Salene's Secrets (27 page)

Jinjie set his bowl down, then stood up and turned so that he was facing the Gryphons.  He studied them silently for a long moment, then leapt from his log to the floor in front of Talus.  He closed his eyes and held his hands out toward them, then went still.  The air around him sparkled with tiny flickers of orange, but nobody moved or spoke.  The only sounds in the cave were those of the fire popping and soft breathing.

When Jinjie opened his eyes he looked worried.  “Controller do be rebuilding.”

“What?” Talus demanded, his tone equal parts fear and surprise.

“How long do be since shifting?”

Talus’s eyes widened and he looked at his brothers who appeared just as shocked.  “Not since Tani and Steel forced it on Garza,” he said grimly.  “That was three days ago.  We haven’t even thought about shifting since then.  How can this be?”

“You must do be shifting,” Jinjie said.

“Yes, of course,” Talus said as all three jumped to their feet.  He paused and turned back to Jinjie.  “I would ask a favor of you, Jinjie of the Jotunn.”

“Favor do be what?”

“If you can protect yourself from anything we might do against our will, I ask that you come with us.  I suddenly don’t trust myself, and I would have a witness to be sure we shift.”

“That do be wise, Talus Gryphon, and Jinjie do be agreeing.”  He leapt up onto Talus’s shoulder, then turned to look down at Salene.

“Princess Salene must do be staying here.”

Salene hesitated, then nodded.  “If you think that’s best, Jinjie.”  Her agreement caused a knot to relax in Talus’s stomach.  There was a distance between them now that hadn’t existed before, and he didn’t think watching them writhe around on the floor screaming would improve matters.  He nodded to Salene and Tonka, then turned around and led the way back into the tunnel.  He paused at the entrance to the next cave. 

“Where should we go Jinjie?”

“Next cave do be better.”

Talus nodded and continued walking.  Once they were in the cave Jinjie directed them to, Talus removed a flashlight from his belt, turned it on and laid it on the floor so that it illuminated the cave enough for all of them to see clearly.  Then he turned his head so he could see Jinjie where he stood on his shoulder.

“When Tani and Steel forced us to shift, we were grateful, but it was extremely painful.  As men we can control our reactions.  Our gryphon alter forms see no logic in such folly.  We would prefer that Salene not be subjected to our screams.”

“Me could do be what asking, Talus Gryphon, but me think do be bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Hiding from Princess Salene not do be good.”  Jinjie paused a moment, his forehead creased in thought.  “Me do be block sound up to ending.  Yes?”

“I’m assuming you have Salene’s best interests in mind.”

“Always.”

“Then I shall trust you to do what you think best.”

“Jinjie do be honored,” he said solemnly, surprising Talus.  He’d gotten the distinct impression that the tiny Jotunn cared very little for him and his brothers.  “Jinjie, I do not ask that you violate confidences or break promises.  But, if you can, will you tell us why you don’t like us?  We have only a very faint memory of you, so if we offended you, we would appreciate it if you would tell us about it so that we can attempt to address the matter.”

“Me do be hearing what Gryphons do be saying to Princess Salene on
Armadura
.”

Talus had been afraid of that.  He bowed his head, fist to heart, mindful of the Jotunn on his shoulder.  “Though it was not done for our sake, we would thank you, Jinjie of the Jotunn, for watching over Salene.”

Jinjie nodded his head deeply.  “Jinjie do be apologize for not looking for Controller, Talus Gryphon.  Centuries on Doftle space station do be making magic weak, but me should do be thinking of it on Jasan.”

“No apology is necessary, Jinjie,” Talus said.  “We’re just glad to know you have the ability to sense them.  Do you know why we haven’t shifted for three days when it’s something we’ve done every day for our entire lives?”

“Me do be think on that, Talus Gryphon, but do be not know answer yet.”  Jinjie tilted his head thoughtfully.  “Salene do be saying shift do be make Controller puddle on ground.”

“That’s true,” Jon said.  “Unfortunately, by the time we were able to shift back into our humanoid forms, we’d forgotten to check for that.  It was careless on our parts but we will not repeat that mistake again.”

“Me do be helping to remember now.”

“Thank you, Jinjie,” Talus said.  “We ask that you use your ability to sense Controllers on us as often as you deem necessary.  And, if you don’t mind, we’d appreciate it very much if you’d see to it that we shift at least once each day.”  He frowned.  “Make that twice a day to be safe.”

“Me do be glad to help,” Jinjie said, then leapt off of Talus’s shoulder and onto the floor of the cave near the entrance. 

Talus, Jon and Kar spread out in the middle of the cave and called their gryphons.  While the Controllers had hold of their minds they hadn’t been able to summon their gryphons at all.  Now, they felt their alter-forms straining toward them as they struggled to open themselves to the change.  It was shocking to discover how difficult it was.  Shifting was as natural to them as breathing, making this nearly as frightening as the Controllers had been. 

They did not give up, however.  They remained steadfast, refusing to pull back until, finally, their gryphons managed to answer their calls.  The pain was not as bad as it had been on Garza, but it still knocked them to the ground.  And, as Talus had warned Jinjie, their gryphons didn’t even try to hold back their screams of pain. 

***

After the Gryphons left with Jinjie, Salene set her bowl down, giving up on breakfast for the time being.  She was worried about the Controllers, but she knew that the Gryphons who’d just walked out of the cave were truly her men.  She’d seen it in their eyes, felt it in their touch, and heard it in their voices.  Every sense she had told her it was truly them. 
Too bad you didn’t notice that last time around
, she chastised herself.  Needing something to do with her hands, she removed the elastic on her long, wrist thick braid and began unraveling it. 

“Are you really a princess?” Mali asked.  

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Jinjie and Tonka called you Princess Salene.”

“Yes, I’m a princess,” Salene replied, using her fingers to comb through her hair since she didn’t have a hairbrush.  “Don’t let it impress you though.  Where I’m from, the royal family lives pretty much like everyone else.” 

“What’s it like where you’re from?”

The last thing Salene felt like doing was smiling, but when she looked at Mali she couldn’t help herself.  “Jasan…that’s the name of our planet, has lavender skies and blue grass.  My parents own a ranch, a large area of land where they raise cows and horses.  That’s where I grew up.”

“Lavender skies and blue grass,” Mali said softly with a distant, dreamy expression in her eyes.  “I didn’t know that was a real place.  I thought it was just a dream.”

“You dreamed of Jasan?” Salene asked in surprise. 

“Lots of times,” Mali replied.

Salene pulled her hair over her shoulder, divided it into sections, then began braiding it while thinking about the implications of that.  “Well, it’s a real place,” Salene said.  “My Mom didn’t go to Jasan until she was an adult.  Before that, when she was a little girl, she dreamed of lavender skies and blue grass too.”  She finished her braid, put the elastic back on to hold it, and tossed it back over her shoulder.  Then she gestured to Mali who got up and went to sit beside her.  Salene urged her to turn around with gentle hands, removed the leather cord from her hair and went to work on the tangles with her fingers.

“I like knowing it’s a real place,” Mali said.  “Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

“Yes, I do.  I have two sisters, and three brothers.” 

“Are your brothers and sisters older than you or younger?”

“Do you know what triplets are?”  Mali shook her head.  “Triplets is when three babies are born at the same time.”

“Oh, like twins?”

“Yes, that’s right.  My people, Clan Jasani, are always born in threes.  I was born first, then my sister Rayne, and then my other sister Tani.  We look exactly alike except for the color of our eyes.”  Salene bent over a particularly large snarl and worked through it patiently.  “Our younger brothers, Saxton, Pax, and Marx are identical except for their eye color too.”

“Like those men,” Mali said.  “They look alike except their hair is different colors.  Does that mean they’re brothers?”

“Yes, it does,” Salene said. 

“Is your Mom and Dad still alive?”

“I have one Mom and three Dads, which is also normal where I’m from.  And yes, they’re alive.”

“You have
three
Dads?”

“Yes, I do,” Salene replied.  She finished working through Mali’s tangles, then divided it into sections and began braiding it. 

“You’re so lucky,” Mali said wistfully. 

Salene blinked, startled for a moment.  “Yes, Mali, in many ways I’m very lucky.  Thank you for reminding me of that.”  She reached into a pocket and removed three hair elastics, something she always carried with her.  She chose the fuchsia one, used it to tie off Mali’s braid, then bent to look down in the little girl’s face.  “How’s that?” 

Mali pulled her braid over her shoulder so she could see it, then smiled.  “How did you do this?”

“It’s not hard,” Salene said, returning the other elastics to her pocket.  “I’ll show you one day.”

“This is so pretty,” Mali said, her fingers touching the elastic on her hair as though it were precious.  “What color is this?”

“It’s called fuchsia,” Salene said. 

“I’ve never seen this color before but I like it.  I promise not to lose it.”

“You’re sweet, honey, but it’s just an elastic.  If you lose it, or if it breaks, it doesn’t matter.  I have more.”

“Thank you,” Mali said.  She turned back around to face Salene with a little frown on her face. 

“What is it?” Salene asked.  Mali looked up at her, her light gray eyes searching.  Salene didn’t know what she was looking for, and she didn’t ask.  Instead, she waited patiently for Mali to make up her mind. 

“Why are you going to the silo?” she asked, surprising Salene. 

“You know that the silo is a bad place, don’t you?”  Mali nodded.  “There’s a lot of people still there, and I have to try to help them.”

“Why?” Mali asked.  “You’re a princess.  Can’t you just tell other people to do that for you?”

“No, honey, I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I was taught that being a princess means I have to always do what I can to help others in need.  Even if I wasn’t a princess, I would never ask someone else to do something that I wouldn’t do myself.  Do you understand?”

Mali’s eyes dropped to the floor.  After a long moment, her voice small and reluctant, she said, “Yes, I understand.  I just don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m scared of what’ll happen to me and Tab if you die.”

Salene nodded.  This was more along the lines of what she’d expected Mali to say to begin with.  “Thank you, Mali, for being honest.  I appreciate that very much.”  Some of the tension went out of the little girls thin shoulders.  “I understand why you’re scared Mali, and I don’t blame you for it.  Tonka told me some of what you and Tab have been through.  I have an idea though.  Would you like to hear it?”

“Yes,” Mali said, nodding quickly. 

“I thought I’d ask Jinjie to take you, Tab, and Tonka too if he wants, back to Jasan if something happens to me.  Would you agree to that?”

“I think so,” Mali said hesitantly.  “But where would we live?”

“Would you like to live on the ranch where I grew up?” 

Mali’s eyes widened in surprise.  “Could we really?”

“Yes, you can, really,” Salene said, smiling.  “My parents aren’t home right now, so I’ll ask Jinjie to take you to my sister, Rayne.  She loves children very much, and she’ll enjoy taking care of you and Tab.  When our parents get home, she’ll take you to the ranch to live.  You can even have my bedroom if you want.  My parents will be so happy to have children in the house again, and they’ll love you and Tab more than you can imagine.”

“That sounds like a story more than real life,” Mali said.  “Is it all real?”

“Yes, it’s all real, I promise.”

“Okay,” Mali said, then looked up with pleading in her eyes.  “But please don’t die, Salene.  Please?”

“Don’t worry honey,” Salene said.  “Killing me will be a
much
more difficult task than anyone expects.”

“That’s good,” Mali said with a big sigh of relief.

Salene started to smile again when the sound of screaming gryphons echoed through the tunnel and into the cave.  She leapt to her feet, paused just long enough to tell Tonka to remain with the children, then ran out with
sai
in both hands.  She reached the cave where the Gryphons laid writhing on the floor in pain with Jinjie looking on from the entrance.  He looked up at her, then shook his head, warning her to go no further, so she stopped beside him, put the
sai
away, knelt down on the floor and watched.