Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) (21 page)

The
hassam
had been another matter. While
appearing similar, they were savage and brutal among their own
kind, often roaming and foraging for food rather than settling to
use the land's resources to their best advantage. Most
hassam
fled from the
Inari, while others bowed in respect. Helping them would take far
longer than her lifetime.

But they had other uses. In
a few faraway regions, the
hassam
learned more quickly than others. They mined the
elements Atia's people needed to create a new city, while the Inari
tended the fields to feed them and managed herds of the food
animals in the region for easy hunting. Those
hassam
benefited from their knowledge
and showed signs of developing a new culture.

She took some comfort in that, but
everything occupied her every waking moment.

Even now, as she waited for a report
from the engineer in charge of the new city construction, she was
at the mercy of others' needs. Her life belonged to her people,
serving them by administering their lives and directing the use of
their resources to better everyone.

Her only relief came in seeing Lantis
grow up and mature with the experience he had gained by shadowing
the ministers in their duties. He learned quickly and demonstrated
a skill beyond many girls his age to see the whole machine through
the sum of its parts.

They would know his name some day, a
great leader of the Inari. He would shine for House Mikael. Through
the disaster had come an opportunity. She only wished it hadn't
come this way.

["Lady Atia."]

Here she went again. Another problem
to resolve.

She sighed away the thoughts and
turned from her brief respite at the balcony. In the midst of
turning, she froze, along with her heart.

The guard rose from her bow and
stepped aside for a man she had almost forgotten in all the
commotion of the last few years.

Darus. She forgot herself for a moment
and stared.

["Lady. Garshivol Darus requests to
speak with you. Forgive me, Lady, but he insisted upon
urgency."]

["That's…all right. He's welcome
here."] Her thoughts caught up to her as she waved the guard out
and stepped forward, her eyes never leaving the man. ["What brings
you here?"] Her mouth went dry on the hopes he had come for her,
yet she knew that was unlikely.

Darus's brown wings lifted for a
moment and tightened behind him again, his eyes dropping in
respect.

Obviously, he had labored on this new
world by the small frays at the ends of his shirt and the
thickening of his arms since she had last seen him.

["Lady Atia. I…had to
report it—
them
. The
harvesters."]

Had Darus been assigned to one of the
harvesting crews? Now she knew why she hadn't seen him. The
harvests were constant around the world, as different climates
varied in their growing seasons so there was always something
ready. The harvesters were always laboring in the
fields.

["What about them? Why do you bring
this to me?"] What had happened?

["I'm sorry, Lady. It's
Supervisor Tenegral. She has been chasing the
hassam
from the fields. This is not
unusual in Labrani Region as they are wilder than in others. But
she is now killing any who dare approach. She would not listen to
me, so I—I came to you."]

Killing the
hassam
? She had never
authorized that. Inari weren't killers, even in desperate
times.

Anger hardened in her chest and her
muscles tensed, pulling her yellow wings close to her back. ["I
authorized no such action. You did the right thing bringing this to
me, Darus."]

He bowed his head low. ["Thank you,
Lady."] He rose but hesitated to leave, his eyes down and his jaw
tense with muscles bulging beneath the skin and fingers tightening
at his sides.

There was something more. How much
worse could it be?

["Darus?"] She almost dared not ask,
but it was her duty to know.

["Lady Atia, I only wish to respect
you and the good House Mikael has done for us, but not all are as
benevolent in your name."]

["Your news is proof of that. It will
be reconciled."]

His wings disappeared behind his back
with the tightening of muscles. ["I know I should not ask. It is my
honor to serve, but…they will know I spoke to you."]

They would know…

So that was it. Retribution. If
Supervisor Tenegral was brutal enough to kill the natives, she
would be brutal on Darus for taking this to Atia.
Unacceptable.

Ideas swirled through Atia's mind.
Revolutionary visions came to fruition. If that's how Tenegral
wanted it, then she would learn to respect others through her own
methods. Atia had been too occupied by her administrative duties
and overseeing the rebuilding of a new home for the Inari to see
the cracks forming in the foundation.

No more.

Darus would not be put in a position
to suffer for Tenegral's crimes. Nor would Atia allow him to be
gone long from her presence. A new idea took root. It would
revolutionize their culture with her vision, paving the way for
Lantis to take her place as she had always hoped.

Atia stepped close to Darus, aware of
the odor of work on him but intrigued to be near him as she had
been years ago on the Miru ship. A shiver of anticipation raced
through her. ["Look up, Garshivol Darus."]

Slowly, his eyes lifted. Those
charming brown eyes stole her breath with the face that had haunted
her dreams many nights. She had felt a connection from the first
time they met and had longed for it again, only to let her duties
and the expectations of her people rule her life.

["Lady Atia."]

["Stand proud, Darus, if you will
serve me."]

["I have always served you,
Lady."]

Yes, she supposed he had, but not like
what she had in mind. ["You will serve me directly from now on. As
my…Inspector of Labor, you will oversee all facets of duties and
report any breaches of conduct to me."] That should take care of
Tenegral and any others who thought they could mistreat either
their laborers or the natives.

Incredible! When he stood straight,
not cowed, his whole demeanor transformed into something proud and
majestic, despite the tattered clothes. There had been much more
inside; she hadn't imagined it.

["It is my honor to serve you, Lady
Mikael Atia."] His gaze warmed through her like the soft caress she
longed to feel.

["You've done well, Darus. You acted
honorably with good intentions. I would have nothing less of
someone in my service. It will be your duty to advise the many
labor supervisors, but there will need to be a meeting with the
ministers to ratify your new position."] She would risk the support
of some citizens for her views, but her new ministers had all been
chosen for the values she sought. Darus was no different. They
would accept him.

As they would one day accept
Lantis.

Only one problem came of this. She
could not fulfill her own needs as long as he served their people.
Rumors would circulate of any affair, and her every action would be
scrutinized.

She had doomed herself to admire from
afar, always close but still alone.

"Raea!"
The distant voice interrupted the connection to Atia. It was
familiar, but faraway, like a dream.
"Wake
up. Please, Raea…"

It faded, leaving her standing in a
vault, dark but for the center piece on the pedestal. From its
glass case on the top of the pedestal at waist height, the
aquamarine crystal washed the circular room with its faint
glow.

["The secret of Lantis, who brought it
from the homeworld."] Atia's whisper cracked the still
air.

["By the order of Lady Mikael
Akarin."] The deep voice came from behind her.

Her sister. Peace be on her. Akarin
had done what she could to stop the Risaal from gaining too much
power. In that, she deserved honor. She had done what was right for
their world.

["Here it will stay for all time,"]
she said.

["The Risaal will not come
here?"]

Lantis stepped around beside her, and
Atia laid an arm across her son's shoulders, now nearly level with
hers. He had grown and matured. Her little boy was no less than a
young man of intellect, more worthy than most women to govern their
people after the training she had provided him.

["It's been more than ten years on
this world and they have never arrived. The Miru said they took us
across the universe, a journey that would take the Risaal hundreds
of thousands of years. We're safe."] Finally. Many nights she had
awakened after nightmares of the fall of the homeworld with the
fear that the enemy had found them on their new world. With the
nearing completion of the construction of a new city intended to
rise into the sky, her fears subsided and took the horrible dreams
with them.

With all luck, they would succeed in
forming a new, stronger society, where male and female were
equal.

The ground trembled beneath their
feet. Again? She'd ordered them to wait.

Apparently she needed to make her
point stronger. Atia whirled and rushed up the stairs outside the
door of the vault of the crystal. At the top, she stepped into
sunlight. Her hand went to the small communicator clipped to her
top. ["This is Lady Mikael Atia. You are ordered to cease your
tests. Do you understand? Shut down the city engines."]

No answer. The material housing the
anti-gravity generators blocked all transmissions. Ahben
depths!

A vast plate covered the ringed valley
below the peak of one of the mountains where she and Lantis stood.
Upon the plate rose the beginnings of towers, while the
anti-gravity engines hid beneath.

["They're nearly ready."]

Lantis was wrong. Darus had reported
from the workers the issues with the generators because of the
difficulty converting elements on that world into those they needed
for housing the power source. And the power source was another
matter. She didn't understand specifics, but the engineers reported
slow conversion of the fuel the generators required. She trusted
the men more than the women with the proper training. How ironic
that they should respect her more than the women.

They should not have started the
engines yet, not even to test them. They weren't ready and could
cause problems. She'd have to fly down to stop them herself, but
she wasn't ready to seal the vault. She wouldn't leave the crystal
until it was sealed from detection.

That left Lantis.

Yes. This would be an excellent test
of the other's obedience to him.

["They should be stopped. Allow me,
mother. You have…other concerns."] He glanced back down the dark
steps into the vault.

Young man indeed. He would lead their
people well. She saw it clearly in that moment. He had the
confidence and the strength. She had trained him better than
expected.

["Fly down there and tell them to halt
these tests on your orders."]

Golden hair blew across his wry smile
in the breeze. On the features becoming more angular and mature
each day, his expression revealed a deeper understanding.
["Microscopic fractures in the casing could cause catastrophic
collapse if pushed before the housing for the generators is
properly cured."]

Impressive. Lantis was no
one's fool. He had spent most of his time with the engineers for
the new city,
his
city. He possessed an insatiable curiosity about how things
worked and demonstrated a high capacity to learn the intricacies
required to master a few difficult positions. He would be an asset
to their new society.

Atia felt the smile beaming from her
face and gazed into her son's eyes. ["I'm very proud of you. You're
a gifted young man."] Only one problem remained—the old
ways.

["Supervisor Sorakin will
listen."]

[I hope you're
right.]
She bit her tongue and nodded as he
lifted his wings. ["Of course. Go now. I'll stay with the
crystal."]

["As you wish, Lady Atia."] He gave a
slight bow and flew away.

If only she could feel as confident.
But she couldn't weigh him with her doubts. He would need all his
confidence to stand up to Sorakin Lara. The city engineer wanted
her pet project airborne sooner rather than later and was a firm
believer in tradition, but hurry would do them no good. There would
be time to test the generators once the casing units were properly
inspected.

Atia would not be responsible for a
failure of the magnitude of their first city on a new world
crashing from the sky.

Lantis's golden wings shone radiantly
in the sun. Pride swelled in Atia's chest. If only Akarin could be
there to see a male prove his worth in leading House
Mikael.