Rebel Heart (2 page)

DeMontville could have done nothing to prevent the murders. The thieftakers had every right according to the law to kill an accused thief.

"They would have stood trial for their crimes," Tori's father said.

Morray stepped forward. "And what about your daughters? Will they stand trial for their crimes? It is against the law to leave the City without a pass."

DeMontville's sharply indrawn breath frightened her. They did have passes. She reached into her pocket to show them. But the passes were gone.

Both prisoners had fallen in the once green grass. Blood flowed from their wounds. And her father, trusted representative of the people, stood before the thieftakers, challenged to a point beyond thinking.

"I will see to their punishment."

"A slap on the hands again, DeMontville?" Morray said before he sighed heavily and shook his head, a sneer forming on his lips. With long slim fingers, he picked a piece of lint from his sleeve

As if by unspoken command, the thieftakers suddenly drew their weapons, pointing them at DeMontville.

"If necessary there will be a trial by their peers, but I believe my punishment will be thorough enough."

Morray stepped forward and a hush fell over those gathered. "Those men deserved to die. And your daughters need severe punishment, not some trial by their peers. They are incorrigible, flaunting the laws to their own purpose."

"You have no say in this. None!" her father shouted above the roar that followed Morray's proclamation. In one swift gesture, he motioned the girls to the van. "I will see to them."

"Father!" Tori cried out, though she knew he couldn't hear. The thieftakers surrounded him. He was outnumbered.

"Advisor DeMontville!" Morray challenged again. "Would you jeopardize the entire treaty between the barbarians and the City Dwellers? But of course you would. You'd risk everything for your daughters, wouldn't you? Perhaps even your reputation."

Quentin Morray motioned to his men and yelled out for justice. As the intimidating group surged forward, a strange whistling sound pierced the air. A silencer gun had been fired at the thieftakers. Quentin Morray suddenly stopped and fell to the ground, stunned but not dead. His men met the same fate.

"In the name of all that is holy," her father whispered.

The clearing was quiet.

"Father, be careful!" Alarm rose as she watched her father hurry toward the downed thieftakers.

"It's all right. I know it is," he told her softly. He bent over the leader, searching for a pulse along the man's neck. The man groaned and his body shuddered slightly. He lay still once more. "Ah, he will recover in record time," her father said before he looked sternly at his daughter. "Your behavior will not be excused. This time you have tied my hands. I don't dare show mercy. You will have to be sent away."

Mortified, Tori hadn't realized the direction his punishment would take. Her teeth chattered, and she could scarcely breathe at the thought. Sent away. No!

Then she found strength. "You gave us passes."

"Produce them."

"I cannot. They are lost, atop the boulder by the lake." She pushed aside her fears in order to comfort her twin.

Together they would find the courage to survive this separation, and she prayed her father intended the banishment for her alone. Nessa's tears flowed, and she was afraid for her sister, for sweet gentle Nessa.

Showing an uncharacteristic strength, Nessa managed to dry her eyes. Her tears stained the beautiful material of her tunic to a deep blue, yet, for the first time, she met her twin as an equal. "Tori, we have to be strong."

Their father led them to the glider, leaving the thieftakers to recuperate on their own. "You realize the danger you've put the City in--ah, but you don't--I can read it in your eyes. Foolish pranks! Childish whims! Was the day's fun and games worth another war?" Her father's voice, deceptively soft, made Tori's heart beat furiously. She thought he'd been angry before, but now...

Now she wanted to melt back into the forest, wanted to beg his forgiveness. The laws were wrong. It had been so long since she'd seen the forests and the lake, and she craved the freedom, the wind in her hair and the warm sunshine against her face. And there was still the matter of the passes.

"You cannot believe this was done on a whim."

"Your excursion will cause strife and treaties will have to be renegotiated. You can count on Morray to raise as much support against me as possible. They will cry out injustice. Perhaps even treason." He paused. "If you could have produced the pass--"

"But father," she said. "he's an evil man and what does it matter that he's angry?" Tori asked her father.

"You truly don't understand, do you?"

The silence between them seemed to last an eternity.

He sent Nessa off to the City with his attendant and directions for the guard to come back immediately.

Tori stayed with her father and the men who still lay motionless on the ground in the clearing. Two of them murdered ruthlessly--by thieftakers. She hated thieftakers.

"I do know the laws, know them by heart. But the thieftakers use the laws to their advantage--to do horrible things."

Her father sighed deeply, and it seemed as if he looked at her in a different light. "Not all the thieftakers are bad."

"What will happen if the thieftakers gain more power? What if there are too many bad ones for the good ones to control?"

Her father, watching her, shuddered suddenly. He held her close. "Then evil will rule the land."

"I only wanted a moment of freedom. I've done no harm."

"Look around you and tell me your adventure has done no harm. You cannot disregard the laws or the thieftakers!" His voice escalated with every word.

"You saw what they are capable of," she finished for him. "Crime syndicates control the thieftakers. They are a law among themselves, as was proven today. I hate them--every one of them and I always will." She began to tremble and her voice shook with indignation and anger at all the injustice.

Her father gave her a rueful smile before speaking again. "Well, my dear, you are well versed in current events. You'd make a formidable opponent, I admit. But then I'm not your opponent. I'm your father, and by that right, you are mine to command. You have backed me into a corner. We still have virus-free confines in other provinces. If I send you to one of these refuges, you will lead a very, very austere life. You will have plenty of time to think on all that went on here today, all the disappointment and grief you have brought down upon the City, and the loss of your sister." He offered her a comforting smile before he touched her cheek. "This is not an easy task for me either. But you have tied my hands."

"I will fight the thieftakers--all of them."

"There is a reason and purpose for everything, my dear. It will take time and a strong hand to bring about peace and understanding between the people."

Tori knew what her father said was true. He was a dependable and good ruler with endless patience. Authoritative and domineering, he believed in justice and the uniting of the planet.

She looked at her father. "So, you will punish Nessa for my crimes, and send her away also. Isn't it enough to separate us? I never thought of you as unjust or unfair. You know as well as I that she could never say no to me."

"And because she has not learned to say that very important word, I will banish her. It was a lesson she should have learned years ago. Saying no is such simple thing."

"You don't understand. She is sweet, pure, and so very loving. She does not have the strength within her to defy me."

Her father brushed tears of his own from his eyes then hugged her dearly. "True enough. But she followed you, without a thought to the passes and their safekeeping," he told her ruefully. "But my little one, think on this--if she is removed from your influence, perhaps she will learn to make decisions for herself."

He looked around the clearing as if he suddenly remembered the hidden sniper who had stunned all the thieftakers.

She nodded, and he touched her cheek with the palm of his hand. As if he had not meant to show a softer side, he looked away from her and directly at the men sprawled on the ground.

Three more gliders returned, one to pick up his daughter, the other one for the dead thieves, the third for his own use. He helped Tori inside the first one then moved away.

It was time for his daughter to begin her lessons. Oh, she wouldn't like the first one, purification, but perhaps she would begin to understand. "Go on now," he spoke to the pilot. To Tori, "I'll see you before you leave." He needed a moment alone.

The land gliders started back to the City. DeMontville stood in the clearing, listening while the distant sound of thunder reverberated in the hills to the east, the air muggy and hot. Yet he was certain the watcher would present himself.

A sudden roar emanated behind him. He whirled around. One of the thieftakers raced across the grass ready to throttle him, ready to do murder.

He was ill prepared. City Dwellers had long since evolved beyond hand-to-hand combat. There was no time to learn the skills now. DeMontville tensed and waited for the attack. He could only pray this man would come to his senses.

He hated to think of all the work and time he'd wasted if anything happened to him here. Surely, all would be lost. Open warfare would rule the land again.

"Halt!" The voice rang through the air.

A man stood at the edge of the trees, gun drawn and ready. The weapon was pointed at the thieftaker.

The thieftaker faltered for a split second. Although he'd surged forward with the intention of doing murder, the thieftaker fell, his body stunned, shot by the newcomer.

DeMontville looked at the thieftaker then back to the man who had saved him. No, this person was not a man but a youth several years older than his daughters.

He was tall. His dark brown eyes looked almost amber in color as the failing sunlight flitted across his face to vanish again. He was confident, with well- chiseled features and a strong jaw. And DeMontville knew him well.

DeMontville smiled slowly. "Cameron. Cameron Savage. Or is it The Phantom?"

The young man nodded and he appeared anxious now that he'd been discovered. "The meeting got out of hand," he said in his own defense. "I could not let them hurt your daughters, or kill you. They'll be fine in a few more minutes."

"There is nothing to justify here."

"And of course that big one woke up before he should have. I don't think the Council of Representatives would have liked the explanation. Actually, I did us all a favor."

"Oddly enough, you did. But you needn't fear. I won't let word of this reach your father."

Cameron blanched. "I'll tell him. You have my word."

DeMontville hesitated a moment. "It's for the best. Yet, if you would follow in his footsteps, I suggest a more passive role. You cannot assume to shoot everyone you disagree with."

A slight chuckle followed DeMontville's comment. "I will consider what you've said."

"Fine!" DeMontville said quickly. "And for keeping my silence, I would ask a favor of you."

"Anything. What do you have in mind?"

"Nothing at the moment. But when the time comes, I would like your solemn promise that you will honor my request."

"You have it."

"You won't regret the vow."

Cameron nodded and a moment later was gone, vanishing silently into the forest.

DeMontville stepped inside the glider left for him. He powered up and turned the vehicle toward the City.

He thought on his daughters, so different, and yet they looked so much the same. They'd not easily forget this day. No, it would live in their minds until he could call them home, and he prayed to God they would both learn the needed lessons.

Tori had vowed to fight all thieftakers.

He tried to smile and remember all the goodness and innocence within each one. He would miss them both terribly.

The rain fell in torrents then and lightning sizzled, hitting the ground near his glider. Indeed the day was dangerous.

The conspiracy had just begun.

Advisor DeMontville

DeMontville scrawled his signature on the legal documents that would send his twins away. Then his gaze swept over the multitude of papers littering his desk. Legislation regarding the laws his children had broken all put forth by Quentin Morray. A heavy weight settled inside him pressing him down, his insides curdling at what he was about to do to Tori and Nessa.

He walked around his desk to look out over the city but instead he chose a window that looked toward the forest. He could barely see the trees through the bubble that surrounded the city. All incoming light was muted and he longed for a bit of pure sun on his face. The warmth of it...