Origin of the Body (25 page)

‘And what makes you think it will?’

She shrugged.  ‘Tensions are rising everywhere.  There’s a growing army of rebels in the Wild Lands who aren’t going to stay passive forever.  All the Institution can bring to the table is some crazy scheme to send the relic back, which will never work, and when it fails it’ll provide an obvious cue for the rebels to seize power.  That’s what I’d do if I were them, and if you have no army to protect the Cloud Mountain you’ll be easy pickings when they decide to come knocking for everything you’ve got stashed up there.’

‘The Cloud Mountain is impenetrable.’

‘Supposedly.  But for how long can it withstand a siege?’

‘Longer than you might think.’

‘But wouldn’t it be better to have the means to protect yourselves?  So you never have to go through the inconvenience?  So if chaos erupts, which it almost certainly will, you’ll have an upper hand and can seize control yourself?’  She stopped talking, knowing silence now would be the most useful of weapons; she’d planted the seed of suggestion and all it needed was some time to grow.

Timi briefly considered Amber’s proposition, concluding from her energy she was speaking what she believed to be the truth, and quickly decided there was no harm in having an army.  He had plenty of space, not to mention more food than he knew what to do with, so they wouldn’t be much of a burden.  ‘How many people can you provide?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know, but at least half of Austin’s force will be loyal to me, I’m sure of it.’

‘Fine.  Bring those you can to the Cloud Mountain, but whatever you do make sure nobody knows where you’re going; I need to keep up appearances.  I’ll be staying in Kingdom a while longer, publically supporting the attempt to send the relic back, and after that, I’ll meet you at the mountain.’  Amber nodded, then, realizing her audience was over, got up to leave.  ‘Just remember, very carefully, that you now work for me,’ Timi said quietly, ‘and unlike your last boss, I’m a reader.’

*****

Gwyn had had quite an evening; she’d been fully capitalizing on her status of Chase (almost) Champion, and between that and her position as a Descendant, she’d had no shortage of suitors, not that she’d let any of it lead anywhere of course; it was still too soon after Bas.  She excused herself from the company of one of the many men and made her way towards the bacon sandwiches that were now being handed out by the bar; it had been a long, alcohol fuelled, night and she would have done pretty much anything at this point to secure a warm bacon roll.

Rose watched her from across the room; this the only opportunity she’d had all evening to get Gwyn alone, and headed her off once she’d picked up two loaded rolls.  ‘It’s great to see you having such a good time,’ said Rose, coming up behind Gwyn as she stepped out of the marquee into the chill of the winter air beyond.

‘Rose,’ said Gwyn, whirling round, surprised that Bas’ mother, who had never before spoken to her, had sought her out.

‘Bas would have wanted to see you enjoying yourself.’

‘I…um…nothing’s happened with any of them.’

‘Hush,’ said Rose.  ‘It’s nothing to do with me even if it had, and as I said, Bas would have wanted nothing more than for you to be happy.’

‘If you say so,’ said Gwyn, turning over in her head all the ways she could escape the awkwardness of this situation.

‘Although he would also want to see his last project completed,’ she said, wistfully, looking back towards the river, ‘he was so passionate about it.’

‘Of course,’ said Gwyn, beginning to see why Rose was here, ‘but what does that have to do with me?’ she asked, feigning ignorance.

‘You already know what it has to do with you,’ Rose replied evenly, holding Gwyn’s hardening gaze.  ‘Bas told you all about his research, about energy stability, about the energy slingshot to send the relic back.  He must have also discussed with you your vital role in all of that.’

‘We may have discussed it once or twice,’ she replied, coolly, ‘but I was never convinced that Bas’ theory was correct, especially as Austin’s view of events was quite compelling.  And Bas’ plan will never work without Marcus on side, and he would never betray Austin’s memory like that.’

‘Betray Austin’s memory?  You think stabilizing the energy and ensuring reliable food supplies would be a betrayal of Austin’s memory?’

‘It flies in the face of what Austin wanted.’

‘Didn’t Austin want what’s best for the world and its people?  Isn’t that what his role as Descendant bound him to seek?’

‘Of course,’ she replied defensively, not missing that this description of a Descendant’s duties also applied to her.  ‘Maybe we just disagree on how to achieve what’s ‘best’, or indeed what this ‘best for the world’ scenario even looks like.’

Peter and Alistair unfortunately chose that moment to leave the marquee and Peter stopped to talk to his daughter, the two newcomers sensing at once the tension in the air.

‘Everything okay?’ enquired Alistair, pinning Rose with an accusatory stare; their relationship never frostier now they didn’t even have Bas to provide a hospitable middle ground.

‘We were just discussing Bas’ research as a matter of fact,’ she replied heavily, not above using the memory of their son to her advantage.

‘Oh?’ asked Peter, ‘but what has that got to do with Gwyn?’

Rose threw caution to the wind; they had to do something radical to get the Descendants on side, and time was running out.  ‘Bas was working on a way to send the relic back just before he died; it’s a kind of energy slingshot.  It would only appear to return the relic to the Gods, the hope being this would be enough to instigate an energy rise.  However for it to work, and for the people to believe the prophecy has been fulfilled, of course the Descendants need to be present.’

‘And why Gwyn, not me?’ asked Peter, pointedly.

‘You know why,’ replied Alistair, his tone firm but gentle.  ‘The question is whether Gwyn will agree to help.’

Rose turned to Alistair, trying her best to hide her surprise.  ‘We were just getting to that bit,’ said Rose, turning back to Gwyn, everyone now waiting expectantly for her response.

‘No.  I will not,’ she said sharply, shrugging her shoulders a little to add weight to her point.

‘But why not?’ asked Alistair.  ‘I think we’ve given it enough time to know waiting it out, as Austin suggested, isn’t working.  There are rebels in the Wild Lands waiting to strike, the Gods only know what’s happening with Marcus, Amber and Austin’s ongoing business affairs, and need I remind you that everywhere around us people are trying to survive a winter on food rations, so they don’t even have enough to eat.’

‘I said no,’ said Gwyn, shrinking back a little under their scrutiny.

‘Well if you won’t help, we’ll have to tell the people the truth about your line,’ said Alistair.

Gwyn looked suddenly unsure, taken aback by Alistair’s words.  ‘What are you talking about?’ she looked to Peter for an explanation, but he kept his eyes towards the ground, waiting to see what Alistair would say next.

‘I’m talking about the fact that neither you nor your father are legitimate Descendants.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ spat Gwyn, more assuredly than she felt, ‘and even if that were true, nobody would believe you.’

‘Want to put that to the test?’ replied Rose, enjoying this unexpected turn of events.

Gwyn once again looked to her father for an explanation, but as usual he provided no support.  ‘Just help them,’ said Peter, simply.  ‘This will all be much easier if you do.’

‘You’re lying,’ she said, ‘and you’re spineless,’ she spat at Peter, searched wildly for a way out; she’d been backed into a corner and even her own father, pathetic as he was, was doing nothing to help.  ‘So who would you have replace me?’ she challenged, trying to buy herself time to think.

They looked back at her with hard eyes, intent on giving nothing away.  ‘You can help us, or you can find out the answer to that question at the same time as everyone else,’ said Alistair, evenly, almost as though he were bored, Gwyn a mere inconvenience they would circumnavigate one way or another.

Gwyn turned away, her eyes straying, trying to force her mind to process what she should do, her gaze unwillingly settling on Anita and Alexander, laughing and joking with someone at the bar.  Rage erupted inside her, blood rushing through her veins, hatred clouding her mind.  This was all Anita’s fault, all of it, and someone had to teach her a lesson.  Gwyn spun back towards the detestable group.  ‘Fine, I’ll help you,’ she growled, ‘but only if Anita has nothing to do with it.  She can’t be involved in any of it, and she certainly can’t be there when we try to execute Bas’ crazy theory.  She can’t even know what’s going on,’ her anger escalated to unprecedented heights as she vented, throwing another look in Anita’s direction when she finished.

Rose turned to follow Gwyn’s enraged stare, Alexander and Anita looking up, feeling the fierce energy directed towards them.  Rose’s eyes met Anita’s.  ‘Fine,’ she said, ‘that’s a very small price to pay.’

Gwyn stormed off and Alexander and Anita walked over to join them.  ‘What happened?’ asked Anita, feeling the strange array of emotions.

‘She agreed to help us,’ said Alistair, ‘but I had to tell her she’s not really a Descendant to get her to comply.’

Anita froze, turning her head towards Peter, expecting him to say something.  He didn’t so she continued, ‘does she know the Body line actually runs through me?’

‘No,’ replied Alistair, ‘and it would be wise not to tell her.  She would only agree to help if you’re kept out of it, if you’re not there when the relic is returned.’

The news hit Anita like a punch in the face.  She wouldn’t be there to see Bas’ final work come to fruition and Gwyn had taken it away through nothing more than childish spite.  Feeling her energy plummet Alexander put a hand on her back, understanding how difficult this would be to come to terms with.  ‘If that’s how it has to be,’ said Anita, ‘then so be it,’ resolving herself to her fate, still waiting for Peter to say something to acknowledge her as his daughter.  However, true to form, he said not a word, opting instead to follow his other daughter back inside.

*****

Three days later, Helena pulled up at a large, commercial farm outside of Kingdom as Marcus had instructed.  She parked her car and entered a yard bursting at the seams with humanity; so many people standing in ranks that she briefly wondered if she were delusional.  Marcus was standing on a makeshift stage in front of one of the barns; he cut a lonely figure, dressed like his troops, all in black, nothing but a microphone stand to keep him company as he addressed the army before him.

‘Soldiers,’ he began, his voice ringing confidently across the yard, like his father, his shoulders set square, as though he were entirely assured they would follow his commands, ‘at least that was what my father and Amber have always called you.  But I think of you as something altogether different, something better than mere soldiers doing the bidding of another.  I think of you as people with a choice, a crucial choice at a pivotal point in our history, that you alone can make.  You can choose to continue the work you’ve been doing; to evict poor, helpless people from their businesses and livelihoods, to subjugate those who have no way of fighting back, to continue eating like Gods when the rest of the world starves,’ he paused to let his unlikely words sink in.  ‘Or, you can choose to help solve the problems we face, to help me and the Institution find a way to stabilize the energy, to rebuild our food economy, and to restore faith in the system that has given us prosperity for so long.’

He paused again and a screeching filled the air, another car hurtling to a standstill at the side of the yard.  Four burly men clad in black clambered out and escorted Amber to the stage, where she stepped up alone, positioning herself aggressively at Marcus’ side.  ‘What’s going on here?’ she demanded, purposefully raising her voice so the microphone would pick up her words.

‘Amber,’ Marcus addressed her like an inferior, ‘so good of you to join us, and just on cue,’ he turned back to address his army.  ‘The choice you have today is simple; choose to stay with me and help send the relic back, working with all groups to forge a new society when that’s done, or, if you’d rather cross your fingers and hope for the best, then choose to stick with Amber.’  He turned to face her, ‘presumably that’s what you want?’  She nodded, so he continued.  ‘Now is the time to make your choice; consider carefully as your place in our future depends on it.  Those choosing to side with me, please come forward to the stage, those choosing to side with Amber, move to the back.  Please make your choice now.’

Helena couldn’t believe what she was witnessing; Marcus had chosen to help the Institution, to send the relic back, and then afterwards, to help build a better world.  She held her breath as she watched the mass of people jostle around, unable to make out from the blur which way the majority were headed.  A minute or so later silence fell over the yard and Marcus addressed his audience once more.

‘Those at the back of the yard, please leave now with Amber.  I wish you all well.  Those who have chosen to stay with me,’ a good sixty to seventy percent of the force from what Helena could see, ‘please reconvene here in an hour.  I thank you for your loyalty.’