had all been dragged up and spread in the sunshine.

A few minutes later he heard them come up again. "Well, no one down there. My apologies."

Another voice. "We'd better just check they're not hidin' in a small boat over the side. Remember, like the Dumara ones."

S'kith had evolved a bizarre teaching method. He and Keilin would touch the core section. Then S'kith would do the exercise. It was an awesome way to learn. Keilin literally felt each step from his mentor's viewpoint. It had taken only hours to impart the skills taught to S'kith over years.