The Anialwch Connection
Chapter 6
The next morning when the three of them were eating their morning meal, Beier arrived to deliver a message. Pieter wanted to talk to Donte – now.
Donte looked at Rianne and lifted his brows. “I’ll try to be back in time to catch the tram.” He kissed Rianne and Petra and left with Beier.
Beier stayed with him until he reached Pieter’s office. At that point he left. Donte entered Pieter’s office to find him sitting behind his desk.
“Good morning, Papaw.”
“Sit down, Donte.”
Donte sat in a chair and waited for Pieter to direct the conversation. As always, he came directly to the point.
“You are having private meetings; you ignore our guests and then invite yourself on their tour; you embarrass your mate in front of everyone by making a spectacle of a princess. Is this how they have taught you to act on the Moeder?”
Donte stared at him for a moment, a warm flush working its way up his neck. He had not only invited himself on their private tour, he had invited others as well. He had assumed they were all welcome, but apparently not by King Neirin or Celyn. Who had complained?
“Well?” Pieter glared at him. “What have you to say for yourself?”
Donte took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn’t going to get emotional. “I’m sorry. I assumed that King Neirin and Princess Celyn would welcome our presence.”
Pieter scowled. “And the private meetings?”
“There was only one. I explained that. I didn’t call that meeting.”
“There were two. The one you had with Gerritt. I made a decision, Donte. I didn’t expect you to undermine me.”
Apparently, his discussion with Gerritt bothered Pieter more than the meeting with the Vlaktes veterans. Perhaps that was because he didn’t know what they had discussed.
“Gerritt is my friend. We know each other well enough to detect when something is troubling each other.”
Pieter folded his hands across his chest and leaned back in his wheelchair, his bright gaze fixed on Donte’s eyes. “And what did you determine was troubling him.”
There was no point in avoiding that issue. He knew why Gerritt was upset. Donte met his gaze. “You invited him to leave. Why did you do that?”
Pieter’s gaze faltered. “He was distracting you from your duties.”
“I don’t have a second, Monomi, and I won’t have until I take your place. I hope that is a long time from now. But if and when I do take your place, I will decide who my second will be.”
Pieter stared at him a moment. “Perhaps you will not take my place after all.”
Donte nodded. “As you wish.”
Pieter’s brows slanted in concern. “You will leave Bergen?”
“No.”
Pieter was clearly confused. “You will stay in Bergen even if you are not the next ruler?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Donte smiled. “Because this is my home. I have a mate and a daughter. We like it here.”
Pieter studied his face for a moment. “You do not care if you are the next ruler?”
“I didn’t say that. I merely respect your prerogative to choose the second you think is best.”
Pieter looked hopeful. “Then you wish to take my place?”
“Yes.”
“Then you will obey my commands?”
Was that what this was – a way to manipulate him into something he didn’t want to do? Donte looked into Pieter’s eyes. “Within reason. As I said, I accept your authority as the ruler.”
Pieter shook his head. “There are no conditions. Either you obey me or you do not.”
“With respect to The Prophesy; I will do as I must.”
Pieter leaned forward and slammed a big hand on the desk. “The Prophesy! I told you it was nothing but folklore!”
Donte watched him a few minutes, letting him calm down. “Then why are you so concerned about building a strong Mascot rule?”
Pieter blinked in surprise. Surely he realized that his grandson would discover that plan. He lowered his voice. “I expect a revolution – especially if you keep stirring them up – telling them that they have equal rights. The next thing you know, they will be trying to rule. The Mascots were put here for that purpose. They are genetically altered for that purpose.”
Up to that point, Donte had been certain that he and Pieter had the same goal. In fact, their goals might be incompatible. He had only five years to prepare for The Prophesy and Pieter was going to fight him every step of the way. He had anticipated resistance, but this was a crushing blow.
Pieter sighed. “If you continue to incite the colonists, I will be forced to banish you from Bergen.”
There it was. If he didn’t work with Pieter, he would be banished and therefore unable to fulfill The Prophesy. The Prophesy stated that he would lead the colonies to freedom in the uniform of Bergen. Still, he couldn’t abandon the colonists. Equality was the only way they could find freedom. He wasn’t inciting the colonists. Quite the opposite.
Donte felt sick to his stomach. It wasn’t the idea of losing the position he coveted and needed to complete The Prophesy. It was the fact that Pieter was so disappointed in him that he was ready to banish him. That hurt to the core.
Donte stood. “I am not inciting the colonists, but I do believe in equality.” He took a deep breath. “Do what you think you must.”
Donte turned to the door and Pieter’s voice followed him.
“I love you, Donte.”
Donte turned back and looked at him. “I love you too, Papaw. We disagree, that’s all.” He sighed. “I have a tram to catch. Think about it and let me know if you don’t want me to return. I will honor your decision.”
Donte left the room with a heavy feeling. Being banished would make his mission more difficult, and ultimately lead to the removal of Pieter from his position, but he had to do what he believed was right. He had to take a stand somewhere. At least they each knew what to expect from the other.
He hugged Saskia. “I love you Nana; always.”
She frowned up at him. “You are going away again?”
His eyes burned and he spoke around a lump in his throat. “I don’t know what is going to happen.”
Saskia hugged him. “I don’t understand him anymore.”
Donte held her close. “He’s alone, Nana. He needs you.”
He found Rianne waiting downstairs with Petra. She took one look at his face and shook her head. “What is he upset about this time?”
Donte took Petra from her arms and the bag of clothes from her hand. “He says he will banish me from Bergen if I continue inciting the colonists.”
Rianne grimaced. “Oh Donte. I’m so sorry.” She walked out the door with him. “What are you going to do?”
He looked down at her. “I’m going to do exactly what I had planned to do. I told him to do what he felt he needed to do.”
She smiled; her eyes adoring him. “Good for you.”
Celyn was waiting in the lobby of the tram station with the rest of the group when Donte and Rianne arrived. Donte looked at each of them.
“I want to apologize for inviting myself on this trip. I confess that I didn’t think about it first.”
Quade and Neirin looked at each other in surprise.
“I’m glad you said something,” Neirin said. “I’m looking forward to talking with everyone.”
Quade nodded agreement. “It never crossed my mind that you were inviting yourself.”
Donte looked at Rianne. “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this? You don’t feel pressured to come?”
“I feel great. Better now while I’m not that far along. I haven’t even been sick…yet.”
Donte smiled at her. “Maybe you won’t be if we stay together.”
Quade grinned. “Congratulations. I didn’t know. When is it due?”
Rianne smiled. “In about eleven months. It will be easy to figure this one because he was only home for two days.”
Sima spoke under her breath. “It sounds like you made good use of your time.”
Donte glanced at Celyn and warmth flooded up her neck onto her cheeks. She looked at her feet. Did they think she was too young to understand what they were talking about? Donte didn’t. She glanced up to find him still watching her. His gaze went back to Sima, who looked embarrassed.
“Sorry.” Sima said. “I was thinking aloud again.”
Celyn didn’t like Sima. She always looked at Donte as if he was a hot meal after days without food. Worst of all, Rianne didn’t seem to mind at all. How could Donte think she loved him?
When the tram arrived, Celyn sat in the seat across from Donte. He said he wanted to talk to her. She was giving him the chance. Neirin sat beside her and Rianne beside Donte, directly across from Neirin. Across the isle from them, Akira and Quade sat in one seat and across from them, Mai sat beside the window. Kenyon sat beside her and Sima sat beside Kenyon. She wasn’t making eyes at Kenyon, even after he spent the night with her. Not that it mattered, but it did seem strange.
Her attention was drawn back to their seat when Petra giggled. She was standing in Donte’s lap, a foot on each knee. He was pretending to let her fall and then catching her. She would squeal and giggle, and then tell him to do it again.
Donte turned Petra around to face Celyn. Apparently, he wanted her to participate. She didn’t have anything better to do, so she slid forward to reduce the gap between her knees and Donte’s. When Donte let Petra walk forward, Celyn reached for her. Petra giggled and leaned forward so that Celyn could catch her. Petra’s giggle was infectious and soon Celyn and Donte were playing with her; passing her back and forth; both of them laughing.
To Celyn, it didn’t seem to take as long to get from Bergen to Libertad as it did when they went from Libertad to Bergen. They arrived at the station and went down the ramp to the lobby. Donte carried Petra and their bag, so she offered to carry the bag. It surprised her when he surrendered it. The bag was heavier than Petra. But then, Petra couldn’t be carried by a strap, and she was always squirming in Donte’s arms, trying to look at something or reach for something.
At the station, Dylan met them. He gave Quade a message and took Sima to go on a different tram to Lochfowk. Quade read the message and looked at the others. “Would anyone like to go see a spaceship?
Everyone said yes, of course, and Quade handed Donte the message. “There is a shuttle at the airfield, but they don’t have anyone to fly it. Would you mind?”
Donte read the message. “I don’t mind, but I’m not the only one here who knows how to fly it.”
Kenyon lifted his hands in protest. “I haven’t done that in over thirty years.”
Quade nodded. “It’s been a while for me, too.”
Donte looked at Rianne. “What about you?”
She smiled. “I would be perfectly content to let you handle that.”
He laughed. “When is the next tram to the airfield?”
“It’s ready to board right now,” Quade said.
Donte glanced down at Celyn. “Would you like me to carry that now?”
She handed the bag to him. “Can I carry Petra?” He leaned over and let her take Petra from his arms. She shifted Petra to one hip and followed him.
Neirin and Rianne exchanged smiles as if she had done something extremely difficult. Petra wasn’t that heavy.
Celyn was looking forward to the trip to the spaceship. She had experienced the sensation of flight in her visions, but this was the real thing. Maybe one day she would fly one of those shuttles.
The trip to the airfield was uneventful and soon they were boarding the shuttle. It had tiny round windows along the sides. The inside was smaller than the tram and there were two seats on each side of a narrow isle. The seats didn’t face each other, either. Rianne reclaimed Petra and took a seat in the front.
Donte looked down at Celyn. “Would you like to sit beside me in the co-pilot seat?”
Celyn looked at her father. When he nodded consent, she followed Donte through a narrow door and took the seat that he indicated. She was sure he was trying to get on her good side, but she had no idea why.
Donte helped her buckle into her seat. After he was buckled into his chair, he put some kind of contraption on his head that covered his ears and came around to his mouth. Next, he started speaking to someone. At first, she thought he was speaking to her, but he could hardly expect her to know the things he was asking. Surely, he wasn’t talking to himself that way.
He punched some buttons and the shuttle began to make a whirring sound. Donte looked out the window and watched, so she did the same. Wings were unfolding from the top of the shuttle. He pressed a series of buttons and the craft hissed, lifting off the ground.
Donte looked at her. “Ready?”
“Yes.” It came out sounding more like a question, but he smiled and pulled back on a lever.
The craft began to move forward – slowly at first and then faster. He used another lever to turn the craft away from the buildings, along a smooth roadway. The craft gained speed quickly and suddenly they were moving away from the ground.
She clutched the arms of her chair as the ground got further away.
“Nervous?” Donte asked.
She shook her head and then looked at him. “A little.”
His smile was kind. “I’m going to make a slow turn and then we’re going to climb pretty fast. You’ll start to feel like you are floating when we break free of the atmosphere.”
Once he made the turn, the craft gained speed. It was difficult to determine if they were going higher. Nothing below them was recognizable except a few clouds. When the floating feeling hit her, she felt sick to her stomach.
“I feel like I’m falling.”
He nodded. “I never thought about it that way, but it does feel a little like that.” He looked at the others in a mirror above his head. “Is everyone all right?”
At that point Petra began to cry. “Daddy!”
“It’s all right, sweetie.” He said to her. “We will be there in a little bit.” He pointed at some lights and spoke to Celyn. “Those are the ships.”
They didn’t look like ships. They looked like stars. He pushed a button and the whirring started again. The wings folded back to the craft. There was a hissing sound and the ships started getting larger.
Celyn stared in wonder as the spaceships enlarged to incredible proportions. The hissing stopped and the craft slowed as it went under one of the ships and entered a huge opening. Donte started talking to someone again as they moved up to a door. Something shot out of the wall and hit the side of the craft. Cords pulled them against the door and suddenly she felt like she fell into her chair.
Donte took the piece of equipment off his head and unbuckled his belt. He helped her out of her seat. She stumbled and would have fallen if he had not grabbed her. She looked up at him. “I feel dizzy.”
“That’s normal. It will go away in a few minutes.”
The door hissed when it opened and they all exited the craft into a hallway. Celyn gripped Donte’s arm to keep from falling. She felt as if she had been spinning around and around in a swing.
As they came out of the hallway into an open area, a big man met them. He grinned when he saw Donte.
“Donte!” He said as he reached out a hand. “You keep coming back.”
Donte gripped his hand and grinned. “I wasn’t aware that you were trying to get rid of me.”
The man laughed and looked down at Celyn. “Who is this?”
“Monomi, this is Princess Celyn. Celyn, this is Adriaan; commander of the Moeder.”
Adriaan offered a palm to Celyn. “It is good to meet you, Nomi. I have heard much about you.”
If Donte had told everyone about her, she must mean more to him than she thought. He certainly didn’t act like it, though.
Donte turned to Neirin. “And this is King Neirin.”
Adriaan stuck a hand out, palm up. “This is an honor, Monomi.”
Donte went through all the introductions. “Of course, you know my mate and daughter, and Dad, and Kenyon, and this is Mai.”
Adriaan shook hands with everyone and when he took Rianne’s hand, he smiled. “I certainly understand why he turned down my offer.”
Rianne looked at Donte with a confused expression, speaking to Adriaan. “Your offer?”
Quade and Neirin looked from Adriaan to Donte, as if it were news to them as well. Kenyon and Mai were watching Donte, as if they were waiting for an explanation. Why was an offer from Adriaan so important?
Adriaan looked at Donte. “You didn’t tell anyone?” He looked at Quade. “I offered him a position as my second in command, but he turned me down.”
Quade frowned at Donte. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Donte shook his head. “I didn’t accept it, so there was nothing to tell.”
Rianne looked up at Donte. “Does Pieter know?”
“No. It wouldn’t make any difference.”
Quade looked at Rianne and Donte. “I’m missing something here.”
Donte glanced around the group and shrugged. “Not now.”
Celyn looked up at her father. When he shrugged, she turned to Donte. “Who is here that you think you can’t trust…me? Because I’m a kid?”
“Celyn.” Neirin spoke in a stern tone.
“It isn’t a matter of trust.” Donte said in a gentle tone. “It’s simply inappropriate.”
Adriaan studied Donte a moment. “How is Pieter doing?”
Donte looked uncomfortable. “Deteriorating, I’m afraid.” He glanced at Quade.
Quade nodded. “I expected that. There isn’t anything we can do.”
Donte took Petra from Rianne and looked down at Celyn. “Would you come with me?”
She followed him down a narrow hallway and into a large library.
“When you saw Rianne and me, we were on the Baigh. The design of the Moeder is much the same.”
How did he know she had seen them? She looked up at him, waiting for him to reveal why he had brought her there.
“Celyn, you know about The Prophesy, don’t you?”
She gave him a stern look. “I know you are supposed to exchange vows with me.”
He looked into her eyes and waited. That wasn’t the answer he wanted.
She shrugged. “I know we are supposed to save the colonies.”
“Do you understand why you and I can communicate even though we are miles apart?”
She shook her head. “It comes to me. I don’t decide when I will have the visions.”
He watched her again. It was difficult for her to know what was on his mind – even whether he was angry or sad.
“You saved my life when the ursidae was chasing me. How do you tell the aves what to do?”
She frowned. “The aves?”
“It was a strigiformes that swooped down and distracted the ursidae. When you see me in the visions, and I look at you, I see a large white aves – sometimes a strigiformes and sometimes an accipitridae – but always an aves.”
“Do you think I become an aves?”
He smiled. “No. I think somehow you connect with them. I’m trying to understand how.”
Petra sucked on her lower lip, watching Celyn as if she also wanted to know.
Celyn lifted her hands, palms up, and shrugged. “I don’t know. In the vision, I am flying.”
He nodded. “Do you know we both have a gene of the aves and the camelus?”
She shook her head. “Do you mean we are part animal?”
He nodded again. “All Mascots have the gene of some animal.”
Petra looked at him as if to say, “even me?”
Celyn didn’t question Donte’s wisdom. If anyone knew, Donte did. Still, it made her wonder what he wanted from her.
Donte walked over to the wall, where a map of Purlieu hung and Celyn followed him. “According to The Prophesy, the people who created us will return. The colonists will turn on the Mascots and we are supposed to lead them to freedom.” He looked down at Celyn. “You and me.”
She gazed up at his sober face. “When?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know; maybe when you are nineteen. I think that is when we will exchange vows…vows that have to do with working together to save the colonies.”
She shook her head. “No. I saw us together, holding hands. We were exchanging vows – like you and Rianne.”
He watched her for a minute. “We shall see, but that won’t be for another five or six years. Right now, we need to get to know each other so we can work together.” When she said nothing, he continued. “How do you feel about Rianne?”
She shrugged. “She’s nice.” How did he expect her to feel? He had six more years to be with her. She wasn’t going to begrudge him that much.
“She suggested that it would be a good idea if you came to live with us for a while. Would you be agreeable to that – assuming your father would permit it?”
For a moment she stared at him in surprise, her mouth hanging open. Finally, she clamped her mouth shut. Her father would never permit it. If she wanted to stay with Donte and Rianne, she would have to think up something good.
He shifted Petra to one arm and stroked Celyn’s hair with the other hand. “You don’t have to answer me now. Think about it, will you? If you would like to do that, I’ll talk to your father about it – but I won’t say anything to him about it unless you are willing.”
She pushed his hand away from her hair. She wasn’t a child. “What would we do?”
“I’m not sure. It will soon be the warm season in the mountains, so we might camp out and ride in the mountains.”
She couldn’t say why, but she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being out in the mountains alone with him. “Just you and me?”
He shook his head. “Rianne and Petra would be with us.” He hesitated. “If you feel at all uncomfortable about that, we won’t go. It was only a thought.”
“Could I go home if I wanted to?”
“Of course, and I don’t want you to feel pressured to come stay with us.”
She looked at him. “I know. It was only a thought.”
He smiled. “We’d better get back and join the others.”
Soft Science Fiction
