‘We are able to discontinue our service at any time,’ said Liet.
‘And be a slave?’ Alkon chuckled. ‘I would rather death.’
‘Are you not a slave now?’
‘Yes,’ said Alkon, ‘you are right. I am a slave now, but I am a slave with power! There is a difference.’ He paused, playing with the glass with his left hand. ‘Every day I think of what happened to my father,’ he said.
‘He was a brilliant man,’ said Liet.
‘Yes, he should not have been made an outcast. We could use more men like him in our ranks.’
Liet seemed to flinch at these words, turning so that he was looking at the walls. Alkon watched him with interest. There was something not right about the way he moved and the expression that had just crossed his face.
‘Does something bother you, friend?’ asked Alkon.
Liet took a moment to reply. ‘No,’ he said. ‘But you will understand. It is better to have a father outcast than a father killed.’
Alkon nodded slowly as he lowered his eyes. ‘Yes, that is true. I know your pain well. Neither of us have seen our fathers in many years. In this, we are brothers.’
‘May I be excused, General?’ asked Liet.
‘Yes,’ said Alkon, flicking his hand toward the door. ‘Continue keeping a close watch on the Callibrian. Remember, I want to know his every move.’
Liet bowed, seemingly unable to speak, and left the room.
Alkon poured another drink as he sat back in his chair, nursing the glass as he stared blankly at the wall ahead, wondering what he had just seen in the lieutenant-general.
Chapter Fourteen
Survival is for the strong, the lucky and those with heroes.
January 20, 997 R.E.
Jaden coughed loudly. Over the previous day of travel, his sickness had worsened. The two highest peaks were not far away now. He was getting closer to his second destination point, getting closer to the cure. He wondered if he had the strength to go on for another day. He had to reach it soon. His muscles already ached and his bones felt as if they would collapse with each step. He had to reach the stream with the water his grandfather said was good. His life depended on it.
Raquel walked up ahead, several yards in front. It had been like this for most of the way, as if she wished to avoid any conversation by paying him no attention. They had spoken little since the night she had given him the crystal. She had comforted him without words and he had fallen asleep with her hands on his head and chest, but that was all she would do. She was distant in her mind, in a faraway land that he could not even imagine. He had tried to ask her questions; where the other Daijuar were, how long she had been with them and why she was going north, but she held her silence, speaking only about which path she thought they should take and pointing out food when she spotted it.
Jaden had taken some of the fruit with him and wondered at why Raquel hadn’t. It could have been days before they were able to eat again. They needed to plan ahead. At first he thought the answer was simply that Raquel had travelled this way many times and knew where she’d be able to find food, but there was something else that hadn’t seemed right, something that had bothered him ever since he had met her in the clearing that strange night.
‘How do you walk so far without eating or drinking?’ he asked. He had never seen her touch food or water in all the time they had been together.
Raquel stopped where she was, but she did not turn to him. Instead, she directed her gaze above them, through the hole in the canopy that had opened in the trees.
‘A storm is coming, we must hurry,’ she said.
‘To where?’ asked Jaden.
‘To find shelter. Come, as fast as you can.’
‘I can’t,’ protested Jaden. ‘I need rest.’
Raquel had already begun a brisk walk up ahead. ‘Hurry!’ she called back to him.
With what little energy he had left, Jaden made an attempt to chase after her. But the further they went, the faster her pace seemed. Soon she was in a slow jog, and then a run, flickering in and out of sight as Jaden fought his way through the shrubs she had run behind. The forest around them began to sway loudly as the wind increased in strength, causing loose branches to break free and crash to the ground. A distant clap of thunder rolled over the land, followed by a few drops of rain.
‘Hurry!’ Raquel called out again. She was still out of sight. ‘The storm comes!’
Out of breath, Jaden slowed for a moment, putting his hand against a tree.
‘I can’t,’ he panted, as if he expected her to still be able to hear him. ‘I have to rest.’
The sky lit up with a flash of lightning. Jaden breathed as deeply as he could. The sickness made it hard to take in the air he needed. A second flash came from right above, striking a tree nearby. The deep boom of the thunder hurt his ears a second later, and a mighty gust of wind bent the trees to the point of collapse. Jaden was forced to hold on tightly with one hand so that he wouldn’t fall as he covered his ear with the other. He then saw the storm that was approaching—a mass of darkness that made it seem night had already fallen. He understood now the urgency in Raquel’s voice and ran as fast as he could to where he had last heard her call.