The Mandate of Heaven (14 page)

Still she did not release him.

Instead with him now on his hands and knees, whimpering, she reached down and grasped him with both hands and started to lift him, centimetre by centimetre, inch by inch, until his feet were dangling just above the ground.  A stark reminder to all that while at first glance she might look just like them, on a genetic level, she bore very little resemblance to any of them.

“Drop your weapons,” Alex ordered, brandishing his fusion pistol. Pointing it at the remaining gunmen, who could only stare at the scene before them, horrified.  “You’re totally out of your league here, now you know who and what she is.  She could do the same to every last one of you and there isn’t a thing that you could do to stop her.”

The sounds of their weapons clattering to the floor, was only interrupted by the choking noises, as the man Jessica held firmly in her grasp, flailed helplessly at the hands around his throat.  He started to turn an alarming shade of blue, as his frantic efforts to escape became weaker and weaker.

“Jessica, stop it.  Before you kill him,” Alex interjected sharply when it became obvious that she had no plans to release him.

“He would’ve done the same to me,” she replied, contemptuously.

“Which is what separates the likes of you, from him.”

“You know with just one twist of my wrist, I could snap his neck like a stick?”

“Fine,” Alex replied, exasperated, turning his back on her.  “Go ahead.  Kill him.  See if I care, but I’m not going around cleaning up after your mess.  You get to dispose of the body.”

With an abrupt jerk of her wrist, the body hit the floor with a
thud
and, with a terrified moan the man laid there clutching at his throat.

“I think that we can take it from here,” a voice echoed from behind and Jessica whirled round, just in time to observe Sheriff Abercrombie slide a dark pistol back into his holster.  She idly wondered just how long that he’d been standing there, as she hadn’t heard him enter.  Jessica speculated what he would have done with the pistol had she not released the man.

“All hail the cavalry,” Alex replied sarcastically.  “Glad that you could join us John, but don’t you think you’re a little late?”

“Better late than never, anyway, you and Lady Jessica seemed to have everything under control,” John replied calmly, his gaze sweeping the room, quickly surveying the scene.  He motioned his deputies forward to restrain the now unarmed thieves, as they stepped over the prone, but still coughing, body on the floor.  “I must say that I’m impressed.  I think Lady Jessica must have a positive influence on you, because upon hearing that you had decided to intervene, I expected a double-digit body count.”

“Well, I was trying to avoid any bloodshed,” Alex muttered sotto-voiced, returning the fusion pistol back inside his jacket.  Jessica didn’t even realise that he had it, but suddenly comprehended the risk that she’d taken, when in actual fact Alex had been armed the entire time.

“Then we should all thank the High-Lords for Lady Jessica’s timely intervention,” John agreed good naturedly.

“Which we’ll have a long conversation about, soon, as I expressly remember leaving her in your
safe
company.  I’m sure her father would be thrilled to hear about how you sent his eldest daughter, alone, into an armed bank robbery.”

“Well, yes,” John coughed, colouring slightly.  “A means to an end and all that.  Anyway, you’re free to leave, me and the boys can take it from here.”  John purposefully stepped on the broken wrist of the assailant on the ground, who squealed like a pig, hastily withdrawing his hand that had been reaching for a discarded pistol on the floor.

“In just a minute,” Alex stated, looking around at the small crowd that had been in the bank at the time, all observing the surreal display of strength demonstrated by Jessica.  Somehow he didn’t think that his earlier story, that she was a mad cousin, was going to hold up against that impressive display.  “Take Lady Jessica outside, I’ll be with you shortly.  I need to talk to these folk first.”

*****

Jessica tried, only half-heartedly, not to look as if she was trying to eavesdrop on the subsequent, hushed conversation, between Alex and John, but really she strained to overhear every word.

“You had no right to send her in there,” Alex whispered furiously.  “I took her away from Osiris to keep her safe, not so that you could send her into the midst of a pack of wolves!”

“And just how long are you planning on keeping her here anyway?” John voiced the question.  Needless to say, Jessica was also very keen to learn the answer to this.

“As long as it’s necessary.  You know a little about me, at least a little more than most.  I’m far better qualified to protect her than those incompetents back on Osiris.  Anyway, her best protection is anonymity, if nobody knows where she is, then they can hardly do her any harm, now can they?”

“Anonymity that’s pretty much blown now, you saw what she did.  She’ll be the talk of the town before sunset, by tomorrow everyone will know.  Before you know it word will reach Hadley, then we’ll have his entire battle fleet descending upon us.”

“There’s going to be no battle fleets.  I’ve talked to those who were there and explained the situation.  They’ll keep quiet about what they saw.  She saved their lives and I made it clear that now she needs their protection.”

“And just
who
are you protecting her from?  You cannot keep her here indefinitely; her father and High-Lord Stanton are both looking for her, eventually they’ll find her.”

“I don’t know who is looking for her but I’ve got a very good idea who might be and he owes me a favour or, at least he will, when I don’t kill him.  I just need some time.”

“Fine,” John sighed.  “I can keep this group tied up in the system for a couple of weeks and make sure they don’t talk.  After all we’ve only got one public defender and he’s got a case backlog that will stretch into the next decade, just whatever you plan to do, please make it quick.  I feel like there is an hourglass out there somewhere with our names on it and the sands of time are fast running out.”

*****

Alex watched, from a distance, as John and his deputies rounded the men up and, having already restrained them, pushed them off in the direction of the only jail.  Shaking his head in disbelief, he called out in a clear voice, “You can come out now.”

“How did you know that I was there?”

“Lucky guess,” Alex muttered, turning round to face her.  “I assume that you overheard everything?”

“Pretty much.”

“My, what big ears that you have, my Lady,” Alex said with a smile.  Seemingly helpless to touch her, he reached out with a finger and brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear.  “I guess that you should add exceptional hearing to your growing list of traits, along with your intelligence, strength and how did you phrase it?” Alex held up his finger, as if trying to recollect, “Oh that's it, being irresistibly attractive.”

“I might have been exaggerating, just a little,” Jessica confessed.  “It doesn’t bother you?”

“Not at all, I can appreciate beauty,” he purposefully misinterpreted her question.

“No, not that, my strength?” Jessica suddenly broke away, looking at the ground, uncertain.  “I remember the very first time that I used it, I was still young and came across one of my father’s servants beating a young boy.  I pulled him off the boy and in the process threw him halfway across the room.  I still remember the looks that I received; shock, horror, fear and loathing.  Ever since that day I’ve taken great care to conceal my—traits.”

“I think,” Alex said, reaching out to tip her chin up, so that he could look her in the eye.  “It’s what one does with their gifts that counts.  You did a good thing today, as without your intervention it was likely that many others were going to get hurt.  You saved more than one life today, because of your actions.”

“I could have killed him today, had you not stopped me.”

Alex looked from her troubled eyes, down her cheeks, to her graceful neck, the tendons taunt, remembering how only a short time ago, she almost broke a far thicker neck.  Thinking about it made him recollect another time, with a different pair of hands wrapped around another neck, just as delicate as hers.  But this time the owner had no intention to release them and certainly didn’t share any of her doubts. He had only been able to look on, helplessly, as hands tightened around that neck, as she had started to choke, unable to even cry out for help.  Abruptly the owner of the hands looked up, and as their gazes had locked, Alex had been shocked to recognise who the hands had belonged to…

“Are you okay?” Jessica was looking at him strangely.

“Yes,” Alex shook his head, dispelling the last remnants of the memory.  “You would have stopped before killing him, trust me, I should know.”

“You don’t seem surprised by my strength?”

“I know who you are and have heard all the rumours around the abilities of the High-Lords and Ladies, so I just assumed…not that I was planning on arm-wrestling you or anything.  I don’t suppose that you can really flap your wings and fly?”  Alex’s lips formed a smile at the mental picture.

“No, although right now I wish that I could.  I don’t relish the idea of walking all the way back home.”

“Osiris?” he frowned.  “That would be a long walk indeed.”

“I meant
your
home,” she blushed.

“In that case your wish is my command,” he grinned broadly, delighted that she considered his house a home.  “Wait here a minute, I’ll be back shortly.”

It was almost ten minutes later and Jessica was starting to wonder if he was ever going to return when she first heard the noise.  A sort of a
click
-
clop
sound, which was quiet at first, but gradually grew louder and louder, until she looked up in surprise as the largest animal that she had ever seen rounded the building.  Her first instinct was to turn round and run, not something easily achieved in the ankle-length dress that she was wearing, but she was going to attempt it anyway, when she suddenly recognised the man sitting on the animal’s back.

“My Lord,” she cried out surprised.  “What’re you doing?”

“Your ride home, my Lady,” he smiled, meanwhile encouraging the animal forward, until it was beside her.

“You cannot be serious,” she spluttered.  “I cannot ride on top of that, that, thing.”

“It’s called a horse and is frequently used here for longer journeys.”  Leaning forward until his face was only inches from her own, he added with a smirk.  “Why, you’re not afraid, are you?”

“Of course not,” she tried to explain.  “It’s just—”

“Excellent, let’s go then,” he said, catching her by the arm and effortlessly lifting her off the ground and onto the horse, with her back pressing against his chest.  “Ready?” he called out to her.

“No,” Jessica responded, looking at the ground, which suddenly seemed a long way away.  Alex however just laughed and with a
clicking
sound from his tongue the horse ambled forwards, soon leaving the town far behind them.

*****

With a frustrated sigh, Alex tossed the ledger book back onto his desk.  In all honesty he didn’t know why he even bothered glancing at it.  He knew what it contained; nothing, zip, zero, nada.  He was flat out broke. In fact, he owed considerable sums to several moneylenders in various star systems, but owing to the fact that he had borrowed those monies under the assumed name of Lord Stanton, he was fairly safe from reprisal.

Normally this was not a problem, however, while Jessica and he had been out, one of his tenants had come to call.  The main wooden ceiling joist of their tenant cottage was rotten through and was in danger of collapsing—along with the entire roof.  Part of him wanted to just shrug his shoulders and forget about the problem entirely, it wasn’t as if they paid him any rent.  Still, no matter how precarious his own situation, at least he had a roof over his head.

He knew only too well what it was like to have no home.

A knock at the door to his library interrupted his reveries and he was more than slightly disappointed when moments later Mary entered.  Soon after they had arrived back, Jessica had pleaded tiredness and retired to her room early.  Personally, Alex thought she just wanted some time alone to sort through the events of the day.  Still for a person that had never known boredom, and was certainly immune to loneliness, he found himself pining for her company.

“Did you receive the message that Mister Evans left?”  Mary enquired.  “He did impress upon me the urgency of it, especially with his wife due to give birth shortly.”

Alex could only roll his eyes in despair.  Just what he needed, yet another mouth to feed.  “Yes, thank you, Mary.  Please let Mister Evans know that I received his message and that I’ll personally oversee the repairs in a couple of days, as I will be away attending to some business until then.”

“My Lord!” Mary said indignantly.  “You can hardly invite guests over and then simply abandon them a few days later.”

Alex sighed, rubbing his face wearily.  It was days like this that he wished for somebody to confide in, to share the burden of juggling a dozen different responsibilities simultaneously.  “It’s not as if I am in the process of hosting a house party.  I’m sure that Lady Jessica will manage to survive without me.” 
Hopefully
, he didn’t voice out loud as, based on recent events, it did make him wonder.  “I’ll leave her a message before I go, explaining and apologising for my absence.”