The Book of Ominiue: Starborn (11 page)

You would think that the lionmens’ character was counterproductive and would buckle to the relentless push of human nature, but they somehow managed to survive the prehistoric violence all humans are guilty of and were now established as a dominant race within the central region of Dífrun. Their presence in the land was so pivotal to the stability that many human nations accepted their political dominance, while the others that were more reluctant were forced to follow purely as a result of the cooperating nations economic stability unhinging their own independence and influence.

The true peace was established not by lionmen but by a forward thinking human who saw the benefit of lionman rule. The DragonLord Anótole before his ride established the new foundation, he designed a path so the lionmen could reign and slowly the design came into fruition. The opposition after his departure was at times fierce but acceptance came when these nations saw what the treaty brought and those that did try to break it were obstructed by many unified countries, both human and lionmen; they would be forced into a harmless position where they could self-manage their own affairs but could not act against others, they remained that way until they returned to the
union treaty
, where they were given their freedoms again. The balance of the treaty rested on neutrality and an uncompromising attitude towards the law; humans often struggled with this, as they tended to let the lesser rules slide, which often lead to a country pushing the boundaries of what they could get away with until it was too late. But to a lionman the law is ingrained in their very nature. They judged and acted without bias, therefore peace was maintained for well over a thousand years.

***

Shayne and the company walked through the streets of the city and passed a second set of walls to come at last to a grand castle. Repair work over the years added a rough charm. The inner bailey was a marvel in itself, with carefully planned gardens of exotic plants and statues of people and mythological creatures including the winged lions of Bohaníde.

The province ruler stood upon a balcony, flanked by two guards. The lionman lord watched them as they left the crowds behind, the gates closing behind them. His title was known as Dídrand, which was their equivalent of a Duke. He wore practical clothing but it was of a greater quality material and rarer dyes than the common natives. The two guards beside him looked magnificent; they had long spears in their hands and their bronze plated helmets gleamed brightly in the sun, they bore long oval shields painted with a red flying lion in the style of that province.

Their horses were guided to the front entrance. Two female guards stood at the great wooden doors; they were not as highly dressed as the personal guard of the Dídrand; they wore light cottons with steel chest-plates and helmets. They bore in their hands a shield with a dukedom lion pattern on it that faced the doorway, in the other hand they held a long spear. 

The company stopped at the bottom of the steps where they were greeted by field servants. Kíe was the first to jump from his horse in one fluid motion; he smiled as he landed lightly on the ground and his tail flicked in pleasure. Other lionmen also dismounted their horses with ease. Shayne tried to lift himself up. Stiffness and pain welled up in him and he resumed his previous position. The other Earthmen were in the same predicament, though Rahul the private managed to descend without too much trouble.

A lionmen strode to Rae’s side and offered her his hand; he lifted her from the horse and placed her gently on the ground. Once upon the solid earth she bent over, trying to relieve the aches. Shayne attempted to dismount again, this time he tried to lift his right leg over the horse. He found that his legs did not want to move at all and to dismount he had to lean on the left stirrup and drag his leg over the hide of the horse. Once he got his right leg passed the height of the animal he was able to get down. He landed heavily on his feet with his legs still in a bowed position, where they did not want to straighten out again. As he forced himself to stand a pain raged through his legs, but it was a pain that momentarily gave him relief. After a few moments the worst of it passed, but the rest of the day the Earthmen found that their legs and hips twinged as they walked.

One of the native humans came forward and took the reins of the Starborn’s horse and guided it to the Dídrand’s stables around the back. The native humans were shorter than the Earthmen. Shayne was just below average height by federation standards, but he was still taller than the male servants present. The natives had olive-brown skin, their hair colour was typically dark and their eyes were brown. It was said there were green and grey eyed humans around. Grey eyed humans were thought to be decedents from the first wizard, Ta’hylan, they believe them to be lucky and were often employed when discovered, but there were very few of them in those parts, most resided in Kérith-Árim and in the western deserts.

The lionman duke watched them dismount before he disappeared into the building with his two personal guards to greet them. Only a handful of the party had gone through the second gates to the castle; all of the Earthmen, the original party of lionmen and some other soldiers. Pan’arden who was stationed in the city and worked under the Dídrand led the way up the steps, her tiger walking by her side. The guards moved to the side allowing them access to the hall, a ring could be heard within the building and the doors opened, allowing them in.

The hall seemed immense, with a wooden arched roof that was bound by a balcony. Carvings made their way along the beams and walls. Pillars stretched along the length of the building holding up the upper level. At the base of the columns were winged lions looking into the central area. On the back wall behind the Dídrand’s table were three great banners. The largest hanging in the middle showed the national Bohaníde Fire-Lion, which draped to the ground. Flanked on either side were the province banners with their unique design of the fire-lion mirror imaged so they faced the central flag.

The Dídrand made his way into the hall from a side door and sat in his seat, both his guards standing just behind. A native bird that looked similar to a parrot was perched on his shoulder. It was a flamboyant creature just like its master, with bright colouring upon its chest and wings and a small crest that fanned out when happy. It had four sets of wings and no tail; the back pair of wings swept back in flight guiding its movements. This bird was an example of unique Iraquis wildlife, where there was divergent evolution with creatures with four limbs and those with six. Four limbed creatures were the dominant mammalian species; lizards and birds were almost equal in range and number along with the hexapedal species. The parrot had its second set of wings folded up along its back, it did not appear out of place while grounded, with the exception that it held no obvious tail and the long feathers of its tail wings protruded out well passed its length, occasionally unfolding them to stretch or to regain balance on its perch.

The lionman duke was eager to meet Shayne and signalled for him and Pan’arden to come forward. The others were motioned to sit at the nearest table and to eat what they wished. Shayne and Pan’arden sat down on either side of the Dídrand. After introductions Pan’arden and Hanniver excused themselves to visit the treasurer where the Earthman negotiated an exchange of gold for local currency. The Bohanese coin was good tender in all the middle kingdoms and what they traded would be suitable for their travels between major cities.

The lionman ruler tried to converse with Shayne but it proved awkward with Shayne providing only simply single sentence replies that did not satisfy the Dídrand. His frustration was relieved once Pan’arden returned to the tables where she provided a detailed account about their trip and what Madan’rah had reported. Shayne instantly lost interested in Pan’arden’s already second-hand monologue. He allowed his mind to drift as they droned on.

***

‘Come on Forrester, do you have to do this again?’ Desmond complained, his face overcome with weariness. Shayne glared at the Astronaut, causing the poor man to falter in his anxious way. Desmond had taught many Astronauts over the years, but this was the first time he had been assigned to teach a Starborn, or a Planetsider, just the thought horrified him. After a few weeks he found the Starborn to be a pleasant student and quicker than any pupil he had encountered, but sometimes he found him terrifying, an overwhelming sensation that was enforced by an uncertainty in Shayne’s reactions.

Shayne resented the way the Astronaut treated him. The laws and concepts he was forced to learn were simple and intuitive, and he did not understand why they were spending so much time teaching it.

‘Stop repeating yourself!’ Shayne demanded. He hated it when Desmond did that, he became so furious that he wanted to grab the Astronaut and throw him up against the wall. Desmond cowered back; he was not used to the rage that was before him. Young Astronauts were notorious for their fits of anger, especially when they could not grasp a concept, but they did not possess the same malice that Shayne exhibited, their rage was fuelled by frustration: Shayne’s seemed to be fuelled by pure hatred. Desmond looked as if he was going to withdraw, he countered his fear by breathing deeply. Shayne sneered apathetically at his teacher who now rested one hand on the table while the other rubbed at the sides of his eyes, just then the
Oxford
colonyship’s captain came in. She looked from Desmond, who was having a partial panic attack, then to Shayne.

‘What have you done this time, Starborn?’ she asked him in her monotone way. Shayne’s eyes moved to hers, his fury locked onto her and she immediately looked away, but unlike Desmond she did not show any fear.

‘I’m tired,’ Shayne’s voice was soft but it carried a deep ferocity. ‘I won’t do this anymore!’

‘What is the problem?’ Arnahell responded, not understanding the point Shayne was making.

‘This is the problem,’ Shayne said and pushed the electronic holographic tablet that displayed a box moving along a flat surface off the table. It slid easily from the smooth table before crashing to the floor. The image projected faltered for a second then clicked over to the following scene of the box moving uphill. Arnahell looked at the picture for a moment trying to gain the significance.

‘You have a problem with Newton’s laws of motion?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ Shayne replied with a faint snarl. ‘I won’t do it anymore. I understand the process and that is what I keep telling him!’ Shayne directed a finger at Desmond.

‘But it’s the program,’ Desmond protested, defending his position. ‘All students must comply to receive the degree and he has rejected all different forms of contact!’ Shayne’s irritation rose again; he had listened to the Astronaut use that same argument several times. Desmond shrank again when he realised what he just did, as if expecting the Starborn to strike him.

‘Forrester has already obtained his degree,’ Arnahell told Desmond. ‘This is more of a refresher.’

‘Refresher? How can it be a refresher? He can’t even remember his own gorram name’ Desmond snapped. Arnahell knew that Shayne’s case was a little more complicated than his caretaker did, but Arnahell also knew that Desmond was not partial to breaking the standard rules or the higher education curriculum that their kind have used for centuries.

‘Give him the test,’ Arnahell simply told him.

‘What?’ Desmond stumbled in shock, his face stricken in horror.

‘Test him on Kinematics,’ Arnahell repeated a little firmer. Desmond’s expression of disbelief did not change.

‘But —’ he stammered, ‘he hasn’t even done a quarter of the course work.’

Arnahell twitched in irritation. ‘I will test him then,’ she half replied in frustration. ‘I will teach him physics and you can continue teaching him history and law.’ Desmond was dumbfounded, with his mouth gaping open. Shayne was not sure if it was because he had just been replaced or that the captain of the ship suddenly decided to participate in a mere Planetsider’s affairs. Arnahell studied the other Astronaut for a moment, waiting for any response, when none was given she left the room.

***

Shayne sat there for a long time, his hand propping up his head as he poked at objects on the table with his other hand, watching the light catch at different angles. It was around mid-afternoon when they had arrived; now it was nearly dark; with torches and oil lamps being lit and Shayne had grown bored with just sitting around. As the day marched on the Dídrand spent more time attempting to talking to Shayne, asking him many predictable questions. The Dídrand was not a bad person, but Shayne grew tired of these in-between meetings. He did not like the thought of communicating with everyone he met. By the next day he would be on his way to the nation of Kérith-Árim. To him there was no need to talk to those he would probably never meet again.

The Dídrand eventually realised that Shayne did not care to discuss anything and that the more he tried the more the Starborn resisted answering, he was not insulted by this, and being the Afra’hama he knew that Shayne would be different. Pan’arden revealed that Kíe was the closest to Shayne, so he called the journeyman to the table; ushering him to the chair beside Pan’arden, where he asked Kíe openly about the Afra’hama.

The Dídrand was an interesting character, his outward reactions were very eccentric and open; a high contrast from typical lionmen nature, who were creatures of restraint, he and Kíe were alike in that sense, though the duke was far more eccentric than the scholar. He was curious about Shayne and he wanted to please him. With clarification from Kíe he soon discovered that Shayne had no interest in small talk, he did not care for what had been or for what would be and definitely did not like talking about himself. Facts and reality were his domain. So to please his honoured guest he decided that he would give a private tour of the castle. Pan’arden also accompanied them, she commanded Thyman to stay behind. The tiger’s expression fell so Pan’arden spoke soothingly in Bohanese and then she put her forehead to the tigers in what was known as the Afradian greeting. She patted his side in affection before following the duke.