Khema went down on one knee, bringing her enormous head level with Arabella’s, and took her hands quite delicately in her own large, stony claws. “I am sorry to be the bearer of sad news, tutukha, but your brother is a fugitive from justice.”
Arabella blinked rapidly, incapable of forming any reply to this astonishing statement.
“We are holding this property in protective trust until he either surrenders himself or is apprehended. After justice has been done, we will turn over control to his heirs, in accordance with English law.”
“His heirs?”
“Do you not remember your lessons, tutukha? We are a civilized people, and obey English law in respect to the property of English persons.”
Arabella forced her gaping jaw shut, and had to swallow several times before continuing. “Of what … terrible crime is he accused? Surely there has been some mistake!”
Khema sighed, settling back on her haunches and seeming to compose her thoughts before addressing the four humans. “Eleven days ago, the firstborn egg of Queen Thukhush was abducted from the Royal Ovary. You would not remember her, tutukha, as she ascended after you departed for Earth, but she is a very popular queen, well-liked by all the clans as well as the humans, and as such the Ovary was but lightly guarded. Rumors pointed to your brother, and when the empty egg-box was discovered in the stables here the Rukesh Kthari descended upon the property to apprehend Michael for questioning. But he refused to surrender himself, denying all knowledge of the crime. He and several other members of the household escaped in the fighting that followed, and have barricaded themselves at Corey House.”
Corey House, Arabella knew, was a very substantial manor house high in the hills above the city of Fort Augusta. It had been built in the early days of colonization, when relations between English and Martians had often been unsettled, and its situation and construction made it highly defensible in case of any attack.
The captain’s expression was nearly as grim as the one Arabella knew her own face must be displaying. “Was this the cause of the native uprising?”
“Sadly, yes. When my people demanded that the English authorities compel Lord Corey to surrender Michael, they refused, claiming that the evidence against him consisted only of hearsay and speculation. A protest at Government House was forcefully suppressed by the King’s Guard, which led to further violence. Soon there was rioting in the streets, and I…” She gestured to her enormous, hard-edged body. “I became as you see me. An akhmok.”
Arabella was having difficulty taking this all in. “I don’t understand.”
Khema’s eye-stalks twisted in shame. “It is a … a relic of our savage past, one which we do not celebrate, and which has not occurred in living memory. In situations of great distress, certain females undergo this transformation. It is similar to the ascension of a queen, but the physical changes are, as you see, even more dramatic. An akhmok is a formidable fighter in her own right, and she also secretes certain substances that cause even warring clans to unite under her leadership against the common foe.”
“The English,” Arabella said miserably.
“Not in my case,” Khema reassured her. “I am as appalled by this violence as you are, and have organized my people here, away from Fort Augusta, to keep them and the plantation from any further harm. I have also sent emissaries to the other akhmoks, encouraging them to resolve their differences with the English peaceably. We are already having some success, and I anticipate that normalcy will be rapidly restored once Michael is brought to justice.”
“Justice?” Arabella cried with considerable heat. “I cannot imagine that my brother would perform any act so … so barbaric as the theft of a queen’s egg. The accusations against him must be false.”
Khema’s eyes drew together in an expression of sympathy, but she said, “His cowardly flight is considered by many as an admission of guilt.”
“There must be another reason.” She set her jaw. “I will go and speak to him, and find out the true story.”
“You will find it hard going. Corey House is under siege. Three akhmoks and seven thousand of their people surround the place.”
Arabella thought furiously. “You said you are sending emissaries to the other akhmoks. Could you send me there under a flag of truce? If I appear at the gates, alone and unarmed, Michael will surely admit me and explain himself.”
“No explanation could excuse the abduction of a royal egg. But if he has kept it safe and warm, it may still be viable.” Khema contemplated her, considering. “You and your brother are very close, I know. If you can convince him to release the egg alive and unharmed, the siege will be lifted, the violence will end, and the Rukesh Kthari may be persuaded to spare his life.”
“All I ask is that you convey me to my brother.”