The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One' (10 page)

‘Stop,’ Varan
suddenly shouted, as he pulled his horse off the road, he was
staring toward the trees, ‘do you feel that?’ He asked looking
expectantly at his companions; in answer, both Rhoàld and Dotty
nodded their heads. Jed looked up, his head had been aching badly
for what seemed an age but now, suddenly, it began to get much
worse.

‘All I feel be
me ‘ead aching.’ Jed grumbled as he took his hand from Lemba and
cradled his head.

‘Something is
happening here,’ Varan continued as if Jed had not spoken.
‘Here...,’ he said again, pointing toward the dense woodland
alongside the road.

‘We must go
this way and quickly,’ he stated, moving his horse off the road and
between some small gorse bushes. Dotty, driving the wagon at once
pulled on the reins; the horse leading the cart obeyed the silent
instruction and began to turn. Jed sitting in the back of the cart
looked up again, this time in horror.

‘Wait,’ he
shouted after Varan. Varan turned.

‘That’s not the
way,’ Jed shouted angrily, ‘I ‘ave a bad ‘ead, I feel very sick an’
I wanna get ‘ome,’ he complained as the others looked from him to
Varan. ‘I’m gettin’ off, I gotta get ‘ome an’ me ome’s not that
way!’ He repeated softly, as once more his head began to pound.
Varan approached the cart once more.

‘Go if you must
boy,’ replied Varan. ‘Our paths will cross again soon, we’ll catch
you up,’ he watched as Jed’s eyes sought Lemba’s, a pleading,
sorrowful look deeply etched behind his pain. Lemba smiled sadly,
knowing he was going.

‘It’s me fam’ly
Lemba, I’m sorry.’ Jed said sadly, ‘I gotta get ‘ome, fast…’ he
leant forward his lips brushing hers as quickly he jumped off the
wagon.

‘We’ll look
after Lemba until we meet again.’ Varan said as he turned the horse
toward the trees once more. Lemba, seated in the back of the cart
stared at Jed as the wagon moved toward the trees and finally
disappeared in the dense woodland.

Jed watched too
as the cart got smaller and smaller. ‘I love you,’ Lemba’s fingers
flashed as the cart finally vanished. ‘I love you too an’ I’m
sorry,’ he replied, his fingers moving slowly, although he knew she
was out of sight and would not see his message.

Underneath the
pain in both his head and his stomach, he felt wretched, all the
promises he had made to Lemba and here he was abandoning her for
the second time in just a few days. He thought of how he had
hidden
, no, cowered
, he corrected his thoughts, in the tree
stump whilst she had run bravely toward the soldiers pretending to
be ill with the deathly red fever. The danger she had constantly
exposed herself to, how she had rescued Varan from the midden when
he was so ill, knowing that if caught she would have probably have
been put to death, how she had helped Jed himself time and again
when he was ill. How she had suffered abuse and been beaten
repeatedly and how he, when he realised what was happening to the
girl had still allowed her to return to Gath for more punishment.
I didn’t even try to stop her,
he thought, feeling
thoroughly ashamed of himself. Then he thought of how her frozen
fingers had tickled his toes whilst he sat beside the water. How
the sound of her name rolling over his tongue made him smile
warmly, as if his heart itself were glowing. He thought of how much
he loved her, how quickly she had crept into his heart and found a
place from which she would never have to run or be fearful.

‘I’ll come back
fer yer Lemba,’ he screamed at the top of his lungs, the energy
from his pain adding volume to the scream, ‘I’ll be back,’ he said
more quietly as his stomach began to churn and complain at the
sudden inrush of fresh air. Suddenly his mouth filled with fluid
and he rushed to the side of the road where some small bushes could
hide the sight of a grown man on his hands and knees venting his
stomach.
I deserve this,
he thought, as leaning forward his
head began to spin, his stomach protested as it tried to empty once
more and without warning an excruciating pain like a white blinding
light, pierced his brain. He fell forward, comatose into the long
grasses narrowly missing the puke now cooling on the ground behind
the prickly gorse bush, unknowingly he fell at exactly the same
time that his blood brother Gideon, collapsed.

Many miles away
in Devilly Castle, Gath sat up on the bed he was sharing with his
new body slave.

‘Did you feel
that Darnel?’ He asked. ‘The disturbance in the magic field, I
mean, a disruption at the very roots,’ he said, adding, ‘I believe
my son has come into his power.’ He laughed maniacally looking at
the silent young man before him. ‘I’m going to get home Darnel,’ he
exclaimed excitedly, as he grabbed the young man’s scrotum and
squeezed hard, tears of pain sprang from Darnel’s eyes. ‘Be pleased
for me.’ Gath said angrily, looking at the pain-filled eyes as he
released the young man and threw himself down on the satin
sheets.

‘Finish me,’ he
commanded, ‘then you and I are going on a journey. It’s high time
I
became acquainted with
my
son,’ he laughed aloud
staring at the wall and the framed tattoo that he had harvested so
carefully, it no longer disturbed him because he knew it for what
it was, it was a picture of home. ‘Home...,’ he whispered,
‘home.’

Ignoring his
own pain Darnel moved to a position better able to service his
master. He did not speak; he never did, not anymore.

Deep in the
woodlands as the wagon stopped it seemed to Dotty that the whole
area was littered with death and she could hear Lemba beside her
draw breath in horror. Varan was already off his horse and running
toward a pair of bodies, lying in the middle of the clearing. He
stopped to feel their necks for signs of life and to lift a log
from their tangled legs.

‘They’re
alive,’ he shouted to Dotty as she climbed from the wagon and
searched for her bag of emergency equipment. ‘You help them,’ he
called as he rushed off again, this time toward more bodies piled
at the edge of the clearing opposite them.

Lemba clambered
down from the wagon and moved quickly to help the couple lying
unconscious on the ground. The man had broken a leg, it bent
awkwardly, she could see the white of a bone as it protruded
through his skin and blood was everywhere. As she looked at the
couple she suddenly felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand
up, as a child she had often helped her step mother and Dotty nurse
the sick and ill and she was used to seeing blood but it was not
the bone or the blood that had made her feel this way. It was in
the way the two bodies lay. The man lay with his buttocks and
thighs exposed and the girl’s legs spread apart beneath him on the
cold hard ground, she noticed the net wrapped tightly around the
girl’s upper body and the torn pieces of fabric that had once been
clothing. Roughly and with tears in her eyes she pulled the man off
the body of the girl, he was going to get dirt in his wound and
probably a serious infection but she did not care.

‘Lemba…’
screeched Dotty as she saw her sister’s strange behaviour, ‘Lemba
have a care, they’re hurt.’ Dotty added, as she quickly ran over to
minimise whatever extra damage Lemba had caused. Realisation hit
Dotty as she noticed the young girl’s near naked body and the
bruises and scratches on her arms where the net had caught her.

‘You poor
little thing!’ She cried as she covered the frozen girl with a
blanket from her emergency bag. Lemba removed the net from the
girl’s arms and head and gently began to move the red hair from her
face,
same shade as Jed’s
she thought, full of pity for the
young girl,
she’ll take time to get over this
. Lemba
continued to brush the young girl’s face gently removing the last
of the thick covering of soft red hair.

She remembered
the first time she herself had been raped by Gath, his fury at her
frightened giggling, the journey to the dungeon and the foul
smelling Hackman who had touched her intimately as she was tied and
helpless. Her eyes glazed over as she remembered the tongs forcing
her teeth apart, Hackman piercing her tongue with a rod and then
using it like a lever to pull it, swollen and bloody between her
teeth and out of her mouth and him holding her still, as Gath
himself cut her tongue away slowly. She remembered the blood; the
strange metallic taste, the pain and then the silent screaming that
seemed to go on and on and on, she shuddered at the memory that was
still as fresh now as if it were yesterday. Something in her had
died that day and stayed dead until the day she met Jed.

As she brushed
the last of the hair from the girls face, she gasped. This was
Jed’s face, her Jed, the chestnut red hair and creamy golden skin.
Mayan,
the name reverberated in her head; this was Jed’s
twin, Mayan. She could be no other, the likeness was too great and
she looked up to tell Dotty, who was busy wrapping the rapist’s
leg. Clapping her hands to gain attention, she flashed her fingers
angrily wanting to know why Dotty was helping the creature.

“Journey’s
Will’ left him alive and who am I to go against that.’ Dotty
answered, adding, ‘He’ll never walk again without a stick and he’ll
be in pain fer the rest of his life. Maybe the Gods think he’ll
repent at leisure but it’s not for such as me to kill him....’ she
finished, turning her attention back to the silent figure.

Rhoàld stood at
the side of the clearing, the hairs on the back of his neck were
standing up and icy cold sweat ran down his back. The clearing was
grey, nothing lived and if the area had been devoid of the bodies
strewn around and a river had flowed near, this would have been his
vision. Tentatively he looked carefully around the clearing
expecting to see the pale child with the dead eyes. He had tried
not to think of it and had not gathered up enough courage to ask
Varan about it, though he was sure the vision had come from him
whilst he was still a prisoner in Gath’s dungeons. Shaking himself
free of his gloom, he ran across the clearing toward Varan to
assist him if he could.

Three men all
dressed in soldiers clothing were dead, Rhoàld shuddered as he
turned the vomit covered face of the young blonde lad.

‘He will have
blue eyes,’ he predicted as he recognised Gideon, both from the
portrait of Lydia and the face of his king.

‘The young man
has nothing broken,’ said Varan aloud as he ran his hands lightly
over the boy’s limbs adding almost to himself, ‘but he seems to be
the cause of the disturbance. The magic is alive around him.’ He
moved on to examine the older man and smiled as Jed opened his
eyes.

“By the
Journey’ Sonal, what ‘appened?’ He asked as he tried to move, Varan
gently reached out and touched his head.

‘Oooh, me ‘ead,
aww... me arse…’ Jed added, as a pain shot through his left
buttock. He pushed Varan’s hand away.

‘I ain’t in no
need o’ yer ‘ealing Sonal, I ain’t dying yet.’ Jed complained as
Varan moved back to Gideon, who was beginning to rouse. Jed stood
up unsteadily, favouring his left leg.

‘Aaww!’ he
exclaimed painfully as he removed a large piece of wood from his
behind. As he had fallen, he had inadvertently landed on a small
branch lying discarded on the forest floor; it had pierced his
trousers and his skin, tearing into his butt cheek quite badly.
Blood began to flow copiously, as he pulled the branch free.

‘It is nasty
but only a flesh wound,’ stated Varan as Jed twisted and turned
trying to see his behind. Varan smiled as he worked on Gideon, Jed
had reminded him of a small cat he and his brother had owned as
children, it had often chased its tail, twisting round and round in
exactly the same way as Jed was attempting to do now. Jed, sore and
angry looked up at Varan and seeing the smile, growled at his
friend.

‘Tain’t funny
Sonal, yer should be seeing ter Gid…’ Jed stopped short and stared
at his friend hard, suddenly moving as fast as his injuries would
allow him to take a protective stance before his son.

‘Yer no be
Sonal,’ he said angry with himself for not recognising a
stranger.

Rhoàld who had
noticed a body lying slightly apart from the main group in a small
gully below the bleeding man and the boy laying on the floor,
turned to stare at Varan, the likeness between the two men before
him was astonishing; he helped the injured man to his feet.

‘It’s all right
Jed…, he is my brother, this, this is Varan,’ said Sonal, as he
gestured toward Varan. Blood had congealed on a head wound Sonal
had suffered but still Rhoàld stared, totally bemused, he helped
the man who looked so like Varan, back up the rise toward the
clearing. The silence was palpable, the twins stared at each other,
their faces unreadable and Jed crouched low over his son ready to
defend him, his knife in hand.

Dotty called
out angrily as she noticed the sudden tension in the air.

‘This young
lady has been …em…, she needs help and you all stand there
blustering!’ She said coldly, her hands on her hips and fury in her
glare as she stared toward the men across the clearing. ‘I’m all
for family reunions, ‘she continued, ‘but can we find a more
suitable place to have it?

Gideon’s voice
broke the tension.

‘She was
raped...,’ he stated and his voice cracked with pain as he fought
against the blackness that tried to engulf him once more. ‘Toby
Hollins will die fer this.’ He added, quietly shaking his head, his
tears falling freely as he looked at his unconscious and helpless
fiancée. His father replaced his knife at his waist and
shamefacedly tried to help him to his feet, failing miserably.