Vareen & Mica (The Alliance Book 2) (14 page)

Vareen sat up and grabbed her head. Where was she and why was the ground
rocking? Carefully sitting up, she gasped.

She was in a small boat in the middle of a large river. Turning her head
toward the shore, she saw the top peeks of the pavilion showed over the trees
to the west.

With some
maneuvering,
she managed
to pull herself up
onto
the bench seat. She
was glad that the water was calm and her little craft didn’t seem to be moving
overly. It must be anchored down with something. Turning to look
around
her, she saw there were boats dotting
the river on either side of her. Over twenty of them, with all manner of people.
Young, old, women and men alike.

How had she gotten here? She remembered leaving Mica’s tent and making it
back to hers. She’d gone to bed her mind racing with what might happen in the
next trial. Vareen had promised herself that she would stay out of it. No matter
what the trial was, she’d remain calmly in her seat. Then she’d fallen asleep
and now she was here…in this boat on a giant river.

“Hello,” Vareen called out. “Does anyone know what’s happening?”

A willowy blonde with blue streaks and shells in her hair wearing a blue
dress waved from a boat on her right. “I’m Delphine. My father is the leader
for Metari. I think we’re part of another trial.”

“Your brother is Arik?” Vareen owed him for saving her from Angeline.

“Yes,” the woman smiled at her. “You are Vareen Nas.” The woman looked
around. “There are multiple people from each clan here on the river.”

“There are only four leaders and Mica. Another five challengers make ten
total, but there are over twenty boats on this river. Do you have any idea what
this trial might be?”

The woman shrugged, “Perhaps they have to find their chosen mates?”

“There are men on some of those rafts, that doesn’t fit,” Vareen called
out.

“Perhaps it’s to save a family member?” An older male dressed in red
called from a nearby raft. “Sorry, I was listening to your conversation.”

“You are from Takari,” Vareen asked, “Are you related to one of the men
in the trials?”

“I’m just a technician at the research center. I’m not family to either
man from Takari or any of the others.”

“Well there goes that theory,” the blonde called out. Turning in her raft
she looked behind her. “I see one other from my clan. That woman over there
works in a waterside café I enjoy, she’s a very talented cook. I’m not sure
what the connection is between all of us.”

Vareen looked at the water. It had gone from
calm
to a faster current and the waves were building. Turning to
the shore, she saw a crowd was building. Whatever the challenge was, it was
close to starting and she had a bad feeling about it.

“Is there any way to get our boats closer to each other?” she called out
to those around her.

“I don’t see an oar in my boat,” the blonde called back.

“What about if we swam to each other?”

“There are electric jellyfish in the water. It’s very painful to be stung
by them.”

Of course
there were, and
of course,
it was. Vareen thought
sarcastically. “Is it deadly to be stung?”

“No, not deadly.”

“The water is getting more turbulent,” Vareen called loudly. “In order to
help our
men,
we should try to get as
many people into one boat as possible.”

“Why
interfere with the challenge?”
the male in red asked. “If we stay in our boats, the challenge will proceed as
the organizer’s planned it to.”

“I’m just trying to be practical,” Vareen insisted. Her boat rocking
slightly. “There are only ten men and so many people. If we help them by
consolidating into fewer boats how could that hurt?”

“Then the men in the trial would only have to make one trip instead of
multiple to save more people. They wouldn’t have to face so many stings from
the jellyfish and the force of the growing current.” The blonde looked into the
water and frowned.

“Exactly.” Vareen looked behind her. There was an elderly woman in the
golden color of Denary about twenty feet away. “What do you think?” she called
across the water.

“I don’t know how to swim,” her fear was apparent now that she’d spoken.

Vareen turned to Delphine, “Find out if anyone further along your side
wants to consolidate boats. I think if we can get two or three to a boat that
should be enough.” Turning to the man in red she asked him to do the same
thing.

“I’m going to swim to you,” Vareen called to the woman behind her.
Standing up and looking into the water, she didn’t give herself time to think.
She clambered over the edge and fell into the water. The current wasn’t too bad
and Vareen started swimming. She was making
good
time
until she was about ten feet from her destination when the first
sting went across her leg. It felt like a knife being drawn along her flesh.
Letting out a startled cry she swam faster. The blood from her leg must have been
a sign to the others because they started gliding against her with more
frequency. Her arms,
legs,
and torso were
riddled with
welts from being stung
.
After the initial
sting,
there was a
moment of numbness.

Reaching the side of the Denary woman’s boat she was glad for the woman’s
help in getting out of the water.

“You poor thing,” the woman tore a strip off her dress and pressed it
against Vareen’s legs. “Does it hurt terribly?”

It hadn’t until the woman had asked, then each welt started throbbing. Grinding
her teeth Vareen assured her new boat mate, “No, there is a slight numbness
now, it’s not so bad.”

When their boat rocked she looked over. It was the older man in red.
Grabbing his hand and helping as much as possible she helped pull him into the
boat.

“That hurts like being cut with a razor thorn dipped in
plageric
acid!” His voice was rough and he said
a few words that Vareen was pretty sure was cursing.

The older woman gave her a telling look and then introduced herself. “I’m
Janita Denary. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Vareen Nas.” Vareen held out her hand and then looked toward Delphine.
The blonde was two boats up with another elderly woman.

“Willem Takari.” The man in red shook hands with Janita first and then
her. “Nice to meet you both.”

Suddenly the water around them started raging. Their boat started rocking
violently, and they all had to sit down or get thrown overboard.

Looking at the shore, Vareen saw a line of men that must be the
challengers and leaders. “The trial is beginning. We’ve managed to consolidate
into ten boats. This should make it easier on them.”

Vareen watched as the men entered the water and started swimming in the direction
of the boats. With their increased speed, it wasn’t long before they started
arriving.

Occupants of boats started calling out to the leader or
challenger
they felt was here to save them.

“We are each from different clans,” Janita tried to laugh. “Who do we
call out to?”

Vareen wanted to call for Mica but wasn’t sure how this trial was
supposed to go. She was afraid she’d interfered enough moving people around in
the boats. She watched with baited breath as the boats started disappearing.
The challengers found who they
wanted to save
and soon there were five of them moving toward shore. The leaders were all
waiting.

The current picked up again and the turbulence was marked now.
Still,
the leaders hesitated. The challengers
had almost made it back to shore and Vareen wanted to scream in frustration.
Why didn’t Mica hurry, he might be losing points.

Why? What were they waiting for? Then it dawned on her. They were waiting
to see what needed to be done. Since there were only five boats left it seemed
an easy decision.

As if on cue, each leader swam for a boat. Vareen saw Mica swim up to
Delphine and her companion. Without pausing he dove under and came back up with
the rope. Putting the lead between his teeth, Mica began to swim swiftly toward
shore.

A male in a purple shirt swam up to her boat and introduced himself. “I
am Chan’ Virrel, leader of the Renari. I’ll tow you back to shore.”

Vareen watched as the leader of the Renari clan went under her boat. It
seemed to take forever but he finally bobbed to the surface with the rope in
hand.

“Is everyone settled? This might get rough.” The male gritted his teeth
and Vareen had to assume it was
due to
the
pain of the jellyfish stings and the strain of holding off the current.

“We’re
settled,
” Willem assured
Virrel from his place next to Janita.

“Thank you, for helping us.” The Denary woman huddled closer to Willem.

“Chan’ Virrel the current is becoming faster.” Vareen hated to state the
obvious but she worried that this trial was about to get much harder.

Virrel nodded, “We’re off then” and he made for shore, pulling them along
at a quick pace.

Vareen wasn’t sure what the trial was supposed to be, but the volatility
of the water kept increasing and she became worried when they started taking on
water. The shore was only ten feet
away
when they were struck by a wave, and everyone in her boat spilled into the
water.

“Var!” She heard Mica called frantically from shore.

“I can swim. Help Janita. She can’t.” Vareen yelled over the waves
hitting her in the face. She was quickly carried away with the current.

“Willem. Are you okay?” She looked
for
him and saw him splashing frantically for shore.

Their movements in the water had attracted the jellyfish. Vareen set her
mind to ignoring the pain as much as possible and swam for the shore. She’d be
damned if some stupid fish got the best of her. She should have been watching
out for the boat.

It grazed against the side of her head. The last thing she heard was
Mica’s frantic yells. “Var!”

“Is she okay?”

“I think she’s waking up.”

“What happened?”

“Someone tell my son that Vareen is waking up so he’ll stop fighting with
the trial organizers.”

Vareen groaned and tried to open her eyes. “Martac?”

The light was blinding and Vareen had to shield her eyes with her hand.
When she was able to focus she saw Martac, Dani, Cali, Nellia, Drake, Vathral,
Risenal and a few members of the leadership she hadn’t been introduced to yet, all
hovering around her.

Martac took her by the shoulders and helped her sit up. The movement
caused her stomach to protest and she groaned.

“Are you feeling dizzy?” Nellia pushed her way closer. “How many fingers
am I holding up?” She held up three fingers.

“I’m not dizzy Nellia, just my stomach lurching. You are holding up three
fingers.” Vareen looked around for Mica and still didn’t see him. “Where’s
Mica?”

“Here.” Mica jostled his way through the crowd around her. “I’m here.” He
pulled her into his arms and held her close. His face was bruised and his lips
bloodied.

“What in the world. What happened to your face? Did the jellyfish do
that?”

Vareen touched a finger first to his face and then hers to see if she had
any wounds like his.

“No. The jellyfish stings were inconvenient but not what caused this.”

“Mica was fighting,” Dani tattled on her brother.

“Who with?” Vareen wanted to know.

“The organizers of the trial,” Drake slapped Mica on the shoulder. “There
were measures in place that kept those on the river from being hurt. The boat
striking you wasn’t supposed to happen and Mica was...upset by your accident.”

“I wasn’t upset,” Mica denied and stood up with her in his arms.

Vareen would never get used to Mica being able to lift her like that.

“The judges have requested we return to the arena,” Mica was walking
toward the direction of the pavilion. Before Vareen could ask another question
he was moving so fast she almost lost the contents of her already nauseous
stomach on him. All around her were the colored shirts and dresses of people
hurrying back to the arena. Vareen closed her eyes against the sight, it was
too much.

When Mica slowed to a stop she opened her eyes. All around
her,
the people of Titus were arriving to find
a place to sit in the arena. Drake had carried Cali since she didn’t have the
super speed. Risenal had been picked up by Arik and various other Metari males
had brought her guards. From the looks on their
faces,
the Atheon males were not happy with being carried like babies. Even as she
watched they struggled to straighten their uniforms and form up around Risenal
again.

“Do we have to part ways here?” Vareen asked as Mica walked toward the
entrance to the arena.

“No,” Mica mumbled and kept walking. “You’re coming into the arena with
me.”

“Is that allowed?” Vareen didn’t want Mica to get into trouble by
refusing to let her go.

“Yes. The judges asked to speak with you.”

Vareen felt a chill go down her spine. The judges wanted to see her? Had
they found out she’d visited Mica in his tent? Was he going to be disqualified
and banished? Her thoughts ran away with her and she imagined all of the
horrible things that could be wrong.

Sooner than she’d like they were standing in front of everyone in the
arena. Vareen’s palms were sweating and her heart was beating madly in her
chest.

 
“Vareen Nas, we requested to speak
with you regarding your actions during this Challenge of Succession.”

Vareen swallowed hard. This is what she’d been afraid of. Standing taller
she opened her mouth, but the judge wasn’t done.

“Is it true that you dosed the guards in front of Mica
Jataci’s
tent on the first night of the
challenge in order to see him?”

Vareen bit her lip. They knew. There was no hope for it. She’d tell the
truth. “Yes.”

“Can you tell us why?”

Mica took her hand and Vareen felt comforted at the touch. How could she
explain? It was such a long story.

“Mica had asked me to be his chosen mate a long time ago. Due to unfortunate
circumstances,
I wasn’t able to give him
my answer. When he was challenged, and we were to be separated again, I didn’t
want him to go another night without telling him how I felt.”

“Did you have any help in gaining entrance into Mica’s tent?”

“Yes, I used guilt and
strong-armed
my friends into helping me.”

“That’s not true,” Cali cried out and Vareen saw her struggling to get
through the crowd of Renari. “I helped her of my own free will.”

“As did I,” Risenal called and moved to join them in the arena from where
she had been seated.

“Me too,” Nellia followed through the hole Cali was making in the Metari
crowd.

“I helped too,” Dani called from the Jataci side.

Vareen wasn’t sure that any of this was aiding her cause. Cali and Dani
might get banished to live with the Others along with her at this rate. Risenal
and Nellia would just be sent back to Atheon.

“Quiet,” the announcer called. “Quiet!” The crowd stopped immediately
waiting to hear what would happen next.

“What is your reason for visiting Mica the second night?”

Vareen wanted to slap her forehead, did they know everything? “I made
such a mess of things that day at the trials that I felt terrible. I needed to
know if Mica forgave me for costing him points.”

Cali, Nellia, Risenal, and Dani were all standing next to her by now.

“What did you use to incapacitate the guards?” the judge asked

“I studied the plant life of Titus while in the hospital and used my
knowledge to select the available plants in Metari to knock the guards out. Some
algae from the river, along with the
ilipid
plant, when mixed together and consumed caused the guards to appear awake but
actually be unconscious. They wouldn’t recall losing time so upon waking would
assume nothing had happened.”

“I see,” the judge glanced at his fellows and then asked. “We have it on
good authority that you spoke with the occupants of the other boats on the
river this morning and asked those around you to consolidate the boats. Can you
explain this?”

“I was trying to help,” Vareen might as well pack her bags for
banishment. This wasn’t going well for her.

The judge eyed her. “You were trying to help Mica?”

“No,” Vareen insisted. “Not
just
Mica. I wanted to help all of the men in the trial and all of the people in the
boats. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

“Even when the organizers have made all allowances for the safety of the
participants?”

“Yes,” Vareen argued heatedly. “When you are in the middle of a trial it doesn’t
feel like you’re safe. Yesterday when I thought we were under attack I was
afraid for everyone. Not just myself and Mica, but everyone.” She waved her
hand around in her growing agitation. “Today, when I was out on the river I
wasn’t thinking solely about Mica. I was worried for everyone in the boats and
the
challengers
in the water as well.”

“Even though they weren’t of Mica’s
clan
?”
the judge asked calmly.

“Yes,” Vareen was losing her patience. “Even though they weren’t of
my
clan. Why all these questions anyway.
It’s not like I’m on trial, I was just doing what I thought was best.”

“On the contrary,” the judge stated loudly. “The challenge presented by
Temloc Jataci wasn’t against Mica. We have been watching you.”