“And you. Take a seat, and do not speak unless I require you to.”
Eyes downcast, Talina scurried along before falling down to sit cross-legged on the floor. She had chosen a back corner, where no one could come at her from any side but the front. Raror took his appointed seat next to Gladriel in a smaller coralline chair. The rest of the floor space was taken up by the heads of the minor family units within Earon.
“Thank you all for gathering so quickly. My son has returned from the city with grave news of thefts of cucreamer and wood from the Sacred Isle.”
A gasp rippled throughout the room. They all understood the gravity of the situation. Cucreamer and wood, vital to their existence, only grew on the Sacred Isle, and Spurns could not survive without that small stretch of land.
“However, in the time since the meeting at Silver City, there has been a capture on the Isle.”
Gladriel’s slightly pointed teeth gleamed as she smiled around the room. She looked proud, as if she had made the arrest herself.
“Foreigners, from a distant planet, apparently. And the chosen of the clans are to convene for the trial.”
Whispers and murmurs echoed throughout. The last foreigner to visit from another planet was Talina’s father.
Talina sighed; she knew what this announcement meant for her. Raror would be gone, and life was almost unbearable without the protection of her brother. Nothing that she couldn’t handle, of course, but the constant taunts and loneliness would wear her down after a while. Plus Gladriel loved to leave her with all the worst jobs. In particular she hated de-barnacling the base of their pontoon.
As if Raror had heard her thoughts, he raised his head to glance in her direction. A small smile played on his lips.
What was he up to?
He straightened his shoulders and met Gladriel’s gaze. “Mother, I cannot attend this trial with you.” He spoke without hesitation.
The rest of the gathered members looked up at him in confusion. More and more lately he had been taking on the responsibilities of the clan.
Talina waited for her mother to explode, but Gladriel simply smiled out into the expanse of the room.
“Talina will accompany us, Raror; you do not need to worry about your promise to her.”
Raror continued to stare at the troubling smirk displayed by the head of Earon. Talina could tell by his expression he felt the same way she did; Gladriel was up to something. And right now she was not keen to be going on this adventure. But, as always, she had no choice.
Later that night, as Talina stepped into her water-pod for her nightly respite, and everyone else had either returned to the water or to their pontoons, she heard screeching.
“No,” she breathed.
Surely Gladriel wasn’t up to her old tricks. She’d promised Raror she would stop. But Talina knew Raror was away visiting his mating partner, and clearly Gladriel was taking advantage of his absence.
Stepping out onto her balcony, Talina dived headfirst over the rail into the cool water. She shook hard, her anger bristling over.
How could she do this? But Talina knew her mother was pure evil.
She continued to swim towards the largest moon, staying close to the surface. No one else would be able to hear the droltine’s cry, but Talina’s hearing was better than most. Finally the isolated barge came into view. Mesh netting surrounded it on all four sides, a barrier to keep them contained.
With her head above the waterline, she gripped the closest section of netting.
“Gladriel!” She would probably pay for it later, but Talina couldn’t help the anger that spilled out in that one word.
A single screech was her reply.
Talina’s clenched fists tightened on the barrier. She would have to enter her mother’s lair.
Diving over the top, she descended into the sparsely lit water. All the way down she continued to hope she was wrong. But there was very little doubt.
Gladriel came into sight then, her emerald hair surrounding her. At first it looked as if she was alone, but within moments the droltine came into view. It was tethered to Gladriel by a simple twined rope. And she was systematically pulling it forward, send hot shock waves into it and blowing it back.
STOP! Talina mentally screamed at her mother.
Gladriel turned, a sneer gracing her features.
Hello, daughter, come to join me while I train our next guard and scout?
Talina shuddered with anger. She could taste the fury as it ascended from the pit of her stomach. The swirl of energy that always lived inside her was tumultuous, and her vision started to blacken around the edges.
No, I can’t lose control again. She silently begged herself to hold it together. You have to stop, Gladriel. You cannot treat our beautiful friends so cruelly.
It is in our nature, daughter. I need this one’s co-operation and I need it to be tough. There is no other way to achieve this.
And she turned to shock the poor animal again. It screeched in pain, shying away from its torturer.