Chapter Seventeen
2511 Words
Chapter Seventeen
Kay looked at Daniel and whispered, “I’m sorry that you had to be my babysitter.”
“You shouldn’t be talking,” he whispered back. She turned away and stared out the window watching the ground come closer towards her. Daniel gazed at her, and whispered, “I don’t consider it babysitting, but I am the best man for the job. I know all the ins and outs of the capital. I used to grow up on the streets.”
Turning her head to look at his face, she clutched the armrests as the shuttle began to land beneath her. As soon as the shuttle stopped, they unfastened their seatbelts and stood. Daniel pulled her small bag out of the compartment above them and handed it to her. She pulled the strap over her shoulder and followed close behind him as he led her down the aisle.
As soon as they stepped off the stairs, Minead walked towards the transporters and opened the door to the first one he reached. He climbed into the vehicle and Kay followed him. After she closed the door, Daniel looked to the driver, “Take us to New York Ave and 9th Street northwest.” The transporter pulled into traffic and Minead slid an untraceable card into the slot on the back of the front seat.
Daniel eliminated the projection and a voice came across the speaker, “Who is it?” Amaris inquired.
“We’ve arrived,” Daniel stated then pulled the card and placed in his shirt pocket and looked out the window.
Kay stared at him intently then turned towards the window and looked at the place she once considered a great city, but now it was the lesser of two evils.
The transporter turned the corner, and Minead quickly pulled out the card and slid it into the payment slot as soon as the vehicle stopped. He got out of the vehicle and glanced around the park as Kay climbed out. After the driver pulled away, Daniel said, “Well, your mother will be here shortly. I will be with you until I see her coming and then I will disappear, but will watch until you have gone.”
“For what it’s worth, I believe in your cause,” Kay stated as they sat on a bench.
Daniel looked at her confused, “Then why are you going with your mother?”
“I don’t think you really want to know.”
“You know after my parents were killed by the king, I made it my mission to survive because the king wanted me to die, but not by his hand. I lived on the streets and after time passed, there were others who came to me for help who counted on me. They trusted me to keep their life secret…”
“Is this a long way of telling me that you can be trusted to keep it a secret?”
Daniel smiled slightly, “Yeah.”
“Okay, you want the truth, I hate my sister.” Minead looked at her for more, “Are you wanting a reason?”
“Well, it would kind of be nice to know why I am on this mission.”
“Haven’t you ever been on a need to know basis?”
“Not really. Especially dangerous missions.”
“I didn’t know I was a dangerous mission.”
“Well, to a certain degree.”
“All right, Robyn was taught by my father and my grandma everything she needed to know.”
“And what were you taught?”
“I was taught by my mother how a girl should behave in these times. To be invisible, be quiet, to literally be nobody.”
“So, I’m guessing you were mad that your sister was given this education and attention.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
“Did you ask them to teach you?” Daniel inquired then watched her turn away. “How do you know they wouldn’t have taught you if you didn’t ask?” He looked up and saw a royal vehicle making its way down the road, “It is time for me to say good-bye. I pray that you make it.”
Before she could say anything more, Minead walked away from her and towards a set of trees a great distance from her, but still able to watch.
Kay watched as the vehicle made its way towards the road closest to her. As soon as it stopped, her mother stepped out of the vehicle, her face completely exposed, “It is so nice that it stopped raining for me to come pick you up.”
Following her every movement as Amaris came towards her, Kay inquired, “Mother, why didn’t Grandma or Dad teach me?”
“Well, I told them not to. They wouldn’t give me a choice on Robyn and I wasn’t going to let them endanger your life.”
“So, you stopped them from teaching me?”
“Why it was for your own good? Now let’s get to the palace, the king can’t wait to meet you.”
“I can’t go.”
“Yes you can. We can go in that vehicle, the king asked for you to come and see him.”
“Good-bye Amaris,” Kay said looking at her mother seriously.
“That isn’t funny, Kay, now let’s get going.”
“No, I can’t go with you.”
“Now stop that, Kay, get in the vehicle.”
Kay shook her head and quickly turned and ran toward the trees that Daniel was hiding in.
As she reached the trees, he pulled her into his arms behind the evergreen tree trying to keep her cries down as he watched Amaris. Her mother looked in the direction she ran and finally turned and walked back to the vehicle. “Is she gone?”
Daniel looked down at her, “Yes.”
“Were you able to hear everything?”
“I learned at an early age to read lips.”
“I should go and let you get back to the others.”
“What do you mean ‘go’?”
“You have completed your mission and dropped me off, I shouldn’t go back.”
“My mission was to make sure you were safe.”
“I don’t deserve my sister’s help. I have destroyed our relationship because of the lies my mother told me.”
“Exactly. Your mother told you, not you. You said that you believed in the cause.”
She looked into his eyes, “Teach me to fight.”
“What?”
“I want to fight in the revolution. If I am to return to my sister, it is not to expect people to take care of me.”
Daniel held her eyes with his as he replied, “All right, I’ll train you.”
XXXX
Minead led Kay onto the ship and as soon as the door was closed behind him, he looked at the first crew member he saw, “Who is this, sir?”
“The director’s sister, Kay, she will be accompanying us to South Dakota.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you Kay. There is a change in plans though, sir.”
“What is that?” Daniel inquired as they walked towards the cockpit.
“We have been ordered to avoid South Dakota.”
“How did you find out?”
“The communication system is in use.”
“What?” Daniel inquired with a small smile.
“Shouldn’t it be working?” Kay inquired looking at Daniel’s wide eyes.
Daniel quickly explained, “To insure safety, the communication system on each ship is not to be used until the director declares revolution.”
“So, it has begun?”
“Did you scan the ship for trackers?”
“Yes sir, we are clear.”
“What is the rest of the message?”
“The director is in Topeka along with Al, her husband, her father, and her brother. We are to find a place to stay, inform her of where we are and await instructions.”
Daniel looked at Kay and then at the crew member, “Show Kay to the place where she can store her things. I will talk with the director on what she wants us to do now that we have her sister.”
“Yes, sir.”
They went their separate ways and Daniel quickly stepped into the cockpit and took his position. “Let’s head towards the Kansas area while I contact the director.”
Officer Lauren Prev nodded and as she began to give orders to the crew, Daniel walked to the communication system and slid the ear set on. He punched in the code and turned on the transmitter. “Attention, one thrasher tried to deliver package, but was refused, awaiting instructions, over.”
After a few seconds, a joyful voice came across the ear set, “Deliver to me direct, over and out.”
Smiling, Minead cut the transmission and stood to look at his crew, “Let’s go to Topeka, Kansas.”
“Yes, Captain,” Prev replied as Minead walked out of the cockpit to look for Kay.
The man that directed Kay to the living quarters, looked at the captain, “What else are your orders, sir?”
“Go to the cockpit, and help them up there, we are heading for Topeka.”
“Yes, sir.”
The man walked in the direction he came, and the captain continued towards the living quarters. He looked around and spotted Kay sitting on a cot looking through her luggage. Watching Kay’s face intently, he saw her pull a small box out of the bag and open it. She slid a black scarf out of it and as tears started to fill her eyes, she began to pull at it to tear it apart. Giving up at the tough fabric, she let her face fall into her hands letting the scarf absorb her tears. “She gave me this scarf. That was the one present I got from her, another reminder that I am to be a nobody for the rest of my life,” Kay replied trying once again to tear the cloth then threw it on the floor.
“I’m taking you to see your family.”
“I don’t deserve their kindness.”
“They are your family.”
“So was my mother and I turned my back on them because of her.”
“You have to stop this. If you want to fight this battle you have to consider yourself an equal, consider yourself a revolutionary.”
She wiped her eyes, “I need their forgiveness.”
“You need to forgive yourself. They could accept your apology, but it won’t do any good until you accept it.”
“But I abandoned them. Why should they be happy to hear that I’m coming back? I showed nothing but anger towards my sister.”
“I just communicated with the director, and when I said that I had you with me, the voice was full of joy telling me to bring you to them.”
Kay looked at him with unbelief, “Really?”
“Really.”
XXXX
The woman slid Amaris’s robe onto her shoulders and as Amaris tied off the strings, the woman asked, “Did you get to see your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“How did she look?”
“She looked good.”
“Where is she?”
“She refused to come back with me.”
“I can’t believe she would refuse such a life as this. We are provided for and protected, and we only have to do as the king asks us.”
Amaris looked at the young woman, “And do these involve going to bed with him?”
“We are like his wives and that is a part of our jobs.”
“And what do you do about children?”
“The king fixed it so we are not able to have children.”
“Does he not want an heir?”
“He doesn’t fix all of us. There are certain women that please him enough, and he believes they will bear him a son?”
“Does he have any children?”
“I don’t know. It was rumored of him leaving the throne to Owen Dored, but he disappeared. There was one woman who did have a child, but it was a girl,” the woman replied folding Amaris’s clothes and sliding them into the drawer.
“And who was the woman?”
“I believe her name was… Cassia… Amer…ow,” the woman replied realizing the last name she just uttered.
Amaris grabbed the woman’s shoulders, “My sister. Please tell me, is she still alive?”
“I do not know, ma’am.”
“Can you ask people? Find out for me?”
“If I do such a thing, I may displease the king.”
“I must know, please I beg of you. I need to know if my sister is alive and of the child.”
The woman bit her lip to hold back the fear, and jumped when there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Amaris inquired not taking her eyes off of the woman.
“The king wishes to see you.”
“I will be there shortly,” Amaris began looking at the door, “I have to get decent.”
“The king asks for you now. You will either come out here or I will come in after you.”
“I’m coming,” Amaris replied then looked at the woman again. “Please.”
“I will try my hardest, but please don’t expect too much, I don’t want to displease the king.”
“I understand, just find what you can.”
Nodding slowly, the woman turned and left the room.
Amaris walked to the door, and the king smiled as he watched her through the two-way mirror, “So, Cassia is your sister. I should have figured as much. She is more beautiful than you, though. Now the leverage increases, how much will you do to protect the life of your sister?”
- Writer
