Part 11 – The Son of Rage and Love
Amber woke up suddenly. There was a quick and furious knocking at the door. It must have been about seven or eight in the morning. She blearily looked beside her to Pride, who was fast asleep, his arms tethered around her abdomen. She groaned and moved his arms, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Taking a robe and slipping it on, she went to open the door. Before her, in the dim light, stood Tigra with Robin in her arms.
"What is it? Is she okay?" Amber asked quickly.
Tigra nodded. "She's fine. She slept soundly all night. It's just… I need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?"
Amber frowned and nodded. Tigra, as a close personal friend of Pride's first and then Amber's, was one of the few people trusted with Robin, and also permitted into their home. She let Tigra in and shut the door behind her. The tall redhead went and placed the baby in the wooden crib in the corner, shooting a look at the still sleeping Pride, whose completely bare upper body was on display.
"Are you sure it's all right to talk here?" Tigra enquired, her bright tawny eyes questioning.
Amber yawned. "It's fine. He's dead to the world. Now what was it you wanted to say?"
Tigra frowned, pacing a little as Amber went to sit in a wicker chair. She watched Tigra's face. The long scar that went from her hairline through her left eye and right down to her jaw was emphasised by her troubled expression. The heavy golden furs she wore trailed after her as she walked the floor, staring at it hard.
"I had a strange dream Eagle," she said finally.
"Yes?"
"I'm worried about Raven," Tigra stated plainly, looking Amber in the eye. Her wild red hair framed her face dramatically as she looked at her friend.
"Raven?" Amber sat up instantly.
"Yes. I had such a troubled sleep. Often I've had dreams about the tribe and our future. I've always known that you, Pride and Raven were meant to lead us, meant to become the Sacred Trinity. But now, now it looks like the Trinity is fracturing. I saw deep black becoming burning golden. I knew it had to be about Raven. She's changing, she's unsettled."
Amber shifted uncomfortably. She had never quite understood Tigra's spiritual ramblings. She was a lot like Tai-San in that she had these strange predictions and natural remedies. Shaking the thought of her old friend from her mind, Amber spoke. "Raven has had a terrible shock. Archer didn't take her refusal of his proposal well, as you know. She's devastated."
"This isn't about her and Archer. This is something more," Tigra whispered. "In my dream, she no longer bore the Gaian markings."
Amber felt something unknown stir within her. "What else was in your dream… exactly that is?"
"I saw a bird, a raven, fly off into the night, toward the stars…"
Amber looked down, not knowing what to think. Tigra was never wrong, no, but her dreams were often metaphorical, and not literal. Even so, Amber felt a cold panic rising. She stood up slowly, not allowing her fear to take her over. She placed a hand on her husband's shoulder and shook him. "Pride…. Pride"
Pride jolted and opened his eyes, focusing on her. "What's wrong?" he asked huskily.
Amber looked down on his honest face, and paused for a moment. What exactly was wrong? She exhaled slowly. "I think it's Raven."
At that, Pride immediately sat up. He took in Tigra's presence with some confusion. "What happened? Did Archer do something?"
Tigra spoke up. "No, no, I'm just concerned about Raven."
"Concerned how?" Pride asked, standing tall, his hands on his hips.
"I think she may want to leave us," Tigra said simply.
Pride gave her a long and steady gaze, and then he looked at Amber. She was already at the door. Clad only in his black and white army pants he followed her as she rushed across the camp toward Raven's hut. Her green robes flowing behind her, she stopped short at the door, knocking on it frantically. Pride came up behind her and yanked it open, disregarding any politeness. If Amber was this panicked, something serious had to be up.
And it was. The hut was empty.
"No," Amber uttered, rushing inside. She hysterically moved around the small hut, taking in every detail. "Everything's gone, all of her belongings, her clothes. But she left her tribal robes…"
Pride stood there, bewildered. He noticed a piece of rough parchment on her pillow and grabbed it. "Look."
Pride told me that the name you're born with shapes who you are.
I've lost the name I was born with.
I have to go find Sienna again.
That was it. There was nothing else at all on the note. Amber clutched it to her and fell to the bed. Pride sat beside her, pulling her to him.
"She's gone. Pride… she's gone."
Pride was completely silent for a long moment. "I don't know what to say. I had no idea she was planning on leaving. She was so upset last night… but I didn't think she'd do this!"
Tigra entered the room then, holding Robin. "She's really has left then… I'm sorry. I wish I had known sooner."
Amber shook her head. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's it's mine. She's my cousin, my family…"
"Maybe she just needs to do this. She'll return. I have faith in that. Everyone needs some times for themselves at some point," Tigra said in a soothing voice.
Amber looked at her, thankful for her words, but terrified nonetheless. "But it's not safe out there. Without a tribe she's defenceless! There's no one to protect her, no one who will give a damn if she gets into trouble. She could be killed and we'd never even know."
Pride tightened his arms around her. "Do not think like that."
"I have to do something…"
"What Eagle?" Tigra asked. "She could have gone in any direction. To the north there's nothing but mountains, to the south the sea, to the west just abandoned motorways, and to the east it's the City. You don't know what kind of a mood or state she was in, if she thinking about where she was going, if she even knows which way to go!"
Amber looked at Tigra imploringly. "Then what do you suggest I do Tigra? Leave my fifteen year old cousin out there alone?"
"Yes. Leave her. Let her find her path. And see if it leads her back here."
Amber snorted. "You sound like---"
"Like who?"
"No one. Forget it. I'm not thinking straight," Amber said quickly, cursing herself for almost referring to Tai-San.
Pride sighed heavily. "Look, we just need to figure out what to do. Try and find her… or let her go."
Amber shook her head. "I can't let her go… but I have no idea where to find her either."
"I don't know who you think you are – some kind of computer whiz, some kind of genius… but you're not going to impress me, got that?" Ebony narrowed her eyes at Ram as Jay and Ved forcibly sat her down in front of the VR technology. "Computer games aren't going to hold any sway over a city where power is the only thing that matters."
Ram smiled. "I agree Ebony. And that's what this is." He gestured to the computers in front of her. "This is power."
Ebony laughed darkly. "No. This has nothing to do with power. Authority is power. Passion is power. Determination is power. Personality is power. Control is power. A few hamster-driven toys are not power."
Ram arched an eyebrow and stared at her. Then all of a sudden he dove forward and placed his hands on the arm rests on either side of Ebony, his face inches from hers. "Beautiful words from a beautiful girl. I wonder how far that face has gotten you. Right to the top, or so it seems," he whispered. He reached out to touch her cheek, but she snapped his hand away, glaring.
"It wasn't beauty that got me where I am. It was sheer force of will. I wanted it – so it happened. Simple as that. I didn't need any hi-tech gadgets," Ebony stated with a proud jut of her chin that made her look inescapably like Java.
Ram grinned wickedly. "No… just sex appeal."
Behind him Ved sniggered and Ebony's eyes flared.
"You slept your way to the top Ebony - or so your big sister Java told me. Kicked Zoot's one true love out of his bed so you could claim her place… that's how the story goes, isn't it? Correct any omissions, won't you?" Ram smiled charmingly at his captive as her face turned stormy.
Ebony's nostrils flared and her chest heaved. "There are many omissions in that story. One being that dear Java wasn't there to see the rest of the goddamn story!" Her voice was loud and vengeful, and she sent Java a truly malevolent stare.
Ram couldn't wait to see the fireworks between those two – but that could wait. Right now, he needed to get Ebony right where he wanted her. And he knew he was going about it exactly the right way. Just a little more, and she'd fall right for the bait.
He shrugged at her. "Fine. Tell me then. Tell me how you got to the top – your story."
"I'm not in the mood for story telling. But I was more than Zoot's bit on the side. I was his equal. He made sure I was worthy. He made sure I could handle the power, that I was willing to do whatever it took to be in control."
"I know. I know Ebony."
Ebony looked at Ram, confused. He knew his reply would baffle her. He wanted it to.
"Jay, begin the program," Ram ordered simply. He stepped back from Ebony, watching as Jay put the headset on her and began the start up on the program that Ram himself had designed specifically for Ebony.
They watched the progress of Ebony's program on the monitors in silence. Ram knew exactly what she was twitching at, knew what she was gasping at, knew what she was afraid of, because it was all in front of him in it macabre glory.
When the program finally came to an end, and her headset was removed, Ebony had an indescribable looked on her face.
"How did you do that? How did you know about that? Did they tell you? Did she tell you?"
"It doesn't matter Ebony. What matters is that you just relived an event years old. You just encountered a person long dead. And it looked real. It felt real. It was real… in a manner of speaking," Ram explained smoothly.
Ebony looked at the computers, at the VR system, with wide-eyed wonder. For the first time since she'd been there, Ram saw an uncloaked emotion in her eyes. She wasn't putting on a show, this wasn't any kind of bravado.
He'd gotten right to the core of Ebony, right to her rotten heart to see what had made it so rotten – and it was fear. Pure, awful, torturous fear.
"Tell me what you saw Ebony."
"You know what I saw," she spat at him.
Ram smiled. "Humor me."
"I was fourteen, and he was there. Testing me. Teaching me how futile fear was. Making me stronger so I could be worthy of him. Zoot. Zoot and the rats."
Ram's eyes glistened as Ebony slipped deep into thought, back into the abyss of her memory. Probably back to that cupboard, to those rats, to Zoot. She looked up at him slowly.
"Now I'm ready to talk."
Coming soon in Part 12 – Safe in the Devil's Embrace:
- Tai-San and Alice both get hurt when Lex's attempt to sort things out goes wrong
- Trudy and Salene find out each other's secrets… and so does someone else, someone extremely untrustworthy
And more…
