Balance (The Neumarian Chronicles) (25 page)

“No perfect plan, only do best can.” Ben
dar patted my shoulder. “You born to do this. You make…Mother proud.” He choked on his words. “I protect you entire life, not stop now.”

“Mother would be proud of you, too, Bendar.”

He smiled and leaned back in his seat. “In middle of channel, we surface and fly to new plane. Rest now.”

Anxiety and trepidation gnawed at me.
“I doubt we can. We can’t get our minds to stop working.” Sighing, I squeezed Bendar’s shoulder. It was now or never. I needed to know why. “Mandesa was my mother’s sister. But how could two children raised together be so different? Isn’t there any good in her, Bendar?”

He
shook his head. “No. She want Father. Jealous of Mother. Turns to hate and loses rest of mind. Attack happen, she lose beauty. Now, outside match inside. Ugly.”

“From what my dreams
have shown me and what little Father’s said, she’s been insane since childhood. Her biological parents broke her before she was adopted. Or maybe she was born that way.”

“Both,” Bendar mumbled.

Slowly, we bobbed to the surface, riding the current for almost an hour before I turned on the viewfinder and sonar. “Nothing in sight.” I engaged the engines and rose high enough out of the water to skim the surface before turning inland and streaking toward our base.

Chapter T
hirty

Right on time, w
e entered the city through the sewer system. I hated sewers. The smell was enough to bring me to my knees. Our masks couldn’t filter out the stench, just the dangerous gases.

“Sewer close to contact?” Bendar asked.

“I hope,” I muttered. “Seriously, Penton? Why the sewers?”

“
We’ll get there soon. And I chose this way because everything dumps into a central waste system and there’re service tunnels that branch out from it. We’re coming up on the one we’ll take.”

“How’d you learn about
the service tunnels?”

“
I used them to travel home from the city when I’d steal food for family and friends”

I glanced at him.
“You’re lucky you still have both hands. Guess you didn’t ever get caught.”

“
I did. Once.” Penton rubbed his left wrist. “A guard had me tied down. He’d lifted his sword to amputate my hand, but a council woman stopped him. Stated that she had a special plan to use me to teach others not to steal.”

“What did she do?” I asked.

“Gave me food and water and then sent me home. The next day, a boy’s body was strung up high in the square, burned to a crisp.”

Nausea r
eared its vile head. “Who was she?”

Penton
inhaled harshly. “Rolanda.” He shook his head, his expression one of self-loathing. “The instant I heard about it, I stormed into her house, making all kinds of accusations. But once I learned the truth, I felt ashamed. I still do every time I remember that day.”

“What about the boy?”

“He was a young slave who’d died clearing mines from the old field.”

Relief filled me.
Rolanda had taken so many risks for the cause, including helping Raeth, Ryder and I escape Acadia East. “It’s a miracle Mandesa hasn’t discovered her duplicity.”

Penton nodded.
“She’s a true supporter of the Triune and honors her son by helping the rebellion.”

“Her son?”

“He was a doctor. He devoted himself to helping refugees and the underground city. He was killed by a drunk guard who didn’t know Karl was a member of a council family and didn’t like his response to an order to stay out of the camp.”

My stomach clinched.
“If Mandesa wins and we survive, we’ll have to take Rolanda with us. Because the queen won’t stop until she’s destroyed everyone who’s ever helped us. And given Rolanda’s loss, she’ll top the extermination list.”

Penton shot me a warning look. “
We’ve got more urgent things to worry about right now. The queen flushes the sewers at least once every hour. And from the smell, I’d say it should flood any minute.”

“Flood?” I squeaked.

“Yeah. Acadia’s right off the Atlantic. Guess where she gets the water.”

Bendar
pushed me from behind. “Hear water. Go. Go, Go!”

“Move it,”
I shouted, sprinting the fifteen meters to the service tunnel Penton indicated.

Once inside, w
e stripped off our waterproof waders and tossed them back into the sewer. As we shut and sealed the door, sea water roared past us. “Finally.” I removed my mask. Big mistake. My nose and lungs instantly burned. Gagging, I bent over and vomited. Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I quickly resettled my mask. “That’s wretched. I thought the flooding would clean it out.”

“
Doesn’t,” Penton said with a shrug. “Nothing gets rid of that smell. Can’t believe I ever got used to it, either. I used the tunnels like people do sidewalks. I’d scurry through them like a rat.”

“Without a mask?”

“Who had a mask?” He huffed. “Not me.”

Bendar patted his arm. “Come far, kid.”

“Not far enough.” Penton motioned us into the next section. After several hundred meters, he took us up a service stairwell then Penton pointed to a door. “That’s our exit. It opens in an alley down from Rolanda’s house. Be ready for anything.”

We removed our masks and hooked them to our belts. I pulled off my knapsack and removed
took two long, leather coats and one shorter one for Bendar. They were vented in the back and fell to our ankles. With the coats, Penton and I were dressed in the black uniforms of Mandesa’s personal guard while Bendar looked like a house servant. In the cold, damp air of predawn, we wouldn’t look out of place.

Penton eased open the door. “Clear.”

Once out, I inhaled. Stale, yes. But the very air didn’t suffocate.

As Bendar and I trailed
after Penton, I could hear the city coming to life. Ahead of us lay the main street and the sound of rushing footsteps to and from homes of the wealthy Kantian council members. Mandesa’s pets. Strangely, they didn’t worry me. I knew them, had lived among them, and learned to manipulate them to stay alive. No, it was the moans and crying further down the alley that concerned me. Hidden beneath boxes and refuse, lay sickness and death, people willing to sell their children for their next meal.

Penton
paused, his gaze scanning, taking in everything.

“Lost?” I
whispered.

He
pressed a finger to his lips and continued to search the alley behind us. Exhaling softly, he pointed to himself, then using two fingers, mimicked walking across the street.

I nodd
ed and moved forward, but he shook his head and pushed me back into the shadows before he rushed ahead. As we waited for the all clear signal, I glanced at the alley opening. A clock tower peaked over the rooftops of tall houses and government buildings. Recognizing our general location, I relaxed, a smidge.

At Bendar’s nudge, I saw Penton waving us to him. We darted across the street
, and joining him in the shadows.

He motioned to a narrow gap between the rows of houses.
“Sorry. It’s the next street over,” he whispered. “Button your coats. You’ll need the protection.”

He
’s kidding, right
? I thought as we squeezed between houses, my back and front scraping against the cool, damp stone of their exteriors. My breath plumed in small clouds as the chill seeped into my bones. A stark contrast in temperature from the last time we were here. Clearing the alley, we checked the facing street, and, finding it empty, dashed across and into another alley.

Penton pointed to a
house a few meters to our right. “That’s Rolanda’s home.” As I moved to pass him, he thrust out his hand, stopping me. “Wait, the porch light isn’t on.”

We
eased back between the houses on the other side of the lane and waited, searching for lookouts. It felt like we stood there for hours, though it was probably only a few minutes before Bendar pointed.

“
Window. Me small. Me open. See if okay.”

I touched his shoulder. “
I don’t like it.”

Penton stared at the darkened doorway. “I don’t either. Rolanda’s careful. If the light isn’t on, there’s a reason.”

“I go,” Bendar insisted.

I grabbed the little man’s
arm and yanked him back. “It isn’t safe.”

He jerked free. “I go.”

I sighed, “Fine, but be careful. I can’t lose you.”

Bendar nodded.
“I no back in five minutes, you leave. Fast.”

We
watched him waddle across the lane, jimmy the lock, and slip through the small opening. A tidal wave of memories washed over me. Mandesa’s ship. Bendar, using the ventilation system of travel unseen. Me, beaten and locked in my room with no food or water. Bendar, slipping in treating my injuries and holding tubes of water and food to my cracked lips. I’d survived for one reason—the gentle, loving care of my surrogate father.

“Psst!”

We rechecked the area. Empty.

“Psst!
”

“Benda
r,” I muttered. Knowing the little man well, I didn’t just look around us, but up. Three houses down, I spotted him hanging over the roof, waving like a madman. Nudging Penton, I pointed.

“What’s he doing?”

“Being Bendar. Let’s go.”

“It isn’t safe a
t Rolanda’s house.”

“I know that and so does he. But—” I heard heavy, rapid footsteps approachin
g and eased back into the gap. We waited until the guard turned onto the main street and disappeared. “Now.” Staying hidden in the shadows, we dashed across the alley to the house Bendar had indicated.

He
leaned his head over the edge above us and pointed down at the basement door. “Safe. I know.”

Bewildered, I tiptoed
down the three steps, but saw nothing.

“Here,
look.” Penton whispered and I winced. In the silent, early morning hours voices traveled. What I wouldn’t give for Father’s telepathy.

Penton
rolled his eyes upward. There, above the door on its header, was painted a large red
T
. “Mark of the Triune,” Penton mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. “You think it’s a trap?”

“
No. Bendar knows it’s safe. He must’ve found something at Rolanda’s that we’d understand.” At least, I hoped it was.

My heart pounded as I
inched up to the illuminated, brass hand plate. “If it’s a trap, we’ll never make it back to the sewers.”

“Wouldn’t anyway. Too many guards,” Penton murmured.

Sighing, I flattened my palm on the plate and the door snapped open. My pulse quickened. My heart beat so hard I feared it’d burst from my chest.

Our weapons drawn—a
human with a pistol, a Neumarian with gifts and a weapon that could handle anything Mandesa or her guard threw at us—we entered the dark basement of an unknown house. To say it was musty would be an understatement. It smelled more like an old tomb. Wrinkling my nose, I checked for desiccated bodies. I twitched as the door shut with a click. Steeling myself, I tugged a tiny illuminator from my belt and flicked it on. Old furnishings, boxes, and clothing filled he space.

Suddenly, feet pounded
overhead. Eyes narrowed, I listened. Two people, one, a familiar clump of one leg being shorter than the other. Bendar. “Take cover,” I hissed. “Get ready, but don’t shoot. Bendar’s with someone.”

“Right.”
Penton crouched behind an oversized steamer trunk to the right, with a clear view of the stairs.

I positioned
myself on the left, maintaining a clear line of sight from behind several large storage bins. If it was a trap, whoever had Bendar would be caught in a cross fire. We might even get out of this alive. Although I doubted it.

A buzzing shattered the stillness. I
lluminators snapped on, momentarily blinding me. I squinted and forced myself to see more than blue streaks. In seconds, my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

“
No shoot. Me, Bendar,” he said, hopping down the stairs. “Hour ago, queen arrest Rolanda. Lady Mona Triune. She help.”

I slid from my hiding spot
, my weapon up and ready to kill Lady Mona should she even blink the wrong way. I glanced at Penton. “You know her?” He shook his head.

I
narrowed my gaze, “Can we trust her?”

“Yes,” Bendar snapped. “Father know. I know. Trust.”