The Stolen Child (58 page)

“The seed,” Rachael said, her voice hoarse, barely audible over the wind.

Arsha's mouth opened in a gasp of pain, but no sound came out.  The back of her shirt exploded.

Rachael watched as twin shapes tore free, like they were being carved out of the air.  Leaves of iron, paper thin
and
nearly eaten through by rust, piled onto one another, layer upon layer, forming a long, sweeping pair of wings.  As they thickened, taking on substance, they caught the wind and Arsha's body jerked upwards with the sudden deceleration.  Their hands slipped apart and the force of their separation sent Rachael spinning.  Desperately she looked about, trying to control her fall, but Arsha had disappeared from her view.  As she tumbled through the air, trying to catch sight of the girl, her eyes fixed on the ground rushing up towards her.  She had barely seconds before she hit.  All other thoughts left her mind, and she closed her eyes.  
For a moment, she wondered what it would feel like.  
For a moment, she thought she saw her mother's face.

She felt
something
crash into her chest, knocking the wind out of her.  It was a few seconds later that she opened her eyes again and saw the ground growing steadily more distant.  She turned her
face
to
one
side
, and looked directly into Arsha's
eyes
.

She felt Arsha's grip around her waist slipping, and flung her good arm around the girl's neck, holding on for dear life.  Wings of rusted metal, whispering like dead leaves, seemed to rip the air apart with every stroke, strong and fast.  They gained speed, climbing higher, as Rachael looked around and let out an exultant
shout
of joy.

“Oh God, I love you so much,”
s
he screamed,
laughing in delight
.  Looking back over Arsha's shoulder she saw the spire continuing its slow collapse, fragments of rusted metal and glass showering down in a thickening rain, shattering on the ground as it cracked and shifted, chunks of pavement upending, deep rifts forming around the base of the building as it toppled.  
T
he top of the tower crumpled and then exploded outwards in a spray of twisted metal, as a
dark shape broke
free.  
Wings spread wide enough to black out the sun,
Justin wheeled
in the sky far above them.  Rachael's breath caught in her throat as she watched him circling.  She felt Arsha's hands clutching her tighter, as the girl saw the shadow pass over them both.  Then he was climbing higher and farther, his vast form growing small as he soared into the distance.  Solemnly, Rachael watched him leave.
 

The Zephyr was descending in a sharp dive
, levelling out as
it passed below them
.  
Looking down, Rachael could see all three figures on the deck staring up at them.  
Wings beating hard to slow them down,
Arsha
descended
,
visibly
straining at the effort of holding them both aloft
.  
At first she seemed to be coming in smoothly, until it became clear that
she
had no idea how to actually stop
.  They hit the deck and rolled, tumbling together across the wooden floor.  
Rachael's arm smashed
into the
ground
as they tumbled and the pain in her shoulder exploded, drowning out everything else.
 

“Rachael?  Rachael,
can you hear me
?”

She supposed she must have blacked out for a moment.  Ilona was staring down at her, half her face covered by bandages that were already showing dark stains.  She could see blood matted in the woman's hair.
 

“Yeah... Yeah, I'm here,”
s
he mumbled.  Ilona sighed in relief, and for a moment she swore that a smile crossed the woman's face.  Two fingers were pressed against Rachael's throat, feeling her pulse.  As Ilona counted silently, Rachael looked across the deck to where Arsha stood with her father, their bodies pressed close together.  Her face was buried against his chest and tears were streaming down his cheeks.  Her long wings trailed across the deck behind her, fluttering gently in the breeze.  The back of Arsha's shirt had been shredded, the tattered remains soaked with blood.  Where the wings protruded from the girl's back she could see the ragged edges of the torn flesh.  It looked very painful.

As their long embrace ended, Arsha looked up and saw her watching.  Then the girl was running towards her, stumbling as her wings dragged on the floor so that she half knelt, half fell at Rachael's side, hands framing her face.  Tears streaked through the patches of red rust that covered Arsha's face, cracking around her smile.

Smiling, Rachael went to reach out towards Arsha with her one working hand, only to pause as she caught sight of angular metal plating that encased it.  The gauntlet almost seemed like a part of her now.  She could barely even feel it.  She hesitated, hand half-raised towards her sister's cheek.  Then Arsha raised her own hand to clasp Rachael's, palm to palm.  
Arsha
s
queezed her hand,
the gesture barely felt through the metal
.

The clouds enveloped them, a wall of grey suddenly closing around the tiny vessel like a fist, before tearing open again as a brilliant blue sky was revealed above them.

The moment the Zephyr was above the clouds and on an even keel, Micah left the tiller
and
ran the length of the deck in three long bounds.  
Arsha turned to meet him, shrieking as she was lifted off her feet and swung round in a crushing embrace.  For a moment her wings flared out over them both like a canopy, bare metal gleaming in the sunlight.  Micah set Arsha down again and took a step back, an expression of pure astonishment on his face.  With one hand, he stroked at a wingtip.  Soft metal leaves rustled, and Arsha giggled in surprise.
 

“That tickles,”
s
he exclaimed.

“
Really?
”
Micah's eyes widened.  He tried it again, smiling as Arsha giggled.
 

“That's amazing,”
h
e said.

Experimentally, Arsha spread her wings out and then pulled them in close.  Even tucked in tight to her body, her wings still arched high over her head, the tips brushing the ground.

Looking around, Rachael could see that everyone was now staring at Arsha.  Ilona's expression was equal parts surprise and concern, but on Rishi's face Rachael saw something else entirely... Something like fear.

“Alright, let me take a look at that shoulder,” Ilona said, suddenly breaking the silence
as she turned towards Rachael
.  
The woman quickly unbuttoned the top of Rachael's blouse and pulled
back the collar
to
examine the swelling, prodding at the bruise flesh with the tips of two fingers.  
A fire burned where she
touch
ed, as
Rachael gritted her teeth, unable to keep from letting out a slight whimper.

“It's dislocated.  I'm going to give you something for the pain.  We'll set the joint back into place as soon as we're landed,” Ilona said, calmly.

As Ilona disappeared into the hold and Micah returned to the helm, Arsha and her father slipped away to the other side of the deck.  Rachael watched their hushed conversation with a vague curiosity.  Arsha's smile seemed to have faded, leaving a coldness in her expression.  Something seemed to have emerged from within the girl, as the exuberance of their escape faded.  For a moment the professor turned to look in Rachael's direction, and beneath his apologetic eyes she saw that same coldness, anger lurking there like a movement in the darkness.  Her fault, perhaps, that his daughter had risked so much to save her.  
The thought twisted like a knife in her stomach.
 

Then Ilona emerged from below, returning to Rachael's side with a small black leather bag which opened to reveal gleaming rows of medical implements.  Sifting through the contents, Ilona produced a glass bottle and a brass handled syringe.

“
For the pain,
”
s
he said.
 

“No I'm... I'm OK.  I don't need nothin,”
Rachael said, shaking her head quickly.
 

Ilona's eyes narrowed for a moment, and then
she continued to fill the syringe, tapping the side to check for air.
 

“I said I'm fine,” Rachael snapped, jerking away from the needle.  The movement twisted her arm, and blinding pain s
ei
zed her.  It seemed to crash ove
r
her body in a wave that left her trembling and breathless.  
As her vision cleared, she saw Arsha
kneeling at her side.  
Without a word, Arsha reached out for Rachael's
gauntlet covered
hand.  As Arsha wrapped her hands around the cold metal, Rachael met her eyes.  The girl looked at her steadily, concerned, but without pity.  Rachael saw only a calm assurance.  
Ilona was looking at them both with an expression that was equal parts curious and frustrated.  Rachael could feel Micah and Rishi watching them as well, but Arsha ignored them all.
 

“I was there, remember?” Arsha said.  Swallowing the lump in her throat, Rachael managed a faint nod.  She winced as the needle pierced her arm, but her eyes stayed locked on her sister's.  As the needle slid free, she felt Arsha squeeze her hand, clasping it tight.  She gave an answering squeeze as she let her head fall back against the railing.  A heavy sigh passed her lips as she stared up at the clear blue sky.

They caught up with the Triskelion a little way outside of the city.  Ilona watched from the deck, the cold air numbing the tender flesh around her damaged eye.  
The Zephyr drifted in
to settle gently on the deck
.  The ladder was lowered and Micah descended first
to help the girls down
.

Milima a
ppeared as they reached the deck
.  With promises of hot showers, hot food and hot drinks she ushered the girls inside to see to their injuries.

Micah and
Rishi
set to stowing the Zephyr.  Ilona tried to help, but she could already feel herself flagging.  The ropes slipped from her hands, fingers feeling thick and clumsy.  She could see that both men were trying their best not to say anything.  They wouldn't dare tell her
to stop
, but they were both thinking
it
.

She turned away, trying not to stumble as she made her way inside.  In the silence of the cor
r
idor she paused to find her breath.  Then she heard the door swing open again and sharp footsteps from behind.  She turned to see Rishi standing a few feet away.  His eyes fixed on hers, trembling with cold fury.  

“I'm sorry Rishi.  I truly am,” she said.  “It was the only way to...”

“
To what?” he snapped, cutting her off.
  “I just don't understand it Ilona.  Why would you try to keep me from saving my own daughter?  What could you possibly...”
h
e floundered, unable to find words large enough for
all
the
force of his anger
.

S
he looked at him in stunned silence.

“How can you even ask me a question like that?”
s
he said at last.

“It seems to be the only question worth asking, right now.”

“Rishi, I didn't try to keep you from Arsha, I kept you from killing yourself chasing something impossible.  
She's alive, she's unhurt, and so are you.
”

“
'Unhurt.'  You'd dare to try to call that 'unhurt'?
”
he said, his voice little more than a cold hiss.
 

“
I didn't have a lot of good choices in front of me,” she said, feeling her hands shaking at her sides.  “Maybe
you could have done something.  And
maybe
you would have just killed yourself trying.  I couldn't bear that, Rishi.”

She reached out to
touch
the swelling on his cheek, where her fist had struck him.  The metal of her gauntlet had broken the skin, leaving a tiny crack, freshly scabbed.

H
e slapped her hand away.

  “What could possibly make you think I'd care about my own life when my daughter was in danger?”

For a moment, all she could do was stare at him.  The silence hung between them like a chasm.  She felt a dizzying sensation of vertigo welling up inside, as if she was standing at the edge of that chasm, staring down.  Before he could react
,
her hand slid around the nape of his neck and she leaned in to press her lips against his
.  
Just for a moment, she was certain that he forgot to breathe.
 

She
pulled
away,
with a feeling like electricity running through her fingertips.
 

“I didn't do it for you,”
s
he said.
 

She turned away, taking the steps down the lower deck as quickly as she dared, forcing herself not to break into a run.  Even that small restraint left her as she dashed to her room and threw the door closed behind herself.  S
he leaned back against the hard wood and pressed her hands against her eyes, tight enough to keep the tears locked in.
 

-

They were ushered into the mess hall, a
nd
Milima
closed
the door behind them.  Arsha had to duck to keep her wings from catching
in the doorway
.  
Iron feathers brushed against the frame
, leaving a cloud of red dust in her wake.